Reflection and Finishing up

The last stages of my project are now close to completion. I just need to finish the paper work and update the project breif.

I still have the aim of creating a little bit more content, especially for the presentation because I always have belived that pictures are better at explaing the type of project im doing. Upon reflection I am very happy with how my project has gone, it had a bit of trouble at the start with the original group setup but being 90-ish% done now I am quite happy with what I have learnt this year.

[Update 16/10/2010: Just got back from the last class lesson of SDI and received all the infomation I need to know about the presentation on Tuesday, including feedback and suggestions on the items I will be presenting.]

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Project Update - 30/9/2010

It has been a very productive week, ive finished another few 3d props and the complimenting 2d files. Here are some examples of some of the work i've done today.















I gave the fruit bowl some more attention, duplicating the fruit and positioning it in the bowl in a natural way. Now I just need to add the texture to it - apple, orange .etc.















I made a fully 3d replica of the clock pictured on the right. The picture on the left is the 3d model rendered in realtime. I had a lot of trouble figuring out a way I could carve a circular face in the front of the model and I looked all over the internet but no answers could be found. I ended up shipping that detail but it still looks very nice, on the plus side any less polygons mean higher performance. Clock doesn't 'tick' as you might expect but that is a limitation of the software im using.

I also took over 20 screen caps of the process it took to make this item, I will use it in my presentation to help explain the whole process.
















And one more model i've finished today - A piture frame/picture!
This one was farely easy, I made it generally in the same way as my other frames.

Update - 2/9/2010

I got some more work done on the kitchen props today, mainly polishing off older models but also starting the fruit bowl.




















Pictured above is the reference photo for the fruit bowl prop.

• Banana
• Orange
• Apple
• Tomato
• Kiwi
• Bowl
  

Above is the work in progress model of the fruit bowl and fruits/vegies (W.I.P), it is currently just geometry mesh. Like I mentioned in the previous blog post, I know only focus on the geometry of many different models and then texture them all at once. I might have a few more pictures by the end of the week.

The white things next to the orange and apple are the brand stickers but it will be more obvious when I add details to them. It is also worth noting that these fruit/vegies are only templates, I made templates of them so I can duplicate them and populate the fruit bowl accordingly rather then making them all individually.

Project Update - Props

Today has been a very productive day. I have started using a new 'production line' method for my props.

Reference -> 3d model wireframe -> 2d texture -> UVW texture application -> complete model
(this is my old method and in my opinion took too long to output a single model)

Reference -> 3d model wireframe x5-10 "THEN" texture application to all models at once and one mass compilation
(this is my new cluster method)

Using my new method I can shave off hours off my prop making process and in the process get a better preview of the final product.
This is hard to explain but the most important thing is that it works!

I still have the focus on making the kitchen and all the props in it, its a mammoth project but It is coming along very nicely.

Todays jobs:

• Picture frames
• bowls
• oven + other appliances (draft wireframes)
• [non-model textures]
• ... yet to progress on hammer editor mapping but that is only needed as props get made

I currently don't have any pictures im ready to release but there should be quite a few in the next week or so as things take shape.

Update - 24/6/2010

Today I have begun construction on the dinning room area in the house. I took another stab at seamless texture tiling to make the slate floor surface, a previous example of this was a test I did of the SDI classroom wall (ask in class if you want to see it for whatever reason). I will now go into an in depth explaination of how I do it, not only for todays work but for all simular seamless textures I make. The following is compeletly my own technique, after I got a tiling program called 'Bricks'n'Tiles' I stuggled at first to made any progress but I made this 'simple' pipeline to make what I would consider, good seamless textures.

1. Photograph 4-10 source reference from real life to get the tile samples and as a reference for the structure and arrangement





















2. Use a image-editing program to 'cutout' individual tiles, in this case; the slate. The more samples the better, I tend to gather 8-12 samples so when the image gets tiled it doesn't appear to repeat itself. I used 12 samples in this example. The samples I used are desplayed in the next image. I also need to make sure the tiles are ~150px by 150px to ~250px by 250px.






















3. Once I have all the samples I need, I get into the Bricks'n'tiles program and load up all my 12 tiles and configure it accordingly. I don't use any random x/y coords since I don't need any irregularitys like you would see in a stone wall or stone floor. After this is done I generate the flat diffuse map, see the next image for the outcome. (Numbers were added post generation).
no.1: The first render, lacks mortar inbetween tiles and spacing is 3px too far appart. no.2: reduced spacing by 3px, added mortar, still too bright no.3: Altered the lighting to reflect RL references























4. The next step was to combine this diffuse map with a normal map (an accompaning map that gives the texture a 3d appearence, faking depth and height). The example in the top left shows light reflections in a morning setting while the one at the bottom right shows one in the afternoon. The blueish pink texture in the back is the normal map used to create this effect.






















All that is needed to use this now is to convert this image into a .tga then a .vtf/.vmt file, a process I will cover in a future blog post. Overall I think this all went well and I will post screenshots of this texture implemented in my project next week maybe when I make more of the dinning room.

Picture Update - 6/17/2010

Heres the pictures I promised of the level, sorry for the delay:














































I got some of my current models in their too.

These are some VERY early screenshots, more comming soon!

Update 29/4/2010 - Info

The last couple of weeks have been tough with various problems such as the infamous 2010 Steam update bug that caused a lot of peoples' hammer editors not to work (a critical tool for my work). I eventually found a cheap fix for this that involved swapping shader files in my mod folder, I'm still not impressed with it but I could be worse off since there are still some minor problems.

But some better news is that once I got the fix, I was anxious to begin the mapping phase even if I had a limited library of textures and models to work with. This isn't a problem because I plan to make the models/textures as I need them, not in bulk. The results of the alpha map were promising, I made the bones (enclosure) of a room and got some of it textured and some models represented.

















Now I just need to focus on correcting shadows and flow of this early test, as well as populate it with more content and obviously... expand on it and make more rooms. I'll upload ingame screenshots on Thursday after my presentation.

Daily Update 4/5/2010 - Props and Info

The past week has been a really stressful in terms of the countless tests and assignments I've had to revise/complete for Business, Economics and Accounting as well as other things so development of my project has been, I admit, lacking this week. Although, this Thursday and since I can stay home and dedicate my whole day to my project I expect to make up for the lost progress. Along with the props and textures I hope to create this Thursday, I'll also get stuck into learning how to unwrap UVW maps on complex objects, as this is probably my biggest problem holding me back right now.

Door1 (Sliding)















































This prop may look simple but the hardest part by far was texturing it. The source photo from my digital camera does not cope well with objects covering ~50%-100% of the width/height dimensions (for example standing lamps, windows and doors), as it usually has a unwanted 'fish eye' lens effect. This effect means that even though the object in real life is straight, when the photo is taken through the lens, it distorts straight lines making them appear to bend slightly and makes it a pain to apply to the UVW map with any accuracy with the unmodified image. But with some perspective and freeform adjustments, along with restoring the vibrancy to make up for the dimly lit room, it turned out quite nice.

(Reference photo below)

Daily Update 29/4/2010 - Props

Standing Lamp:




















This is a near completed prop that just needs a edit to the cubemap tint to be more of a white reflection and not so much of an enphasis on the surrounding environment.

A problem recently I have encountered with the Source engine is that real life measurements (cm's) DO NOT scale well at all with ingame measurements (units) even using the appropiate meaurement translation meathods found here. For example a doorway will be almost 50% taller then its real life reference, making the player/user appear very small or the props/level very large. The remedy I have for this is just simple best guess, judging by the characters units in height (73 units) I will have to talor the props and levels accordingly.

Weekly Update 24/4/2010 - Props

I did alot of work today, primariliy learning new 3d modeling techniques in 3ds max and practising and formalizing the process of making props as well as making a couple in the process. One new technique I learnt was Ocular Occlusion mapping. This allows you to make a render in 3ds max- a simulated lit environment and gives you a new texture file that fits your UVW map that can give you great looking realistic shadows on your props without the need to compile them in realtime; a limitation with the Source engine. As you can tell this is very difficult to explain, lol.

Here's a sample prop I made utilizing ocular occlusion mapping:

(Click for a higher-res image)

Note that the grooves inbetween the geometric shapes has shading, this is not realtime but 'baked' into the original texture, this saves processing resources or replaces realtime shading technology. If this did not use this process it would just be a solid blue colour with no shading and look less realistic. Please note that this is just a very simple prop, specular occlusions values will be more apparent in more detailed props like a couch or car for example (generally items with complex geometry).

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New Props:

Couch Pillow (Complete and being rendered in 3d)















Couch Pillow (Complete and being rendered in 3d, w/ wireframe)















Couch Pillow (Real-life reference shot taken from above)

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Picture Frames

Starting Up

After complications with my SDI team, our group has split and we have taken up our own projects.

What is my plan?

My plan is to remake my house in as much detail as possible into the Source engine as a 3d replica along with concepts and illustrations of other buildings and settings. My project will be presented as a short film demonstrating the details, highlights and process along with all necessary documentation.

Important points to note with my project is that i will not and have no intention to use 3rd party materials, models or ideas, challenging but I want this to be 100% my own work.

This project involves work with:

• 2d imagery (Photoshop)
• 3d modeling (3ds Max)
• Photography (as a source for the images, textures and references)

Within the next few days I plan to get started and have examples in the form of photos of my progress.