Tuesday 29 January 2013

More blocking out

I have pretty much got my scene blocked out now. I have all the main pieces where they need to be (scaled correctly too I believe). I have edited my geometry so that the modular pieces hold the detail they need to be recognised as part of the original scene. I have a few updates to make on the roof of the scene and the bridge arch's that hold the roof up but other than that the block out is complete. I am quite happy with the block out. I think the basic block out replicates the scene from the movie and I can now progress with sculpting, poly painting, texturing and modelling the props to fill the scene with.

Below are the screenshots of my block out as it stands now.




Over the course of the project, I have also created more modular pieces that I have been able to use for my scene. All the models in the screenshot below are used to build the scene on one side and then mirror over to the next. I hope to sculpt some variations of these models so that I can have the same modular pieces with noticeable differences so that the scene doesn't look to similar.


Below are a few screenshots of how I have assembled and edited the modular pieces. These should work well for sculpting on but I will have to greatly edit the geometry afterwards to obtain optimised low poly meshes.





Friday 25 January 2013

Blocking out

Today I started blocking out my environment. So far it has proved very difficult. This is because I have not been able to get reference for certain parts of the environment. It has been very hard to try and get certain pillars and platforms to all fit together properly. Many of these issues that I have with the environment are not clearly seen in the scene so at the moment, I am having to guess how things need to be placed together best I can.

So far this is my block out progress,


This is a main screenshot of how the scene is coming together. As you can see the scene consists of many modular pieces that all fit together. Fortunately I am able to mirror my scene quickly and build the other half since it is very symmetrical. I will however have to take into account important aspects of the environment that have structural damages that break this symmetry. Currently it has proved difficult to make sure all of the pieces fit together properly. This is because I am trying to measure everything by eye. I have been very unlucky in finding strong enough reference that allow me to see the correct heights of certain parts of the scene. The main area that has proved awkward to replicate so far is the back pillars that bridge to the main walls next to the well. It seems that if I change the heigh of the walls to match my reference, then the bridge that leads to the pillars is too high which in turn means I have to raise the height of the platforms and stairs. This causes the rest of the scene to look too big. This is something that I need to focus on so that I am happy with the overall scale of the scene before pressing on too far into development.


These are the main modular pieces in my scene that I can duplicate and edit to build the environment. Currently these I believe are roughly the correct scale so once I get the rest of the scene pieces to match up with these assets, I can begin adding detail to them and progress.


This is the well and the tomb stone that play key focal points in my scene. Once again, these need to be scaled perfectly to the rest of the scene so that everything looks correct.


This is a top down view of my scene so far. Like I previously mentioned, the scene has been mirrored over. This will save me a great amount of time in the long run since my scene is so modular. I will have the luxury of spending time focusing on creating assets and props to fill the scene.


Whilst working I like to constantly keep a back up of any pieces that I am working on, a mesh palette so to speak. Here I duplicate many variations of the same mesh that I have edited so that if the change doesn't work or a previous mesh was better optimised, then I have the backup at hand that I can get to very quickly as opposed to finding the save file that the mesh I need was in.


Reference

Gathering reference for this scene has been incredibly difficult. While searching for reference I could mainly only find images from this scene that depict the action sequences between the cave troll, orcs and the fellowship. The reference I need however is of the actual structure and layout of the environment. I managed to collect some images of floor plans and models for table top games that people have made but these were all inaccurate and did not follow the same look as the film. I turned my attention to how the scene was made in video games based on the movie but again, these were also inaccurate and at times not even remotely to scale. Luckily however, I own the film on Blu-Ray so I was able to play the sequence through many times over, pause and screenshots of any angles that showed me the layout of the environment.

Below is a link to Dropbox that features all of the reference material that I will be using for the creation of my environment.

A3DR, where to begin...

The Advanced 3D Rendering module focuses on creating an environment from a scene in a movie. After having a think about some films that have interesting environments I remembered a scene from The Lord of the Rings. It is the Balin's Tomb scene from The Fellowship of the Ring. I think the scene is not only good from an action perspective but because of the way the environment looks. The room is lit by a cone of light that shines down upon a tomb stone. The surrounding room is filled with pillars, platforms and walls that have runes carved into them. The environment is also filled with many interesting props that define what had happened to room before. These include skeletons, weapons, rubble, cobwebs and damage to the pillars, stairs and platforms.

Below is the scene that I will be re-creating the environment from.

The Fellowship of the Ring: Balin's Tomb Scene