This week we were given a presentation on the general principles of 3D modelling where we learned the modelling pipeline which is to conceptualise assets, break down objects, model in phases, UV map, texture and render/game import. Through this I learned how important using references is for modelling and that you should base your models off of more than one image for the different views, as well as not using triangles in our models if we can help it. A general rule of thumb we were told was “don’t use triangles, don’t have faces with more than 4 sides” but if triangles are unavoidable we should put them where no one would be likely to see them, such as the back of a character’s ear.

Some other general tips we were given was to not use spheres, but instead use cubes which are smoothed a lot to make them sphere-like, as well as avoiding long thin polygon strips like with cylinders since sub divisions need to be added. The “7” on the keyboard can also be used to see the silhouettes of objects if no lights are present since 7 is lighting mode. We were also told to avoid modelling the whole model from one object, like making a shelf as it looks wrong when in smooth preview so more edge loops need to be added, which is more complicated since there’s so many places you need to add them to and it’s easier to work with if everything is separate models. Adding holding edges can be used to make the shelf itself square in smooth preview instead of the shelf appearing very rounded, and were recommended to avoid combining objects as grouping them makes it easier to hide certain parts and make changes to individual areas. Keeping things as low-poly as possible is also recommended, as you can add details to make it more high-poly later and it’s easier to add details rather than remove them.

Since I was busy this week working on my group presentation for the “Animated Narratives” module, I didn’t have time to properly start my modelling assignment due 5^th March and I just about had enough time to complete this week’s modelling challenge. That being said, I have started to gather references for my treasure chest and treasure assignment including the chest itself, some treasure like diamonds as well as a cat body reference for the dragon curling around the chest. These references are shown below:

Weekly Modelling Challenge

The modelling challenge for this week was to model a table. Alec gave us some table references for us to recreate the table.

A table has multiple parts to it, including the top, legs and sides of the table. My step-by-step process for the top of the table is shown below:

• Add a cube and adjust the height and width to resemble the top of the table
• Add holding edges to keep the tabletop square in smooth preview
• Go into object mode and bevel the tabletop

This is the easiest part when creating the table since it’s literally just a resized cube with holding edges. The legs however proved to be more challenging, and I used my knowledge from last week’s vase to help me with the table legs. The legs have two distinct parts to it, which is the upper cube and the lower legs, so I had to modify my approach and use two different objects to model them. My step-by-step process is shown below:

• Add a cylinder and extend it so that it reaches the height of the leg before the upper cube in the reference
• Add in some horizontal edge loops using the multicut tool where the leg width increases/decreases
• Go into vertex mode and select the group of vertices in the edge loops and scale them from the centre so they reach the appropriate width of that area of the vase
• Go back into object mode and repeat the previous two steps to make it more high-poly
• Go into vertex mode and select the centre vertex at the bottom of the leg and bevel it to create a set of circular vertices
• Select the vertices and scale them from the centre until they are close to the other set of circular vertices that make up the bottom of the leg
• Use the multicut tool to connect the vertices and right click to confirm the connection
• Add a cube and extend it so that it reaches the height of the upper cube in the reference
• Isolate select the cube in object mode and add holding edges to keep the upper cube square in smooth preview
• Bevel the upper cube
• Group the upper cube and lower leg together as “TableLeg1”
• Duplicate the group and move it to another corner of the tabletop
• Repeat the previous step until there are 4 table legs
• Adjust the pivot point in each group to be the bottom of each leg

This was more challenging for me to do as I wasn’t expecting to have to use more than one object for the table leg, but I am quite proud of the overall look of it. I also saved a lot of hassle by just duplicating the group instead of having to duplicate the two parts of the group over and over and get them in the right position as duplicating the group allows it to be treated as one object so the positions of the upper cube and lower leg wouldn’t change when moving them.

The last part to model is the sides of the table. My step-by-step process is shown below:

• Add a cube and adjust the height and width to resemble the smaller side of the table
• Add holding edges to keep the side square in smooth preview
• Duplicate the cube and move it to the opposite end of the table
• Repeat with the larger side of the table
• Group the 4 sides together as “TableSides”
• Group the tabletop, table legs group and table sides group together as “Table”

I am quite proud of how the table sides look different from the tabletop since I didn’t bevel them, meaning they appeared more curved which is what I was intending. However, there was a point where I almost forgot to add in the holding edges before duplicating the cubes since the cubes don’t have their straight edges in smooth preview, but fortunately I remembered. I’m just lucky I almost made this error on a minor, less complicated object that needed duplicating rather than something more complicated as it would have been harder and more time consuming to fix.

My final table model is shown below:

With regards to the final table model, I am quite proud of how it turned out overall. If I were to redo it however, I do believe the table legs could use some more work as I don’t feel like I added enough edge loops to it since the legs don’t look as curved as the reference. I also wish I had more time to complete the model as I wanted to add colour and texture to it, but as it stands I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish in such a small time frame.

References Of The Week