Marisa‘s Garden: 【2016】Weekly Journal

【Week 13】04.01-08.01

On Monday we reviewed "Knowledge of Maya". After which I did some drawings and spent about 6 hours completing them.

On Tuesday I drew the background for my table game, It took me the whole day. Then I considered the texture in the background and thought about the difference between the day and night time scene.

On Wenesday Our class learnt how to use a layer mask in PhotoShop. Using some images from google we made a comic . After class I change the background to make this page looks more gristly.

On Thursday we were shown how to make a retro phone. After class I drew a colour-pencil drawing. I haven't use colour pencils much before so I was very careful while I drawing it.
On Firday in the morning I used some more images from google and made a new comic . Then I started to do my research work until very late that evening.

Saturday and Sunday (morning to night), I made a retro phone for my homework. I made many mistakes drawing this phone and reformed and reshaped it at least 6 times. But I think it's a good way to practised and quickly make changes, I restarted each time until I was happy with my work.

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【Week 14】11.01-15.01

Monday:
Subject advance modelling. Understand what subdivision modelling is and finding the preview subdivision surfaces in Maya. The techniques used in this greatly increases my understanding of this method and adds another facet my work . I continued to do my research work until 11pm that night.

Wednesday:
We drew some hands in a life-drawing lesson. I used colour pencils to do my drawing but it did not appear very clear when transferred to computer. After Class I returned home so I could continued to do my research work.

Thursday :
I finished my retro phone. I spend many hours on this making it look as accurate as I can with use of the reference diagram. I made the handrail an integral part of my design, e.g. I would like to made my work in a low-model because I can add more faces if I need to make a hight-model very quickly.

The Weekend (morning to night), I try to find a new style for my artwork. I like this simple style because it's a less tedious part of my work and I can pick out more important elements of each character.

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【Week 15】18.01-22.01
Monday:
We talked about 'baking' of 3D. E.g. Understanding why we bake high poly models and Illustrate why we use cages. After I went home and continued to do my research work until 22:15pm.

    Tuesday,I made a plane and learnt how to chaged material and change the light in Maya. I'm still not sure how to use them fully but I am enjoying learning .After that I continued to do my research work until 11pm.
    Wednesday,I went to DS1 to talk about my work along with other classmates. The tutor said my work was too rushed, I felt very disillusioned today. Because I had spent so many solid hours doing my work and making sure it was good enough. Demoralised I returned home.
    Thursday through to Sunday I'm still worrying the tutors don't like my work, so I haven't done any more artwork this week I just continued to do my research work I go to sleep at 11 pm.

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【Week 16】25.01-29.01

On Monday I spent 8 hours making a new retro phone. I learnt how to apply texture in Maya. I tried many different models and experimented until I got the right texture on every part of it. But I'm not sure if my tutor will like it or not, because I haven't put any UV on it so maybe a bit rush !!!!

    Tuesday (10am-9pm, less eating time) I made a football , because I wanted to use a simple shape. I restarted it in several times because I didn't know how to do a pentagon face in low-model . After several more attempts I tried to make a high-model for this football. Finally after trying many different modes I finished it.
    Wednesday, Thursday and Firday (11am-11pm, less eating time), When I finished my class I continued to do my research work, because I needed it to do a presentation the following week so I need to make sure I researched and gathered all necessary information.
    Saturday and Sunday (11am-11pm, less eating time), I checked all my research work and prepared my presentation . I would like to make sure I've thought about everything I want to use and say in my presentation.

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【Week 17】01.02-05.02

    Monday, Tuesday and Wenesday (11am-11pm, less eating time), I practice my speech my prepare my notes. I am not sure if I have done it right or not, so I spend more time memorising all the information. I hope that if someone ask me a question I could answer it proficiently.
    Thursday, I did my presentation. When I finished my talk,I felt a bit nervous about the outcome.
But the good thing is the tutors said I passed ,I felt relieved. But I still worry about them thinking I am a rash person and I rush through my work which I do not..
    Friday, Saturday and Sunday I haven't done anything, because I did so much work to finish my presentation. I feel very tired so I prefer to forget my work and relax for a few days.

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【Week 19】15.02-19.02

On Wednesday I had a double interactive life drawing class . Models put on special dress to help us think up stories. Then I drew a sketch of my story with what I had thought about. First we were given 15 minutes to draw each piece of work. We were then given 45 minutes to draw a pair of pictures, including the light and shadow. I like to add a story to the picture because they always develop my imagination.

On Thursday we tried to make a pillar. First of all, we made the basic graphics in Maya. Then imported it into Zbrush to depict details. For some reason I couldn't use Zbrush with other students, so I decided to try it alone when I at home.

On Friday I tried to draw my own original character. I thought a lot about the actions of the character. Some very abrupt and some with subtle movements. Finally I chose a more complex pose to draw. I also used different fabrics of her dress design. The colours in the left corner are what I use for my picture.

On Saturday I spent the whole day downloading and setting up Zbrush. Because my computer is not very compatible with some software,every time I try to use the software, it always gave me problems . I started using ZBrush to draw different high modulus materials. After dinner I practice with different stone surfaces because they are very common in the game.

On Sunday I tried to import the different materials of the stone surfaces into Maya. Because my Maya and Zbrush are not the lastest version,there were some problems when I import and export. I eventually succeeded and overcame the problems . Then I worked into the night to sort out the excess surfaces and the irregular edges. I think I wasted the whole day making it because the faces were not reduced and the final effect was not very good.

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【Week 20】22.02-26.02

We learnt how to use the Zsphere on Monday. After I got home, I tried to set up a branch with the same method. I think the Zsphere is very useful, especially if I need to make a character model and it can help me to build a good basic for me quickly.

On Tuesday I continued to draw my character. In the process of painting I deleted the colours I had set up in corner. Because I would like to keep trying to improve my work, I don't like to bind myself too much to a drawing. After a few hours I've finished drawing the general lighting of the character. The main light is played from the upper left corner where the entity contrast of colours are processed. After that I continued to draw and describe the details.

On Wednesday after school, I made a simple model. I would like to do some exercises before the final finish product. Because it could help me understand a little more about how I can improve my future work. I transformed a model similar to the one I learnt about in class. But because of the small number of faces , Maya connected the wrong line making it smooth.

On Thursday After several experiments I successfully imported the model into the Zbrush, and improved the numbers of its own faces for better details. In the process, I thought about results and I referred to some of the common effects in games. I enjoy the process of constantly trying. It always gives me the feel for the meaning and importance of learning. For example, I learnt all about the difference between wire rust and stone ,natural decay and man-made effects. I think every detail can give the audience a different visual effect.

On Friday and Saturday I drew up some drafts designs of my pillar. I hope it is a work with a vicarious sense. So I referenced many designs from the ancient times. Then extracted some shapes of interest in an in depth design. I've used a lot of the original ideas. For example, the typical European mythology theme, the future of science and technology themes and so on. Finally, I chose the subject of Egypt.

Because I have an original character in a new world created by Egyptian and European mythology, I intend to design a pillar for that character's world.

I started to made my pillar under the basic concepts I set. I have thought about drawing more designs for this pillar. But I think this pillar is the one I can show in the world of my characters, because it has an atmosphere of the most typical pattern of the Egyptian and fantasy themes.

I built the low modules of this pillar in Maya, and use smooth to increase the number of faces after the modification. Unfortunately, sometimes the effect of Maya automatic smoothing out is not very ideal. So I will make further efforts until I think they are perfect.

On Sunday because I made a MAYA file at school I could not open the file at home. I was forced to put a hold on my Maya job. Instead I used the whole day to improve my design works. I described the details of the characters' costumes and the subtle changes in colour. Further smooth roughed strokes and unnecessary clutter edges ,I like to paint the character. I want to trial some new characters, or even a new style of work. For example, more real rough drawing, rather than the implicit way of expression.

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【Week 21】29.02-04.03

On Monday I went back to the class to save my original file as a MA format. But it didn't work because of the problem of my computer. I could open the file but I had lost a lot of data. So I tried to modify the data in my file and successfully opened the complete file. Unfortunately, there were some errors when modifying the data. A lot of random lines were in my model, so I was improving my work all day.

On Tuesday and Wenesday I started to make my pillar. Encountered a lot of problems and repeated it many times. Through continuous modification and trial , I finally completed the basic model.

I had some trouble in the process of making windows. I don't know why I have some lines in the model that can't be deleted. At the same time the hole can not be filled. After a number of attempts, I made a new one.

Then I spread the windows to the top of the pillar in order to ensure they were combined together. I did a lot of fine-tuning so the window could be combined with the pillars. But I think it is more convenient to split them up.

After the adjustment, I modified the top of pillar. Because there were some 5 corners faces, my model had some problems after smoothing. So I made the top of pillar again. At last, I added the clock to the window. This would make my model more beautiful.

In the end this is the main body of pillar, the left is before smoothing, the right side is after smoothing.

At last, I started to make extras of the lower pillar. I made my cow face from a ring structure, and repeated it to check whether it is reasonable.

After I connected the cow face directly and pulled out its horns from its head. I thought this could reduce some faces. I have done a lot of fine-tuning after smoothing. Finally I got the effect just right.

I decided to make a backup of the diamond ,after I thought about it over and over again. Because the diamond has many triangular facets in order to ensure it can be used normally I made a diamond with only 4 corners.

On Thursday we tried to improve the low modulus exported from Zbrush. I must select the face which needs to be connect together with the protype. I'm not very good at it so the first time I failed, even my UVmap was a mess.

I tried to make it again when I got home. Finally I finished it .I'm still not very good at it so I think I need to practice a lot more.

I imported my model into Zbrush for checking. During the examination, I found some of the lines in the original model were wrong and had been removed unintentionally. After repeated changes I got a complete pillar. I often make the same mistakes in the process of modeling, but thankfully, I am able to solve this problem more quickly whenever I meet with the problem again.

On Firday I started to make details of the high modulus in Zbrush. At first I imported them together. But I found that the effect is not particularly good. Even if I make it very carefully I still have some problems. At the end I opened each part of the pillar to draw. This method could effectively overcome the BUG of draw tgether. It could also more efficiently check the details of it.

I drew the tiles at the bottom of the pillar because the non mechanical segmentation would give me more of a real feeling . In ancient Egypt, although there was a great building process, every brick couldn't be perfect. I added more details to the grinding marks after cutting. It made the work have a more realistic sense of history.

After the completion I began to reduce faces. I thought these parameters can be used. But I think the 5% decimation is best, because its surface is very smooth. But in order to take into account the better practicality, I think 1% of decimation is the most appropriate.

Similarly, in the head of cow I had many subtle BUGs. I exported it into ZBrush after several successful changes and reset.

I repeatedly thought many times how to improve the Tauren totem. For example, the angle of eyes and the subtle changes in face were finished after a constant correction and characterization, and finally achieved the totem effect.

After the modification was completed, I began to reduce faces. I chose the last one because I thought some of the rough surface would make my totem have a richer sense of history.

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【Week 22】07.03-11.03

On Monday review of baking production, the faces of low modulus can not exceed 1,000.

Class notes:
Blockout > silhouette - Maya/3D packge
Scale > grid > modu larity > re-use
pillar -
It is attached? How was it construed?
High Poly process. How many pieces? - time scale?
Zbrush
All assetes > polygroups > split groups > various subtools.
Geometry > divide, Morph Target.
Damage Pass, Export as high_poly_model.
                      Duplicate my main mesh (subtool)
                      Zplugin > Decimation
                      Visually correct silhouette
Back to Maya
Cutting the medium mesh and soeing to the low.

Albedo - colour, Metallic - Greyscale
Roughness - Greyscale - shiny or rough
Emissive - Greyscale
Transparency/Opacity
Paralax Occlusion mapping - pom
Ambient Occlusion - OA.

On Wednesday we drew a life drawing as usual (5 Minutes each). We used different methods to draw on a 15 minutes segment . To abandon the usual careful drawing method, I tried to use a more free and more liberal method. I feel the pressure is less than before when I am drafting with less details. I then continue to do my writing homework.

On Thursday and Friday I tried to adjust my model and UVmap. I always get a headache when I adjust UV. Because I'm not very good at these skills, So I have to try and adjust them again and again, so that they can achieve the best results. I have a lot of trouble in making the process, so I always go to Youtube or access the Internet to solve the problem. I didn't go to bed until I confirmed that my model was able to render normal map successfully.

On Saturday I started to set a normal map. I have set up a lot of different parameters to render a lot of different effects. I chose the best part of them to combine together in photoshop, and repeatedly check and correct them in Maya.

In the end I will put a normal map on to my low poly. I repeatedly make sure that each part of them have no problem.Then I continue to do my writing homework.

On Sunday I drew my character again with my new style. I tried to draw a more realistic face because I like to learn different skills to enrich myself.

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【Easter】21.03-01.04

I tried some extra exercises over this holiday. I draw many different character's faces giving each different features. I think my skill needs improvement . So I will do more exercises in the future to help me progress.

These are my drafts of time machine. I drew 4 different elements of nature for these weapons. For example Lava and gems, man eating plants in tropical rain forest, trees and life, the sun and moon in the last ice age.

I chose the third one to start making my model. I tried to merge all parts into a polygon, and then smoothed to make it able to import into ZBrush to draw.

I had a little trouble when I was drawing. For example, my plane polygon couldn't be fully displayed in ZBrush. So I re modify my model for making into a three-dimensional face.

Eventually I started baking my staff. My UVmap didn't seem very neat because of the same problems that my model insertion structure were overly complex. The biggest mistake is the clock surface is destroyed. I learned many mistakes with this method . Although I can continue to modify the model to make it better, I think a lot of errors are due to erroneous ideas so I decided to start a new model.

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【Week 23】04.04-08.04

On Monday I chose the weapon which has a man-eating flower as its main body to create the base model. Then I imported it into Zbrush to carve. I have modified some designs to make it look reasonable and made sure it is a low poly model and is simple enough to be integrated.

On Tuesday I began to adjust UVmap and baking. Because UE4 is unable to work in my computer, I view my normal map in Maya to see if it was perfect.

Fortunately, this attempt went well. I almost didn't have any problem at all. I think this is my greatest progress .

On Wednesday I drew 2 page of manga pratice in use of my characters designed in one of my last comic. This is a little joke of my manga. The bob hair character(called Cuidai) is the copy reader of the long hair character(called Jiangyue), but Jiangyue doesn't like Cuidai's help, because Cuidai haven't any writing skill. So Cuidai stealthily went to change Jiangyue's manuscript for expressing herself.

On Thursday I imported the file into UE4 for the final editing. I've changed the data on the side of tutorial to achieve the best results.

After that I tried to assemble the weapons with the characters to make sure they fit.

On Friday I started to describe the other maps of my model to achieve better results. I didn't really understand how to use the other software to describe it so I chose to try to describe some simple patterns in Photoshop.

On Saturday I attempted to make a low poly model. I found there are still some problems after adjusting UVmaps. So just a little repair can not always achieve the best results.

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【Week 24】11.04-15.04

On Monday I have done some simple style parsing images, and thought about the use and effect of the weapon.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I started to clear up my all work for this project.