So to briefly run over the assignment, we were told to make a pirate's chest in 3DS Max, to create it and then texture it. This felt rather a lot more like programming in that I was working in an area that has never really been a part of my hobby in drawing, and so I had quite a lot of work to do. Adding to this that I generally like to challenge myself that little bit further than just doing the bare requirement, I had a lot of work to do. And I'm not sure how I feel about the finished product. But more on that later.
Early ideas for the work chiefly involved drawing designs on paper (I'll leave a space here for when I scan the pages in question - I'm on a new PC as I type this, and thus have no art programs or scanner installed), and I soon found myself wandering away from the idea of a straight out pirate chest. I originally planned to make something that has spawned from a character idea, with this particular character carrying a portable tea chest.
I rode with this idea until I actually started working in 3DS Max. While I felt like I probably could have gotten away with the shapes even after unwrapping, I ultimately decided that it didn't have any particular theme running in it, and after I started researching into oriental tea chests... I simply decided to rein my idea back into a tea chest. I stand by the technicality that tea was once valuable and thus an item pirates would possess. This still allowed me to have the challenge of creating an object with multiple holes to accommodate a door and drawers.
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| The completed chest before texturing. Divided into several objects to allow the unwrapping to be less painful |
Unwrapping took a horrifically long time for me. In fact, it took up the time I would have preferred to have spent texturing. My issues included the map messing up when unpeeled, and thus having to work to move the lines to their correct positions as precisely as I could. Mercifully, the other objects proved a lot easier to unwrap. Another problem I had which was really more of a niggle than a difficulty... was possessing Photoshop and 3DS Max on separate computers, meaning I couldn't see my changes in real time.
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| My first attempt at fixing the UV Map. Not much of a success. |
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| Second attempt at fixing the UV map. Not perfect, but it worked well enough for texturing. |
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| Above two images are early texture texts for the main body as well as the golden circles on either side. |
I further textured the rest of the chest, and prepared to hand in. However, the deadline was extended just long enough for me to further "refine" the textures as well as add an additional object in the form of handles for the drawers and door. With even less time to create and texture such an object along with refining the edges on my textures, I created something relatively simple.
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| Untextured handle and drawer before additional texturing |
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| Handle textured and drawer edges refined. |
At which point, I realised my edge lines were far too thick. In addition, I also noticed one corner of the chest top had a gap in it which meant one could see inside the object. However, I didn't know how capping the area in question would effect the rest of the UV map and so didn't chance changing it. As for the edge lines... well, it was hand in day. I didn't have any further time to spend on the work.
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| The final piece handed in for assessment. |
As is always the case, one always feels like I could have done better, but then I remind myself that this is really the first time I've worked in 3D and textured an object. Hopefully I'll look back in a years time and chortle at how bad I was at modelling and texturing. For now, I'm content that I did as much as I could do with what I knew.
