Final Animation Scene - Test Shot - (Textured, Lighting, Shadows).

The screenshot below shows my final animation scene with the desired lighting and shadows I wanted with the help of physical sun and sky. I wanted to give a desert ambience and feel to the scene to make it feel more like a war-zone. The lighting effect also gives a sunset feel to the scene which I also like. 

Final Animation Scene - Test Shot - Textured.

So the image below is a test render of the entire scene together completely textured. As you can see everything has come together quite well. The windows on the buildings are reflecting quite nicely. The bump maps on the smaller houses and the tanks have come out very well and show a good level of detail. The next stage is to sort out the physical sun and sky lighting so that the gamma and lighting reflects the scene better to make it more realistic. I will also lower the horizon line in accordance to the camera height because for the sake of the animation I only want the sky visible in the background. I am also going to add some haze to the sky and change the colour contrast to give more of a desert war setting as that is the look that I am after for the final animation.

Tank (3D Model) - Texturing Complete.

Today I finished the texturing for the tank model. Like with the street scene I used the lambert material and then applied image texturing and bump maps to the majority of the tanks armour. The bump map also gives the tank more of a metal feel and I also feel that it makes the model stand out more. I used the blinn material for all the bolts on the tank like the armour plating and hatch bolts. I then used a standard lambert material with a colour for some details of the tank such as the engine grate, hatches and tank track treads.

Street (3D Model) - Texturing Complete.

Today I finished the texturing for the street model. For use I mainly used the lambert material as I applied image texturing and bump maps to the buildings in the scene. For the large building at the back I just used the standard lambert with a colour as my camera will be too far away in the actual scene to see the detail of the building. I also used the standard lambert with a colour for both the pavement and the road as I thought this would suit the scene better rather then the scene be completely image based texturing and bump maps. I also used the standard blinn material with reflection for the windows of all the buildings to add more realism to the scene as well as detail.

Turret (3D Model) - Texturing Complete.

Today I finished the texturing for the turret model. Like with the helicopter model I used mia_material_x. I applied the metal preset for the main body of the turret including the turret barrel. I also used the copper preset for the cables and joints to give more of a rusty metal feel. Again I did not use any UV's or bump-maps as this model will be positioned down the other end of the street scene adjacent to the where my camera will be so you would need be able to see the detail if I applied it to the turret. Taking render time into account again I decided to keep the textures simple using the mia_material_x presets to give a metal look to the turret model.

Helicopter (3D Model) - Texturing Complete.

Today I finished the texturing for the helicopter model. I used mia_material_x for the model, I also applied different presets such as chrome for the rotor blade connectors and the barrel of the under-mounted machine gun. I used the metal preset for the helicopter body and other features such as the weaponry. I used the rubber preset for the wheels and the outside structure of the machine gun. I then applied a blinn to the cockpit and made it transparent to give a see through glass effect to the cockpit windows adding realism. I did not use any UV's or bump-maps for this model as the model will fly over the camera and will not be close enough to see any texture detail if I added any. I took this into account so that it would help keep my render time down considering I will have lots going on in my animation scene.  

Post - Early Prototype Presentation.

Overall my early prototype presentation went according to plan scoring high on the evidence of research section. The examiners seemed happy with the progress I have made so far and I believe I am on course to completing the final project successfully. The feedback I received was good. The success of the final project will strongly depend on the quality of the final animation meaning that I will have to render at a high quality in order to fulfil success of the final project. The other piece of feedback I received was to use bump-maps on my models. Having done this already for the street models and the tank models I believe I have fulfilled this feedback. The only reason I have not used bump-maps for the turret model and the helicopter model is because they will not be close to where the camera is positioned meaning you would not be able to see the bump-map detail anyway. Again with regards to render time this will keep that down because I would have used fewer bump-maps. 

Final Scene - Rendered - Test Shots.

The screenshots below were some test shots of all my models together in one scene to see what they would look like. I also have physical sun and sky in the background to light the scene just to show a more realistic example shot. As you can see the scene looks much more realistic and you can see exactly what I am aiming for in terms of my animation. My next task is to animate the models and then add appropriate nfluid and nparticle effects for explosions and gunfire.

Early Prototype Presentation Planning.

Today I planned and laid out my PowerPoint for my early prototype presentation of my final year project. The areas I planned included the conceptual idea for my 3D animation and what inspired me to conduct this idea e.g. other games and products. I planned the unique selling point of my animation idea so what makes it stand out from other products or animations. I also laid out the skills I will need to complete the project so Maya 2016 for modelling and animation setup as well as After Effects 2016 for compositing and show-reel editing. I covered problems I ran into and the solutions I come up with to address these problems specifically the complexity of my 3D models. I then covered the prototype models I have so far to show where I am at in terms of the project. I then planned my chart and milestones to show what I want to achieve in the timescale I have left to meet the project deadline. 

Early Prototype Show-reel.

The link below is for my early prototype show-reel which shows my models in turntable still shots as well as my street scene which will set the scene for my animation. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUqsuCQFWcg

Street (3D Model) Rendered - No Texture - Test Shots.

The screenshots below were render shots that I tested on the street model using mental ray at high quality as well as using physical sun and sky to light the model. It came out quite well considering I included different types of houses for the model just to give more variety and not make it a boring street model. As this will have no animation and will be a static model it makes for a great scene setter for my other models. I have also kept the model relatively small in scale because when I position my camera at the right angle for animation you will only be able to see down the street so for the purpose of render time I kept the scale quite small.

Turret (3D Model) Rendered - No Texture - Test Shots.

The screenshots below were render shots that I tested on the turret model using mental ray at high quality as well as using physical sun and sky to light the model. Again like with the other models the detail really stood out with the lighting and I am happy with the results. Once I have textured this model it will look much more detailed and realistic which will also be good for when I come to animating the model.

Tank (3D Model) Rendered - No Texture - Test Shots.

The screenshots below were render shots that I tested on the tank model using mental ray at high quality as well as using physical sun and sky to light the model. As you can see the detail on the tank really comes through especially with the model lighted slightly. Again as with the helicopter once the tank is textured it will look much more detailed and realistic but I am happy with the results so far.

Helicopter (3D Model) Rendered - No Texture - Test Shots.

The screenshots below were render shots that I tested on the helicopter model using mental ray at high quality as well as using physical sun and sky to light the model. The results were were very good, the detail on the helicopter stood out well. When I come to render the textured model in the animated scene it should look very detailed and realistic.

Street (3D Model) Final - No Texture.

The screenshots below show the finished street model both in wireframe and smooth mode. As you can see I have added the additional house models to the scene and positioned them to make it look like your typical street with different buildings. Although this model will be static in the animation and I have kept the detail to a minimum the street as a whole looks quite detailed. It will also add another level to the animation as a whole.

Street (3D Model) In Progress.

The screenshot below shows the progress I have made with the street model. As you can see I have the base layout of the street done with some houses. The two house models in the screenshot are a two story house and a bungalow with a garage. I have yet to model two more house models to complete the street but so far it looks good. You can start to see how the scene will be set with the camera positioned in the middle of the street at one end to capture all the animation action with regards to my other models.