Final Render

Our final task for this project was to render two hi-res beauty shots from UDK at 1920x1080. By using the 'ghost' command and removing the inventory and HUD, it allowed me to get a clear screen to only capture the necessary models.

Shown here are the two beauty shots from UDK:

I'm glad with how these turned out. For a first attempt at a realistic vehicle, this was a challenging project but one that had taught me a great deal about gathering the right references to model from as well as various modelling techniques such as height map to normal map using the xNormal plugin to alpha mapping for decals. As well as this, I've also started to understand the technical aspects and requirements of UE3.

Project Gantt Chart

To allow us to plan where we needed to spend our time on this project, we were given the criteria of creating a Project Gantt Chart. 

This shows us how long we should spend on each task by giving it a start date and duration which calculates the end date for us. We can also link tasks together to make them mutually exclusive.

Below is the Project Gantt Chart for my project:

Texture Gathering

Part of our project was to collect our own photos for use in the texturing stage and not to use any images of sites such as cgtextures.

While I collected several texture photos, I used only a few in the actual textures. These ones are shown below:

 

The above 2 were used for the Vehicle texture

The above 4 were used for the Diorama

Diorama Texture

The next stage for the blockout was to texture it similar to what it looked like in the photo. After UV Mapping the diorama and taking the snapshot into PhotoShop, I began seperating the objects into several 512x512 textures. These were listed as Ramp, Floor, Warehouse and Container.

Shown below are the diffuse maps of these objects:

Diorama Blockout

To fit along with the vehicle, we were given the task of creating a suitable scene for it to be placed within. This along with the vehicle will later be placed in UDK and rendered both in a playable minimum 30FPS scene and screenshots for composition.

For my scene, I used the location where I originally took the images of the vehicle for reference and changed a few areas.

Here's the original location:

It's a relatively simple scene with a warehouse and containers. Here is the blockout render.

I added a ramp for interest to the scene and put smaller details on the warehouse such as CCTV, Alarms and Lights above the door.

Texturing

After the UVs have been mapped, I can export them as a UV Snapshot and open them in Photoshop. This gives me an outline of all the pieces so I can texture the model effectively.

To begin with, I paint a diffuse layer. This contains all the base colours for the model before overlaying images or adding texture to it.

The next map I created was the AO (Ambient Occlusion). This simulates where light will hit the model and creates a map allowing for shadows and highlights to show through. Below is the AO by itself and when added to the Diffuse with a base metal texture applied.

 After the AO, I wanted to create detail for bolts and screws without adding them by using geometry. This was achieved through the use of a normal map. This map manipulates the light to make it seem as if the texture was being raised or lowered in places where the geometry is actually flat. Below is the normal map.

The final model (minus decals) is shown below with a default Lambert material assigned.

UV Mapping

Now that the model is complete, I now move on to the Texturing stages. The first step is to UV Map the model so the texture applies correctly.

I select the faces I want to UV and use the Planar Projection in the axis they are facing, this gives me a UV layout that fits the outline of the geometry. This can then be scaled and placed on the UV Texture Space along with the other UVs ready for texturing.

Below is a snapshot of the UV layout and applied texture for reference.

Low Poly Model

One next task was to convert the Blockout to a Low Poly model under 6000 Tris. I used the reference images to model the blockout then changed the layer type to "Template" in Maya and modeled the low poly on the wireframe of the blockout while using the reference images for detail on a second monitor.

It is interesting to picture which parts of the model need to be more detailed or viewed up close and assigning a reasonable amount of polys to those objects to present the detail to the player.

Below are some images of the wireframe and a perspective shot:

Below this is an image showing a wireframe layout of the model with History, Polycount and Outliner shown to display information for the model:

Blockout

After gathering reference images, we were tasked with creating a block out model. A simple, quick model that lays out the basic shapes and locations of the parts ready for modelling. Below are a Side and Perspective shot of the model.

The shapes are mostly cube or cylindrical and is to scale compared to the Unreal Man. The unreal man is 6ft tall. The vehicle is just under this at 11ft 7in.

Reference Photos

Our assignment for 3D is to create, from reference, a construction vehicle and place it within a suitable scene following the given constraints of 6000 tris for the vehicle and 1000 for the scene however it must be optimised effectively. 
When texturing the vehicle, we may use as many maps as required however we may only have 1 texture using the 1024x1024 dimensions.
The scene is the same and must fit the style of the vehicle.
The model should then be brought into UDK with a shader network and collision attached which should all be able to run at 30FPS on the lab machines.
Finally, the render will show of the vehicle from a chosen angle within UDK.
 
Ringing around some places got us a visit at J.C.Balls Construction who allowed us to take reference shots of a Loader. While I took plenty of photos of various details, the photos below are the main reference shots that will be used in Maya as image planes.

Back View

Front View

Side View

And below are some closer shots of various details including the tire treads