3D Modelling from 2D Concept
Proposal
For this project I will be working with Daniel to create assets for his game. The game is set ~500 years in the future, in a post-apocalyptic world, where rogue AI robots have invaded and destroyed a Utopian society. These robots are now the only inhabitants of this society where they fight amongst themselves for survival.
Structures featured in the game are primarily rounded and smooth within the city area; the assets that need to be created should also follow this design in order to fit into the world. Destroyed versions of these assets can also be used in ruined areas of the city and can easily be created from a copied version of a finished model.
The spherical structures represent the areas previously inhabited by humans; anything created by the robots should have an efficient and geometric design.
These assets asked to create for the game consist of the following:
- Post boxes / bins
- Street Light systems
- Road signs / posts
- Trees / plant life
- Fans / Aircon units
- Renewable energy systems (e.g. Solar panels / wind turbines)
- Destroyed objects / rubble
- Statues / unique landmarks
Assets from the list I will be focusing on are: road signs; post boxes / bins; and the renewable energy systems. While I will be focusing on the assets mentioned above, I will also draw concepts other assets such as fans / aircon units and plant life.
In order to create these assets I will be mainly focused on hard surface modelling, as the vast majority of the list consists of objects like road signs or post boxes. Creating trees / plant life will make use of organic modelling which is a skill I want to develop further.
Below are mood boards for the project. I have compiled multiple images from futuristic games such as Overwatch and Nier: Automata.
Concepts & Progress of Models
In this blog I will be showing all concepts I have drawn as well as the models that were created following these concepts. I will also be outlining the methods used to create these both normal and destroyed versions of the models.
First Concept & Model
The first concept piece I drew for this project is a warning sign, which, once in game, can be used to block off areas as well as being placed around destroyed areas within the city. Both normal and destroyed versions were drawn and annotated to describe their structure and features.
For this model I used a standard primitive cylinder; symmetry modifiers; and edge ring connect to create the pole. Above the pole, the floating sign was also created with a cylinder; front and back faces were inset and then extruded inwards to create a small indent for where the screen of the sign is located. A small amount of geometry was added to both the pole and floating sign (using edge, ring, connect) in order to create the destroyed version; most vertex's locations were changed to create more jagged areas on the model.
Second Concept & Model
The second concept piece I've drawn for this project is for a bin. Feedback received stated the bin's structure was too simple, with little interesting in it's silhouette; work also needed to be done on the destroyed version's geometry. The first set of images below are the first concept pieces for the bin.
First concept pieces for the bin.
Revised bin concept.
With the revised concept I wanted to create a more interesting silhouette while staying close to the simplicity of the object; extruding the bottom outwards and adding curved indents to the side kept a simplistic appearance as well as adding more detail.
For the creation process of this model I used a standard cube along with edge, ring, connect as well as scaling tools. The top as well as the front of the model were inset and extruded inwards to create the lid and screen respectively. Vertexes were modified to create the structure of the destroyed version.
Changes made to this model consisted of the top being square shaped as opposed to circular, the screen was slso made shorter in the final model.
Third Concept & Model
My third concept piece was for a power cell. Both the front and back have protective plating while one side has a handle for carrying the item. The back also has a plug in order for the cell to provide energy to systems without power. Box modelling was also used to create the power cell; like the bin, extrusions and insets were also used on this model to create the plug socket on the back and another socket on the top.
Changes were made to this model in the final build. The back panel doesn't feature any extrusions shown in the concept. Parts of the top were extruded outwards to give more detail to the top of the model.
Fourth Model
For my fourth model I created a wooden hut and used a reference image to create the model. Once the general body of the model was complete, I added support beams underneath the roof as well as below the hut itself which connected to the tree trunk it is built on; a single beam was added to the roof also.
When creating this model I had trouble scaling the planks into shape as they got closer to the roof. In order to scale them properly I changed the pivot point to the center of the object I wanted to scale; this allowed me to correctly scale objects so they were not extruding through the roof.
Menu used to change pivot.
Before pivot change.
After pivot change.
Fifth Model & Concept
The next concept I made is for a lab/research facility. The concept consists of three different buildings, with the main lab being in the middle; a thin tower with a glass dome to the left; and a wider tower to the right.
A few things about this model were changed during the modelling process. The tower to the right now has windows on the lower half; an entrance to the roof; another smaller building on the top; and a satellite dish. The tower to the left no longer has windows on the front, the bottom of the tower has been extruded outwards to create triangular geometry, the beams a the top are straightened and curve outwards at the top and bottom. Finally, the main building is shorter and has a large satellite on the top; windows from the top were also removed. Each model has also been appropriately spaced out.
To create the satellite dish I made a curved line and applied a lathe modifier to it. After this any unwanted geometry was deleted and the center of the dish was extruded to create a receiver. If I do this again I will look for an alternative method to creating the dish as I believe there is a more efficient way to modelling it.
This model's destroyed version features deleted polygons, unlike previous versions of destroyed models. Once vertices were manipulated and polygons destroyed, I used boarder mode to select a boarder and capped the area. This made for a more believable destruction on non glass surfaces.
Evaluation
Overall I am pleased with the quality of models I have produced. If I were to do this again I would focus more time producing models in order to have a more to showcase. I would also look into alternative methods of modelling in order to branch out; in order to learn more about 3DS Max. I would also try to draw more concepts, even though I may not use them; they can be used in blog work as evidence of scrapped concept art. Scrapped art may lead to new ideas, or older ideas being incorporated into a newer concept. I also feel that I have become more efficient at modelling in 3DS Max and can create a method to modelling an object quickly.