This week I got a bit delayed and I only managed to do the UV maps of all the parts of the model, so I will start with the textures next week.
UV Mapping
I made the UV maps in separate sections of the model, so it is easier to texture later on on Substance Painter (the model in parts will not be as heavy to texture and the programme will run better). I used ‘camera based’ tool to detect the UV map of each part based on the camera view, then I started to cut and sew the seams of each UV to be ablate unfold them as flat as possible without overlapping UVs. Then I used the ‘optimize tool’ to straighten the UVs as much as possible (this will make texturing easier as will avoid stretching issues). Lastly, I used ‘layout’ to try to arrange all UV shells of each section in 1 UDIM, spreading to 2 UDIMS for those sections that were too big to fit in one. After all the UVs were ready, I renamed the UV sets (to avoid issues with UV overlapping later on in Substance Painter) and I exported the model by sections in USD format.
I expended this week setting my final models with a studio lighting scene in Maya to show topology, UVs, and textures.
Studio lighting set up in Maya
I took me a bit to be able to set this scene as it was preset with different colour space, so the scene was giving me error from start. I followed a video that the author of this scene made to explain how to configure the colour space to make it work.
After, I set everything up, I could start setting my models but, unfortunately, some textures were looking way different and with the time limit I have I just could not do anything about it. Therefore, I tried to match the textures such as possible to the originals and proceeded to render. I also rendered the topology and UVs of the models for the showreel breakdown.
Colour space warningHologram light faded with this scene’s settingsI darkened the background and added the Lens Effect that I had in my previous sceneI darkened the blue colour of the hologramI corrected the spreading of the glow too
This week I focused on finishing the textures of the hologram and refine its animation.
Hologram UVs correction and base texture
When I started to add the textures to the base of the hologram in Substance Painter, I noticed that my UVs were wrong as I sliced them in sections. Therefore, any time I tried to add a rust effect on edges, the programme was not detecting them and placed the textured in the middle. I then went back to Maya and redo the UV maps, but this time only cutting off the edge that was less visible, and unfolded the UV from that cut. Then, I updated the UVs in Substance Painter and added the rust effect in the edges.
Hologram UV maps corrected in Maya
Originally, I wanted to do the texture in bronze colour to follow the style of most of the objects in the master render. However, I then realised that this texture will not work as hit is too flat and yellowish so it does not really match with the blue hologram effect on top of it.
Initial bronze texture test in Substance Painter with some dirt and rust effect added on topRings with bronze texture and dirt effectOverall look with bronze texture
After testing the bronze texture, I decided to swap to a more reflective and metallic texture such as the copper texture, and then add the dirt and scratches masks I made for the previous bronze texture on top of the new texture.
Base with copper texture for the overall surface and cobalt texture for the small rivets and the central starBase texture made of copper preset mixed with some previous features from the bronze texture (dirt and damaged edges effects)Outer ring texture is the same as the base but changed the position and the quantity of dirt effect shownOuter ring rivets textured with cobalt preset and some surface scratches maskBoth inner rings have damaged cobalt as texture – I didn’t add many effects to these rings as they are inside the hologram so they are not too visibleAfter I finished with the textures, I baked them all and exported them in Arnold aiStandard (as bmp)
After exporting the textures from Substance Painter, I created the shaders in Maya using the Substance plug-in, and linked each shader the the correspondent part of the hologram. After relinking textures in Maya, I noticed that the metallic textures looked too flat and they did not shine as a metallic surface would do in reality. Therefore, I checked the roughness map of the copper texture and reduced the ‘alpha gain’ till 0.5 (it was 1 before) and then changed the ‘color gain’ to a darker gray so the shadows had some contrast from black to gray (before they were white so they were not visible, hence the flat look). Then, I went to the ‘Lens Effect’ I added for the hologram and reduced the ‘threshold’ from 1 to 0.65 so it did not look that white/burnt shine on the surface of the metallic base.
‘Lens Effect’ added in render settings for hologram effect‘Threshold’ reduced from 1 to 0.65In copper shader – ‘Roughness map’ – reduced ‘Alpha Gain’ and ‘Color Gain’ changed to darker gray
After the textures were finally completed, I redid the animation of the spinning of the rings and the little satellites rotation on them with manual key framing.
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
This week I had to remodel the base of my hologram and make the hologram effect to test in in final scene, along with finishing the radio textures.
Hologram remodelling
After Martyna and Roos tested the hologram in the master render, they were having some issues with the hologram as it was too heavy for the scene. Then they figured that the particles used for the particle effect had too many subdivision and asked me to redo this with simple cubes instead (it will not have that polished effect, but it will lower the poly count of he model considerably). Apart from the particle effect, Roos also recommended me to delete any unnecessary subdivisions, so I deleted most of them from the constellations cylinders, from rings, rivets, and base of the hologram. After reducing the poly count, I also had to redo the hologram’s UV maps.
Hologram’s new UV maps after amending subdivisions
Radio Textures
I also carried on with the radio textures this week so the CG lead could have most of the final objects with textures to test the illumination with them in the master render. In Substance Painter, I chose a wood texture for the base and main body of the radio and mixed it with some metallic textures to give that futuristic look to it. I also, found two pictures online about the channel dial of retro radios, so I created an alpha and a normal map version of these and added them to the radio. I made the normal map to add some texture to the typography in it and the alpha map to add some emission to the screen (focusing on the typography only) as if the radio was turned on.
Top channel screen base colour (Cobalt)Top channel screen alphaTop channel screen normal mapMiddle channel screen base colour (Pilcher)Middle channel screen alphaMiddle channel screen normal mapTop channel switchers with bronze texture in the centre – also added some scratches and damaged edges with some masksCobalt material added for the sides of the top channel switchers – also added stains and scratches with a maskBronze texture added for top shell decoration – added some rust effect with a mask coloured in dark redSame bronze texture with rust effect added to middle channel switcher as for the top shellMiddle channel screen left blank in the middle to add channels texture later on in Maya – borders textured as damaged cobaltRusty edges added to middle channel screen with mask coloured in dark redCopper texture was added for the decoration with a dirt mask that has high contrast and has been placed only in the parts were the decoration is joining the wood textureI also added a rust mask in dark red/brownRadio handle textured with damaged cobalt for the overall parts and then with bronze for the rings – it also has rust effectTop speakers had a circular patterned texture that was coloured with a subtle ochre tone for the base and a cobalt texture for the circles edges and the speakers edges.The top speakers also had a wood preset texture with the colour changed to a darker/reddish brown – I also added a scratched texture to the edgesMain body has also a wood preset texture with the colour changed to a darker/reddish brownA scratched texture was also added in the edges and some bits of the main body.On the sides of the main body, I added a damaged cobalt texture to give a futuristic look to it. I also softened the damaged level of the preset texture as it was looking too pronounced.The bottom speakers have also a damaged cobalt texture with a red rust maskInside the bottom speakers I added the same texture I made for the top speakersThe base of the radio has also the same wood texture as the main body but with a higher level of scratches and dirt (base parts of furnitures are usually more wore off)Once I finished with the textures I baked them and exported them for Arnold aiStandard
In Maya, I linked all the textures as I did with my spaceship, by using the Substance plug-in to automatically link and group the different layers and maps into shaders. Then these shaders were connected to the correspondent parts of the radio. I also linked the channels screens to the radio and added a bit of emission (as previously mentioned) to give the feeling that the radio is turned on. However, after I uploaded this textured model to FTrack, Gonzalo mentioned that this emission was too bright and should be turned down slightly. Therefore, I corrected this and uploaded the final version to FTrack.
Radio model with emission levels too high in the middle channel screen
Final radio model with textures
References
Cobalt. Vintage radio dial (online). Available at: https://stock.adobe.com/gr_en/search?k=radio+dial&asset_id=55983088 [Accessed 3 June 2023]
Pilcher, G. Vintage radio dial face (online). Available at: https://id.pinterest.com/pin/740279257483290061/ [Accessed 3 June 2023]
This week I added some more details to the radio and the planet hologram, and tried to finish the UV maps of both of them to leave them ready for texturing next week.
Radio model improvement
I considered that the radio was looking a bit flat and boring. Since the style we are approaching is more detailed and crowded, I decided to add some patterns on the top of the radio following the organic shapes I added in the front part of the model. Also, I saw that Liam and Roos had a specific pattern in their models (couch, arm chair, and coffee table) which made the style of the objects look more cohesive. Therefore, I asked them how they made it and added it to the sides of my radio. For the top decoration, I used curves as before that then I would transform into brush strokes and lastly into mesh. For the pattern on the sides, I created a plane, then used the ‘Poke’ feature to create these crossed intersections on each subdivision of the plane, and then I extruded those faces keeping the faces separately.
Final radio model – 360 render in Maya
Radio UV maps
After I finished with the final version of the radio, I moved on with the UV maps.
Radio top UV mapRadio main body UV mapRadio top decoration UV mapRadio channels screen UV mapRadio top switchers UV mapRadio volume screen UV mapRadio middle switcher UV mapRadio handle UV mapRadio bottom speaker UV mapRadio base UV mapRadio decorations UV mapRadio inner mechanism UV mapRadio inner cables UV mapRadio UV maps with checkerboards
Planet hologram base remodelling and hologram
After Martyna and Roos had a 1-to-1 session with Dom, he considered that the platform of the hologram was too small and it did not feel like part of the composition. Therefore, I remodelled the platform, this time based on Martyna’s idea of taking an old school compass as a reference. This compass idea fits really good with the hologram style as it would look like it is a navigation map for the spaceship’s route. I also made the Earth continents shape in the inner sphere of the hologram, using MASH distribute node to generate particles and then make a road map so the particles follow the shape of a 2D image that I found online and converted in an alpha map in Photoshop. Then, I also added extra particles in the outer sphere of the hologram to give like a more random and glitchy effect. I also animated the rings and spheres so they rotate simultaneously. Lastly, I also found a tutorial that shows how to create a proper hologram effect (using a multiply and a facing ratio nodes, playing with transmission weight and then adding a ‘Lens effect’ to the render settings).
Hologram effect tutorial (Arnold renderer, 2021)Distribute node to replicate the particle created and distribute it around the inner sphereVisibility node that is linked to the 2D image of the world map so it follows the alpha mapSignal node added to the particles of the outer sphere to give some random animation to these
Playblast of final hologram model with animation (no textures added)Base remodelledBase remodelledHologram effectFinal model
References
Arnold renderer, 2021. Arnold tutorial – How to create a holographic effect in MtoA (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glG4dUnSH3o&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=1 [Accessed 27 May 2023]
This week I focused on finishing my spaceship by editing the UV maps and creating the textures in Substance Painter.
UV Maps in Maya
Since I consider that my knowledge about tidying up UV maps was basic and my spaceship model had a lot of complex shapes and details, I decided to research about how to lay proper UV maps in complex objects. Therefore, I found the following tutorial which had a useful workflow to do proper UVs.
UV maps tutorial (On Mars 3D, 2021)
After this tutorial, I carried on to do my spaceship UV maps and get it ready for texturing in Substance Painter. Since there were lots of different parts of the spaceship that needed a lot of space in a UDIM, I decided to separate each part in a different UDIM to have the best resolution when adding textures. I also cut each section in pieces to then unfold them properly and use layout to spread them in the UDIM. Sometimes, some of the UVs were layout really mixed up and not properly oriented, like in the main body of the spaceship, so I manually corrected orientations and tidied them up (so they were also easier to spot when texturing separate sections).
I wanted to achieve a realistic texture result with my spaceship, so I decided to use Substance Painter for this. Since I have never used this software before, I researched some tutorials in YouTube and also asked to Marianna and one of the technicians at uni for advice. I found the following tutorial that teaches the basics of Substance Painter.
I mostly used the preset textures for my base, such as copper, copper worn, chrome blue tint, and glass firm dirty. Then, from these base textures I started building up with fill layers, masks, and generators to add dirt, scratches, burns, and rusty borders. Once I was happy with the textures look, I baked them all.
Side wings copper textureMain body copper textureScratches effect added to edges on top of ‘Copper Worn’ materialAdded some red rust to the borders so it looks more damagedI also added this red rust to the tips of the tubes manually with a paint brushSide windows texture with ‘Glass Filim Dirty’ material and tweaking the dirt mask to accentuate the contrast of thisAdded same effect from side windows to front windowsOuter base copper textureEngines ‘chrome blue tint’ textures with a ‘metal dirty’ mask added on topEngines ‘copper’ textures with a ‘metal dirty’ mask added on topI also added some burnt effect manually with a paint brushAfter I finished with the textures, I baked them all
However, I had some issues in the outer cover of the spaceship, since the UV maps were not unfolded properly, so they were overlapping and showing like stripy patches in some areas. Therefore, I went back to Maya and corrected the wings UVs, cutting the inside parts of each piece, unfolding them and then laying them out properly. Once this was corrected, I had to search for another tutorial as I was not sure how to update the UV maps in Substance without having to start from the beginning the whole process of texturing. Therefore, I found the following tutorial that has a really quick way to update this:
Updating UV maps in Substance Painter tutorial (On Mars 3D, 2020)Outer cover with stripes issueOuter cover UV maps updated in MayaOuter cover UV maps updated and rebaked in Substance PainterOuter cover textures now showing without any issues
Once the textures were finished, I exported them and relinked them in Maya as shaders following this tutorial for a quicker way to relink all texture maps in Maya:
Exporting textures from Substance Painter to import and relink in Maya tutorial (What Make Art, 2022)
I also added some emission effect to the windows so it looks like there are lights on inside the spaceship.
Textures relinked in MayaSpaceship render in dark background – side viewSpaceship render in dark background – front viewSpaceship render in dark background – bottom viewSpaceship render in dark background – 3/4 viewSpaceship render in dark background – back viewSpaceship render in dark background – back engine close up
Spaceship final model with textures – 360 render
References
Adobe Substance 3D (2021). Substance Painter 2021 Getting Started – Part 01 – Materials & masking (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j27AS0VQOw [Accessed 20 May 2023]
On Marrs 3D (2020). Substance Painter – How to Update Models AFTER You Textured It! (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYzLgVOqrc [Accessed 21 May 2023]
On Mars 3D (2021). How to UV Map Complex Objects in Maya (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiEQNDZapXs [Accessed 20 May 2023]
What Make Art (2022). Export Substance Painter Textures to Maya with Plugin Tutorial (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCKc_6nTRPM&t=227s [Accessed 21 May 2023]
