Week 30 - Toyota Hilux Zombie Version Model, Texturing & Life Drawing

Final Toyota Hilux Pickup Model -Zombie Version

So far the model was turning out the way I wanted (It sticks to the concept). Certain areas like the back needed more concepting, as I wasn't yet sure what could be palced there along with the mounted gun. For now, I was thinking about placing ammo crates there, but if possible there could be some junk laying around too, such as clothes or tools. Any food boxes or equipment that didn't fit inside could have been placed in the back too.

I started everything by gathering reference to model the initial Toyota Hilux Pickup. Then I began additional research on vehicle modifications, weapons, tools, textures and any other useful resources. I organised everything into my mood board and briefly annotated them to gain a better understanding of this project. It helped me realise the problems of making a modified vehicle and how I could solve the numerous problems involved in designing one that is fairly convincing and believable. Next I modelled the Toyota Pickup in 3DS Max, then unwrapped and textured it. Later I made a few renders and started painting my ideas on top of the silhouettes of my model.

When I had enough ideas, I've spent some time deciding on the best few and merged the best aspects of each into one final idea. I moved onto drawing prep sketches and planning of how I was going to model some of the parts. After I got through the modelling process again, it was time for unwrapping in 3DS Max and extracting details from photographs to make my own textures for my modified model. These were made in Photoshop CC just like the previous ones.  

I added rust and mud marks to the base model's texture. This was partly to adapt it to the new modifications and changes I was making.

It was my first time modelling a vehicle, so it was normal for me to not know how some parts of it looked like or how to model them. I overcome this by carefully analysing my reference before making any moves in modelling. Modelling took me a really long time, but mainly due to this project's high triangle budget. Unwrapping was tricky, as the high triangle budget allowed me to make a lot of details which in turn were not easy to unwrap correctly. Texturing turned out to be the easiest aspect of this project to me. I enjoyed it the most and also had a lot of practice during it, as I tried to change certain areas of my texture a few times.

One area I'd like to improve in is modelling, as although I can get quite far in that myself, I still lack the experience to be quick. I will need to keep practicing until I improve my speed of work. Unwrapping gets tougher and tougher as my models become more complex. I will also need to focus on this area more, as my textures are just as important as the models I make. Both of these heavily rely on each other to produce a successful outcome. The way I pack my UVW's is not so great to me, I am still practicing new ways in which I could arrange everything to prevent losing too much space for my texture. Lastly, my Photoshop skills are still lacking, I feel managed well with making of my texture, but it took me quite a long time. I could improve in this area through practicing, but also with the help of online tutorials.

I was really satisfied with my outcome, the renders really turned out incredibly good and my detailed model clearly shown how far I have gone in my first year of Game Art Design. I hope more projects like this are coming too.

Life Drawing

During this week's session I've done just one tonal drawing, but I got to spend roughly 45 minutes on it. It was a still life composition arranged by my life drawing teacher. It's square shaped, but drawn on an A3 size, mid-tone paper. I mixed 2 mediums on this piece, charcoal and white chalk.

From looking at it, I think it some areas still needed more work. I missed a section of the curtain in the top-right corner, the left side of the curtain is not of the correct tone what flattens the drawing, the curtain should be pushed back more. The floor should have been slightly darker on the left too.

Aside from all this, the rest appears to look fine to me. The fabric layed on the pillow has a clear and visible shape, as I can see how its mass spreads across the surface beneath it. The hanging fabrics also looks fairly convincing, their shadow seems to be dark enough and is pushing them away from the background.

Week 29 - Toyota Hilux Zombie Version, Life Drawing & Zombie Survival Presentation

Moodboard

It's seperated into sections. Firstly, the top-right shows other pickup trucks, my truck idea could consist of improvised repairs, such as having parts from other pickup trucks, in case there are no vehicles of same make around in the apocalypse. Top-right is mainly containers that may be placed or attached to my behicle in some of the ideas. The bottom left consists of modified vehicles of all kinds, from those I'd like to sample some ideas and modifications. Next to that are weapons that I  found to be the most effective or useful in case of a Zombie Apocalypse, although some were simply picked for their appearance/design (rubber-band gun). I focused the centre of my mood board on vehicle damage like collision marks/dents and surface details like scratches. Lastly, the top area has a few illustrations and paintings. I found these to have nice colour schemes and details which could inspire some of my ideas, as I was thinking about making my vehicle look slightly futuristic. There isn't a set time or year in which an Apocalypse could start. An old pickup truck, refurbished with parts of modern vehicles could be the only way to survive.

Ideas/Silhouettes

As I mentioned earlier, some of the ideas were aimed to have that slight futuristic feel to them. I was starting by making some basic modified versions of the pickup truck, but then moved onto some armoured and uniquely shaped versions. A few ideas in the bottom 2 rows came up  through that process. These don't necessarily have a clear, futuristic appearance, but it was something I kept in mind and tried to implement. Additionally, some of my ideas look aggressive, clean and give out that "prepared for somethnig" feel which is great.

Concept Progress

The final idea was made by mixing 3 of my favourite chosen ideas. The wire-fence window protection from the 7th idea, the body of the 12th idea and the bumper armour taken from the 13th idea. I plan to begin experimenting with my Toyota pickup model more now. I aim to model most of the components I painted on the idea above, but I will also keep in mind that I shouldn't take complexity of the design too far. It would become too comples or heavy looking and not functional enough. It is an aspect of the design which I will judge my model on, but after I model most if not all of the parts. Also, adding too many additional surfaces would cause my texture space to become limited and lessen the quality of the design. I will need to be careful with that area too.

Life Drawing

This session was about us drawing eachother, like before we came to the centre of the room to stand in any pose we wanted. First ones lasted only a minute or two each, the rest lasted for roughly 5 minutes. 

A few of use held a cardboard tube to support some of our poses and give them more meaning. This also helped us partly make our body mass more understandable, as holding an object made us look busy and active. The top right drawing and the final show this well. The models looked more involved and dynamic, Dynamism is another aspect I'd like to say something about. I found my last drawing to express a lot of dynamism due to my style of mark making then. I can almost make out how the model was movingand not just see that he's standing and holding a tube. He looks ready, prepared and about to act on something. I'm really happy about how this one turned out.