What we
have looked at already:
Throughout
this course I have so far covered the following on 3ds Max:
- Basic Interface
- Viewports
- Transform Tools
- Snap Tools
- Window Resize
- Create Menu
- Modifiers
- Select by Object
- Material Editor
- Cloning
- Render Settings
- UVW Window
- Lighting
- Navigating
- Importing Textures
- Saving/Loading
- Edit Poly
- Bevel/inset/extrude/chamfer/weld/connect
- Ring/Loop
- Stitching/Breaking UVs
- UV Mapping
- Exporting UV maps
- Rendering
- Lighting Settings
- Smoothing Groups
- Normal Mapping
- AO/Shadow Mapping
- Sub Object Mode
- Opacity Maps
- Isolation
- Locking/Missing widget
- Object Properties
- Freeze
- Parameters
- See through objects
- Multi Sub Object Materials
- High to low poly bakes
- FFD
- Render to texture
- Align Tool
- Grid Settings
- Showing edges/viewport properties
- Reference planes
- Viewport display options
- Soft selection
- Projection Modifier
Ideas
for my own 3D model:
My new task is to create my own 3d model in
order to be assessed in a few weeks’ time, the deadline being the 12/12/2012.
This will allow my lecturer to see my progress so far in the course.
Being a
huge fan of the Steampunk trend, I decided that it made sense to try and model an
airship in this style. In this way I will be creating a model that is both challenging
and fun.
Looking
online I found the following images to use as references in order to help me
not only design my own model, but also to give me ideas on how my own model may
look visually and the adaptations I could use.
- Very good use of lighting makes this model look realistic and as if it is actually flying in the dark.
- Thanks to its use of lighting textures the model looks a lot like an airship belonging to someone of great importance and stature.
- Love all the details put into the wings/fins, the front bowsprit and the pillars connecting to the blimp as they all have wonderful patterns and swirls on them. I would presume that these were accomplished by using a number of techniques including textures and the line tool.
- As in the above model I would love to add a ladder into my ship as well as it helps to give a sense of purpose and life to the model. I feel this would be quite easy to do as well, as I would simply use the line tool for the rope and cylinders for the planks.
- I really like the use of this model’s sails that I presume were created using the Line tool before converting them into an Editable Poly in order to make them whole objects to edit.
- Using an assortment of textures this modeller decided to create line patterns on their hull that I find look very good and stand out - something that I may include in my scene depending on if it works or not.
- Likely used a cylinder with an end reduced in size end to create the ship’s pointy bowsprit. Whilst it doesn’t look great on this model I like the inclusion of such a thing as it adds realism to the model e.g. ships in the past had what’s known as a keel that went around the outside of an entire ship in order to keep the ship balanced. Therefore I will probably add something similar to my airship as a throwback to these times.
- Nice to see an airship model also use both a lighting technique and a fire effect in order to make the blimp a hot air one instead of just a gas filled one. Whether or not I do this for my own one is up to debate.
- Love the deck of this model as it closely represents what was in my head originally.
- I presume that the creator of this airship used a variant of the rail tool or merely copied one of the metal rails in order to place them into the scene.
- I believe that this model made very good use of the line tool in order to create the multitude of ropes connecting to the blimp above, thus adding realistic value to the number of ropes one would expect to put on the very thing keeping the ship in the air. This is also a technique that I may very well use in my own model.
- At this time I am unable to say how I feel this artist made the propellers look as if they had stopped in mid spin, but it is something that I would very much like to include in my own scene.
My 3D
model:
Below
are the screenshots I took of the process I went through in order to create my
airship along with notes.
1) Using the same technique as the
one for the blade of my sword model I used the Line tool to create the round
hull of the ship before converting it to a editable poly in order to make the
lines a solid object. Then I extruded the hull to make it thicker before using
Bevel in order to bring out its prow (front).
2) After trying time and time again
to extrude my deck into a pointed prow and failing due to its round nature and
not flat nature as in my sword model, I decided to go with a different approach. Creating a cone I then went into Vertex mode and deleted half of the
vertexes in order to produce the half cone you see in the ship above.
3) Using the Bridge tool I was able
to fill in the gaps from line to opposite line. However for the final point
corners I had to use the Gap tool in order to connect them, as the Bridge tool
doesn’t work for points.
4) Once I had the front half cone
finished I then copied and pasted it to the back of my model before scaling it down
to make it smaller.
5) Selecting the top of the hull in
Polygon mode, I used the Inset tool in order to only affect some of the top and
not the whole of it as I next wanted to use the Extrude tool in order to create
a deck for my air ship.
6) Instead of wasting precious time
creating my own stairs I decided to use the L shape stairs under the Stair
shapes in order to create the first one. Then I copied this one and used the
Mirror tool in order to get a perfect symmetrical replica.
I then created a box and selecting its top and bottom sides
within Polygon mode I used the Bevel tool to first of all bring out its first
layer in a curve before using Extrude to give both sides a flat surface.
7) Copying the box in my last step I
moved it over to the back of the ship and used the Scale tool to enlarge it.
Then, using Extrude on both its front and back side in Polygon mode I dragged
out two new sides before using the scale tool on the front and back vertexes in
order to make them curve in slighty.
I then added straight stairs to either side of the box and
ticked the Solid box in order to make them look as they are.
8) After using the same technique for
the hull that I did for the ship’s cargo holds as seen above I then created a
cylinder in order to create a window. With the cylinder made I then used Inset
in order to select only the inner circle of the shape and then used Extrude to
make it a hole going down half way through. Then it was a case of using Vertex
mode and only selecting the inner vertexes followed by the outer ones in order
to make them look like portholes. Once the first porthole was done I then
copied it a number of times in order to get a lined pattern. Once that was done
I then Grouped these and copied them in order to create a new line, adjusting
them slightly to give a new pattern and to fit on to their new curve. With these
portholes done it was then merely a case
of using the Mirror tool followed by moving them to the other side in order to
complete my portholes.
9) Using
the Line tool I was able to create a sail and then add cylinders to it in order
to create the sail’s supports. After copying and rescaling the first sail in
order to have four in the scene I then moved on to adding boxes that I extruded
and rescaled within Vertex mode in order to create the bits connecting the
sails to the ship. I then decided to colour my model with the colours I imagine
will be included on my final airship in order to get a better visualisation of the
final product. I also added a basic cylinder that I stretched using the Scale
tool in order to start to work out how I want to create the blimp.
10) Creating a cylinder I was able to use the Bevel and Extrude tools in
order to create the stands for my propellers. Once the stands were ready I was
then able to move onto the propellers themselves and created them in the same way
as the stands, only using the Rotate tool to bend the fans as those are more realistic as they would be able to catch the wind more than straight ones.
11) Using the Rail tool I was able to create the rails for my deck. I then created a Tube for the wheel and used the Line tool in order to to create the grips for it. The stand connecting to the wheel was created using a Extruded and Beveled box before selecting its top vertexes and dragging them to the side.
12) Copying the engines I then used the Scale tool to shrink them before using the Mirror tool to flip them upside down, thus creating effective things to connect the ropes to. I placed these both on the deck of the ship and the right way up on the blimp itself so as to look more like the things connecting the ropes to one another, speaking of which, the ropes were made with long Cylinders that I then rotated to give them varied angles.
13) Using a cylinder I then used the ‘Bevel’, ‘Extrude’ and ‘Inset’ tools in order to create the harpoon cannon, borrowing from the wheels stand for its legs. The harpoon itself was made with a simple cylinder with ‘Bevelling’ on the reduced in size end. The railing was copied from the decks railing and rotated in order to get the right angle.
14) Replacing my orignal cylinder for the blimp with a narrower one in order to make it look more like a zepplin, I then introduced a basic figure head at the front of the ship which I managed to pull off by creating a Box before using the Extrude and Bevel tools in order to give it a basic and block head and arm on one side. With this done, I then used the Mirror tool in order to make it double sided, thus giving the figure head two arms instead of one. I also introduced a basic box with a beveled top in the middle of the air ship in order to add something to the ship's otherwise empty deck. I also did this with a Beveled and Inseted Cylinder on the top of the Sterncastle deck (where the wheel is) in order to add something to this otherwise empty area.
11) Using the Rail tool I was able to create the rails for my deck. I then created a Tube for the wheel and used the Line tool in order to to create the grips for it. The stand connecting to the wheel was created using a Extruded and Beveled box before selecting its top vertexes and dragging them to the side.
12) Copying the engines I then used the Scale tool to shrink them before using the Mirror tool to flip them upside down, thus creating effective things to connect the ropes to. I placed these both on the deck of the ship and the right way up on the blimp itself so as to look more like the things connecting the ropes to one another, speaking of which, the ropes were made with long Cylinders that I then rotated to give them varied angles.
13) Using a cylinder I then used the ‘Bevel’, ‘Extrude’ and ‘Inset’ tools in order to create the harpoon cannon, borrowing from the wheels stand for its legs. The harpoon itself was made with a simple cylinder with ‘Bevelling’ on the reduced in size end. The railing was copied from the decks railing and rotated in order to get the right angle.
14) Replacing my orignal cylinder for the blimp with a narrower one in order to make it look more like a zepplin, I then introduced a basic figure head at the front of the ship which I managed to pull off by creating a Box before using the Extrude and Bevel tools in order to give it a basic and block head and arm on one side. With this done, I then used the Mirror tool in order to make it double sided, thus giving the figure head two arms instead of one. I also introduced a basic box with a beveled top in the middle of the air ship in order to add something to the ship's otherwise empty deck. I also did this with a Beveled and Inseted Cylinder on the top of the Sterncastle deck (where the wheel is) in order to add something to this otherwise empty area.
15) Going into 'Unwrap UVW' I then went onto using the 'UV Editor' in order to apply a texture to the main hull of the ship. To do this I rearranged the shapes in the checker board on 'UV Editor' and then chose to render UVW. With a image of the UVW I then loaded it into Photoshop and transferred images of textures that I had gathered online over the lines on the checker board. These lines designate certain areas such as the front and back points and the middle round hull, therefore allowing my textures to fit in perfectly with the shapes when you load up a saved image of the work done on Photoshop into the 'Material Editor' in 3dsMax. On 'Material Editor' you then place the texture onto the ship and hey presto! It's done!
You can see all the textures up close in the second image below.
16) In order to save times I set myself the task of completing the models texturing sooner rather than later by not using the 'UV Editor' tool. Instead for the final shapes I used the 'UV Mapping' tool and textures placed within the 'Material Editor'. Using this tool meant that I only had to select the shape that best described the object I was texturing and by doing so the tool would texture it correctly with the material chosen. For example, imagine wrapping up a present, you would need a present in the shape of a cube to be wrapped in a cubed shape wouldn't you? You wouldn't try and wrap it up as you would something circular right?
You can see evidence of the final product from different angles below with all the texturing added:
Overall:
I would say that I am very pleased with my model as although I picked a challenging thing to create, I was able to complete it within the time constraints provided and also entirely within the college sessions. I am also happy to see that my modeling has improved thanks to this course. Though I recognise that I could have done a slightly better job on making the blimp look more balloon like and the figure more humanoid. However, even with these nit picks I know that humonoid shapes in 3ds Max are hard to model and the blimp may simple have needed better or more clearer texturing, or even ropes around it so as to improve its appearance as at the moment it is rather bland. Though saying this, the orignal idea was to place some sort of shark face on the front of the blimp, though I can always come back to this model at any time and do this.
Going back to my texturing, I feel as if I did a good job considering I haven't always been the best at this. However, looking at the textures I can clearly see what materials they are meant to be and therefore recognise that as a success. I do however want to go back to the ship's hull and
re-texture it as although you can tell what it is meant to be, it still
looks stretched and slightly blurry when viewing it up close. Perhaps if I were to add thinner planks then this would help resolve the problem.
If I were to come back to this task I would as mentioned above add the shark face to the blimp so as to make the model stand out more. I would also like to add a steam effect of some sort coming out of the 'furnace type thing' on the sterncastle as that would add an extra realistic feature to the Steampunk ship. I would also go back to the portholes covering the ship and remember to texture them this time as I sadly forgot to, though I know when I do do so I will make sure I place a transparent glass texture in them to make them appear like realistic windows. I would also love to play around with the lighting of the space around the ship in order to create dramatic scenes e.g. lightning flashing across the ship as if its inside a storm cloud, therefore the light would reflect off its windows. Apart from these things, I am very pleased with my model and had a lot of fun creating it. I look forward to next time we do this as I will be able to take what I have learnt from this project and apply it more successfully, I hope.
Referencing:
Kratochvil, P. (Unknown) White Fabric Texture [Online image]. Available at:
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/30000/velka/white-fabric-texture.jpg
(Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Pain, D. (2011 ) Metal Plate 2 [Online image]. Available at:
http://a.rgbimg.com/cache1rhzMP/users/x/xy/xymonau/300/ne3vbyw.jpg
(Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (Unknown) Steam Punk Airship with pillars [Online image]. Available at:http://www.blendernation.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/steampunk_391.jpg (Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (2012) Steampunk Airship [Online image]. Available at:
(Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (2012) Steampunk Airship with railings [Online image]. Available at:
Unknown. (Unknown) Wooden Planks V1.1 [Online image]. Available at:
http://www.filterforge.com/filters/1321.jpg (Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (Unknown) Image 3860560: Metal grate cover [Online image]. Available at:
http://images.crestock.com/3860000-3869999/3860560-xs.jpg (Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (2009) Metal Texture 13 [Online image]. Available at:
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs43/f/2009/084/7/1/metal_texture_13_by_wojtar_stock.jpg
(Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (Unknown) White painted wood #2 [Online image]. Available at: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSWZ2PK0tXhTiN5wlAioLAg_N1MiTB8rUEYHl4K5okfes-cmXsV
(Accessed: 28/11/2012).
Unknown. (2009) Blue sky background [Online image]. Available at: http://www.psdgraphics.com/file/blue-sky.jpg (Accessed: 28/11/2012).
