@killnpc that's a cool idea! Rigging/animation is something I bang my head against every now and then, just to get tangeled up in all those contstraints and animation curves. But one day :P
A quick update with the recently "completed" Bi-Monthly-Environment-Challenge to document my process.
Used tiling surfaces and a trimsheet for texturing.
Base geometry for the roof consists of single sided lowpoly, using the following modifier stack:
Subdiv
Displace
Decimate
Solidify (for the roof, to add thickness, assign new vertices to vertex group)
Data Transfer (vertex normals from non-displaced instance limited to inverted vertex group)
Boolean (to rough up edges)
Some array objects like wood boards or ladder rungs use following modifiers:
Array with UV offset along U to add surface variation.
Displace to break up shape (limited by vertex groups to borders/certain areas)
Transfer Attributes to transfer vertex colour masks from helper mesh
I think the boards don't hold up close up. An alternative to explore would be to randomly choose detailed meshes from a list. How to distribute the transforms? Particles? Geometry nodes? What proxy geometry to use? Probably similar approach when making the roof from singe slates. Or one can see how far detailing the current geometry goes. Or monkey work.
Adopted the habit of using instanced collections for repeating elements like windows, doors or barrels, since I feel it it helps to keep the scenes slim.
For presentation I used UE5.11. Set up cinematic cameras for different shots. Added a video sequencer for the short turn around clip rendered with movie sequence renderer:
Overall making videos in Unreal is something I find very fund and interesting (loops!?) and something will explore more.
Maybe I will have the time and motivation to continue on it at later time with fresh eyes.
Used a bevel modifier on simple geo for the highpoly, combined with floaters. To reduce skewing when baking, support loops were added to the lowpoly using a bevel modifier with 2 segments and profile of 1. Due to identical shading, normal map was applied to unmodified lowpoly.
Other ways I could have done the asset would be to bake down bevel shader for the base body, or create a midpoly with fwn. Then add details using mesh decals?
Tried to keep it simple, so just did some low-poly modelling. Painting the texture atlases was fun. Used boolean modifiers to rough up the models. Particularly the chest turned out too simple.
A project I sort slipped into, which exploded a bit in scope, against my better knowledge :P This resulted in spreading myself too thin and giving the individual assets too little time. First time I touched Niagara to create some fire particle systems.
Some of the different material types created:
Fur - UV0: Tiling fur textures. UV1: tiling border trim alpha. Alpha cutoff parameter to thin outer shells. Vertex color is used to vary the base colour.
Cloth - UV0: Tiling fabric textures. Macro noise to add varition. UV1: individual pattern and borders. Simple grass wind to add some movement.
Coal - Two layers of emissive based on the packed height mask. Varied by a panning noise. Pixel depth offset to blend with other meshes.
Large objects - Combine low/medium resolution textures with tiling detail textures. Modulate values based on packed object masks.
Simulated some simple pieces of cloth in blender to add some variation. The majority of the assets is simply modeled, using tiling textures. A shield BP projects a decal to the outer side of the shield mesh. Setting the index, one can flip through different painting variations. Project on AS contains a short video clip showing the hall in movement.
Once again recognized that one flaw of mine is that I spread myself too thin, not giving individual assets sufficient polish. What's next? Idk, probably should finish some things I started :P
loop experiments with animations, modules and instances:
Started carving a pretzel/ knot-like shape from some spare piece of wood while visiting family. Maybe I will continue working on it during my next visit.
Also went to a village named Mürren over the weekend to do some hiking, nature was incredibly beautiful.
Update Time! Random sketches - maybe I could turn some into simple characters for loops or a game
Recently got around to look through things I worked on during my last employment and put things on my portfolio. Loved working on spider creatures.
Other than that, I started with the magic hall environment for the bi-monthly environment challenge (awesome concepts). Combing trim sheet with tiling surfaces. Why am I still playing Spelunky 2?! Got to continue System Shock at one point!
Still didn't continue with System Shock, still playing Spelunky 2.
Random sketches:
Inspired by the current artstation challenge Neo Tokio, I was thinking of a character. It would be someone living/surviving in the lower levels of the mega city, between pipes and cables.
Short monster side project in progress. It's for a friend to use in his prototype. It has some sort of hands/claw like mandibles. Looking at the current state, it reminds me of a Bloodsucker found in Stalker. Probably do another pass on the highpoly and textures should be much more detailed and horrible of course. But I exported a version to Unreal at this time to check out how it looks, transferring the mannequin skin weights. Going off to visit family for two weeks, working on the laptop.
Damn,
why have I never thought about this... A
sketchbook, but instead of 2D sketches alone, I can also do sketches in 3D.... I feel so stupid. I
have always been so obsessed with finishing everything, when working
in 3D.
Maybe that is why my
progress is, and always have been so slow, I do not experiement enough.
You posting and shareing of this, has really been an eye opener, thank you so much.
Camera path too hectic, straight path? simulate physics/damage? Dust particles. Adventurerer details? Rope, tunik, ... Current process uses Rigify. Faster using mixamo? Use a unified skeleton - reduce time spent by using stock animations?
Dear diary... :P Sometimes I don't update, because I feel something is not finished or relevant enough :')
I'm thankful I got the opportunity to take part in a small group exhibition with some loops, assembled into a video. Cool to share it in that format and get some real life reactions. My mother also participated in this exhibition with paintings, which was a cool experience I did a rough sketch to accompany the screen with something "real". While nothing special, it was nice to use some real brush again and have a no-ctrl+z-experience
(the paintings seen on the right are by Stefano Gentile)
Started doing a loop sequence using a series of paintings of doors/windows by my mum. Reduced quality and colors to get a small enough gif
Got more paintings to experiment with and generally plenty ideas in on my backlog.
Then I dug my teeth into the current bi-monthly challenge. First I translated the medieval stylized chest, based on the great concept by Geraud Soulie, into 3d. model Maybe I want to do more hand painting in the future, to get better at it. Feels refreshing to break out of the - self-imposed - highpoly to lowpoly prison and just model and paint away.
Also I took on the Sci-fi themed crate, based on the cool concept by Gin Z. Mainly I wanted to do that fabric cover :-B model Ended up cloth-simulating it in Blender using collision meshes. It was quite slow trial and error process. If doing fabric more often, I would consider Marvelous Designer for sure, although the subscription model is a bit of a turn-off. Edit: Edited the text some
Currently touching up a tree-house environment, done for a past old bi-monthly entry. Brought it over to Unreal. Working on increasing overall fidelity. Fleshed out the back side of the house/island some more. Updated the Artstation project with a short turnaround video: Tree House.
I want to break out and polish those texture sets: - wood trims - rope - rock - overgrowth - bark - plaster/rough surface
More ideas: Add a floating vessel/boat (fixed at the ring on the back side), refine rock island - more organic, unique texture for the antler, add some flowers and personality items, make a night version - the hanging pearl objects could be lanterns, additional tree modules - for distant islands?.
Did something for LD, the theme being "Summoning". Didn't go very smooth as always , the result being far from anything like a game. I used Game Maker and forgot a lot of the functions, therefore had to compromise a lot on my ideas (and I didn't have good discipline).
Initial game idea was pretty vage to begin with - and ambitious for my skills: Camera zoomed out. The player is weak and can walk around. When at an object the player can summon a companion whos stats is depended on its origin and will follow and fight. With multiple companions the player can best stronger foes, and from their remains, summon stronger companions.
Questions: Goal, win condition? How to communicate entity stats? Authored map/situation vs random? Controls?
Another rough idea was to make more like a text adventure style prototype following a summoner seeking on the quest for power. One ending going bad because the summoned get out of control.
Dusted off my PS3 and played Metal Gear Solid for the first time and fixed my bicycle :-B
Wanted to make the model downloadable for free under CC non-commercial license as is the original, but then realized this wasn't possible using the NoAI-tag. "Starting today, you will no longer be able to apply the NoAI tag to new uploads of CC-licensed content due to the uncertainty around the tag’s enforceability outside of Sketchfab." stated a post from Nov 2023. Noticed the sketchfab forum is gone. Then read that the platform will dissolve into "Fab", same as Quixel Megascans and Artstation Marketplace - wondering how that's going to go. All this certainly makes me re-think my use of such platforms, considering their existence and rules are so fragile. Maybe going forward, I should stick to Toolbag viewer.
Replies
These are a lot of fun!
@Bolovorix Certainly lot of fun to make, thanks for having a look 🍻
Wow, can't believe the sketchbook made it to page two 🤩 Thanks for frontpage, much appreciated 🙇
Another day, another experiment 🐺
screenshot from viewport
👹+🚗
more loops
screenshots
loops
greentooth loop 🍻
capsule art in progress 😌
The cherries' run cycle would be a lot of fun, that's great.
@killnpc that's a cool idea! Rigging/animation is something I bang my head against every now and then, just to get tangeled up in all those contstraints and animation curves. But one day :P
A quick update with the recently "completed" Bi-Monthly-Environment-Challenge to document my process.
Used tiling surfaces and a trimsheet for texturing.
Base geometry for the roof consists of single sided lowpoly, using the following modifier stack:
Some array objects like wood boards or ladder rungs use following modifiers:
I think the boards don't hold up close up. An alternative to explore would be to randomly choose detailed meshes from a list. How to distribute the transforms? Particles? Geometry nodes? What proxy geometry to use? Probably similar approach when making the roof from singe slates. Or one can see how far detailing the current geometry goes. Or monkey work.
Adopted the habit of using instanced collections for repeating elements like windows, doors or barrels, since I feel it it helps to keep the scenes slim.
For presentation I used UE5.11. Set up cinematic cameras for different shots. Added a video sequencer for the short turn around clip rendered with movie sequence renderer:
Overall making videos in Unreal is something I find very fund and interesting (loops!?) and something will explore more.
Maybe I will have the time and motivation to continue on it at later time with fresh eyes.
I saw the current challenge on Artstation, maybe I will do something for that? So far this is my favorite concept from the first stage: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/061/358/254/large/d-2.jpg?1680610696
But first I have to do some work :D
Projector from Prey, based on the concept by Dmitry Sorokin
model
Used a bevel modifier on simple geo for the highpoly, combined with floaters. To reduce skewing when baking, support loops were added to the lowpoly using a bevel modifier with 2 segments and profile of 1. Due to identical shading, normal map was applied to unmodified lowpoly.
Other ways I could have done the asset would be to bake down bevel shader for the base body, or create a midpoly with fwn. Then add details using mesh decals?
Armchair and props, based on the concept by María Gómez
model
Tried to keep it simple, so just did some low-poly modelling. Painting the texture atlases was fun. Used boolean modifiers to rough up the models. Particularly the chest turned out too simple.
Viking Palace, based on a concept by Anna Kulakovskaia
A project I sort slipped into, which exploded a bit in scope, against my better knowledge :P This resulted in spreading myself too thin and giving the individual assets too little time. First time I touched Niagara to create some fire particle systems.
Some of the different material types created:
- Fur - UV0: Tiling fur textures. UV1: tiling border trim alpha. Alpha cutoff parameter to thin outer shells. Vertex color is used to vary the base colour.
- Cloth - UV0: Tiling fabric textures. Macro noise to add varition. UV1: individual pattern and borders. Simple grass wind to add some movement.
- Coal - Two layers of emissive based on the packed height mask. Varied by a panning noise. Pixel depth offset to blend with other meshes.
- Large objects - Combine low/medium resolution textures with tiling detail textures. Modulate values based on packed object masks.
Simulated some simple pieces of cloth in blender to add some variation. The majority of the assets is simply modeled, using tiling textures. A shield BP projects a decal to the outer side of the shield mesh. Setting the index, one can flip through different painting variations. Project on AS contains a short video clip showing the hall in movement.Once again recognized that one flaw of mine is that I spread myself too thin, not giving individual assets sufficient polish. What's next? Idk, probably should finish some things I started :P
Started carving a pretzel/ knot-like shape from some spare piece of wood while visiting family. Maybe I will continue working on it during my next visit.
Also went to a village named Mürren over the weekend to do some hiking, nature was incredibly beautiful.
Random sketches - maybe I could turn some into simple characters for loops or a game
Recently got around to look through things I worked on during my last employment and put things on my portfolio. Loved working on spider creatures.
Other than that, I started with the magic hall environment for the bi-monthly environment challenge (awesome concepts). Combing trim sheet with tiling surfaces.
Why am I still playing Spelunky 2?! Got to continue System Shock at one point!
Random sketches:
Inspired by the current artstation challenge Neo Tokio, I was thinking of a character. It would be someone living/surviving in the lower levels of the mega city, between pipes and cables.
creating an oven based on the cool concept by seru.
Model on Sketchfab:
model
Rendered in Toolbag:
UVs/Textures:
model
Damn, why have I never thought about this...
A sketchbook, but instead of 2D sketches alone, I can also do sketches in 3D.... I feel so stupid.
I have always been so obsessed with finishing everything, when working in 3D.
Maybe that is why my progress is, and always have been so slow, I do not experiement enough.
You posting and shareing of this, has really been an eye opener, thank you so much.
sketch (ugh)
Simple scene with pulsating overgrowth?
Camera path too hectic, straight path? simulate physics/damage? Dust particles. Adventurerer details? Rope, tunik, ... Current process uses Rigify. Faster using mixamo? Use a unified skeleton - reduce time spent by using stock animations?
rowdy weather
sea beast
Toolbag4 render:
Sketchfab:
model
Texture atlas 256x512 (diffuse, roughness, metallic, emissive):
Sometimes I don't update, because I feel something is not finished or relevant enough :')
I'm thankful I got the opportunity to take part in a small group exhibition with some loops, assembled into a video. Cool to share it in that format and get some real life reactions. My mother also participated in this exhibition with paintings, which was a cool experience
Started doing a loop sequence using a series of paintings of doors/windows by my mum.
Reduced quality and colors to get a small enough gif
Got more paintings to experiment with and generally plenty ideas in on my backlog.
Then I dug my teeth into the current bi-monthly challenge. First I translated the medieval stylized chest, based on the great concept by Geraud Soulie, into 3d.
model
Maybe I want to do more hand painting in the future, to get better at it. Feels refreshing to break out of the - self-imposed - highpoly to lowpoly prison and just model and paint away.
Also I took on the Sci-fi themed crate, based on the cool concept by Gin Z. Mainly I wanted to do that fabric cover :-B
model
Ended up cloth-simulating it in Blender using collision meshes. It was quite slow trial and error process. If doing fabric more often, I would consider Marvelous Designer for sure, although the subscription model is a bit of a turn-off.
Edit: Edited the text some
I want to break out and polish those texture sets:
- wood trims
- rope
- rock
- overgrowth
- bark
- plaster/rough surface
More ideas: Add a floating vessel/boat (fixed at the ring on the back side), refine rock island - more organic, unique texture for the antler, add some flowers and personality items, make a night version - the hanging pearl objects could be lanterns, additional tree modules - for distant islands?.
Who lives at this place?
Simplified CAD models
Simplified some existing CAD models for real-time rendering. A relaxing activity.Adjustable wrench, original CAD model by Semere Maschalu
model
Wheelchair, original CAD model by Tom Saey
model
Ludum Dare 55 Struggles
Did something for LD, the theme being "Summoning".Didn't go very smooth as always
Initial game idea was pretty vage to begin with - and ambitious for my skills: Camera zoomed out. The player is weak and can walk around. When at an object the player can summon a companion whos stats is depended on its origin and will follow and fight. With multiple companions the player can best stronger foes, and from their remains, summon stronger companions.
Questions: Goal, win condition? How to communicate entity stats? Authored map/situation vs random? Controls?
Another rough idea was to make more like a text adventure style prototype following a summoner seeking on the quest for power. One ending going bad because the summoned get out of control.
Dusted off my PS3 and played Metal Gear Solid for the first time and fixed my bicycle :-B
model
Wanted to make the model downloadable for free under CC non-commercial license as is the original, but then realized this wasn't possible using the NoAI-tag. "Starting today, you will no longer be able to apply the NoAI tag to new uploads of CC-licensed content due to the uncertainty around the tag’s enforceability outside of Sketchfab." stated a post from Nov 2023. Noticed the sketchfab forum is gone. Then read that the platform will dissolve into "Fab", same as Quixel Megascans and Artstation Marketplace - wondering how that's going to go. All this certainly makes me re-think my use of such platforms, considering their existence and rules are so fragile. Maybe going forward, I should stick to Toolbag viewer.