Hot Air Balloons and Church Model

To better practice my UVW Wrapping skills, I created simple shapes which need better wrapping techniques to make them look more lifelike. I chose an angular building (church), which is made up of many different parts all attached together after working with the textures.



I used two hand-created textures for the church - one which represents old brick and one which represents old slate tiles for the roof sections. I used the UVW Unwrapping process to ensure the roof was a different texture to the brickwork, in the hopes of making it look more realistic. The hot air balloons also depict my own hand-made textures, but they deliberately look a little more wild and colourful, rather than going for attention to detail as I did with the church.




I have found that it is incredibly fiddly and time-consuming, but the end results are quite positive. The Grassy background is simply just to make it look like it is actually standing on something, so I'm not too fussed that it doesn't look quite as realistic. Maybe if I were to include this as part of a portfolio, I would work a little more on making the grass look more like grass, rather than greenish blurs. But as my main focus for this post is the building itself, I don't mind too much at the moment. It's something I will work on at a later date.

UVW Unwrapping

This is a screenshot of the UVW Unwrap process I have started. I plan to incorporate a new texture, combining a more metalic looking texture with a more organic looking texture. This is to help make it more obvious that it is actually a built space-ship.

To do this, I created the two separate Textures using Adobe Photoshop and combined them using an Overlay alteration so as to see both at the same time and be able to work with them together.

I then had to go into 3D Max and add a UVW Unwrap Modifier. Next, I went into the 'Edit' and used the 'Flatten Mapping' tool to smooth out and separate the individual pieces of my model. I then used Print Screen to copy this model structure over into Photoshop to work with it.

Finally, it was simply a matter of altering the different sections with my two textures (Shown in the screenshot below after taking out the UVW Breakdown), before saving it as a total texture and using the 'Materials' tool in 3D Max to wrap it around my model.

The image at the top shows the above texture wrapped around the small part of my model. After creating this one, I shall use the same process to create similar textures to wrap around the other sections.

3D Spaceship Contd ...

I have further developed my 3D Spaceship model to include a propeller and textures. The texture I have created using Adobe PhotoShop, with a combination of different Fractal and Smoke Brushes, plus multiple colours. The image has also had Hue and Saturation altered slightly to make it less of an eye-sore.

For the propeller, I have created a simple metallic texture and overlayed using the 'Material Editor' tool in 3D Studio Max. For the ship itself, I wanted to go for more organic, natural colours, and so chose to create a texture that reflects plant-life and nature : containing green and brown tints. Initially, the texture looked rather stretched and unprofessional over the pointed area above the propeller. Therefore, to amend this, I created a Sphere, altered the shape using a Taper tool, and then textured this with the same material. This has covered up the area that was troubling me, and also helps to even out the point (which I didn't think looked all that organic in the first place).



My next step for this project is to look into lighting and shading. Perhaps I can create a 'greenhouse' effect for the mushroom shapes on the model? We shall see, soon enough ...

Today, I've been working a little more on my 3D Max model of a spaceship. I have adjusted the original, cloned it a further 3 times and started altering the joints between the domes and the stems. I will use the process of welding to get them roughly together, and then will delete un-needed polygons and re-create them in a more orderly, tidy fashion.

As part of my course, I have been asked to make an Interactive CD-ROM. I have decided to do one based on the hit TV-Show: 'Doctor Who'. This is because I have easy access to a lot of its assets - in the form of images, episodes, audio files, etc - and also, most importantly, because I totally love the series. I intend to focus more on the regenerated style that will suit the new series airing in March, so this project will be a bit like a promotional CD-ROM for the show.

I have combined my skills with Premiere Elements, PhotoShop and Flash to create this welcome screen :-


It includes a High-Definition version of the 2010 series trailer, starring Matt Smith. I have used PhotoShop to create the background, edit the logo, create the 'CD-ROM' banner and add in a video border. I then used Premiere Elements to alter the video to get it the best possible quality. In the end, it had to be exported as an .flv file (flash video file) which only plays through the Flash programme. However, I'm hopeful that this will not stop the video playing when it is finally transferred onto a CD-ROM.

Finally, after exporting all layers from the Photoshop file into PNG-24 files (with transparency), I then created a new Flash file and imported everything over, arranging it as I want it and adding in the trailer.

I'm really happy with how this has turned out. I will use the same sort of style for every other page to make keep with continuity throughout.