3DDD Senior Thesis

My blog for all things relating to my senior thesis.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, which was the second week of modeling. This week was scheduled to be the week focusing on props for the writing desk, but many of the props from last week are ones that will be used in the Writing Desk AoI as well as the Dining Table AoI, this allowed me to get started on some props from other locations.

Included are:

The new sconce/ lantern.

An ink blotter, a small device with a piece of paper wrapped around the curved edge to absorb excess ink from letters.

A wax seal stamp, the base will have a design carved into the underside that can be used to press sealing wax onto letters.

The sword and stand are props from the Fireplace Mantel AoI. This sword was owned by the characters father and was given to them when their father died in battle, which is also where the sword was broken. It will have a place of honor above the fireplace.

The back work for this week was new models for the floor and roof boards. Textures alone weren’t cutting it to show the level of detail and the critiques that I received were that there should be more detail in the model itself, including the ridges between boards.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, which was the first week of modeling for this semester. I’ve modeled the new props for the dining table area of interest. 

Included are:

Several pieces of paper: flat, folded, and rolled. Each of those groups has a three versions with more or less creases and folds. These models will each get a couple textures to add to the variations.

A pen knife: used to sharpen pencils and quills, as well as open letters.

Two journals: The models are two versions of the sames style journal, there will be a few different textures for these models as well to show age and use.

Candle holder: Made of wood and metal.

Compass: The curved shape will be glass and the face with directions will be done through textures.

The back work for this week was new models and textures for the interior walls and the two doors. I broke up the wall with boards and added more detail to the doors themselves.

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Here is the work from last week, finalized concept art for the remainder of the new props. These objects are mainly for the Fireplace Mantel area of interest.

The lantern is a revised concept for what I think the sconces will look like, I had concept art last semester that I didn’t end up like enough to move forward with.

Below that is an object for the writing desk, an ink blotter with surface engraving.

There is an old war banner with the insignia/ sigil of the side the character fought for. The banner will be faded and dirty, and the parts that are missing will have burn marks in the cloth.

There is a broken sword. The sword belonged to the characters father and was given to him after his passing. I may also add the scabbard as part of the display, I’m not sure how necessary it is.

Below that is the stand that the sword will rest in on mantel. It will be made of wood and possibly metal.

There is a cracked helmet. This belonged to the character and the crack happened during the same war as the banner. The character was wearing the helmet, and has a scar from where the nose guard slammed into the bridge of his nose, breaking it.

There are two low poly animals. The character creates wooden carvings of animals and it was my original idea that as a way to show the characters dwarven ancestry his carvings are more inorganic, more angular, even though he is working with a very organic material and shape.

This week will be the first week of modeling, mainly focused on the dining table area of interest.

The back work has also continued, and will be continuing weekly. This week was focused on updating the foundation, like the fireplace it needed more geometry detail for the form of stonework and new textures. The simple model from last semester wasn’t enough and the texture wasn’t creating the effect I was looking for on its own. Next is working on fixing the model and texture(s) for the interior walls.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, finalized concept art for some of the props, there are a few that are repeated from last semester that I didn’t move forward with then that I will create now.

These objects are mainly for the Dining Table and Writing Desk areas of interest.

There is a traveling journal that has a soft leather binding that wraps around to protect the pages, wrapped with a leather strap or cord. I’ve drawn an open and closed version as I will need both. 

There is a compass, designed in a more dwarven fashion, with the octagonal base. The face will have several colors and geometric designs as depicted in black and white. 

There is also a geometric compass, used for drawing circles and arcs, or gauging distances over maps as the I will make will be.

There are examples for loose papers, with creases or folds. Along with scrolls or rolls of parchment and letters with wax seals.

There is a new type of light fixture. I’ve moved away from smaller, handheld candles in favor of larger multi candle holders. I will also be designing a new version of a lantern/ sconce. The ones that I created last semester are too organic, and not the direction I want to go anymore.

The inkwell and different pens are drawings from last semester, and in addition to them I have looked into early pencils, which were little more than graphite rods wrapped in twine or with wood glued on either side. There is also now a pen knife, a small bladed knife used to sharpen quills, pens, pencils, break wax seals, and open envelopes.

Next week will be another week of concepting, mainly focused on the mantel and bookcase areas of interest.

Along with the prop concepts I have some back work. This week was focused on updating the fireplace for the cabin, adding more geometry detail in the form of stonework and new textures. Next is finishing the exterior side of the fireplace and the foundation needs the same treatment.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

There was no update for the week of 12/3 due to final Thesis presentations, but I have been making consistent progress here over the past two weeks with the textures.

As of now, everything is completed. I have modeled, UVed, and textured everything that I set out to do this semester in preparation for next semester. I finished up the textures for the props and I’m still tweaking many of the maps, especially the height and normal maps for a lot of the wood, and the roughness maps in many places; but overall I am pleased with the results that I was able to achieve this semester.

There were a few shaky moments these last few weeks where my progress was slower than I wanted at times, but this has been a learning experience and I’m glad my schedule worked as well as it did.

Now that everything is completed I can start to move on to the next phase of this project. Building out the areas of interest to tell the characters story. Over winter break I’ll be looking into bringing this project into Unreal with the possibility of there being interactivity, so that the viewer can move around the space and more freely explore and learn about the character.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

There was no update for the week of 11/18, things got hectic with other due dates so I chewed through by buffer week, but that’s why I built that into my schedule in the first place.

That being said, last week I continued the texturing phase, this time with the larger props. Once again it was important to me that these pieces have a consistent feel, while not blending together with the each other and the environment due to all the wood that has gone into the cabin already.

I’m still trying to find ways to add different colors to the wood grain while still keeping it simple enough that it could be accomplished in a fantasy/ medieval setting. And as with the previous post I am still tweaking the other maps that are going into these textures, especially the normal and height maps. Pieces like the stove also need a little bit more work because the material is so different to a lot of the other pieces in the scene.

This week may be a little rushed as well, with the holiday I may not have time to work on getting all the textures I planned for this week, but I am still confident that I will have everything done by the end of the semester. If I am unable to get to a computer that has Substance Painter over break then I may start to move my models over to Unreal. 

After talking with several people at different points during this project I am leaning towards making my deliverable an Unreal project or playable .exe, with some degree of interactivity. That way people can move around the cabin and find the story by looking at the objects. And if I’m able to work out a way to show information on screen when objects are interacted with, then I can literally tell the characters story as a way to offer background to what people are seeing. That being said I don’t have any experience with building interactivity in Unreal, so that might be a bit over scoped and I wouldn’t even know. Over break I plan to look into this so that by the time I get back next semester I will have a better idea of what my final deliverable will entail.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Last week was the first week of texturing! Which means that my focus has shifted from asset design and creation to finalizing assets and getting them ready for placing in the scene and eventually rendering. But before that can happen they must be UV’d and textured. Last week as you can see was focused on just the cabin itself.

So it being a log cabin there is a lot of wood. A big part of this was keeping the idea that this cabin was built with the trees that were cleared on the property and that the setting the cabin exists in is a fantasy, somewhat medieval time period so I wanted everything to still be very natural and a little dirty. At the same time I didn’t want every surface to have the same color and grain pattern on the wood so I was able to bring little bits of color here and there to kind of break up the monotony of it all.

I’m pretty pleased with it over all, but there are still some things that need a little more work, and little fixing. As you can see all the pieces are missing the end grain texture which is different to the grain you’d see on the rest of a wood board so I’ll have to go back and add that where ever it’s needed. I’m also still tweaking the settings on the other maps that are applied to these objects like normal, height, roughness and so on so this look isn’t final in that aspect, but I think the colors are for the most part what they will be in the end.

These next couple of weeks are going to be a little rougher as I start texturing the many pieces of furniture and props so we’ll see how that goes, but I have high hopes based on the results I was able to achieve already with just the cabin itself.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

There was no post for 10/22 due to Thesis Presentations, but work still continued. Here are the models that were made over that time. The focus has been on the smaller props that will fill in the scenes.

In addition to the props that I did concept art for several weeks ago I have created a few new ones. I received some critique after my presentation that pointed out to me that up to this point I have been modeling things out of necessity and not entirely for their story value. I was told to find objects and keepsakes that my character would have in their home too as that is what really tells us who they are.

Because of this idea I have a few new props, moving left to right in the image above:

There’s a war banner that I plan to take a second pass at this week, it will have fire damage and be dirty. It will have the insignia of the war battalion the character fought in.

There’s an arrow with a broken shaft that has been put back together. Its rather old, and the stand its on may have a plaque that alludes to the fact that the character keeps it because it nearly killed him.

There’s a WIP wolf skull (still working on the teeth). This skull is an important reminder to the character as it wasn’t just a wolf, it was a werewolf that bit the character, who still has the scar on his arm.

Along with these new more story driven props are the ones that I did the art for, a goblet, a mug, a new take on a handheld candle holder, an inkwell, a leather bound book, and finally an octagonal plate.  

This week is the final week dedicated solely to modeling, and on November 4th I will start texturing the objects, starting with the cabin itself. I think at this point I may continue to model objects even after this week however and just add that to the texturing work I’m doing.

As I mentioned above Presentations were last week so I will also post a few images from my slides that I realize will help anyone viewing this blog, like character art and a basic description of who he is that way people will have a better understanding of where my design decisions are coming from. I will also be putting an updated timeline up, though it is still subject to change as the semester continues.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, the second week of modeling. That week was focused on getting the larger scale props modeled and in the scene for scale references. 

I’ve included a few renders of the furniture in the cabin to show off the scene as a whole. Along with these shots is a wire frame version to give a quick idea of what the edge flow is looking like for these pieces.

This week I will be continuing the modeling phase. Moving on to creating and populating the scene with the smaller scale props that I did concept art for a few weeks ago. I will also be taking some time to create a few scene mock ups to get an idea of composition and story for my final rendered deliverables.  

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, which was the first week of modeling, a model for the cabin itself.

I’ve included a few full view renders and wire frames and then a couple interior shots from the ground floor with wire frames.

I think the model is in a good place and I’m comfortable moving on to my next task, but I’m sure that I’ll be coming back to this one pretty much until the texturing starts. I’m still deciding how best to handle the fireplace, but I’ll put in more work with it this week.

This week I will be continuing the modeling phase. I will be adjusting my schedule to better reflect how I plan to accomplish the tasks. At this point I no longer believe that breaking it down by areas is the best way to handle it, instead I’ll break it down by asset size. This week will be larger props and over the next few weeks (pretty much the entire month of October) I’ll work my way down in prop size, just layering in detail.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, finalized concept art for some of the larger furniture pieces/props.

Included is two versions of the bookshelf with attached cupboard and two versions of the set of drawers/ end table. One is more simple and one is more decorative, at this point I’m leaning more towards the more decorated versions of both, and that style is one that I’d like to carry through to other items.

Also included is a wood burning stove with chimney, a sturdy kitchen/ dining room table, and an adirondack chair inspired, sitting/ reading chair. This piece will be one of the ones that gets more decoration in the 3D, inspired by the shelf and drawers.

With this completed the project moves onto the next phase. The next step will be starting the 3D modeling portion of this project. This week will be dedicated to finishing the model for the cabin itself, both the model and the UVs in preparation for texturing later on. 

During this week I’d also like to do either some grey boxing or some concept art for what my rendered scenes will look like. Depending on how the concepting for the scenes goes I may also do another round of concept art for more specific props down the line.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, finalized concept art for some of the props. 

A few different types of lights, including two sconces, and two handheld lights, one candle and a more stylized oil lamp. 

A few versions of pens, with full feathers as well as a manufactured handle and and inkwell.

Some general tableware, a earthenware mug and metal goblet with carved or inlaid detailing, and a ceramic plate with similar inlaid patterns.

A couple examples of books, leather bound with metal leaf pressed into it to create similar patterns that are shown in the other props.

The next step will be completing the second round of prop concept art focusing more on larger and more complex objects.

[cameron-burnside-thesis]

Here is the work from last week, finalized concept art for the cabin itself. I’ve provided interior floor plans as well as exterior orthographics. I’ve decided to hold off on furniture layouts at least until next week, when I will have some finalized concept art for some of the more generic props that will populate the scene.

The next step will be completing the first round of prop concept art and then I will hopefully add measurements to this art as well as the props and if not, it will at least help me figure out the scale of the overall scene. 

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Here is my first pass at a timeline for this semesters work on my thesis.

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Rustic Cabin Interior Speculative Asset List

Ground floor

Sitting area/living room

    - Fireplace: rough stone with wood mantle

    - Small wood animal carvings on mantle, war standard hung on chimney, 2x candle, wood storage rack on floor (empty), fireplace tool set

Bookshelf: 3x(?) shelves and attached cupboard below

        - Wooden with wrought iron detailing on the sides, 1 shelf for books (8), 1 for scrolls/ maps (6) and lantern, 1 for knick knacks potion bottles, compass, astrolabe, etc.

Storage: dresser/ cupboard, hat rack, coat rack next to it

        - Wooden with wrought iron detailing on the sides, two drawers, axe leaning against it, gloves and scarf on the rack, knife in holster on dresser

Misc.

    - 2x upholstered chairs with end table, 2x mugs, 2x rugs, window dressing, candle chandelier with copper/bronze sun on the underside 

Kitchen/eating area

    - Wood burning stove, cupboards/cabinets, sink, 2x window dressing, closed closet door under the stairs up the loft

    - Dining table, 4x wooden chairs, 4-5x maps unfolded and unrolled on table, with markings on them, 2x journals - open pages with notes on the places on the maps, 2x candles, inkwell and quill, thick architects pencil

Bathroom

    - Small sink, carved/ smoothed stone tub, medieval toilet, window dressing, small cupboard for towels

Second floor loft 

Bedroom/ Study

    - Bed, end table with lantern, six drawer dresser

    - Small writing desk, 12 cubby storage unit with letters, envelopes, paper rolls, scrolls, 1x wooden chair, personal letters, inkwell, quills, lantern, 2x rugs

Exterior

    - Pine forest, treated logs, scale-like shingles, small greenhouse next to the kitchen (shared wall and window over sink), small shed on the back of the house (shared wall, next to the door through the kitchen), rafters extend past the walls and are carved into animal heads, raven figure head, bird houses and bat boxes in the trees

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Wizard/ Alchemist Study

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Medieval Town Street/ Walkway