This Month’s Overview
As this is the first month of the year, I won’t be back in the University until the end of the month. As a result any work done within the build will be recorded in next weeks blog. There is not much this month as we are on holiday time but I still needed to do some work in order to keep a head of the deadline. I would attempt to model the last remaining element for my unfinished characters, such as the full model for Attractor, which I had not started. I would also use Substance Painter to created textures for my new models and improve on some existing ones. I would also attempt some rigging and weight painting on my own, so I could start animating next month. Finally I would use my extra time to tidy up my workstations.
Modelling
Going over and fixing up
The environments’ and extra background assets’ were completed. I would just quickly go over each of them to make sure I did not leave any errors. If there was, I would go back and fix the mesh or UV.
Characters
Because he plays only a small role at the end of the finished project and has no animation outside of the head, the Taker model was very quick to create and lead to no problems. He will be really simple to animate as he would only be on scene for less than 5 seconds. Blaster Woman’s hair however proved a difficult issue for me as I had little knowledge how to create organic shapes in Maya and I was not sure how to create a smooth, curved shape like hair. This problem of organic modelling would become an even larger problem with Attractor. I kept getting lost with elements like the face mask wrapping around the contours of her face and the spacing of his eyes. For the same reason I also have difficulty with boots and shoulders and knee pads. I will need more help but it can not come until next month due to the New Year holidays. What I could create whilst waiting was the backpack gear along with the guns, as it did not evolve organic modelling and it might be easier to have the equipment model separately in its own file and then combine it to the character. This turned out to be helpful. The backpack was made in a short amount of time (UVs and all). The only element that gave me some trouble was the holders for the guns as it took me a while to find the best place and angle for the guns to be drawn and put away.
Screenshots
Substance Painter
As with last month, I will be splitting the heading into two sections, one for characters and one for environments.
Environments
The clean offices of the second floor which I completed in the previous month, were the exception to my environmental textures. The bottom floor and exterior of the warehouse were hard working industrial storage areas, therefore they would look much used and grubby, with grime and rust in many locations, but they still must resemble functional units. As such their textures are not pristine or clean and will contain the effects of dirt and paint chips and even old dried oil spills. I even added faded advertising and logos to the wall, indicating that the area served a different purpose with the advertisements on the exterior of the building being worn and distressed demonstrating a lack of care and maintenance. One thing I took into account however was not to make the environment look too dark so the facets would not blur into each other as clarity of sight is highly important for visual media.
Screenshot
Characters
Not all of the models or their individual aspects are completed (ie: Blaster Woman’s hair and Attractor’s body) however there is still enough for me to begin work on giving them their textures through Substance Painter. As they are inspired by the heroes of the Silver Age such as Barry Allen’s Flash or Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern they wear bright appealing colour coded costumes that will not be overbearing in relation to excessive colours or material types. To give an example, while the greens of Density are darker than usual he has a dominant two piece colour pattern with the greens made from flexible fabric and the blacks made from a harder cloth. I also ensured the type of material with which the costumes were made would fit their social standings ie: Density has a homemade costume as he does not work for any organisation, while Blaster Woman’s costume is more professionally constructed as she is a fulltime mercenary. I also have given her painted makeup in the form of a skull specifically applied quickly and haphazardly, as if preparing for immediate action in order to accentuate her mercenary status. In comparison, Attractor has more metallic surfaces on his costume, emphasising his powers are linked to his inventions and equipment i.e: his weapons and backpack rather than superpowers. While Blaster Woman and Attractor still need to wait for additional elements to be completed before texturing I was able to complete Density, as his model had already been finished to an acceptable standard. Finally, due to the way Density was UV’d the texture might not be perfect with some over spilling of the blacks however whilst it the best I can achieve due to time constraints, I satisfied that he is ready for animation.
Screenshot
Rigging
I watched a few videos on rigging to try and finish the Density’s model so I could start animating. Unfortunately I ran into many problems. Quick rig kept running into different errors (mostly with the figures) and I had no real idea on how to weight paint effectively. I decided after several failed attempts, I would go on to work on other elements of my project. Next time I enter the University, I would need to get some personal help from my tutors, in order to continue to move forward with my models. This would set me behind a bit, so I will need to work in other areas, to keep ahead.
ScreenShots
Creating the End Credits
As I could not work on the rigging and weight painting, I turned my attention to other matters, the End Credits being one of them. While I vould not complete the End Credits as I would need to add the names of any extra help I had already got or yet to receive (I.E. Sound Students and Tutors), I could make it ready for their names to be inserted. This was the same with the music . I added in the standard fade in/fade out to the texts as it feels better than the hard cut it/cut out transition. To add some visual interest, I styled the End Credits after Density’s colour scheme. This was done using two green triangles, one green rectangles and a green ‘D’ on a black background. I adjusted the timing for clear viewing but I will change it again when I get the background music.
Link to Credits
Sorting out work for the next Semester
Tidying up Desktop
With some of the extra time I had until I was able to get back to the University to get help with rigging, I would go over all my files in order to clean up my workspace for easy navigation and to cut down my file size to free space on my PC. I would delete most backup files with the exception of the most recent ones and any copies created by mistake. I also created a folder dedicated to the completed version of each model.
Posting a Request for sound
This month was also the opening to the sound students. They were able to take requests and create the audio tracks for the major animation project. I already pre-prepared a word document with the sound I needed. I email one of the sound students and he/she/they were able to accept my task and the document. It would take a few months but it was good to know that someone would be working on my sound from music to sound effect like footsteps.
Document from Sound Student:
Proof of E-Mail:
For Next Month
Next month I need to ask my tutors for some help with organic modeling, rigging and weight painting. Time is moving forward at a faster pace each day and my models are not animations yet. I will also set up my 3D environments with the extra background assets. I should also create some test animations and 3D render screenshots to get myself familiar with the rigs.