When I was brainstorming how I wanted to make my outpost my main idea was to have cold-looking, drab architecture that could survive harsh weather conditions. I took a lot of inspiration from looking at actual arctic research stations, a lot of which were in bright colors like red, which I ended up avoiding in my final model. Another difficult decision was the windows, because I was trying to determine whether having all the windows be plain small squares or slot-like like the one on the window, or to have them as they are in the final model below. Ultimately I went with the design below because the simple geometry of the previous design just made me feel like the model was too simple, although I'm still not sure if this was the best choice as the shape of the windows is quite homey in comparison to the rest of the design making them look out of place. One of the aspects that I did have envisioned from the start though was the door, which came out pretty much exactly as I wanted; a heavy-duty steel door with a small, unwelcoming window and a number/lock pad. All in all, this process was a bit tedious due to the modular components since I still need to work on my organization when it comes to modelling, but it could've turned out worse.
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For this assignment we had to create a modular house, and while it was quite simple I found myself struggling to keep everything as neat and in order as I would like. Modular design works best when everything can fit together and fall into place like puzzle pieces, but for me my modeling technique was unfortunately a bit sloppy so that was difficult for me to accomplish. This was one of the first activities back in 3DS Max though, and while it wasn't the easiest I was able to remember the keyboard shortcuts fairly quickly and they came back pretty naturally. Using snap to vector for translation was new and pretty helpful when it came to getting the positioning of certain components, so that helped getting things aligned to a degree. Although I had this tool though I still ended u[ struggling getting alignment perfect, which is something I'm going to need to work on as I continue to brush up on 3D modeling.
This unit has been all about lighting, which I'm pretty happy about. Lighting is so important in every scene in every game, movie, pretty much any entertainment media, so recreating that into 3d scenes is kinda exciting. So far, we've learned about sun positioners, standard lights, and Arnold lights. My personal favorite has been the Arnold lights because, despite the mildly excruciating render time, the renderer just has more capabilities than the scanline renderers, so the lights look far better and more realistic. My least favorite would have to be sun positioner just because it's the least fun to work with and it feels as though I have less control over it. One thing I've taken away from the past few assignments is how to be able to use multiple different types of light sources in conjunction with one another to create a more well-lit scene. This can be useful because if you want to use standard lighting in your scene, just one of these can look fairly plain and unrealistic, but if you find the right combination of types of standard lights, you can create that complex lighting and elevate your scene further.
In this unit we are working with UVW maps for the first time, and it helps create a very realistic texture to your models. The idea of UVW maps and the tools that go with it can look quite intimidating at first, but the pay-off is definitely worth it! I'd say if you want to take on 3d modeling seriously, then UVW maps would be a must-have tool, and it would be necessary for you to understand it. So far, I've only scraped the very basics of the UVW tools and only know how to apply them at a beginner's level, but I hope to learn more about these tools more in the future. One thing I enjoy about this tool is how it makes it easier to create and apply your own, original textures to your 3d models. While in the past we've only used textures from outside sources, now we can create and design our own textures for use in our models. UVWs can be very complex tools,but by taking it one step at a time, the learning process is worth it.
In this unit we learned new, and really interesting topics/techniques for our modeling and animating. This includes MassFX, particle systems, daylight systems, and the cloth modifier. These new tools are extremely useful and I hope to find myself using them a lot more in the future to create more advanced-looking models and animations. Unfortunately though, this comes at price, and that is the difficulty lower-end computers have with these tools. Recently I was able to get 3DS Max on my computer and it handles things semi-smoothly, but the issue comes in when we combine these tools into a single file and attempt to render it. This is really sad to see after we spent the unit learning about these topics, because when put together you can make beautiful, intricate, or complex animations, but if your computer can hardly function during the process the fun is taken out of modeling and you're just left feeling frustrated. After learning my lesson and trying to put too much pressure on my computer, I realize I will have to make sacrifices, even if it is unsatisfying to do so. A world in which you could model anything you want, however you want without 3DS Max crashing sounds great, but it's simply not possible. It's a shame because particle systems and MassFX are able to create realistic movement, but can become too much for many older, less capable computers, such as my own, to handle.
This unit we worked with modeling concepts that are not entirely new to us, such as parametric modeling which we first learned about in DDA I. However, with this class being more independent and with me having a tiny bit of time on my hands I decided to try and work with photogenic lighting tools. These, specifically the free light tool, are quite easy to use despite being fairly intimidating when you first look at them. When using the free light tool, although it depends on what effect you want, most of the time you will want to turn the shadows on for your light otherwise your lights will look very 'unrealistic and out of place. The one issue I had when I was working with this was not an issue regarding the actual tool, but the computer I was working with, so if you don't have a great computer, working with lighting and shadows may take more time than you would expect. I found that even combining lighting and shadows with simple models can bring those models to life. So, if you ever have scene that feels really meh, it doesn't take much effort to add lighting and shadows to make it look much, much better. I enjoy being able to be more independent than I was in the previous DDA course, and am looking forward to learning more concepts.
this unit we have been working with compound objects, making me familiar with a lot of new tools and their functions. A lot of these have been useful, however, some I don't see myself using often. In my last post I discussed the ProBoolean and Boolean tools, and since that post I have actually found myself using it more often than I had originally thought I would. It is useful when you want to quickly create a new shape, and it can create many new shapes just by using two. Subtraction has been the most helpful and is what I typically use Boolean for. Next we learned about Blobmesh which had some perks, but most of the time looked a bit off to say the least. It's difficult to make this tool look good and you have less control over the final product than I would prefer. There are other roundabout ways to get the kind of liquidy effect this tool claims to make that use a much less frustrating process. The loft tool has been really easy and efficient to work with. I can see it being useful in many situations as you simply need a shape and a path to make a new object. Interesting designs can be made with this tool and other modifiers on top of it, so I expect to continue using it. Procutter is definitely useful, especially for making signs, due to being able to imprint or attach the shapes you want. These are some of the compound object tools we learned about this unit, most of which I will continue to use in the future.
In summary:
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About meI am a Senior at DSA and currently taking the Advanced Game Art and Design course. I enjoy playing video games and drawing in my free time. The opinions expressed within this blog are my own, and do not reflect that of Durham School of the Arts of Durham Public Schools Archives
May 2022
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