Final Post
During this semester I set out to 3D model a car and bring it to life or at least game ready for an asset that could be later used or worked on in the future. Creating the model was the main goal that I wanted to get to and then go into photoshop or after effects and bring the car to a more realistic view, however I did end up biting more than I could chew when it came down to it.
I struggled with getting the curvature of the car and making sure the panels lined up nicely while still having the space between parts like a regular car would have gaps. I failed at this a lot but I did finally find a groovy that worked for me and was able to get the outside panels and fenders easily complete. This then left me with smaller details like door handles, spoilers and lights of the car.
Moving onto those parts did not come out how I would have liked and need to be fixed if I really want to complete this car. It is the most noticeable part of the car to me, they are not fully shaped out and need to be redesigned so that when the lens is over it you can clearly see the light fixtures.
I think this is one of the main things that don’t quite look right on the car, but using a game engine render will always look fake compared to a full rendered image. I need to take the time with this piece and come back to it and create a little scene for it and make the car have a story not just a model.
I learned this semester that modeling took a lot of time and longer than I wanted it to but you can’t rush modeling or it will always come out incorrect. I rushed myself too much with this build and I can see where it took its toll on the outcome of this project. In the future I have to be more cautious about how long this actually takes to create and this is very important because I have a contract to start creating models and the game is supposed to be released in 2021 summer.
Knowing how long something will take you with some room is always needed so you know what can get done and what just won’t make it. Not everything we make will make it into a game or movie and realizing this is something that is hard for me to accept but that is how this industry is.
Moving forward having a burndown chart and a list of things that need to be completed in order to keep up with the work and project as a whole. I think this will help me better accomplish my projects and give me a better understanding of how much time I need on models which includes uving, texturing and rendering or making prefabs. Overall this semester I knew I could have done more but I ran out of time and job searching out weighted my work and it shows towards the end but finding a job is what I needed and hopefully this will be a step in the right direction in the industry to show my work ethic and what I can do for a team.
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Week 13
For this past few weeks I have been slowing down on personal projects and I am in all hands on deck to find a job in the industry or at least creating 3D models for companies. I have talked to a few different VR, AR and CGI studios that have to do with creating unreal scenes and using the camera as a way to focus on the environment. I have had a few different interviews though none have landed anything yet though I do feel that it is coming sooner and sooner. I do hope to find a job soon but if not I do have my side project that I got contracted for to create 3D models for a game that will be released in the summer of 2021.
I am excited to start on this and have gotten my hands on the unity folder and have slowly begun either recreating models or using the models already created and give them texture sets. Even though this position does not pay me I do think that it was a good opportunity to get offered and be able to release another game that I can add to my portfolio. I have been listening to more of the professors and understanding that the game industry is very hard to get into and working your way through other avenues is just as good a way to get in. As long as I am constantly working on bettering my skills for modeling, texturing, and level layout to be a more versatile asset to a team soon.
I can not show anything that I have been working on unfortunately due to the contract I signed but having a schedule once I complete the semester will work out well for me and give me more models and experience if I am unable to find a job at this time. I will keep up the search and take anything that comes my way whether its modeling for cars, buildings, AI or news I just want to be able to create models that everyone can look at.
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Week 11
During this week I have been really busy with other projects and having a few interviews to get ready for so I have been learning more about unreal and how to create real time environments with object that I create or given reference to from the client. Though I am not to familiar with unreal from what I have used and watched this week it seems similar to unity and has a lot of similar features but has a lot of better ways of interacting with unreal's help center and learning commands and easily navigate the menus.
Also during this week I was offered a position on an indie game and will be starting that process of creating a game for steam that will be released in 2021 of summer. I have just started into the github folder and barely have signed a contract but the studio has released one game before this and they are looking for a unity artist and slight rigger to create the game they have pitched to me. I am super happy to start my journey of creating a game and this will be my new project as well as learning more about unreal engine.
Now that it is coming down to the wire I am glad that I am starting to get some nibbles out in the world though I do hope to get a few more titles under my belt and maybe one day step out into the AAA studios but for now I am okay with getting a foot in the door and seeing what other games I can make with other small indie studios that are looking for someone with talent but not a big money maker. However, I will need to do a lot more learning on how to animate in unity though I have started and the only thing I don't understand is how to get the animations to act on a certain function but that is the fun of learning and long hours of stress.
I will be starting a side project as well probably to create some landscapes inside of unreal to finish off the semester and start to understand how to build my own custom terrain tools and map assets that I can show that I am willing to learn a new skill if they give me a chance. Overall this semester has been rather tough but with my car done and rendered out I am ready to start my next project.
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Week 10
For this week I needed to add a few more small details to the car to make in really complete and make it look like a car from the outside. This project took way longer than I wanted it to but sometimes it takes time to learn how to make new objects and practice my skills. This car has come a long way from where I started and getting the style, curvature and details down to make the car look like the Subaru I created it off of. I did have to go back this week and change some uvs and make the car in three different parts so that each got enough room on the uv maps to display the textures in a clean manner.
Now that I am completely done with this car I will be moving on to my next project and working on either a human character with armor, weapons, and facial features to show my skills as a character modeler besides my low poly characters for my 495 class. I do think this will help in my overall skills with body building and texturing of these characters with hair and VFX particles around either armor or weapons to give them a more lively appearance. Since I have no clue how to do this I will be looking at tutorials to make this easier to understand.
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Week 9
During this week I have just been working mostly on uving the car model and separating out the uv's into 2 maps one for the windows and plastic parts and one for the body of the car. However, I might do a third map but I am pretty sure I can fit it onto one map just need to redo the tire uv's and make sure to add the exhaust pipes to the back of the car. For how it is looking the color is good and it is starting to look more like the car I wanted to model out which was the Subaru WRX STI thought I will not be adding those logos to the car just out of copy right issues.
For how I rendered this out was in Marmoset just to get something out for everyone to see though I do still have some more painting to do on the car and adding materials to make it look more and more realistic. I do still need to add the chrome that is around the car and increase the emmissive on the lights so they are more visible and might add a smoke effect coming out of the exhaust in unity since I just learned how to make those VFX just to get it a little more appeal when I do put it onto sketchfab or artstation just to get my models out there more and get feedback on how to do better.
I do think I should have this done by this weekend and definitely done by next Friday and on to my next project and skill building projects I want to work on. I have been applying to jobs daily so adding more skills to my portfolio will be good and practice is how you get better at this. Overall, I did think that this would have taken me less time to complete this model but I see were I went wrong at times and how to go about it next time I build a car model.
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Week 8
I have almost finish the model at this point for this semester and will just be uving the car and adding some final details like exhaust pipes and the underneath the car so it isn't empty. I was able to add two seats in the front and may try to add some quick seats in the back just to finish the model completely. While I was working on this I did want to add some more details to the car but time is running out and I would like to move on to acquiring more skills.
Just to get something out I did do a quick uv set of textures just to get the model to life so my work can look like something other than this off white maya shader. As you can see there are some parts they did not get uved properly and don't have textures on them. This will be fixed I just have to delete half the car and do the uving and then mirror it back over since the car will be identical on both sides for the most part when it comes to the doors, side skirts, and fender panels.
I will be adding a steering wheel and simple dashboard but these will all be separate pieces so I won't have to redo any uv mapping just create and sew some together. This whole project took a lot longer than I thought it would but to make sure that the car came out correctly and the shape and overall style of the car came out once I fine tuned what I had and really put some effort into getting this car completed. I do think however, if I was to restart I should have stuck with the building method I was doing and once I went it to one object for the whole car things just started to get worse.
Changing and going back a few weeks did really help make the model a 1000% time better than it was just three weeks ago and now it actually looks like something that could be in a game or in real life once the textures are finalized. I do think I should have this done next week and rendered out probably just in unity with no rigging. I would have liked to if I have finished already but I need to start learning more than just modeling and level building.
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Week 7
During the week I have spent a lot of time reworking my model and making it fit more together and not have as many wide gaps between the different sections of the car. I started by redoing the rear bumper and using some tools in Maya to help better round out the sides and give it the proper flow that this car has. I also fixed the lights on the rear fender as well to make sure they rapped around the entire side of the car as well instead of leaving it only on the rear bumper.
This lead me to my next problem which was the doors and them not fitting snug next the the body of the car and interior. So i deleted the whole inside of the car and will some back to the next week and also the rims and tires had to go since they did not fit with the car and style I want for this car. I will be adding some small details like exhaust pipes, steering wheel, wiper blades, all seating and brake calipers.
I do think that restarting some of my problem areas really helped and made this model come out really well and is starting to look more and more like a real car. Once the texture is added and rendered out into a game engine I will finish with this project and start on a character model or a high poly sculpt in Zbrush and then bring it into maya so it can be game ready or at least make my portfolio look better.
I did wish I got more work done on the car since I deleted so much of the unusable geometry that I had and also working on a new website after talking to Billy on how his website is layed out and what employers are looking for since he did get an interview. I will be going back and forth between working on these projects and hopefully starting another one soon.
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Week 6
For this week I needed to go back and delete a bunch of geometry and redo the back end of the car which is causing a bit more of a problem then I thought it would. The interior of the car has begun and fixed a lot of edge loop problems around the corners of the door causing them to not line flush with the body of the car. I also added the support beam that runs between the front and back seats as well as begin dashboard set up and placement.
I have had to go back a few times and fix some errors that I did not like happening like one vertice being attached to more than 4 sides so finding those has been another thing I am having to look out for when I extrude wrong faces or edges. However, it has made it clear that my first go around was not as good as I thought it was and changing things is becoming a bit more of a task. So I decided to take a break from the exterior of the car and start working on the interior and rims of the car. Last week feedback was said that the rims weren't the same size and needed to be staggered more so I deleted all but one and started over with it.
With starting over on the rim I was able to actually get a better style rim that also has the caliper and break pads that I can texture on later giving it more depth to the car. Both the front and rear tires are slightly offset outwards to give it the stance this car has on the road. I have thought about instead of rigging the car is to create different bumpers, rims, spoilers and some interior lights and dials. However, I would still like to push forward with this and get what I can done since it is the half way point of this class.
Overall, I have no been putting as much into this as I should but with graduation coming up and job searches becoming more of a priority so I can get a job in December hopefully. I have been working on my resume and cover letters to companies to get the best feedback or offer I can from anyone. I will keep chugging away at this but if I do get a job I can start putting more work into individual projects that I also have in mind after the car is finished.
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Week 5
Getting started this week was finishing up the trunk area and adding the spoiler to the car and making sure to start to add the small details like door handles, having the car come apart for rigging and making sure there is no gaps between the cars different parts to give it that same flushed feeling. I have also started a very basic wheel design and want to add more to it and start getting the inside of the car ready.
I have been making sure the model is correct length and using the Maya's default sedan to make correct adjustments to fender wells and the curvature of the rear side panels. I have also started the process of creating the light fixtures for the rear bumper and will be starting on the undercarriage of the car. I hope to add exhaust pipes coming from the engine bay all the way to the end of the car where they would protrude slightly from the rear bumper.
Once I get those things done I got start working on the cars interior seats and layout of steering wheel, radio and center console and dash. I am not sure if I will model the speedometer and other gauges or leave that for texturing. I should have this done rather soon and begin the process of uving the model and then texturing it for a short clip of rigging.
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Week 4
While working on my model this week I was running into some problems around the back of the car and making sure the angle and slope of each rear quarter panel was aligned and properly placed. I had to do it a few times and still need to do some tweaking around with some edges and faces to get the correct flow of the car. By next week I would like to get started on the complete rear and spoiler on the car.
Once I get to that point I will be creating some custom rims for the car or maybe some that they would have on Subaru STI models. Hopefully by week 6 I can have started on the inside of the car's interior including the engine bay and trunk space which will have a simple yet movable engine when it gets rigged. I also started on the front bumper with the logo and bar supports that will be on the bottom of the bumper like columns.
I also got started on windows and making sure that the connections do not mess with any geometry that I am working with. I did make sure to give the windows depth and beveled edges to keep the flow and roundness that are in some of the smaller windows. Working with that and creating the double pane windows while still having the rubber and darkened areas of the glass.
Overall, the progress I made was good and the shape of the car is coming out nicely and is clearly recognizable from what I have so far. However, once the spoiler is added and some tires and rims the car will be ready to uv, texture and animate it for some game play or render it out.
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Week 3
For this week I spent most of the time rework the front bumper and aligning the hood to match with the bumper. This took quite a few times and a lot of different angles to see exactly where these curves flow which make the model slightly hard to get right. However, I do like what I have so far and getting started on the doors as well as getting to the rear tire well. I should have the body finished by next week and be able to finish off the trunk and rear bumper.
Once I complete that work I can then start moving to the interior of the car and getting an engine bay, car seats, steering wheel and a few other objects inside the car to get it ready for games or websites. During this week I felt that good progress was made and in redoing some of the work made it come out better the second time and giving me a better opportunity to bring out the car shape.
Once I complete this car I do not think I will be rigging it to much, I have been looking at free lancing working and one of the jobs is to replicate car models and once I complete this I think I will have a good chance at being to replicate more cars in a shorter time spawn and refining the skills that I have to my advantage.
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Week 2
During this week I went back a little bit and started to block out the overall shape of the car and to make sure to get the curves that make the car dynamic. Once i got it blocked out in Maya I went back and tried to see if what I made already would fit into the basic outline of the car and sadly the bumper I was working on was not the correct shape that I thought it was and had to restart that portion of the car. The hood of the car still seems to fit fine with just a bit of overage on the edge up top but moving some vertices around fixed that problem really easily.
Moving forward I should have the rest of the bumper finished by this weekend and the start moving towards the doors and window of the front of the car. I also will be getting the side rails and frame ready so I can also start getting a idea of where the inside of the car and the engine bay so that when this car gets rigged it will have space to make smaller models like the engine and rims. I will need to add some trim pieces to the front of the bumper like the grill and emblem of the car company or a spot for it at least due to copy write issues.
Thinking about what happened over this week in progress turned out well and got some good progress to getting this model ready to rig and animate to a certain extent. Keeping in mind that I do have a dead line and wanting to keep this project in my scope limit if I fall behind I will have to take out rigging of some aspects but that would be the least I would be able to accept not getting done. I want to have a completed model with interior modeling and some smaller details that make a car complete and ready for any company.
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Week 1
So for this week I have been starting to model the front of the car which includes the hood and the front bumper. I have made sure to make the model have the correct curves of the car model which is the 2014 Subaru WRX STI, capturing this has been slightly difficult but I think so far this car is coming out good so far. I still need to model a lot more of the car but hopefully next week I will have all the way up to the driver door.
I am trying to decide which one exactly I want to do but I want to get this car complete and rigged or at least movable. I would like to make a base model and then create my own custom model with different rims and maybe some modification as well as an interior. So that is why I have both the inside and outside as separate images just in case I do not have enough time to complete the inside of the car in time.
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