Texture Maps (Blog Post #4)

Texture maps take many forms and are arguably the most important aspect of bringing a 3D model to life. Some examples of texture maps include colour maps, Specular maps, Bump maps and normal maps which all have different purposes and help change the aesthetic of a Model in their own way. In this blog post I will talk about these texture maps and shaders and provide examples of how they affect the surface of 3D Models.

Colour Map-

As the name suggests, Colour maps affect the colour of the surface of the object, without using a colour map, 3D objects will remain greyscale and dull, so in most cases colour maps are the most important texture map and are generally required whereas other texture maps are completely optional although they may be extremely useful in making the colour map and model more aesthetically pleasing.

Specular Map-

Specular maps affect the reflectivity of the surface of an object. Specular maps can be used to make an object completely reflective to the representation of light or be adjusted so that some areas of a model are more reflective or less reflective than others. The colour of the reflective areas can also be changed so that when the representation of light hits it from a certain angle, the colour can appear differently. Specular maps are very useful in making different materials in an object distinguishable, for example metal will normally be very reflective whereas a carpet would have a matte finish.

(http://gl.ict.usc.edu/Research/FaceScanning/images/EGSR2007_SGI_faces.png)

Bump Map –

Bump maps are used to make an object have texture, they generally affect how much the surface of a 3D model sticks out or is pushed in and will often help preserve precious geometry where possible. For example to provide a wrinkled appearance a bump map will be used to  make the highest point of a wrinkle stick out and the lowest appear to be pushed in.

Normal Map-

Normal Maps are a more advanced version of bump maps where a model using a high polygon count is converted into a normal map which is placed onto a low polygon model to give it the appearance that it has a much higher polygon count which allows more models to be placed into a scene.

(http://www.3dkingdoms.com/nmap.jpg)

Shaders-

Shaders are very complex and can affect the surface of a 3D model in many ways. Some examples of the way shaders can affect the surface of an object is the hue, saturation, brightness and contrast and can provide a variety of different effects to change the visual appeal of an object.

Thank you for reading my descriptions and please let me know if you agree or disagree with them in any way

The History of 3D Graphics (Blog Post #3)

Computer Graphics have evolved substantially over the past decade and it is very interesting to look into the presence of 3D Graphics in the past in comparison to the amazing photo-realistic 3D Graphics available today. This blog will outline what I see as some of the key points in the timeline of 3D Graphics which will mainly revolve around film and animation as the technology in Video Games has lagged behind quite a bit.

 Futureworld was the starting point of 3D graphics in television and animation as it was the first ever 3D animation in a film which was created a year before Star Wars Episode IV: A new Hope in 1976 as opposed to 1977. Early the next decade in 1981, “The Looker” was released which was the first film to feature a CGI Human Character and also the first film to feature the use of 3D shaded CGI, I believe this is an important point in the history of 3D graphics as shading is a very important aspect of 3D modelling in modern society and it generally assists with providing a sense of realism to the illusion of the assets.

(http://fanaticaboutfilms.blog.com/files/2013/05/Looker-CGI1.jpg)

 Luxo Junior, a famous early Pixar short film released in 1986 which was the first to implement fully rendered shadows in CGI with special developed software Renderman improving upon the technology used in Looker. Toy Story released another decade on my year of birth, 1995 was the first feature-length 3D animation which despite the sentimental value I have from watching the film understand the impact it had on 3D animation for the years to come. 6 years later in 2001 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was released and although it did not reach critical acclaim and was a commercial failure it was very influential in the future of 3D Graphics.

(http://images.wikia.com/pixar/images/archive/b/b4/20120622045344!Luxo_Jr.jpg)

I would also like to talk about the term democratisation in relation to the 3D Graphics Industry. This refers to the process of technology becoming more available to the public which I believe is positive to the extent because if 3D modelling software becomes more available to the public it allows creative individuals like myself to become involved in this industry whereas we normally wouldn’t be able to. The only negative thing that comes to mind when thinking about the democratisation of 3D Development Software is the fact that due to the availability of the product, there will be immense competition in the field of 3D Graphics.

In relation to democratisation, I think it is worth mentioning the Ptex software developed by Walt Disney Animation Studios which claims that textures can be applied with this software without the assignment of UV maps which I believe is quite revolutionary if it works as it is intended to. With this kind of technology I believe that texturing 3D models will be much less tedious as UV unwrapping can be a very time-consuming task. Relating back to democratisation again I believe that due to the ease of texturing without UV mapping there will be extremely high amounts of competition.

Current Trends In 3D Modelling (Blog Post #2)

In this day and age, 3D modelling is used for a lot more than animations in film production as opposed to the past, and it appears that there is much more demand for 3D modelling in everyday life. This is generally due to the fact that 3D modelling software is much more affordable than it has been previously. This is why I wish to explore the current popular 3D modelling trends.

One of the more obvious trends in today’s society is the advancement of 3D modelling in the video game industry, majority of high budget video games utilize 3D modelling as a means of creating realistic assets and creating the atmosphere they wish to achieve. Using 3D modelling provides more opportunities than using standard 2D graphics as it allows players to explore 3D space as opposed to a 2 Dimensional plane.

Animation and 3D modelling are becoming fairly common in advertising for TV and other forms of visual media such as internet videos. This allows creative individuals to create advertisements they wouldn’t normally be able to without this advance in technology and it allows for some very unique concepts and ideas to really grab the audience’s attention.

(http://www.service-innovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/meerkat-com21.jpg)

3D modelling is also popular in product design as it allows the designer to grasp what the product will appear like in a 3D space without  being required to produce the actual product itself in case It does not meet what the client wishes to achieve. This approach is often used to save time and money.

Extending on my previous blog post, I was given the task of describing and showing examples of a typical 3D modelling pipeline for a current generation game asset. I have been researching the development process of the assets in one of the most popular and critically acclaimed games for the playstation 3 system, “The Last Of Us.” The project generally followed the steps described in my previous blog to my knowledge but did so in a very unique way. These steps include:

1. Pre-Production -

The staff at naughty dog went into immense detail of every aspect of the game, including the story, models and environments.

(http://conceptartworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The_Last_of_Us_Concept_Art_Joel_Early_Concept_HN-01-680x879.jpg)

2. 3D modelling – The models of the main characters had a fairly high polygon count with majority of the geometry in the facial region which is understandable as then face of the characters are the focal point and the development team were really trying to make the emotion of the game an important factor.

3. Shading and Texturing – Various different types of texture mapping were used to make the models seem as realistic as possible ranging from texture maps to light maps to wrinkle maps. This really allowed the development to get the aesthetic they were looking for.

4. Lighting – Various lens types were used in each scene to make the lighting seem as realistic as possible and to really allow the atmosphere to set in.

(http://images5.alphacoders.com/338/338417.jpg)

5. Animation – The 3D models use combinations of Performance Capture and the traditional animation approach. The rigging of the two main characters is very extensive utilizing 326 joints and a muscle system. A lot of process went into the animation stage of the main characters as it really allows the models to come to life especially with such subtleties as pupil dilation of the 3D models.

6. Editing/ Post-Production- the naughty dog team consisted of some individuals with the title of editor whom made sure that every scene was as cinematic as possible. This is why the models seem almost realistic and the game feels like an emotional experience rather than a typical game.

Below are some links to some of the resource videos I used in this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myZcUvU8YWc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0E0JjA9Oig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0l7LzC_h8I

Thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts and opinions on any of the topics mentioned earlier.

Stages in a 3D Production Pipeline (blog post #1)

For one of my subjects I am currently studying in my Bachelor of Games Development at the SAE institute in Melbourne, we are learning the foundation of 3D graphics used in video games and animation. One of the things our lecturer asked us to research was the 3D Production Pipeline Process and describe and show examples of the typical stages of that process. This blog post is intended to do just that and I will express my perception of what each of these stages mean using the module shown in the digital article the “6 phases of 3D Production” by Justin Slick as a reference.

A 3D production Pipeline is a series of steps followed in a linear fashion that outline the creation and animation of 3D assets for games and animation. Typically 3D production pipelines roughly follow the phases shown below:

1.       Pre-Production –

Pre- production is the completion of the general concept of the desired 3D model in order to prepare for the actual modelling stage. Before beginning 3D modelling all aspects of the design for the character or object should be completed.

(http://www.beastsofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/EU-MERCS-Concept-Art.jpg)

2.       3D Modelling –

As the name suggests this phase is where the concept or design is converted into an actual 3 dimensional object using a chosen 3D Graphics software. This is where the 3 dimensional element of a design begins but it is not necessarily where the 3D aspect of the pipeline ends.

(http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/GOW3_mesh20_KevinLanning-1024x538.jpg)

3.       Shading and Texturing-

In this stage the 3D model is enhanced using various 3D texture maps that will affect the colour, texture and reflectiveness of the object providing the desired visual aesthetic.

4.       Lighting –

This is where lighting is placed into a scene to provide the 3D model with a more realistic quality and to really make the texture aspect of the model seem visually appealing.

5.       Animation-

This is where the model is brought to life and is given a sense of movement. Before a model can be animated it will most likely be required to be rigged as this allows the movement of certain parts of a model much easier causing the animation aspect to also be easier.

6.       Rendering and Post-Production- 

The rendering part of this phase is converting the scene or 3D Model into a finished product such as an animation or image file. Post-production is making sure that every part of the file is as intended as a final product.

Please let me know your opinion about my descriptions and if you think they are accurate or not.

Slick, J. (2014). An Introduction to the 6 Phases of 3D Production. [online] About. Available at: http://3d.about.com/od/3d-101-The-Basics/tp/Introducing-The-Computer-Graphics-Pipeline.htm [Accessed 3 Oct. 2014].