Category: Advanced & Experimental

Personal Project Showreel

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 28th June 2023
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Reflection

For my personal project I went with creating an ocean simulation. I’m happy with the results of my ocean simulation and the boat model that I used. The model I used for the boat is actually downloaded although the purpose of my personal project was not to model a boat but rather to be able to use a model within a simulation.

I felt this was important as for my group projects that wanted to focus on modeling and learning how to create and texture some models therefore I wanted to challenge myself to be able to use it in a simple simulation.

Although the only thing that I would be interested to recreate is to do something similar in another 3D program.

I did this simulation in blender, the reason for this is I felt that it was a program that I was interested in although I had a sincere lack of knowledge on how to use it.

I wanted to challenge myself as I felt that I was getting more confident in Maya and nowadays it is important to have a wide range of understanding of different 3D programs.

The result was quite good. The reflection and textures of the water are something that I’m very happy with and the colors and different reflective aspects of the water make it look realistic and professional.

I was really happy to be able to make a simulation where the camera was moving up and down with the focus of the simulation. there were some challenges with creating this project the majority of them were technical and I was able to get over them through trial and error although I did follow a tutorial throughout this project which really made a big difference. Although following the tutorial doesn’t not mean that everything will come easily even though it does help.

I also enjoyed the process of bringing the 3D render into a compositor was quite successful, i think the color correction, rain and thunder made a big difference to the escapism of the clip.

I also think that the sound design made the project alot more intense and really pulled everything together.

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FINAL RENDERS & RESULTS

Reflection

Overall, I am very happy with my role as a CG model within my group. I think that I was able to achieve what my group needed and I was able to contribute properly to the requirements of my group. I learned a lot throughout this process, especially my skills within substance painter. Some of the most useful things I learned was

Uv mapping
Modeling
Substance painter
Lighting within maya
Collaboration with other

Prior to this project I had not successfully UV mapped a model before, although with the help of coursemates and online tutorials I was able to wrap my head around the concept and understand its importance as a modeler.

I also honed in and improved my modeling skills, there were some specific tools that i think i was able to get a much better grip on than i had before such as

Splice
Using multiple objects to build
Scaling
Sculpting tools
Attribute editor
Texturing
Extrusions
UV mapping
Exporting

One of the main things that I was able to improve on was my ability to collaborate without those on a 3D project. I felt that before I had limited understanding on how to bounce objects and files between people in order to collaborate properly. I was able to learn how to work with others on getting feedback and improving the end result of my projects by asking for opinions, feedback and constructive criticism.

The three different objects that I modeled were a coffee table a couch and a stack of Internet servers. I would say that my most difficult object to model was the coffee table as this model had multiple different layers to it which made it difficult to UV map and texture properly.

I particularly enjoyed creating the couch as it was a clean process as I had a strong reference to go off of. I actually ended up completely redoing the original couch I had made as it was the first model that I attempted to create and my original design was not accurate enough to the reference. when I went for a second attempt I got a much better result as I was following much closer to what my group needed and therefore I was more confident in my modeling.

Overall I feel like I have learned a lot from this project and I am very happy with the result. The feedback from my group has been positive and I am looking forward to doing more modeling in the future and I am very keen to continue learning my skills within this area of 3D.

Advanced & Experimental Group

SERVER BUILD

REFERENCE

For the construction of the model, i wanted to ensure i had a very simple approach and not overcomplicate the shape.

I use the cylinder shape to make this handle and then curved it.

I then used the slice tool to cut shapes out of the servers and extrude them backwards

i also added separate objects to create buttons and other features

The servers were then duplicated at the the same distance so they were a consistent height.

This was the final render of the server in Substance painter, at this point it had been UV Mapped out and textured with a metallic finish to comply with the reference.

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Tracking Footage

As i am a look Dev Artist for this group project i am only tracking the footage in order to show that i am capable of tracking within 3DE.

I will track the footage

bring it into Nuke Compositer

Add some tracked Objects

Export file and place here

Opening up 3DE equalizer R7

Importing footage into the project

Beginning Tracking of file

Add contrast tio help track

Begining tracking everything.

I know have 27 points tracking forward

i will now track the rest of the points backwards

i now have just under 100 trakcing amrkers

Currently my number is too high, i want to get it down to 0.5000 range, to ensure it is accurate enough to track within Nuke.

I will do this by removing and improving certain trackers within the project.

this should smooth out the graph and ensure there are not gaps in the calculation graph as well as seen above.

My points are now under 0.6000 meaning it is accurate enough to begin the process of adding the lens distrotion info provided by christos.

Now i am adding the lens distortion measurements to ensure that the tracking is accurate to the camera it was filmed on.

I will now add some geometry to help with the import to Maya.

File ready to be exported and imported into Maya.

these are my tacekrs

Just had a discord meeting with dom

his main points to me were

track the edges fo the room
ensure that equalizer is able to understand the corners and walls of the room
end points that go out of frame and then restart them if they come back in
aim to have points all long the floor against the wall and each corner of the room

After this short call i was able to get a fresh perspective eon how to track this properly and i am now feeling more confident in getting it done.

This is a better reference as it highlights all the locations that need to be tracked better.

im planning to use the contrast in image controls to help point these markers.

Advanced & Experimental Group

Texturing and UV mapping couch

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 28th June 2023
No Comments on Texturing and UV mapping couch

Import .FBX file

Ensure there are no duplicate objects

Rename Objects properly

make sure hyper shade is tidy

UV’S Laid out

ready for textruing

Applied UV to all objects within

Export and bring into substance

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Beginning Process of Building the scene.

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 28th June 2023
No Comments on Beginning Process of Building the scene.

For my Personal Project i really wanted to tackle Blender as i felt it was an important program to understand and i was lacking in knowledge and experience within the program .

Here i am beginning the process of creating the water.

I want to ensure that this is accurate to how water actually moves…

In order to do this I have looked at some references as to how waves actually move.

Duplicating surfaces

Adding Cameras

going through objects and ensuring everything is working.

Attaching a camera to a moving vertex allowing it to move up and down with the water

this is to give the camera the appearance of being filmed from another boat.

Makes the sea and boat look more realistic

Importing boat into new scene

Adding textures and ensuring that they attached properly

ensuring that the object is centred.

Bringing boat into original scene “append”

Above we are looking a the camera view in object mode

Object now moving up and down with the water

Now that both the camera and boat are attached to the square grids they will move consistently

above you can see the grid on the water in the bottom left corner, this is the attachment of the camera.

Within the animation workspace i am working on the bobbing of the ship and adding rotations to each axis’s to make the movement of the boat looks more realistic and constant with the water.

Now i have applied an animation to the X axis i also wanted into on the Y

copying the same scales and strength to the Y axis and adjusting slightly

Z axis left alone as sidewards motion would not fit

Now the motion of the boat should look realistic and smooth

Now i can move the camera and boat around as i please

I then adjusted the camera settings such as

the focal length
its location
the rotation
the type of perspective

Downloading a Polyhaven Lighting and environment HDRI,

this is a free asset i will be using to give my simulation a sky

although the asset is of a town, we will only be using the clouds, the landscape will not be visible.

I am now beginning the process of adding nodes that will create the texture of water, adding reflection ripples and inconsistencies to make it look realistic

Exporting Scene from Blender.

Here is the first export.

I had some issues with this as the export was not working how i wanted, issues with the render view slowed down this process but through a process of trial and error i did manage to get the result i wanted.

I was very happy with this result because

it was consistent
the water look realistic
the clouds fit and convincing
the boat looked smooth and consistent with the water
the reflections and light look good

I still wanted to see if i could add more to this with

color correction
sounds effects
Rain
lightning and thunder

Color Correction

Rain and Thunder assets within AE

FINAL RESULT

I am very happy with the final result

Personal

Beginning Process of my Boat on the Sea Animation.

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 16th May 2023
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For this project I am planning to closely follow a tutorial.

I am aiming to make my clip approximately 10 seconds long.

I want the colors within the project to really pop.

The Program i plan to use is “blender”

the reason i want to use blender is to broaden my knowledge on 3D programs.

I am currently reasonably comfortable within Maya although i am aware that blender is a free program and i am curious to build my skills within it.

References

Tutorials

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Building Process of Sofa Table

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 5th May 2023
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Next I am modelling the sofa for my group
I want to take transportation from my original design but also ensure that i am following the references i found and was given
it is also important that it matches the coffee table i made
it should match in
scale
colors
materials
height

Original Design Concept

This design was approved by Daniel L our CG lead

Table that it should match

Coffee Table Details

Scale : Knee height using mannequin as a reference

Colors : Metallic blue Glass transparent Blue

Materials : glass and Metallic grip

Sofa Match Details/Plans

Scale : seat slightly higher than coffee table and backrest to scale

Color : Blue and white

Materials : Metallic Grip, White leather, Blue stitching.

Building Process

Import Mannequin for Scale

add subdivisions

Extrude faces on top ensuring that no other faces are selected

(save)

Use Multi Cut to create a triangular shape for the couch

Cut off sections and bridge them back together

Bevel Edges to make them appear more more round

Change of Plan.

I am restarting this couch and building it in seperate objects.

i was running into issues with modelling this one and have decided to start from scratch following the reference more closely.

For this build i am going to ensure that i am building the couch with different objects, this allows me more versatility in the design

It also makes any adjustments much easier

This will also help with texturing and coloring.

Finding basic Shape

Extruding edges

Designing pillows and adding segments to create a rounded off edge resembling a cushion

Ensuring that all the pillows match in size, are cohesive with each other, i did this by duplicating them, selecting them all and then stretching to the right size.

Here i have added an extra border around the cushions, this was taken from the reference.

I really wanted to stay close tot eh reference and not stray away from it too far.

This is important so that my group does not have to deal with surprises.

Working on the upper shape of the backrest.

Building the top part of the backrest.

I did this curved corner by multi cut a rectangle at 80% and then extrude the second half at a 90 degree angle, they were then rounded of by segments.

I also rounded off the armrests.

Time to texture

Coloring and texturing pillows using Standard surface – Preset – “milk”

I have now texutred the couch

i am happy with the similarities between it and the references
this is a centered .fbx file
cohesive colors that match the table
build is simple and matches the theme

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 5th May 2023
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Personal-Project-22 Download

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Coffee Table Reconstruction

Post author By Dominic O'Donnell
Post date 3rd May 2023
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design of coffee table needed to be changed
the vertices of the hole in the middle of the table became quite difficult to manage fro our scene
today i will be removing the hole in order to make it easier to place within the scene.