Modeling log cabins!?

Adrian Pieroni

Polycounters, I am in need of your wisdom again!

So here's the situation. I have the final difficult models left to complete for my group level assignment in college. The 3 of us are working on a UDK gold rush era environment in Alaska, and I have to create 3 log cabins (using Maya), as I have chief modeling responsibility in the group. Here are the placeholders I made weeks ago with the modularity highlighted that I am expecting I will have to use for the finals. They are made in the style of log cabin that I hope to be able to create for the final meshes.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/95xosz5id999nkb/Death....jpg

With whatever knowledge or resources you can procure, what would be the easiest and most efficient methods for me to achieve this? I've basically looked at every thread on here involving a log cabin, and am still not sure how to approach the construction of the modular pieces that I need to build 3 cabins of different layouts and sizes with the same set of pieces. I am also unclear on what would be the right approach to UV'ing/Texturing.

Should I make one long log with ZBrush that I can resize and rotate/reuse as needed to tediously build the modular wall sections for the 3 cabins? How would I solve the issue of texture seams then?

Or perhaps take the easy way out and use simple plane walls with a photo-sourced plank texture instead and let all the maps generated from a diffuse do the work. (hopefully not right!? lol)

Any advice is appreciated! I know this might be a big question, but I am also sure that it will greatly benefit the forums.

Chase

I like the zbrush idea. Sculpt and bake making use of one log and then use a tiling wood texture. The baking to a plane route doesn't seem like it would apply here cause up close I just can't see how a normal and displacement map could give you the same result. Should would be cheaper haha. I'm curious as to any other methods too

Obscura

Hi, I think your modular mesh parts are broadly good.For the texturing/uv-ing i recommend to make a horizontally tiled textures.Then simply uv the model to this, with merging the different parts together on the different sides on the uv's. And then you can create a second uv channel for lightmaps and to bake a continuous ao map if you want.