Evaluation
The first
model which I created was a fish tank to go into my UDK level; I wanted to
focus my attention on creating a relatively complex high poly model so that I
was able to learn a variety of new techniques and tools in Max. One of the main
problems which I experienced was with the opacity map which I used to create
the fish inside the tank, at first there was a lack of transparency in the
Photoshop document. This meant that when I put the texture on the fish in Max a
white outline surrounded the main picture, in order to rectify the issue I went
into the material editor and changed the glass which I used for the tank from
Physical glass too glass (thin geometry). Another problem which I experienced
was when trying to create and texture the legs. First of all I attempted to use
a cylinder and move the vertexes into place however this didn’t create a shape
which resembled the leg on my reference image. I decided to learn how to use
splines to create the legs; I found it relatively easy to use and effective. One
of the main things which I learnt from this process is that I have to group all
of the pieces of the model together and unwrap everything in order to take the
model textured into UDK; unfortunately I didn’t do this on my first model.
However, on my low poly broom model I did unwrap everything onto one map which
meant that I was able to take it into UDK. Another thing which I learnt is how
to keep the poly count down by deleting polys which won’t be seen by the player
and reducing the amount of connects when creating each shape, when
experimenting with Max in my own time the poly count came to 35,000, my tank
came to 1,440 polys altogether. I am relatively happy with how my fish tank
came out however if I was to re-create it I would have made more of my own
textures for the model.
Creating the
alchemy set was relatively simple as the model wasn’t very complex due to the
small amount of primitives which I used. One issue which I did experience with
it was that I used smaller shapes to put inside the models which I already had,
this made it very confusing when trying to texture the inside models as the
programme became confused as to what I was selecting. I managed to solve this
by using the wireframe view to select the inside models. Even though this model
was very simple I am happy with it, I would of liked to add some more detailing
with the use of textures and perhaps some of tools, such as inset/bevel.
The final
asset which I created was a low poly broom, it was relatively simple create as
the reference image provided me with the basic shape which I needed to model
around. One aspect which I did struggle with was trying to texture the head of
the broom as I needed the texture to be wrapped all the way around. At first I tried
using an opacity map and placing it onto a plane however a white outline showed
up around the image and it could only be viewed from 2 perspectives. I used a
cone instead so that I could wrap the texture around it allowing it to be seen
from all sides. The texturing was also very tedious as when I attempted to
unwrap the whole model using the unfold mapping it became skewed due to the
fact that the cylinders were all at different angles. So I had to select each
cylinder and unfold map some of the sections and use a cylinder projection map
for others. The broom model I wasn’t as satisfied with due to the head looking
a bit too heavy considering it’s meant to be bristles which are very thin, If I
was too do the model again I definitely would have experimented more with the
opacity map and attempted using that to create a bristle effect.
