Modelling a Car - Box Modelling

We practised using blueprints to aid in creating a model again. I started by finding a blueprint of a car that showed as many different angles as possible and matched up accurately. I then separated the images of the car, and made sure that they matched up correctly.

Putting the images on flat planes in 3Ds Max, I was able to create a tube for the wheel arches, and match them up to the images. Then I could attach them together and keep extruding the edges to create more geometry that I could move to match the images in the background. Using this method, I have created a basic, low poly model for a car.

Painting Textures - Mudbox

We were told to create a quick and basic model of a person that contained a very low amount of polygons. I created a model without a head and hands to save time, and then exported it into Mudbox, where detail could be added to the body and the shape could be smoothed and manipulated easily. I found this to be a lot quicker than 3Ds Max and more flexible, but not as accurate.

I then unwrapped the model so that it was ready for a texture to be painted onto it, as Mudbox requires this. Exporting the model into Mudbox again, I took some images of clothes like jeans and a shirt and then made them into a stencil, which allows you to paint parts of the image onto the model directly. By doing this method, it was much quicker than applying the texture in 3Ds Max and was easy to apply the textures to curves in to model without it stretching. I found it surprising that you couldn’t see where the brush strokes were in the texture after you had finished. Finally, i exported it into 3Ds Max for editing later.

Creating Landscapes using Mudbox

By using Mudbox I was able to start with flat ground for my landscape, and was able to morph and pull the terrain around. Tools like bulge and smooth really helped when adding detail to the terrain, and were much easier than trying to recreate the same effect in 3Ds Max by pulling vertices or using displacement mapping. After I made the terrain, I exported it as an OBJ. file and then imported it into 3Ds Max where I added a second flat object for the water. I then Added some objects and foliage to the scene to make it more interesting to look at.

Unwrapping a Person - Tweaking and Recap

We were given a model and told to unwrap and texture it, as we had done before to previous models. It was fairly simple to remember where to place the seams, however the model was poorly made in places and a lot of polygons were triangle shaped. This meant that tools like loop wouldn’t be as effective and it would be more difficult to place the seams accurately. This was especially true for the foot, where the edges split to different angles in many places. We were also asked to unwrap the hair, but I couldn’t work out where the seams would go on the model, as it was made of flat shapes instead of it being a 3D object.

3D Speed Test without Blueprints

We were given 30 mins to quickly build a model in 3Ds Max without using a blueprint. I chose to start from the body and try to replicate what I had done with the cartoon character previously. It proved to be a lot more difficult to recreate the proportions of a person and a lot of the modelling involved guesswork and estimating where the vertices should go. The hardest part was creating the hands as it involves a lot of detail, which is hard to imagine without a reference. I was given feedback that my hands were facing the wrong direction (forward) for a model and that the model was too flat, meaning it needed more curves for the spine and arms. I corrected this for the final model that is displayed below.