A Touch of Set Dressing Research... #7

Set Dressing... A little peek...

The first youtube video I found that's really interesting is a bit of a behind the scenes look at the Animated Movie 'Planet 51' - If you haven't already seen it, why are you still here? Go watch it! - Its not exactly a focused video on set dressing (unlike the second youtube video) but its a great example (the top-right corner shot) of what Set Dressing does, which is to flesh out an Environment.

Keeping in mind, that although this is a behind the scenes look at an Animated film, its still relevant to an extent in terms of Set Dressing for an Environment Sample.


This second youtube video is a little more along the lines of in-depth Set Dressing. While it might be shown in terms of Autodesk 3ds max, its still very relevant to the topic at hand - as one 3D software package is pretty much the same as the next, but with slight differences. All the actual theory remains virtually the same...

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Mood Boards... Continued... #6

What!? Again? Ok...

Here are some more mood boards I've put together, this time focusing on a slightly different topic from the last lot of mood boards, which focused primarily on actual mood. As you can see below, I chose to focus on the style more this time round with a slight touch of divergence into Interiors.

As you can probably tell, at this point I'm thinking more 'inside' in terms of modelling a 3D Environment Sample. I sort of like the idea of focusing more on the topic of modelling, and I think by choosing to look at interiors, I'd have a much more varied and rich subject area.

It could be said that rather than Environment modelling its more akin to Set Dressing...

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Mood boards... #5

Moody Mood boards...
Some initial mood boards to help get a feel for the project and the type of style and art direction that I am aiming  to achieve through the process of this project.

I decided to go with a mixture of dark and light, each image on these mood boards reflects this pretty well in my opinion, while still keeping to the general type of style as the initial concept piece provided in the project brief.

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Getting Started - Project Mode Engaged! #4

 Starting the Project...
To start with I jotted down the module requirements and project requirements and a little doodle or two to get my brain in gear.

Nothing entirely interesting but its a start...

[ Mind-Map... ]

The module also requires a project pipe line plan as would be the case in an industry environment for any creative project.

[ Rough Pipleline Plan... ]

So I started to jot down a rough plan for the process that would most likely be used during the process through to completion. (Click to enlarge Images). As well as the overall project pipeline rough, I added a smaller pipeline for the actual modelling part as a separate process within the overall project planing.

I also started a mind-map to get ideas flowing...

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Maya Keyboard Shortcuts - The Cheat Sheet! #3

Cheat sheets for Maya!

Well its not really cheating, but these are very useful sheets to print and keep handy when working within Maya. If your like me and tend to forget the vast amount of keyboard shortcuts available across a wide range of creative software, these can be extremely useful and quick to refer to if you have them sitting close at hand.

I would recommend these links...
Shortcutmania.com: Maya Keyboard Shortcuts. (printable version).
DigitalArtsGuild.com: Maya Cheat Sheet. (pdf. version).

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The Relationship between Maya and UDK... #2

Maya and Game engines...

Although the technical information provided for the module submission along with the project brief states the final 3D Environment sample does not have to reach a game engine. It's still prudent for research purposes to investigate this relationship a little further.

As for the game engine in question, UDK was chosen as the game engine to investigate.

When modelling environments and objects/assets/props (or what ever you want to call it), its important to make sure that the Maya grid will match that of UDK. As importing models from maya into UDK may cause problems if the scale and proportion ratio isn't 1:1 [1 Maya Unit = 1 Unreal Unit 'uu'].

It might also be important to note that when importing objects from maya into the game engine (UDK), that it uses the origin point of the maya grid as a reference point when importing into UDK. So its always best to centre objects modelled in Maya to the origin point on the grid as seen in the image below.

Character Size Measurements:

[ UDK Character Size. ]

First before going straight to modelling in Maya, the grid system in Maya also has to be changed to match that of the UDK grid system. To set up the grid in Maya, go to:

Display ---> Grid Options.

When the Grid Options window pops up on your screen, you need to change the 'Length and Width', 'Grid lines every' and the 'Subdivisions' settings in the 'Size' tab. This will ensure Maya's grid units = 16uu in UDK.

Length/Width: 512
Grid Lines Every: 512
Subdivisions: 32

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Computer Arts Practise - Project Brief #1

Project Brief:
Produce and develop a professional 3D environment sample suitable for a computer game engine.

Brief Digest:
The Client is developing a new game concept for to be presented to a publisher in the near future. They have commissioned you (the Artist) to mock up an environment sample from one of the concept art pieces they have provided.

You are to research, conceive and develop a professional quality 3D environment sample suitable for a game engine.

The Initial Concept Art:

[ By: Noah Bradley. ]

Similarities:

[ By: Noah Bradley. ]

[ By: Noah Bradley. ]

- Having a quick look up of Noah Bradley's on google, I found his own personal site. A quick skim through the site produced some more Concept Art by Bradley that had a similar look and style as that of the Initial Concept Art provided in the Brief. An excellent start to the project as it provides more insight into the original concept and a strong starting point for the project.

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