Texturing my 3D assets (21/5/2013)

Deciding to texture my 3D assets I used the following website in order to ascertain the textures needed for my work.

• http://cgtextures.com/

Working on '3dsMax' I went into 'Edit UVW' for all my 3D assets. I remembered to 'Break' all the sides in order to separate them. I then took advice from my peers and selected 'Mapping' then 'Flatten Mapping' in order to separate all the faces into separate components. Thus saving me a lot time moving each face individually as I thought I would need to do.  
Once this was done I went into 'Tools' and 'Render UVW Template' to bring up a 'Render Map' that I then saved as a JPEG file. I would then texture it on Photoshop when I import it into the program.
I was also reminded to duplicate the layer, press CTRL+I to 'Invert' the image, making sure the 'Layer Option' was set to 'Screen' in order to correctly texture the 'UVW Map', making sure I also created a new layer in between the two existing ones which was filled black so as to make the lines stand out more, thus allowing me to texture more easily.
Making sure that I then saved my Photoshop UVW Maps as JPEG's, I went through the next couple of steps.

I then put the UVW Maps onto 'Photoshop' and edited them with the images I gathered in the appropriate positions. Once this was done I then went on the 'Material Editor' on '3dsMax' and under the 'Diffuse' option selected 'Bitmap', selecting the appropriate JPEG for the model I then choose 'Show Shaded Material in Viewpoint' before 'Assign Material to Selection'. Thus my model was textured. 

Using the above methods I was able to create the textures for the following 3D assets which you can see below.

Filing Cabinet:

For the Filing Cabinet I delibeartly used two different metal textures in order for the model to stand out more. Although the environment it will be in is completely black and white and therefore it will be hard to tell the difference between the textures.

Coffee Cup:

Recognising that my entire demo is in black and white I wasn't too concerned with the colour of my coffee cup. Instead I was more focused on getting the texture correct. Unfortunately I was unable to find a decent plastic texture that suited a cup more, however I feel that the plaster texture pulls it off successfully. 

Empty Beer Glass:

In order to create the following glass I merely reduced the opacity down to 50% and then did simualr methods on UDK in order to make it look like glass such as reducing the 3D model's 'Opacity' to 50, putting its 'Color' to 20, its 'Specular Level' to 100, 'Glossiness' to 10 and finally making sure the texture would appear '2-Sided'.

Full Beer Glass:

For the contents of the beer itself I used yellowy water and sea foam in order to create the same effect which you can see below.
I made sure to raise its 'Brightness' and 'Contrast' in 'Photoshop' in order to get it the right colour for beer. I then made sure the texture on '3dsMax' was edited correctly by making the 'Opacity' 100, 'Color' 50, its 'Specular Level' to 50, 'Glossiness' to 50 and finally making sure the texture would appear '2-Sided' as before.
I also made sure to reduce the 'opacity' around the glass to 25 in order to make the contents even clearer while at the same time not showing any significant differences between a full and.empty glass. 

Hat Stand:

Even though I found a good wood texture for my Hat Stand I was unable to apply it to my 3D model as I wanted to due to all the individual tiny faces I would need to go over. Therefore I made multiple strips of the texture as that was the best way of balancing it on in the model as you can see below.

Doors:

Using a different wood texture and a copper texture for the door knob I was able to create the following door. The only trouble I found was that I had to duplicate the wood texture along the door twice as much as it was becoming too blurred.
I then also decided to make another UVW Map for another door design, the door for the Detective's Agency complete with stain glass window and text. I did this by reducing the opacity of the glass texture used before to 50 and then added text with the 'Horizontal Type Tool' before rotating it.
It took a while to figure out exactly where the glass would appear but it was worth including it. I was also pleased with the way I made the text facing the inside of the Detective Agency backwards as that would make sense. I did this by selecting the text and clicking 'Flip Vertical'.

Chair:

Finding yet another wood texture I was able to come up with the the following chair that I feel suited the model perfectly.

Street Lamp:

Adding the metal material for the street lamp wasn't any problem. However, the glass was more tricky as I had to grab each corner and cut around each glass texture on the metal in order for it to show on the 3D asset.

Bar Stool:

Finding a good fabric texture I was able to add a red material to the top of the bar stool which I was hoping to find, even if it won't show that well in my colourless demo.
I also had to texture the seat and the foot stand separately as there were too many round faces to tell which face belonged to which object. 

Desk:

When recreating the desk I used darker wood for its default texture and a fabric for the green layer you usually see on the top of desks.
For some reason however, I was unable to to texture the door knobs but feel the light yellow I chose closely matches the metal texture I wanted.  

 

Placing 3D assets into UDK:

I also found out how to put my 3D assets into my demo using the following process.

• Making sure it is saved and the object you want is selected on 3dsMax go into 'Export' and then 'Export Selected'. Once you have named it and made sure it will save as a 'ASCII Scene Export (*.ASE)'. A menu will then pop up. Make sure only 'Mesh Definition', 'Materials', 'Mesh Normals', 'Mapping Coordinates', 'Geometric', 'Shapes', 'Helpers' and 'Use Keys' are ticked.
• With this done go onto 'Content Browser' and select the 'Import' button in the bottom left corner. Selecting the object will then make it a mesh. 
• You may also have to make it a collision object. You can do this easily by double clicking the object. When the new screen appears go into 'Collision' and select 'Auto Convex Collision', then simply press 'Apply' and close the screen and the object will then have a build in collision. 

 
Textures Used: 

• Metal for Filing Cabinet: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=57525&PHPSESSID=15uhp6c8pomb60jk4l5drr2td7
• Metal for Filing Cabinet handles: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=65527&PHPSESSID=15uhp6c8pomb60jk4l5drr2td7
• Coffee Cup Colour: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=37891&PHPSESSID=15uhp6c8pomb60jk4l5drr2td7
• Beer Glass: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=44990&PHPSESSID=15uhp6c8pomb60jk4l5drr2td7
• Beer Contents: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=21824&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Beer Foam: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=8941&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Wood for Hat Stand: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=14181&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Wood for Door: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=36926&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Metal for Door Knob: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=15872&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Wood for Chair: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=19797&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Metal for Street Lamp: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=5365&PHPSESSID=aqasqp4njjrkd4u5fucfi5i2p4
• Bar Stool Material: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=27531&PHPSESSID=ct2hfdocn5fqmv67b3akr833o6
• Bar Stool Metal: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=6261&PHPSESSID=ct2hfdocn5fqmv67b3akr833o6
• Desk Wood: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=19801&PHPSESSID=ct2hfdocn5fqmv67b3akr833o6
  
• Desk Mat: http://cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=8250&PHPSESSID=ct2hfdocn5fqmv67b3akr833o6

Creating assets for my Demo 3 (14/5/2013)

Once again I decided to model more 3D assets for my demo.

Chair:

I was able to complete my chair by using the inset and bevel tools to make the seat of the chair appear more comfortable to sit on. I then also used the inset tool followed by the bridge tool in order to link the chair's back support together.

Bar Stool: 


Wanting a variety of seats I decided to create a bar stool.

Creating a cylinder I then used the bevel tool to make the cylinder slope upwards before using the extrude tool to give it the pole part.

Using bevel, extrude and then bevel again I was then able to create the seat for the stool.

I then finished the bar stool by creating two torus's and then inserting three cylinders into them in order to make the foot rest for the bar stool.

Street Lamp: 

Creating a cylinder I then used the inset, extrude and bevel tools in order to create the base of a lamp.

Using the same tools I was then able to create the vertical pole of the street lamp. I then added spheres on either end of the top sides of the lamp.

I then created a box and edited it with inset, bevel and extrude in order to make the basic shape of the lamp itself. I then used the material editor in order to create the glass for the light by reducing the textures opacity and increasing the specular level and glossiness.
I plan to add the lighting to it in UDK as the lighting will look more realistic that way.

Door:

Creating a box with three length segments and five height segments I then used the inset tool to create equal sized squares on both sides before using the bevel tool to indent them.

In order to create the door knob I used the same technique as I did for my desk before copying it so it would be on both sides. I also reduced the thickness of the door in order to make it look more realistic.

During the making of the door however, it accidentally saved over the model of the desk I made. Therefore I need to check to see if I have a saved copy of that 3D asset. Otherwise I will have to recreate it and learn by my mistake.