What did you do and how did you do
it?
Our goal was too create a 3-D trailer for a video game (not actually create the game itself but make an idea we could draw from to create the trailer itself), we were able to use the 3D studio Max software - which we spent our last year learning the basics of. By modeling basic and advanced primitives, working with the various camera angles, creating and applying textures and lighting effects - as well as creating a camera and animations - all resulted in our final product, it has taken the latter half of our second year to create this project, the following questions will go into more detail on my own thoughts of the project.
· Does your final design meet your
original intentions?
In terms of scale, no. I thought I would be able to model something a little grander than my final product, I underestimated how difficult it would be to create the specific object shapes (curved and flowing rather than angular) and overestimated how are simple things like dustbins and lampposts would be to create (realizing only after I had tried various methods, that there were more simply ways of doing things. All that said - in following my original ideas and concepts I think I hit the nail on the head, it looks similar to how I pictured it and the textures and effects, even though there not perfect (lighting is a tad strong and inconsistent, there could have been more effects added given time), are pretty much what I was after.
· Self evaluation – how did you manage
your time? How could you manage your time more effectively?
· What did you struggle with?
To be honest I struggled with most aspects of 3D max. I was really over thinking it all to start with, there were always more simple and quicker ways to do what I was trying to achieve. Adding the camera was easier than anticipated, but that still doesn't mean it didn't take a long time to set up. Getting the lighting how I wanted it, whilst fun, took a long amount of time - as well as experimenting with various other lighting effects, like Omni lights or spotlights.
· What did you find easy?
I would say nothing in Max was easy, but looking at it all, making the smaller, simpler models, (like lampposts) took very little time in comparison to the larger models and were actually quite fun to experiment and play around with. Also once I got a light source actually in my environment playing with how it looked and all of its settings was much simpler than I expected.
· How does your finished design compare
to professional examples?
Good... if your comparing it to something from 10 -12 years ago; when I look back at much older games (e.g. Vampire: the masquerade - bloodlines), great games in their own way but limited by the technology from their times, with environments and buildings that are as angular and basic to what people in the class are achieving - if not exceeding. My own environment isn't as good I don't think - looking at it out of context of the games setting and potential story. But for the most part, compared to the huge expensive environments of today very few pieces of work compare to those. That said - a few people in the class created a very specific style, which I would think fit in perfectly in certain games. (e.g. two of the class created a cell shaded style that would fit perfectly in a game like "Borderlands").
· What do other people think of your
finished design?
From the feedback I've had from friends and family - my design gets a similar view: very red, unique, evil and interesting. Whilst its not the most detailed feedback in the world, it told me a few things that I could improve upon, which I will explain below.
· What could you improve upon? what would you do differently?
Given more time on the project, and/or more research from myself into 3D Max to learn the more intermediate skills, would be to simply make more. My environment is actually quite small with very little in it compared to some of my classmates, id want to add a few more buildings, props etc. My lighting - whilst it comes across perfectly and sets the tone for my scene, there was more I could have added (e.g. the lampposts or other sources of light. This also applies to effects, if I had the know-how and the time, I would have tried to add an effect or two (that said, I do feel like a lot of people just threw a fog onto their scenes for the hell of it, and I wanted to avoid doing something purely for the sake of it). Textures were also difficult to work with, even now they are not perfect and I don't have a large variety of textures (although given the context of the story and environment, there doesn't need to necessarily be that variety, but it would have shown more of what I could achieve).
· It’s not about the finished product, it’s about the journey. What did you
learn?
Like with my sound work, I learnt just how nitty gritty and time consuming all these small details are to put together, designing a game is a very long process and using 3D max we have been given a peak inside. I learnt a basic set of skills that it is up to me, to take that my spare time to improve upon and learn new things. Seeing what other people could accomplish in the same amount of time I had and created such amazing environments, it just shows where peoples imagination can go and it was wonderful to watch other peoples environments just expand into really great looking work. This product has opened a door and given me a glimpse into this industry and I look forward to learning more in the future.
