Creating assets for my Demo (30/4/2013)

Replacing the Sound Theory module with 3D Modelling we looked over the work we would be doing during the rest of this term.

June 3rd will be our deadline for when we have to create a number of assets to put into the 3D demo we made last term.

The assets I would like to create for the game demo include the following.

• Work cabinets to replace the plain wooded boxes that represent them. 
• A desk to replace the blocky one in the detectives office.
• A type writer for the detective's room. 
• Glasses to replace the shrunken barrels I used to represent drinks.
• A coffee cup for the detective's desk. 
• Chairs to replaces the crude substitutes I had to make. I may also make stools for the pub.
• A car or two if I can find the time in order to tell the player what era the demo is set in e.g. 1930's/40's. 
• Even though my pool table made from odds and sods gets the job done, I may want to replace it with one that has the correct amount of balls on it.  
• Different doors so as to add variety to the scene since I only have one type at the moment.
• A hat stand to add extra detail to the detectives office. 
• Street lamps to add further lighting to the scene.  

I decided to make some simple things first since I haven't used 3dsmax in a long time. Therefore I made the following using the methods mentioned below.

Coffee Cup: 

First of all I made a cylinder before using 'inset' alongside 'extrude' on the top of it to make it a hollow cup.

Using the 'line' tool I was able to make the handle for the cup. It started as just a line however, therefore I had to select the option under 'rendering' in order to get a thicker version which I did by increasing the 'Radial's 'Thickness' to 4.0. Also in 'rendering' I had to select 'enable in renderer' and 'enable in viewpoint' in order to see the handle.

With the coffee cup pretty much complete I then selected the cup and used the 'smooth' tool and selected 'auto smooth' in order to make it look less blocky. 

I plan to texture this coffee cup another day.

Beer Glass:

Using the 'line' tool I made the rough side of a beer glass.

I then added some more lines to the existing lines when I realised I didn't have enough to make a realistic looking beer glass.

Editing the lines slightly and using the 'lathe' tool I was able to make the lines wrap around into a rough beer glass.

I then changed the view from 'wireframe' to 'realistic' in order to see my 3D model.

Going into 'material editor' I then made the glass texture by selected a light blue and reducing its 'opacity' in order to make it more transparent. I then messed around with the 'specular level' and 'glossiness' in order to make it more shiny and glass like. 

Realising that the lines inside the beer glass only made it less realistic I then decided to remove the inner lines.

I then messed around with the lines further in order to make the glass more realistic. 

Not content with just having empty glasses for my demo I decided to make a version with beer. I did this by copying the glass itself and then reducing its size to fit perfectly in the glass, using the 'cap' tool. I was also able to give the beer a top, to do this I cut the top of the beer in order to make a frothy top. I was able to make the contents look like beer and froth by using the same technique that I used for the glass texture.   

Hat Stand:

Deciding to create a hat stand I first of all made a line in the shape of one side of it.

Increasing its thickness to 2.0 I then made it brown and copied it four times. Rotating it where necessary in order to get four sides of the stand. I then added a torus (ring) to the top to make it look authentic.

Overall today was very productive and I was able to make four useful models. Therefore I look forward to importing my models into my demo and seeing how effective they are as 3D objects.