Diorama Part 2

I knew from my previous diorama hand in that I wasn't going to get a very good mark which is a shame really. I was hoping I'd do well enough, but at the same time I didn't get my hopes up. But with this second chance I was able to really get into the re make of it. I decided I wanted to re-do a tree however I just made a different type of tree. I created a small bonsai willow tree.

I didn't need to do any more research as I already had the previous research from the first time I had created my diorama. This was just a case of re-modelling the tree. The thing that I found most difficult was the leaves. With the previous diorama that is what I found most difficult as well. For some reason I could not find the right combination to make the alphas work properly with the tree. I find that they best way to create the willow leaves is to create planes which look and fold like willow leaves, then within that I would create the alpha texture so that they look individual, leaves. I layered the planes and changed the to make the branches look fuller. I then took the trunk of the tree into zbrush once I had arranged the alpha leaves so that I could add in more detail especially with the roots. With this I baked it out and created a normal and AO to give the illusion that the low poly is high poly. I unwrapped and textured it then imported it into UE4 and gave it a scene with some modular rocks I had made.

Here is the final piece:

FMP this way!

So it’s gotten to that time of year now which it is where we get so many months to do our own wonderful own project called an FMP (Final Major Project), where we do whatever we want to do. For this I am pairing up with a friend to create our own level and what comes with this is a new place to keep track of all progress and updates to how everything is progressing.

Come on let’s go! Check it out!

https://davypickeringfmp.wordpress.com/author/davypickering/

Japanese Cherry Blossom Diorama

Once we had finished our Sidescroller project and presented it, it was time to start another project. No rest for the wicked!

We were given a range of industrial briefs which we could choose from. So I decided to pick the diorama brief. I had to create a small diorama scene with a selection of small assets and one hero asset. For the scene I must have included the following Hero Asset (prop or vehicle), terrain piece and small props such as rocks and vegetation. We had 3 weeks to do this project and theme was determined by myself. There was no concept needed but a key image to work from at least.

The piece I decided to do was a Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree. I wanted to do this as my diorama piece because I knew for my FMP that was to come in the new year that I was going to work on a Japanese Garden. So I wanted to practice my tree modelling and texturing.

This is the key image that I used that I wanted to re-create for my diorama:

Key Image

First of all I started researching Japanese trees. I didn’t know exactly what type of tree I wanted to go for so I looked at a wide range and then felt strongest about a Japanese cherry blossom tree. I felt this would be good to practice. Once I had found my key image I went ahead and started to model my tree. I modelled it using splines and then path deforming the cylinder I created. I purposely went ahead and used a lot of tris first of all so I could then merge all the branches together so it flowed nicely into each branch. Once all the branches were merged I then went ahead and got rid some of the tris that weren’t needed and got rid of any n-gons. I took this into zbrush and worked into adding details such as bumps, folds and knots like a normal tree. I then used an alpha brush to add some texture. I then decided to start focusing up on the leaves. I created a high poly leaf which I then duplicated and FDD modified to make it slightly different to the rest. I then created two smaller high-poly branches in which I would then object paint the leaves on. I used the rump object paint so that the leaves towards the end of the branch would be smaller. Once I was happy with that I then went ahead and edited the leaves separately, so that there was no negative space. Once I had done that I then baked it down onto a plane so I could then use it for alphas later.

Once I have finished that I then went back to my main tree and baked down the high to low poly. Once I had done that I then went ahead and arranged my alpha branches on one singular low poly branch to then object paint on my tree. Once I had roughly painted my alphas onto my tree I manually rotated and moved them to fill in the space left.

I created my terrain by putting it into zbrush and then baking it down.

Once done I took it then into Unreal and worked in a particle system to create falling blossom. I took my plane of my blossom and then created an alpha in which I then created a particle effect to create a falling blossom. 

Final UE4 screenshot

Sidescroller a whole new experience

Introduction to the brief

The brief that we were given was to create a sidescroller consisting of 4 levels, 2 main characters (male and female) and 3 NPCs. It is to work in a large group to work towards a larger goal (game) and work effectively and creatively as a team.

Each section of the level are represented by 4 themes and to include dynamic elements where possible, particle effects and movement:

• ·         Hot
• ·         Cold
• ·         Happy
• ·         Scary

The characters should be rigged so that they have some animations applied as well as walk, run, jump, punch and kick.

The project length is 6 weeks.

What area you worked on?

Within my group of 4 people I was one of the environment artists with 2 other people and a concept artist. Within the environment artists we gave ourselves things to do depending on what we wanted to learn or what caught our attention or what we wanted to do. We thought it would be a better idea to work on the things that kept our interest rather than forcing things upon ourselves. For me personally I worked on a variety of things. First of all though before we started anything we headed to the whiteboard and gathered to discuss our inital ideas. We came up with things that related to our level Hot, such as volcanos, lava, rain forests and even went outside of the box like kitches or boiler rooms which still followed the word hot. We carried on like this and took it to pinterest where all focused on a couple of our ideas and then pinned the relevent images. For example some was given the word desert, so they pinned all the relevent desert photos. Once we had a clear idea of where we wanted to take this we then went onto concepting. Throughout the group we concepted various parts however we did enjoy the idea of a volcano level and wanted to incorporate that within the level somewhere. When we first started the project we all had to do some concepting to get an idea of the way our level looked.

The concepting I worked on was:

• ·         Shape Grabs
• ·         Colour Palettes
• ·         Underground Concepts
• ·         Start Concepts
• ·         Asset Ideas
• ·         Level Idea as a whole
• ·         Path Blocking
• ·         Levers
• ·         Statue Door Mural

Some of the concepts that I did was refining from what our concept artist did to get across the point of the idea I had in my head. The level idea as a whole was originally what I drew on the whiteboard during a meeting with the group. The concept artist then took this to draw it up neatly within in Photoshop for others to work on. I then added my own ideas on top of this and we came together as a group and discussed what worked well.

The modelling I worked on was:

Whitebox:

• Main Tree
• Branches
• Statue
• Lever

Final Assets:

• Platform Edges
• Flytraps
• Flytrap Stems
• Lever
• Magic Mushrooms
• Plant 1, 2 and 3
• Tree Fungus
• Treehouse
• Vista
• Vine Alphas

Within the whiteboxing stage I had created the statue door which was to be re-done to be put into the final piece however I passed this onto another environment artist which finished off the model. The rest I had worked on personally. Within the final assets I took some into Zbrush for the first time. This was a new experience for me as I have never used Zbrush before, however after spending a day on getting to grips with the software I felt more confident with using it and thus taking more models in to get the right shape for when I do the high to low poly bake within 3DS Max.

Due to the change in brief however I had to put some models to the side to focus on the models for the area that we decided to polish and focus on. This is where I created the magic mushrooms. They had an emissive map to add some more colour as one of the main points from the feedback we got was there were too many green and browns within the level. So I decided to create glowing magic mushrooms to add a variety of colours. I also created some emissive maps for the tree fungus as some of the models where to be used within the temple.

The platform edges were broken up so they made the whitebox platforms look a bit more interesting to the player and so it looks like an old temple which has been crumbling. The flytraps were to add a bit of fantasy as they were oversized and what is used as a platform for the player to descend from the bottom of the tree to the temple roof. The stems were concepted by the concept artist and pulled the normal figure of a plant stem. This added a sense of fantasy again and created interesting shapes. The levers were part of the main puzzle that I came up with for our level. The player had to interact with the levers dotted around inside the temple to open the statue door to progress further into the level. Each lever was placed on a smaller pillar and the handle of the lever itself was modelled to look like it was made out of natural materials found around the temple such as a small branch from a tree. The magic mushrooms came from research into exotic plants and also from Scary’s level who used mushrooms within theirs. I came up with the idea to make them purple and glowing to add some contrasting colours from the brown and green background. Plants 1, 2 and 3 were to add some life and organic shapes into the level as it was somewhat lacking organic forms. It was based within a rainforest/jungle environment but there was no plant life apart from the trees which didn’t make sense. So I started working on more organic and exotic plants into the level. Their albedo were also interesting colours which added some more contrast and took away from the sheer amount of browns and greens.  The tree fungus were to be used as platforms to traverse down the main tree. Originally the platforms were simple cross sections of tree trunks and textured like trees however the feedback that we were given was that it was too boring. So we decided from peer feedback to add tree mushrooms which normally grow on the outside of trees and bring them inside. With this I went ahead, modelled it in 3DS Max and then Zbrushed it to bake it down. The treehouse was meant to be put into the final of the level however where we cut it down it didn’t matter too much. I modelled it exactly the way the concept artist had drawn it, I pushed some of the forms so that it wasn’t as box like or square. I worked on the vista between the level and the volcano in the background so that when you started at the top of the level not everything was floating in mid-air. On top of that I then worked on some alpha vines which were used to add some natural vines quick and easy.

What worked well?

The things that worked well for me personally was I was really happy with my mushrooms and plants. I enjoyed taking them into Zbrush and working in more detail to bake down into the normal map. I felt it worked really well. The mushrooms were able to bring in something that we were missing and they didn’t require too much time. They were simple and effect and that’s what I enjoyed with them.

What worked well within the level as a whole was the temple itself, especially with everyone’s assets coming together as a whole. With one of our environment artists working withing engine to make everything look as good as possible it helped to see how the level would like once the engine guys had finished putting everything together. 

What didn’t work well?

One of the main things that I thought didn’t work well was that we weren’t able to figure out an effective way on how to transition between our level Hot to the next level Happy. It was quite a hard call to make and the communication between the two levels was a bit non-exsistent and thus we weren’t truly able to get down a strong idea.

What problems you faced?

The problems we faced throughout the whole project was that only one person could work on the engine at one time and that if we wanted to check our assets within the level we had to wait for the person who was working on our level to import it and place it within the level. This cost some time in places and meant that we weren’t as productive. Other problems were getting the right size for assets, although we had a general outline for sizes it did vary and a lot was changed within engine anyway.

How did you overcome problems and issues?

While one of our artists was working in engine and we had some spare time waiting to see if things were working correctly we made some more assets or adjusted the textures for our models. With the end of the level lacking we were able to make a quick fix on how to tie everything together. Rocks that were already made were scaled and placed around to show the floating island idea that Happy has in theirs and that linked it quite well.

What would you do differently if you were to approach a similar project?

The things that I would do differently is try and get the idea down as soon as possible. I would also make sure that I only spend around 1-1/2weeks concepting rather than the 2 ½ weeks we spent. This meant that we would have had more time modelling and polishing off at the end rather than rushing about it. I would have also liked to work in engine more and help out with lighting and particle effects. This would have eased off the main environment artist who was doing a lot of the engine work. I think that the colours needed to be down and finalized as we spent a lot of time changing the colours within engine and within the textures of the models.

Conclusion/Summary

Overall this project was an eye-opener on how to work effectively as a large group of people working on one game. Even though previously I have worked as a team it hasn’t been in this size and having to work collective amongst individual groups. I’ve learnt a lot of this project especially from the people I have been working with. They’ve helped me a lot to excel in software that I haven’t used before and that has made me feel more confident. I felt that I have produced effective work and it has added to the level rather than be a waste of time. I felt that I kept on track with time and that I wasn’t rushing around too much with trying to get models fully textured and exported.

I think I could have been more involved within engine work and put in more of an input however I didn’t want to mess the engine up in-case I broke it and it would set us back. This is why I held back a little. I wish I had also done some more intricate models such as a statue rather than doing smaller assets.

However overall I think the group worked really well together and I’ve been happy with all the work that everyone has produced. Everyone has had their input and worked hard at what they were given. I think the level that we produced works really well and it came together in the end. 


Here are some beauty screenshots of my work within the level:

Treehouse

Tree Fungus

Most of my organic models in engine

Flytraps

Flytrap Stems

Plant 1, 2 and 3

Tree Fungus placed within level and lever for the puzzle

More plants at the back of the level including some of the alpha vines at the exit door

The vista to fill in the ground

King Of The Dead!

So it’s the second project already and it’s a group one! Yay….

Nah I’m kidding. I am looking forward to it. From the issues from the last group project I was sceptical however that was mainly cause of certain issues. Luckily with this group that wasn’t the case and I actually felt confident.

So the title was “King of the Dead”. We are a small time company and a game studio has approached us! Wooo! We’ve got to give them evidence that we can quickly produce both quality work and original ideas. We’ve negotiated with the games studio to produce a small environment that contains a character sat on a throne with one wall and one floor. Sounds pretty good so far. This will give them a chance to judge our skills in environment, prop and character work. We’ve been given 2 weeks to produce this work.

2spooky4me

First of all we got together in our group which consisted of 4 people. We started by spreading round ideas and telling each other what we had in mind when we first were given the brief. The ideas that went round were mostly based around the Mexican Day of the Dead. However we had a fun idea of creating in a game show way. It was different when we first thought of it but it had a lot of connections to death. We were heading down the path of a game show like “The Wheel of Fortune” and possibly making the game show miniature on a shrine that is seen a lot on the Mexican Day of the Dead. We looked further into the meaning and depth and found that there were some gods which we could include. In the end we decided to take influence from both the Aztec and Spanish Day of the Dead festivals with a wheel of fortune type game show which is over looked by “Mictecacihuatl” the queen of the underworld. She was to act as a host of the game show. We looked at various Aztec designs and shrines to come up with some concepts.

We liked the idea however it was coming to a dead end and wasn't original. It was just becoming more of a throne room. So before it was too late we changed our idea to something different, something more obscure. We decided to go for a wage slave employee. We decided to create some subtle hints that would link the character to be known as Death himself. He were trying to picture him in a cubical office with stacks of paper work. We didn't want him skin and bones so we decided to make him fat and greasy. We wanted to go away from the traditional skeleton grim reaper. A good idea was to add “Employee of the Month” on the walls but maybe change it to “Employee of the Century” to signify that he's been there for a very, very long time. So with that we went ahead and created concepts in which we could work from.

Spongebob has the idea

However the same thing happened again, and we changed our minds. We decided to make our character a politician. However that idea changed swiftly to a War General. This was to give the idea that he was The King of the Dead. We didn't want to make it too controversial but we wanted it to make an impact. It was sceptical at first but we felt confident in what we could do. There are many stories behind our character but it was to mostly signify that at the end of the day he is The King of the Dead. We created mood boards, concepts, whiteboxes and felt that this was stable and went ahead to bring everything together. We got a lot of our inspiration from “The Incredibles” and the “Pixar” style. We used a colour palette similar to “The Incredibles” especially with the textures of the Characters and the lighting around the character.

Best film ever!

So in the end that’s where we ended up. A grumpy skinny general in a war room. That’s what we did in the end and that’s what we were happy with. We took a lot of inspiration from “The Incredibles” and it was definitely the worth the work.

All in all I have really enjoyed this project and it’s been really eye opening working in an efficient group who works well with each other. I’ve felt my concepting has become better especially when working with a whitebox for help. Over time I think my concepting will become much more efficient but overall I am really happy about how everything turned out!

If it was a project by myself I would have changed it to something different. I’m not 100% sure what I would change it to but possibly make it more significant or work more on engine work and particles to create the king of the dead and add something more to it. I did still like the game show and would probably pursue that more.

So here are some pretty screenshots of our final level.

Year 3 and into the deep!

So my first blog post of a new year at Uni! So it’s year 3 and in the deep end of it all. It’s time to think of FMP ideas and to most likely scrap everything! But that’ll be a different blog post. For now I’m going to talk about the first project we were giving which was our PBR Texture Project.

So with the release of UE4 I was pretty excited for this project. I wanted to get used to UE4 and have a look at what it has to offer me. Hopefully this time it isn’t as buggy. However what is this metalness and roughness. When I first heard this I really didn’t understand what was going on. It was like I was starting from the beginning again. Well I actually was, but you know what I mean. Although I had a face of pure confusion while hearing about these metalness and roughness maps I felt like it was the start of something new.

 

It was fitting. Don't judge

So having got this project I went out and took some textures. Now I didn’t really know what was going on and ended up taking a trip to Yo!Sushi for food. Cause who doesn’t like sushi?! Even so headed back and started working on my textures. I was ready to start making tileable textures to apply to the texture balls in UE4. We were giving a level template which had the texture balls already named. We just had to create our own textures to apply to the balls.

So in having all the tileable textures done it was time to make the metalness and roughness maps. So to start with I was randomly change the values between white and black and all the grey in-between until I created the right material. I added in some normal onto certain materials such as rust to give it that bit more of a definition. I thought I would understand metalness and roughness but even at the end of the project I’m still wondering how it works. When I thought it was right and it’d make iron look metal it made it look matte. Which confused me. In the end I just kept tweaking the textures until they were right within engine. It’s not a good way to go about it but hopefully with time I will be able to figure it out. I really enjoyed this exercise and sorting out what material needed what property was fun and interesting.

It also has been good to start learning particle effects as well. I hope to get better at these particle effects and learn other ways of creating them and changing them within Unreal. With the spark particle effects I found that it only came out across one plane. I wanted the sparks to come out from all different directions when they spawn and possibly make it circle around the mystical ball before they die. With the smoke as well I have found it difficult to control and get more a mist feel rather than a smokey feel. This probably meant more tweaking and possibly a new particle, however by using the smoke particle I was able to change it in some of the ways I wanted it to look. The only other issue I have with the smoke is that when you look at the smoke in a specific direction the colour changes to black. I couldn’t figure out how to fix it but it will be something I come away with knowing to sort it out in the future.

So here is some pretty renders of my balls.

All together now!!

Happy little family!

It's so pretty!

"Dobby is... free"

So it’s come to the end of the year now and so much has happened, I never thought that it would go by so fast! But as the year has gone by there has been so much for me to reflect on and this is what I think.

So what am I going to get out of coming to University? It’s not just drinking and clubbing, passing out and getting alcohol poisoning, but it’s learn. It’s a huge step in education and one where you do have to stand on your own two feet. You may still be lead when you go astray but a lot of it moves where you take it. This depends on where you want to go. For me over the year I always wanted to work as an environment artist. But it isn’t just about making a pretty picture, it’s more than that. It’s more of refining your skills, learning new ones, creating pieces of work that you didn’t think your skills could do, all through sheer practise. Back in first year it was like learning all the fundamentals of everything, how to move this pivot point, how to move that vert. Now in second year it was all about how do we make this model in the most effective way, how do we refine our models in engine, how do we learn new tools in CryEngine. It’s taking those fundamental skills from first year and bring them in second year and refining them to a crisp while learning extras on the side. Now when it gets to third year, it’s bringing everything together as one, the fundamentals, the refinement and then it will be the “stand on your own two feet”.

At the end of the day I want to get a degree in Game Art Design and make games as a living, whether it’d be mobile or console.  I want to be able to be a part of a team and create new innovative games. Some may be piss poor, some may be fantastic even a next best seller. But what I do know is I want to work with environments or weapons. Over second year environments have stuck with me, but I have gained an interest in weapons and I’d like to pursue this a little more. After three years of university, I will be employable to games companies with fundamental skills at modelling, texture, concepting and working within engine and I’d hope to refine these more to an industry high level.

There were some major down points within second year that have opened my eyes to what the real world is going to be like. A lot of this was time management and after two years of not working out my time I have suffered greatly, and now it’s time for me to pick it up again. It used to be oh this can wait and that can wait. But now I realise it can’t wait. Anything outside of my course can wait, this course can’t. This determines where my life goes and I don’t want to waste. Yes I’d like to relax but I want to make it in life. Where it takes me I’ll follow with my head held high and proud.

At the end of the day it was a successful/unsuccessful year and I’ve learnt so much in such a small amount of time compared to what my life will give me in the future. It’s been an interesting year. But I’m ready to relax, practise and come back with a fresh mind-set. It’s been a good year!