Style matrix - project 3 - week 2

Week 2 is where I always gather a sense for how the rest of the project is going to pan out and by the end of this projects second week prognosis was not good. From and initially positive and strong start came disappointment and frustration. By the 25th I had already mapped out a basic structure for my environment in 3D and had started modelling the key assets detailed on my asset list. The first asset to receive special attention was my head sculpture asset. My plan was to create base meshes for each of my key elements of my environment and then import them into Zbrush to work on them further. However I realised this ambitious plan would only work if everything went smoothly. This is not the case for me anymore as was clearly apparent by the Thursday. I am incredibly gutted that my Zbrush sculpt didn’t generate the correct normal maps which I had crafted in Zbrush. Instead they came out incredibly blurry and low quality. I sent my files to tutor Casto as this seemed to be his area and I was hoping he could identify what it was I was doing wrong. The problems I have already ruled out includes.

• Flipping the G channel – no change

• Exporting maps from zbrush then baking them in Xnormal instead – no change

• On a side note someone commented that the cage was a bit confusing and overlapping so any ambient occlusion I was generating was looking mismatched. To improve this assets that may cast shadows onto other parts of the mesh (In this circumstance it would be the collar, casting shadows onto the head part)

• UVS are too small – I realise changing the render size of the UVWs generated in 3DS max from 1024 to 4096 may improve the quality of the normal maps generated ( I will test this theory during polish week if… cannot identify the problem)

With the second week of this project nearly over and I haven’t even begun to texture assets I know I have to leave this asset behind and carry on using solely substance painter. My inspiration around my colour theme comes from my research looking at carved sand stone and the painted plaster that can be found on them. Mainly focusing on blood orange kind of colour which looks more stained than painted on consistently. I am noticing some ruins show staining on the bare stone and others have a plaster undercoat to smooth out some of the texture before painting designs upon them. I particularly like the idea of peeling plaster on some of my walls. Not much else to say just need to get on and keep developing really.

#fail #sculpt #blurry