Week 12 - Final Advertisment

Here is the final product which i will be using for the car advertisment.

Enjoy.

Final Advertisment

Week 12 - Final Image

Its done its over...Goodnight...

Will upload a full detail report soon,

Here is the final Pic.

Enjoy.

Week 12 - Hypershot Test Renders With HDRI Images

I recently bought some HDRI Images, (US$300) and incorporated them into Hyper-Shot and the results i got were fantastic in my opinion.

I have included these for you below.

The final renders will be composited tonight and uploaded soon. I have nearly finished this assessment. I have also added a badge and logo on the back of the car as per some suggestions i received. I also am in the process of adding some weight to the back wheels. Will hopefully upload the final product tonight.

Hyper-shot Render 1

Hyper-shot Render 2

Week 11 - Modeling Complete

Well, its week 11 and i have finally finished my Lamborghini. Over the last 4 days, i haven't slept more than 6 hours total, drank more than 47 cups of coffee, and had well over 8 packs of Dun hill Blue to keep me going...McDonald's for food...

I have well over 600 Incremental saves, for the car, and over 100 Incremental saves for the Rim/Tire. I have imported the Rim/Tire into my Car scene, and created wheel walls as well as scaling everything into proportion. I finished modeling the rear tail lights and creased the edges to make a sharper look and feel as it is on the real car. I have detailed the front of the car with headlights which can be see through the frontal car, as it is in the real car, i had trouble of placing holes through the lamp lenses, and just left it, there's no point in adding that much detail when the render is not going to be focused on that area. I also completed tweaking all the Polygons in the scene by making sure everything lines up correct and that there is no evidence of denting. Below is some screen shots of the final car. All i need to do is just mirror the car over and its done. Time for Hyper-Shot and Photoshop!! Yay!!

The Poly count is well over 2 Million Poly's and i have kept to my brief of modeling a high poly model under 3 Million.

Screen shots below.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Here is an example of a Hyper Shot Render.

Image 6

Final Hyper Shot Test Render

Week 10 - Hyper Shot Test Renders

As promised i have uploaded different test renders from Hyper Shot. These renders all have a basic lighting setup, and basic model positioning. I did four different Render Types, and below each Render Image i have given a description of the Render. I estimate i have another 40 Hours of Modeling left as well as 20 Hours of Rendering, 1000 word report, brief Art Bible and Compositing in Photo-shop... I hope i can make the due date next week. Fingers crossed!!

Image 1

This Render shows an Ambient Occlusion within Hyper Shot. I wouldn't say it is similar to Maya's AO Feature however, this render shows a good variety between different geometry pieces, as well as the overall flow of the model. You can clearly see seems within the Render, something which i have fixed in the other 2 Renders.

Image 2

The Gun Metal Chrome Render shows off the models overall aesthetic quality. The seems are less noticeable thanks to lots of work in Maya, however i must stress that these Renders do not represent the final model, as i have not completed it yet. This material is ideal for showing off specular color as well as showing the overall look and feel of the model. It is also great for showing the fine edge detail within the model, (the door in this example)and helps to give an overall idea of where edges should be accentuated or dissolved depending on relativity to the actual car itself as well as the artists preference.

Image 3

The Purple and Cream Render shows bleeding of edges as well as any vertices which have not yet been merged. It is a great visual representation of certain aspects of the model which need to be touched up. A great render to use for the purposes of checking the overall model and fixing anything which you might have missed in the modeling stage within Maya. It also shows how smoothly the edges all bleed together as well as high-lighting any areas of denting. In this image, no denting can be seen, however some bleeding of edges need to be addressed as well as the merging of some vertices. Overall it helps to create a sense of smoothness to the model and how well the final render will be.

Image 4

Same as the other black render, however in another perspective.

The model is at 80% complete now, with lots more work to go, will post up some WIP shots as soon as i have nearly completed the model.

Week 10 - Modeling (75% Complete)

All of last week i spent time on Modeling the rest of the car. i got up to approximately 75% of the model overall finished. I mainly concentrated on the rear of the car as well as extending the roof to behind the rear quarter panel. Overall all i spent about 20 Hours all of last week to get it to this stage. I still have the rear lights and detail to do and then i can finally proceed to adding the small details such as the tires and mirrors and then hopefully i can then begin to use Hyper shot and begin my composition as well as my final art bible and 1000 word project report.

i will be adding screen shots soon, as my internet connection has slowed down and it takes too long to upload pictures, so i will have to do this at school. Overall i had many problems with the rear curvature of the car as my curve network was a little bit off, so i had to interpret the design throughout this section, which took me longer than i anticipated. It was a good feeling once i had finished though.

i applied for an extension of this particular assessment, however i was denied the extension, and thus i have to focus all my efforts on completing this asap, as well as handing in other assessments. i will upload some pictures soon of the progress i have made.

Week 9 - Modeling (50% Complete)

This past week i focused on modeling my car. I managed to do this through the use of coffee. I have know completed about 50% of the model and things are progressing quite well. I am individually modeling sections of the car, as they are in real life and then i am connecting them. I snap polygoins to the curve network through either using the Poly Create tool or the Append Poly Tool. Below i have listed some pictures below to illustrate the porgression of my car. I am having difficulties with aligning everything together, but after talking to Russel i am now using the sculpt geometry tool and relaxing all my vertices, to help create a more plush and even surface. The Soft modification tool also helps in this regard to creating even surfaces along the cars different body panels.

I have finished the mid section of the car entirely now and am concentrating on the back rear section of the car. This will be hopefully completed during the weekend. and i should be ready to mirror the car by next week, and move on to Hypershot & Photoshop. However ambitious this may be, i am going to try to complete this ASAP.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Week 8 - Modeling

This week i spent alot of time on the modeling phase of the project. I snaped Polygons to the curve network by using the Append Poly Tool found in Maya. Overall, this part of the project is easy and simplified thanks to the time and effort taken to build the curve network. As of now, i have well over 100 save points, using Maya's incremental save, and this has come in handy especailly when the Append Poly Tool has failed to work correctley time and time again. I havent had time to upload screen shots as of yet, but i plan to over the next couple of days. Once a section of the car has been made using Polygons, a proxy mesh is created to display the high Poly version of the car. I switch between the low and high poly versions using the Control & Tilda key. This is ideal for displaying the different sub division surfaces in Maya. I estimate that i need to complete at least another 200 hours plus for the overall modeling phase to be completed. Once complete the mesh will be exported out to Hypershot and be Rendered. After the rendering, the model will be compositied in Photoshop for colour correction and be exported as a pdf file for the printers to make a A3 size poster/advertisment.

Will include pics of the modeling phase soon, in the next couple of days.

Week 7 - Curve Network Finalised & Finished

Well, after 103 Incremental saves and after 14 hours of work, i have managed to finally finish the cursed curve network. It was really difficult running into so many various problems and difficulties and not having any help whats so ever. I know that even though the final model may not look 100% right, and may not be modeled 100% correctly, i dont care anymore, because 99% of the people out there will not be able to tell, unless they have modeled this car before. I jumped on some forums for some inspiration and found so many awesome Lamborghini's done in 3D, i got really depressed and hoped that my model would at least look decent when compared to these other models.

I have enclosed some screen pics of the curve network, they are below. What i did was group everything that i have done, and duplicated it over and modified the scale x value to -1, this gave me a complete model. I then proceeded to take some screen grabs of what the final model looks like in curve format. I'm excited to move onto the Modeling after such a delay, and hope that it goes more smoothly than the curves. I believe the hard work is over, and even though i am using an un-conventional way of modeling this car, i believe that my modeling experience will now be alot easier thanks to the network. i must admit that it took a lot longer than i originally planed for, but im sure that my modeling stage will be quick and painless now thanks to the references and exact locations of the curve network....Theres only one way to find out and that is to begin the modeling....

Here are some screen grabs of the final curve network...ENJOY

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Pic 5

Week 6 - More Curves Networking & Modeling

This week has been a productive week in terms of Updating the Blog. I have nearly completed all NURBs Curves for the basic shape of the Lamborghini. I have been having various difficulties with finalizing the network in terms of getting the general network laid out, due to Maya just being a little bit of a pain. I have over come this problems buy using Incremental saves and going back to previous versions of anything that might have not worked correctly. I have spent way too much time on getting these curves to look perfect, only because once i reach the modeling phase, things will be alot better for me and easier, because all i have to do is snap polygons to the curves, and not manipulating the network anymore, and not modifying the polygons anymore. For this reason, i can understand why i have spent so much time on the curve network, but overall, my work flow will be much improved and faster once this curve network is completed.

I will post up some pictures of how i am going with the overall project tomorrow, as im just to tried to do it now. Overall the IEP project has chewed up alot of my time, and i have not been working on this as much as i could of been. I will focus on getting the network finalized by tomorrow and i will have definitely started Modeling by then.

The only good news to report is that my educational license of Hyper-shot has come through and i can wait to jump into it to create the beautiful renders. Im really looking forward to Hyper-shot, and its just more motivation to finish the model in Maya, and move on to more beautiful things like Hyper-shot and Photo-shop.

Will post more information tomorrow and pics of the final network of curves and the model.

Week 5 - Curve Networks

This week i have been concentrating on Finalising the curve network for my Lamborghini. I have addedd curves throughout maya in corresspondace to the image planes. Once i have completed this section then i will be able to move forward to attaching polygons to the surface of the curves, and begin forming the shape of the car.

Since i have experienced Computer problems, i have not been able to update this blog for a couple of days, i am waiting on parts to come in so that i can build my new Computer. Below i will attach pictures of the curve network and hope to finish this off asap and move forward to the modeling phase of the project.

I have built more than this but due to my computer crashing permanently i haven not been able to restore the previous files. Below is pictures of the frontal curve section that i have built.

Pictures of the frontal curve network i have began to build.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Week 4 - Image Planes & Scripting

This week i spent some time on research for the scripting phase of this assessment. It wasn't very easy to find information relating to the mechanics of setting up image planes. I finally figured out how to change from the front perspective to the rear perspective and hiding the camera, through a simple Mel script. It worked like a charm and everything is setup and ready for modeling which i will begin in a couple of hours.

I have taken some screen shots of the Mel script as well which is attached below.

The beauty of this script is that it enables me to switch between the front and rear views of the car and hiding the camera at the same time, so i can only see either the front or the back of the image planes/model. This will prove a god send in the modeling phase, allowing me to switch between the two planes with a click of a button and not having to manually move the camera, which can be really time consuming.

Image 1

This image shows the Mel script which i have put together.

Image 2

This image shows the front Image plane while hiding the rear.

Image 3

This image shows the rear Image plane while hiding the front.

i will begin the modeling phase soon, and will upload some pictures sometime today,

Until then,

See-ya.

Bren~

Week 3 - Assessment 1

I have finished the 1st assessment now and have attached it here below.

I have really enjoyed this part of the assessment and hope to achieve everything in the learning outcomes as well as the deliverable's. Im under lots of stress in regards to finishing this assessment but im sure with careful planning and time management i should be able to finish everything well.

Assessment 1

Introduction

For this assessment I will be modeling a photo realistic High Poly car based on blueprints or reference images obtained from www.smcars.net. The car I have chosen is the Lamborghini Murcielago, and I will be rendering the final model with new technology created by Bunkspeed. Throughout this assessment, I will be learning car anatomy as well as the workflow for modeling a high poly car. I am aiming for a highly accurate model of the car. I will be also learning how new rendering technology works as well as its benefits over Mental Ray in terms of industrial design rendering. The renderer is known as Hypershot 1.8, of which I have purchased an educational license. I will be making an A3 size poster advertisement for a car company using the final renders. This will be composited in Adobe Photoshop CS4. Below is a picture of the Lamborghini Murcielago.

Learning Outcomes
Throughout the course of this subject the following learning outcomes will be achieved:

•Learning how to model a High Poly car using reference images/blue prints as well as learning numerous polygon modeling techniques specified for High Poly Modeling (Industrial Modeling). These techniques are as follows. Modeling parts of the car using Nurbs curves and snapping Polygons to the curves. Polygon Extrusion modeling which will be used for the Alloy Wheels of the car. Reference modeling used for the general shape of the car. Smooth Modeling, which will be applied to increase the polygon density of the model and mirroring geometry, only half of the car model will be built with the other half being mirrored across. I will be using the following Digital Tutors Tutorial for understanding the workflow as well as the techniques of High Poly Car Modeling.


http://www.digitaltutors.com/store/product.php?productid=2959&cat=39&page=1

This tutorial goes through the process of modeling a sports car with emphasis on realism, hence this is the perfect tutorial for me to undertake to be able to succeed at modeling my Lamborghini.

Tutorial Summary:

The Digital Tutors tutorial goes through the following
Establishing Automotive Line Flow, Creating NURBS Curve Framework, Modeling Contoured Panels, Adding Sub-D Resolution, Avoiding Creases and Dents with Edge Spacing, Adding Scoops to Curves Surfaces, Extracting Useful Geometry, Mirroring Detail, Troubleshooting Common Edge Loop Issues, Creative Uses of Extrusions, Converting Between Geometry, Moving Points Along Normals, Adding Tire Tread with Bump Maps, Modeling using Deformers, HDR Lighting Setup, mental ray Shading Techniques and Automotive Terminology and Concepts

Learning Outcomes Continued

•Learning car anatomy and how a car is put together. Understanding the fundamental design process behind how a car is built and why it is built in that way. Understanding designs that are visually attractive based on the curves of the main body as well as understanding what cars look displeasing. This will all be collected and organized in an Art Bible and submitted at the end of the assessment along with the other deliverables.

•Learning the workflow between Maya & Hypershot. Since Hypershot uses a new generation of Ray Tracing Rendering, the fundamental principals learnt from the previous course module will be of use to light and render the scene. The breakdown process is listed below.

1.Model the high poly model in Maya. Below is a picture showing Polygon Topology in relation to car modeling.

2.Combine body of the car to form one base geometry. Windows, lights, alloy wheels and tires should all be separate to allow for customization of the individual objects inside Hypershot.

3.Export the model as a .OBJ

4.Import the model into Hypershot. (If materials are present, they too will be imported).

5.Snap the model to the ground plane of the ‘scene’ and prepare/apply the set of materials that are suitable for your model.

6.Apply lights to the scene and tweak the settings of the Global Illumination.

7.Configure the settings for the renderer and hit render. This is a general step by step process for Hypershot, the actual configuration is much more complicated. Below shows a render accomplished in Hypershot on the lowest settings. Time taken to render: 3 Mins.



•Learning a new program, Hypershot. The reason I want to learn this program is so that in the future I will hopefully be seeking employment in an industrial 3D industry. Learning Hypershot is crucial for my success in this field.

•Learning to light car models in Hypershot to achieve realistic renders. Also learning how to import textures as well as normal and displacement maps into Hypershot. Version 1.8 of Hypershot is much more in-depth than previous versions of the software and has many, many options for customizing models as well as UV mapping textures and rendering options.


•Learning to composite the final images to form a bold advertising poster for Lamborghini.

Methodology

The following methodology will be used for the entire assessment. Specific time frames have also been indicated to allow for a more streamlined and organized workflow.
•Model a 3D car based on a Lamborghini Murcielago Using Maya 2009, using Nurbs curves and snapping Polygons to the curves (one of many Polygon modeling techniques which will be used). Export the model as a .OBJ format into Hypershot. Estimate time frame: 4-6weeks

•Texture the car using Mental Ray Shaders such as the Mia Car Paint Shader. If the appropriate shaders cannot be exported into the Rendering Application, then materials from Hypershot (Rendering Application) will be used. Estimate time frame: 1 week

•Light the car to try and achieve a photo realistic appearance using knowledge obtained from the previous ANI 204 Assessment and using Bunkspeed Hypershot 1.8. Estimate time frame: 1 week

•Place the Model behind a HDRI back plate and render using Hypershot. Estimate time frame: 1 week

•Composite finished Render/s in Photoshop to form the Car Poster. Estimate time frame: 1 week

•Overall Project Length = 12 weeks, 10 Weeks of workflow to cover with 2 weeks taken into account for delays/unexpected surprises/contingency.

Goals

The following goals are to be understood and accomplished over the period of this assessment.
•Understanding & Learning the fundamental techniques of automotive modeling (High Poly) within Maya.

•Learning Car Anatomy, i.e. Basic shapes of a car, breaking these parts up into groups, understanding how a car is modeled and formed, to critically analyze and problem solve any difficulties within High Poly Car Modeling. Basically understanding how, why a car is designed and formed. Aesthetics of a car etc.

•Successfully incorporate my knowledge of 3D with Hypershot and producing photo realistic renders that look better than Vray. (Maya is the future, Max is Gay and vRay is gayer).

•Composite a A3 size poster for a car company showing off the render.
Deliverables
The following deliverables will be handed over at the end of the assessment. These are:
•Art Bible talking about car anatomy and listing examples of car concept images and blueprints of a Lamborghini, and relevant explanations as to why the designers modelled the car in this way, what is visually attractive of the car etc.
•All documentation will be written up online using BlogSpot. This will be done weekly and after week 12 the final link will be handed over to Russ to read/mark. No physical documentation will exist outside of BlogSpot.
•Advertisement Poster (A3) Also Includes 3 smaller renders. Final Photoshop composition Files.
•Maya Files
•Blueprints of the car modeled.
•Photos (reference images, photographic images)

I enclose also a preview render which i have already done in Hypershot using a model which comes with Hypershot.

Render

Week 2 - Powerpoint Presentation

This week i have mainly working on my PowerPoint Presentation. I have seen my Teacher Russ and have obtained some feedback from him in regards to the presentation. I have incorporated changes that have been advised by him and have also obtained his approval in proceeding ahead with my chosen field of study, and am now ready to move on the the initial draft for my Assessment 1.

I have been looking extensively at car anatomy and car design. The reason i have been doing this is to ascertain the age long question of what makes a car attractive? What makes a car not so attractive? The following images all have been crucial in determining the above questions as well as building up my Art Bible which i will handing in to Russ at the end of this assessment.

I enclose the following pictures below for your view pleasure. these pictures rang from the actual anatomy of a car as well as certain concept and design pictures draw by renowned car concept designers.


Car Engine















Engine Mechanics





















Exhaust Breakdown




















Brake Anatomy













Overview of a Car














Aston Martin Vantage Concept



























Concept Sketch's




























I will also include other images through Hyper Links.

Clay Concept Car

Car of the Future

Another Concept Picture

Car of the Future 2

Week 1 - Concept

During the first few days of term, i had to come up with a concept for my IND 302 Independent Project Course. I have decided to utilize my skills in the area of modeling and model a high poly Lamborghini Murcielago. I will then Render the Car using Bunkspeed's Hypershot of which i have already purchased an educational license.

During this Week i will begin work on my pitch presentation and begin working on my first assessment which is due in week 3.

For the Pitch i will use PowerPoint and incorporate images as well as a brief outline of which i will be doing over the course of the next 12 weeks.

Will update the Blog as soon as i have written up the presentation.

Bren~