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3D Creations ''Poly-adventure!'' PART 1

Work In Progress / 09 October 2021

Welcome to a new adventure.

Part 2 

Week 1

We start with a new class, in which we will gradually learn the secrets of modelling and sculpting.

If you want to read about my process in creating animations, you can see it here, on the other hand if you want to see something related to VFX, click here.

In the first place I decided to continue using ArtStation as my blog platform because I obtained good results in the visualization of my work, also I have made a couple of contacts here and it is always a good idea to keep it active :) 

It also has a good character's capacity (amount of words!), good support in the integration of videos from third sources and I do not worry about the contrast of the elements, since it maintains the graphic line of ArtStation. Finally, It have the option of skecthfab and I suspect it is something I will be using in the near future.

Now, let's talk about...

Background

When the Covid pandemic hit my small country Honduras in 2020, like many I was forced to work from home. While I was fortunate as my job was 99% remote, it was a moment of determination to continue my education.

At that time (March) it was already decided that I would study in the UK and that my master's degree would have to do with 3D, so together with different artists I began to practice with the first program I could get ...

Cinema 4D

Their platform is very intuitive, while Maya may seem a little saturated at first (due to the amount of functions it has) But what I hated about C4D was that to ''sculpt '' you needed to double the number of polygons and at that moment my poor laptop suffered.

As always, the topics that I like to try the most are animals and cultural things from Honduras, here are a couple of examples:

Later, the same friends put together a discord to do a weekly modeling event, forcing us to leave our comforts. A couple of my entries ...


Thesis ''La Sucia Animation''

For my thesis project (an animation of the myth of La Sucia) I made 3 character models, it was my first time in Maya and strongly influenced by the feedback of my counselors / teachers / discord professionals, to whom I am very grateful and They will be named at the end of the animation credits.

Some of my process:


And this was the end result, after a lot of experimentation.

Nomad Sculpt 

Finally (at least for this blog post) I downloaded the Nomad application for my iPad Pro and since the truth is like a simple version of zbrush, it has helped me to practice certain techniques while traveling by train.

Simple little things, heads of characters.

First steps

Before running you have to walk, it was there in May 2021 that I entered the world of Maya modelling for the first time and at that time it was a specific learning moment because my goal was to create 3 bipedal models with a caricature appearance.

However, this time it will be a generalized learning, with which I will be able to learn techniques that will be applied to various sectors. With this in mind, the first assignment of the class was to review the basics of modelling, here is a short summary:

  • Differences between vertices, faces and edges.
  • Understand how Maya works between hard-surface and soft-surface.
  • Introduction to the difference between modelling for elements that will be animated or not.
  • Hot KEYS!
  • Subdivision and how that affects my computer's memory.
  • How to maintain edges? Supporting!
  • The four magic tools: extrude, insert edge loop, Multi-cut and Bevel.

Edge Flows

Polycount was one of the most useful pages I used during my modelling pipeline, specially fixing edge flows.

Personal recommendation: Print or draw this image in your notebook, you are going to re-visit it again and again and again. I did not create this from scratch, I based in some images that i have been saving, specially from Polycount.

Exercises in class

Here is a small compilation of the exercises we did in class, with a bit of information about how I did them and feedback.

First work in the middle of the object, creating a cylinder and selecting some faces to create the circles that will connect the U shape. Then for the U shape, make an extrude using a curve. However my biggest problem was that the tubes had different thicknesses.

I am also aware that my topology could be much better...

Week 2

Exercises at home

USB Drive

In this exercise, what I found the most challenging was the structure of the holes in the USB, since in the end I had to put several "supports" so that even in soft mode, it would retain its square shape.

If I had more time, I know I could fix the topology around it by reducing the faces.

Creating a Stick Grenade

For this object, the point that caused me the most difficulty was the connection between the cover at one end and the hook at the other end. The point that surprised me the most was the use of a helix, since it was used to create the metallic connection, personally I would have tried to create the spiral with curves and combine it with a cylinder, but this technique was much faster.

In my final result, I feel that I could have improved the curvature of many corners, especially the handle since I made it ''to the eye'', it would have been much better if I had ''traced'' it, maybe even using a curve and then converting it to a plane.

Extra: I made the texture of the wood with a ramp in aistandardshader, I liked the result haha.


Security Camera

This exercise was particularly difficult as it was in the reproduction of many elements with many curves. However, along the way, I learned to love the mirror tool, since sometimes the symmetry did not work completely. 

It could improve on many factors, especially between the connection of the camera to its mount (try to improve it with a lattite box) and some loops in general.

Extra: I tried playing around with the light emission from the glass, although technically the light should come from behind the glass.


UV Mapping

UV mapping is the process of dividing a 3d image on a 2D surface, in this way textures can be placed. During the process of my final project I had to learn quickly how UV maps worked, several supervisors assisted me exhaustively in the process.

However now I know that I could improve my UV with all the new that I am learning.

Here is a sample of what I did before class (click the image to see details):

Week 3

Class Exercises

During class we experienced a magnifying glass and a character of a man, the advantage of Maya is that it divides the sectors that we are "cutting" into colours. If we look closely we notice a texture of a grid, this helps us to know how much is the resolution in which the texture will project.

In the magnifying glass for example, it is composed of several separate elements, so the elements that are hidden do not need high resolution, so in our UV map we cut them and we can leave them small.

Another trick to use can be seen in this character, firstly, having all the elements together, we must be careful where to leave "the hidden cut" so that it does not alter our continuity of the texture. Also if we want to take advantage of the UV space to the maximum, we can '' flip '' elements that are the same as the texture will be the same, so leave both legs in the same position.

This trick would not work if, for example, one leg had different elements such as tattoos.

Week 4

Zbrush, I hate you, I love you

Zbrush and I have a story.

From the first course I took where I could not see all the elements of the program since my screen was small to hate the way the zoom works (which I change in the commands every time I open it, let me use the mouse roll Zbrush!)

But in these races the beast must be mastered, so I will be putting extra effort in learning how to use it, also I seriously want to make Honduran outfits in this program. (Spoiler for my final project!)

Blocking Batman

The first exercise done in zbrush that I did was to create the blocking for this batman, however in my first attempt I had a lot of difficulties with:

  • Placing the images.
  • Center the elements.
  • Switch between object and environment symmetry.
  • Camera view.
  • Colors to make it look pretty.
  • uuuuhg


I know that part of the problem is that I keep thinking about how Maya works, in Maya you can '' snap '' objects to a grid, have different views at the same time and work with local or '' world '' controllers with a simple change of clicks.

In the last class we had a fantastic guest, Carlo! who with a lot of patience helped me answering many questions (especially symmetry)

With all this and many YouTube tutorials on how to block, I decided that the first Batman was a lost cause and start over.

Although the second attempt had a considerably better result, I have a lot to improve; At first glance I can tell that the shoes could look better, put more elements on the belt, accentuate muscles and I always had a little problem with the reference images, because we can see that the Batman from the side has a better cranial shape than the one from the front.

Big Shark

In this very long exercise we have applied most of the things that we have seen in Zbrush, if I had to summarize the process it would be something like:

Elements (like a sphere) -> Zremesher-> Blocking -> Add Appends and repeat until you block all character.

It is recommended to do the blocking with elements that have very few polygons, to better understand how the shapes, your silhouette, the reading of your character work and so that your computer / laptop does not die :)

Once with the blocking done, we introduce our dear friend Dynamesh, to add softer and more ''moldable'' surfaces, in this we can work elements individually and then combine the groups little by little until we have something like this:

In Process...

Week 5

Retopology

Surprisingly, retopology is one of my favorite aspects of the process, as my computer doesn't suffer as much.

It is (literal) to recreate the topology in a simpler way and with Quaddraws.

Again an example of my work in the thesis:

(add image)

And now with the exercises in class, among the examples I chose that of an older man to try to work with wrinkles. The model was not symmetrical so that caused problems for me, besides I forgot one of the most important retopology tips: Start with the eye and mouth cycles!

I am mentalized in "the topology must produce cycles". This means that when I select a polygon a cycle is activated. This is especially important for animation, as these loops will help us create rigs for facial expressions. Example:

However with the final result we notice that we lose a lot of details, but do not worry! DO NOT PANIC! We will use another program to combine both models and get the best of both worlds.

Week 6

Characters Concept exercises

Exercise 1

Mastering the technique is very important, it allows us to reproduce what already exists, but working with concepts allows us to create original elements or characters.

In this enclass exercise we were given the following world in which we will incorporate our character:

World Context: In this world, science has no boundaries, but humanity’s numbers have diminished greatly after a series of catastrophic events. To reintroduce genetic diversity, human embryos are commonly spliced with animals, resulting in hybrid races.

In this case we create a character with Latin descent, small stature, with androgenic characteristics, bird DNA (specifically Tucan), with a slim to athletic body. Mohair style haircut, with only one eye, working on organized crime, tattoos and Cyber-punk style clothes. Here you can see the collected references:

The reference task reminds us that in each photograph there may be only one detail that we like, but that detail can make a difference for the character. During this exercise I focused on finding a way to combine the green and yellow colors in the hair, so I have images that have nothing to do with mohair, but more like the degradation of the hair, if the color would only be in The tips are divided, if it is short as it will look, if it is long, smooth or wavy. These exercises will be used for the creation of our characters.

Exercise 2

For the following exercise I chose the character of Jimmy Levinsky, to answer at least 25 questions from this character.

What is your occupation?
I'm a super hero, a bit like a mad scientist, sometimes in trouble with the law because they don't understand my genius and they don't know that to create you have to destroy a little.


What words and / or phrases do you use very frequently?
Don't trust me, trust science.


What do you have in your pockets?
Spare nuts, a marker that never seems to wear out, and a tissue to wipe the oil off my hands.


Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?
I am extremely organized in my own way, this means that even though my lab looks disorganized, don't touch anything because I know exactly where everything is.


Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?
I am not physically strong, especially in my legs.



Did you enjoy school?
At first because of the access to books, but then I got bored, the teachers couldn't keep up.



As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?
I thought I had many friends, always laughing with me, but later I described that they laughed at me.



When and with whom was your first kiss?
It was after saving a little leg from an explosion that she does not know that I caused, unfortunately that was the last time I saw her.



As a child, what were your favourite activities?
Silent reading and laboratory classes.



Who has had the most influence on you?
My great-aunt didn't always understand my inventions, but she always supported me.



Do you have a criminal record of any kind?
A couple of accidents here and there, insurers don't like me.



Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?
I like to consider myself an optimist.



What is your biggest fear?
A superhero should not have any fear, but I have to admit that I am not the best friend of the spiders.



How close are you to your family?
Well I always send letters at Christmas but only one niece answers them, she seems to have a little fascination for science at her young age.



Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?
Absolutely.



What makes you laugh?
That there are still people who believe the earth is flat.



Are you spontaneous or do you always need to have a plan?
Plans are built in the process, I like to be more spontaneous.



Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?
Those things weaken the brain.



What is your greatest strength as a person?
My intellect, I always trust my brain.



Do you like yourself?
Yes of course! Although I wouldn't mind liking more people.



Where do you see in 5 years?
Opening my own academy for brilliant minds.



What three words best describe your personality?
Brilliant, genius and charismatic.


What three words would others probably use to describe you?
''Papanatas'', clueless and destructive.


What are your hobbies?
When I have an idea in my head, I usually lock myself in my own mind.



Do you usually argue with people or avoid conflicts?
It's not that I like conflict, but it's that sometimes I can't let an ignorant comment pass easily.

This exercise allowed me to get into the personality and life of the character, make it more real and able to empathize with him.

Week 7

Ai Standard Shader

In this class we delve into the Arnold Shader, remembering what we had already seen in Perfecting the look. Among the various types, in the following image (from left to right and front to back) we see the following variations:

  • Base
  • Metal
  • Specular
  • Thin Film
  • Transmission
  • Subsurface
  • Coat
  • Emission
  • Sheen (Dress)

Remembering these functions will be extremely necessary when we start texturing, especially if we want to give it a more realistic look. There is one of the extra exercises that I will have to review more than once, that of aiComposite Shader, aiMix Shader and aiTwoSided Shader; Because one of the elements for my final project will have several oxidized metals.

Let's continue in Part 2