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General Category => Community Help => Topic started by: arvin00 on March 26, 2013, 08:31:30 pm

Title: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: arvin00 on March 26, 2013, 08:31:30 pm
I started using Nvil and I find a great modelling software, Organic modelling is fantastic and I can create the models faster than any software I used before. I'm just gonna ask if anyone tried doing architectural modelling or environment modelling, can anyone give me tips and trick. Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: molebox on March 26, 2013, 08:56:04 pm
I'm beginner in 3d and i simply to start to do a model with the wood barrel  :)
http://voidworld.cmcproductions.co.uk/index.php/topic,1134.0.html (http://voidworld.cmcproductions.co.uk/index.php/topic,1134.0.html)

Tips...Even dont know. Better simply start and ask if you will be have any questions.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: arvin00 on March 26, 2013, 09:21:53 pm
My bad for this stupid post, I was vague and did not give enough information for others to help me. Sorry about this post:(.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: molebox on March 26, 2013, 09:31:42 pm
I have little experience to advise. I watch a video on youtube about modeling in Maya, 3dsmax. And try to understand. No need to apologize  :)

Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 26, 2013, 10:04:00 pm
Hi arvin00,

My bad for this stupid post, I was vague and did not give enough information for others to help me. Sorry about this post:(.

Do not be sorry :)

Have you got something more specific in mind? I do build environments/scenes/buildings in NVIL. I will try to help if you can give me a possible example of something you would like to build.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: molebox on March 26, 2013, 10:11:51 pm
Hi steve,

May you anything to show? Or all under the NDA?

sorry for offtop.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 26, 2013, 10:19:15 pm
Hi molebox,

I make the scenes/models for others. So once done, I delete them. So I do not have anything I can show you.

Pick a picture of the web of a building (or similar), and I will build it.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: molebox on March 26, 2013, 10:28:31 pm
ok, thanks steve.
p.s. don't delete a models, you will create the portfolio =)
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: arvin00 on March 26, 2013, 11:50:22 pm
Thanks for the reply everyone..

How do I model perfect shapes? Example: I want to extrude a cylindrical shape in a object, modelling this has different kind of methods example in maya I can lineup a cylindrical object and snap vertices to create the shape. I would just like to know how to do this with less work or work more efficient. Boolean is pretty bad in topology so I stay away from it but if you have any idea in working with boolean and having good topology I would like to know.

Thanks in advance, happy to know that this community is pretty awesome
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 27, 2013, 12:00:46 am
Hi arvin00,

 
Example: I want to extrude a cylindrical shape in a object, modelling this has different kind of methods example in maya I can lineup a cylindrical object and snap vertices to create the shape.

Extrude a cylinder from an object. Do you mean extrude from a flat plane, or from, as example another cylinder (like a pipe joint), or both?
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: arvin00 on March 27, 2013, 12:09:54 am
Hi arvin00,

 
Example: I want to extrude a cylindrical shape in a object, modelling this has different kind of methods example in maya I can lineup a cylindrical object and snap vertices to create the shape.

Extrude a cylinder from an object. Do you mean extrude from a flat plane, or from, as example another cylinder (like a pipe joint), or both?

Sorry for the lack of explanation, for example I have a cube and I want it to have cylindrical shape extrusion on one side. Thanks for the reply.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 27, 2013, 12:11:39 am
Here is one method (there are others).

1. Create a segmented cube, or a cube and add Loop inserts.
2. Remove the front polygons of the cube.
3. Extrude (face normal direction) the open box edges.
4. Spherize selection.
5. Space loop (selection) (<- evenly spaces the edge loop around the hole)
6. Extrude.

Just ask as to any part you need more info :)


Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 27, 2013, 01:00:31 am
This was an example I made a while ago of putting an hole (offset from center) through a sphere.

I used the "Align"/"surface align" tools.

(The cylinder was just put in place to show where the hole was going to be)

Is this the kind of thing you want to learn?
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: johnnybevo on March 27, 2013, 01:14:28 am
This was an example I made a while ago of putting an hole (offset from center) through a sphere.

I used the "Align"/"surface align" tools.

(The cylinder was just put in place to show where the hole was going to be)

Is this the kind of thing you want to learn?

Thanks for posting this Steve.
I was thinking about doing this today.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 27, 2013, 01:20:00 am
Thanks for posting this Steve.
I was thinking about doing this today.

If you need any of the steps explaining, just ask. :)
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: arvin00 on March 27, 2013, 01:29:02 am
Wow, thanks for the reply, Yes this is what I was looking for. I will just ask if I need more.
Thanks Again:)
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: johnnybevo on March 27, 2013, 01:54:06 am
Thanks for posting this Steve.
I was thinking about doing this today.

If you need any of the steps explaining, just ask. :)

ok, I did tool search and found surface align.
cant get it to work. what needs to selected both sphere and plane or just the plane. should i be in face mode. I activated the tool and tried to drag the plane onto the sphere, but it will not move.

starting to get it now, I got the plane to wrap to the sphere. the sphere had to be added to the retopo reference list. Now I just have adjust the plane topology. but if you could do a more detailed tutorial it would be great.
Thanks.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 27, 2013, 02:11:00 am
I got the plane to wrap to the sphere. the sphere had to be added to the retopo reference list. Now I just have adjust the plane topology. but if you could do a more detailed tutorial it would be great.
Thanks.

Sounds like you have found the streamline tools.

You do have to add the object (you are aligning to) to the retopo reference list. But have a look  at the (while in sub_object selection mode) "Geometry-> Common commands n Tools-> Align". That will give you a popup with various options. (you use the bottom options, either "Alignment Along Vertex normals" or "Along Camera direction")

The streamline Align tools do work in a similar way, but allow you to adjust the distance from surface.

Which one do you want help with first?

Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 27, 2013, 06:01:08 am
I had a bit of time, so made a quick movie on making the hole in the sphere.

I reduced the screen resolution to 1280x720 and used a default config (although I removed any toolbars/windows I was not going to use). It is a bit strange making anything in NVIL without my toolbars/hotkey setup.

Hope it helps. Just ask if anything unclear.

Silent movie :):- http://www.mediafire.com/?3zsi5ez6a9a83ex
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: johnnybevo on March 27, 2013, 08:09:55 pm
I had a bit of time, so made a quick movie on making the hole in the sphere.

I reduced the screen resolution to 1280x720 and used a default config (although I removed any toolbars/windows I was not going to use). It is a bit strange making anything in NVIL without my toolbars/hotkey setup.

Hope it helps. Just ask if anything unclear.

Silent movie :):- http://www.mediafire.com/?3zsi5ez6a9a83ex

Thanks Steve I will download and have a look.
If mediafire does not cost I may look at uploading and sharing this way also.
So what did you use to record with?
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: Passerby on March 27, 2013, 08:32:55 pm
Really 2 most important skills i find for environment art, above basic modeling, and finding creative ways to re-use and work with existing geo, and textures. so you can raise the amount of variety while not using too many textures.

Could examples would be creating tiling textures and trim sheets, and just creating geo by lofting, and mapping the existing textures to it. And building props in such a way that you can uses pieces of them elsewhere in the environment for different uses.

All of that, and use the grid, or be prepared for a lot of stress later on.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: johnnybevo on March 27, 2013, 08:40:15 pm
@Steve
I have downloaded the video and will go through it several times.
Thanks for doing it, no doubt I will be able to pick up a bunch of info. not for just cutting the hole, but usage of the tools demonstrated.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on March 28, 2013, 04:28:45 am
Hi johnnybevo,

The video was just done quickly, no call_outs etc, as I just wanted to get it uploaded before I had to go out(I recorded/reduced file size/uploaded). I did reduce(Handbrake)the file size a bit too small, so the quality is not the best.

Quote
If mediafire does not cost I may look at uploading and sharing this way also.
There is a free account, with 5GB storage.
I did at one time have a paid subscription there, but they changed payment options and no longer accept Paypal. (Due to all the problems with file lockers and copyright). I do not/will not have a credit card, and for whatever reason, I could not pay using my Bank(Visa) debit card, so I just have the free account there now.

Quote
So what did you use to record with?
Mirillis Action, then reduced file-size with Handbrake.

I will, when time, make a better guide for the "Align" tool. But I may go with a PDF or HTML file.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: Vaquero on March 28, 2013, 01:32:32 pm
I can hardly think of any concrete tips on environment modelling. There's no recipe for it and it depends on what the meshes will be used for, e.g. games or closeups in movies or print. If you're going to render the mesh, you don't necessarily need to bevel edges or weld together geometry, because the renderer can take care of that and that can save time and effort. Either way, you'll want to optimize a lot. For games the realtime rendering is critical, for movies the time it takes to render a frame, to reduce turnaround times and keep the money spent on a renderfarm low. Also, file sizes matter! I worked in a company where we had daily builds of our games, and every morning everyone was downloading the latest development files from the server. If the files got too big in size that could mean that you'd have to wait half an hour or more, before you could start working. That's time and money lost. And the backup servers may get storage problems. So delete any temporary meshes and stuff you may have hidden that is not needed anymore.

For character and creature modelling, topology is important because of animation. For environment art it is important because of shape, shading and optimization. There may be loops, that don't add to the shape, but help to reduce shading flaws (very slim but long triangles are prone to bad shading). If you're making something that is not clear-cut, like a half-timbered house, planks on an old bridge, make everythink a little bit skewed. Don't just take a cube and scale it to the dimensions of a board, but tweak every vertex a little bit, add a loop in the middle, zigzag it and tweak these vertices, too. Be careful when modelling. I have seen so many models that still had some lonely vertices sitting on an edge, holes, nearby vertices that could have been welded and so on. I remember one time, when an intern made a simple wooden box for holding virtual vegetables, and I threw out 60+ polygons, in a mesh with less than 100 faces. He made a single mesh, welding everything together, creating unnecessary polygons, when he just needed to stick some cuboids together and delete the faces that would not be seen. Another time someone deleted the bottom faces of a bridge, because he thought the ingame camera would not allow to look beneath it, which it didn't, but the water was reflective, so you could look through it in the reflection. So know in which context your models will be used.

I know, this was not exactly how-to stuff. Besides "spherize", there's also a streamline tool "circularize" in Nvil.
For getting to know the tools in NVil I also made a small environment art related model. I thought, what would be more suitable than its eponymous inspiration: the anvil.
(http://s1.directupload.net/images/140203/temp/ymsa3kwy.jpg) (http://www.directupload.net/file/d/3522/ymsa3kwy_jpg.htm)
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: rubberDuck on March 28, 2013, 11:12:52 pm
That's a very nice anv... NVil, Vaquero. :)
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: arvin00 on May 11, 2013, 05:30:45 am
how do I make a curved pipe?
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on May 11, 2013, 06:33:54 pm
how do I make a curved pipe?

One way would be to create a "Spline" for the shape you want. You can then go into spline_vertex mode and use "Slide" with option "Tube", set the "Radius" and segments" needed.

Quick example.

1: Create spline:-
(http://i.imgur.com/hqEFREh.jpg)

2: Use "Slide" with option "Tube"
(http://i.imgur.com/ZvUOMvx.jpg)

3: Result
(http://i.imgur.com/wpluN9J.jpg)

Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: samardac on May 17, 2014, 02:01:18 pm
This was an example I made a while ago of putting an hole (offset from center) through a sphere.

I used the "Align"/"surface align" tools.

(The cylinder was just put in place to show where the hole was going to be)

Is this the kind of thing you want to learn?

Could you pleas explain this more detail?
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on May 18, 2014, 09:42:42 am
Could you pleas explain this more detail?

I posted a link to a vid that shows the "Surface Align" method I use. http://voidworld.cmcproductions.co.uk/index.php/topic,1136.msg3998.html#msg3998

It is a little slow, but I used default config, so no custom hotkeys/ui used.
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: samardac on May 21, 2014, 10:50:37 am
Hi Steve,
Nice method, some times for this tasks I use MOI 3D, real time saver, check it: http://youtu.be/lHM7MFrEcI0
Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: steve on May 21, 2014, 11:13:45 am
Hi samardac,

At one time I only modeled in nurbs. I do have license for MOI (V1 + V2), but vendor refuses to release bug fixes (apart from the one bug fix release for V1 due to issue with (at the time) new Internet Explorer, and that was only because it would affect sales if not fixed.
The main problem with mesh that come from nurbs surface, is that they are reliant on the vertex normal information(taken from nurbs surface) being retained when imported into render engine, which not all do. So yes, nurbs modeling is quicker, but limits the applications you can import the mesh for render.

I have been thinking of going back to just modeling in nurbs, but would use Rhino at home.(I have used Rhino since the first beta releases).

Title: Re: Tips on Environment Modelling
Post by: samardac on May 21, 2014, 11:29:33 am
Steve, In my experience I have problems with vertex normals in Keyshot, it was 3rd version, do not know may be they fixed it now. Looks like all other major packeges like 3Ds Max can handle vertex normals. I for example, for long time use Cinema 4D for render and 3D Coat for texturing, they both  can handle vertex normals.