3D Design Practice

Project Brief

Key Words

• Polygon - A flat shape bound with straight sides.

• Vertices - The point where two or more lines, edges or curves intersect.

• Edges - The lines of a 2D or 3D shape.

• Faces - Flat surface of a shape.

• Orbit - View your model from above, below and all around.

• Pan - Move left, right, up and down.

• Zoom - Move closer to your model, or further away.

• Scale - This tool allows you to proportionally resize objects and elements of an object.

• Rotate - Rotates a shape in a direction around a co-ordinate.

• Co-ordinates - A system used to represent the physical dimensions of space. These are height, width and length.

• Triangle - A 3-sided shape.

• Quad - A shape with 4 sides.

• N-Gon - A shape with more than 4 sides.

3DS Max Keyboard Shortcuts

• Pan - Middle Click

• Orbit - Alt + Middle Click

• Select - Left Click

• Zoom - Scroll Wheel

• Slow Zoom - Alt + Scroll Wheel

• Move Tool - W

• Rotate Tool - E

• Scale Tool - R

• Main View - P

• Front View - F

• Top View - T

• Left View - L

• Orthographic View - O

• Wireframe Mode - F3

• Vertices and Edges Mode - F4

• Maximise Workspace Window - Alt + W

• Create an Object - Click + Hold + Move -> Release -> Move -> Click

• Align an Object - Alt + A

• Material Editor - M

First Created Models

I have first created a totem pole using a variety of different shapes and then created a base ground to roughly put them on. I also quickly made a monkey character to place on the slope I made.

This was made to somewhat resemble a 2D game such as Sonic.

This was the first lesson on a 3D design software, and we started with getting to know the basics of Blender - how to create a model, scale it, rotate it, and move them around. I have used Blender briefly before at home so I knew a couple things already.

Researching Uses of 3D Design

3D Modelling is used in many ways. Whenever we think of it, it's usually in video games and movies. However, this is also used in architecture, product design and education in surgery.

In games, the characters are the most known part and they can look incredibly realistic. The model also gets textured to look even more realistic, however the model alone is very high quality with lots of edges to get the desired shape.

Some of the more recognisable movies with 3D modelling are Pixar movies are they are primarily animation in programs. However, this can also be seen in CGI - which stands for Computer Generated Imagery - which allows editors to add a range of animated digital effects to scenes. Examples of this could be explosions, which would've been difficult to get right and could be life threatening in reality, whereas CGI is just adding it digitally afterwards. Editors could also create background scenes of terrain that makes it look like actors are outside, whereas they are in a small box with green screens surrounding them which are used to put a scene behind.

In architecture, 3D design is used to allow architects to visualise buildings and statues to give them a better understanding of the project, and the visual representation allows them to see if the project will work, to avoid having to undo any work, if it doesn't fit or work properly once created.

In healthcare, 3D modelling is extremely important as it can allow us to create medical tools and implants that are designed to perfectly fit a specific person. This can be done using a 3D-printer, and the possibilities for this are endless. Augmented reality is also crucial to give new medical staff information that is more interactive than a sheet of paper with some annotations. This practice will not only enhance medical training, but improve the outcome of patients that could be going into surgery, as the surgeon could practice on a fake digital copy and go through the complex procedures to be prepared and have the best outcome possible.

 Types of 3D Design

3D design is seen in a few different ways: low poly, high poly and ultra-realistic.

Low poly games are usually created by smaller developers that have less employees to create models, and so they go for a simpler design which is quicker to make and gives the game a unique art style. They are low poly due to the small amount of polygons present in the models that are used. The textures are usually very simple, just being a colour or two per model, which looks good in contrast to the very simple models. However, sometimes models do have some more interesting looking textures to give the simple models more depth which can really enhance the game if done correctly, as a really high quality texture usually wouldn't look good on a very low quality model.

Shadows in a low poly game are the secret steps you need to take to give the game depth and contrast due to them giving more colours that have a sense of direction and angle when exploring a world. It gives us a more three-dimensional idea as the directional lighting helps to highlight the shapes of the models.

High poly games have a lot of polygons compared to low poly games as they focus on a more realistic approach.

For one, trees will no longer just be a blob but more realistic and possibly see-through as the leaves are now attached to specific parts of the tree. These games prioritise adding a more realistic look to a cartoony type game. These models have more depth brought into them, and so more detailed textures go better with these models, especially since you can make a flat model look slightly more 3D from a distance with very detailed textures that include a 3D look with ridges and little bits of dirt and scratches that seem to be within the model itself.

Not only will the lighting and shading look better and more realistic than low poly games, but animations can be a lot better as a smooth animation perfectly fits the high poly style.

 Lastly, ultra-realistic games have incredible graphics that looks so similar to a real life scenario. These games are sometimes so good that they can trick you into thinking something is real, when it's actually digital. This is all the way from the models and textures of a game, to the animations, physics, environment and gameplay.

Games such as COD not only have ultra-realistic gun textures, but also gunplay which is as true to life as possible. Even the animations of reloading and switching between them is what you'd usually do in life which complements the game perfectly.

This type of style is especially useful in movies as they will need ultra-realistic graphics to make background scenery look as though actors are actually at a created place.

Totem Pole Creation

This time creating a totem pole, I started with a smoother base by creating a cone and only slightly slanting it. I then added a cylinder on top of it and put a torus shape around the area they met. I then put a cone on the top and didn't quite make it meet at the top. I then added a teapot and rotated it so the handle was sticking out of the top.

Next, I added an elephant by putting a teapot upside-down and making it come out of the pole a bit. I then added two spheres as eyes and made two torus' as ears.

Lastly, I put some teapots on the sides and stuck the handles out. I then also added some torus' and stretched them so they stuck out as little ridges in the model. I then coloured the elephant a browny-orange to make it stand out, as well as making the bits sticking out a different colour to make them stand out slightly more.

3DS Max Info

This is the create panel. You can add objects and change the colour of them here.

This is the panel that has all of the object present in the workspace listed. They can be hidden so they don't show up, they can be grouped here and you can change the positioning of them so certain parts have a higher priority over each other to display above others.

On the left here, we have the three main tools: move, rotate and scale. You can click these buttons, however you are going to be more productive using the key binds W, E and R for them.

On the right we have the snap tools. The first one with the 3 is for creating models if you want them to snap to the edges of the squares on the base of the workspace. The second one is an angle snap tool, which allows you to rotate objects in 5° increments, rather than going up in around 0.001 rotations (probably not accurate but similar amount) to allow you to get similar angles easier than without.

Starting to use Modifiers

At the very start of the lesson, we had to do one very specific thing: setup th units. You can do this by going to the customisation tab at the top of the screen and clicking the button, somewhere near the bottom, that says "Units Setup". We then selected the "Metric" unit scale as that is what is used in the UK. In the dropdown, I then selected centimetres, as that is what wanted to use. The other choices that you would most commonly use is millimetres and metres.

Today, we were going to try and use the Edit Poly modifier inside of 3DS Max. This is used to manipulate a shape into something less basic and can be useful for making edges smoother and just adding extra detail to your creations.

First off, I placed down a cuboid. I then went over to the parameters tab to increase the amount of segments on the object. This is to allow us to use the modifier effectively, since it basically gives us more area to be able to change on our shape. You can increase the amount of segments lengthways, widthways and across the height of the shape. You should then press the F4 key to enable wireframe mode as this allows you to see the segments that you are adding.

To then add the modifier, you need to locate to the box with the curve inside around the top right of the screen.

Once clicking that, you can click on the "Modifier List" drop-down menu and look to the bottom of the list to find "Edit Poly".

As I'm writing this up, I have realised that I used the incorrect one, as I used Edit Mesh, however they are very similar. I believe the main difference being that Edit Mesh is a bit outdated and therefore is not as useful as Edit Poly. Edit Mesh seems to work in triangular faces whereas Edit Poly appears to work in quad faces.

Once selecting this, you can then look towards the "Selection" menu where there are different buttons to modify certain parts of a model. The dots are editing the vertices, the hollow triangle is the edges and then the filled triangle is working in the triangular faces. Working in quad faces is accessed by pressing the filled square and the cube is selecting the whole element.

The Edit Poly selection menu looks like this, including the vertices, edges, face and element select as well as an extra one. Using the move, rotate and scale tools, you can manipulate an object in many ways.

Here is my finished testing design. I was trying to go for a tree trunk look, but it doesn't look the best, especially without any leaves on the top. I think another time, I should do something a bit less crazy and think about what I'm modelling more, since this didn't come out looking much like a tree trunk.

We were then tasked to try and model a submarine from a reference image. This was the reference image, and although I didn't get much done in the time, it doesn't look too dissimilar, for the bits I actually did.

To get the base shape of the submarine, I got a sphere and stretched it out into a sausage like shape. I then made the edges a bit less long with the edit mesh modifier.

Next, I added a cube that I placed at the top and started to change the shape of it using the modifier again. I rounded off the edges and gave it a nice, rounded off top. I then made a slope at the back and rounded off the edges of the front face to look less blocky. It probably should've been a bit longer, however I think it is the right size for my submarine.

Finally, I used angle snap a bit for the wing on the side to rotate it. This made it so the angle isn't free and moves per 5 degrees to have more equal rotations. I then used the edit mesh modifier to change the shape of the wing.

I would've liked to have done more with the model, but for a first time using this modifier, the top especially, doesn't look too bad.

The few other additional things in this lesson were learning about the align tool and copy.

The align tool can be used by selecting the objects and pressing Alt and A together to bring up a menu to align them. This can be useful for moving an object inside of another to make it so they are lined up together.

The copy tool can either be done by holding shift whilst moving an object to create a copy of it in a new area, or clicking Ctrl and V to make a duplicate at the current object. It will then bring up a box where you can either make a copy, instance or reference.

Copy: "This will make a new object that can be modified and will not affect the original object."

Instance: "Creates a completely interchangeable clone of the original. Modifying an instanced object is the same as modifying the original"

Reference: "Creates a clone dependent on the original up to the point when the object is cloned. Changing parameters for modifiers that were applied to the objectbeforethe object was referenced, will change both objects. However, a new modifier can be applied to one of the reference objects, and it will affect only the object to which it is applied."

Beginning to Create and Use Textures in 3DS Max

To start, we were given a base file that we could use as a step by step tutorial, along with all of the assets that we would need.

To start, I went to the material editor by clicking M which brought up this window of information. The green coloured shape needs to be connected to the "Base Colour Map", since this is the image that will be projected onto our models. I had to import this by dragging an image file from my computer into this workspace since the one there was just a black square, but I just deleted that, connected the correct image to the correct node, and it worked well.

Next, I cloned a 1.2m plank that was already in the modelling area from the base file by copying it. This is so it doesn't share a texture, since cloning it with instance will make it so when you change a texture, it doesn't affect every model. That is how I was able to make different looking planks like the ones below. The reason we did it specifically to 1.2m is so that it is as accurate to a standard pallet size in real life as possible.

I then cloned some blocks and placed them on the bottom planks, before placing some more planks on top of them. I was running out of time since this was my second attempt at creating a pallet, which meant that I didn't customise the textures on these models.

Finally, I added some more planks onto the top of the horizontal ones and I have a pallet, I sped this up by putting down five and cloning them and putting them onto the other side, which is something I did with pretty much every other step.

Just to go into a bit more detail with the moving of the textures, you have to go into the modifiers tab when selecting a model and adding the UVW Map modifier. This then allows you to move the texture as you select the Gizmo which brings up this and you can move around the texture using the move, rotate and scale tools.

I did customise the top planks' textures and also moved them around to make it look more realistic as perfection isn't usually the best look if you're going for realism. I did this by removing a plank on the right and having the two end planks slanted to the side. I then also had a plank on the other side slightly balancing on another, lifted off of the base. If given more time, this can be made to look incredible as you can take a lot of time to make good looking textured planks, but also add little details such as nails that are sticking out or something to add to the damaged look.

Creating Another Submarine

Unfortunately, I forgot to save the previous submarine that I started so I had to begin making a new one. However, this was probably good, as I already roughly knew how to start out.

To begin with, I started by making a capsule shape. I made it longer to get a better shape and made one of the ends a bit thinner, since the back needed to be that kind of shape.

I then added a cube and used the Edit Poly modifier to shape it. I then centred the gizmo and mirrored the wing to get another one of the other side.

I then used a chamfer box, which is a cube with curved edges, to make the top part. I edited it a bit to make it more rounded and made a quick slope on the back.

I then used a cube and shaped it, this time into the rear wing part. I also curved the edges a bit.

I then went on to cloning the wing and put them into a plus shape.

I then added a chamfer cylinder which is a cylinder with curved edges. This is used for the part connecting the wings at the back.

I would then go on to adding a capsule that I will attach the propeller to on the back.

In the end, this is the final product. I don't think it looks too dissimilar to the submarine I had as my reference image. I added a couple little things to the top of the submarine. To make it better, I definately could've added a few more things to the top, and I could've added the cylinder shaped thing on the back of the submarine, but other than that it doesn't look too bad. It could've been a bit longer and less thick, since the submarine looks a bit thinner. At the end though, I could've just brought it into substance and painted it to make it look really nice.

Creating a Crate

This time on 3DS Max, we were going to be creating a crate. Similarly to the pallet, we are given a walk-through file that we are able to follow to see the steps that we have to take to achieve the desired model. The one thing we weren't doing today would be adding the texture to our models.

To start, I created a cube and made it 1000mm x 1000mm x 1000mm, since the file was working in millimetres and I needed a square.

I then added the edit poly modifier and chose face select and clicked the face I would be editing. Then I selected inset, as shown by the blue box on the right side of the screen. I then clicked on the square box next to inset which brought up the UI shown inside the square. I could easily adjust the amount it would be inset by, by changing the amount as shown by the number 50.0 on the picture.

I would go on to inset all six faces on the cube by 75, and the right image shows the result of this.

Next, I would need to extrude the faces to give them some depth. I did this by once again selecting the face I wanted to edit, but this time choosing extrude instead of inset. Again I would also click on the box to the right of the extrude button to bring up the helpful UI that I could use to change the amount it's brought in or out.

I went around all six faces that I needed to extrude and eventually set them to all be extruded by -75. The image on the right once again shows the result of that.

Next I needed to create the beam for the crate. I first made a cube and made it quite long, but this wouldn't be the final length. I also changed the length and height later on to better fit on the crate. To be able to line it up easier, I also added a segment along the height so that it had a centre line to get it positioned correctly on the crate.

The right image is the result of removing the ends and back of this cuboid, since they won't be seen, therefore they'd just be unnecessary polys that we can get rid of.

Now was the fun part of placing the beams onto the base structure of the crate. This could be achieved by rotating the beam (using rotation snap) by 45° and then using the align tool to centre it to the cube and get it as central as possible. I then extended the length of it to reach both sides, and once I was happy with the look of it, I could move onto creating clones and putting them on each side.

By copying the beams instead of using instance when cloning them, it makes it so they can be resized one by one, instead of you adjusting one and them all being affected. In this case especially, I would need copies due to the fact that I would need to rotate them.

The first time I copied all of the beams around, I did it by first cloning a beam, rotating it by what it needed, aligning it to the centre of the cube, and then moving it out and eyeballing it until it looked roughly the same distance out from the cube as the other beams. After completing the cube, I undid all of the creating of the cubes and started again since you could see they were different distances out and another issue that showed was that it was clipping inside the cube due to the ends of the beams going into the cube.

On my second attempt, I first made the beam pointed at both ends, so it just met the edges of the cube without clipping too much, if at all. It still looked the same, but didn't have the rendering problem anymore. I would then move the cube and beam to 0 0 0 so that the centre of the cube was 0 0 0. This way, I could set the gizmo to be the centre of the cube easily for rotating the beams. I then went on to copying the original beam and rotating the new ones around and the end product is the picture on the left. I also included a picture of the beams without the cube so you could see what I did when making the beams pointed to avoid the clipping problems.

The next step to completing this crate would be texturing, which is something I assume we will do next lesson.

Texturing the Crate Using Photoshop

You are then shown this screen which is the main screen we will be using to make sure the faces all work correctly when adding a texture.

Firstly, we need to make sure that the CheckerPattern is selected from the drop down menu on the top right, since this should show a nice checkered pattern on our model in the main view that we were using. This is crucial to help us know whether what we are doing with the unwrapping window is what needs to be done.

Once that's been done for each side, you should have something similar to this below, with all the main base parts of the crate having these little squares all lined up properly. In the UVW editor, I positioned them something like this. If there's one that is a slight different size like below, you should size it up to be roughly the same size as the other squares.

This is roughly what the cube should look like once you've got the beams looking good 

What each of the maps are used for:

Ambient Occlusion - To make 3D models more realistic as it simulates the reactivity of soft shadows from ambient or indirect light.

Beauty - This is used to diffuse the light and create accurate shadows onto the model.

Color - Used to identify the surface, pattern and location of the texture.

Emissive - How much the model glows. Useful if you need an object that lights up.

Material ID - A way to layer your model's colours.

Metalness - This is used to determine whether a model is metallic or not metallic which leads the texture to interact with light in different ways.

Normal - These are used to give your textures depth by using very complex calculations to make textures seem like they have dents and bumps in them.

Opacity - Allows you to make the texture transparent which is especially useful when making trees.

Roughness - This determines how the light is scattered across your model. Lower values show a lot of reflections, whereas high values dim reflections.

Rounded Corners - Amount of rays discovering edges and corners. Higher values may make something smoother, at a performance/time cost.

Vertex Color - A way to create a fully shaded environment by telling functions how to work with a model.

Texturing the Crate Using Substance Painter

Here, I brought the crate into substance and textured it using their software which is a lot better for textures compared to using photoshop.

The left image is my reference image that I found by searching for box crates on google. The colour that is seen on it was relatively easy to make. The only main difference from the reference image and the crates I made is that the reference image has the crate on a small pallet like thing. However, I have done it this way since I wanted to have multiple crates stacked on top of each other, which wouldn't have looked quite right if they all had a pallet stuck underneath. I'm really happy how the text came out on the crates as well. This wasn't too hard to do once I understood it, but I've never used the text before so finding the correct way to move, rotate and scale it in substance was something I've now learnt how to do.

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