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Category: Advanced & Experimental
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Evaluation
This project developed not only my teamwork in an industry based schedule, but also my communication skills in a VFX group, and modelling skills.
I learnt the roles within a VFX project in detail, keeping in close contact iwht my CGI lead, and making changed where neccesary for the group.
I learnt a variety of texturing and modelling skills as some of my models were complex in design and texture. I also had to overcome issues such as topology and UV improvements, making sure my models as a look dev were optimised for the final render.
Overall this project produced great results as the outcome of great team work and communication between our group. We went though major improvements as the weeks went by this term and our room was reflective of our inspiration and references we had aggreed on in the first weeks of this project.
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Personal Project
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Evaluation
This project has taught me so much, espsecially focusing on realistic texturing and the use of Substance Painter and Maya. I also learnt new skills such as creating particle simulations. Creating this realistic and creative model has developed my design skills, including model design, texture design, theme and colour design. Creatively, it has enabled me to bloom in all of these fields of VFX.
I ran into may obstacles, including topology and UV troubleshooting, so my problem solving within 33D modelling and texturing has been challenged, and I was able to solve these efficiently.
I am very happy with the outcome of this project, it was exactly what I had in mind when I started this project, and the results were perfectly in line with what I had challenged myself to create.
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Week 11
This week I made final details and changes to my sword includiing minor colour changes, and specular and reflection tweaks.
I then decided I had time to add more animation elements. This was my first time trying particle simulation on Maya.
I selected the blade and added a fire effect to the surface of the mesh.
After tweaking the settings a lot, such as the density and spread of fire, and the radius and roundness of the particles, I changed the colour of my fire to the appropriate colouring of my pallette for my sword.
I then realised to render it out I needed to use Maya software instead of arnold which I was using for my sword. To get around this I decided to render the sword and fire out seperately and merge them in Nuke after.
I had made a simple animation of a camera turning 360 degrees around the sword to ensure all lighting and shadowing would be seen. I copy and pasted this camera to the fire scene so that they would merge perfectly at the same position and timing as each other when rendered.
I then rendered out my sword and merged these in Nuke.
I re-did these in HD and then wanted to show off more of the textures in my final video, so I made another camera animation zooming into parts of my sword all over, and repeated the rendering process of the fire with the copied camera, and the sword and then merged these.
I put all of these videos together in Da Vinci Resolve and rendered out my final project including development of my model.
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Week 10
This week I developed my thesis proposal more by defining what the chapters in my thesis would be, and writing the general outline for each chapter:
General outline of each chapter
- Introduction
For my introduction, I will introduce my topic and argument, and briefly explain the main factors of my thesis. I will explain visual effects and introduce some topics of how it is involved in video games, and how I will be exploring its implementation within games.
- Literature review
My literature review will be introducing some of my sources, how I found these, and how they really help me develop my thesis discussions. I will also be explaining how they link to my topic, and how they have helped me delve into the appropriate research and data needed to back up points in my thesis.
- Common game mechanics in combat-led games
This chapter will look at common game mechanics used in games such as progression bars, achievements, levelling up, and experience points, in accordance with how these are used during combat in games, and visual effects’ part in creating these.
- Weapon design
This chapter will be more looking at 3D modelling, a huge part of visual effects, and how the design of certain weapons in different genres affects the game’s combat experience. For example, different sword designs could be linked to certain specialities in combat, meaning the character and player feels more of a link to the combat they are playing, with the aesthetics they are seeing.
- Damage and healing
This chapter will look at how visual effects helps create motifs of damage, healing, or death in a game. For example, in most games, a player knows when they are near death, whether that be due to blood appearing on the screen, or a pulsating effect on the screen. I will be exploring visual effects within these elements and how this adds to a gaming experience.
- Designing dynamic combat sequences
This chapter will be looking at design elements in combat scenes that are crucial to games and their experience for the player. For example, how chase sequences are made in a way the player knows attacking isn’t an option and a chase sequence is coming. For example, visual effects use specific creature design to indicate a threat that no weapons can solve, sometimes using only visual aesthetics of the creatures themselves, whilst initiating a chase sequence. I will also be looking at the combat design itself when a wand or sword emits magical spells, or lightning is conjured, and how these sequences are visually produced.
- Ethical issues surrounding visual effects in video games
This chapter will be focusing if visual effects in games, making the combat more realistic, etc. is an ethical concern or not, in accordance with the psychology the player experiences, especially targeted at children who play games aimed primarily focused on combat gameplay.
- Conclusion
My conclusion will be gathering up all my findings and concluding about everything discussed and rounding up my thesis as a whole.
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Week 10
Our project is now on the phase in which extra details are being polished and compositers are putting the scene all together with the CGI leads.
We had a meeting with one of the course teachers and our feedback was that we needed to play with the lighting to get more of a dramatic feel to the room. I helped alongside the compositers and CGI members to get more of a feel for how this should look.
In the meantime, I also worked on another set of assets to help fill the room up with ‘clutter’. Me and the CGI lead figured it would be good to have something like barrels around the room to fill empty space.
I also had to re upload my light model shorter, so I made some adjustments to it and uploaded my final design.
I began by creating a basic barrel shape, again keeping it simple to not increase the heaviness of the scene. I added details with sizing and extrusion.
I then sorted the UVs ready for substance painter.
For the texturing, I did two designs. I did one with a toxic waste stamp and oil spilling out of it using the particle effect oil brush, which made realistic oil spills. I
I then did one with a warning sign and biohazzard stamp on.
Both had rough steel on as a material, and scratched edges, to look more realistic and resemble wear on the barrel.
This was one of the barrels rendered on maya:
After this week, the team managed to fix the lighting and add all these details in for a more progressed look in the room. Here are examples of the development stage we are at:
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Week 10
This week I made huge progress on texturing my sword. I went through multiple design changes this week, but at the end settled on what I thought fit the design most.
After texturing my blade, I next turned to texturing the top piece of my sword. For the first half of this week, my plan was to try out an ‘arcane’ type of design plan, and colour pallete. Here was my design inspiration for this:
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MXGRH0yFrpalddqj2BP
https://aminoapps.com/c/wow/page/item/arcane-magic/06vC_ZIKJ3Lm51R8GXooZe2WxEwgmJ6
https://mobcup.net/wallpaper/arcane-sc7qk8po
https://wambamzamzam.weebly.com/tod-academy-of-arcane-studi
The colours exude purples, oranges and blues. I used substance painter to create the textures. My normal method was to add a copper under material, and after baking the meshes I would add a mask of steel rough edge scratches to add some wear to the material. I would then add details by hand if needed. First, I textured the second ring around the orb.
I then textured the inner diamond, adding a celtic cross with the stamp tool for an extra essence of magic and medevil aesthetic to the sword.
I then did the same method for the inner ring, using the same colours.
Next, I started on the dragon wings. I had some issues with the mesh and UVs for these, The topology needed fixing as there were n-gons, as well ans the UVs needed to be more accurate to the flow of the mesh. After going back and forth with these issues, my texturing was finally working and I could open them in substance painter and texture them. I chose a purple hue for these,
I then worked on the little spikes under the wings, giving them a more lilac tone this time.
The spcae between my blade and top piece seemed like too much of a clean contrast, almost unnatural, so I created a simple indent ring and textured this.
I then worked on the horns. I made these the same colour and wear amount as the wings for consistency. I also textured the moon more of a light blue colour, with some wear around the edges.
I then made a simple surface shader for my orb. I increased the glow to max capcity and made it a turqouise colour as a temporary texture.
I checked my overall sword in rendering to see how the design ws going:
It was then time to move onto the handle. I needed to again go back and fix UVs on this too. I gave it a more rough steel material and added stamps of blood and cracks in various places, as my sword looked too clean.
I then decided to make a proper texture for my orb. I created a glowing orb in subsatnce painter using the glow tool and glass texture.
This didn’t look right in maya, and didn’t give the effect I wanted. What actually worked better was using the ai standard surface preset of glass, and adjusting the specular and transmission effects to create a glowing blue texture.
I then checked my overall sword again in render:
About halfway into this week, I had a change of heart on design for my sword. I loved this design, but something about it wasn’t as eye opening as I originally wanted. I decided to take direct references from a game which inspired this sword design to begin with: World of warcraft.
One of my favourite classes to be on WoW is a death knight, with a speciality of ‘blood’ damage. This is a certain aesthetic which is very satifying to the eye especially to me in fantasy games, here are some inspiration photos:
https://www.tentonhammer.com/guides/world-of-warcraft-blood-death-knight-class-guide
https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/blood-death-knight-pve-tank-guide
https://www.wowhead.com/guide/classes/death-knight/blood/overview-pv
The colour pallete and theme is full of reds and blues, a really interesting colour mix due to the contrast of warm and cold colours. I really wanted to explore this design as well as the arcane theme, and make my desicion from there.
Before changing the textures, you may have realised I had an issue with my texturing on my dragon wing mesh in previous renders. There were a select few faces around the models that were darker or lighter, the opposite to the rest.
I went through a day of solving issues with this topoligy, and found it was due to overlapping faces and holes in my mesh. I then had to re-do Uvs and then I was able to continue.
I re textured some of my materials with a darker red colour. I also sized in the top piece such as the rings, as I felt there was too much empty space. I made minor changes such as making things more or less worn, adding more details and blood to certain areas, but here is the development of re-texturing my model:
I tried this out on my original HDRI to see if the lighting was better, as some of the details you can’t see in these. I also made the blade match colours with the metal on the handle, and made the horns slighly lighter to see the details better.
When I was happy with this progress, I started animating the orb. I got it to turn 360 degrees and bob slightly up and down, to indicate it is floating.
Photo references:
https://www.wowhead.com/guide/legion/artifacts/aluneth-arcane-mage
https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MXGRH0yFrpalddqj2BP
https://aminoapps.com/c/wow/page/item/arcane-magic/06vC_ZIKJ3Lm51R8GXooZe2WxEwgmJ6
https://mobcup.net/wallpaper/arcane-sc7qk8po
https://wambamzamzam.weebly.com/tod-academy-of-arcane-studies.html
https://skycoach.gg/blog/wow/articles/blood-death-knight-guide
https://www.tentonhammer.com/guides/world-of-warcraft-blood-death-knight-class-guide
https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/blood-death-knight-pve-tank-guide
https://www.wowhead.com/guide/classes/death-knight/blood/overview-pve-tank
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Week 9
This week I had a meeting with my thesis advisor, and got some feedback on my draft introduction.
My articulation was seen to be off in describing what I was talking about. I was told I had to explain what my argument was the way I described it in words to my advisor. I editied my introduction accordingly:
Draft Introduction
Video games offer a unique experience to players through interactivity within a digitally created environment, playing characters with fictional backstories and motives, and in most cases, combat scenes with strategies and methods taught to progress the game and provide immersive gameplay.
This thesis will be looking at combat within video games, and more specifically, how visual effects enhance this part of the experience in video games. Visual effects are most known to bring to life action and magic in films and TV that can’t be filmed or to enhance scenes that have in fact been filmed. In worlds that are completely digital, and nothing is real, visual effects are included seamlessly in history within video games. Choices made by the game’s creators such as weapon designs, creature design, game mechanics, chase sequences, and bodily damage all arguably lean on visual effects to enhance the combat experience. For example, “combat designers will work on the player’s experience when the player meets enemies” (Killick, 2022), or even work on signifying to the player they are about to die and require health. These are common in genres such as survival horror and fantasy games, both of which we will be delving into with game examples, and conducting research on the effective visual changes some of these methods bring to games. Moreover, if visual effects in some modern games provide too much of an overcooked scene; the comparison with older games, and why these are still favoured over hyper-realism.
There is an ethical side to look at when any mention of violence is made to seem more realistic or immersive in video games, specifically linked to psychology when playing a game, and the development of psychology within children, who are the main target audience for many games revolved purely around combat. Whether visual effects’ implementation affects these issues will be discussed and researched.
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I was then told my keywords were too vauge and some of them not needed. I removed ones such as ‘guns’ and ‘meele’ as my advisor said these wouldn’t really bring up the academic sources I was looking for.
I then worked on my research method design and coming up with the names of chapters I would be using to write my brief outline of each. My advisor said that conducting my own research wouldn’t be a great idea, and to stick to getting data from other researchers online:
Research design methods
My research will consist of gathering data and information from sources online that other researchers have identified. Using my keywords, I have and will find papers, other theses and articles that agree with or contradict my argument, and implement them into my thesis to back up my statements throughout. I will conduct this research using academic online search engines and library resources at my University. With these academic papers I will compare and contrast them, and use these findings to aid my thesis.
General outline of each chapter
- Game mechanics
- Weapon design
- Damage and healing
- Creature design
- Ethical issues