Digital Design and Animation ll PBM
Table Of Contents
Introduction
My experience in DDAll
Section IV
Lighting and Shadows
Section l
Professionalism
Section V
Cameras
Section ll
Advanced Modeling
Video Presentation
Video
Section lll
Shaders and Renders
Conclusion
Wrap Up!
Introduction
My DDA ll course was centered around 3D modeling. For the most part, everything I did was in a program called 3Ds. max. Through the course, I learn all the different settings and factors that go into 3D modeling. During this course, we covered lighting, materials, advanced modeling, and cameras. All of these categories are necessary to learn if you are 3D modeling. These skills will help me to create amazing 3D assets for my game.
Section l: Professionalism
Article l: Critiques
Critiques can sometimes be hard to take but are a necessary step to bettering your work. Often times we think our work is the best, but then someone else comes and gives us something to work on. Critiques help our project be seen at different angles so that it can truly be the best. To illustrate, think about a statue that is directly in front of you. From the front, the statue looks amazing but there are some cracks in the back that could cause the whole thing to collapse. Fortunately, a peer is looking at the statue from behind and notices these minor details and you are able to fix them. The whole purpose of a critique is not to be rude but to get another view of your work to see what is good and what might need some work. Just as you would like to receive helpful critiques, it is your job to provide critiques that will better your peer's work and not just please your eyes.
Article ll: Professional Documents
A resume is a document that gives employers a brief overview of their skills and accomplishments. To the right is my resume.
Section ll: Advanced Modeling
Article l: Advanced Modeling Techniques
While working with simple primitives is cool, the real magic happens when your use advanced modeling techniques. Surface modeling edits the "surface" of an object. This can include vertices, edges, faces, as well as polygons. There are a number of things you can do like extrude faces or weld vertices. Surface modeling can be used to create more detailed objects, and to some extent make a simple primitive look like a completely different object.
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Compound objects work by taking 2 or more primitives and combining them into a unique primitive. It is important to remember that once you make a compound object, the original primitives used to make the compound object lose its individual features. An example of compound objects is taking a sphere and cone and combining them together to make an ice cream cone. To the right are some of the compound objects I create during my time in this course.
Learned how to edit the vertices on an object to create small dents.
Used a variety of compound objects that were previously learned to make a wild west scene. This project helped me to better understand the practical uses and limitations of certain compound tools.
Using my knowledge of the Proboolean tool, I create a sofa. This project help me to better understand how Proboolean can be used to turn simple primitives into complex objects.
Learned how to edit the vertices on an object to create small dents.
Article ll: Simulations
Simulation imitates real-world processes like daylight. Simulations can be a real game-changer in the game design world. If used correctly, simulations can provide your video game with realistic details. For instance, if you had a game that was outside, you could use the daylight simulation to get an accurate position of the sun, making your game actually look like it takes place outside. Below is an example of when I used the daylight simulation to make give my project a sunset feel.
Section lll: Shaders, Materials, and Renderers
Article l: Asthetics
Materials are essential to making your object appear realistic. Without materials, your object may have the correct shape but would fail to convince the audience that it is a real-world item. Materials have several settings underneath them. Textures give a sense of depth. If the object is smooth or is it rough. Textures can help you tell the difference. Maps apply images to control surface properties. Shaders determine how light reacts to the surface of the model. Materials simply refer to the surface properties of objects. UV mapping determines how materials are placed onto an object. While these settings may be a little confusing, at least for me, it is essential to creating realistic materials on your objects. ​
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Learned how to use UV mapping on a complex object such as this one.
Learned the basics of standard materials and textures through this project.
Learned how to take real-world surfaces and convert them into materials using UV mapping.
Learned how to use UV mapping on a complex object such as this one.
Article ll: Renderers
Autodesk 3ds ma comes with several renderers for the designer to use. It is important you understand the difference between renderers so that you can make the best possible render for your design. There are several things that should be considered when rendering your object. The quality, the time frame, and your system. Different renders have different quality renders. Renderers with higher quality typically take longer which leads me to my second point. Some renders can take a few seconds and others a few days. When rendering you need to decide how long are you willing to wait to get the final rendered image. Sometimes you might have the time to do a long render, but your system does not have the capacity. It is important you know what you system is capable of so that you don't put it through something it can't handle. Considering all the points above, you can choose the right renderer for your project.
Section lV: Lighting
Article l: Lighting and Shadows
Lighting has one main purpose: to make our scene visible to the audience. It really isn't that simple though because lights (and shadows) do more than just that. In my time in this course, I learned that lights can do several things to a scene. The color of lights can affect the mood of a scene and bring out emotions. The brightness of lights can emphasize certain parts of a scene. Shadows can be used to provide make your lights appear more realistic. Shadows also tell the audience where your light source is. Shadows can also be used to hide certain portions of your scene. Not considering any special case, a rule of thumb for lighting is that you need at least 3 lights shining from 3 different angles to properly light an object. This is why 3 point lighting is such a common way for artists to show their design. ​
Learned how different colors or lights can be combined to give you white light. This is a technique that is often used in theatre.
Learned the effects that shadow and lights parameters have on a shadows.
Learned how different colors or lights can be combined to give you white light. This is a technique that is often used in theatre.
Section V: Cameras
Article l: Camera Comparison
The 3ds max camera and real-world cameras are similar but there are a few differences. Starting with the camera settings. In 3ds max you put a numerical value to change the setting, and there seems to be no limit (or a very high one) on these settings. You could adjust your ISO higher than you could in real life for example. As far as the image results, the camera settings behave in 3ds max as they would in real life. I did notice however that the camera quality was not as good as real life, but that might be because of the renderer I was using. Another difference between the 3ds max camera and real-world cameras is location. In 3ds max you can place your camera anywhere in the scene and you can even have it target a specific point. In real life, you cannot put your camera anywhere you want and it definitely does not lock onto one object as it moves.
Video Presentation
Conclusion
To conclude things, I have learned so much this year during this course. My modeling techniques have greatly improved and my knowledge of 3ds max is almost enough to be considered in the professional world. Let's recap what I have learned. Starting in Unit A I learned the importance of critiques as well as presenting yourself in a professional and engaging way. In unit 2 I learned advanced modeling techniques to provide more unique and detailed models. In unit 3 I learned the importance of lighting and shadows and how they can be used to alter the mood of a scene. In unit 4 I learned about materials, shaders, and renders. These are the final touches to your project which give your models a more realistic appearance. Lastly, in unit 5 I learned how 3ds max cameras are similar and different to real cameras, and how to properly use them in your scene. Creating this portfolio has helped me to see just how much I have learned in the past year and it helped me reflect on my previous works. Overall my knowledge, dedication to this program, and modeling skillset all have grown tremendously over the past school year.