Modelling - Day 10

Now it is time I finally address what I have been avoiding, creating a texture for the fabrics in my scene. Not only that, I was unsure of how to get a realistic looking material shape, with the same characteristics as cloth.

The obvious answer to this is Ncloth, I have used Ncloth a little but I am not confident. I think it has a lot of potential of which I am yet to explore, it slightly intimidates me for some reason. I decided to turn to Google to find out how to make a bed sheet. There were several tutorials on YouTube so I decided to absorb the different methods and experiment with creating some cloth objects.

I was quite surprised by my initiative as I had an idea and it actually worked exactly as I had anticipated and produced exactly the visual I was hoping to achieve. I created an Ncloth from a polygon plane and used the mattress as a passive collider. This resulted in the plane acting like a cloth and falling onto the mattress, eventually as you continue to play the animation, the object is dragged down. As I want a still object, I decided to pause the animation that had been put in place by the Ncloth when the cloth was behaving how I wanted it to - with the appropriate shape, creases and folds. I duplicated the Ncloth which produced a polygonal shape identical to the Ncloth but without the Ncloth attributes therefore the shape was still.

This worked well so I decided to use this method to place a blanket inside the moses basket. I finished modelling and texturing the moses basket which was simple and used the moses basket as a constraint. I placed a polygon plane above the basket and the plane fell into place, again I stopped on the most appropriate frame and duplicated the shape that I was looking for.

Now I have the models done, I need to create some textures, I have gathered a few different fabric textures and am going to experiment with them. 

I experimented with these textures and using bump maps and eventually ended up with a shader that I was happy with. 

Getting close to finishing my scene now. 

Modelling - Day 9

Next, I am going to focus on the mirror frame, again this is another object that I am unsure about modelling. I have an image of a frame that I am going to attempt to replicate, i'm thinking something similar to this:

I like the style and again it is an opportunity to test my skills. I initially thought about creating a polygon plane with a high amount of sub divisions and moving the vertexes but it didn't really seem to be working for me. 

I have created a few objects using the EP Curve tool and seeing as this object is very curvy, I thought that this may be the best option, although I wasn't entirely sure how to do it. I projected my reference onto an image plane and began tracing the mirror frame with the curve tool, this took quite a long time and initially, I had traced half of the mirror but had stopped at stages which seemed to produce issues so I realised I would have to trace the intricate object with one line. 

So I traced the whole mirror and then I wasn't really sure what to do.. I realised I wouldn't be able to fill the gaps however I decided to carry on and see what the result would be. I wanted the curve to be a polygon so that I could manipulate it and I wasn't sure how. 

I discovered that you can turn curves into polygons by converting them to paint effects first, I'm not really sure why but it worked. I then made the frame thicker and this is what it looked like. 

I then placed it in my scene and textured it, then attached it to the mirror plan. This is the final result of which I am quite pleased with seeing as I improvised. 

Reflection of the project so far..

I feel as though the project is going well, I am spending roughly a couple of hours a day on this project as I want to take my time to absorb the methods I am taking and the mistakes I may be making. With each object I am creating, I am taking my time to research extensively regarding the form and in particular the textures and how to achieve the best quality I can using Maya and Mental Ray.

I am particularly enjoying this project as it is enabling me to focus on a particular area that I wish to explore further. Ultimately I would like to pursue a career as a 3D environment artist therefore this project is helping me towards reaching that goal as it is developing my skills within that area.

I have particularly improved my knowledge regarding shaders and textures and have genuinely surprised myself with what I have achieved so far which is a really positive and encouraging feeling. I am becoming increasingly passionate about this project and am looking forward to the final product.

I am however not looking forward to the animation aspect of this project but I have surprised myself so far so I am going to be positive and push myself as I don't want to bring the overall aesthetic of the animation down.

                                                                         From this

To this

To this

In this space of a few weeks.

Modelling - Day 8

I have made two cushions, one for the chair and one for the crib and have put them in place. I did this as I said I would, by using the soft select tool. Next I need to texture them. I am still unable to find any help regarding producing a realistic fabric texture or shader, I think I will have to use the knowledge I have recently developed to experiment with creating one.

I decided that I was going to give myself a challenge by attempting to make a 'lace' cushion. I decided the get a lace texture which I was going to use as the bump map for the overall texture. I used a white blinn and altered the reflectivity and this was the result. 

I am really pleased with the result as it is exactly what I was aiming for. I have proved to myself that I am able to produce good quality textures from my own knowledge without having to find guidance or tutorials, not that there is anything wrong with that but I feel that this shows I am truly learning and developing my skills. 

Modelling - Day 7

I decided to attempt to make a wall for the outside of the nursery as some of the shots will be from an outside view. I have attempted a brick wall before but haven't achieved results that I was pleased with however I have learnt a lot about texturing and bump maps already during this project so I decided to apply the skills that I have learnt. I built a wall shape and found a wall texture. I photoshopped the wall texture to use as a bump map to add depth to the texture.

 I created a lambert and inserted the brick wall texture in the colour section. I then created a layered texture where I placed the black and white bump under the 'alpha' section. I then attached the layered texture as a bump map for the brick wall lambert and this was my result.

I am pleased with this result, the wall will unfortunately not be in direct sunlight so the detail won't be entirely visible but I would definitely say this is my best 'brick wall' to date. This has proved that I am developing my skills and am able to use my initiative more often concerning the method.

Next, I decided to think about placing a chair into my scene. I have previously modelled a chair of which I have not used. I spent a while on this particular chair so I decided to include it, obviously I made some adjustments such as the texture.

I followed a tutorial around a year ago that inspired me to produce realistic environments, the tutorial was lengthy and complex however it showed me that I was able to achieve realistic results as I was surprised by the final product.

The tutorial can be found here: http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/autodesk-maya/model-and-texture-a-posh-living-room-scene-in-maya/

I decided to make the chair Lilac to tie within the colour theme of my nursery and here is the result:

I think the chair fits in well within the scene. Next, I am going to model a cushion for the chair as it looks a bit bare. I am going to create a square polygon and use the soft select tool to manipulate it into a cushion shape.

Modelling - Day 6

Next, I will be focussing on the baby mobile for the crib. I think this is important as it is a small detail that will at to the reality of the scene. Obviously, I had to gather reference for this. 

I have not been looking forward to modelling this as I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to do it however I manipulated polygon cylinders and applied a white blinn to give the mobile a white plastic appearance as most mobiles are plastic. I then created a moon and a star and applied a similar texture to the towels. 

I would say that my project is coming along well and I am about half way in the process of the production of my nursery scene. Here are some shots of how it is looking so far:

Obviously there are still some things that needs to be done but I have also added trees into the 'garden'. I inserted trees using Maya's PaintEffects as oppose to projecting an image onto a flat plane as I feel it gives depth and adds to the realism. I have also created a simple garden fence to ensure that the background is believable. 

This took three minutes to render! This is why I am not a fan of paint effects.. But because it is in the background it doesn't effect the nursery too much and it definitely adds depth to the scene.

Modelling - Day 5

I have added more towels and modelled some decorative storage boxes. I have also downloaded and used a model of a bear and a model of Pikachu, these will be the only downloaded models, as well as my characters that I will be using in the production of my animation. The reason for this is that I do not think that my character modelling skills are strong enough and would jeopardise the quality of the final production and would fall short of the quality that I am aiming for. Ultimately, my goal is to pursue a career within 3D environments and am using this project as an opportunity to showcase these particular skills and not my character modelling skills.

This is a shot of the drawers, towels, storage boxes and toys. I have also added a skirting board which was incredibly simple.

I am really pleased with my progress and am constantly getting feedback from my peers and others for my work which has all been positive so far. I am feel like I am gaining a lot from this project, I am developing my skills and abilities as well as my confidence in my work of which is encouraging me to aim higher. 

I think that the small details are important when attempting to create a realistic environment. I have been closely studying rooms in my own house for example for the small details such as the skirting board, light switches and plug sockets. 

Next, I decided to model a bookcase and some books, the room looks slightly empty and it is a typical object that people have in their home. I created the bookcase from a polygon cube again using the edge loop tool and extruding the faces. I then created the book by using a polygon cube that I moulded into a rectangle and placed inside the cover which I made by using the polygon torus tool and manipulating it. I then created a shader by applying a texture and a bump map. I also created some letter blocks as an ornament to contribute to the ambience. 

The rendering time is at 38 seconds per frame at the moment. I would say that this isn't too bad at this stage considering the animation will only be a minute long however the scene is still not complete so I will have to be aware of this.