Let There Be Light

For this post I will be commenting on another new technique I have learnt about which is the daylight system within 3D's Max.

Before I started animating my scene's, there was something missing that was very important, which was scenary. My models just had a black background and didn't look very professional so this needed changing. Firstly I went about trying to change the environment, but I could't change the properties to what I wanted so I tried looking at the daylight system, which I had never used before but I wanted to try and expand my knowledge and try using the system.

There are many properties to change on the daylight system, for example you can set the exact time and date that you want for the setting, as 3D's Max has a large database with where the sun was on that day at that time which I found very clever. 

This shows some of the settings that you can change for the daylight system.

There are many other properties that you can change but in order for the daylight system to work in the render you need to choose mental ray renderer, this is so the software knows that it has to render the daylight system, and you start rendering and realise that the daylight system isnt working.

This is where you need to change the settings for the daylight system, within the render settings near the bottom.

Once you are happy with your settings and have chosen the right options the daylight system should hopefuly make a big difference to your work, even though it is only a small part within the model.

    

This shows the ship within the daylight system, it seems dark but this is because I have set the daylight system to early in the morning when the sun is at its lowest. 

Final Model Of Ship

This post is going to be commenting on my ship model as my model is finally finished and ready to start animating on. I am really pleased with how my model has turned out and think I have done a really good job in trying to replica a US Ship from Pearl Harbour in 1964.

It has been a brilliant journey I think, sometimes frustrating, however overall rewarding as I never thought I would have been able to create a model that I am really proud of and happy to show to my other fellow students when it comes to presentation day.

Firstly I needed to look at other ships back in 1964 and what they looked like back in that day. I had to look at the images in detail such as, what shape was the body, where were the weapons placed, was there a navigation room, was their any railings on the ship etc.

So I started with a simple box and started by moving the vertices in order to create the curve on the box for the ships body. Next was to create more polygons on the box by using the 'ring' and 'connect' tool as I needed more polygons so that I wouldn't have to keep creating separate objects and keep totalling up the render times.

There on I used the 'extrude' and 'bevel' tools to create more objects, such as the weapons, engine, navigation room, tower etc. However creating them from the one box object, which I found a lot easier as I didn't have to line up separate objects each time which would have cost me more time. So I created the objects that I needed, then for example the weapons I wanted to have a slight curve to the box so I had to change the vertices on these objects to and other objects that I felt needed changing.

Once I had created all my objects the next part of the model was to use the UVW Unwrap modifier so that I could add textures how I wanted. This is because if I wanted to add a material to the ship, the texture would have applied to near enough the whole of the ship as it is made from mostly one object. The Unwrap I found quite difficult as I had never use this method before, but once I got my head around the idea I was able to unwrap the model and add the textures where I wanted them.

This is a screenshot of the model before the I had finished the Unwrap of the model, as you can see it was quite confusing.

This screenshot shows the UVW Unwrap, this is a finished unwrap with all the sides of the model put in the right place.

This screenshot shows the materials that I have used for my model.

After I had added my textures I thought there was still something missing, so I decided to create some water, which is explained in another post and I am really proud of how the water has turned out, it was a basic plane with the modifier noise added to it to give the water its ripple effect. I did add other effects such as reflection in the water and added a bump map to the texture of the water, and couldn't have made a better water I don't think. This was also all new to me and had never created water before. I did try using the reactor but found that I didn't have as much control as I wanted so I decided to take a different approach. I also try to add a sort of sunset theme to the water and added some omni lights which I think have created a nice scene for my model.

This screenshot shows my final render of the water that I have created, if you look closely I have added a slight reflection and a faint shadow to the water using the lights I have used.

Lastly I will comment on the flag I created this is also in another post but will briefly mention here. Once I had completed my water I still felt that something was missing and realised that I did not have a flag on my ship, so I went about creating one. I had never done this before and again was something new to learn so I needed some help in going about creating a flag (YouTube Tutorial). Upon creating the flag for the ship I am really proud of how it has turned out and has completed my model and am really pleased with how the whole entire model has turned out. 

This is the final screenshot of the completed model, you should be able to see more closely the reflection, the shadow across the water and the flag blowing in the wind.

This is a very short video of what the final model looks like with everything applied, the video is short because it took a while to even render 1 second.

Finally to conclude this model, I am really proud of what I have achieved with this model and what I have got out of the module so far, I hope this model amazes other people as much as it has amazed me how realistic it has become and what I have achieved. 

Watch The Flag

This post is going to be commenting on a new technique I have learnt, which is to make a flag blow in the wind and use the wind element in the space wraps section to give the flag a more realistic feel.

Firstly I had to create the basics of the flag which involved creating a plane and a cylinder. These were the only two objects that I needed for this model. Next I needed to add a modifier called cloth to the plane, once I had done this I needed to  group one side of the vertices to the cylinder. Which was done by clicking 'make group', then clicking on node and clicking the cylinder, this would make the plane stayed attached to the cylinder (and not blow off the screen).

Next job was to add a material to the plane, which was a simple American flag as I was creating an American flag for my ship. Then I decided to create a colour for my flag pole which was a simple black colour with some gloss added.

Next I needed to change the object properties which was done by going to the plane's cloth modifier and clicking 'object properties', then clicking on plane, selecting cloth and choosing silk from the drop-down menu under cloth properties.

This screenshot shows the option that need to be selected in order to create a realistic looking flag.

Next part is to create the wind so that the flag can blow about as if it was outside. This was done by choosing the space warps section in 3Ds Max and placed on the side that I want the flag to blow from. Then I changed the properties of the wind (strength, turbulence etc). Then I needed to choose the plane again and click cloth forces, then add the wind to the forces in simulation. Once I had completed all these steps it was the moment of truth and I needed to simulate the flag blowing, which basically created my short animation for me.

This is the flag that I have created in action.

Finally to add this was something completely new to me and felt this was part of my new learning technique, its something that I needed to create for my model, however I wanted to try something new and see if I could create something that I never thought I would be able to do, and found creating a flag quite easy.

References

CyberAsero, 2009. 3D Max Phlippine Flag Tutorial. [video online] Available at:<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3eeTgAPoNQ> [Accessed 14 November 2012].

[image online] Available at:<http://www.jfilmfestival.org/partners.html> [Accessed 21 November 2012].

Reference's For Ships

This post is going to comment on the ships that I have used for reference for my model that I have created for the group project.

California's Ships USS California (BB-44). [image online] Available at: <http://www.militarymuseum.org/usscalif.html> [Accessed 25 September 2012].

Chapman, K., Levy D, 2012. Kiwi ships kept out of Pearl Harbour. [image online] Available at: <http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/7208058/Kiwi-ships-kept-out-of-Pearl-Harbour> [Accessed 30 September 2012].

Smith, G, n.d. Royal, Dominion & Allied Navies in World War 2. [image online] Available at: <http://www.naval-history.net/WW2RN12-194112.htm> [Accessed 20 September 2012].

Takanami Class Destroyers, Japan. [image online] Available at: <http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/takanami-class-destroyers/takanami-class-destroyers3.html> [Accessed 2 October].

Warships IFR, n.d. Historic Warships Commentary. [image online] Available at: <http://www.warshipsifr.com/LegacySite/historicWarshipsComment.html> [Accessed 19 September 2012].

Watson, K, 2007. Ships and Harbours Photos. [image online] Available at: <http://www.shipsandharbours.com/picture/number955.asp> [Accessed 27 September 2012].

2010. Naval Ship "USS Pearl Harbour" arrives at the port of Trincomalee on a goodwill visit. [image online] Available at: <http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20100714_02> {Accessed 20 September 2012].

2010. US Navy Ship in Sri Lanka. [image online] Available at: <http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=724704> [Accessed 30 September 2012].

Reference's For Textures

This post is showing the references for the images I have used for my textures for my models and animation.

AaronDesign, n.d. Scratched Steel Texture. [image online] Available at: <http://aarondesign.deviantart.com/art/Scratched-Steel-Texture-137545405> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

Adam, 2012. Texture 291. [image online] Available at:<http://flyerheroes.com/25-high-quality-free-textures/> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

ArnolDex, 2012. Sherman Skin Request. [image online] Available at:<http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/116543-m4a3e8-sherman-skin-request/> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

David Ella Ella, 2010. Create Batman Logo In Photoshop. [image online] Available at:<http://designreviver.com/tutorials/create-batman-logo-in-photoshop/> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

God Bless America. [image online] Available at:<http://www.ra2.biz/yellowribbon/banner.html> [Accessed 21 November 2012].

Marcel, 2010. Making Metal. [image online] Available at:<http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=319680> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

Rick Wyatt, 2012. United States of America. [image online] Avaliable at:<http://flagspot.net/flags/us.html> [Accessed 21 November 2012].

Rusty Brown Metal Surface. [image online] Available at:<https://www.123rf.com/photo_2775176_rusty-brown-metal-surface.html> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

Spectrum Glass Company, n.d. [image online] Available at:<http://www.spectrumglass.com/stained-glass/products/product-detail.asp?i=251> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

2010. Grunge Metal. [image online] Available at:<http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mLMBm9i/Grunge+Metal> [Accessed 05 November 2012].

[image online] Available at:<http://www.jfilmfestival.org/partners.html> [Accessed 21 November 2012].

Watch The Water

This post is commenting on how I created my own water and how I am using it in the group project.

Firstly this is something completely new to me and had to do research in order to find out how to create the water and this is part of my new learning technique and now that I have finished my water I can say I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

Right onto the water, now one way you can make water is using a reactor but I found that using this method gave me limited control of what I could change within the water, so I decided to use a plane instead and apply noise to the plane, this would give it its ripple affect and movement in order to do this I changed the scale and the z value to what I wanted to make the water realistic. Once this is done you need to animate the noise so you can see what you are changing which is done by checking a small box underneath the strength of the noise.

From here you can make your own changes to your water, but I decided to add a material next which would give the water more detail and its colour for the animation. Now this is totally down to each individual person and what they want their water to look like, but I went for changes such as, I choose a material and attached the 'Raytrace' map to it, then attached another map called bump, this would give the water more ripple. From there I choose a colour for my water and after fiddling round with the material more I think I have achieved realistic water that I can use in the group project.

This is the water that I have created for the ship I have modelled, I have also inserted some lights to give a sort of sunset feel to the image. 

Box's Are Falling

This post will be about using the reactor tool within 3Ds Max and to start with making a simple box fall to the floor, without animating it using set key or auto key animation techniques.

I have never used this technique before and this is all new to me, but it has shown me you can animate models easier without having to do it all manually and that makes it more time consuming, however using the reactor with the software it does it all for you, (in a matter of speaking).

As mentioned this post is going showing a simple box falling to the floor, however in the next post I will attempt to create another animation with a demonstration of bowling.

Anyway on with this small animation, first you need to create a floor, which I have used a box but a slim one. Then created another box that will be raised and dropped from a height. Once these are in place you need to introduce the reactor, which is done by selecting animation, reactor, create object, then 'Rigid Body Collection'.

This is how to access the rigid body collection.

Then you need to click on the rigid body collection and click the modifier tab and then add the box and the floor to the collection by using pick or add. Once this is done we have to create the animation which is done by clicking the utilities tab near the modifier tab and choosing reactor. The expand the tab that says preview and animation, then click preview in window this will show you the animation in a preview window and show you what it looks like before you want your final version. You can also edit other properties in the utilities tab such as mass of the box making it fall faster.

This is just showing where to look in order to change other properties of models in the reactor.

Once you have followed these steps you should hopefully have a box that falls onto a floor.