Unit 70 was the creation of the environment for our project. This unit would oversee the modelling and texturing of our chosen landscape ready to be exported into Maya for lighting and rendering tests. As mentioned in my previous evaluation I was behind on the plan I had set for this project. This meant that I would need to speed up production of this environment to be able to start animating in time.
Before I could begin modelling or even planning the environment I had to decide from the wide range of national trust environments. I immediately isolated some of the taller buildings such as towers. In the end I was left with a choice between a mill and a tower, ultimately the tower was chosen over the mill for a few reasons. The main reason was that the mill didn’t suit the idea of having a protector which would conflict with the brief. This choice was made in conjunction with the brief as I felt hitting the scenario set within the brief is more of a priority.
Planning the dimensions of the environment was fairly straight forward as it was some simple maths to work out the size of the tower. Probably the trickiest part of this part was to use ratios from my screen space to create the real world dimensions. This is all explained in further detail on my production blog. As mentioned on the production blog the only way I felt I could improve on this area to visit the site and gather primary research regarding the nation trust environment and maybe even speak to people who conduct maintenance on it. These small touches may have helped me create small details that only the locals may know about.
The next stage was modelling the tower, similar with modelling the mech I had very few problems with the modelling stage. During this modelling stage I tested a new tool called “array” this allowed me to arrange a piece of geometry around its pivot. While I felt this tool would have its uses it wasn’t suitable for the purpose I planned to use it for. In the end I chose the simpler method but I kept the “array” tool in mind for any future uses.
Unfortunately during the modelling stage I made the decision to cut the statue from my environment. This decision was made to ensure that I could begin animating as soon as possible due to looming deadlines. Another reason was that during my trailer the statue would have very limited screen time meaning spending an extended amount of time creating it would add little to my trailer. Although my environment may be missing the statue I feel it would still an interesting environment due to the sheer scale of the tower to my mech.
The rest of the modelling process went very smoothly allowing me to complete the environment early than I had anticipated, although this could be accredited to cutting the statue out of the environment. Overall I was happy with how the building ended up as it gave the grand scale feeling I hoped it would create.
The next part was to texture the building I had created. This was a relatively quick process as the wide selection of textures from cgtextures.com allowed me to complete this stage relatively quickly. Although an obvious improvement would be to create my own textures for the environment, as I was pressed for time this was not a viable option. While this would be a major area for consideration for another project, as I would feel comfortable with the modelling process leaving extra time to create some textures
The part of this unit that proved to cause the most headache was the creation of the non-reachable geometry. I had originally intended to create a basic top down texture for the environment, although in practice, the result was below expectations. After conducting some research and brainstorming with my peers we eventually came to conclusion that a piece of geometry with the correct texture in the distance would create a believable horizon. This worked much better than the previous attempts. Although with correct prior planning I may not of hit this roadblock, something I would need to consider for future projects.
Overall I am quite satisfied with how the environment turned out. As well as being completed ahead of schedule allow me to catch on previously lost time, I felt that it looked better than I had anticipated it being. Although in hindsight looking at the environment an area of improvement would be to add some decals of grass to the landscape. Right now it looks a bit empty across the landscape, although for the purpose of my trailer that matters little.
Before I could begin modelling or even planning the environment I had to decide from the wide range of national trust environments. I immediately isolated some of the taller buildings such as towers. In the end I was left with a choice between a mill and a tower, ultimately the tower was chosen over the mill for a few reasons. The main reason was that the mill didn’t suit the idea of having a protector which would conflict with the brief. This choice was made in conjunction with the brief as I felt hitting the scenario set within the brief is more of a priority.
Planning the dimensions of the environment was fairly straight forward as it was some simple maths to work out the size of the tower. Probably the trickiest part of this part was to use ratios from my screen space to create the real world dimensions. This is all explained in further detail on my production blog. As mentioned on the production blog the only way I felt I could improve on this area to visit the site and gather primary research regarding the nation trust environment and maybe even speak to people who conduct maintenance on it. These small touches may have helped me create small details that only the locals may know about.
The next stage was modelling the tower, similar with modelling the mech I had very few problems with the modelling stage. During this modelling stage I tested a new tool called “array” this allowed me to arrange a piece of geometry around its pivot. While I felt this tool would have its uses it wasn’t suitable for the purpose I planned to use it for. In the end I chose the simpler method but I kept the “array” tool in mind for any future uses.
Unfortunately during the modelling stage I made the decision to cut the statue from my environment. This decision was made to ensure that I could begin animating as soon as possible due to looming deadlines. Another reason was that during my trailer the statue would have very limited screen time meaning spending an extended amount of time creating it would add little to my trailer. Although my environment may be missing the statue I feel it would still an interesting environment due to the sheer scale of the tower to my mech.
The rest of the modelling process went very smoothly allowing me to complete the environment early than I had anticipated, although this could be accredited to cutting the statue out of the environment. Overall I was happy with how the building ended up as it gave the grand scale feeling I hoped it would create.
The next part was to texture the building I had created. This was a relatively quick process as the wide selection of textures from cgtextures.com allowed me to complete this stage relatively quickly. Although an obvious improvement would be to create my own textures for the environment, as I was pressed for time this was not a viable option. While this would be a major area for consideration for another project, as I would feel comfortable with the modelling process leaving extra time to create some textures
The part of this unit that proved to cause the most headache was the creation of the non-reachable geometry. I had originally intended to create a basic top down texture for the environment, although in practice, the result was below expectations. After conducting some research and brainstorming with my peers we eventually came to conclusion that a piece of geometry with the correct texture in the distance would create a believable horizon. This worked much better than the previous attempts. Although with correct prior planning I may not of hit this roadblock, something I would need to consider for future projects.
Overall I am quite satisfied with how the environment turned out. As well as being completed ahead of schedule allow me to catch on previously lost time, I felt that it looked better than I had anticipated it being. Although in hindsight looking at the environment an area of improvement would be to add some decals of grass to the landscape. Right now it looks a bit empty across the landscape, although for the purpose of my trailer that matters little.