In my final week I finally put together my personal project showreel, detailing the project’s breakdown and final outcome
Personal Project Showreel – Mayan Environment
Critical Review
This project has been both enlightening and challenging. Thinking about my targets I set to myself before I started with this journey, I consider that I have fulfilled more than I expected. I was aware that I set a complex task to myself and that it would require to give up certain aspects in order to keep up with the deadline. I think that all that I was planning to achieve has been done with the exception of the final comp, where I was planning to show a change from day to night in the sky, playing with the lighting conditions. I also would have done many things differently such as UVs and texturing; this part could have been done better if I could have done the textures myself in Substance Painter how I was planning to do originally. However, due to obvious reasons (time constrains) I had to opt for downloaded textures that look overall good, but not at 100% how I would have wanted to. The river simulation is also another aspect that I would have wanted to expend more time with, as I consider I have not had the chance to practice simulations in depth in this course.
On the bright side, I also consider that I have improved my modelling and texturing skills by learning how to shape more organic models and how to use textures in my benefit to reduce the modelling time (e.g. using textured cards for the leaves instead of modelling them). I also learned a lot about water simulation and I had the chance to practice further my compositing skills with Nuke, programme that I have not had the time to use since end of term 2.
This week, I researched pictures that I would use for my matte paintings in Photoshop to then implement the m in Nuke for my final comp. I also rendered again my scene from Maya with motion blur added.
Motion blur added in Maya render
I was not convinced about the way the render of the scene was looking, so I asked Marianna for help and advice. I explained that the image look too sharp and neat, and it did not look realistic at all as it was missing depth of field and some blur. Then she explained to me that in Maya I could really easily apply motion blur in my render settings (literally just need to tick an option), and Maya would add the motion blur and depth of field for me.
Mayan environment with motion blur
Matte paintings in Photoshop
For the sky matte painting, I took a sunset sky picture and using the ‘offset’ and the ‘stamp’ tools in Photoshop, I made an ‘infinite’ picture so the edge of this is not visible if applied in a sphere or a cylinder to recreate the environment background. The background mountains were made like this too, however, in the rest of the matte paintings I only removed the the sky of the pictures.
In Nuke I added those matte paintings previously made in Photoshop. I added the sky as a sphere texture so it looks more realistic and has more sense of depth. The background mountains were added to a cylinder was they were going to surround the whole scene (as the camera movement rotates through all the scene, this needs to be visible from all the angles). The foreground mountain and the extra rainforest bits were added as projections to simple cards since they constitute small sections only so do not need curved surface. To give more depth to the scene, I added some highlights and shadows to the mountains using rotoscoping. Lastly, I decided to search a clip of a waterfall to add it to the back of the scene so the river position has sense and continuity. Since the cards of the waterfall were giving me problems as they would get in the middle of the camera movement and they would show were the should not, I set their lifetime until only farm 400 so they disappear after. I also had to colour correct the water if the waterfall to match the colour of the river and I also gave the sky an orange/yellow tone so it matches the sunset sky’s colour.
Sky added to a sphereBackground mountains added to a cylinder and rest of the elements to a cardAdding highlights and shadows to mountains with rotoAdding highlights and shadows to mountain with rotoWaterfall’s water and sky grading with rotoLimiting waterfall vidio lifetime till frame 400 so it does not get in front of the cameraFinal comp nodes graphFinal comp nodes graphFinal comp nodes graphFinal comp nodes graph
In this week, I decided to fix the river simulation (as I was having issues with the water speed and density of the flow), to then illuminate the scene, and prepare the camera movement following my initial story board.
River simulation fix
Since my previous river simulation was way too heavy and it was giving me problems to see the actual speed of the water (I needed to render the whole simulation if I wanted to see the effect as the playblast was not showing the effect), I decided to find another way to simulate water that was not that heavy on the scene. So I found in YouTube this tutorial that uses a noise shader instead, and then I could just use the glass texture and coloured it to make it look ‘wet’.
Water simulation tutorial (SYIA Studios, 2020)Adding some subtle colours to base and specular and give some contrastRender of water simulation to see the colours applied are appropriateRender of water simulation to see the colours applied are appropriateRender in darker lighting
Water simulation play blast in Maya
I then also considered in polishing my river water simulation effect, as the waves were looking a bit too big for a river. They seemed to be more for a lake or a pool, but a river has smaller waves as it is more like a flow of water that follows a unique direction. Then, in the noise shader, I reduced the scale of the waves and added a bit more noise.
Correcting water simulation noise shader in Maya
Lighting, camera movement, and render
For lighting conditions, I searched in Polyhaven for HDRIs that simulate the light we experience at sunset. It should be subtle, yellowish, and that projects soft and stretched shadows. I found an HDRI that was not giving me the exact light conditions I wanted so I also tweaked the amount of light the it was producing and make it slightly darker.
Once the lighting was done, I started to do the camera movement is my scene. I did not want to show only that outer side of the environment from afar, so I made camera to pass through the rainforest to show the trees, palm trees, and foliage, to then jump over the river, going around the scenario in circles, to finish climbing up the pyramid up un til ending in a long shot of the environment.
Camera set up
In the following render of the scene, it is visible the camera movement I set in the scene, however, I noticed that I had some texture problems with the trees leaves, so I will need to revisit the textures paths, relink them properly to avoid this issue, and render again the scene.
References
SYIA Studios (2020). Maya Easy Animated Water Shader (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVjc3vvvJfo&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=1&t=62s [Accessed 16 June 2023]
This week, I finished all UV maps and textures of the whole scene so I could start next week with the lighting and camera movement to get it ready for rendering.
Trees and palm trees UV maps and textures
I reshaped all UVs branch by branch, cutting in the edge of each branch and unfolding them. Then I oriented them straight and adjusted the texel so the textures show with consistency. Then, I searched palm trees and trees bark textures in Quixel and linked them in the models in Maya. I used ‘base colour’, ‘normal map’ and ‘displacement’, ‘roughness’ for the specular, and ‘AO’ so the texture does not look flat. Also, in the ‘hypershade’, I went to the placer node of the textures and scaled them down to fit the model shape.
Tree UV cuts of branches in sectionsUnfolded UVsTree texture in UV mapTree textures linkedPalm tree trunk UV mapUnfolded palm tree trunk UV mapPalm tree trunk texturedPalm tree texture in UV mapTree bark texturedClose up of tree texturedTree variant 1 texturedTree variant 2 texturedTree variant 3 texturedTree variant 4 texturedTree variant 5 texturedCoconuts texturedCoconuts look in place between leavesPalm tree variation 1 texturedPalm tree variation 2 texturedPalm tree variation 3 texturedPalm tree variation 4 texturedPalm tree variation 5 texturedPalm tree variation 6 textured
Pyramid UV maps and textures
The pyramid UVs took me a bit more time as it needs to be perfectly straight so the textures of the bricks do not look warped. I took my time to figure out how to dissect it in sections to avoid texture stretching issues. Then I linked bricks and destroyed rocks textures that I found in Quixel.
Pyramid UVs unfoldedPyramid with textures linkedPyramid textured – Front viewPyramid textured – 3/4 viewPyramid textured – side viewPyramid middle section textured – close upPyramid middle section textured – close upPyramid top section textured – close up
Ground and rocks UV maps and textures
The rocks were a little bit tricky as they were generated with the randomiser tool, so their topology is made by a lot of triangles and weird angles. The good thing about rocks is that their UV maps do not need to be straight or too perfect as they need to look organic. The ground was way easier as it is a plane so I did not have to retouch the UV. Again, the textures used for these, we’re dowloaded from Quixel.
Rock UV mapGround texturedRiver rock textured with a darker tone and with more specular added so it looks wetThe rocks on the ground had a lighter texture and less specular so they do not look shinnyEnvironment fully texturedEnvironment fully textured
For this week, I modelled variations of palm trees and foliage to fill up the scene and make it look more like a rainforest.
Palm trees references & models
I needed a palm tree reference that was not too tall, with a thick trunk, and with some coconuts showing in between the leaves. I think this style will suit best my scene as the pyramid will need to stand out in the final long shot above the jungle, so it would be better to keep the palm trees at around the same high as the trees are. I found the below references with similar characteristics I had in mind:
Palm trees reference (Gerisima, 2020)Palm trees reference (Lubilub, 2009)
The palm leaves were made using the same technique I used for the tree leaves previously. I created an alpha and a normal maps in Photoshop from a picture of a palm tree leaf I found online, and then linked them in Maya.
Palm tree leaf base colourPalm tree leaf alpha mapPalm tree leaf normal mapPalm trees topologyPalm tree leaves render in Maya with texturesCoconuts between leavesPalm tree variation 1Palm tree variation 2Palm tree variation 3Palm tree variation 4Palm tree variation 5Palm tree variation 6All palm trees variations
Foliage models
These are some references I took as inspiration to create the foliage to fill up the rainforest scene:
Big leaves reference (Jorge Castillo, Lucas Bustamante, Frank Pichardo, 2022)Ferns reference (Dewi Nurjuwita, 2018)
I also made the alpha and normal maps in Photoshop for the foliage leaves, to then link them to plane shapes in Maya.
Big leaf base colourBig leaf alpha mapBig leaf normal mapFern leaf base colourFern leaf alpha mapFern leaf normal mapPlane reshaped for a more organic lookBig leaf renderBig leaves gathered together to shape the plantBig leaves plant renderBig leaves plant variationsBig leaves plant variations renderPlane reshaped for a more organic lookFern leaf renderFerns gathered together to shape the plantFern plant renderFern plants variationsFern plants variations render
Additions of new models to environment
Once I finished the models, I placed them in the main environment scene to see how would they look. I also used referencing in Maya, so when I add the textures to the original models, it would update in the main scene too so I do not need to place everything again.
I also had some problems trying to see the textures of the trees leaves in the main scene when I switched from my personal computer to the university computers. Researching in forums online, I found out that when .ass extensions files were exported, these needed to be exported without ‘Absolute texture paths’ option ticked, as it would always take as reference the same path assigned originally, so when changing computers, these will not show. I reexported these as mentioned before, and relinked the assets with a ‘relative path’ so it does not have a fixed route.
Render settings to remove absolute paths from .ass filesMain scene with palm trees and foliage addedClose up of palm trees and foliage
References
Castillo, J., Bustamante, L., Pichardo, F. (2022). Why is Ecuador the best tropical country for nature photography? (online). Available at: https://www.tropicalherping.com/articles/why_ecuador_for_photography.html [Accessed 3 June 2023]
Gerisima (2020). Coconut Palm trees on white sandy beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. stock photo (online). Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/coconut-palm-trees-on-white-sandy-beach-in-punta-cana-dominican-republic-gm1270732523-373579722 [Accessed 3 June 2023]
Lubilub, 2009). Beautiful palm trees by River Dulce in Livingston, Guatemala. stock photo (online). Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/beautiful-palm-trees-by-river-dulce-in-livingston-guatemala-gm117952546-9032250 [Accessed 3 June 2023]
Nurjuwita, D. (2018). Where to travel in 2018: The best rainforest destinations (online). Available at: https://www.lifestyleasia.com/sg/travel/travel-2018-best-rainforest-destinations/ [Accessed 3 June 2023]
This week I focused on figuring out the style of the pyramid on my scene and finishing the model in Maya.
Reference pictures and planning
I researched several pyramids in Mexico and Guatemala, and found one that looks a bit more simple but also tall enough to fit the scene that I want to make, which would show the pyramid slightly above the trees of the rainforest. This is the pyramid of the magician in Uxmal, Mexico and it has 3 levels and only one staircase on the front that leads to two different entrances. As my camera movement is going to go from the bottom of the pyramid until the top, I think it could look good to go all the way up the stairs until the top entrances and then open up the scene in a long shot. Regarding the details in the walls, since these would be time consuming and it would take a lot of time to render, I decided to model a simplified version of these instead.
Pyramid of the magician general view (Zwegers, 2013)Pyramid of the magician top view (O’Brien, 2012)Pyramid of the magician details (Popp) Pyramid of the magician main entrance (Schooley Jr)
Pyramid model
Using a pyramid preset geometry from Maya I started to shape the 3 levels of my Mayan pyramid. Then, adding some more subdivisions, I added the steps that surround the whole shape. Then, in a separate model, I shaped the main entrance in the middle section. The reason why I modelled it separately is because, it needs way more subdivisions than the main body so it would be easier to model it separate from the main body. I added the entrance and the windows along with all the different patterns that would shape the decoration of this section. Lastly, I modelled the top section and added as decoration the same pattern I used for the middle section. I tried to keep the number of subdivisions at the minimum so this model would not be too heavy for the main scene, as it is going to be quite heavy once I add the rest of the foliage.
Final pyramid model – front viewFinal pyramid model – 3/4 viewFinal pyramid model – side viewFinal pyramid model – 3/4 top viewPattern details added as decoration
References
O’Brien, S. (2012). Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal Mexico (online). Available at: https://pixels.com/featured/pyramid-of-the-magician-at-uxmal-mexico-shawn-obrien.html [Accessed 25 May 2023]
Popp, T. Day Trip to Uxmal and the Pyramid of the Magician (online). Available at: https://lillagreen.com/visiting-uxmal-and-the-pyramid-of-the-magician-yucatan-mexico/ [Accessed 25 May 2023]
Schooley Jr, J.P. Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico (online). Available at: https://knowltondl.osu.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/8275 [Accessed 25 May 2023]
Zwegers, A. (2013). Uxmal, Pyramid of the Magician (online). Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/azwegers/14179854288 [Accessed 25 May 2023]
This week I managed to finish all trees models using MASH to place leaves repetitions, and also placed all trees in the environment.
Leaves arrangement using MASH tool in Maya
Since I realised that arranging all leaves manually would take longer that I expected, I decided to look for an alternative and quickest way. Then I found this tutorial on how to use MASH ‘Distribute’ and ‘Placer’ nodes to ‘paint’ an object over a mesh.
MASH tutorial (Ian Waters, 2017)
With the ‘Distribute’ node in MASH, I created the repetitions of the leaves arrangements I designed previously. Also, I made sure to set my MASH ‘Geometry type’ to ‘Mesh’ and not to ‘Instancer’, since this way the alpha map of the leaves will be kept and I will be able to keep the leaves texture. Then, in the ‘Distribute’ node, I set the ‘Distribution type’ to ‘Mesh’ and linked the tree as the ‘Input Mesh’ (so it follows the shape of the tree), and left the ‘Number of points’ as ‘0’ in this case. Then, I used a ‘Placer’ node so I could place the leaves pattern like painting with a brush on top of the tree. With this node I made some tweaks in its setting so the leaves were generated with random position, rotation and scale. Lastly, in order to preserve the leaves texture when exporting the trees with the MASH generated repetitions to the environment scene, I exported them in .ASS extension.
‘Placer’ node used to add leaves too treeFinal trees models with leaves exported as .ASS to preserve textureTree 1 renderTree 2 renderTree 3 renderTree 4 renderTree 5 render
Final trees arrangement in environment
Final trees arranged in environment – top viewFinal trees arranged in environment – front viewFinal trees in environment previsFinal trees in environment previsFinal trees in environment previsFinal trees in environment previs
The next steps for next week will be to try to finish the rest of the foliage and palm trees using MASH too and to start modelling the pyramid.
References
Waters, I. (2017). MASH Placer Node – Painting Points (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb2ZGa0JBns [Accessed on 20 May 2023]
This week I focused finishing the tree branches to incorporate them in the trunks I previously modelled and prepared the leaves texture in Photoshop to add to cards as shader in Maya.
Branches
For the branches modelling, I followed the tutorial I found last week. I started extruding some faces of a scaled-up cube, to then scale down the tapper in the ends of the branches. Then adding some rigging to this shape, using a ‘randomizer’ tool, and adding some manual tweaks to it, I created some random shapes of a branch. Once I was happy with the shape generated, I duplicated and tweaked again the original shape. I created 5 variations of the branch which I incorporated to the trunks I previously made. To add the branches to the trunk, I positioned them first where I wanted to place them, then deleted the faces of the trunk where I wanted to add these branches, combined the two meshes, selected both edges in both ends and bridged them.
Branch shape extruding random faces of a scaled-up cubeRigging of the branchSelecting joints created and the ‘Randomiser’ tool to deform branch (creating a more natural look)Branch deformed – view in ‘smooth – 3’ modeI created 5 variations of branchesAddition of branches to tree 1Addition of branches to tree 2Addition of branches to tree 3Addition of branches to tree 4Addition of branches to tree 5Final treesAddition of trees to environment to have an idea of how it would look like and how to orient them in the spaceTrees placed previs
Leaves
For the leaves I decided the add an alpha and a bump map to a card instead of modelling them as this last would be time consuming and will be quite heavy tot render. Therefore, I found a tutorial that shows how to create your own normal map and alpha from the image I am going to use as texture.
Leaf tutorial (Rees3D, 2020)
First, I search for a leaf image that is placed flat and has a white background. Then in Photoshop I made the background pure white (as it was slightly darker). Then selected the white area with the ‘magic wand’ tool, created new layer, and using the ‘bucket’ tool, I painted this layer in black. Then, I changed this layer blend mode from ‘normal’ to ‘colour’ and I ‘merge down’ with thee original layer. Then, I selected the ‘generate normal map’ 3D filter and in the pop up window, I tweaked ‘blur’, ‘contrast details’ and ‘detail scale’ to design the normal map of the leaf. Lastly, I exported this result in JPEG.
To create the alpha layer of the same leaf picture, in Photoshop, I selected the white area with the magic wand again and created a new layer to paint it in black with the ‘bucket’ tool as I did before. Then, I changed the blending mode from ‘normal’ to ‘colour’ and ‘merge down’ as before too, but this time I used ‘curves’ tool to adjust the image in the curve graph until the main image of the leaf looks black. Lastly, I used ‘invert’ to swap the white and black space and exported the image en JPEG.
Leaf texture (Kelly, 2019)Normal map made in PhotoshopFinal normal map result in PhotoshopFinal alpha result in Photoshop
Once I had my texture maps prepared, I linked them to a plane in Maya, connecting the original leaf picture to the base colour, the alpha to opacity, and the normal map to the bump map. Then, I oriented the UV map slightly so the leaf centre line was aligned with the centre of the plane, to then bend the plane slightly so it doesn’t look totally flat. Lastly, I duplicated this and arranged the duplicates to form a group of leaves attached to a small branch. Then I started to add them to the trees.
Texture maps linked in MayaLeaf render with texture in MayaLeaf UV mapReshaping plane to give a more organic look to the leafReshaped leaf renderReshaped leaf renderLeaves arrangementLeaves arrangement renderAddition of a small central branchLeaves with small branch renderLeaves with small branch renderAddition of smaller top leaves and variation of leaves shapes and sizeAddition of leaves to treesBranch with leaves renderBranch with leaves render
References
Kelly (2019). Green Leaf (online). Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-leaf-2559931/ [Accessed on 13 May 2023]
Rees3D (2020). Transparent Leaf [Maya Tutorial] | Rees3D.com (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM0VgEbc4pw [Accessed on 13 May 2023]
In this week, I started to research tutorials to model trees trunks, branches, and leaves in the most effective way, to then begin to model the trees of my environment. I also put together a previs to see the dimensions of the space.
As I am not that familiar with organic modelling, I researched some tutorials to see what was the most efficient way to model a tree. I found the following tutorials that explain step by step how to model a tree’s trunk and branches separately, how to create different variations from the same original model, and how to put everything together once we have our parts modelled. I think this way I will have different variations of trees to fill up my environment and not having to model them one by one from start.
Tree trunk modelling (Alex Cheparev, 2021)
Tree branches modelling tutorial (Alex Cheparev, 2021)
For the leaves, I found a separate tutorial that shows how to model them in groups to then pile them up in different shapes, and ultimately, add them to the tree branches.
Leaves modelling tutorial (TrimitKala, 2020)
Following these tutorials I started with the trees modelling.
Curves used to shape basic trunk modelUsing a cylinder that has been deformed to add a more organic shape in the base, I extruded the roots and trunk. Then amended the tape and added a twirl of each elementOriginal shapeDuplicated the original shape with the curves and then tweaked original and duplicated again to have different variants
Before making the branches and leaves, I wanted to see how much space I had in the environment and how the trees would fit ini it (dimensions). So I expended some time positioning the trees in the space until I reached a preview of how the environment would look like with the pyramid included.
Environment previous
I also made some renders of the frames to see how the camera movement would look like.
Camera movement with wireframe on to see depthCamera movement previs
References
Alex Cheparev (2021). Maya Extrude Tool – How to 3D model a tree trunk (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-ls96NCgcc&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=64 [Accessed 30 April 2023]
Alex Cheparev (2021). Maya Extrude and Joint Tools – How to 3D model tree branches (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yDgvyGPqa4&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=63 [Accessed 30 April 2023]
TrimitKala (2020). 8. Creating the Leaves in Maya, ZBrush | Tutorial 8 | Making 3D Scene Step by Step (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycu3A_vf-YU&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=61&t=49s [Accessed 1 May 2023]
This week, I focused on planning my story board, scene assets and floor plan. I also started to model the base of my environment and learnt how to make a river simulation in Maya.
As I needed to organise this project’s weekly tasks in order to meet the deadline of the project, I decided to make a story board first of how the scene would look in camera. Also, as I think the most complicated bit of this project is going to be the trees and plants of the jungle, I will start focusing in this first and the pyramid afterwards. I found some good references of jungle trees and made a rough sketch of what elements I wanted to incorporate. Since in the jungle, trees, bushes, and rest of the plants are kind of mixed up and entangled together, I thought of incorporating this in my design to give the feeling of a dense rainforest.
Moreover, I also made a floor plan of the space to figure out the dimensions I have to aim for and the composition of the scene.
Storyboard and tree sketch made in ProcreateTrees moodboard made in PhotoshopFloor plan made in Procreate
Before starting to figure out the trees, I thought of begin with the ground basic shape and the river simulation. I used Maya’s different brushes to give some texture to the ground and make the river’s shape. Then, using a sphere, made some deformations in it and used the ‘Shatter’ tool to brake this deformed sphere into pieces so I had rocks in different random shapes. After I positioned all my rocks, I researched the best way to do a river flow simulation and I found the following tutorial:
River stream simulation tutorial (3D Splanchnic, 2019)
This effect seemed simple but it is quite challenging to get a believable effect that looks realistic. I used ‘Fluids’ tool in Maya and used the option of ‘Emit from object’ to create this water stream coming from a plane (this would be the emitter). Then, I played around with density, velocity, colliders, and resolution to create a texture that then I used as a bump map of the water. Lastly, I used ‘deep water’ preset to give water-like transparency and corrected the transmission colour to green to give a jungle tone.
I think the first test with water simulation went ok, however, there are a few corrections I wish to do, such as reduce the speed of water, reduce noise added, and maybe try to reduce the density of the effect.
References
3D Splanchnic (2019). River Fluid Texture in Maya (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=975S-9URarQ [Accessed 30 April 2023]
