Concept and Base Idea
Assignment 1 of the 3D Digital Literacy course was to fully model, UV unwrap and texture a prompt from the given list; I chose the ‘Old Well’. I had many different ideas for this: an old, sharp gothic well, a broken desert well with engravings, or a simple withered well with alien, luminescent lights and decayed plants inspired by H.P Lovecraft’s ‘The Colour Out of Space’, but all were hard to envision and design in the concept art stage without looking either too simple or intricate, or too unrecognisable as a well.
I knew I wanted the well to be simple and chunky, very stylized at least, but also look crudely made and forgotten. I designed the silhouettes first and worked on the most interesting;
Although I liked the simplicity of the solid bucket well, I thought using separate layered bricks with collapsed areas would give a more weathered look. The leaf roof was another idea I really liked, however in the end the way the trees had been modelled I could not get the shape correct and decided that instead having the supports rest in between the trees’ branches helped make the overall shape more recognisable and appear more dilapidated and primitive. If I was to remodel the well, I think I would have tried to keep the leaf roof and work the trees around the well base and in the roof, as I think the design is quite interesting.
I also considered adding other smaller objects to create a bit or narrative or context to the well, like a witch’s broom and frog, but the scene appeared busy enough without it.
Inspirations
There are many 3D well models to get inspired from, however most are quite similar in shape and design, which is why I wanted to attempt a different, taller well design.
I especially liked the mossy texture on the 3rd well’s stones, and liked the overall shape of the other 2. I also took inspiration from some video tutorials on YouTube, which greatly helped me create the parts for my well.
Video Tutorials
These videos mostly helped me create the base bricks for my own well, but I also learned many other techniques for ways to make the other aspects, like the handle and posts. I tried to not copy any tutorials directly, so I could learn the program myself. I watched many Maya modelling videos for the project, and they definitely got me interested in the process and excited to start! Alec’s own video tutorials as well were of great help to me, and I often re-watched them for help. I also used what I learned from the vase and table weekly exercises, which proved to be very useful when making the tree trunks.
Making the Base
My first attempt at creating the bricks, using the first video tutorial, was certainly a great learning experience. Although, after looking at the form I decided to redo them as I had went too far with the sculpting tools than I had wanted. There are noticable gaps between each cube that, although worked in some areas, made the model feel less put together. I liked the soft, rounded look of the stones but they had become unnatural looking due to my use of the ‘grab tool’, I thought that by making each brick different, the overall model would look more like my concept art and appear more makeshift, but in the end I kept the sculpting to a minimum in the newer model, as it makes the scene less busy.
The New Base
I wanted to redo the actual well, as the first try relied on trial and error and had many mistakes, like hidden duplicated layers and clipped areas where the vertices were not selected properly.
The remade version looks much cleaner and more stylized, I liked the harder edge the bevel gave the bricks in this mode, whereas in the first attempt they were smoothed and seemed blobby. This remake reads more as bricks thankfully, and in my opinion much more interesting to look at. I used the ‘grab tool’ sculpting brush on most of the bricks, but kept it mostly subtle.
I had tried making both the bottom and top set bigger than the 2 middle sets in both the old and new versions, although with all the modifications it was hard to notice in the first attempt. Thankfully I believe the 2nd try shows this off easier, but still subtly enough to where it isn’t unrealistic. The 3rd set of bricks is also slightly smaller than the rest, as I hoped to make each layer just a little bit different and show the top layer as larger a bit easier.
I had added little stones to the first version, but felt as though they were making the scene too busy as I had settled them inside the gaps and on top of some of the bricks. I liked that ground detail however, and added some collapsed bricks in similar shapes to the base bricks to imply erosion.
Making the Trees
The two supports, the trees, were the most difficult thing for me to create. I watched many videos on extruding along an EP Curve with a polygon, or extruding with a NURB, and nothing worked for me until I tried using a circle and the CV curve tool. Although it would have probably been easier working with polygons instead of having to modify the curves, I was at least able to get something I was happy with.
Though a bit odd looking clunky, I am quite happy with the result. Adding the other branch was a problem, as every time I tried to extrude from an area of the trunk (circularised) the extrude would flare out. Finally I just used the same technique I used on the vase model, and used multi-cut to bend and taper the branch. I connected the two by deleting the faces and bridging the polygons, which worked out nicely, though I like the long sharp CV tool branch, the one made from the poly cylinder looks almost more fitting with the chunky bricked well, even though the tapering is not as clean as I tapered it at the end, instead of at the beginning where it would have been cleaner. Although it didn’t work out the way I hoped, I will definitely be practising with the EP curve tool and extruding along the line.
The one-to-one tutorials also helped me a lot, both times I asked how to go about making a simple tree, and the EP curve tool was mentioned as well as using the built in ‘content browser’, which is another very interesting tool.
Throughout making the model, I considered using some of the paint effects or models, I was particularly interested in the leaves and grasses for the roof, and the rope for the turn post. I have not yet learned how to properly use these paint effects, so I will practise and hopefully make use of them one day!
Video Tutorials
This was the only extruding tutorial that helped me, and I was able to use this technique on the tree model. It took me a lot of trial and error, but I’m glad I learned how to create it myself instead of using the content browser.
I had also considered attempting to create leaves for the roof as they do in this tutorial, using alpha maps, but after failing to recreate this technique and then finally scrapping the idea of a roof I left the tutorial, however it is something I would like to retry as I think it could be very useful.
The Final Model
Although it took a lot of trial and error, many video tutorials and concept changes, I am quite happy with the final model! As a beginner I think I did quite well, and though there are some aspects I would change if I could, like the rotation of the trees or fix up the coil of rope, I am pleased with the result. Using Maya is quite a fun experience, if not frustrating at times, but I’m proud I was able to make something! Certainly the best part is the well base, as many tutorials were available for help, yet they are good techniques that can be applied elsewhere, and on other future models.
Although I did want the log support to be asymmetrical and rotated in an odd angle, both to fit the tree crevices and create a more rudimentary looking well, getting the other parts of the post like the handles and rope to match with the stick placement was tricky, and I would maybe have simplified the turn handle. I at first wanted the handle to be a long bevelled cylinder extruding from the first trapeze shape with a dangling rope, but it did not look right and so I added another trapezoid that I imagined could turn a post. Because I had so much difficulty with the first tree, and some after, I decided it would be best to just duplicate the tree for the other side.
UV Mapping and Unwrapping
This process was definitely the most confusing for me, even having watched multiple tutorials on the subject as well as Alec’s own video tutorials. Playing around with the UVs, cutting, sewing and unfolding them was a tricky process for me, having never tried this before on a more complex object although I was able to finish the task in the end. The trees were an even trickier process, at first I tried cutting along the whole side of one tree to split it in half, but I was not able to get it to work properly. I also tried using automatic UVs, but I didn’t know where to go from there!
Substance Painter
After watching Alec’s video tutorials on baking maps for smart materials, I applied this to my own model in Substance painter. I liked the smart materials that were available and decided to build on top of those, using the ‘tools’ and ‘materials’ options. Although the ground stones are supposed to be the fallen bricks from the well, I wanted some more contrast and used a different ‘concrete’ material for them. Unfortunately, the UV map for the ground was blurry, and so I just painted some different ground and grass colours to blend.
Texturing With Smart Materials and Tools
I found the large selection of tools, materials and brushes very useful with this model, especially using the colour ID option made when baking the UVs. I already have experience painting 2D textures digitally, and was excited to begin the details of the model textures.
To begin, I used ‘dirt’ and ‘moss’ brushes on the well, particularly around the well’s collapsed area, and around the edges of the bricks for a more realistic look. Inside the well is also mostly covered with different shades of green and brown, also to add more realism. I went heavier with these brushes, as I wanted a more stylized look for the well base to match the texture I chose for the trees, but the layer’s opacity was set to 90%.
I discovered the ‘tools’ section in the shelf, and found an ivy brush, perfect for the mossy well, and crack brushes which I also applied for a more dilapidated look, I think this adds a lot to the model. I only wish I had gone about the UVs smarter, and preserved the higher resolution somehow before adding the model into Substance, possibly by separating the different model pieces and their respective UVs, as the cracks on the well appear too pixelated.
I was unsure how to create a rope surface in Maya, and relied on Substance for a solution. Thankfully the ‘Stitches Complex’ tool helped with creating more depth and dimension so that the simple cylinder would appear as a coil of rope.
I applied more tools to the posts and supports, adding ‘screw bolts’ to the rusted pieces and metal areas for more realism, and some dents with the ‘cracks’ tool, as well. I really like the way the tools create such convincing, but artificial bumps and textures.
The ground was such a large area, but it’s UV was much too small and so the ground appeared blurred and pixelated, again I wish I solved this issue, as I’m sure a grass texture could be found on Substance and would add a lot to the final piece. Instead, I blurred multiple shades of green and brown, purple in the well, to seem like a simple ground texture. Later, I added a ‘dirt’ material on top to add some synthetic raises and grooves.
Reference Images
Final Model in Substance Painter
After more touch-ups; ivy to the trees, brown dirt and green moss to the large post, dirt materials to the trees and ground, the final model came out great in my opinion! While there are some things I would change if I were to redo it, I am happy with the final product, especially as it is my first time modelling and texturing something of my own.
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