Digital design and animation II is a class about 3d modeling using 3ds max. the main point of this class is to understand all the basics of using 3ds Max to create an interesting and unique scene. the overall importance of this class is so once we get into the game design we are able to create a scene for the game that we are making and being able to use animation and cameras so the scene turns into an actual game scene. this class overall is pretty difficult to learn all these things and then put them into work to create a piece of art but once you learn the technique and then put it into work it has a very gratifying feeling that you get from it. from this year I have learned the importance of hard work that pays off in the end.
section I: Professionalism in Digital Art
Obj 1.01 - Understand how to document the design process and articulate an artistic point of view
The importance of receiving and giving feedback is because no one’s art is perfect so telling them the truth like something doesn't look good or they used the wrong technique shows them that they messed up and will fix it in the future. also receiving feedback for your artwork is a very good thing that shows you that your art isn't perfect and that you messed up and that really humbles you like the artist because usually, they think that their art is pretty good and that nothing is wrong with it but someone coming and telling you that your artwork isn't the best and you messed up on reality shows that you can make mistakes and in the future, you won’t make the same mistake. overall critics in the art are very good and help people become better through mistakes that they have made.
Obj 1.02 - Understand personal and professional presentation
Section II: Creating Models with Advanced Modeling Techniques
Advanced modeling is when I use one object to create a whole scene using techniques like surface modeling and parametric modeling. over the course of this unit, we learned how to do a lot of things using very little like using the compound objects tool to make objects like the ones shown below. Making a lot of scenes in this unit taught me the importance of it for later units when were making a scene so that we can model a scene to look like the object that you would want.
Obj 2.02 - Understand surface modeling concepts
I learned new techniques for all of these models like in the dice I learned how to create a image only using one box and a set amount of tools. the mech was my introduction to parametric modeling on a large scale to make something look good with a set amount of parameters. and the project for this unit which was making a neighborhood was the biggest thing we did so far with advanced modeling with this project we learned a new techniques with modeling the houses.
Simulation/Particles/Forces Reflection
Particles are used in scenes to make something like the sun so you get that light from the scene going onto your scene. the use of simulation also makes your scene more realistic something like creating a sheet for a bed or for a table that is the biggest example of using a particle simulation to show something in real life. these are used a lot in game development because people want to see more realism in games these days so developer's are creating lots of particle simulations and daylight systems.
Section III: Applying Materials, Shaders and Rendering Techniques
The importance of UV mapping is crazy because if you just put a set of primitives in your scene with just basic colors and no texture it’s not gonna look good. this is why UV maps are so important they just make your scene overall look better and more realistic every single game uses UV mapping to add textures to your game that makes it look good. also creating textures is very good for your scene because you can choose the textures that you use for the scene so that you create it and it feels right to you. overall this unit was a big fundamental of game design because when you create a scene and we did that a lot in the unit and made them using textures.
Obj 3.03 - Understand UVW mapping
The first image above is the gas can and that was our second time doing the UV mapping but this one was definitely the hardest because of the amount that you had to do for the image like adding the textures to the can and then using the UVW map to make the image line up correctly. the second image is our introduction in this unit to adding materials to a primitive this was probably the easiest assignment to do overall we used mapping techniques a lot in this one. the third and final one was the biggest thing that we did we created all these textures to add to this scene and we had to line up all the textures in the UV map to make it look good and so there was no distortion in the texture.
Obj 3.04 - Understand rendering and render settings
renderers are the reason why a scene looks the way it does because of the render you choose there are some renders like Arnold or raytracing that make your scene look really good overall and there are some that make your scene look very alright in quality but not too bad like scanline which is the default one that you use. choosing the correct renderer is based on what you want the audience to look at and how they view the scene so making you scene look good in the render should be a big part of what you think of when your choosing your render for the project. overall the render is one of the most important parts of the scene when putting your 3d work out there for the world.
Section IV: Working with Lighting
Obj 4.03 - Understand shadow settings
Proper lighting is the best thing for the image because it is the main way that you convey mood in the scene because if you want to get the feeling of a scene you put in lights with maybe an Omni light to display a certain mood in the scene. the use of shadows in the scene is also a big factor of the mood in scene shadows are also away to display how important a character is because if your light is making a shadow on the character and the shadow is big it will display how important the object that the light is on the character and how important it is.
Obj 4.04 - Apply artistic lighting techniques
the image on the left is showing how light interacts with materials and that they show differences between models with materials applied and just normal models with the basic colors. the next image is 3 point lighting which is the best way to show your model off when making the 3 point lighting you really don't want any shadows that you cant see key parts of the image.
Section V: Using Cameras to Animate a Scene
Obj 5.02 - Understand various camera movements and composition
We did a unit on photography last year in game design but this year using actual 3d modeling software instead of the adobe suite and using our actual cameras but using 3ds max is just so much easier than setting up an actual camera and changing all the setting on that but with 3ds max, you change the setting to exactly the thing you need without the worry of messing up the shot. also using 3ds max you can get a really good using a stationary camera but using a single camera in a single spot without the worry of having to change the position of the camera.
Obj 5.03 - Apply animated camera movements to a scene
conclusion
in conclusion overall making this portfolio really showed me how far I have come from making simple primitives' to making fully fledged scenes that are semi professional. during this course I learned a lot of techniques in 3ds max that are fundamental in 3ds modeling for games. my skill set has evolved a lot since the start of this year because I put the things that I learned into practice along with programs and techniques that I learned the year before. over this course I have learned a lot and the most important thing that i have learned is the importance of hard work and how when you put in the work then the product is really gonna pay off and look good overall.