Learning Curve

So, like I posted earlier, I am trying to learn a second 3D modeling program.  Not really because I am unhappy with what I am using or anything like that, I have found the results produce by the program to be superb so far.  I want to make myself more versatile.  The more programs I can use, the easier it would be to convince someone I know what I am doing.  Unfortunately for me, when they build 3D modeling programs, they build from the ground up.  Now this is great since it produces a wide array of programs but it means that each has a bit of a learning curve for the UI.  With that said, I am probably going to go back to focusing on the well animation for the time being.  Now, that being said, I am going to continue working on the new modeling software, just no like I did over the previous week.  Unfortunately after a week, I have nothing to show, but I will do a tutorial or two in a few weeks to show off how well I have learned the new program.
~gunnah

Work in Progress: Well Scene Animation (Part IV)

The hand before bending

So I managed to catch the animation project back up to where it was before I needed to reformat my computer.  So that only puts me about three weeks behind schedule from where I was.  The pictures attached in this post are the progression of making the hand to putting it into the project.  Most of the hand was already saved luckily, so I just needed to make the two long bones which are actually in the arm.  Once that was done, I set each bone in a child-parent relationship to the others so when certain bones are moved, other dependent bones follow.  Once the bone hierarchy was in place, any moving bones pivot point needed to be altered (that is three points in each finger as well as one point for the wrist with that bone being the parent of all the other bones in the hand).  Then I just had to bend the fingers into place and move it so the lantern looks to be held up by the hand.  Then the lantern needed to be scaled down so that it looked the proper size in the screen.  Finally, the hand and lantern were grouped and mirrored on the other side of the well, keeping the thumbs pointing the right direction.

The hand with the lantern not scaled down

So this leaves only a few things left to model in the foreground for this animation project.  I would like three or four stepping stones, a figurehead perched on something coming out of the wall behind the well (the perch would serve as a fountain), a few more of the tangled weeds with one growing up the wall and then some last minute detail work (chips and the like out of the stone so it does not look so perfect).  Once that is done, the easy part is going to be background work, I hope.  As I mentioned, one dead tree and one willow should be enough to keep the mood going and make he background interesting looking without drawing too much attention or taking too much time.  Once all of the modeling is done, texturing should not be that bad on most objects, since most are small or in the background where less detail is required.  Then all moving parts need to be rigged so that the animation can show the movements of the various objects.  If I get real inspired, I will probably look for sound and some HDRI of a forest under a moonlit night.

Hand with scaled lantern

Now, as for the tank game project itself, I have not stopped thinking about it, life has just gotten busy.  I still am thinking of ways to add detail to the base models.  I am thinking about learning another modeling program and doing some of the tanks inside that program.  Not because I do not like what I am using, just so I am more versatile.  This means I will probably do several small tutorials so I get used to the UI.  I do not really need to learn to model again, unless I move into some kind of sculpting programs since those behave differently from what I have experienced, though trying to stay low polygon count would really rule those out.  My goal is still to get the main underground roadways done, a set of tracks for my motor-pool showpiece and then work on some of the more individual roadway pieces.  I believe I already stated I wanted to make a few pipe sets to add some quick detail.  Once those are set up, I can worry about some of the other details scattered around the map as well as what various projectiles and mines are going to look like.

The hands holding the lanterns in the well scene

Now, as for my research this weekend.  I think I did a fairly decent job of getting a large sample size of images from an up-coming online game with expected to support a large number of players at once.  What I have found, and this is by no means a final survey since I only glanced at a sixth if that of the screen-shots, is many of the low polygon tricks I have read actually can work.  Most of the detail comes from the textures with, in some cases a very rough, shape being defined by the model itself.  This makes me feel decent about my work because my modeling skills are about there, but now I need to work on my image editing skills.  My problem is I really never advanced beyond paint with that whole line of programs, so many of the techniques to make various effects are going to take me a while to make since I will need to look each one up as I need it.  Another concept I have seen is making a high polygon model with a low detail texture and with the renderings make a highly detailed texture which can ne applied to a low polygon model.  Well, I think that is more than enough for now, have a good week,
~gunnah

Another hot week

So, I did a little of what I had lost when I rebooted my computer but it is still not quite finished.  I think the problem stems from how hot it has been outside most of the week.  Where I work has various levels of air conditioning from none to almost blowing, so I do get quite hot during the day.  Being so hot, I get tired out by the time I get home, leaving me little energy to do anything but lay somewhere until my eyes close so I can do it again the next day.  Though it is kind of interesting that it took me over a month to figure out why I have been so lazy lately.

Unfortunately, I am unlikely to get much else done this weekend. Not for lack of wanting, but I am getting some research in; I got a beta key for a game and it is only doing weekends at the moment.  So Sunday night I should report what I have learned.
~gunnah

Unsure where the weekend went

I know I was going o work on my 3D well animation project, though I am not sure where the weekend went.  I know I posted late on the last post, but that should have given me two decent days to work on this project.  Somehow it seems like I just posted, I guess the weekend was just that cramped with things to do. Well, hopefully I can get back to where I was before my restart by the end of the week.  Until then,

~gunnah

Lost a bit of information

While I was going to share a few images that I had recently done, but before my reformat, I found that I am missing a bit of information.  Most of the hard work is still there, which is nice, but a bit of the detailing and a little modeling was lost.  Hopefully I will be back on track by the end of the weekend, though I am still trying to figure out what I am missing from what I used to have installed.

~gunnah

A Little Set Back

So as it happens about twice a year I run into a computer virus.  It hit Saturday morning about a half hour before I was going to post my updates for last week and has taken me most of the weekend to straighten out to a point close to where I was.  I am hoping over the course of the week to get everything back to where it was and hopefully make a small it of progress.  So next Friday I am going to post what I was going to last Friday and delay each additional post by one until I would have had a filler post.

Again, sorry for musing the last post,
~gunnah

Work in Progress: Well Scene Animation (Part III)

So I redid the lantern, not that my computer gave me a say in the matter.  The image to the left shows how the lantern now looks and I am fairly happy with how the object turned out as a whole.  I am still deciding how to go about the latch and hinges, if I even get into that much detail.  The candle inside is fairly easy to make, though the fluid effects above the candle are a little harder to control, though with enough work, they can make a really cool effect.  I may choose to just add a light inside the lantern since it is only a minor detail and the fluid, being fully contained by the lantern, would be almost unnoticeable.  One thing I would like to do the the actual model though is add a few chain links to the top so the lantern is not directly on the hook.Once I get everything where I want it, I can scale the model so it fits nicely into the scene.  I may map and color the lantern before returning to the rest of the scene since it is its own object in its own right - unlike some of the others which form part of the "main scene" object.  But this planning is for a while out still, at the moment I would just like to get the lantern situated in the scene and catch the scene up with this level of detail.  Have a good week,
~gunnah