Friday, 13 March 2015
Rendering and Artefact preview
This brief update gives you a preview of the upcoming final updates on the overall work done for the rendering out work and final artefact pages.
Texturing in Substance Painter and Photoshop
As explained in the last entry, this update will talk about the texturing that combined Photoshop and Substance Painter.
Having acquired the basic Albedo and Occlusion texture maps, the next stage was to create the PBR based metal and roughness maps in Substance Painter.
The following gives the explanation as to how these maps were created using Substance Painter in a series of steps.
Step 1: Import the fbx file of each robotic mech part. Since Substance Painter allows you to see real time painting on both the 3D model and the 2D texture map, seeing the effects are a lot easier to see. After importing the model, I immediately saved out a substance painter scene file in order to keep track of my work.
Step 2: The next step was add in a colour ID map. This was quickly made in 3ds max via applying different material colours to the each component of he overall part. This was done in order to separate the different textures that would be painted on. Back in Substance, a fill layer was created for each texture, and a colour mask applied. So when the colour ID map was chosen, each colour could then be allocated to a different material. The material was then applied via the fill layer, and painted on the meatallic and roughness values.
Step 3: After this, the various values were altered in order to get the materials, such as the titanium metal, looking just right. After this step, a colour layer was created, and then had pats rubbed out using various brushes in order to simulate a metal scratched effect.
Step 4: Once happy the last step I followed was to export all of the maps as targa files, that could then be edited in Photoshop where necessary. This whole process was then repeated 7 more times until every part the required textures.
At the same time, all of the parts for the robotic mech where being set up in Marmoset Toolbag 2. This was done in order to get the model ready for the final renders, as well as test out the textures coming in from Substance Painter. One thing I discovered was that the metal scratches looked too a little, which was due to the values of the scratches not showing through very well.
To remedy this, I took the roughness and metallic maps back into Photoshop. Note also at this point that the single colour scratch layer from Substance was over layed onto the albedo, the scratch marks selected, then applied onto the albedo layer. So in order to boost the reflective lighting of the scratch marks, the scratch marks where once again selected, over layed onto the roughness and metallic maps, but instead of deleting marks, were painted directly onto the texture with a white value colour. These values would then be edited until thy were to my liking back in Marmoset.
After this, the only maps left to create where the normal and emissive maps. The emissive maps where very easy to do. All they require is keeping the colours where the lights will be on the map, and then boosting the colour to give off a better glow effect. The normal maps on the other hand took a little experimentation in order to achieve a good effect.
The first test was simply combining the albedo and occlusion maps together, and then using the Nivida plugin to creating a normal map from them. However, when applied to he model, it didn't add that much in terms of detail. To solve this issue, I added a scratched metal texture with an opacity of roughly 32%, then redid the Nivida plugin option. This time it came up with a much better textured look. An example of each texture map created is shown below, using the turret extra parts as the example.
Once the first set of maps were finished, I repeated the process 7 more times until all of the texture maps were complete. Unfortunately 3ds max is unable to use roughness and metallic maps, so I've been unable to apply all the materials within a scene. However, they all work within the marmoset and Unreal programmes, so i'll be showing you how they look in there. Once done, the next stage was to render out the final shots in both Marmoset Toolbag and Unreal Engine 4. I'll be showing work done in these programmes further in the next blog update.
Having acquired the basic Albedo and Occlusion texture maps, the next stage was to create the PBR based metal and roughness maps in Substance Painter.
The following gives the explanation as to how these maps were created using Substance Painter in a series of steps.
Step 1: Import the fbx file of each robotic mech part. Since Substance Painter allows you to see real time painting on both the 3D model and the 2D texture map, seeing the effects are a lot easier to see. After importing the model, I immediately saved out a substance painter scene file in order to keep track of my work.
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| Step 1 |
Step 2: The next step was add in a colour ID map. This was quickly made in 3ds max via applying different material colours to the each component of he overall part. This was done in order to separate the different textures that would be painted on. Back in Substance, a fill layer was created for each texture, and a colour mask applied. So when the colour ID map was chosen, each colour could then be allocated to a different material. The material was then applied via the fill layer, and painted on the meatallic and roughness values.
 |
| Step 2 |
Step 3: After this, the various values were altered in order to get the materials, such as the titanium metal, looking just right. After this step, a colour layer was created, and then had pats rubbed out using various brushes in order to simulate a metal scratched effect.
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| Step 3 |
Step 4: Once happy the last step I followed was to export all of the maps as targa files, that could then be edited in Photoshop where necessary. This whole process was then repeated 7 more times until every part the required textures.
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| Step 4 |
At the same time, all of the parts for the robotic mech where being set up in Marmoset Toolbag 2. This was done in order to get the model ready for the final renders, as well as test out the textures coming in from Substance Painter. One thing I discovered was that the metal scratches looked too a little, which was due to the values of the scratches not showing through very well.
To remedy this, I took the roughness and metallic maps back into Photoshop. Note also at this point that the single colour scratch layer from Substance was over layed onto the albedo, the scratch marks selected, then applied onto the albedo layer. So in order to boost the reflective lighting of the scratch marks, the scratch marks where once again selected, over layed onto the roughness and metallic maps, but instead of deleting marks, were painted directly onto the texture with a white value colour. These values would then be edited until thy were to my liking back in Marmoset.
After this, the only maps left to create where the normal and emissive maps. The emissive maps where very easy to do. All they require is keeping the colours where the lights will be on the map, and then boosting the colour to give off a better glow effect. The normal maps on the other hand took a little experimentation in order to achieve a good effect.
The first test was simply combining the albedo and occlusion maps together, and then using the Nivida plugin to creating a normal map from them. However, when applied to he model, it didn't add that much in terms of detail. To solve this issue, I added a scratched metal texture with an opacity of roughly 32%, then redid the Nivida plugin option. This time it came up with a much better textured look. An example of each texture map created is shown below, using the turret extra parts as the example.
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| Occlusion Map |
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| Albedo Map |
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| Colour ID |
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| Metallic Map |
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| Roughness Map |
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| Emissive Map |
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| Normal Map |
Once the first set of maps were finished, I repeated the process 7 more times until all of the texture maps were complete. Unfortunately 3ds max is unable to use roughness and metallic maps, so I've been unable to apply all the materials within a scene. However, they all work within the marmoset and Unreal programmes, so i'll be showing you how they look in there. Once done, the next stage was to render out the final shots in both Marmoset Toolbag and Unreal Engine 4. I'll be showing work done in these programmes further in the next blog update.
Thursday, 12 March 2015
Unwrapping finished and Texturing begins
This next series of updates continue on from the 6th march hand in. Due to being busy with the final hand, the blog hasn't had the necessary updates to go alongside. So the last of these blog posts will update you on the final work that went into the Final Year Project hand in.
After the paint over render tests, work continued on the unwrapping of the robotic mech. The entire process took roughly 3 days to unwrap, which included doing all the individual pieces, sorting them into appropriate groups, and then scaling down each parts unwrap and placing them into the final UV unwraps. Below is an example of the unwrapping process using the hull section.
I decided that the robotic mech would be split into eight sections: the head, the arms, the turret, the turrets extra pieces, the hull, the hulls extra pieces, and parts associated with the wheels. I did this in order to maximise the amount of detail that I can get out of each sections parts.
With this decided, each part was given a material ID ranging from 1-8, so that the appropriate texture maps could be placed into each slot.
The next step was to bake out the Occlusion maps for each part of the robotic mech. To do this, I split each sections parts up so that there wouldn't be any lighting issues. A white material was then placed on the model, with the light tracer setting on, and a skylight placed within the scene. Finally, render to texture was brought up, with the render set to create a 2048 x 2048 shadow map, using the recently created unwraps. This process was repeated until all of the texture maps were created, for a total of 8 Occlusion maps ready to use.
With this part done, the basic Albedo maps were next to be made. To create each pattern camo, taken from the first paint over design, I filled the background with a dark blue colour. Then using around 4-5 different shades, using the polygon lasso tool to create the differing pattern shapes. Once done, each WIP PSD file was placed into the 3ds Max scene, and render out in a progressive few, in order to get a continual update on the look of the robotic mech as the process went on
.
With this finished, the work then shifted to Substance Painter for the creation of the metallic and roughness maps, which will be explained in the next entry.
After the paint over render tests, work continued on the unwrapping of the robotic mech. The entire process took roughly 3 days to unwrap, which included doing all the individual pieces, sorting them into appropriate groups, and then scaling down each parts unwrap and placing them into the final UV unwraps. Below is an example of the unwrapping process using the hull section.
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| Stage 1: unwrap all the pieces individually |
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| Stage 2: group together all the finished unwraps into differet parts |
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| Stage 3: sort out and re size the all the pieces into their correct places |
I decided that the robotic mech would be split into eight sections: the head, the arms, the turret, the turrets extra pieces, the hull, the hulls extra pieces, and parts associated with the wheels. I did this in order to maximise the amount of detail that I can get out of each sections parts.
With this decided, each part was given a material ID ranging from 1-8, so that the appropriate texture maps could be placed into each slot.
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| Robotic Mech split up with multi sub object material assigned |
The next step was to bake out the Occlusion maps for each part of the robotic mech. To do this, I split each sections parts up so that there wouldn't be any lighting issues. A white material was then placed on the model, with the light tracer setting on, and a skylight placed within the scene. Finally, render to texture was brought up, with the render set to create a 2048 x 2048 shadow map, using the recently created unwraps. This process was repeated until all of the texture maps were created, for a total of 8 Occlusion maps ready to use.
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| Occlusion baking set up |
With this part done, the basic Albedo maps were next to be made. To create each pattern camo, taken from the first paint over design, I filled the background with a dark blue colour. Then using around 4-5 different shades, using the polygon lasso tool to create the differing pattern shapes. Once done, each WIP PSD file was placed into the 3ds Max scene, and render out in a progressive few, in order to get a continual update on the look of the robotic mech as the process went on
.
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| Visual WIP checker |
With this finished, the work then shifted to Substance Painter for the creation of the metallic and roughness maps, which will be explained in the next entry.
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Robotic Mech Colour Tests
This post will be a brief view at colour schemes that I have tested and painted over on the MBT variant of the Robotic Mechs.
A lot of the references used where taken from the the original colour scheme tests that I made. I didn't use all of the colour schemes, as there were a few that I didn't quite like. For the others I found general reference found on Google images, which I implemented into some of the above designs.
The process that this method took was pretty simple. First, I applied a few block materials of colour in 3DS Max, based off of the colour schemes I had tested and created previously, as well as some new reference material from the internet. I would then render the model out, and put it into Photoshop. I would then paint on any patters/additional colours through a soft light filter. With this done, I then added the company logo, signature, borders etc. and saved out the images as jpegs.
Below shows you each colour scheme, and any source inspiration images that I used for reference.
A lot of the references used where taken from the the original colour scheme tests that I made. I didn't use all of the colour schemes, as there were a few that I didn't quite like. For the others I found general reference found on Google images, which I implemented into some of the above designs.
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| Original colour tests. |
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| Abrams tank colour reference. |
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| Winter camo patter ref. |
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| Leopard tank reference |
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| Renault FT17 camo reference |
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| General camo reference. |
With this stage done, I now have a better idea of how the textures will work together on the model. Theres a few which I don't like, mainly due to the patterning or the bland look it gives, but i'm happy with the majority, and am looking forward to implementing them onto the 3D model.
The next update will continue to look at the unwrapping process.
Model Unwrapping
This blog focuses on work done for the unwrapping stage of this model, hence why its been a little while since an update has been posted. The model at this point is mostly unwrapped, and i'll give a brief showing as to how I went about this.
During an event called Animex, where professionals come to give lectures and networking, I showed my work to a few of the lecturers. Overall they liked the model, but noticed some of the lower poly models I'd made were immediately noticeable from the rest of the model. So I went through one final round of optimisations, to ensure that no future problems in the aesthetic would occur again.
To start with, I immediately knew that since I had been building the models with no particular scale in mind, it was finally time to define it.
As shown below, the green areas show finished/unaffected pieces, and the red where areas that needed further work to be done. This usually involved removing unneeded edges or separating parts and reattaching to make the topology flow better. This took a little while, but was worth the effort.
With this done, I went on to dealing with scaling issues on the model. Since I want to try and render the model from within the unreal 4.6 Engine, I had to found out what the correct scaling I had to go with. So i started by looking up the unreal to max scale for a playable character model, which is 190cm (6 Foot) tall, since one cm= one unreal unit in the engine. Max's normal units setting didn't open with the centimeter scale on, so I went into the scale settings and adjusted it to the correct units.
I then created a box to match the measurements, and placed 3 on top of each other. I then also created a biped, matched the same height, and placed 3 within the scene as well. This was to ensure I had an idea of how tall a 6 foot human character would be compared to the Robotic Mech.
I then scaled down the main robotic mech model and the custom parts to roughly match the height of the bipeds and box towers. I also had to reset the x-forms for each model's piece, in order to avoid any topology issues that would have affected any textures applied to the model.
With this done, I finally started the unwrapping phase. This has taken a fair few days so far, and has been relatively easy to do. The main time consumption is through the number of pieces the model has. It has also taught me that some pieces work better when separated into smaller chunks. One such example was the tanks hull, which originally was one piece. It is now been separated into 4 components, which has made unwrapping it a lot easier to do.
Below shows you my work process. I started by applying a checker texture to the entire model. Any pieces that I finished unwrapping are colour in silver, whilst ones that are still in progress are coloured red. Any that haven't been touched are coloured in a standard UV checker texture colour.
This image shows you how far I am into the basic stages of the unwrap process. As you can see, theres not an awful left to do now at this point.
The main focus isto get the unwrapping done. Additionally, testing out colour schemes on the 3D model is also important, which is why in the next blog entry I will be showing basic paint over work done on an earlier rendition of the Robotic Mech.
During an event called Animex, where professionals come to give lectures and networking, I showed my work to a few of the lecturers. Overall they liked the model, but noticed some of the lower poly models I'd made were immediately noticeable from the rest of the model. So I went through one final round of optimisations, to ensure that no future problems in the aesthetic would occur again.
To start with, I immediately knew that since I had been building the models with no particular scale in mind, it was finally time to define it.
As shown below, the green areas show finished/unaffected pieces, and the red where areas that needed further work to be done. This usually involved removing unneeded edges or separating parts and reattaching to make the topology flow better. This took a little while, but was worth the effort.
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| Final Optimisation stage. |
With this done, I went on to dealing with scaling issues on the model. Since I want to try and render the model from within the unreal 4.6 Engine, I had to found out what the correct scaling I had to go with. So i started by looking up the unreal to max scale for a playable character model, which is 190cm (6 Foot) tall, since one cm= one unreal unit in the engine. Max's normal units setting didn't open with the centimeter scale on, so I went into the scale settings and adjusted it to the correct units.
I then created a box to match the measurements, and placed 3 on top of each other. I then also created a biped, matched the same height, and placed 3 within the scene as well. This was to ensure I had an idea of how tall a 6 foot human character would be compared to the Robotic Mech.
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| Human and blcok scale at a height of 190cm per individual model. |
I then scaled down the main robotic mech model and the custom parts to roughly match the height of the bipeds and box towers. I also had to reset the x-forms for each model's piece, in order to avoid any topology issues that would have affected any textures applied to the model.
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| Optimised model with correct scale. |
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| Original scale compared to the correct one. |
With this done, I finally started the unwrapping phase. This has taken a fair few days so far, and has been relatively easy to do. The main time consumption is through the number of pieces the model has. It has also taught me that some pieces work better when separated into smaller chunks. One such example was the tanks hull, which originally was one piece. It is now been separated into 4 components, which has made unwrapping it a lot easier to do.
Below shows you my work process. I started by applying a checker texture to the entire model. Any pieces that I finished unwrapping are colour in silver, whilst ones that are still in progress are coloured red. Any that haven't been touched are coloured in a standard UV checker texture colour.
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| Red for unwrap in progress, silver for finished, and the UV checker for yet to be unwrapped |
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| Unwrap at its current stage. |
This image shows you how far I am into the basic stages of the unwrap process. As you can see, theres not an awful left to do now at this point.
The main focus isto get the unwrapping done. Additionally, testing out colour schemes on the 3D model is also important, which is why in the next blog entry I will be showing basic paint over work done on an earlier rendition of the Robotic Mech.
Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Military Robotic Mech Classes
As stated in the last entry, I'll be showing the three vehicle types that have been pieced together with all the pieces that I have modelled so far.
For each one, a brief description of their job roles will be provided, and I'll be showing 4 rendered angles, and one wireframe shot, to give you an indication of the amount of topology that I have been working with.
Equipped with a main cannon, two smoke grenade launchers, two machine gun ports, and two Gatling gun type arm attachments, the MBT Class is designed to strike the enemy with heavy firepower, be it on wide battlefields or urban environments. Its heavily armour with thick plating and reactive armour packed on top to bolster its defenses. The 8 caterpillar track system guarantees its weight is supported, as well as provided a good amount of mobility to work with.
The Missile Launcher variant is designed to deliver heavy barrages of long range artillery missile fire to its designated target. Capable of delivering up to a 30 missile salvo per round, it is designed for high-impact damage. With the ability to serve as both an anti air and missile unit, it also comes equipped with two quadruple anti air guns, designed for burst fire of up to 800 rounds per minute, capable of dealing with both aerial and infantry units. Also comes the option to attach the plough to clear away any debris that may be in the area.
The communication variant is designed with less armour in mind, since it stays at the back to allow for long range orders to be relayed across the battlefield. It comes with two satellite dish arms and several aerials and receivers to bolster communication. Additionally, it comes with an extendable torso unit, to allow for this Robot to gain greater heights and communicate further distances. Naturally, hydraulic stabilisers are provided to keep this unit in place and avoid any toppling scenarios.
Having seen these models rendered out, I'm really happy with how my work has progress so far, Through the optimsation process, I've realised there's still a few components that require some tweaking here and there to get the best out of the model, but these should in whole take no more than a few hours to fix.
With this the 3D modelling stage is now finished. The next stage of the project will now be focusing on texture tests, and the general unwrapping of MBT version of the high poly model.
Further updates to come soon.
For each one, a brief description of their job roles will be provided, and I'll be showing 4 rendered angles, and one wireframe shot, to give you an indication of the amount of topology that I have been working with.
Main Battle Tank Class
Equipped with a main cannon, two smoke grenade launchers, two machine gun ports, and two Gatling gun type arm attachments, the MBT Class is designed to strike the enemy with heavy firepower, be it on wide battlefields or urban environments. Its heavily armour with thick plating and reactive armour packed on top to bolster its defenses. The 8 caterpillar track system guarantees its weight is supported, as well as provided a good amount of mobility to work with.
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| RENDER 1 |
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| RENDER 2 |
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| RENDER 3 |
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| RENDER 4 |
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| WIREFRAME |
Missile Launcher Class
The Missile Launcher variant is designed to deliver heavy barrages of long range artillery missile fire to its designated target. Capable of delivering up to a 30 missile salvo per round, it is designed for high-impact damage. With the ability to serve as both an anti air and missile unit, it also comes equipped with two quadruple anti air guns, designed for burst fire of up to 800 rounds per minute, capable of dealing with both aerial and infantry units. Also comes the option to attach the plough to clear away any debris that may be in the area.
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| RENDER 1 |
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| RENDER 2 |
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| RENDER 3 |
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| RENDER 4 |
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| WIREFRAME |
Communication Class
The communication variant is designed with less armour in mind, since it stays at the back to allow for long range orders to be relayed across the battlefield. It comes with two satellite dish arms and several aerials and receivers to bolster communication. Additionally, it comes with an extendable torso unit, to allow for this Robot to gain greater heights and communicate further distances. Naturally, hydraulic stabilisers are provided to keep this unit in place and avoid any toppling scenarios.
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| RENDER 1 |
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| RENDER 2 |
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| RENDER 3 |
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| RENDER 4 |
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| WIREFRAME |
Having seen these models rendered out, I'm really happy with how my work has progress so far, Through the optimsation process, I've realised there's still a few components that require some tweaking here and there to get the best out of the model, but these should in whole take no more than a few hours to fix.
With this the 3D modelling stage is now finished. The next stage of the project will now be focusing on texture tests, and the general unwrapping of MBT version of the high poly model.
Further updates to come soon.
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