Lecture/Workshop Notes
3D BA1b
These are varying notes taken throughout the 3D modelling section of BA1b, from both lectures and workshops with Chris.
4th Dec - Lecture
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Going back to 3D modelling
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Includes digital sculpting, retopology, UV mapping, baking and texturing
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Always check resources on the VLE
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Industry is only looking for the best so concentrate and work hard
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Work can be stylised - heavily used in games like Overwatch​​
Vertex - a point in 3D space
Edge - 2 vertices joined
Faces - a closed set of edges
N-gons - polygons with 5+ edges (to be avoided as causes rendering issues)
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Triangles are the simplest form of polygon
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Quads are the preferred method of 3D modelling
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All polygons can be turned into quads and tris by adding edges
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Face normals display the direction of the face
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Polygons only face one way
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Display > polygons > face normals
Display > polygons > normals size
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Manipulating vertex normals affect the appearance of shaded polygons
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Hard edges - faceting, flat shading, hard or creased
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Soft edges can emulate results similar to a mesh containing 247 times the geometry
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UV mapping unfolds a 3D object onto a 2D surface
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Cutting 3D shapes creates seams for 2D space
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U and V correspond to the X and Y axis - XYZ is UVW
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0-1 space is used - aim to use as much of this space as possible
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Symmetrical unwrap has the same texture on both sides, like a basic sword
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Computer textures are all to the power of 2, for example 2048 would be 2k textures
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Can use rectangular texture sizes, e.g. 512 x 1024 pixels
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Substance Painter lets you choose
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A texture file represents how a model will look, like colour or reflectivity
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A material is multiple textures used to dictate how the model will look under light
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Changing textures greatly affects how the material will look
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We can pack textures for greyscale textures to conserve memory
PBR - Physically Based Rendering
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Albedo Maps - the base colour input, or diffuse map
Ambient Occlusion Maps - control light elements on a surface (not technically 'real')
Normal Maps - simulate surface details transferred from a high-poly mesh via baking
Roughness Maps - control reflectivity of a surface
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it utilises RGB channels to correspond with XYZ - Z is a flat colour in 2D space
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metals or rock materials must be set to a value of 0 or 1 on roughness maps
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a texture must contain black of white information
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transitional material states fall between 0 and 1
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0 (or black) is smooth, similar to a mirror
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1 (or white) is rough and will create a very matte finish
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Using a variation adds history and character to a model
7th Dec - Workshop
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Go back over basics like mesh selection, hotkeys/shortcuts and object movement
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Create new project file:
file > project window > new > find file > new folder
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Creating tabs:
> channel editor -> left mouse click + drag
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Scaling - R scales up and down via center square
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Reverting back to a cube requires a scale of 1
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Shelf:
edit > delete all by type > ctrl + shift > left click
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Attribute editor allows you to govern scale, rotation etc.
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Freeze transformations:
modify > freeze transformations > ctrl + shift > left click
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freeze transformations allows you to take apart an object to edit it
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Change pivot:
object mode, magnet tools
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Snap to Point:
hold X to snap to grid
hold C to snap to curve
hold V to snap to point
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Press D and move pivot center, press D again to confirm move
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modify > centre pivot > ctrl + shift
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Duplicate Mesh:
ctrl + D
create > polygon primitive > plane
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Use tool kit for combining and separating meshes
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Smooth tool allows you to add divisions
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Extruding and bevels
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Changing segments creates a softer shape
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Depth changes concave & convex
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Multi-cut tool:
hold ctrl for straight cut and edge selections
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save as Maya ASCII
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quality over technicality
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block out original design
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Deleting geometry:
ctrl + backspace
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Polycount:
display > heads up display > polycount
11th Dec - Lecture
​
-
Go back over basics like mesh selection, hotkeys/shortcuts and object movement
​
Create new project file:
file > project window > new > find file > new folder
​
Creating tabs:
> channel editor -> left mouse click + drag
​
Scaling - R scales up and down via center square
-
Reverting back to a cube requires a scale of 1
​
Shelf:
edit > delete all by type > ctrl + shift > left click
​
-
Attribute editor allows you to govern scale, rotation etc.
​
Freeze transformations:
modify > freeze transformations > ctrl + shift > left click
​
-
freeze transformations allows you to take apart an object to edit it
​
Change pivot:
object mode, magnet tools
​
Snap to Point:
hold X to snap to grid
hold C to snap to curve
hold V to snap to point
​
Press D and move pivot center, press D again to confirm move
​
modify > centre pivot > ctrl + shift
​
Duplicate Mesh:
ctrl + D
create > polygon primitive > plane
​
-
Use tool kit for combining and separating meshes
-
Smooth tool allows you to add divisions
-
Extruding and bevels
-
Changing segments creates a softer shape
-
Depth changes concave & convex
​
Multi-cut tool:
hold ctrl for straight cut and edge selections
​
-
save as Maya ASCII
-
quality over technicality
-
block out original design
​
Deleting geometry:
ctrl + backspace
​
Polycount:
display > heads up display > polycount
11th Dec - Lecture
​
-
Go back over basics like mesh selection, hotkeys/shortcuts and object movement
​
Create new project file:
file > project window > new > find file > new folder
​
Creating tabs:
> channel editor -> left mouse click + drag
​
Scaling - R scales up and down via center square
-
Reverting back to a cube requires a scale of 1
​
Shelf:
edit > delete all by type > ctrl + shift > left click
​
-
Attribute editor allows you to govern scale, rotation etc.
​
Freeze transformations:
modify > freeze transformations > ctrl + shift > left click
​
-
freeze transformations allows you to take apart an object to edit it
​
Change pivot:
object mode, magnet tools
​
Snap to Point:
hold X to snap to grid
hold C to snap to curve
hold V to snap to point
​
Press D and move pivot center, press D again to confirm move
​
modify > centre pivot > ctrl + shift
​
Duplicate Mesh:
ctrl + D
create > polygon primitive > plane
​
-
Use tool kit for combining and separating meshes
-
Smooth tool allows you to add divisions
-
Extruding and bevels
-
Changing segments creates a softer shape
-
Depth changes concave & convex
​
Multi-cut tool:
hold ctrl for straight cut and edge selections
​
-
save as Maya ASCII
-
quality over technicality
-
block out original design
​
Deleting geometry:
ctrl + backspace
​
Polycount:
display > heads up display > polycount
14th Dec - Workshop
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During this session we focused on learning the basics of ZBrush and importing low poly models from Maya to work on for task 1.
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​In Maya select in object mode and export selection as an obj.
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In ZBrush select the 3D sphere and go to import, find the file and open
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Left click and drag to create
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Hit edit to begin sculpting
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Manoeuvring:
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alt+left click+let go of alt+ drag = scaling
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Subtool shows what is with which layer
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Go to geometry>divide
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The history bar is at the top
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delhigher deletes highest amount of subs
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smth off
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Top right for save as
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store morph target freezes points
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When importing new object make sure existing object is not selected
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Dynamesh for more effective resolution
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To work on parts individually subtool > split > group split
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After this we were able to play with the software to discover the various tools and materials.
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8th Jan - Retopology Lecture
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​Restrictions for sign:
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Maximum texture resolution is 2048x2048
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Don't overcomplicate model
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Triangle limit is 4000
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Quality over quantity
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Polished simple models are better than elaborate unfinished ones
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Retopology and decemation allows you to create new topology and significantly reduce the amount of polygons used to save memory.
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masking can preserve specific areas of the model before decemation
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Zplugins > decemation master
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Between 10k and 50k points is comfortable
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Keep high poly mesh seperate from decimated mesh for baking
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Decimate meshes individually
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Check the VLE for resources!
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Zplugin > decimation master
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Pre processing current
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Leave at 20%
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Decimate current
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Preprocess agian
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Decimate again
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Export and label as decimated_objectname
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When exported into Maya:
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right mouse click object
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Make Live
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Quad draw tool
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Create polygons by selecting points
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Hols shift to create polygon
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Hold tab drags out shape
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Click magnet to deactivate live surface
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Hold shift to relax
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Quads are preferable when creating the mesh but triangles are fine: NO N-GONS!
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11th Jan - Workshop
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Press F to frame within the scene (Maya)​
Never move, scale or rotate the model once you have imported the decimated mesh to Maya
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Display > heads up display > polycount
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Within the layers V controls visibility
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P is animation play back, turn it off
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Third box is a template
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R is reference, doesn't allow you to do anything, locks it
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Rename all layers, spaces are allowed
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Clear extra verts once finished quad drawing
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Hold tab to extend an edge
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Verts snap when you move them together
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