Extinguisher Cabinet, MP7 and Kenworth Truck.

Star Citizen Fan Art Project

This project was an attempt to follow Cloud Imperium Games Workflow and create a game ready asset that would look right at home in their game. I only used freely available information off of the internet to complete this project.

I was given some existing concept art from my Mentor. This concept art is By Chris Doretz, available on Artstation ( https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lxZv25 ) of a fire extinguisher cabinet.

the first step was to research the workflow process. this process involves making a mid polycount model and applying Details through Parallax Occlusion mapping Trim sheets and Decal Sheets. materials are procedural.

this allows CIG to create both small and massive items without eating up texture space.

Next came understanding and creating the POM Trim sheets, and testing them out in Unreal Engine 5.

Once satisfied with the results of the POM tests I set about working my way through the white box, Grey box and final art stages. During this process I realised my object didnt follow the concept art closely enough and made the required changes.

Next Came the Material Generation where I learnt how to blend multiple layers together and use Vertex painting to spread the wear and tear over the object. this was a particular challenge for me and took up a significant portion of the time. 

I am very pleased with the Results of this Project and learnt a great deal from it.

One of the things i had to get used to is that CIG use Weight painted Normals in their work and as such Ngons are acceptable and used often. Below is the Wireframe View of my Cabinet. Highlighted are the Faces used for POM and Decals.

Kenworth W900L Truck

This project allowed me to Test and Develop my hard surface modelling skills. I wanted to challenge myself with a big detailed project that had both an interior and exterior. I am a fan of the aesthetics of American Trucks. specifically the Kenworth and took inspiration from American truck simulator to design mine to be suitable for use as a hero asset in game. 

I followed a Subdivision workflow for this piece and used an alpha mask in the baking process to create transparency with all the Grill and Stamped metal parts. 

I then found a free automotive display environment to use in Unreal 5 from the Unreal 5 Marketplace to help with my Final Renders.

My Truck  has an exterior of 77,376 faces and an interior of 32,398. 

I am Really happy with the results and took away a better understanding of the baking process and how to better optimise the low poly mesh. 

I also Challenged myself to add some weather effects on the Truck through substance painter. I added frosted snow where I would expect it to collect and mud splashes where the wheels from either itself or other trucks driving past.

Finally I Challenged myself to try a different paint style that doesn't use straight lines. I used a flame texture that I was able to apply to the truck in a Decal format. a similar method to modern day car wraps.

Below is my Wireframe of the exterior of my truck.

MP7A1

For this project I wanted to learn the Weapons workflow as they are very common assets in games. I felt that it would challenge my Hard surface modelling skills because of the combination of Geometric and organic shapes. I also go Airsofting and as such have easy access to References as I own an MP7.

I am Very Pleased with the Final Renders and enjoyed the challenges presented with this project.

I started off Using the sub division workflow and practiced by Creating some Accessories for the MP7. Here I developed my understanding of the Baking process and learnt about Marmosets Normal painting functions. I also found out about the differences between open GL and Direct X rendering and the need to Swap the Green channel of the normal when swapping between the renderers.

when I moved onto the mp7 itself I found the complexity of the model difficult to work with. this was partly because the real MP7 bodywork is Moulded plastic and creates some complex shapes such as the Pistol Grip, Trigger guard, Brass deflector and lightening cuts. I found that I just could not get the right supporting edges and mesh topology to subdivide in the correct way for the high poly.

Half way through working on the Project during my research into fixing the mesh issues I had, I found out about the new Blender Re-mesh workflow, and after doing some further research on this workflow, I decided that I wanted to learn and incorporate it. Despite the setbacks it would cause, I thought it would be worth the extra time and effort. 

The Remesh workflow Follows the same process as the Industry Standard, working with maya and Zbrush. it produces results that match the industry standard for quality and for me it would be preferable to use as it can all be done internally in Blender.

Due to time restrictions I was only able to learn the basics of the workflow before I had to continue with my project, so I ended up using a lot of trial and error in the project.

Changing Workflow Mid way through a project caused a few issues, namely that as i transitioned to the new method i would look at the existing pieces of the project and realise that they don't look as good and need to be reworked as well. i also made a few mistakes as i went, For example I forgot to apply a mirror modifier until it was too late and couldn't go back meaning i had to remake that part of the model again.

It did however make my task easier in other aspects. I found that the remesh modifier was able to take two seperate pieces of a model and weld them together. this would save me a lot of time instead of trying to merge and combine the geometry manually.

A prime example of this is where i manually meshed the Sling mounts into the bodywork. after i found out about the remesh feature i was able to incorporate it to weld the pistol grip, trigger guard and brass deflector.