Treasure Chest 3d Model Production

For my 4th model I wanted to create a more stylised model with a distinct look. It will have a very low poly count (around 500) in order to test my optimisation skills up to this point and create a model which would fit into a cartoony game, while still looking very detailed with realistic elements to it. To kick-start this I researched various images of chests to use as a point of reference to model against, and I could later add a more abstract look to it (such as distorting the model's shape and adding wooden planks which physically jet out in various angles and directions).


http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-model/wooden-chest/ more images at (Turbosquid, 2016)



(Cruse, 2015)


I started by making a simple box with 3 length, 1 width and 3 height segments attached to it. From there I scaled out two of the edges from the centre point of the pivot and removed the top polygons to make the chest base where the lid will sit on top.



From there I created a new 12-sided cylinder and removed the top/bottom polygons and half of the sides, in order to to create a lid shape. From there I centred the position of both objects to 0, 0, 0, lifted the lid up to the top and attached the objects together create the basic shape. From there I simply shift-scaled out the lid's edges, and welded the duplicate vertices together.


















 

From here I filled the gaps in the sides using the bridge and loop tools, as in its current state not all polygons are tris or quads, which will make texturing a nightmare later on if it's not fixed. From here I extruded out various segments along the edges of my chest, since I'm aiming for a stylised look with this model the variety of planks which are jetting out of the side will help add a bit of randomisation. Afterwards I scaled in the centre of the chest to create an outside plank which wraps around the chest, and used the bevel tool to extrude out the shape (using different values for both the top and lower half of the shape). From here I duplicated this band and moved both copies to the left and right of the shape, create two metal plates which holds the chest model in place. (This band also has no polygons facing inwards, which help optimise the chest by saving some polygons, which will help in the long-run if there are a lot of duplicate chest models in a finished game engine.)



Next I created an 8-sided cylinder to act as the metal bolt for the chest (which also has the hidden face removed to save an extra polygon). And duplicated it various times to be placed on each segment on both straps. From here I started making the chest's lock, where I scaled in two panels on the front and moved down the top edge to about one and a half panels high to create the basic shape. From there I extruded this shape out using group normals too keep the lock's shape, and used swift loops to round-out the shape of the lock. From there I insetted the front face of the lock to create the keyhole, and scaled-in the bottom segment to create a keyhole shape. Lastly I extruded this key shape inwards to create the hole a real key would slot into.



From here I attached all of the components together and used an FDD 3 x 3 x 3 modifier to reshape and resize the treasure chest (if they weren't all attached together me stretching the model would leave other components untouched and floating out of place), to make it look a lot more stylised so it's ready to be unwrapped! Because this chest is quite complicated, I started by projecting a planer map for the whole thing and split up the pieces into segments with the break tool. From there, I used various unwrapping techniques such as quick peel, pack custom tool and typical shade modification tools (move, rotate and rescale) to create a UV map which shows every side of the chest ready to texture. Even though the chest looks quite detailed, it still only has just over 500 polys in the model




I created both a wood grain (by heavily editing a texture sourced from the internet to be more cartoony, colourful and more stylised) and a light and dark metallic texture for my chest in Photoshop (using an assortment of stripes, with the metal texture being rotated duplicates of the wood texture with is darkened and desaturated). Past then I used the slate material editor to apply these three textures to the appropriate parts of the model. This model also uses a PBR rendering system with different levels of specular and glossiness for the wood/ metal, as well as using diffuse, complete and shadow texture maps (to get in extra detail like more darkness in the keyhole). I even added a few lights into the 3ds Max scene at different angles to really show-off the different viewing angles and how it could look in a real game engine (such as in a dark cave).

From here I used the render to texture dialogue box to render out 4 separate high-quality texture maps  (albedo, shaded, shadow and shaded, along with the base UVW) directly from 3ds Max, which I could then import into Photoshop to merge the detail together for the chest's diffuse map, as well as specular (to show metallic materials) and bump maps. This is a form of PBR as all of these specific details add up in the main diffuse map to give the model a much more realistic touch (with things like shadows and areas of lightness). Afterwards I textured on the individual planks, by creating a duplicate of the main texture file in Photoshop but using plank segments from the UVW as I continued baking in the ambient occlusion detail in the textures. From there I used an inner glow from the blending option to create a distinct outline for each board. As a final touch I created a separate normal and specular map which is of a much lighter blue/brown than the main texture, to use as a bump and specular map allowing for an extra level of detail and shine in the metal. I made two separate scenes for this chest, one with the model on its own and another with a lighting effect to show-off the specular mapping in greater detail.





As a final form of PBR, alongside the albedo, normal, roughness and metallic maps applied to the model, I added ambient occlusion in the render settings too in order to bring out the last few bits of detail to the chest. First for ambient occlusion I dropped a skylight into the scene and set a light tracer into the render setup section, tweaking the light tracer value to suit the model's stylised look. I ticked the ambient occlusion setting in the renderer dialogue box to give the model's edges a dark and shaded look, and also used the quicksilver hardware renderer to render out the images, as it is one of the fastest in loading times and also remains true to the original model's textures (without making the chest look like it's glowing). Here's the chest's finalised design as a fully rendered model in 3ds Max (not the shadows underneath the front hinge from the skylight):

For feedback I asked some of my friends for their opinions on the chest via Skype, these are the results:

Marshall Humberstone: "That looks pretty nice actually. You have a very distinct style in all art that you do. I will say though, it looks like you may need a higher specular on the metal as it doesn't appear any more reflective from the wood

But that's only going off of what I read briefly on pbr, where metals are meant to reflect how they react in real life and I couldn't offer you any advice on how to actually do it unfortunately D:"

Aidan Jenner: "Pretty good! ^-^ Omg that looks awesome lol. I love the highlights of the chest and the wonky stylised look it has...."

Jason Wood: "I like its cartoony look with the janky, wooden edges. Makes it looks very stylised. I also like the metal textures. And as constructive feedback, maybe have some depth between the planks to stop them from looking quite flat."

To conclude at the end of this model's development, this chest is one of my favourite models I've produced so far and I really love the surreal visual style it has. The PBR and fine detail in the model's textures all come together to create a low-poly, comprehensive game ready asset. And the fact that this model is also around 500 polys really shows self-improvement, and how I've improved my skills over this period of time.

Here's a link to the uploaded version of the chest on Sketchfab, which is the best way to view it and the PBR looks fantastic online compared to being in 3ds Max, you can really see the finer texture detail in the chest. It really looks glossy and wet from sitting in a damp, moist cave for years, which is the perfect look I was going for which really exhibits the extra detail in the rendering with such a large amount of texture maps (shown below).  https://sketchfab.com/models/5b7635e981dd4a079330c2dff8ca18c5

Office Lockers 3d Model Production

For my third model I started to create a more stylised Chest of Draws model, compared to the more realistic Sofa I previously made.This is designed to have a more defined yet stylised look to it, in order to fit into a more cartoony indie PC game that isn't majorly graphically intensive. I first started looking at some referencing images, and found that these draws with handles built into the draw with a more boxed design help match the stylised visual style I'm going for with a more cartoony nature to it.

A good and modern design for a chest of draws.(John Lewis, 2016)

The second chest of draws image, I took inspiration from the plated and boxed design but used the first image more as a form of reference. (John Lewis, 2014)

I first started out with a simple box and I insetted the top, back and sides to create wooden panels around the edges. I then deleted the insetted front face to create the hole for the draws to slot into. For the draws I created a box shape, connected lines at the top and insetted it in. From there to create the gradual slope where a person were to grabs the handles I chamfered the edges as to not make them so sharp, and not look like someone would stab their own hand when opening the chest.

Afterwards once I had the basic shape in place, I could rescale it to the correct size and created duplicates of it to create a bigger wall of Draws instead of a single column of them. From there I created another box for the inside of the chest, and cut away at their shapes to look like contains that would hold clothes and objects when pulled out. From this box I also insetted and extruded the sides to create the appearance of a wooden border around the side, which makes the model look like a much more ornate shape. To add to this kiddy and bolted appearance I added some big wooden bolts onto the side of the object (as shown below), which are simply created from 5-sided cylinders and me deleting the sides the player normally wouldn't see for optimisation purposes.





After making the model more slim and taller (shown above), I also removed the extruding and chamfer for the sides of these draws that will be hidden when sat next to other draws, as a good use of professional optimisation as I reduce a few unneeded polys from my scene. As shown below, the player will never see this side, so it doesn't matter if it only takes up a single poly.



However I received some peer feedback from Ben Musgrave during development which caused quite a drastic change from this point forward, since the model more and more began to look like a traditional office locker/ filing cabinet than a chest of draws due to the slim, tall shape, I decided to take my model in a different direction and redesigned various aspects of it, keeping the stylised appearance I set out to achieve while also moving a step forward into realism, as I plan to give the finished model a metallic shine. I used used new reference images for the new design I wished to create, as shown below.

A new reference image used to help shape the model into its new look. (Staples, 2016)

From this point forward my first action was to redesign the draws completely, matching the appearance of the image above (complete with a name card, handle and unlocking draw knob). I also redid the inside of the draws too, extruding in some ridges to make it look like it could easily slide in and out along a shaft, as before it was a very flat shape since I had the mentality that the player's never really going to see it when playing a game. I will take advantage of this change and extra polys added though, as at the end when the model is finished I will move in and out a few of the draws (again, like the image above) to add a false sense of variety to all of the individual objects, despite them being exact duplicates of each other. This shows good personal development as I continued to redesign the model for the new look and improve its overall quality.



Afterwards I also redesigned the base to move away from the rigid and boarded look of the chest of draws and created a more natural and smooth look. It follows a design prophecy where simplicity actually can look better, as currently with the previous draw it just looked too 'busy'.

















Now I have the main model complete, it's time to unwrap the UVWs and texture it in Photoshop as always. I only had to unwrap a single draw, due to all of the others being a duplicated reference of the main object. This saved a lot of time and is a good example of me working to professional practises, as you save a lot of potential time when texturing clones of the same object than doing them all individually. Also, because these filing cabinets are made out of metal, I decided to create a separate metallic map alongside the regular texture BMP file using 3ds Max's material editor, to give it more of a shine that follows how real metal reacts to light. Baring in mind each draw has a slip of paper on them, it's important to avoid giving that section of the object metallic properties, or else it'll instantly break the player's illusion of metal I was going for. Here is the cabinet after the textures and metallic mapping has been applied:

Now onto the metallic hue, which is visible in the image above. I used the material editor for this alongside the separate texture file inside the same material, as I modified specular and glossiness to 75 values, and added a reflection map with a value of 85, which gave the object a strong gleam all over as you turn the camera. This really makes the filing cabinet look like it's made from metal, regardless of its simple and stylised look. Because without these extra additions the colours look very flat and absorb all of the light in the scene, when real metal reflects light instead.

I got some peers to give me some peer feedback, as an insight into what they think!

Jason Wood: "It looks like a very nice set of office lockers, I like how some of them are pulled up, it gives it character. I like colours and the little details with the name badges. I can't fault it!"

Adam Dyer: "I like the Labels in the texture. Could be smoother, maybe round them out?"

Ben Musgrave: "It's good i guess, i mean it has nothing on your other models, i love the kinda unique style of your other models, but this doesn't really follow the same style. Which is good as you're doing your own thing."

Overall I feel that these cartoony Office Lockers have a very solid final design, and keep to a simple, yet iconic tradition of using singular blocked colours on individual pieces of the model. The model has progressed a long way through its many design changes from a Chest of Draws, however I feel it was for the better and this is a much better result and design choice as it looks much more well made with more details on it (such as the locks and handles), so I'm happy I went with it.

I uploaded the model to Sketchfab so it can be viewed online in a well rendered setting, which really shows off the 'glossiness' of these office lockers. Here is the link: https://skfb.ly/MVGt

Sofa 3d Model Production

During my time 3d modelling with a mix of visual styles I decided to create a realistic looking sofa, which is designed to look like it would fit into a PC game of the 'walking simulator' genre. I wanted to create a piece of household furniture with realistic proportions, and to do this I first collected various reference images which I could use to gage the size and scope of a sofa. I got a variety of different sofa images to compare the detail in them, and what elements remain consistent throughout different designs.

An image I used for reference which I imported into the scene. This was very useful for getting the proportions correctly. (Karakurt, 2015)

A sofa from a different company, still has the same base shape to all other sofas. (Crumpacker, 2014)

A reference for am armchair. It still follows similar proportions that a sofa would, despite only sitting one person. (Hilton, 2009)

For a guide to understand how you would generally go about creating a sofa, I looked up various videos on Youtube to create sofas in 3d modelling software. This one in particular stuck out to me as it showcased various new tools and techniques for me to learn (such as control points and using the spline tool), while also being a sped up at a fast speed showing them modelling at a frantic pace. This means I couldn't copy it directly like a tutorial, which is a good thing as I also wanted to put my own spin on it anyway so the video served as a good guide for the general tools and methods that are good for the job, without just going by a step-by-step process.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB4iBow1Y1Q

I started working towards the chair's arms, from a plain with a reference image in the background, which I then repositioned the different vertices to match, incetted three times and extruded the centre piece inwards to create a 3d shape. I used the cloth modifier to simulate cotton. Then I used a smoothing modifyer to make the sofa's arm appear more realistic, and lastly converted everything to an editable poly, with a backup model as an earlier copy in case something goes wrong.

At this point I decided to make my model into an armchair not sofa, following the longer sofa as a reference image, but the smaller armchair in the same image for the correct proportions. I chose this direction as I feel that a smaller armchair is nicer to look at, and it's easier to get the proportions just right with more precise tweaking on a chair that sits one person, not three.To do this I used the symmatry tool to duplicate  the other half of the chair's arm, and put them together as shown below.

Next I created two new boxes, one of which is a ChamferBox as found under the 'extended primitives' menu. The chamfered box is much more rounded around the edges, which is perfect for the shape of a soft cushion to sit on. The more rigid box serves as the base of the chair, to keep someone in place if they sit down. I then used more control points to smooth it out andadd an extra layer of detail.

To make the seem for around the cushion I selected a looped edge at the top and bottom of the cushion, then converted that selection into a spline. Afterwards I made that spline into a cylindrical shape, and lowered the size and number of sides.

Next I made the chair's legs. For this I used the line tool to draw half of the leg's outline against the reference image, and then used the 'lathe' tool to make the object cylindrical into the shape of a chair's leg, while also acting similarly to the symmetry modifier with creating the other half of the chair's leg too, making them identical it each other on both sides. Afterwards I simply made 4 duplicate copies which reference the main leg and placed them at the bottom four corners of the chair.

I then finally for the chair made a pillow. Starting with a simple box which was only 0.1 thick, I used the same cloth modifier from earlier with the puffy seat, only this time being applied to the part of the chair the person sitting on would rest their back towards it (the pillow in this case). Only this time instead of using the preset 'cotton', I'm using 'silk' to create a more natural and free flowing appearance. I also used the chair as a point of collision, so during the simulation of physics the pillow naturally gravitated towards the chair's shape and rested in that position, giving it a very realistic posture. Afterwards like I did with the set cushion I selected the outside edges of the pillow and created a seam which wraps around the model, giving it a tightly knit appearance.

After this I added an extra layer of mesh smooth to the arms to give the chair more of a curved appearance. This brings the model's poly count to around 9000, which may seem high, but it's a model designed for a high-end PC game in the walking-simulator genre, meaning that the models needs to look smooth.



Now that all the pieces of the chair are complete, it's time for it to be unwrapped and textured in both 3ds Max and Photoshop respectively.

Here are some before and after shots:








Next-up I decided to get some peer feedback for some improvements to be made to this chair. So I took to both our Uni Facebook group and the Polycount forums for advice, these are the results I received, first-up from fellow students:

Tom Fabry: "I'd probably try to change the hue of the pillow to appear less purple, and more deep blue like the rest of the model. Right now its looking a bit too indigo, and sticks out a bit too much, IMHO. It is a nicely done couch though, not gonna lie - it definitely looks quite smooth and comfortable! Just change the hue to a more blue shade and you'll be fiiine.  I especially like the linework on the Sofa."

Josh Long: "Looks really good mate! Perhaps apply some maps? Perhaps a bump map? (displacement I think its called) to make the fibres of the material stick out? Also a few rendering tricks or sticking it into a game engine such as UE4 could make some of those shadows less harsh to make it look more realistic."

Rob Morphew: "Adam the textures look a bit harsh and stretched, I feel you should use less pronounced texture work and more softer block colours instead to look less "real". Otherwise looking good."

I feel this criticism is valid so I went to change-up the texture work a bit and fix a few other quirks people had with the chair. To conclude though I feel that my sofa model turned out really well, the texturing is a bit tacky in areas due to that being the specialism in modelling I struggle the most with, but overall I've proud of the sofa and it has a very nice style to it which crosses realism and stylisation really well. The feedback made me realise that the texturing was a bit of a problem though, and people considered the model to look better untextured. I decided to make a fast fix, and gave the sofa a more stylised look to it with blocked-in colours instead of the crudely drawn-in fabrics. Here's the final sofa, which admittedly looks much better with less 'detailed' texture, fitting in with the theme of some of my other models (like the bird). Sometimes, less really is more.

The armchair has also been uploaded to Sketchfab allowing you to view the whole model online without loading 3ds Max. The url is here: https://skfb.ly/MVFY