Sindy Zhou

(KNB221 CG-Toolkit)

If you were to go back to the start of this assessment to do it again, what would you do differently to complete the task?" 

Due to lack of consideration, I did not consider the sizes of the assets initially, so it has taken me much times to resize the assets and assembling. The sizes are very important for modular assets to make each other assembled seamlessly for re-use.

So if re-do this modular assets again, I will start with the sizes at the very beginning. Plan before modelling, and calculate the sizes of the main assets to make sure they are proportional to each other, which are good for scaling and flexible dimensions. 

Also, as will also make a beveled version especially for baking the texture, as in real-life everything will have bevel edges, so using high-poly version for baking texture and then use for low-poly models can improve on the appearances as well as the real-time rendering efficiency. 

Further more, I think it will be efficient if assembling from bottom to top, which enables initial snapping to the ground without moving the whole assets afterwards, which the mouse-clicking is just too messy. In my case I just assembled randomly which has caused much extra work such as keeping snapping downwards to the ground after many assets have been assembled.

Unsuccessful import with Alembic format

For the balcony, this is my previous version of the asset,  I have created the asset with small size to be assembled together to maximize the flexibility of customization in terms of dimensions. However I find this is not very convenient for users to manipulate as they may still have to adjust the sizes for some specific dimensions. Also when building the lighting of the assets there will be shadows between the asset which will is not good.

Texture Coordinate function for the balcony

If I use the UV map texture for the balcony, when the size of the balcony asset is adjusted according to its ratio, such as adjusting the width of the asset solely, the texture will be stretched which looks wired and bad.

So I just render out the texture without uv maps and using the TextureCoordinate function in Unreal Engine 4 to adjust the texture size, in terms of U tiles and V tiles. In this way, no matter what size of the balcony asset is adjusted, the size of the texture can be adjusted accordingly with appropriate ratio. 

Delete unseen polygons (side polygons) to reduce the shadows between edges and corners

Using one texture for 3 separate part to make sure the textures are seamless to each other.

Glass texture

Another 

final result

Final Outcome

Different Configuration Reference- Parking Lot

Indoor environment of Parking Lot

Full Assets

Final Video with voiceover

Final Stage - Video production!

Now finally comes to the final stage of compositing the video. 

My group member has created a previous version of the video but the camera movement is too fast and the focal length is not properly adjusted accordingly, so I have taken the task to do the post-production. 

I have created the shots in Unreal Engine 4 using the level sequencer function, with 12 shots with different angles to show around the interior environment. I have slow down the camera movement in order to reduce the motion blur effect so that the scene can be see clearly.

I have also added a background music to enhance the mood of the video, which is soft and relax. 

The free-royalty music is downloaded from https://player.epidemicsound.com/#/ 

And I also added fade track into the master sequence to make the transition effect. 

The problems of normal map baking for the side cabinet of the office desk, which is may be caused by the density of the polygon edges after applying the smoothing effect in Cinema 4d. It took me so long to solve it by removing the supporting loop edges but simply adding the bevel effect to the edges, and in this way, the polygon edges will be separated with proportional distances, but without the over-dense part. But I forgot to take a screenshot of it, anyway the final outcome looks nice with correct normal map and the edges. Please just refer to the model in Unreal Engine.

Office chair and office desk

Forgot to take a screen capture for the office table with textures

For the plant, I made this first, but the unwrapping process is messy as the leaves are made by cloner tool in cinema 4d along the spline(the branch). Also the polygon count is too much with some overlapped with each other, and I am worried about the crash problem in unreal engine just like the towel I have made previously. So I just didnt adpated this version and made a new simple version in consideration of easier and quicker unwrapping process.

So this is the simple version of the plant, even though it is not as realistic as the previous one, but the unwrapping process is very easy and the polygons are not that much, which may causing the software to run not smoothly. Anyway it is not the main item in the house, so I just made this simple version of it.

I tried to add the leaf texture in Substance painter but it looks bad, so I just added a leaf image on the base color channel  in Photoshop(just for the leaves).

Nearly finished my part, just shelf and books left

Unwrap the water sink

Improve on the uv map in Maya to make seamless edges

Add texture for the water sink in Substance painter

Add texture to the towel hanger

Models 3 types of floor lamp

Modelling the bulbs

Add texture to the floor lamps with 3 different colors and materials to be fit with different kind of styles as well as make the scene looks more modern-like.

Model the bed cabinet and unwrap it.

Add texture to the bed cabinet

Model the table 

Add texture to the table

Model a small table lamp

Add texture to the table lamp

Make soften edge for the sofas

(old version)

(New version)

(KNB222 Virtual Environment)

During this week, honestly says I was not very productive in this week. Besides adding textures to the towel, I have also tried to explore with different ways to simulate cloth function for several times but the final effects were not ideal so I just adopted the older version which I felt satisfied with. 

Apart from that, I have re-modeled the bed, the one on the right is the old version of the bed which is very rough. And the one on the left is the one I just modeled with more details to be used in the scene for more realistic appearance, with different sizes of pillow, bed frame with bevel and smoothing effect, as well as the blanket, quilt and mattress.  These were all done with cloth simulation with multiple attempts and fails with different settings to achieve the final result. This has also helped me to get more familiar with the cloth function as well as deeper understanding with different settings. 

However, what I have found the most complicated will be the unwrap process. The image below is the uv map for the bed done in Cinema 4d, however the polygons will still be overlapped to some extent, which results in the stretches to the textures that applied to the area. 

So I have unwrapped the bed in Maya by using unfold function in UV edit after cutting the edges, which are instructed and taught by Mr Paul, to re-unwrap the bed for regular textures, and then moved and sewed the points together for seamless texture. 

I was totally new to the unfold function as I was not very familiar with Maya, so it took me about 1 hour to finish the uv mapping process. 

With the new version of UV maps, I felt really satisfied with the result without the edge breaks or stretch of the textures. 

All the textures are seamless without irregular stretches and distortion. 

In Substance Painter, I have spent about 3 hours with the textures, in terms of the materials used, as well as the colors. As the narrative of the project is an apartment of modern style, so I have taken the modern style into consideration, of course the color should not be like bright vivid color or pink series, which are not accordance with the narrative, so I was trying with the dark colors. And roughly I might have tried for 5 to 6 different versions with variations of materials and colors.

After many tries, this are the final textures that I felt satisfied with.

(KNB221-CG Toolkit)

During last week, I have shown the break down version of the modular assets to the tutor and it is suggested to adjust each of the asset to be proportional to each other for better dimensions for assembling.

So I have adjusted the assets with regular and realistic dimensions such as the window has the dimensions of 200cm x 130cm x 20cm.

Except for the dimensions, I have also added frames to the windows.

I have also started with the unwrapping process, and started the texturing process in Substance Painter.

I was planned earlier to add more details to the assets such as smoothing or bevel effect to make better shape, however I feel the low-poly version works fine with the textures. And I have searched on the internet for some modular assets examples. some of them still looks good without smoothing effect.

Also, for modular assets creation, I think it is necessary to consider about polygon count problem. Even though Unreal Engine 4 is powerful enough to run millions of polygon count, however, in order to maximize the flexibility and customization of the assets, in terms of complexity and quantity, it is better to keep the polygon count as less as possible while ensuring the appearance still  looks fine. 

So I have chose to use the current version of the assets for texturing.

One thins needs to be mention is that the textures I have created previously for the wall are not seamless (I forgot to capture the screenshot) which is not good for modular assets. I think it is necessary to make sure the textures are seamless when assembling together, such as the bricks of the wall, hence it is important to seam the uv maps during the unwrapping process. 

And this is the improved version of the textures which are seamless after assembling together.

So far I am still working on the unwrapping and texturing process, while I have imported the completed assets into Unreal Engine 4 for assembling.

For this week, I will try to complete all the texturing and import them into Unreal engine 4 for assembling according to the concept art image

Online Progress Update 2

(CG Toolkit)

This week was the mid-break  week of the semester, honestly says I did not make so much progress on this project until last update on 24th of September, as I have spent times on other subjects such as virtual environment.

So far I have just explored with the plant creation for the modular asset, including normal statistic plants, I have also tried with dynamic spline of the plants (the video attached), as I would like to try to bake the animation with Alembic and import into UE4 to make the scene more lively and vivid.

In the following weeks, my plan will be :

Week 11

Touch up with the modular assets to add more detail such as bevel and smoothing effect to make it more realistic.

Start with unwrapping and texturing process

Week 12

Unwrap and texturing process

Try with alembic for the flag animation and plants animation

Strat wth importing models into UE4 and material setup

Week 13

(CG Toolkit)

This week was the mid-break  week of the semester, honestly says I did not make so much progress on this project until last update on 24th of September, as I have spent times on other subjects such as virtual environment.

https://youtu.be/VPvZrCGOHwE

So far I have just explored with the plant creation for the modular asset, including normal statistic plants, I have also tried with dynamic spline of the plants (the video attached), as I would like to try to bake the animation with Alembic and import into UE4 to make the scene more lively and vivid.

In the following weeks, my plan will be :

Week 11

Touch up with the modular assets to add more detail such as bevel and smoothing effect to make it more realistic.

Start with unwrapping and texturing process

Week 12

Unwrap and texturing process

Try with alembic for the flag animation and plants animation

Strat wth importing models into UE4 and material setup

Week 13

(KNB222 Vitrual-Environment)

During mid break, besides catching up with the progress, I have also improved some of the models in terms of the meshes and the textures.

So the image below has shown the tasks I have done during the mid break week. 

Besides doing my own tasks, I have also helped my group members with the texturing process, including the model optimization process in order for clearer and nicer shapes and edges for both low-poly version and high-poly version. 

What takes me longer time will be cloth function that I have found difficult to make natural and realistic shape of the towel with folded shapes. 

So I have tried many different ways to do that , and the left one is my previous attempt with folding effect, and the right one is the plain version without folding. 

Additionally, I have re-modeled the sofa with a new version new meshes and textures as the reference image is a hand-drawn style but I would like to make a realistic style of the room, so I have made the sofa with a realistic version.

I have also done the bathroom including water sink, mirror , bath tub and spa tub, as well as the water control of the tub. 

What takes me for the longest time will be the optimization process of the bath tub and spa tub, which I have really done 4-5 versions of it with different bevel for the inner edges and the outline edges. All the models of different versions have been looked very nice with smooth surface, but after applying the smoothing effect, the polygons become shrunk and overlapped together due to the lack of supporting lines, also the staircase has increased the complexity of the polygon lines for supporting. So I have took about 6 hours to optimize the models in terms of welding points, removing unnecessary points and lines, as well as adding supporting lines to make the high poly version of it. 

And this is the texturing process, I have tried to improve the corners and edges of the model to for better normal map for several times and I am still working on it. 

This is the plan for this week. Generally the tasks are all unwrapping and texturing processes as some of the models have been completed so far.

Assessment 2 - Milestone 2A 

(KNB221 CG Toolkit)

This is my progress of the Modular assets so far. I have roughly created all the almost all necessary assets in the concept art and assemble them together according to the reference image. 

However as I mentioned above, this is only the rough version of the model, in order to improve on the realistic appearance of the model, I would add bevel and smoothing effects to the modular assets to make it look better. 

Moreover, as for the plants in the reference image, in the following weeks I would create an improved version of it with variations to maximize the flexibility and re-usability as well as the quality of the modular assets.

And this is the rough breakdown of the assets, excluding of simple cubes and planes with various dimensions.

There will be definitely more individual assets after adding the texture to it, even though the shapes are simple and same, but the textures will not be the same such as making same 4-sided planes for walls and ceilings, but the textures will be different, even though the dimensions can be adjusted and adaptive.

Moreover, after adding more details to the shapes of the assets, some of the shapes will not be able to be shared between similar assets, so there will be increasing number of assets after adding details in terms of textures and shapes.

With some of the modular assets I have roughly assembled them into different kinds of buildings, the car-park(left) and a house with a yard (right).

Virtual Environment Week 9 Progress

So I have finished some of the texturing process with Substance Painter for some models as highlighted in the image below. 

My group member has not uploaded the updated version of our scene in UE4 so I could not show the screenshot here, but I will upload the progress later.

And as I have discussed with Mr Paul with the reference concept art that it is not necessary to make the exactly the same model as the concept art image so I will add more details to the objects such as sofa and bed to improve the overall appearance. 

Also there is a proportion problems with some of the models in our scene so I will also adjust the scale of the models to fit the proportion of the overall room. 

Additionally, I have discussed with our group members to assign the restroom part to me. Our group’s progress is falling behind a little bit as we all need to rush for other assignment dues so we will catch up with the progress by making more progress during mid-break.

Virtual Environment Week 8 Progress

These is my latest progress so far. I have not done the texturing tasks as the license of my Substance Painter software has expired and I am applying for the renewed license. So I just move on with modelling the other models while leaving the texturing tasks behind. 

Virtual Environment Week 7 Progress

The updated assets list for my part

This is my week 7 work progress, as I was not able to be in class so I have recorded the video of my work progress so far.

So far I have just completed the models without textures, so in the following days I will unwrap all the models (some of the models have already been unwrapped such as sofas and table), and I will import the fbx file into the Substance Painter for texturing.

Confirm your chosen stream and brief

My chosen stream is asset development and my chosen brief is #1, which is to develop a modular asset kit that focuses on re-usability and robustness in response to the provided concept art, and demonstrate the kit’s robustness by using it to build believable set pieces beyond the concept art, extending the world in Unreal Engine 4.

Describe with text and images (or existing examples) of what you're going to do to meet the brief

Chosen concept art reference

With the chosen concept art reference for my modular assets creation, I would like to make different forms of building with the same assets to showcase the flexibility of variation in terms of customization of the forms to be re-used for different environments (downtown, urban area, village, town etc) and functions (store, apartment, car park, school etc.) 

Based on time estimates from the last assignment, roughly work out what you will do each week (Week 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13) to achieve your objective

Week 7 

Learn about modular assets kit. Watch relevant tutorials of modular assets kit creation to learn about their project pipeline to better plan my project.

Learning about how they arrange the assets for variation to make the kit for customization.

Start with the basic modelling according to the concept art reference.

https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/maya-creating-modular-game-assets 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APZ2kZ3OF1E

Week 8

Complete the modelling stage of the basic asset kit.

Unwrap UVs of the models

Arrange the assets kit with different formation.

Week 9

Create some other models for the environment

Unwrap the models 

Setup the environmental models with the buildings

Week 10

Export the models and import into Substance Painter for texturing

Week 11

Export the textured models and import into Unreal Engine 4

Setup the overall environment and add lighting

Week 12

Setup the material of the models and  create color (or maybe texture) variation for the models (instance material)

Week 13

Using sequencer for compositing

1.      Reflection of what you have achieved in Milestone 1A through to 1C

&

2.      Examination of what new knowledge you have developed, and what knowledge you need to further develop in the pipeline of an animated shot

·         Milestone 1A

With the first assignment of this unit, it has helped me with the introduction to the animation in the Unreal Engine 4 in terms of using level sequence and compositing in Unreal Engine 4 with camera setting and movement.  Similar to other 3D software such as Maya and Cinema 4d, the animation is created with the same principles in Unreal Engine 4 in terms of keying frames and graph editors. So what I have learnt through milestone 1a is basically the introduction of the user interface in Unreal Engine 4 in terms of the functions in level sequencer, and also the camera cuts function.

One of the learning point that is necessary to mention is the custom passes are available to choose in the rendering function, it is useful and effective in terms of moving onto the composition stage in Adobe After Effects by importing image sequences and blending different passes with different blending mode to achieve the final output.

Through the process of compositing different layers of custom passes in After Effects, I have managed to visually understand how are those custom passes work, such as the Ambient Occlusion pass keeps the shadows of the edges and final image pass keeps all the colours.

·         Milestone 1B

Through milestone 1b, what I found the most excited to learn is the Animation and Rigging Tool (A.R.T) which is very effective in creating character with joints and controls. It is a plugin for Maya that helps with generating the skeletal meshes that is ready for starting with animating, the proxy geometry can be deformed with handy controls which provide users with the maximum customization of joint numbers and shape of the meshes.

After the creation and deformation of the proxy meshes, I have also used all the controls to pose the character with multiple tries and manipulations. Except for the traditional FK mode and IK mode of the joints, I have tried the new dynamic mode of the joints for the first time and applied it to the hair movement, even though it is not actually worked successfully, but it is a new knowledge for me and I think it is useful and worthy for me to further develop the relevant skill instead of animating the hair manually and time-consuming frame by frame.

In general, the A.R.T is the biggest gain in my knowledge through milestone 1b. Other than that, I have also learnt the pipeline of exporting from Maya and importing into Unreal Engine 4. Unlike simply importing the model in fbx file type, for animated model, it is compulsory to add the skeleton to the animated model to complete the importing process, which is also what I have learnt new with the exporting and importing pipeline while transiting between different software with correct setting without any data loss in any forms.

·         Milestone 1C

Milestone 1C is actually the combination of milestone 1a and 1b, by applying what we I have learnt through previous assignments together to the milestone 1c assignment. However, there are still something new for me to learn through this assignment.

As it is tasked with the deliverables of lighting environment and character with simple composition and text animation in the final output according to the example given, lighting the environment is where I start with first. Through multiple tries, it helped me to know about different types of lights in Unreal Engine 4 and add them to the environment with different settings to create different atmosphere. For each lighting environment, it encourages me to research for reference images and observe the details. Additionally, what I found useful are the post process volume and sky sphere to adjust the overall environment, so as the bloom effect of the sunlight to simulate god light casting and the emitter function to create the fog.

Speaking of composition in After Effects, unlike the custom passes rendered for milestone 1a, I have rendered different passes for compositing and visually understood what details of the scene they are keeping such as lighting roughness and post-tone map. The custom passes are useful and enable users with maximum customization in terms of compositing the multi-passes with different level of details, which I feel is necessary to learn and develop the relevant skills so as to better apply them to the post-production stage.

At the stage of compositing text animation with the scene, in terms of blocking the texts from the character, where using masks would be too time-consuming to be animated every frame to make it follow the character movement. Hence, I have adapted to render the character solely with base colour pass and adjust it to alpha channel in After Effects in order to be used for Luma inverted matte function to block the text. 

By using the same alpha channel, I also managed to adjust the background of the scene with different colour while excluding the character. Through this process, it helped me to get better understanding of the TrkMat function and it also improved my problem-solving skill in terms of thinking in different way and achieve different result while adapting same principle.

3.      Identification of your selected specialist stream for Assignment 2, including your areas of priority, chosen task and personal objectives

My preferred specialist stream will be the Asset Development Roles and focusing on developing modular asset kit that focuses on reusability and robustness in response to the provided concept art. My personal objectives are being a modeller while creating accurate models based on the design reference despite of the complexity and paying attention to details as well as being sensitive to shapes and proportions.

4.      Identification of one industry job/role OR one inspirational artist/studio relevant to your chosen stream and explanation of why

The CG Modeller is my preferred job role in the industry as it satisfies my interest in visualizing the ideas and concepts into actual assets. It can also improve my ability of observing details to enhance my accurate modelling skills. Furthermore, the texturing process provides users with maximum flexibility in creating different atmosphere and styles, which I feel it is an efficient way to develop imagination to further extend.

5.      Identification of the knowledge and skills required for your selected stream, and a written understanding of these skills / responsibilities in your own words

Generally, being a modeller means to create three-dimensional computer models of everything needed for the project. I think it is necessary to be able to think in 3D, it also requires attention and observation to details while being able to accurately model according to various design reference of complicated and even organic styles.

Additionally, it is crucial to be sensitive to scale, shape, weight and volume, and it is necessary to do UV-mapping for texturing process.

Furthermore, the communication and team-building skills are very important as the models should not only meet the requirement of the production designer in terms of visualization and translation of design reference, but also satisfy the technical requirement in terms of efficiency, reliability, scalability, handiness in rigging and animating, which requires effective communication between relevant departments.

Except for the technical skills, interpersonal and collaboration skills are also very important. As it is very common to work as a team while being a modeller, as mentioned above, communication skill is very important, while problem-solving skills is also an essential element, so as the time management skills in terms of the ability to deliver on time and efficiently under pressure.

6.      Identification of your current knowledge and skills in this stream as per #4, and what will need to be developed throughout the semester

The study in the major of animation both in Diploma institution and University has helped critically to gain the most important and necessary knowledge of industry-standard 3D software such as Maya and Cinema 4D, as well as the supportive software such as Adobe Creative Suite.

However, the proficiency of these techniques gained during school is considered as a trainee or junior level, the property of animation knowledge is that more and deeper skills are getting possessed and developed with the experiences gained and accumulated. Hence, involving into professional works as much as possible will be great option such as doing internship, which I am going to take during summer semester.

Generally, I hope to further develop my modelling and texturing skills in terms of details and accuracy in terms of translating from 2D design references of diverse range of styles into 3D models.

Moreover, the Unreal Engine 4 is a powerful software for real-time environment, but I am still at very introductive level of the skills. As both KNB221 and KNB222 are units which require me to deliver multiple assignments with Unreal Engine 4, this is a good and effective opportunity to enhance my knowledge and skill in Unreal Engine 4 practically.

7.      Identification of at least three starting resources to further develop your knowledge and description of how this will aid you

In order to further develop the relevant knowledge and skills, the most convenient way will be the YouTube tutorial videos without a doubt, as well as the Lynda essential training videos. The resources are diverse and free to watch, which the explanations and narratives are effective in guiding self-learners with clear and understandable steps. Similarly, the online animation course is a good option as well with professional mentors.