Day 11

Videos: 22

Total time: 110 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Lighting and Texturing).

Important Sanity Tip of the Day: When moving an object; always grab the layer that everything is parented to.  This is something I rediscovered today, after a few hair pulling moments.  Today, I started by fixing the layer issues I left off with yesterday; then applied textures to all the layers, as you can see here (which took me almost 30 minutes...before starting the actual video).

Initial Textures done

There are a few areas on some edges that need some love; but I'm done tweaking it for now.  Next, we move onto dressing up the texture maps themselves; with bump mapping, specularity, etc.  Here's the result of that endeavor.

Texture and Light tweaks

I tweaked the lights a bit, and added the bump and spec mapping, to the above render.  The results may not look much different to the one above it; but, upon further examination of the close-up images below, they add a little more realism to it.  I did not add a gloss layer however.

Without Bump and Spec Maps

With Bump and Spec Maps

You can also see, in the above images, the errors I came up with on some of the ends; where the textures seemed to run amuck a bit.  At the distance I'm rendering at, however, it's not bad.  I think this will wrap up the main texturing and lighting portion of this project.  Tune in tomorrow, when we add some nice decals to this old crate of ours, and shoot for a final render.

-Keith

Day 10

Videos: 20 and 21

Total time: 90 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Lighting and Texturing).

Well; here we are back at it again.  I didn't get to spend as much time as I'd have liked, on this today; but still, there is progress.  First off; I'll show you my render panel, which will give you all the settings I used in making a particular render.  I show you this, not as something for you to go off of; but rather, so you can see that you don't have to have the exact settings that Dan does throughout the course.  Experiment a little.  Remember, this course was made many years ago now; machines are quite powerful at this point, so render times have reduced dramatically.

Render Panel

We've switched gears a bit on the lighting source as well.  I'm now using an area light, rather than a spotlight; it gives off a much better result for our purposes here.  In this image, I'm using a single light (along with ambient and Global Illumination from before).

Area Light

Finally; here's a nice example of why you need to pay attention to your surfaces.  Notice how nice the wood lines up on the outer bracing on some sides, but not all.  I'll need to go back into Modeler and reconfigure some surfaces (renaming a few).  It's tedious, but it'll be worth it in the final render.  I've used an extra light on the right, to illuminate the side beams better (so I can be assured the textures are being applied correctly).  I'm quite happy with the choice of floor texture as well.

Surfaces are your friends

At any rate; I'll sign off here for the day.  See you all tomorrow!

-Keith

Day 9

Videos: 18 and 19

Total time: 100 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Set-Up and Lighting).

Today I finished with the set-up of our scene (positioning of the camera and lights), and began to set up the lighting.  As I said previously; you'll spend plenty of time tweaking the lights, rendering, tweaking, rendering, etc.  Get used to it.  Keeping your render settings low can help speed up things (via shorter render times) however.  In these videos; Dan shows you the different types of lights and shadow types, and how they work together to create the look you are going for.  In the following renders below, you'll see how I progressed from the static set-up (Lightwave default light and camera set-up), to a more robust scene...utilizing radiosity, backdrop ambient lighting, and additional lighting.

You'll also notice that Dan takes you back to modeler for a quick tweaking of the boards; to "mess" things up a bit.  Nothing's perfect, right?

Default Render

Added initial shadow

Spotlight, 2nd light in rear, Ambient Light

Looks like this crate's been dropped

Next up will be more tweaks in lighting, and finally texturing it all.  See you guys on Monday!

-Keith

Day 8

Videos: 17

Total time:   50 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Model and Set-Up).

Alright.  Before even starting this video, I did some more tweaking to the model.  Adding side and top (inner) bracing, as well as the sled beams on the bottom of the crate (remember, when stacking crates of this size, a forklift would be used...and it needs a clear path for the forks).  I also slimmed down the boards all around; I felt they were too thick.  To do this universally (instead of trying to tweak it by eye), select the appropriate vertices, and use the numerics panel to be precise.

Dan goes over consolidating your layers in this video.  However; I would like to point out a personal preference on my part (and this is due to already going through this series before).  I want the decals to show up only on the surface I want them to (you'll see what I mean in later posts), and not bleed into other sides.  As I eluded to earlier; feel free to pause a video at any time and experiment/tweak, there's nothing wrong with that...in fact I would encourage it.  Remember, when you start working on your own projects, you won't have a tutorial running in the background...it's all you.

You'll end this video with setting up the actual floor the crate will rest on, and import it all into Layout (then start the initial camera set-up)

Included the wireframe view this time.  Note the sled beams on the bottom.

Note the slimmed down boards all around.

I slimmed/reduced down the boards by 50mm (on a 200 mm grid).  Looks much better, in my opinion.  At any rate; as you can see by the time I took on this video (which was only 15 minutes long), I did a lot of additional tweaking and adding of geometry to the mesh; till I got what I wanted.

See you tomorrow; when we'll start setting up the scene, lighting and texturing the crate.

-Keith

Day 7

Videos: 16

Total time:  40 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Model).

Well, with this video, I'm nearly done with all the modeling of the crate.  I just have a few more beams to create and place.  I've created the lid as well; again, using one of the original beams.  Copy/Paste, Rotate, Mirror, Move....that's about all I'm using to create this.  When you're done with this, you'll have a good (still basic) understanding of how to create simple objects in layers.  Remember; layering is important for organization, especially if you're not sure how detailed you want to make your object.  Here's where we're at, at this stage.

We have a lid and everything!

Tune in tomorrow, where we'll finish up the modeling process...and move onto lighting and texturing!

-Keith

Day 6

Videos: 15

Total time:  32 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Model).

In this video, you'll continue to piece together the crate; learning about regular usage of certain tools as you go.  I did jump ahead a little bit (without actually going into the next video), as I find myself pausing the videos frequently to catch-up....and occasionally moving ahead without realizing it.  At any rate; here's the progress after one video.

Added the side beams for bracing

You'll also notice that I gave each set of beams (on the Y, X and Z) a slightly different surface (color).  This will help later on, when you're applying textures to each set of boards.  Do note that I did in fact narrow the length of the entire crate itself, so you're not imagining things.  Also of note; everything you see here came from the single beam/block I made in the beginning.

At any rate; see you all tomorrow!

-Keith

Day 5

Videos: 14

Total time:  25 minutes

Goals: The Crate (Model).

Well; I opted to spend some of my day off today, at the movies.  However; I made sure to find time for my first video, making the Crate.  All the set-up videos finally pays off, as you begin to create your first project in this series.  At the end of video #14; you'll have all 4 sides up, on your crate.

 

The Beginning of The Crate

One thing to keep in mind (and I'm sure Dan will agree), is that what he is showing you here are just the tools and how to use them.  He's not telling you to make your boards the exact same dimensions as him, or in the same shape.  You create what you feel looks right.

I'll see you all tomorrow!

-Keith

Day 4

Videos: 10, 11, 12 and 13

Total time:   110 minutes

Goals: Layout Options, HUB, Key-framing and Lighting.

Well; I decided to finish up all the remaining "set-up" videos, so I can start on the first project (The Crate) on Monday.  I'm sure you're all ready to start seeing some images at this point.

First up, was video #10: Layout Options.  In this video Dan expands upon the previous one, by showing you all the other areas of Lightwave Layout.  You'll have a good (general) overview of what tools are where, and how to navigate this area of Lightwave.

Next up is the HUB video; which briefly describes this important little program, that helps you go from Modeler to layout with a simple button click.  He'll also show you a few things you can modify, concerning the look of the interface itself.

Key-framing is the subject of video #12.  Dan will give you a very basic overview of this basic (but important) tool used to create animations.  Along the way; you'll create your very first (if you're new to 3D) animation!  It won't be much....but it moves, and you'll make it.  This video had me backtracking a bit, to take it all in; but it's good to get to know these tools.

Finally; Lighting will wrap up our day, in the last video we go through.  Dan takes you through all the various areas of lighting set-up, as well as the properties of each lighting type and the capabilities of each type of light.  Lighting is something that will come to you more through trial and error, more than anything.  But it's good to get to know the location and usefulness of each of the tools you'll need.

Join me again on Monday (for real this time); and I'll have something to actually show off!

-Keith

Day 3.

Videos: 8 and 9

Total time:  60 minutes

Goals: Panels, Layout Intro.

Today I started off with Lightwave's Panels (video #8).  Dan takes you through most of the panels, and their contents (very briefly).  He stresses the importance of each panel, and how it could relate to your workflow.  The important thing to remember here, is not to get hung up on how everything works; just understand that Dan's showing you what's there.  You'll get more into depth on how certain functions work later on.  If he doesn't cover it in this series; there are many resources to be had for more specific areas/functions of Lightwave.

Video #9 will finally get us out of Modeler, and into Layout.  Layout is where you'll be doing all your animation and rendering.  Dan takes us through the basic interface and panels (though not going into depth on what tools do what.....yet), and some of the nuances of each.  Again; a little dry, but it's necessary to lay the groundwork first.  I'll see you all on Monday (where I should have more hours to work on this)!

-Keith

Day Two.

Videos: 4, 5, 6 and 7

Total time: 85 minutes

Goals: Selections, Layers, Sub-Division and the WTMCS bar.

Today's lessons took me through the various ways to select an object, or part of an object; and manipulate it (using various tools).  One of the key things Dan hammered home, is that when you have nothing selected (poly, vert or edge); any operation (move, rotate, etc.) you perform affects everything.  Dan shows you multiple ways to perform the same selection as well (also different ways to deselect).

The attributes of layers (and how similar it is to photoshop's way of using layers), and how they can help you with your work, was the focus of video #5.  Using layers (even on a simple object) can be very helpful, and save you time and effort down the road.  You also learn how to parent objects to each other, and how that carries over to Layout.  Naming, and organizing layers is also discussed.

Both Sub-Division and the new(ish) Cat-Mull Clark Sub-Division is discussed in video #6.  Dan shows you how to avoid errors, when creating geometry that is meant to be sub-divided.  Dan shows how sub-dividing a poly with an odd number of vertices can only be done with Cat-Mull Clark.

The WTMCS panel (lower-right corner of your screen in Modeler) is discussed in the final video of today.  This stands for Weight, Texture, Morph, Color Vertex and Selection.  Dan gives you an overview of what can be achieved with these different groups.

Again; nothing to show really, a few more videos and I'll finally be into the Crate Project.  I'll see you back here on Friday!

-Keith

Day One (finally)!

Well, I've finally dug into the Series again.  I've decided to go through the Series in it's entirety; to be thorough, and to give anyone reading this Blog (those of you still with me anyways) a good run-through of this excellent set that Dan has put together.  The way I want to lay this out, is to give you the video number(s), the total time I spend on the day's videos (not the total length of the videos themselves; but how long I spend on them, occasionally going back and forth), the goals of the set I've worked on, and any settings that I may have used in a particular part of a project.

Videos: 1, 2 and 3

Total time: 45 minutes

Goals: Interface and Options

Today's lessons were simply an explanation of what is needed to navigate 3D space, how to orient yourself in it, and several options panels (Display, Global, etc.).  Again; whether you've ever used a 3D Modeling Program before, Dan assumes nothing.  I can't stress enough how easy it is, even for someone who's never thought about creating a 3 dimensional object in their life.  Though the start is rather boring (especially for someone who's viewed this series for the third time at this point); it is necessary to lay out, and absorb, the proper ground work....before plunging in head first.

As such, I have nothing to show off.  See you all tomorrow!

-Keith

Well; good news.  Dan got back with me with all I need (big thanks to Dan for the help); and I'm downloading it all as I type this.  As I said before; this will be the third time I've done this Series, so I plan on doing things a little bit different this time around. ;)

Till then; here's my last attempt at the crate....

Final Render: Standard

Final Render: Raiders of the Lost Ark Rendition

Still in a holding pattern; waiting to hear from Dan, or get something in the mail/email.  Just wanted to update once again.