ba3 - Models

The first model I made was this traffic cone

I was mostly just experimenting with modeling practices at this point. The 'cone' and 'base' are separate objects.

This window is all modeled on a single plane. I didn't understand UV mapping at this point so I was just very careful with texturing. Then again, the mesh is quite flat anyways.

I think it looks quite nice. It's not weathered in the slightest but I think the clean look looks good regardless.
In terms of modeling, I think I used almost exclusively extrusions on this piece.

This door was pretty fun to make. I don't know if modeling each brick separately was a good move or not. It took a while but the mesh is in good shape. I figured that The door hinge things could just be normal mapped so I didn't model them.

I used soft select along the center faces to curve the door like shown in the image.

For this model I created a high res version first and, using knowledge from a video I found on YouTube I baked the normal maps onto the low res one.

I'm quite proud of it. Normal maps are surprisingly effective and they make mapping UV's so much faster.

I've applied a specular map and dramatic lighting to this model. It really improves the look. I created this modularly too; the pillars are duplicates.

In hindsight I should've UV mapped one BEFORE duplicating but never mind, it's knowledge gained for next time.

ba3 - Life Drawings

Next, I drew my surroundings in order to get a feel for the level of detail needed for modeling it

These drawings vary in their detail. It sounds obvious but the closer you get to an object, the finer the detail you take it.

Games are interactive. That means that the player can get very close to the object if they want to. S I want a good level of detail, but obviously I want to keep that to a minimum because I don't want the polycount to get too high.

I could certainly think about reducing detail on meshes too high up for the player to see?

A lot of detail can be gained through good textures and Normal maps so we'll see where that takes us.

Also, I think the jaggedness of the bricks in the red drawing looks really nice. I'll look at incorporating this into my models too.

ba3 - Architecture Research

Our brief for ba3 is to research architecture and to create 4 different models in Maya over the next 4 weeks. Then, we'll have 3 more weeks to apply what we've learned to a final model.

I started by taking photos around town

The top left image is Georgian architecture.

Most of the churches/ cathedrals are Norman (although you can get Georgian churches too).

The building on the bottom right is a Tudor style but it's difficult to tell for sure because it's a style that people commonly emulated later on.


I love the colours of this door (top left), and it's simple enough to model for a newbie.

I might attempt this curved door too (bottom left), the shapes look quite interesting.