A Preliminary Study into 3D Enviromnent Building

Before I begin development for my 3D environment piece, I believe it would be a good idea to look at already established examples of a 3d environment pipeline so that I can adapt my workflow to better fit within what the industry expects of me, as well as plan out a more efficient way to work.

First of all, I am looking at How to Plan Level Designs and Game Environments on World of Level Design (1). There are a few segments of this article that have caught my eye. Firstly is the story. The article suggests looking at ‘The story of your environment. What happened in the environment prior to the player getting there?’. There are also elaborations about how or why a character is in this environment but this is not as relevant to me as I am not designing this environment for any specific characters but rather for the environment itself. However, I still need to consider addressing why the environment exists and what it is for when designing it.

An image from the article demonstrating the use of focal points in Skyrim 

The second interesting point within this article is about focal points. The article dictates that there are generally 3 reasons for focal points. One reason is for a functional reason; a player is able to orient themselves around this focal point and can tell where they are in relation to the focal point. Another is for visual appeal. The final is to draw the player’s attention to a specific point. The article says this can be done through certain architectural structures or using the landscape to guide the player’s view from one focus to another. This, I feel, is incredibly important towards guiding the player through my environment efficiently and effectively.

I also decided to investigate Designing 3D Environments: Lights, Camera, Polygons? Action! (2). This article offers a few more points that may interest me when developing my own environment. First is envisioning the overall scene and using reference to drive your inspiration but also keep it grounded within reason. The article suggests ‘to consider whether you can start them as basic primitives and later replace them with higher end assets’. This is to help aid with collision and playability. Even if the environment looks stunning, there is little point to getting stuck on geometry or lagging the game because you have too much complex collision. So, when beginning to envision my environment, I should keep the geometry as close as possible to what they would look like represented as primitives so I have a better idea of how to create the pathing through it later.

Another interesting tip is toward lighting scenes. As the article states, if one is not careful, they could ‘have overblown lighting and improperly adjust textures to be too dark, or to have lighting that's too dim and adjust tons of assets to be properly visible, only to realize you've just made every asset far too bright under normal lighting conditions.’ The suggested solution is to create a dummy sphere to set up your lighting on so that you know the right balance of lighting when it comes to develop your assets for the scene. This may not matter so much in the advent of PBR shading which is a lot more engine driven but is still useful for managing and maintaining the lighting on a clean object if one feels like the mood of the environment should be changed.

An image from the article demonstrating the use of a sphere in the scene to get a feel for the lighting. The lighting on the right is too overblown which results in a large flat area, which means that assets within the scene may not be shown at their best

 

A final point from this article is considering modularity within the assets when designing your scene. You will save a lot of time designing one asset and scaling and rotating it for use elsewhere. However, one should also be careful not using it too much within one area, or have too much unique detail, else the player may notice and their immersion within a scene will be lost.

The last article I am going to look at is actually an interview with James Munroe (3), an environment artist at 343 Industries, about his work on Halo 4. This one is especially important as it gives me an eye into how a professional environment artist works on a level or environment.

The first part that stands out to me is his talking about approaching an environment given to him by the level designers. ‘I commonly get a rough layout from the designers. It is generally composed of squares and rectangles that indicate their needs for gameplay. I go in and give visual meaning to these forms…I start with a general massout, and start placing in what I would like the space to become.’ From this, we learn that generally a level starts out in the very basic primitive state to get an idea of how the gameplay will work. This ties into the earlier point from the second article about how important this first stage is to get an idea of how a player can move through an environment. Leading on from this, the artists would build onto these primitives with the shapes they want the environment to take.

Munroe goes on further to explain ‘Then, I will break down what I have into secondary and tertiary shapes. This will be more time consuming for me because this is where I design my shapes and balance my proportions. From here, it is a matter of controlling where the player needs to go…The fundamentals of focal points can be employed to great effect.’ The gist of this, I believe, is that after creating the initial block-out, one should start refining the shapes of the environment. They need to select which parts of the scene will be the major focal points and what would be the guiding focal points, balancing them and their shapes to give a cohesive flow to the piece. ‘Starting large and working down into the details works best’.

From this, I am able to deduce a general plan for how I should approach the creation of an environment piece:

Firstly, I should start with a plan of how the player can move throughout the level. This is to get an idea of how I should begin the grey-box process. This can be done with primitives to provide a walkable area, or sketched out from a plan view.

Secondly, I should start massing out the large shapes that I want in the scene, deciding where the general focus points of a scene should be and how I will utilise the non-walkable space effectively.

Then, I will begin developing these large shapes into more detailed and refined shapes, designing how the focal points will draw and guide attention from one point to the next. I should keep the shapes simple (probably as close to primitives as possible) so that I do not have issues introducing possible collision if need be. I could probably draw diagrams on top of key images of my scene to help as visual guides for when I start focusing down.

After this, I should try and get a general idea of how my scene will be lit – I will not be focusing on area lights unless this ties into a particular focal point. Since I will still be in a grey-box stage I should not need to use a sphere to preview my lighting, but it may still be useful.

Finally, I should consider and select assets that can be used best for modularity and focus on producing these first, as well as working on larger scene pieces, before narrowing down on smaller detail.

Since I have not directly approached creating a 3D environment before, this base plan gives me a broad scope of helpful information going forward, which will be needed to create a fully cohesive environment as a portfolio piece.

Sources:

(1): http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php

(2): https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing-3d-environments-lights-camera-polygons-action--gamedev-13910

(3): http://blog.digitaltutors.com/dt-exclusive-game-environment-tips-halo-artist/

Self Evaluation for BA3

For a long while, I wanted to learn how to work efficiently in a 3D modelling program and, having gone through this project I feel a lot more confident in my skills now. I really enjoy 3D modelling, even if the brief itself didn't engage my attention as much as the last project did.

Throughout this project, I felt I picked up the technical skills very quickly, which is demonstrated by my choice to do iteration work almost entirely in 3D this time around. I swiftly became familiar with the interface of Maya which helped improve my workflow significantly, meaning I was able to keep up somewhat with developing iterations in a 3D form rather than the 2D that I am used to. Whilst my supporting research was not quite on the level that it was last project, I still made sure to put an effort in and try and create something that makes sense and is contextual to the theme I chose – the Georgian period.

There were definitely some elements I fell short on. Due to my lacking engagement with this project compared to the last one, I felt some of my ideas were a little lacking and that I could have looked up even more contextual research. I also think that I could have put a little bit more effort in to the unwrapping and texturing portion of my final model submission, as I could get more out of my texture maps if I split them up and I could have utilised some of the texture maps better. Plus, in my contextual studies portion, I felt like I was picking up the slack for my partner too much and we couldn't get together often enough to collate ideas.

Based on these shortcomings, I know that for next time I should really plan out my workflow better to make sure I am hitting all the points I should be covering each and every project. I could go about this by making a checklist for me to tick off to make sure I am covering areas such as providing enough contextual research, like drawings from life or mood boards. And since the next year is less about learning the fundamental skills, I can go ahead and plan out my projects more, meaning that everything is on-time and that I don’t rush any particular element. As for technical skills, I should work more on understanding textures and materials, as I believe I struggled a little with that last project as well. I could do some texture and material studies so that I have a better idea of how reflective, rough or textured a particular material is so that my future work is a lot more convincing.

Even so, I had a good time creating my first polished models in Maya. I hope to be able to expand this skill to not just creating a single asset, but whole scenes, as well as working in my previous development and understanding with zBrush to become a polished 3D artist. 

Final Submission for BA3

This is my final creative submission for BA3, showing the completed folly with full lighting and textures. Overall I am quite pleased with what I have made, but I know there is still a lot for me to learn and improve with in terms of modelling and texturing in Maya.

First of all, I am very pleased with the geometry of my piece. I think it is very clean and fairly topologically correct. I thought a lot more about using primitives to map out the forms instead of trying to create the shapes with other tools this time, which really helped build an accurate form rather than rely on guesswork and trying to line faces up. Plus, using instances for parts like the pillars and the balustrades really help in making the UV map a lot more efficient so I could get more detail out of it.

However, there are some big issues that could be addressed. Even though I tried to fit everything in on a single UV map, there are some parts, like the balustrades, which are absolutely tiny on the UV map. During the creation process I had to do some chopping up and more instancing, for example on the base, to try and make the unwrap more efficient and so I would have more space for other elements to fit. It would have been nice to have some texture variations with the pillars and the upper walls but then I would likely have to split it into two separate unwraps to get enough space which, in hindsight, may have been a better idea to begin with. Plus, even though I put a lot of work into the texture I feel like it could still do with some more work to make it seem more worn-down and unique, as right now it still feels a little flat.

Next time, I shouldn't be afraid to use multiple unwraps for my models, as sometimes this will be beneficial to get more detail into my model without having to use absurdly high resolution textures to get the information I need. I could definitely have moved half of the UVs onto another unwrap and gotten more detail and/or have smaller textures. I could also consider more about adding detail with normal maps. I would like to learn how to use ZBrush and Maya in conjunction to get even more detail work into my models without having to fiddle around with converting bump maps. I have explored that area a small bit but I haven't put it into practice yet.

Even so, I am satisfied with the quality of work that I have produced. Considering I have only been working in Maya for a few months now and working with some of these texture maps and concepts for even less, I picked up a lot of the concepts quickly and learned how to incorporate them into my work, which shows here. I would definitely like to revisit this style of work more later.

Final Model Progress 1

This is how far I have proceeded with my final model. I tweaked a few elements between the final iteration and this model, such as thinning out the pillars a little, as well as adding an adornment to the top of the dome and insetting the windows and doors. I felt this made it look a lot more compact and elegant, whilst still maintaining structural stability.

This is how I have constructed my model, each piece being a separate model. My plan is to wrap these individually and then use duplicate special to instance these across my model, saving a lot of time when it comes to unwrapping as I will not have to texture multiple pillars and walls. One issue I will have to keep in mind is the possibility of seams showing up, so I will have to do a lot of checking back and forth when it comes to the texturing process.

The wireframe demonstrates how I cleaned up the model to try and minimise the amount of polygons in my model. Even so, the polycount ends up at around 10 thousand tris. There could be ways I could simplify the model such as taking out the geometry of the balustrade and instead using a texture, but this will mean the balustrade will look a whole lot more flat which isn't necessarily a good thing. But, overall, I think I did a good job in keeping the topology efficient.

Life Drawing 5

In our last session for the year, we were given the task to do a long pose for the entirety of the session. I chose to do a 3/4 length portrait, putting a lot more detail into elements such as her face as well as some of the things she wore. Again, by using mid-tone I could utilise chalk to add in highlights, which worked to some success. However, there are a few accuracy qualms, such as with the face, which seems off. For example, the right eye could be smaller and is a slightly different shape to her left eye. Also, the shading, whilst well done, feels a little flat compared to some of my other mid-tone long poses - I could have gotten away with darkening the left side of the picture a little more, even if it wasn't quite like that in real life.

 Even so, I can see improvement in my observational skills, as these poses look a lot more life-like than some of my first drawings when beginning life drawing.

Final Idea for Creative Brief

Following on from the critique I got about my previous design, I went back to the drawing board and looked more at the mood boards I had collected, analysing some of the follies I really liked and picking out the features I enjoyed about them.

While I liked the detail work in this folly, its small size isn't what I am going for any more, I feel. What does strike out to me are the small double pillars, as well as the reaching spires on the balustrade up top. These sharp features would be a nice mediator for the final folly's rounder shapes, offering a balanced experience that would look aesthetically pleasing to look at.

In terms of the overall silhouette, this folly - which is the Temple of Diana nearby Highclere Castle in Hampshire - suits pretty well for the idea I have in mind. I'm thinking of exchanging the pillar shape on this folly and using something akin to the design in the other image, whilst also throwing in a twist of my own by adding the arch I wanted to include earlier.

This is what I came up with, including improvements from the critique as well as elements from the two follies I analyzed. I incorporated the arch into the pillars themselves, as well as adapting the design from the folly analysis and remixing it into a whole new pillar shape.

The silhouette is fairly pleasing from all angles, both above and below, though it will mainly be seen from below, plus there is plenty more room for people to walk around the folly's base.

While some intricacies of the model can be tweaked, I think I can begin working on my final model for this creative brief.

Creative Iterations 2

Developing on further from my initial iterations, I decided to work further with the design I came to in my last post.

The fundamental elements are there, but it needs more detail. As I said before, I would like to include windows on the 'second floor' to let in light for those who go inside.

 These were two ideas I toyed with first. I tried varying it up a little by making it hexagonal rather than circular. This would make it a lot easier to make modular, but in the end it contrasted too much with the other circular elements and I decided to shelve it. The second idea I had incorporated a lot more curves, as well as thickening out the overall design. The pillars I re-made to work better with the arches that support the 'second floor', but I am unsure as to how to work them in. Either way, I think they are a good aesthetic element and I would like to keep them in somehow.

 These four images show a few variations with a cone roof, as a change from the spherical roof I've been doing for the other folly iterations. However, I believed it deviated too far from the idea of a Georgian period folly and decided to try something else.

Instead I experimented with more of the spherical roof, adding a few variations, as well as shrinking the design down a little vertically as I felt like having it taller was unnecessary and would help balance the folly out a little. Again, I tried the idea of windows at the top, though I am as yet unsure as to what shape to have them. 

I refined the idea into a more cohesive shape, as well as putting elements like the pillars and arches together. The difference between the two is minor, but I added a little trim to the top of the pillars in the right image, so as to match with the bottom of the pillars. Overall, I am happy with the idea and general shape, but there are still some issues to be addressed, which were also pointed out to me in the most recent group critique.

Whilst the folly looks visually pleasing, there are some elements that don't make sense from a design perspective. For example, compared to the door, the thickness of the pillars and their distance from the building means that there is a lot of dead space - space people can't really get to or walk along. They get in the way of people that may want to walk around the outside. The size of the steps around the outside are also very large compared to the door, meaning that, in life, people would have to really reach to climb up. Plus, at the moment, the balcony is inaccessible (intentional, it's not meant to be walked on, but is an aesthetic choice) and if it is meant to act as an overhang, it doesn't offer much coverage.

The above image shows the modularity I had planned for this model. Whilst I do like the design myself, I can agree with the criticism and know I must design the model again, though I do not have to go through the process all over, but use this as a base and tweak based on the criticism I have received.