BA3 The Final Stretch...

With the final mesh completed it was time to create the UV's everyone loves to hate. Learning from my mistakes in my previous studies this session proved to be a far easier ride, if not a very long one still.

The UV's turned out great in my opinion, placement efficiency could still be improved upon but for the most part they were well conceived and the extra time put into aligning certain areas and ensuring many of the same materials stayed together means for an easier time when texturing.

3 separate sets of UV's were produced, as 3 textures maps will be made in total. The first covered all the main walls with the intended texture to be brickwork. The second focused on all the columns, debris and oddities, and the final texture map would be solely for the ground and surround ornament display piece. The are as follows:

 UV Set 1 "Walls"

 UV Set 2 "Columns"

UV Set 3 "Floor"

Content with the placement and having used a UV checker map to ensure correct density over the whole scene I decided I was ready to create the textures. The first up of course would be the diffuse.

Due to my studies and a reference catalog I had been building up I had a good source of photo textures to use and aid in me in this trying process.

The process started by laying the brick base over every wall it would be applied to. Next was to place concrete and grunge to ground the walls to the floor and blend a little better. Finally layers of noise were added on top and various decals were added to give the appearance of chipped edges, broken faces, and removed plaster. The final result for the first diffuse map with an ambient occlusion layered on top:

The same process was done for the second diffuse. Base textures of sand and concrete were layered. Grime, grunge and dirt and weathering were added on top. Smaller objects were assigned my intended textures, marble for the statue, wood for the low poly palettes, and concrete for the stepping stones. All combined and ambient added resulted in the second set being completed:

The third and final diffuse assigned to the ground textures reused the concrete and grunge for the ornament piece so that it merged well with the scene and didn't seem out of place. A muddy ground was used for the floor with small patches of grass. The aim with this texture was that the combination of a successful specular map with the muddy ground could give off some nice wet highlights and ground this grimy and slightly somber mood the scene would have. Adding shadows from the walls and debris to the solid helped merge the two together and add more depth to the piece despite the relatively flat terrain,

Next the specular maps were made being careful to ensure nothing in this scene reflected too much as it was void of any metal or glass. The mud was mad to seem wet as well as the grass but otherwise they were kept pretty bland.

Finally the normals for the 3 maps were created and added to the scene. They really help to push the grouting back and the bricks forward as well as make any notches or cracks in the truly feel deep. The ground was given a rough but even normal as there was little of notice in the floor as it's there to compliment my folly but not detract from it or draw attention away.

The normal maps came out as below:

 Pleased with the textures and very happy with the final model with all the textures applied it was time to take some nicely rendered images to show case this.

 The final came out as so, and I can genuinely say I am very happy with it. Some of the textures I chose could have done with being a little higher resolution as up close they aren't too appealing but from a player's distance the piece passes well. Overall I am very pleased with how the folly turned out, its seems beaten, old, damaged and ticks all the boxes I had layed out for it. As usual there would be things I would change or add to but time considered and work flow wise I think it has definitely reached an acceptable standard and one I am pleased to take further and create an asset sheet for.

The final thing to talk about is the asset sheet. With the help of a friend we were able to see how the piece may look UE4's engine and appreciate how it turned out in the end.

 Placed in Unreal Engine 4

The last piece was the asset sheet which I feel highlights the scene nicely, gives a good insights into the mesh, the respectable tri count and another look into the maps that make a 3D model possible. Credit was also given where credit is due.

Thoughts:

What can I say really? I have practically met the end and I can honestly say this was an incredibly enjoyable journey providing me with so much more knowledge than before and an enormous insight into the large world of 3D and the processes it takes to create a final game ready asset from the humble beginnings of an idea.

I certainly hope to retain my newly found knowledge of Maya and continue to use it over summer towards some portfolio work and ingrain its tools and abilities into my mind.

For now however I feel I need a moment of self evaluation of this project...

I have been very pleased with the final outcome and proud of how I got there. If i had the ability to go back in time I would most certainly work on my time management a little more, go into further and more technical research into architecture and finally iterate further and generate more ideas. However that aside I am more than happy with how this project turned out and the way it was structured and I now wait in anticipation for the next year :)

BA3 Block Out Iteration 2 Making the final

I have decided at this point to chose the 3rd idea as the one to develop further and hopefully transform into a design suitable for my final folly.

Taking the original concept I continued by adding in features from the other block outs as I felt the composition needed more and the scene felt empty.

The dome from the second folly wass added using some of the pillars of the 5th. However this felt forced and I don't believe it matched the surrounding architecture well.

Instead I enlarged the scene a create a space to fill the scene with more information.

I then used the entire of the second block out and destroyed it to see if that would help ground its place in this scene.

I added more walls and shattered pillars to help fill the scene.

The cracked dome had been placed to consider pathways and how people could enter and leave this folly without creating accidental impassable areas.

Unfortunately through all this iterating I had overlooked one fatal matter. The scene was simply way too big. Even with the 10m rough limit we had been given this scene would take a lot of work to UV and texture let alone polish and finalise. The only option at this point is to bring the knife to it...

After discecting the model visually to find a good composition and then literally to make it a reality I settled with the image below.

I feel the final design encompasses the original idea of the block out, merges the theme of time and decay I have been pressing, and the potential for a very appealing looking scene with potential for weathered textures and plenty of character to put into the piece.

Thoughts:

Using what I've learnt through my studies, the structures in my research and the tools in Maya I believe I have made a promising folly with the joys of UVing and the real test of creating believable textures waiting on the horizon. Hopefully I am able to create an eye catching piece that lives up to the themes I have set for it.

BA3 Block Out Iteration

Upon being given the brief I have researched many different styles of follies and what it means for a structure to be a "folly". At this point I felt informed enough to start generating some design ideas for my own one.

Using reference images and what I learnt from our research as well as a little imagination I set about creating some 3D blockouts as potential designs for the final.

I felt these 3D iterations would be the best way to get a quick idea of how the final design may look as well as act as a base to start from were I to choose one of these block outs to develop further.

I started out by using some images of Ancient Greek temples and ruins and attempted to recreated a quainter more realistic structure that could be found in a garden or field. The idea was the piece was be created to seem destroyed and could be used as a place to eat or socialise on a nice day despite a folly's strict "has no use" policy.

The second was inspired by the centre piece in one of Norwich's parks as well as countless other similar structures. This one aimed to be clean and pleasing to look at with the potential ability to sit inside or admire from a distance.

The 3rd block out fully embraced the destruction and decay I mentioned in my earliest posts focusing on creating a scene with more of a story behind it. The debris and broken walls offer a lot of potential in the texture as well as the composition and could very much be implemented into a level of a game despite it's purpose as a folly.

The next folly block out looked at old castle ruins on the shores o England. The idea was potentially to create a miniature one that would act as a mock up ruin but could have a more playful side to it in its comical size.

The final idea combined many of the ideas of the first block outs keeping pillars interesting windows and the potential of implementation in a game. Its design is interesting and could definitely be seen placed in a modern garden as a piece to walk in and around.

Thoughts:

Currently I am intrigued by the 3rd and 5th design as I think they off the most variety in their design and both have plenty of potential for creating character in their appearance.

The block out I chose will then be developed further likely using pleasing components from some of the other block outs to help ground the design and create a visually interesting piece.

BA3 Folly Research

"In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or merely appearing to be so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or the class of building to which it belongs." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly

In short a folly is very much what the creator wishes it to be. Within the limitations of the architecture possible. A further description of what a folly is and isn't helps give insight into what exactly I am being asked to create.

General Properties

The concept of the folly is subjective and it has been suggested that the definition of a folly "lies in the eyes of the beholder". Typical characteristics include:

• They have no purpose other than as an ornament. Often they have some of the appearance of a building constructed for a particular purpose, such as a castle or tower, but this appearance is a sham. Equally, if they have a purpose, it may be disguised.
• They are buildings, or parts of buildings. Thus they are distinguished from other garden ornaments such as sculpture.
• They are purpose-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments.
• They are often eccentric in design or construction. This is not strictly necessary; however, it is common for these structures to call attention to themselves through unusual details or form.
• There is often an element of fakery in their construction. The canonical example of this is the sham ruin: a folly which pretends to be the remains of an old building but which was in fact constructed in that state.
• They were built or commissioned for pleasure.

What follies are not

Fantasy and novelty buildings are essentially the converse of follies. Follies often look like real, usable buildings, but ordinarily are not; novelty buildings are usable, but have fantastic shapes. The many American shops and water towers in the shapes of commonplace items, for example, are not properly follies. Follies fall within the general realm of fanciful and impractical architecture, and whether a particular structure is a folly is sometimes a matter of opinion. However, there are several types which can be distinguished from follies.

• Eccentric structures may resemble follies, but the mere presence of eccentricity is not proof that a building is a folly. Many mansions and castles are quite eccentric, but being purpose-built to be used as residences, they are not properly follies.
• Some structures are popularly referred to as "follies" because they failed to fulfil their intended use. Their design and construction may be foolish, but in the architectural sense, they are not follies.
• Visionary art structures frequently blur the line between artwork and folly, if only because it is rather often hard to tell what intent the artist had. The word "folly" carries the connotation that there is something frivolous about the builder's intent. Some works (such as the massive complex by Ferdinand Cheval) are considered as follies because they are in the form of useful buildings, but are plainly constructions of extreme and intentional impracticality.
• Amusement parks, fairgrounds, and expositions often have fantastical buildings and structures. Some of these are follies, and some are not; the distinction, again, comes in their usage. Shops, restaurants, and other amusements are often housed in strikingly odd and eccentric structures, but these are not follies.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly

It seems there is a little to more to a "folly" than I had initially thought. Though the description at the top of this post summarises what a "folly" encompasses the following points do highlight a blurred line in the perception of what these structures are. 

This research has also caused me to dismiss my initial intention to look into fantastical designs. For now sticking to real life examples will be more beneficial using any fantastical designs or in game structures as reference for potential embellishments to the final model to spice up its appearance slightly.

 Stone and slab seems to be the most frequently used material in the creation of "follies" likely due to the high number of medieval or ancient themed pieces with very few modern designs existing.

As a result of this and the many reference pieces I have available throughout Norwich it is likely I will look into creating a piece very similar to these style. My thoughts initially go towards a purposeful ruin of something that appears to have been far grander than what you would see now. Playing with the scale could also add an element of playfulness to the folly making the viewer appear to be a giant overlooking a quaint castle.

For now the best course of action would to begin studies in blocking out simple design and silhouettes in 2D and 3D playing around with stone arches, stairways, and pillars to create interesting ruins and models. 

BA3 Creative Briefing

Our long awaited brief has finally arrived and I can honestly say I am very excited for it. The creative prospect and freedom to design are far more open than I initially expected and have really put me back into a place of comfort. One of my most engaged areas of our course is the designing stages of projects, any area to do with invention, problem solving, and physical design creation really interests me and thus this "folly" creation truly will be enjoyable from start to finish I hope.

Rambling aside our creative project briefing task goes as follows:

"Design, model and texture a folly using the architectural research you have been engaged in.

Create a presentation turntable video using Viewport 2.0 in a lit Maya scene."

“Do model.... make awesome.... win” - M.Wickham 2015 


Mark's brief summary was an excellent touch. In short the brief is very simple; design a folly, using our research to aid, looking very loosely at a 10m² design parameter, and present this fully textured and efficient game ready asset in Viewport 2.0 as best as possible.

The Plan:

So having been given a brief insight into what a folly is exactly and shown some examples we are now left to our own devices. Using what we have been taught over the last 4 weeks the modeling section should be the "easier" part of this unit. The texturing, UVMapping, and research continuation work will be the bulk work of this project. Having slipped a little towards the end of the research phase, creating previous blog work and research is still on my to do list, and thus I hope to have the design grounded and begun modeling by the end of this weekend to allow room for unfinished work.

The very first thing I'll do is get a better understanding of what exactly a "folly" is and with that knowledge continue by producing a mood board of many real life examples. I may potentially look into fantasy based structures to help influence a little bit of creativity in my design but shall be primarily looking into my own research of real-life architecture and examples of preexisting follies to start things off.

BA3 Research into Architecture 7

This particular task I have labeled "The Grave Gate". I eventually found a suitable study piece and one I believe has a lot of potential. The architectural piece I found happened not to be a building of any sort but an opening. Much like how I stated in earlier posts that there was something intriguing about entryways the same can be said for the piece I found.

The structure itself happens to be a pair of weathered pillars clasping a gate that when opened would see you enter the grounds of a grave yard.

Instantly chilling yet something bursting with character. Rust, moss, cobwebs, eroded corners, everything I was hoping to find. 

Pictures paint a thousand words so I have made a few compilations of the structure to highlight its aesthetics as well as act as reference images for my model.

Distanced images to get the overall mood and silhouette of the structure.

Close ups of the metal work in the gate, as well as the rust and mold present.

A look at the smaller details on the pillars such as the padlock and gateholder.

A few images looking at the surrounding old and new metal rusted gates.

References gathered it was time to start this thing... primitive style. I will list a series of progress with small captions under each image if necessary.

At this point the model is complete in terms of it mesh and has been cleaned up of all n-gons and unnecessary edges. The next stage is the much anticipated and dreaded UV mapping. This has to be done to ensure a texture is applied comfortably ans intended and is a critical part in the creation of every 3D asset in games.

Automatic mapping was done initially not to be used a means of creating the UV's but of forming a sort of "parts list". That way once everything has been UVd I am able to check if there are any remaining pieces I have missed and subsequently locate and UV them properly.

The "parts list" is moved to one side and the UVing begins through planar mapping choosing to do it from either the x,y, or z axis based on what's appropriate.

Some areas were trickier than others sometimes requiring cylindrical mapping. In the end there were a few hiccups, the discovery of reversed normals and hidden faces but after an arduous journey the UV's were finally mapped to an acceptable state.

The placement could have been more efficient and the faces them selves straighter but for a first attempt I am pretty pleased. The UV's for my expected final will be far cleaner I hope.

Before moving on I wanted to take some time to capture some "beauty shots" of the model in mental ray just to focus on the geometry and mesh of the asset before creating the textures.

The next stage was attempting a texture. At this point i am well aware of what a diffuse map is and how it works as well as creating an ambient occlusion layer to overlay it to add that sense of depth. I am less familiar with specular maps and normal maps but will attempt to give them a try and whether they are successful or not the attempt will at least give invaluable insight into how they work and what it takes to produce them.

The diffuse maps is as shown below.

I felt it was semi successful but not as well thought out as I'd like. I think it requires a lot more weathering and far more features to break up the repeating patterns. Despite this I believe it is passable and this exercise was more of a geometric study than a texture study. In the future I will attempt a more thought out layout and merge the textures better.

The specular came out as expected and did a good job of reflecting the mossy areas and exposed metal and clouding the rusted, stony, and non reflective surfaces on the pillars.

Finally the normals were a good attempt but very awkward to create. I must say I still feel limited in my knowledge of how they function and how to produce a truly effective normal map. Hopefully through some further research and study I should be able to produce a decent map for the final project.

Thoughts:

At this point I was very pleased with the outcome of the study, particularly in the mesh. My criticisms however is that the gate was far too detailed and high poly for what it was and as a result a nightmare to UV. In the future I should stick to finding the minimal way to creating information with geometry and focus solely on the sihouette and not intricate details that are very likely to be missed by the player.

Other faults i have are in the texture. Unfortunately I did leave it late and as a result it felt rushed with plenty more that could be done to it. All in all though this piece acted as an enormous learning achievement propelling me far further into the 3D world through the required task of trying to recreated a real life object in digital form.

It was enjoyable to create and will more than certainly help me towards the final goal of this project.