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