Throw Back Thursday #3

It's this time again and another Throw Back Thursday has come around. Here Is a video of some of my work I've done, It was created in second year of uni the project was simple create a low poly character and get it to run around a game level as a playable character. For this I followed the digital tutors tutorial to create the character itself, through this I learned many new techniques to modelling and especially hand painting textures. I decided to call Him Axel due to the Axe on his back, For this I also needed to rig the character, I used the Biped system found within 3DS MAX and also tested the rig with a number of different motion capture data to ensure my rig was at a high enough standard before going into unity. Once in unity I followed a tutorial found on their website about setting up playable characters with their animations using a node based approach. What you will find below is a Video showing off the character and a download link for the level for you to have a play :).

Download Game level Here:

Major Project Production Bike Parts #Frame

The final part of the construction stage of the bike. And in fact the most important part the frame. 

To start off the frame I blocked in the back end of the frame using simple shapes.

This then led into creating the main body of the frame, started off with a two boxes one for the top tube and then one for the bottom, The top tube was then cut down the middle to allow me to symmetry it later on.

This image shows the top tube with the symmetry modifier applied, I also added some edges around the harsh edges of the box mesh to add more roundness to the mesh this was done my selecting the edges and applying a chamfer.

I then went back to the rear end of the frame and added more detail to the blocked out meshes.

The top rear section was then mirrored to the other side using the symmetry modifier, then collapsed into edit poly, while the lower section at the back was duplicated and mirrored.  Then went onto adding in the fine details, such as the bolts done by creating a cylinder with multiple extrusions.

Then went onto creating the headtube this was done by creating a cylinder and aligning it up with the image. While also finally merging the top tube and bottom tube together creating the main body of the frame.

This then got attached to the main body of the frame by adding in extra loops around the headtube.

Created some low poly bolts for the frame to then be baked onto at a later date. This then lead on to fine tuning the frames topology.

To finish the frame off I created the very lower part of the main body to close the gap from the top area. and creating an inside to the mesh as well. This was a tricky part and required me to think about the topology a lot.

This image shows the Final design with the seat post area finally attached to the curved tube section.

Major Project Production Bike Parts #Handle Bars & Brakes

Next section on the list was the handlebars,brakes and gear shifter. For this I decided to use splines as it was recommended to me from my lecture to use spines to create the bike frame, I saw this as an opportunity to get some practice in before trying something complex. 

So to begin I again got a reference plane with a image set up and  created a set of circular splines lining up with the image. 

I then created a cylinder to work out roughly the length of the grip.

I then used the tools I was recommended to create the outcome of the image above. by connecting the circular splines with the connect tool and using the surface modifier. However this resulted in a bad outcome with edges overlapping each other. 

For that reason I resulted back to creating the bars using a cylinder with a set of extrusions. I only however modelled half of the handlebars and then used the symmetry modifier to complete the object.  

I then collapsed the modifier list and then smoothed the mesh out using the smoothing groups. Also decided to add more detail to the grips. 

The Stem was made up of two objects one at the front created from a box and the wrapped around the handlebars. Then the second part at the back was created from a cylinder with the edges flattened and extruded.

I then went back and added some bar ends to the object this was a cylinder which was bevelled in slightly. 

To add the final touches to the handlebars I added a headset cap on the top of the stem. This was done using the same technique as the bar ends.

For the next section I created the brakes. For this I got reference of an old brake set known as avid codes. Started by blocking in the unique areas of the brake with simple shapes to help me rough out how I was going to go about creating the complex shape.

This is was I finally came up with tried to keep it very simple as not going to be seen on screen much in gameplay respects. 

For the gear shifter I created a cylinder and bevelled it slightly. And used the brake lever and edited it to suit the shifter.

This is the other side of the mesh.

Major Project Production Bike Parts #Seat

The seat was the next object I modelled. For this I followed a tutorial on YouTube for a guide. To start the model of I created references within the space using the images the tutorial provided. I then started to block in the shape using the plane method.  

This Image shows a rough blocking out stage of where the edges needed to be to create the shape of the seat.

This then got built up and became more of a 3D model creating the extrusion of the edges. Also by using some of the edges I also defined more of the shape.

This then became completely a 3d model and then needed fine tuning moving verts around and removing or placing new topology where need.

This is a closer image of the stage I got so far. 

I then used the symmetry modifier to create the other side of the seat to see what the final object would look. 

This then required me to do more fine tuning to the topology to create the final about come of the seat as the image shows. 

For the seat post this resulted in using a range of techniques first part I created was the cylinder and support part. from there I created a box to fit on top this was created by a few extrusions. The final part resulted in me using splines and the adjusting them using the edit poly modifier. 

This image shows the behind view of the object.

The final stage of this section was the seat clamp, this needed to be kept low as possible as not going to get seen much. For this I created a few cylinders and a box,  I create the shape with as few subdivisions as possible.

This image shows all the pieces together.

Major Project Production Bike Parts #Shock

Creating the back end suspension now and I created the rear shock to two models of shocks in the real would using the cane creek double barrel for the major work and then the fox DHX 5 for the piggyback part.

I used an image of the can creek rear shock as a template. The image shows a rough build up and block stage of where the pieces go.

This then became more detailed and allowed me to work out how long the shock spring needed to be all the parts seen are separate and constructed using cylinders.

  

This stage I began to add in the smaller details like the shock attachments at the end of the shock, While also creating the spring itself. For the spring I used the spring prefab found in Max and then edited it at either end so that the spring fitted perfectly against the metal pieces 

I continued to add in some more finer details and create more of the piggyback.

This image shows the final outcome and shows the way I attached the piggyback to the shock and allowed me to add in the dials of the piggyback as well.

Major Project Production Bike Parts #Forks

To begin with I first created a plane with an image of the forks I was going to replicate.  These would be a set of Fox 40's the standard for choice for the professional downhill rider.

Then started to block out the forks pieces such as the fork bottoms know as the body. Then extruded the edges to create the area of which would be the seal to the fork. Once done I created a basic cylinder to represent the fork stanchions. Another little touch I added to the basic mesh was the rebound dial found at the bottom of the fork body this was done through a set of extrusions.

I then added the wheel into the scene to ensure that I had created the forks to scale so that when I model the bridge between the fork stanchions I knew it was accurate.

I then when onto creating the top crowns as they are called which attach to the forks stanchions and go either side of the frame fixing it into place. This was achieved by created two cylinders one at either end and then a box to which I then attached them together to create the final outcome. In-between the crowns are to rubber parts the stop the fork from hitting the frame and causing damage, these were modelled by creating a cylinder and set of extrusions.

The next stage was creating the fork dial and top piece on each of the stanchions. The one on the left was creating by using a high poly cylinder and selecting every other side and extruding them out while also doing a selective amount of extrusion on the top as well. However for the final low poly model this will be bakes onto a low poly cylinder. The one on the right however was just a simple 6 sided cylinder this is down to each stanchion working a different way. The bottom was removed to optimize the model.  

Moving back down to the bottom of the fork. I modelled the section where the Bolt-Thur will grow through to join the forks to the wheel this was achieved by creating a 8 sided cylinder which I then duplicated and placed the evenly making the cap two polygons wide. I then cut them in half and attached them to the bottom part of the forks and added topology to the mesh to create the final outcome.

The final part for me to create on the fork was the bottom fork bridge section this was done by creating a rough box shape and tubosmoothing the mesh to then add detail to which I edited to create the final shape. This however I only created half and then used the symmetry modifier.  

Throw Back Thursday #2

This is the second part in the series of Throw Back Thursday's would be a piece of work from the start of second year, we were given the task of creating four small game ready assets, two of which had to be modern and the other two had to be based around a time period previous to ours. 

For this I created a Flash Bang Grenade and a future like metal Briefcase for the modern part of the brief and then for the period based work I created an old Medieval Book and and ancient Chinese Coin.

Wire Frame 

Normal 

Specular 

Final Render 

Wire Frame 

Normal

Specular 

Final Render

Wire Frame 

Normal 

Specular 

Final Render

Wire Frame 

Normal

Specular

Final Render