revolver progress

this is how far I've got so far 

gamebanana.com

this is my profile on game banana where i upload models for moders

http://gamebanana.com/members/1345643

another project im going to be working on over summer

back when i was working in maya i made this high poly revolver (over 10 000)

i plan to make a lower poly model to the same standards and realism of my old model.

what i have so far: worked on for a few minutes at a time over a day 

 im using boolans which i dont normally use however i plan to use the cut tool and appending technique to fix the mesh.

reference image:

work in progress

evaluation of my work

Evaluation of my 3d work

This is the evaluation of my 3d work that I produced for college, I have tried to use techniques that they use in the industry to improve my work flow both in making, texturing and exporting model but also in the write ups following the practical process.

To make the work flow as smooth as possible have created the model in order of the learning objectives, the first objective is the modelling so I made all of the pieces and unwrapped them individually, this makes the UV mapping less confusing when I attach all the parts together.

The second learning objective was the texturing; I used the following maps to bring out detail in my models.

Diffuse: the defuse map is the visible texture that covers the model, this is the first thing that the player sees and added a certain level of detail however this map is literally like sticking a image on a flat surface.

Normal map: the normal map uses light to simulate bumpiness and depth onto the texture, using normal maps adds detail that could not be achieved through the texture or through geometry, the reason we use normal maps in game modelling is because we have a limit on what we can do with geometry due to poly counts.

Another map that does the same job as a normal map is a bump map, the difference is the normal map used colour to work out how deep the detail is while the bump map only uses grey scale, as a result of this the normal map holds more information and is preferred over bump maps.

Specular map: the specular map adds a shine to the model, the whiter the area on the specular map the more shine that area will have on the model and the same applies for the darker shades on the map make those parts of the map less shiny.

Gloss map: the gloss map works with the specular map (we were not taught gloss maps I had to work it out through trial and error) the specular map makes the object more shiny but the gloss map focuses that shine, the same rule applies the whiter the section the more glossy the object.

Opacity map:

Opacity maps make parts of the model transparent, the models I used this map on were the glasses,bin and lantern, on the glasses model I used different tones of grey to make the model more or less see threw.

The opposite rule applies for this map as the darker the colour the more transparent the object is.

Scaling and proportions

I have made my models in proportion this means that I won’t have scaling issues as the models can be scaled to the right size after they are completes, the second reason I won’t have problems scaling

my models is they are objects that can go anywhere in the scene and there for wont have to fit exactly.

Box scaling:

If you have made a model that you need to scale to a pre-set set size you can use a box to scale the object by making the box to the measurements and then scaling the object to fit inside the box.

1 and 2

3 and 4

1.       Open your object

2.       Create box of the correct size

3.        Scale model inside the box

4.       Delete box

5.       Congratulations your model is the correct size

 Evaluation of my table against professional work

This is the draws model I have created in 3ds max for this low poly assets for games unit, my model is to a great standard with no polygon/ geometry errors, the ways I made sure that there were no errors was to use simple low polygon modelling techniques, check the model to make sure that there were no over lapping edges or face and took multiple test renders from many angles to make sure that the light is hitting the surfaces correctly.

To save polygons on this model and lower the poly count (so the computer doesn’t have to work out as much information) I deleted faces that could not be seen by the player due to them being ether under the model or inside.

This is a cupboard desk from amnesia the dark descent, this unit is to a profession standard and is highly textured; the poly count for this model seems to be slightly higher than mine maybe around the six hundred mark but it is the texturing that really makes this model stand out.

Compassion between my asset and the game asset:

I believe that my model could be placed in a game in its current state however compare to the profession asset I have a long way to go before I’ve reached this level, one of the reasons that I think my work is not of the same standard is up to this point I have been working with individual maps and high poly models as I was modelling for animation or making photo realistic models.

Even though I was restricted by a poly count and having to do everything threw maps rather than making separate materials with different properties I have tried to make my models as realistic as possible, the way I have achieved this is using normal maps to create detail that I could not model using geometry, I found this actually took less time than modelling the geometry in by hand or using software’s like Zbrush.

The first part of the model that I’m going to compare in detail is the top, this area is viewed most by the player and there for has to be of higher quality than say the bottom.

My models top is far less complicated than the professions model however the type of cupboard is much more basic so it suits the model I have made, in fact the detail on the top of my model is of a high standard as I’ve used different layers of texture to give the model a re-varnished worn effect, it is this kind of detail that separates a low quality asset from a high one.

The second part of the model that I’m going to compare is the detail on the inside of the model, even though this is a mostly unseen by the player a good standard of consistency is the key to a good model, compared to the professionals work my textures on the inside of the model are of good standard maybe to the same standard as the professionals.

The last thing I am going to compare on this model is the lighting, even though I have not created a whole scene the lighting on my model makes it realist even though the amount of actual detail in terms of mesh is low, compared to the professionals model which is already in a game engine and has advanced light effect on it however my model is not that far behind in terms of realism when I imported it into UDK.

Problems I had:

The main problem I had with making my models was that before this I was only using materials and divided textures, these make models look photo realistic however they cannot be brought into a game engine, because of this I had to master the art of using maps in a short period of time, other than having to switch my techniques I didn’t have any problems with this model.         

On my lantern model I had to figure out a way to make the lantern appear to be admitting light, first I tried to use a flame effect but this could not be seen though the translucent material of the lanterns shell, second I tried using glow effects to make the glass look like it was admitting light however this cannot be taken into UDK so last I tried putting a light inside the lantern just above the flame and this finally made the glass appear like it was glowing.  

p90 work in progress

i have started to make this p90 sub machine gun over the holiday i plan to finish it to a very realistic standard and then import it onto game banana so that players can mod it into games like TF2 for free.

two critical reviews from modellers

• Looks good, but maybe a bit too sterile. It isn't really fancy and I think that might be a problem.

I would add some more details, at least for the cabinet.

Also it would be better if you could use some bigger images and the gramophone should be brighter

• Your lighting looks very flat. Use a spec map, or if you currently use one, get some more contrast in there. ;-)
  Also your lightning is very dark especially in the first and third shot, with pitch black shadows, try to use some more lights.
  Can you upload some wireframe images?

i will take the following to account when i make my next models. 

making of my glasses

this is how i made my glasses model in 3ds Max 

this is the reference image i used to create my glasses model, the reason i chose glasses is to show that someone has been down in the basement recently and i plan to add a break within the glasses to show that there could have been a struggle.  

LO1

this hole model was created out of two cubes and a cylinder, because i lost the original screen shots for this model i am going to describe in detail the simple stages i went through to create this model.

 i started out with a plain box that i squashed on a single axis to turn it more into a rectangle on one side, i pressed alt b to bring up the back ground image options and then inserted a image of a pair of glasses front facing, i will use this image as reference to effectively trace.
extruding from the right side of the box i extruded twice.

when i came to the part of the glasses where the glasses split i extruded once out to the right and once from the bottom of the cube, i extruded down five times to give my self enough editable geometry to work with, from here i used the vertexs to shape the geometry into nose guard.
the next step was to extrude to top part outwards, when i had finished extruding along the top i began to extrude down to make the platform to extrude arms of the glasses.
finally i pulled the verts on the right hand side down towards each other and then wielded to save on polys.

 i extruded the arms out, i then extruded six more times to create the hooks at the end of the arms, i used the move and rotate wig-it to move the vertexes around to make a bend that was just a little bit less than 90 degrees.

i mirrored the whole model and then bridged the gap between the two halves to make a complet glasses frame.

to make the lenses i first took a cylinder and inset and wielded each side so that there are no engons, i then shaped the vertexes on the outside of the cylinder to fit the inside of the frame, i mirrored this lens to create the lens on the other side. 

finally to make the nose guards i simply took a cylinder and connected the verts across the front and back faces, i then squashed the cylinder to make it more of a oval before pulling the top and bottom verts forward to make it 1/4 moon shaped from the side.

LO2
these are the maps i used on this model
diffuse map

normal map

opacity map

spec map

finished textured 

LO3

for this model i used a MR area spot light to light the scene,  I shrunk the cone so the light hot spot would be more focused light a torch light, i also gave the light a slight fall off but not as much as I've done on other models because i need to light to be focused but still look realist. 

the reason I've chosen to render this object in torch like light is because this is a small object and would only be seen if the player was directly looking at it. 

this is a low quality render to see how my work was coming along

final render

I have imported this model into UDK:

how i made my table

LO1

this is the reference image i am going to take inspiration from to create  Victorian styled unit.  the reason i have chosen not to copy this unit exactly is because i want my unit to be a little more miss matched as if its been re varnished many times and been repaired with different types of wood.

i started off with a simple box which i connected four times from top to bottom, these connects would make up the tops and bottoms of the draws which i will extrude inwards. (these draws could hold items for the player to find)
the next step was to add two connects to the length and two to the width, these connects could produce four squares where the connects over lapped, these squares are located in the four corners of the model and i will use them to extrude out the legs of the unit.
i selected the four corner squares on the bottom of the model and extruded them down around 1/7th of the models overall height.
to save on polys i removed the two central polys on the side of the model and then wielded there verts together to turn ten polys into four polys and four tris.

i selected the two front polys where the draws are going to be and then extruded them inwards to create the slots of the top draw and the bottom storage compartment.

to create the top of the unit first i selected all the polygons on the top of the model end extruded upwards, from here i selected all of the polygons on the outside of the extrusion i have just done and then extruded them out by local normal.
to save on polys i deleted all of the faces on the top of the model and then used the select by edge to select all the edges around the hole and then caped it, i selected this new face and inset it to a central point and then wielded the verts together, this created at ring of tries.
to finish off i selected the outside edges of this unit top one at a time and used the scale tool to bring the verts all into line.

before i added the draw and cupboard doors i selected the two inner faces on the side of the model and extruded them inwards i then used the scale tool to bring the faces inwards slightly, these faces will be given a plank texture just like in the reference image.
draws: the draw is literally a rectangular cube with the top inset and then extruded down inside its self, i deleted the back and under side face as these would not been seen by the player.
the cupboard door: the door is also a just a rectangle with a nice texture on it, there is no point adding lots of geometry to such a simple part, i only made one door as after i unwrap it i can just copy and paste to make the second door.
handles: the handle is a cylinder that has a few subsections down its length, using the vertexs and the scale tool i reshaped the cylinder into a door nob and to get rid of any engons i wielded the top of the handle with the player can see and deleted the face at the other end as the player will never see it.

this is a test render of my model to see what it is looking like at this stage, the light i am using here is a MR area omni light with is equal to a room ceiling light in terms of light spread. 

the uv map:

LO2
these are the maps i created for this model.
diffuse map

normal map

spec map

LO3

for the lighting i have chosen to use a MR area spot, i have changed the hotspot beam and fall off field to give the light a more realistic softer feel with the most dense light in the middle with a gradual fall off.
the shadow for this model is a shadow map which gives the shadows a softer edge and react more naturally to the light however they dont work with translucent materials.
the background and floor are just textured to make the model look even more realistic, i added a skirting board to add more effect.

Final render

i have imported my model into udk: