3D Digital Literacy (Assignment 2-Production Progress-Week 11)

In week eleven of production for creating and modelling my fruit, it was going to be the week of trial and error. As I had done enough research and planning up to this point and now, I was going to need to try and model my fruit. I hope to do this with help from what I have learnt so far within animation, videos that lecturers have previously recorded and any helpful video I find on YouTube.

My plan is to the create a peeled banana, full strawberry, lemon and have the lemon a little different and half it in-between the middle. I will then create a deep-set plate/bowl to arrange my fruit within and create a nice arrangement, by duplicating my fruit and filling the bowl up to be a classic and flowing fruit bowl.

All of my models will be fully modelled within the software Maya and then as of yet I am unsure if I will fully texture, colour and complete my models within Maya or if I will export them over to the software Substance Painter and texture and design them for final export to Sketchpad.

This is my second modelling project since the first wizard staff in assignment one and after creating my model and receiving some feedback about my progress. I hope to learn from my first assignment, and this means applying more effort and time to my models and keeping them simple but intricate enough that they have many elements and are of a near professional standard. My first modelling project was difficult, but I hope that with my continued studies within Maya that I am able to improve my work and that it shows.

I began creating my lemon by first selecting a circle polygon and using the button ‘range’ to change the size up of what size I wanted my lemon to be. To get a rough idea of what a lemon what sized like and how it was shaped, I added in an image reference of a lemon behind the model and was able to then view closely any little bumps and grooves that the lemon had. Again, this was my first time using this tool and was surprised to see how easy it was to set up and just how well it helped me in creating my lemon step by step. The next step was to the select the entire lemon, place it into ‘vertex’ mode and select each or a group of ‘vertexes’ and using the ‘move’ button created that elongated and bumpy exterior of a lemon. To add to the bumpy exterior of a lemon, I also added the ‘fractal’ texture to the outer area and changed the intensity depending how bumpy I wanted my lemon exterior.

This was a simple and quick enough process and I was able to get the lemon to model exactly how I wanted it, I then selected the entire lemon put it into ‘edge’ mode and halved it down the middle. The next step is the one that I struggled with just because I am still unfamiliar with the entire system of Maya and how it works, before I applied the middle face to the lemon I selected ‘lambert’ and changed the colour to the bright yellow of a lemon.

Next I searched the internet for a reference image of the inside of the lemon and was going to apply it to the model of the two halves of the lemon and give the lemon an accurate texture and complete my model.

The process to apply this image was simple enough, as it was the same to apply colour, but instead the image had to be applied through selecting an image file instead. I had followed all the steps of the many tutorials, but this is when I began to get stressed as the image wasn’t being applied to my model.

At this point after searching through many online tutorials and webpages, I decided to contact the tutor of 3D Literacy and ask him if he could help me with my problem. I explained I was following a tutorial and that although I followed the steps that they had, I was still coming up with a blank face to my model.

Advice that I had gathered from online sources was to ‘UV map’ my model and to make sure that the image was applied to the correct part of the lemon. To do this I changed my view into ‘UV editor’ mode selected my lemon, set the lemon UV’s into ‘planar’ mode and was then able to ‘unfold it’ and see the UV’s clearer. Whether this was the correct way to UV map my object I was unsure, as I am still unsure with UV mapping, but it was further than what I had gotten in the past. Showing my model and explaining the issue to Henry it was quickly clear that I had still a long while to go before I mastered the art of modelling within Maya and becoming confident, as Henry suggested I selected the button ‘6’ which applies the texture view and that it when I realised my texture had been there all along.

As you can see the texturing process and selecting the button ‘6’ to allow my texture to appear worked and I was able to then correctly positioned my image onto the correct face of my model and therefore completed my simple design of a lemon, the next step was to create the rest of my fruits and then maybe apply the final touches within ‘Substance Painter’.

The next fruit I was going to model was the strawberry and for this fruit, I was just going to create an entire strawberry and then duplicate and spread them out. After the first reference image of the lemon had helped me out on focusing in on how a lemon looks and keeping in line with accurately modelling the shape of the fruit. I thought it would be best to search for a good reference image of a strawberry that I wish to model after.

To begin in modelling the strawberry it was fairly simple and I began in selecting the circle models ‘vertexes’ and moved them according to my reference image. I looked onto two YouTube tutorials called ‘Autodesk Maya…’ by 3dEx and another one called ‘Strawberry Fruit Tutorial…” by SimplyInfo and this combination was able to provide me help in completing my models.

So far, the modelling of my fruit models was quite similar and easy to navigate, however it was then time to create some detail with the strawberry’s seeds and that is when I was finding it difficult to complete each task within the tutorial. The process of the seeds seemed simple enough as it was collecting all the sides of the model together and extruding them. I selected the ‘face’ option view of the strawberry and was able to select the faces I wanted to extrude inwards to create the little pockets of the strawberry that you would find the seeds. I then used the ‘move’ tool to further extrude inwards and created multiple faces within the strawberry. To create the seeds, after I had moved the models faces inwards, I then extruded once more outwards to create the little seeds.

Although what I had created did not look exactly like the tutorials, I was still proud with what I created and didn’t find it too difficult to manage. It was when I had to select the seeds faces and colour them orange, against the red strawberry. Was when I noticed the seeds looked a little less like actual seeds growing separately from a strawberry and more like just a morph of skin, that I extruded outwards towards the centre. I did not change this small detail as It wasn’t too noticeable, however I wonder now if its these little details that develop the model from amateur status to professional.

The next step was to narrow the dips I had made within the base of the strawberry and where the seeds lay, as they were shaped as a circle and not quite accurate to the narrower reference image of the strawberry. This was a more tedious part to the modelling, but not too bad as all that I had to do was to group each face individually, select ‘range’ and narrow the dip.

To create the top of the strawberry I selected a smaller, flat polygon and extruded the edges of the polygon until I got an array of leaves, to which I then selected ‘bend’ to give more depth and difference. The strawberry was a simple enough model to create, however it was when I was showing my tutor my work that he noticed the strawberry had a high level of polygons. He explained how this could become an issue with exporting such a dense model and that projecting my work onto a simpler model of the strawberry may work. I have yet to complete and export the model, so this will be an issue I will need to resolve in the upcoming week.

The next model I began was the banana and the banana peel, for which I didn’t get around to. This from the start was a difficult model to perfect and although I had help from tutors and online videos, I was unable to correct and completely finish my banana. However, I had created a trial of the model and had hopefully learned from my trial and error.

To create the banana and banana peel, I had gotten help from a video Henry my lecture had sent me and a YouTube video “…Modelling A Banana” by Aria Taheri. The plan for this model was to create a circle, based of a sliced section of a banana and to duplicate this.

To do this I used the line tool and traced around the edge of a sliced banana. I had some difficulty doing this because trying the re-size a polygon that was made solely out of lines was difficult and was also the main component needed to create the entire banana.

To help me with each step of the modelling process, I gathered three different images of a banana, one of its slices, a halved banana and image of a couple of slices and then an entire banana. The second image I had used was pointless for me to include, but during the beginning of creating this model, I was unsure the best way to present my model, as I was having difficulty in creating it to begin with.

In modelling the banana and after the single outline of the model was created, the following steps was to duplicate the shape and with the help of the reference image, outlay each shape along the base of the banana.

The set-up of the banana model I had created was quite successful, but after combining all of the shapes together, the end product of the banana wasn’t looking quite how I wanted and at this point the entire process was getting quite stressful. I was having difficulty closing and extruding the end part of the model and overall was getting lost within the YouTube tutorials. This is the part of my modelling process where I decided to give-up on creating a banana and instead result to my backup plan of creating a pineapple model instead. I have researched and found there is many more YouTube tutorials and the entire process of creating a pineapple seems easier to follow and understand, so I thought it would be best to then direct my attention to a new model that I may have an easier time creating.

I believe if I tried my hardest and applied more attention towards trying to correct and complete my banana model. That within time I would have been able to understand where I was going wrong and complete the model. However as it is my first year in university and I get quite anxious, no matter the amount of time I have to perfect and complete a project, I will always worry about finishing the project and making sure I have everything ready to post in time. This probably is also why I quickly moved onto my next project of a pineapple and I realise that this could be something I learn from, to perhaps try a little harder at continuing my work ad exhaust all possibilities before giving up.

My final fruit model to create was going to be a pineapple standing up tall, with some leaves at the top. I was using some tutorials “...Lighting a Pineapple fruit...” by Nalini kanta jena and was finding it a lot more enjoyable trying my hand at creating a pineapple within Maya.

Again the first step was to research a good reference photo that was high quality, because this time the image was going to be used for both a reference photo for the shape of the 3D model, but was also going to be used as the main texture for both the main body and top, leaf sections of the pineapple.

The process in making the pineapple I can tell from checking out the videos, was going to be a lot more in depth that the other quick processes of the lemon and strawberry, but I was eager for the challenge.

I began with selecting a circle polygon and picking a single skin on the pineapples outer shell, to focus my design on and then continue the work to tweak the vertexes of the model to resemble the pineapple. In order to give realistic texture to the pineapple I duplicated the lower half section of the skin and grouped it above the first skin to use as the case for the model.

To further model this pineapple, I was going to have to UV map the first models I had made, apply a texture and get a close view of the pineapple’s shape. I selected my models and changed my view to UV editor to then work on UV mapping my object. I selected my model in object mode, selected the model again in UV editor and was able to select ‘planar’ and then ‘create’ to separate my two UV’s and present them clearly to me, to then model.

This was the first difficult thing I had with modelling the fruit, as when I was learning a new way to select and morph the vertices within the model. I was shown to use ‘soft select’ to allow the changes I made to the model to not disrupt the shape of the model less and to keep a smooth edge to the entire model with each movement. Although I followed every step correctly the ‘soft selection’ wasn’t working the way it was supposed to and before I got the correct shape, I had to lower the intensity of the ‘soft select’ and then work from there on.

‘Soft select’ was quite difficult to get a hang of and was something new I was learning, but from what I’ve noticed in the difficulties I am having within Maya. Is that every problem I have had, can be easily solved if I was able to understand the basic controls of Maya and I hope that from what I learnt, that I keep the knowledge and apply it to my further problems within Maya.

The last stage of creating my pineapple was the first time I was able to really see my model come together and so far, I was proud of what I created. I completed the single skin model for the pineapple, and this was then to be duplicated, grouped and duplicated once more to create the continuous skin surrounding a pineapple. This step was quite simple and so was using the flat polygon and bend to create the leaves on top.

The only problems I faced and managed throughout this part was that I noticed at the very bottom and top of the pineapple, I hadn’t included the duplicate skin I created and that’s because I thought with the leaves that the model would not need this added design. Although it began to look messy and unfinished and the positioning of the leaves were exactly where I thought best, so to move them to fill the gap would leave the pineapple to appear unproportioned. I was unable to create the exact same duplicate and group combination I had made previously, so I just duplicate single, skin models and was able to add them each by hand to wherever required them. A timely process, but one I felt would complete the pineapple and allow it to remain a good example of a 3D model.

In beginning the process of modelling the plate I gathered the research of a reference photo and some tutorials on YouTube to help me out, however I wanted to try and make the model myself just too see how hard it would be.

In trying this I was able to use what I had learnt from the beginning classes of 3D Literacy, were we created models such as the vase and use the combo of the move tool and extruding tool to create a plate from a flat polygon.

It’s a little victory but in the beginning, I know that I was really struggling with anything to do with learning and creating models in Maya, so to then progress in making a model of a plate with no help and just from what I had learned. Really showed me that practicing pays off and I am eager to keep practicing throughout the summer.

With all my fruit and plate completed, it was time now to research and see if I will stay and complete my models within Maya or if I will export to Substance Painter, for the final texturing and lighting before exporting to Sketchfab.