Real Worlds: Building Blockouts

3D Blockouts

I have created 3D models of the components of my scene and arranged them into the composition which I will follow in my final design. This will help me test out compositions and give a basis for the complicated scene, which will allow me to block out shapes quickly without worrying about innacurate persepctive. I used Blender for this, and followed the designs I had created in my key art throughout the 3D model creation.

When creating the Ward Ship I first created the main body mass and then worked outwards, creating a pyramid shape for the peaks on top that I could duplicate and scale as I saw fit to match the key art. I also used the mirror functionality as I created the ship, using it to block out the forms of the side wings that would sit beside the central fuselage. One point of feedback had been that the manner of how the Ward Ships move through space was not clear, and as such I added another set of blocky wings to the side of the ship.


With the blockout for the Ship done, I created the planet and asteroids. As these are not as detailed as the ship their 3D blockouts are considerably more basic, using only a single spherical shape each. The planet itself is jsut a plain sphere, whilst I dimpled and added small craters and imperfections to the asteroids. I then duplicated the asteroids and spread them out across the scene.

One point of interest when developing the planet was that of determining the scale between the planet and the Ship. This would be slightly skewed as the ship would have a larger presence in the scene, the camera being closer towards it, with the planet behind the ship at a distance. As such, I altered this several times and then moved the ship and planet around to get a scale I liked. To keep this consistent I set up a new camera that I would use to take the shot I would use in my final piece, and referred to this view when moving components around. As informed by my thumbnail sketches, I tried to keep the ship to the right most third of the view, with it breaking up the silhouette of the planet whilst remaining surrounded by negative space.



I then got to work on the frigates. My thumbnail designs indicated that they would be somewhat simplistic in nature, being distant simplifications of the overall silhouette of the Ward Ship. As such, I focused on creating the form I used in my key art, with a bulging undercarriage that could house the mining lasers they would use to extract resources.


With all the components of the scene complete, I arranged them in the composition and looked at the scene from my predetermined camera view. I would then go on to base my final piece off this scene.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Industry Practice: Case Study - the art style of Don't Starve

Image
Art Style Case Study: Don't Starve Don't Starve (Klei Entertainment 2013) and Don't Starve Together (Klei Entertainment 2016) are survival games in which players command thoroughly unprepared explorers stranded in the wilderness. Over the course of in-game seasons, players gather equipment, craft items and armour, grow crops and explore the world to combat dangerous monsters and find resources in hazardous biomes. With somewhat surreal and fantastical theming, many of the monstrous creatures in the Don't Starve games are chimaeras of a sort, mixtures of two or more creatures that create unique combinations that represent specific themes or seasons in the game. For example, the "Bearger" enemy is a mixture of a Badger and a Bear, with a hulking humanoid form, bear-like claws and a badger's head. This unique combination of animals is used in Don't Starve to represent the season of autumn, with badgers and bears both being animals representative of the...
Read more

ZBrush: Transpose, Masks and Subtools

Image
Transpose  Allows for the repositioning and moving of models within ZBrush. This allows for movement, scaling and rotation. When the Transpose tool is activated, a pivot appears in the model you are moving. Thic contains arrows, axis rings and block shapes. Pulling on the arrows of the Transpose tool moves a model. Axis rings allow for rotation and the block shapes allow for scaling. These are all measured on the X, Y and Z axis.  There are also a number of options that allow for the Transpose tool to be customised. The Lock  Gear: Allows access to deformers. Pin: Pins the pivot to its current location. Locator : Centres pivot to unmasked areas of the model.  Home: Centres the pivot on the model. Circle Arrow: Reset rotation of pivot Lock: Unlocks the pivot, allowing for the pivot to be moved independent of the model. This allows for the centre of rotation to be changed,  Checkbox: Transpose multiple models at once. Masks Masks allow for areas of a ZBrush ...
Read more

3d toolkit: Zmodeler and Extract

Image
Zmodeler: Zmodeler is a brush/tool that allows for 3D modelling techniques, such as extruding and beveling, to be used atop a Zbrush Sculpt. This operates similarly to Autodesk Maya, with edges and faces able to be selected and manipulated using a variety of settings. To demonstrate the Zmodeler tool, I loaded up the default Cube project. I then, using the "Geometry" setting in the Tool menu at the right side, changed the Subdivisions of the cube to 2. This removed much of the geometry of the cube. I then used "Delete Higher" and "Delete Lower" to lock the cube into its two-subdivision state, removing any erroneous geometry. I then turned on the " Line Fill " setting, which is activated by pressing SHIFT+F . This shows the geometry of the cube, illustrating all faces and edges. The shortcut for Zmodeler is B , Z , M . The Zmodeler functionality operates similarly to a brush. Holding Alt allows you to select faces. Shown below, I held down the Alt...
Read more