The title and Skin Development

The idea behind this text was to create a typographic title that would give some idea to the story. This is an overlay of maps and plans from the first world war, the Schiefflen plan.

Developments on the skin texture and a new model of the face has proven to have worked alot better, becoming more realistic with which I now feel comfortable producing scenes with this character, to put forward as a concept Graphic novel.

Development and finalising

Just to make sure that my blog is being updated weekly I thought I would post a written evaluation of my work so far.

The story is developing well with 2 chapters finished. As the theme for this project has changed slightly, the story will only be written in free time, most likely an ongoing individual project.
I am now creating the concept graphic novel due to time constraints as a full story at this point with a month left of creating and finalising all scenes will be too much for one person to handle.

Planned storyboards and scene ideas have been sketched up and elements to be created also, which in essence will help visualise this in 3ds max as I will have a reference, rather than the begining of this project where by it was finding out what I could achieve within the 3d software.

Further development - The Begining to the End

This is the basic Idea I had of being able to create a front cover using the CG elements I have been creating in 3ds max. The idea is to create a cover that would give insight in what to expect within the book, for example the fact that it is a 3d Graphic novel, maybe not giving away the storyline as such just yet as a synopsis will be developed for the back page also.

The typeface I believe is quite subtle but stands out within the page, very legible and attractive.

Designing the body and clothes

Creating the body after the face seemed easy as the proportions from when I have done life drawing became useful. As the body didnt need to be represented entirely perfect, as clothes would be put over the top, the modelling seemed easy enough.

This task is definately one that I struggle with, as for people to look at the work and pass for realistic, the clothes must be detailed in creases of the jacket and even the texture of fabric that this would be made from.

I created the smaller elements for detail on the face like lines and the glasses to create some more realism, this I feel creates more elements to the face that help the characters personality, as you can imagine already that this character may be quite moody and serious.

Also the clothes need to be adjusted further to create a better looking quality for the jacket and shirt, as the modelling of this isnt the best, but as far as developing goes I feel that this is working quite well, creating a lot of contrast in the image within photoshop, as it is bringing certain elements out of the image creating some nice focal points.

 Further adjustments will be made in later designs, but for now the main part of this project is finding the right design for the characters and settings.

Render Test

Another render test to see the effects fully of what can be achieved through the lighting techniques I have learnt. However photoshop hasnt helped this image I feel as the same technique applied for the last image has created a rather dark image on this piece.

Although this first scene is supposed to be a dark moody scene I feel that this is going to far with this technique.

Final render for visuals

This is the quality I hope to achieve with all my scenes.

This is a final render on the developing of techiques, using realistic materials and lighting techniques. This has been developed in photoshop also which is what I intend to do to create the finals for the book as it will allow me to just create simple adjustments to bring out certain areas of my scene.

Areas for improvement are highlighted red, where the texture doesnt wrap around the model of the door properly, something that needs to be refined. Aslo the random white specular blob that is situated on the marble floor. The next render however shows the improvements, which has also been enhanced in photoshop, adding a glow to the scene and giving more contrast to create a dark scene in which case this scene will be an eery scene.

More rendering techniques - hospital bed

The trick with these new images was now to start creating objects within the scene to add more realism, like the lighting and the materials used. The most difficult was the cloth on the bed, the modelling part was nice and simple where as getting the material correct was difficult. In the end the development in photshop proved to be a more useful tool rather than correcting the material within the 3d max scene.

For full view click the images.

Tutorials

Due to the complexity of what I am to create I felt that tutorials from magazines would help me as I was having trouble within designing textures for my models, which in these tutorials I found easy.

The idea behind these tutorials was for me to get used to the complications that can arise from the compositions I am building. I found these useful as I learnt more techniques and how to develop a scene fully in 3ds max. UVW mapping was a concept I had heard of but never fully understood, now from these tutorials I feel confident with texturing a scene, how ever the lighting is going to be an issue as there are so many tests that need rendering to ensure high quality realistic effects. Because these tutorials were designed to be easily followed I had no problem with the creating and the texturing as well as lighting, I only hope that when it comes to creating my own scenes with this complexity that I can do this with ease and no complications. However I know that alot of test renders will need to be created to ensure that this goes smoothly.

More designs will be up shortly, hopefully a fully developed first scene, to show the level of quality I hope to achieve with the rest of the graphics

Further Eye and skin developments

I found that this skin modifier created too much of a plastic look to the character, perharps something that I need to research more, how ever I intend to create the face texture in photoshop and add this to the model.

Also within the modelling aspect I realise that the face is too smooth, which hopefully with the face texture I intend to create, will help create a more rough coarse finish to give a realistic skin.

Skin modifier and Ears

Developing on the earlier face model, I have created the ears and managed to find a fast skin modifier within 3ds max default materials. Although this isnt the greatest of textures for high resolution, this certain represents skin well, as this allows you to create crevices in the skin and creats a nice shin where people may have oily or sweaty skin.

Update on modelling the face

This is a further development on modelling a face. Although this looks a little bit iRobot the intention is clear, to be able to create a realistic skin texture on this model for further developing with hair and other elements to bring out the realism of a character.

The ears still need to put into this design but its a great development on the initial stages.
The proportions are good and the smoothness of the face has worked well. The eyes are going to fit in nicely and the initial images show that not alot of development will be needed to suit the design I am looking for.

Exterior Idea

This idea came to me while researching tutorials on the internet. This is a simple way of being able to create exteriors that look 3d just by using a simple jpeg or bitmap image.

The idea is to create a plane (simple flat base), and cut into the object where the lines would extrude on the image. For example as you can see within this image below, I sliced into the plane around the window which enable me to extrude this certain part, creating that sense of 3d to a 2d image.

A simple but effective technique that could be useful for a backdrop in a city scene as this could save time on creating lots of indiviual buildings.

Scene 1 - Interior

The scene that I am developing here is the begining of my novel, depicting a hospital styled building set underground. I started at the begining of just creating the walls and adding the elements to make a more realistic view of the room i.e. the windows and the bed. For further developments and to create more realism I will have to create more components to the scene, but this will all be visualised on paper before creation for the final part of the Final Major Study.

Creating lights to look realistic was a struggle as they are the key to creating good shadow techniques and bringing out certain areas of the imagery. The textures are all basic textures created by using layers in photoshop, to create a realistic wall look.

This final image here is a development in photoshop. I could not create a good lighting technique from within the lamp in 3ds max, therefore this was created using a simple lense flare to add that brightness of the lamp, trying to illuminate the scene.

At this stage I am still well within the developing of skills. I feel that to be creating final imagery at this stage would not have the same impact, where as researching techniques and trying them out with simplistic versions of the finished product will give me the upper hand as I will then know what will work within the final renders of my scenes when it comes to creating the finished imagery.

First Idea of a Front Cover design

Although I like the image here this only represents the title of the book in a bold and in your face direct approach, which is the exact opposite of what I would like from this novel.

I will endeavour to create a more substantial cover design that incorporates the imagery from within the novel, so there is a clear representation of what to expect from the book I am going to create.

Plane Design

These are a series of imagery showing more of modelling techniques, the progression of how to create, in this case, a plane.

The idea of this production diary for this first stage is to create a series of developed images from 3ds max, to gain more of an understanding of the creation method so when it comes to finalising new scenes for final imagery, the process should be smoother.

The idea behind this developing the modelling is create a basic shape that can be modified, by using an Edit poly. This enables you to move certain vertices on the wireframe image shown below. This is the very basic idea of the step by step process of how I created the plane, by creating a cylinder and then using the edit poly and vertex sub object mode, created the shape from this.

1st Attempt - The Head Modelling

With the first attempt at creating the face I realise that this is going to be a difficult task creating the characters totally in 3d, let alone the environment. Although I have to admit for a first atempt with creating a human head this isnt the worst I have seen. The idea behind the creation method for characters was to base the facial structures on that of real people (from photographic references)

This series of images could be used as a more artistic approach to the human form rather than a direct copy. Unfortunately the result I am looking for is a more realistic copy of real life structure.

Further development needed.

Another first time try at the eyes and hair of my character. Again there is much room for development but there are aspects of these that show progression in my skills.

Idea

Final Major Study

This production diary is to show the step by step process of my final major project, the development of my Graphic Novel.

I intend to create a Graphic Novel based on a story of my own creation. The imagery is going to be a mixed composite media, using 3ds max and photoshop as well as after effects and other tools and programs that may help this project.

The final outcome may change nearer the time depending on the problems encountered.

These are the initial city ideas, 3d composites with the intention of using photoshop or after effects to develop further.

The basis of the imagery is to create a 3d novel instead of the common illustrative style that you see in the standard comic. However my skills in 3D are not at a high standard, but over the course of this process I hope to develop my skills.

The next modelling stage is to create a human head. Unfortunately this process is the most difficult to create within 3d.