3D Modeling & Animation

2025-2026

Planning & Storyboard

Concept

The title of my game is called "Fighter jet bombing simulator." The concept is that you fly a military fighter jet and carry out objectives/tasks given to you by the government, usually involving bombing or surveillance. The cutscene shows how menacing the fighter jet you will be flying is, giving you insight as to the seriousness/importance of your missions. The cutscene gives players a sense of excitement because it shows that there will definitely be action in the game.

Asset & Prop Design

Military Hangar
Fighter jet
Light bulbs
Alarm lights
Hydraulic doors
Tools (wrench, screwdriver, clipboards, etc.)
Workbenches
Crates

Will there be rigging?

There will be no rigging in the scene

How does the design of your character reflect their personality/role in the story?

The spotlight shining on the character, the menacing bomber jet, as well as it being the biggest object in the hangar, and being centered in the hangar, show its importance in the scene.

Environment & Layout

The layout of my scene includes the main bomber plane in the middle to emphasize its importance, along with 2 workbenches in the front corners with tools on them, and crates in the back. There are 3 hydraulic doors, 2 to the side of the bomber and one in front. a camera is on the top corner to look like its CCTV footage, another camera is placed lower down to show the shaking and movements of the props, and a third camera is placed in front of a hydraulic door. My layout shows a standard, messy military bunker, and the dim lights and placements emphasize that.

Artifact 1 - Character

Reflection

Design and Planning

The concept for my main character was a secret military weapon (plane, mech suit, secret weapon, etc). My model fits this prompt because it is a very powerful stealth bomber with very advanced technology. Sketching the design for my model helped me because even though my sketches aren't the best, it helped me get a rough idea of the parameters and locations for modeling my plane.

Modeling and UV Techniques

For modeling, I mostly used Edit Poly and edited sub objects of a box. I also used a reference image, pulled vertices, and mirrored it to make a symmetrical bomber plane. When unwrapping my model, i made sure to use Box Mapping, and adjusted the polygon size to a better scale in the UV editor.

Texturing and Materials

I made sure that my textures aligned properly with the UV layout by pulling vertices to the correct spots in the UV editor to make it align perfectly, and also making sure there are no blank, white spots on my model. I used physical materials, and adjusted the parameters such as base color, reflections, transparency, etc.

Reflection

The bomber plane turned out much better than i expected because initially, i had a hard time modeling the base of the plane, and would spend whole class times thinking of what to do. Eventually, when i started making progress, things got easier, and then all i had to do was apply textures to the bomber plane. I will use this character for my upcoming PBM, i will animate the scene objects around it, as well as making it the center of the animation.

Artifact 2 - Props

Asset List (all assets were free models from Free3D, Personal use licence):

Hangar

Tools (wrench, screwdriver, drill, clipboard)

Workbench

Crates

Stool

What i modeled:

Light bulb

Red alarm light with metal cage

Flashlight prop

Reflection

Planning and Concept

My assets connect to the chosen prompt because they are tools which would be found very commonly in military hangars. Tools like wrenches, screwdrivers, drills, and clipboards are commonly used, and the placement on a wooden workbench further sets the mood. I chose to make the Flashlight, and the lights because I am better at working with modifiers and materials then actual modeling, making those options easier for me. I used the lathe modifier and splines, as well as multi sub object to model the lightbulb, alarm light, and flashlight. I got more complex models like workbenches, crates, and other models that take more time with UVW because i don't have much time.

Modelling Process

I am most proud of my lightbulb because not only did I model a realistic looking bulb, I also modeled the inner components, and set materials for everyone of them depending on there function. Combined with the fact that it didn't take me long makes me even more proud with it. I used the lathe modifier, as well as multi sub object a lot for creating my props because they can easily be made with lathe, and i also used multi sub object to add different materials to different parts, making it look more realistic.

Workflow and organization

I organized my props by giving them names such as "Screwdriver1" and "Lightbulb", as well as grouping together any props that need multiple parts. Keeping an asset list helped me a lot because I kept forgetting what props i needed, so every time I forgot, I would check the list and keep working.

Reflection and Evaluation

I learned how to use splines and multi sub object much more because i found more tools i could use with them to make them look better. If i could improve one part of my modeling process, it would be to make things more detailed because i feel like not a lot of the models are very detailed, and that they could use more modifiers or normal maps.

Artifact 3 - Lighting

My goal is to make a dim, foggy light to make it look more secret and emphasize the menacing feature of the plane and the hangar.

Reflection

I chose to add a spotlight above my main character, and 2 spotlights away that lower the intensity of shadows. I also used omni lights for the lightbulb. These lights work together by emphasizing the main character, while also putting some detail on to the main props, and filtering out excess shadows. I used higher intensitys for light near the min character, and made it fade out more. I also added a slight blue fog to my scene to make it look more like my reference images and to make a better environment. I faced a lot of trial and error challenges because i had to constantly adjust not only the lights parameters, but also the fog and lights position.

Artifact 4 - Animation

Reflection

I animated the main character, the hydraulic door behind it, and all the props to the side of it. I chose to animate those because they would be the things most affected by an earthquake as opposed to the bunker itself. To ensure my animation was the same at the beginning and the end, I put the starting keyframe at the end for every item i animated. I used 3 different cameras to capture different shots of the whole room, the props, and the door closing in my animation. The part of my animation i am most proud of is how fast paced the animation is, as well as the violent shaking of the props.

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