Continuing to model myself (28/10/2013)

Today I continued to model my face which you can see below.

As you can see, I struggled with my nose and overall feel that the last face I worked on still looked completely wrong as it looked more like a mascarade mask or a me with hamster cheeks.

 
Therefore, I decided to look at some existing 3D faces in order to try and get a better understanding of how to model my own face.

I then tried to create the nose again as seen below.

Luckily I didn't do too much as a friend of mine showed me how they did their face more effectively.
I then decided to model my face by starting with the eye and modeling around it like a loop, or as the lecturer describes it, the spider web technique.

The friend also recommended that I do the nose separately, therefore making it more rounded and less restricted to the face.

The lecturer then looked over my work in order to help me model my face correctly.
He explained that I should really take new photos of my face as I mistakenly had them taken close up when he warned us not to. Instead I should have had the picture taken from far away and then zoomed in. Without this technique I got front face views that included large faces with big eyes and small ears, whereas the side views come out more correctly. Thus when I place both sides together for reference, the results are false proportions like the hamster cheeks I had before.
He also recommended that I find each curve of my face such as the nostrils and bumps of the nose in order to make my face less flat and more rounded.
The work he did on my face was great, therefore I should try and use his work as a template for my next attempt.

Overall, the lecturer was pleased with all our work as, although we are on different levels, we have all shown improvement over the past few weeks. 

 
Harvard Referencing:

• Athey (2009) 3d reference - face loops [Online Image]. Available at: http://athey.deviantart.com/art/3d-reference-face-loops-141698442 (Accessed: 28/10/2013).
• Coxworth, B (2011) New tech creates 3D faces from 2D images [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.gizmag.com/new-tech-creates-3d-faces-from-2d-images/17651/ (Accessed: 28/10/2013).

Modeling ourselves (21/10/2013)

For today's session we started to put the photographs of ourselves onto Photoshop and use them as reference in order to model ourselves.

After positioning my photos next to one another I used the ruler tool in order to get each position of the face correct as seen below. This is similar to the technique used for drawing faces in art e.g. using lines to determine the position of the eyes and mouth.
I was advised to separate all my photos and then organise them into different groups e.g. the head, body and hands. Thus, when I go to model certain areas of the face it will be easier to judge each side of myself, therefore making the model more detailed and accurate 

Creating a plane I added a texture of my faces to it in order to see the basis of my face. I was also advised to keep the grid up in order to act as another measurement tool, (similar to the ruler tool from Photoshop) and switch Realistic to Shaded in order to avoid having shadows pop up on my textures.

The lecturer then showed us examples of 3D faces and how they should be modeled in order to be well animated.
He then mentioned that 3D models are rounded around the sides of the face and the nose, but flat under the eyes. This may seem odd, but actually, by not making a face look completely round you avoid the head looking balloon like. Although, I may wish to use a similar technique in order to create my face in the style of a 'One Piece' character.

Before continuing, I used the technique shown last week in order to make the textures have a far greater definition.
Then, using 'Planes', we started to create our eyes with the above in mind.

The lecturer recommended that I use a 'spider web' technique in order to correctly model the eye e.g. model your planes after an expanding spider's web so as to get the correct curves.
From doing this technique, I can already see a noticeable improvement.  

I then started to try and create the roundness of the face around the eye as seen below, making sure to attach my two previously separate pieces.

I then continued to try and model the rest of the face as seen below.

At the end of the session, I used the 'Mirror' tool in order to see what I had done so far on both sides of the face.

Overall, I am still very excited to be working on a 3D model of myself, but I recognise that I still have a lot to work on. Therefore, I am glad I decided to go with a stylised look, as I feel if I was meant to be creating a realistic person then it wouldn't work.

Further moddeling and teaching (14/10/2013)

Today we carried on working on our 3D model cars in which I was able to get the 'Symmetry' tool to work. This was great, as it allowed me to see the model in all its glory.

You can see my further progress below.

After further working on my 3D car model, the lecturer showed us how he would have made the 3D chair which was an earlier task.
The notes I took include the following.

• Use the 'QuickSlide' tool in order to slice through an object and therefore add an extra line to the model. This is a good way to add more faces, especially for boxed models and therefore, allowing you to put far more detail in to the game. The 'Connect' tool is also another similar method of doing this so, I should try both tools out at some point and see which one I prefer. 
• We should try and create our 3D models so as to show light and shade as much as possible. Thus, if it were for a game it would be super detailed. You can accomplish this by making sure there is space between each shape that makes the 3D asset. 
• Use the 'Remove' tool in order to get rid of lines and thus use less memory. 
• Overall, the chair he created was very well modeled and detailed and, since it was very similar in design to my own chair, it showed me numerous techniques I could do in order to improve mine.

Later my lecturer looked at my 3D car model and overall thought that, even though it looked a lot better than before, and showed noticeable improvements, that I needed to round my planes by rotating them. If I don't do this then the whole thing looks too blocky and unreal. Also, I can include fewer faces to save memory, as long as they are not too big, otherwise they will stretch the textures used for it.

The lecturer also helped to re texture my chair's cushion by using 'Unwrap UVW', thus getting the following positive outcome.

 
He then showed us how to edit our future blue prints / photos for our 3D character models on Photoshop.

• Recommended that we use the 'Ruler' tool in order to get the correct measurements when editing our photos side by side. Use the head measurement's technique as well to capture each portion of the figure.
• Holding down shift is an easier way to use the 'Paint' tool as this stops you from drawing jaggard lines instead off straight ones. Also, I can use the same art style I used to paint over an existing image of myself in order to come up with a stylised version for my character, if I wish to use that as a template instead.

When creating hair for our model we will have to create multiple small planes and layer them on top of one another. Then, with them all placed correctly, texture them with hair. He will continue to explain this technique when the times comes. 

We will need to get hold of blue prints of ourselves in order to start thinking about creating our 3D character models. Thus I need to take numerous pictures of myself from different angles before next week. 

We will also be modeling the face for our model next week, therefore I must remember to bring photos of myself.
By Christmas he would like our character models to be finished and ready to animate.

Continuing to model my 3D car (9/10/2013)

Today I decided to carry on modeling my 3D car I started in the last session in order to create the front of it.
It just involved me Ctrl Shifting the lines and you can see my progress below.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the 'Symmetry' tool to work so I can't show you on my blog what the car bonnet would look when it is more or less completed.
I also wasn't sure on how much of the car the lecturer wanted us to complete, and whether or not I needed to include the lights and other details, though I would imagine the wheels need to be done separately. 

Overall, I am quite pleased with my work and can only hope that my lecturer is as well. 

Modeling a car (7/10/2013)

At the start of this session, we discussed 'Naming Conventions' e.g. how to correctly name the textures used for 3D models.

An example of a naming convention is: namefile_DM

The initials being as follows.

• DM means Diffuse Map
• SM means Specular Map
• EM means Emmisive Map
• NM means Normal Map
• AM means Alpha Map 
• UV means UV Map

* If we don't include a naming convention then we LOSE MARKS! Remember this! *

We were then given memory sticks and asked to use the resources in them to produce a 3D model of a car.

The steps are as follows. 

Added the diffuse textures of car pictures from numerous angles, using the memory stick provided, into the 'Material Editor'.  

Made a plane with 200 in X and 200 in Y. Making sure to centre it afterwards.

I then added the car roof texture to the first bottom plane before copying that plane and then changing its texture for the other angles. I then made sure to add the other textures in order to produce every side of the car.

I was then reminded to use the F3 key in order to make the background of my modeling area grey and then pressed G to remove the grid. Thus making it easier to see what I was modeling.
Right clicking the planes and selecting 'Object Proprieties', I then ticked 'Backface Cull' and unticked 'Show Frozen in Grey' in order to make the textures on the planes one sided so as to not waste memory, and also to make the walls transparent when looked at from behind. Whilst making sure to use the 'Mirror' tool on the side view to make it face the correct direction.

I then added another smaller plane to the side of the car and converted it to an 'editable poly'. After which I then selected its vertexes in order to edit its shape.

Using 'Edge' and holding down 'Shift', I was able to create new faces for the plane, thus making three faces before bending their vertexes in order to start to create the car's curved bonnet.

I then used the same technique as before in order to start to shape the car itself. I also did a technique in order to make creating my car easier. First of all, I went into material editor and choosing a blank sphere changed it to another colour. Then going into 'Auto Key' I went to frame 100 and selected the opacity of the coloured texture making it 0. From doing this, I can more easily refer to the orginal image of the car. I must make sure to turn off 'Auto Key' when finished, otherwise it may animate the rest of my changes.  

I then just carried on making the car bit by bit.

Unfortunately, I had failed to keep an eye on not one, but three windows, the 'Top', 'Left' and 'Front' views. Therefore, because I only focused on the 'Left' side the 'Front' and 'Top' views were distorted. Therefore I needed to recreate what I had, making sure to give all sides my attention.  

When I want to make it more detailed, all I will need to do is select a face. By right clicking and then selecting 'Create' I can make a new face, thus allowing myself to make curves more easily.

The lecturer also helped me by showing what a car should roughly look like, when you concentrate on all three viewpoints. 

In my own time I am going to try and finish at least the front of the car.

Creating a 3D chair (4/10/2013)

Asked to create a chair to demonstrate our 3D modelling skills, I decided to use the image below as a reference since it looked similar to a selection of reference images our lecturer emailed us.

You can see what I made and the process below. 

First of all, I started by creating a box and then multiplying it by four, making sure to use 'bevel' on the top of the front two to make them look more detailed. 

I then created four more boxes and placed them at the top, one being slightly thicker than the others.

I then made a box and added 'bevel' to the top of it to make it look more like a cushion.

Copying one of the top boxes I used for a support, I then copied it and rotated it to make the bottom foot rests.

Selecting the top of the original back boxes I didn't edit, I used the 'extrude' and 'rotate' tools to make the chair back.

By creating two more boxes and then rotating them, I was able to make the back rest.

I then edited the two back rests slightly to match the research image before deciding to texture the chair in similar colours to the reference image, thus making it look even more like the chair I was trying to recreate.

 
Happy with the above I decided to take pictures of textures in my own home in order to show initiative before fully texturing the chair.

With all the above done, I started to texture the chair. Unfortunately, I had issues using UV Mapping to texture the chair precisely. Therefore, I was forced to use the regular material editor as seen below.

Although the cushion's texture went slightly blurred around the edges, due to having to use material editor, I still feel that the overall model looks very good, especially the wood which came out perfectly and looks well lit and somewhat varnished or polished. It seems that it didn't matter that I didn't use UV mapping when texturing the chair as the effect is more natural for a simple wooden chair, plus a wooden chair is meant to be made out of separate pieces of wood which don't necessarily match.  
 
Even though the chair is a simple design and only required boxes to create, I still feel that is all it needed. If I added anything else to it, such as screws, then it could ruin the overall balance of colours and the positioning of the wood. Plus, it is only 170 polygons so its quite detailed for a chair that would also need to be replicated for a video game. 
Overall, I feel that it looks very good, especially since I was using my own photographed textures which I haven't done before.
 
Harvard Referencing:

• HALO (2013) Wentworth Dining Chair [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.haloliving.co.uk/wentworth_dining_chair (Accessed: 4/10/2013).