1st year (2nd semester)
Assignment: 3D Digital Literacy
Model- 'Old Well'
For my 3D modelling project this year, I have chosen an 'old well' as my model. There was no particular reason why I chose this object but I found it'll be very interesting to model.
My research on wells:
During my investigation in wells, I found out there are three types of wells, dug, driven and drilled. For this specific assignment, it mentions that it's an 'old' well so I chose 'dug well' as it is historically one of the oldest designs and it's more captivating than the other two.
After researching dug wells, I've gotten a better idea of it so I began playing around with the designs until I've have fixed image I want. Most old wells are made out of natural sources/materials (such as wood, concrete, bricks etc.), which are easily made by people especially in the past they don't have advanced tools or resources. For these designs, I tried to explore diverse shapes and curves and keeping them in natural colours/materials. I also tried to have triangles or hexagon faces/shapes as the bar/rod and displaying different ways to lift the bucket up (such by a crank handle, by hand or metal ring etc.).
I finally concluded that I wanted a more typical style of an old well; natural attainable shapes and material. I tried to incorporate my own taste to it by having it on a rocky base/ground and have vines/leaves twirling around the wood. I also thought about having jars/ larger buckets on the side, where people would pour the water into and carry above their head but after a long thought, I scrap the idea as it might look messy if there's a lot going in the scene/setting.
Below is the final 'well' design that I'll be aiming to model:
Here I begin constructing the model's wall by following some tutorials on Youtube. Method: Deform- non-linear- bend- channel box (change settings- rotate/inputs-curvature)- final touches with grab tool.
Next, I began creating the rope and start building the roof tiles in crooked positions (as I want it to have some roughness to it) and then the wooden bucket on the side. After modelling the main assets of the 'well' I started texturing the model. As for the vines I've decided to do it in the later stages as I want to see how it will go with textures.
To avoid any misuse of copyrighted images, I tried my best to use images mostly from free non-copywrited images sites such as Pexels and Unsplash.
One of the problems that I came across was the texture png. had this transparency connected to which cause the textures appearing overlapped. After asking for guidance, I just need to go to - material attributes- transparent- break connection. This helped but it led to another problem which was that the colour of the textures lightened up. I tried using colour remap but it didn't work as well so I decided to leave until I finish the modelling the vines.
Creating the vines was one of my favourite objects to model as I got to be creative with the curves and twist and seeing the leaves all come together was amazing. (Method: EP curve tool- attach flat surface at the end- extrude- division) I also added a water texture just of fun and surprisingly it made the model feel more realistic. I also included a flat grass base plane and then added separate stones onto the surface. I probably could've tried creating realistic grass coming from the surface but that wasn't the main focus on this project and I didn't have enough time.
Now back to the colour of the texture. It wasn't the main concern to me as colours given off a very dusty vibe but I decided I should bring it as it is to Sketchfab and see what will happen as I render it. Unexpectedly it went back to its original colour since the files are selected from my computer's folder. So that fixed the problem. As for Sketchfab, it was an amazing program to use as it enhanced my model features.
In the Sketchfab I've noticed these shaded triangles on the top surface of the concrete. Although it gave off a very nice unique pattern, I wasn't sure if it's acceptable as I know it probably caused by the UV mapping being stretch on the top area but I just decided to leave it as it is as it wasn't unappealing. (If I were to fix this error I would redo the UV mapping by cutting around the edges more carefully and a put on the new texture on it).
Final Product:
I am pleased with the final outcome especially looking back on my design, I think I did a great job. If were to push the design further I think I could've done something more with the roof by adding small details such as dirt or moss. Also, next time I will try to put most of the texturing in one whole UV map to save time. I know I have a lot of improvement to do but as for my first 3D Model, I am very content with it.
[gallery ids="570,571" type="rectangular"]
Reflection:
For this assignment, I've decided to model an ‘old well’. Having little to no experience in 3d modelling, I was quite intimidated by the idea but also excited to start learning. First, I started studying info. on ‘old wells’ and that had helped me to get started on my own approach to the design by including my own turn on it. I quickly adjusted to ‘Maya’, as I have learnt many basic skills from the past few classes. Although when the more complicated stuff comes it was quite difficult, therefore, I’ve spent most of my time watching as much related video tutorials and reading people’s answers to the same issues in the past. I’ve also tried reading books, but they weren’t specific enough to my questions.
After studying the resources, it was much simpler than I made it to be. I’ve learnt a lot of useful techniques/shortcuts that could help me get things done quicker in the future. I felt more confident now that I have a further understanding of how things work and that I should be more aware of my time management. If I were to do this again, I would start as immediately as I can since most of the problems I ran into, there was a solution, but I just needed time to follow as closely as I can, since observation was the key to most of my problems. I am satisfied with the outcome, however, there are a few areas such as the UV mapping, I know I needed to improve on.
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