Assignment 1 – Intro to 3D Modeling

This is the first assignment from the 3D Literacy calss in the animation course. The assignment gave us a list of objects that we were to make using Maya and add textures and details with Substance painter. I chose a Sword and shield, as I wanted to go a bit unconventional and fantastical but still simple and adjustable.

Research Images:

Early on in the process, I realized I wanted to do a crystalline sword and shield, I went out searching for reference material for crystalline swords and shields. Finding crystal swords was easy enough as there was quite an abundance of them online.

The crystal shields were harder to come by though. I did find some, but I did also use normal shields and and a couple of ice shields too.

With the reference pictures I gathered I was able to make some sketches and later a ref sheet for the model.

Development:

I both started on the modeling assignment very early on, and rather late. I started making some early models for the sword as early as January 31, but I wasn’t sure what I was doing so I piled on several shapes on top of eachother in the vague shape of the sword.

I also added the early model for the shield as well in a couple of weeks.

After a whole month and a bit more, I began remaking the sword model. I started by making the sword blade a rectangular cube and deforming and warping it all over until it looked like a sword blade. I then added a new hilt and crossguard made from cylinders whith extrusions. I also took the time to add the “gem hoops” or pressing sticks to the sides. I hadn’t done much with the shield until after that.

I then used the vectors and move tool to make spikes and points on the blade to give it the gnarly crystal aesthetic. Also began working on the shield, specifically the shield face.

On Thursday, Henry suggested that if I wanted to include pieces/lumps onto the blade I could use the quad-draw tool and add them, which I did. it was an interesting experience, but kinda fun. I added them to both sides of the sword and pressed them as closely as I could to it without phasing through the sword. It was tricky because the unique angles from the shapes of the quads moved a bit differently.

Afterwards I began working more on the shield. I made the metal pieces more pointy and angular. Someone pointed out that they were too thick and too long (on the back) so I squashed them and made the ones in the back shorted for the sake of consitency. I also added a handle by extruding a cube several times and duplicating it and a warping cylinder. I also extruded the middle of the shield so that the crystal in the centere poked through it. I was also made aware of the fact that the back of the shield was bulging out, whereas shields are usually flat or concave instead. So I changed that quickly.(below)

I then began moving more verteces and edges on both the sword and the shield for added gnarliness. I also duplicated the handle on the shield.

Once completed with the models I began working on the UV mapping which was a bit daunting at first as there were lots, and lots of small parts all over the models. But I began working on it and eventually managed to organise the pieces by the shapes they were part of keep them in more maneagable groups. I went off on a bit of a tangent were I coloured the UVs in photoshop and fed that into Maya and some issues with the models becoming transparent, and the maps weren’t very necessary.

After all that, I started using Substance Painter 3D tand began working on the textures.
Initially I used jade as the texture for the crystal parts of the sword and shield as I wasn’t too sure about the other textures having provperties that were similar enough to what I had in mind for these two objects.

 

I went in on Monday to sort out my issues with the model with the help of Mike. The issues with how the model looked in Substance painter was because when I exported the files from Maya I hadn’t set the values of the shapes to zero, or one, so the many different numbers were exported and fed into substance and translated as weird shapes. Mike helped solve this issue by freezing the assets (in Maya) and setting the values to 1 and exporting the file. After that, he changed the base file in Substance with the new Maya file and the errors were fixed. (thanks Mike!)

before

after

I had several difficulties with the model afterwards when it came time to rendering the final model. I had inadvertently exported the two pieces as one so when I uploaded the models into Sketchfab it gave me trouble with the textures as there were now two texture packets for one model. Anytime I tried using them they would cover both models, and I could not access them at the same time. Mike managed to sort the problem out by changing the exporting settings in Maya to render two models instead of one. As it turned out, assigning both models the same material misinformed the program, thus causing the problem.

Application of Theory

During the process of modeling I used several of the theory lessons from class as I worked on the 3D figures in the later weeks. I didn’t remember all too much of the stuff from the lessons, mostly the final lessons on uploading the files to Sketchfab and transfering to and from Substance Painter. But I did remember most of the information from the earlier classes. As the teachers pointed out, it was easier to make the models by using primitive shapes and warping them into the right form. I used the extrusion function fairly frequently with the rotation tool to move and alter the edges and verteces of the models for the various effects involved. The UV mapping and aunwrapping was key as it made the later texturing of the models easier in Substance, so learing how to take care of the UV map, take it apart, paint it, and export the models with the right settings was rewarding. I did make a mistake in making one side of an object too small in the UV map so it didn’t look too good and had to change it. But once in Substance the map made coating parts of the models easier. Substance gave me the most problems as it was harder for me to get used to and use. But I did manage to use it well enough, especially with the use of masks and the highlight tool to quickly cover pieces of the models without overlap.

Proccess:

My process of creating the models was rather staightforward. I start by finding and collecting as many references as I can for the design I have in mind or how I should make the figure to begin with. The exactness of references are varied but as long as they look close enough it works for me. In this case, I looked for references for both swords and shields. Preferebly crystal but the next best thing was also helpful. After gathering a large enough assortment of references and images of the 3D models, I begin working on drawings and scribbles in my sketcbook for an idea of what to do. I don’t think I go through the sketching process as much as I ought to, but I do enough. After that I begin sculting and warping the shapes in Maya until it looks complete enough and then move on to the UV unwrapping and photoshop UV painting. In this particular instance the painting of the UVs was a bit unnecessary, but it was good for reference on later process. The final part of the process was working with the textures in Adobe Substance Painter. And that is the process I have used for the 3D modeling assignment, and likely will continue to follow with minor deviations and alterations depending on future cituations.

 

 

200 Word Reflection:

In hindsight, I ought to have started working on the modelling and sculpting sooner and gotten Substance painter on my computer way earlier to avoid all the issues I had and not be late on the submission. It was fun at times but starting late and needing an extension made me feel a bad about my work. I did get the hang of it eventually but there was a great degree of going with what worked as opposed to really pushing for quality results. An issue I had throughout the process were distractions which took away from my already short time. I will fix both my time managing issues and focus retention problems to avoid issues like these in the future. I learned a bit about the sculpting/modelling process from the assignment, getting used to it was tricky, but overall, it was great. Still wish I’d thought about more thoroughly. There is a lot I still must learn, and this experience helped me to see how much I still need to do and learn. I realized more so now than before that I need to prioritize and rationalize things more appropriately especially my time. It’s all a learning experience.

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