Topology

Week 28 

Topology

This week was a really busy week for me, a load of work and lots of improvements to make. I took a slight break from off the map project and I’m back to making improvements in my previous project the dichotomy character. After a review from my tutors about my whole year worth of work I was advised to improve certain parts and re-submit my work. 

Before and After

The first problem was the topology on the face, it wasn't correct and it didn't have a nice flow through out the model. I have spent a tremendous time on correcting the topology using the previous model. However it was just impossible to change it as I would have to completely change the whole face and this would have taken more time than re-doing the entire face from the scratch. Now looking back the the previous model I can see how I have improved this time and the model looks more neat and efficient in terms of budget.

Example of a correct face topology,  I have based my model of this example   

The second problem was that some of the parts of the body such as ears were not attached to the face as they have been created separately. Also it was pointed out to me that they were too detailed for such as small part of the model and I was told to spread the tris equally depending on how visible is this certain element to a player. So when I was finished modelling the face I have extruded and modeled the ears from the head so that the character looks more natural. 

Off The Map- (Part 9)

Week 27

Off The Map- (Part 9)

During this week I have been working on modelling the rabbit house I have based my concept off a hobbit hole

Rabbit house , Orthographic View - 3d model 

I had loads of fun modelling this asset and my next task will be to model more foliage to cover the house and make it more natural and more organic, like it belong to a forest.

I have attempted to model the grass as soon as I have finished the rabbit house and I was stuck for a bit as I didn't know how to approach it, so I have attempted to do some research I have looked through online tutorials and how other artist have attempted it. I was mainly looking how to create a realistic looking grass as possible I thought this would give a great look and atmosphere to the entire scene as most of the assets in my scene are plants and trees.

There are different ways of  modelling grass, it can be easily done using planes as this is most commonly used technique however I have decided to model grass as thin long leaves in a batch.

To help me set the grass in UE4 I have used a paint foliage tool which I found very useful, I could easily change the size of my brush and the scale of the grass which gave more randomness to my scene.

Off The Map- ( Part 8 )

Week 26

Off The Map- ( Part 8 )

Under normal circumstances this week would be for detailed planning and whiteboxing, however given that time is now running short and I had a very strong image in my mind of what the rabbit house scene will look like, I moved straight on to recreating the landscape. After sculpting the landscape I imported all the assets, as well as making brand new ones such as a  bridge and a garden gate, detailed with the suits in a pack of playing cards.

My next task was something completely new to me, making water in Unreal. With the help of various online sources I made a decorative body of water at the front of the house as a nice little water feature and to challenge myself with learning even more about UE4.

Off The Map- (Part-7)

Week 25

Off The Map- (Part-7)

Week 25 was an exciting week, the new goal was much more approachable and I didn't have to think about the other scenes that would need a different variation on the same, wonderland style. Luckily I had a lot of the research already done and could even implement a few of the assets I had already created. I was advised to research existing environments around Oxford, however I ran into issues where wonderland as written by Lewis Carroll didn't line up with environments in the area. So I used an inspiring image online, that closely resembles my visualisation of wonderland.

Off The Map- (Part 6)

Week 24

Off The Map- (Part 5)

This post will be really short just catching up with new task and brief for the project. After a review from my tutors, we reached the conclusion that the environment I was working on was far too large to make a fully detailed, immersive and impressive scene. We decided that it was too ambitious for one person in the given time frame, therefore instead of making an unpolished and rushed environment that wouldn't look good on my portfolio, I would scale back development constructing only one of the scenes that I was going to work on, the rabbit house.

Off The Map (Part-5)

Week 23

Off The Map (Part-5)

This week my post will be pretty short during week 22 and and week 23 I was modelling the assets for my scene along with these assets I have shown in my previous week made a few other items to add some direction and variation to the world like a signpost to direct the player, as well as lamps, large leaves, mushrooms, lily pads and teacup fountains. I must say I have really enjoyed this process it was a nice way to see my concepts come to live in 3d. Also this was a good opportunity to model objects with greater detail.

Off The Map (Part-4)

Week 22- Week 23

Off The Map (Part-4)

Week 22 was all about modelling assets. Starting with a quick mood board on foliage, I moved on to develop many assets that are core to wonderland and some reusable assets that will help the world feel busy and alive. The picket fence was the first model of the day, an easy item to model that will look natural whilst providing borders for where the player can access so that they stay in the area. The picket fence alone would stick out and look unattractive so I decided to model a reusable rose and some foliage that I could fit through gaps in the fence in order to give the world border a nice, overgrown and natural look.