Project work: 3D Assets

The aim of this module project was to create 3D models and textures from scratch using modelling and sculpting techniques. A minimum of 2 models with one being a hard surface/inorganic model and the other being a character/organic model was required. The software used were Maya, ZBrush and Substance Painter which were all covered in this module.

Starting with the hard surface model, I decided to do a simple helicopter model in Maya. Given below are the reference images collected through PureRef:

In Maya, I started off with a polygon sphere for the body then attached a cylinder for the tail and propellor base, following which I extruded the remaining parts. 

After grouping all the parts together, I created the UV map by slicing uneven projections and unwrapping the UV shell.

I used Arnold aiStandardSurface shader to obtain metallic texture with colour and specular. Then I created a Turntable animation and rendered for 5 seconds (1-120 frames) with the Arnold shaders and SkyDome light. The render settings were set to HD_720 and after that was rendered, I added a wireframe layer in the Render Setup and selected aiWireframe in the override shader options.

 

This sequence was set for another 5 secs (120-240 frames) to obtain wireframe renders. Once the render was over, both the image sequences were compiled together in Premiere Pro.

For the character, I contemplated on doing either a human, bird or turtle, and finally settled on sculpting a turtle in ZBrush. Here is the references gathered in PureRef:

In ZBrush, I started off with a 'DynaMesh' polygon sphere and blocked out the form with the help of mainly two brushes which were 'Move' & 'ClayBuildup'.

Once the sculpting was done, I exported the model as .obj fomat and imported it into Maya. Here, using the QuadDraw tool, retopology of the mesh was done.

Then the mesh was selected and using the Cut & Sew tool in the UV  editor, the UVs were adjusted and the UV shells were unwrapped.

Next, the model was exported as .obj format again and imported into Substance Painter this time. In Substance Painter, the mesh maps were baked first so that the textures get automatically mapped to the correct channels.  

Then the textures were painted using a sponge brush adjusting the brush size and colours. In the texture settings, the base, roughness, specular, normal maps were used.

Finally the textures were exported into a 'Textures Folder' and were ready to be used in Maya. Switching back to Maya, the mesh was assigned an aiStandardSurface shader and the textures were connected to the respective texture maps in its attribute editor. Then a Turntable animation was created, aiSkyDome light added and the model was ready for rendering with HD_720 setting along with an added aiWireframe shader override in the 'Render Setup' for the wireframe render. 

Once the whole sequence was rendered out, all the image sequences were compiled together in Premiere Pro to get the final rendered sequence of both the models with their wireframes and exported with H.264 codec.