Start of the Model Book

I am going to make a start on my write up today in the Model Book, the Model-Book will contain the following:

· Rationale including selected audience translated into a working brief
· Project management schedule revised and updated
· Proposed methodology for production
· Chosen distribution channel
· Record of process through journal entries
· Evaluation of methodology used

After this is complete the last thing that is required of me on this course is to collate all my work into the correct folders and produce some high quality renders and i will be ready to hand in my work :)

I probably wont be updating my blog until i have some final renders to show everyone so keep checking back to see what i come up with.

My character released to the public

Today i have uploaded my character to the Epic Games Forums and already i am getting good feedback. Im pleased about this as the people on the Epic Games Forums can bit very critical of peoples work, so to get good feedback is very pleasing.

Here is the link to the thread that i put up;

http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=726629

In this thread there is a link to download my character or alternately here is the direct link;

http://www.filefront.com/16276699/GENERAL-MOLENAR-.UDK-and-.INI.rar/

Anyone reading this if you can leave some comments on the Epic Games forum thread for me i would muchly appreciate it, or i suppose you could always leave a comment here on my blog.

It would be good to get some general feedback off everyone and to know what everyone thinks about it out there.

Cheers

Ste.

Character in Unreal Tournament 3

Here is my character in the character selct screen;

Here is my character actually in-game.

Here is my character in a Capture the Flag match;

Tomorrow after i recover after todays stressful day as part of my brief i said that i would upload my character to the Unreal community at the Epic Games forums and i will have then covered everything in the brief :) I am so pleased to have my character fianlly finished and running around in UT3 Happy Days!

My character is finally UT3 after 17 hours

Well after spending all day attempting to import my character into UT3, 17 hours to be exact i have successfully done it after the fourth attempt.

The problem that i was having was in the .ini file which i will show below

Parts=(Part=PART_Head,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_Head",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Torso,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_Torso",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_ShoPad,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_XShoPad01",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Arms,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_Arms",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Thighs,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_Thighs",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Boots,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_Boots",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Helmet,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENRALMOLENAR_Helmet",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Goggles,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_NoMesh",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Parts=(Part=PART_Facemask,ObjectName="GENERALMOLENAR.Parts.GENERALMOLENAR_NoMesh",
PartID="GM",FamilyID="IRNM")
Characters=(CharName="GENERAL MOLENAR",Description="He who dares wins! Grrrr!",CharID="GENERALMOLENAR",bLocked="false",Faction="Ironguard",PreviewImageMarkup="",
CharData=(FamilyID="IRNF",HeadID="GM",TorsoID="GM",ShoPadID="GM",bHasLeftShoPad=true,bHasRightShoPad=true,
ArmsID="GM",ThighsID="GM",BootsID="GM"),AIData=(Tactics=1.0, StrafingAbility=1.0, Accuracy=0.5,FavoriteWeapon="UTGame.UTWeap_ShockRifle"))

In the above code i have highlighted the problem basically in the last bit of code the Family ID "IRNF" when it should of been "IRNM". So just because one letter in the code when i loaded up UT3 and went to the customize character screen no bosy parts would show up.

Just the character to import into UT3

Tomorrow i am going to import my character into the Unreal editor and get him imported in UT3 for hopefully for the last time fingers crossed :)

Creating the Normal map for the Hoverbike

Here's is the Normal map desaturated in Photoshop and the brightness and contrast altered before the NormalMapFilter was applied to it.

Here is the normal map created by Photoshop;

Here we can compare the Hoverbike with and without the normal map applied;

Creating the Specular map for the Hoverbike

Here is the specular map for the Hoverbike from Photoshop;

Here we can compare the specular applied to the Hoverbike and the Hoverbike without the specular applied

Creating the Mini Gun Normal map

Here is the Normal map for the Mini Gun with all layer desaturated ready to apply the NormalMap filter

Here is the normal map Photoshop generated for me;

Here is a comparison with the normal map applied and without the normal map applied

Creating the Mini Gun Specular map

Here is the specular map that i spent doing over the past two days unflatterned;

Here is a comparison between the specular map applied to the Mini Gun and without;

Creating the Assault Rifle normal map

Here is the Assault Rifle normal map unflatterned back in Photoshop;

Here is a comparison with and without the Normal map applied to the Assault Rifle;

Creating the Assault Rifle Specular

Carry on with how i created the specular for the head and body of the character here is the specular unflatterned in Photoshop

Here is a comparison with and without the specular applied to it;

Creating the Head Specular

I was getting quite used to doing this by now and so i produced the following i shall start with the Photoshop file and then so a comparison of the with and without a specular applied to it.

With the specular applied to the face this is how it compares with and without it on;

As with teh normal map on the face i didnt want the specular too high either just very subtle and im pleased with how this has turned out.

Creating the Head Normal map

Using the same technique as before on the body i desaturated all the layers and started to manipulate the brightness and contrast until i was happy with it. This is very much a trial and error type of process switching between the two applications Photoshop and 3DS Max.

Here is the Normal layers in Photoshop before i flatterned them all and applied the Nividia NormalMapFilter;

Here is the actual Normal map that photoshop generated for me;

If we now compare what it looks like with and without a normal map i only wanted it to be very subtle around the face area but as you can see this does add abit more realism into the face.

Creating the Body Specular

Creating the Specular is in the same fashion as creating normal maps, the darker the brightness and contrast less light will bonce off that particular are and the opposite the brighter it it more light will bounce off this area here is how i set up the specular in Photoshop;

Here is another comparison with and without the specular map applied;

Creating the Body Normal map

Its time to create the Normal and Specular maps now and i have made a start on the body of the character first. The first things that i done was to bring in the diffuse map that i had already created. Once i had had this in place i Desaturated all the layers to make them greyscaled, still keeping them all on their own separate levels. I then went to the brightness and contrast in Photoshop and would experiment with the levels until i was happy with how the Normal map is produced. The way the NormalMap filter works is if the layer is all black it will stay uneffceted and stay flat, the lighter the layer goes the more bump you will see in the normal map.

Here is a pic of the diffuse map destaturated and i have also altered the brightness and contrast on each layer as i see fit:

This is the Normal map that Photoshop produced for me and i was very pleased how it turned out, i seemed to have produced much better results.

If we compare the character model with and without the normal map you can see a massive difference. Without the normal map applied the body texture is very flat and with it things are really starting to come to life.

Characters Body Diffuse completed

Well my diffuse maps are finally finished so here is how i completed the body diffuse as you can see added the dirt and scratches and also adding the Ambient Occlusion has really brought everything to life. Hopefully when i create the Normal map and Specular things will look even better :)

Here is the diffuse map that i have created;

As well as creating the general diffuse i also need to produce a diffuse map for the red and blue team colours when i am importing the model into the Unreal Editor here are those diffuse maps i have created;