Over the course of the last two years I have primarily been developing my skills in 3D modelling. In the first year I had enjoyed almost every aspect of the course but the one I enjoyed the most was definitely 3D modelling and texturing. At the beginning I had never touched 3D modelling software and over the course I have learned about all of the different aspects that go into the creation of models. Over the past year I have been creating models for my Imagine Worlds and Synoptic Project. Both of these projects were polar opposite in terms of how the levels would feel. One was really dark & gritty with the genre being horror. Where as the synoptic project included a more immersive experience with the overall tone being relaxing. Both of these projects allowed me create a range of various models, that I believe fit the themes that was required. Other than 3D modelling I was one of the primary people in my groups that actually put the models into the scene and created the overall environment and layout. I have really enjoyed what I have done and I think that my hard work shows.
Author: joshforrestnextgen
Synoptic Project – Conclusion & Overall Thoughts
Over the past few months me and my group have been working on creating a great product for a client. This product was a virtual Art Gallery that would work in a web browser and also be compatible with Virtual Reality. Over the course of the project I believe that me and my group have exceeded the goal that me and my group were initially aiming for. A lot of the ideas we had in our initial planning has been implemented into the final builds of the game. After the first couple weeks we had discussed including a smaller game that would allow players to steal the art however this idea was dropped due to time limitations, as we needed to create three different builds of the main game. Below was out final production schedule, which we have managed to fit to, I may have given a little bit too much time on certain jobs; but everything has been done up to this point. The polish is the final task to be done and this will be finished for the end of year show.
Throughout the course of the project we also created a collection of reference images that we had used for the assets that everyone had created to put into the level. As me and Ben were the primary 3D artists we have included all of our reference images in this power point in our documentation.
At this current time the only jobs that are left is the polish and the final playable builds. One thing I believe I should have done was include smaller more specified jobs rather than them being as broad. However this way was effective as it did show what needed to be done. Every job is complete except for the builds, this shows that the planning was well thought out and the overall goal was achievable, as we have achieved it.
The downturn sheet did also change a couple of times throughout the project due to smaller jobs being added, however we were pretty much always ahead or on schedule accept for a couple of weeks. However that was due to some of the jobs being continuous throughout many weeks of the project.
Other than just the job list I had also created an asset sheet, that would primarily allow me and Ben to keep track on what assets we had created as well as which ones needed to be done. I set them up to have different phases of development so as each phase was completed the sheet could be updated.
Every Monday in college me and my group would do a scrum to inform each other what we were doing and if we had encountered any problems. For reference each scrum sheet was either scanned or photographed and put into the google drive. Other than this a couple weeks into the project we were also given feedback to create and use a scrum log that would include notes of what each member was doing on a daily basis.
The google drive was our primary hub that we stored almost all of our work on. It allowed us to keep online back ups of everything as well as use google docs so everything could be updated by anyone who had access to the drive. The drive was laid out quite nicely and everything was easy to find. We also used this to send each other the different builds of the game as well as assets. This was more efficient than having to transfer each file using external storage.
Our feedback throughout the project was primarily positive, we took most of it into consideration and used it to improve our levels. It did take us some time to get the Art Book planned, however in my opinion the concept for it turned out great.
Overall I am really happy with how the project has turned out and I also think that the client appreciates what we have created, originally the three builds of the game seemed like a bit of a stretch goal however due to hard work we have managed to create these levels and get them working on their individual platforms. I believe that we are ready to showcase the builds on the 21st.
Below is a GIF displaying the level getting built up over time.
Synoptic Project – Finishing the Polish
My primary goal over this week and next week is to polish the level and make sure everything is to a great standard. One problem Ben has came across was that the chairs that we had sourced for the reception were a ridiculous amount of polys, this was an easy change as all we had to do was source some different assets. We went for a more modern but sophisticated look for the waiting area chairs. The computer chair did not look too different however. Ben sourced the computer chair asset but added the texture himself.
The walls were looking rather bare in the reception, due to this Ben also created some wall art as well as a smaller bench to go under on the left wall to fill in the empty space. I placed these assets into the main level build.
Another asset that needed to be added was the Easter island head. This asset also helped fill in some of the empty space in the central room.
Also added a small desk cabinet.
I made sure that the video was imported correctly and worked in the scene with Kurtis’ help. I also added a small projector screen for the video to lay on top of so that it was not just on the wall. Other than this the projector also plays a sound effect when the user turns it on. 
Other than this I also had to add the different animations and sounds that Ben had been working on in the VR / WebGL builds. These were added to have a bit more interaction within the scene to make it more interesting. There is also a script that outlines the objects that can be interacted with.
Some of the animations do not require the player to interact with the object. Such as the clocks and Air con. Ben animated his CCTV camera which was also added into the main scene.
I also added ticking audio to the clocks in the scene.
Synoptic Project – Polishing the level
The final task for me to do within the game project is to make sure that everything is polished and working accordingly. A lot of the features and things within the game are working as well as the models, however there are some folders and assets within the project that can be removed the save space as they may not have been used. Other than this I will be making sure that every asset is placed correctly and that the lighting is working 100%.
Synoptic Project – Implementing Moving Car Scripts
Today Kurtis worked on a script that allows cars to spawn in at certain intervals. They have a set spawn point which is an empty game object and a vehicle prefab. They are dragged into the car cycle scrips and different times can be input to add a variation on how often they spawn and despawn. There is also a movement script that Kurtis created that controls how fast the vehicles move. I implemented these scripts into the level with Kurtis’ help as he was the one who had set this up in a test scene.
Synoptic Project – Art Book Submission
Last week me and Ben began to take the screenshots for the art book and create some pages using them. Once they were done however we had a group discussion and didn’t like how it was looking as it was rather boring due to the plane background and simply how the photos were showing off the environment but not in an interesting way. Me, Ben and Kurtis started coming up with different ideas and how we could improve our Art Book pages. We all agreed that we liked the idea of Polaroids. We developed this idea and grabbed a template from google and took screenshots using the script that I had sourced at the beginning of the project for the progress screenshots. Using this script we changed the settings around so that the screenshots would be taken at a 1000 x 1000 resolution meaning the images would be square; and fit nicely into the Polaroid template.
I had the idea of making it look like the Polaroids were stuck onto a pin board, and Ben & Kurtis liked the idea of them being on a table. We went with the table idea and Ben had actually used substance painter to put the Polaroids onto a mesh with a nice varnished wood texture, and then used marmoset to render out the images at a nice size that would fit the art book. We went from a pretty bland to design to something unique and far more interesting. Me & Kurtis were involved in planning but Ben put more time into this as he was the one who created the renders for the pages.
Synoptic Project – Night Time Scene Creation
Today I began to create the night time scene as I am pretty confident that the day time scene is practically finished apart from a few minor changes that may need to be made in the polishing process. This week Kurtis worked on implementing the video into the scene, which meant as that was done I could not copy and paste the day scene so that the layout was exactly the same. Some minor changes have been made to objects however it is primarily the same. However this new copied scene has a different skybox as well as completely different lighting. The client stated that he would either want fully mechanical lighting or fully natural; no in between. Because of this we thought, why not do both. So we are.
Other than a night time sky box this new scene is primarily lit by the lights in the scene, rather than the directional light. The client stated that he would preferably want none natural lighting in the gallery room. Because of this Ben made the gallery within our VR and WebGL scene dark and mainly lit by spotlights and point lights, as there is no day and night variation in these builds. I took this same approach but with the entire scene to add variety for the player and the client.
Synoptic Project – Scrum 14/05/18
Everyone was present for today’s weekly scrum, the group has been keeping communication all week due to the final deadline being in just only a month. For me and the group this has been a very productive week as the main scenes are almost done. Ben has been working on the VR/WebGL scene and this has almost been built, it just needs some polish. I have been working on creating the main scene by importing assets and polishing the level. Luke has got a UI system working which allows the player to look at the paintings and get a description under it. Kurtis has got the video working in the test scene and now he just needs to implement this into the main scenes. This week Luke will continue to work on the UI as well as look into allowing the elevator to work. Ben will continue to work on the VR/WebGL scene. Kurtis is going to get the video working and I will begin to look into doing night time lighting for the night scene. Currently the group is 5 jobs ahead of schedule due to us sourcing a lot of the smaller assets which has allowed us to finish the scenes. We sourced assets due to time restrictions. The next month will be spent getting the levels working well.
Synoptic Project – Art Book Production
A few weeks ago me and Ben worked on getting a layout sorted that our art book would follow throughout its pages so that we could display out Art Gallery environment professionally. This layout of the images did change however what would be on the pages did not. The first image displayed is my individual page that will be included in the book. We planned on having one page per room within the environment as well as one individual page each. My individual page includes three different models and renders of these models that I was proud of and enjoyed making. Ben will also be creating a page similar to this. Kurtis & Luke will also be working on their pages. These pages are due to on the 14th and because of this we made sure to work on the images over the last couple of days.
Luckily I could use the screenshot code from an earlier feature within the game build to take screenshots of the level using the player. Each page will include three 1920×1080 images that will be scaled down slightly to fit onto the page. Each page is also designated to a different room. These rooms include; the reception, theatre, cafe & gallery. We wanted to go for a nice rendered looking and use up as much space as possible on our Art Book pages. Because of this our section is going to include little to no text. 
Synoptic Project – Continued Level Creation and Sourcing Assets
joshforrestnextgen 