Final outcomes, what a ride that was !

I finally finished the practical part of the project. I am still working on my dissertation, but meanwhile I will present what I created. I created few videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO0-afYPICQ  <-- Creative process of my project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktk3MOy5I0U <--- Character presentation video

https://youtu.be/ZYyh3_22kQY <--- Turntable animation

I also put my model in Sketchfab: https://skfb.ly/ouwnz

Here are the final renders of my game ready character:

AAAAAND the most important:

THE SNOW GLOBE:

My project full evaluation:

The best part was the fact, that I could design the project myself, matching my interests, skills and ambition. I am quite happy, that I have chosen a theme connected with oceans, sustainability, animals and combined it with 3D modelling and 3D printing using eco- friendly materials. It is important subject, everyone should be aware of sustainability options, especially for artists when choosing materials to work with.

I am very satisfied with the snow globe and the fact that I did not have to sacrifice the quality of the print by not using resin. Unfortunately, a day before submission the base of the figure broke at the back. This is my fault, as late in the project I realized that the jar might be a bit too tight at the top, but I wanted to put the figure in anyway. That’s why, I used sandpaper to remove some resin and clearly, I removed too much: all the water pressure and trash floating inside caused the base to break. The snow globe still looks quite impressive, but due to breakage I might not be able to shake it much at the graduate show, which is a shame. This is a lesson, to be more exact with measuring and trying do iteration of prints much earlier than I did. I tested different models but should have tried the final version once I had it more often, pushing it to the jar first. I also feel if I was given more time this would be more possible. In any case, I learned a lot and I am satisfied that eco- friendly resin exists and works perfectly. This experiment will help me pushing my research, experimentation and dissertation to another level. I am also glad that I got to try the PLA material, and that it also worked for less complex models. It is important to have variety to convince people easier to move to eco- friendly alternatives. I would love to own a 3D resin printer myself now, or even investigate opportunities in this field work wise. I could even treat it as a hobby or a side business, making customized snow globes and selling them online. The most difficult part of this project, was to get an exact measurements, so everything matches and fit properly. Then, the painting was also tricky, but for the first time I did quite well. If I had a chance to do this again, I would probably try printing much earlier, so I could also learn how I can edit and delete the supports properly too, without removing the ones which were essential. This, would prevent the mistakes like splitting on the edges of model. I would also like to print much bigger version of the model, slicing the parts and gluing them together afterwards.

There was not any major changes to my proposal, I feel like it only developed since then. I decided to use a jar instead of a snow globe kit, to keep stronger to sustainability theme and to make one big video of project process instead of one for the print, one for the model etc. This all was discussed with my supervisor and agreed for. I also enjoyed getting feedback from my peers during the tutorial sessions and group meetings, which was usually positive and enthusiastic. I am also thankful for the 1st semester feedback as it let me push my imagination more to create a better concept art, which developed and matured.

If I had more time for the project, I would experiment with the actual final figure more and made sure that it does fit to the jar, does not cause any breakage or water leaks. I would also pose the 3D game ready model in a few ways and probably create smaller object to feel the scene in UE4 (just not too much). I could even do some animation. In any case, I am clearly excited about this project as I feel I could develop it in many ways, after all the research I have done.

The aim of my project was to make an art statement through a character visual design in order to present the environmental situation in the oceans and point out eco-friendly alternatives, for example when using technology such as 3D printing. I think I managed to achieved it all, I was also heavily focused on research questions about the ocean, the sculpting development, eco- friendly 3D printing alternatives and how to create a meaningful art statement. 

All the activities that I have done for this project connects with my subject and dissertation. 3D print is made from eco- friendly resin, to prove, that it is an excellent choice and should be aimed to swap the regular resins for that one. Mother is created from many different marine species, which are affected by the situations in the oceans: pollution, acidification, less of biodiversity. I created strong, expressive pose and adding mix media to it such as pieces of plastics or a net from onion bag gives stronger message, an art statement to motivate the viewer to act. The mix media is also connected to subject of eco therapy and art examples such as ghost net art, which I write more about in my dissertation. The model is also game ready, which means there can be a potential for a game idea. I am aspiring 3D artist, and I would love to work as one in the future, therefore it is also a great addition to my portfolio. 

Deciding to also make a 3D game ready character, as I was going through the project, was an ambitious idea. I was tightly on the schedule, which I had to change several times, not only to fit the 3D printing part, but also manage my retopology and baking mistakes inside Substance Painter, along with writing my dissertation. However, I am not regretting it too much, I managed to design a good character, thematically connected and ready to be rigged. I had to compromise in some places, for example when I did not pose the model, but these are small ‘nice to have’ things. The most difficult was to figure out right way of retopology on complex areas. Every bad decision either stopped me from unwrapping the UV’s or creating good low poly to high poly model bake. Next time I should be more aware of the planning stage and be more explicit with it. I should also watch more tutorials and keep practicing creating more and more models. I enjoyed sculpting the model, this was my favorite part. I even tried to stream my sculpting on twitch, which I have not done before. 

General strength of this project, was the clarity of the goal and planning. Although I could have done it even deeper, creating a detailed schedule with dates and deadlines and leaving some weeks for potential delays worked out perfect. It is also a great subject to do project on and I do hope that it shows the environmental message clearly, giving some motivation to the viewers to take initiative in sustainability subject themselves.

The weakness was probably not enough iterations, when talking about the 3D print. I should have printed it and test it in the jar straight away. I had many things to do and sometimes I wanted to rush them, which was a mistake. I also could have included in this document more about the dissertation, for example the findings and conclusion, however the dissertation is still in development progress at the moment, since there is one week left for the deadline.

Overall, this was a great journey, one of the most ambitious and interesting projects I have done. I learned a lot and I hope I can use the skills in the future. 

Let’s protect the oceans together! 

Thank you for reading and viewing my blog :)

Snow globe comes to life

The time has come, I needed to put the snow globe together finally. I think I was putting it off, becuase I was quite concerned that it is not going to work in some capacity. But this time, I had to finish it. I mixed glycerin and water with trash and glitter.

I have submerged the figure in...

THE SNOW GLOBE WORKED!!!!

I got so excited, that everything kind of worked out and jsut in time for a submission :)

Time to wrap things up!

 This is the last stretch for my project. I have dived into the painting. I fixed some of little baking mistakes in Photoshop for Normal and AO maps. From here, having basic colours set I went piece by piece with my model, looking at the concept art I textured every bit. First taking care of the edges, then adding the actual texture where needed to avoid the simplicity. 

Eye textured liek sea tutrtle eye

Adding layers

More layers, filters and masks

adding dirt masks etc to improve the look of the corset

Paint progress

Details done

My document had quite a lot of layers and adding stylized lighting added an interesting effect

I was quite happy with textures, especially that I managed to use emissive and opacity map.

Adding emissive to hair, for the light, like an algae

Opacity for membrane wings

From here I was jumping between my 3D model and snow globe creation. I have finally painted the print. Although I wanted to do it with oils at first I decided to test it on the test coral print.

I painted a bit of watercolours and realised that painting second coat will dissolve first one, if I use water. Oil would be okay, but I would have to use turpentine, which I had no experience with, I was a bit concerned to use it now. Doing more research I found acrylics and waterproof acrylic sealer/varnish should work perfectly and give a nice shine for the figure. I used acrylics, and I think it was a good decision. Paints were easy to apply and sealed primer layer with second coat quite well. 

Coat 1

Coat 1 done: 4hrs

Coat 2 done: 4hrs

Details: 2hrs

I enjoyed painting, it was my first miniature model and I learned a lot, it is a slow and tricky process. Perhaps if I would do more of those in my free time, I could train my eye for details more, which is quite useful. When painting was done I  left it to dry completely, (as I did with every layer) and went back to the game ready model. Before that, I also have printed a cylinder to lift the model inside the jar.

I also realised, that the base was slightly too big, I did not check the jar properly and the bottom was slightly tighter once progressing vertically. I tried to sand it down, but I only managed to break the bottom of it. However, this made it more flexible, so I managed to push it into the jar: it was okay.

I had to go on, I exported all the texture maps:

And created the set inside Unreal Engine. I did mentioned at the beginning of my project, that I could use Marmoset, but now it was a bit too late to try new things. Especially, that I had access only to trial version. I chose the method, which I knew with the motivation, that i could at least use some new methods to learn. I imported my low poly model and texture maps, then made materials for it:

inside the engine

I wanted to create underwater environment. Following one of the Youtube tutorials I made water caustics and place them through light on the floor that I quickly made it look like sand. From here I also focused on use of the slightly thicker fog, light shafts and bloom, to create this underwater feel. 

Tutorial for water caustics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsufc5B6aS8

  

I did think of placing my corals and barrel etc, but looking at examples of good turntables, the character should be the focus. Also, since the 3D print was the goal of my project, I did not want to over complicate things, the environment was like an underwater beach, which examples of I found online. 

 

Once I was happy with it I took high quality screenshots, made turntable and few other camera shots to later create a nice video. 

Coming back to my print, I sprayed it with the varnish and left it overnight again. Unfortunately the varnish did dissolve some of the white paint, uncovering my mistakes of other colours underneath. I decided i will fix it with oil paint once the trash are ready.

Next day I dived into gluing 'trash' onto my model:

For nets I used net from onions pack. 

It was very difficult to hold in place. 

Trash are on!

This was quite difficult. My next experiment was to test the glycerine, water and microplastics. I truly should have done it earlier. In first semester I did manage to test glycerine, paints and glitter, but should have done it with pieces of trash... trouble was not all the trash wanted to sink. I experimented more with amount of glycerin and even put the test jar into the fridge to cool the water done in order to decrease the density of it. Processing what I have done so far, I actually figured out, that having some trash on the surface will not be the worst, as it does reflect the situation in the oceans very well.

Sadly pieces of plastics were easy to find around my flat.. so I made them smaller

My list from last post:

 - print additional base to lift the model in the jar

 - paint the model

 - accomplish textures for game model

 - set up the scene in unreal

 - finish the snow globe and needed bits: nearly there!

 - edit the video of the process form all the material I recorder so far: in progress

 - if there is enough time, pose the model: not sure about this one

PLA WORKS!

 I have put basic textures for the model, I might need to reconsider colour palette before I start painting.

WIP

I also printed the base for the snow globe to cover the part of the jar lid. My demnsions were too big for either printer, so I had to half it and then glue it. I printed one in resin, in case PLA won't work again. Howver, I got postiviely supprised: the FDM printere worked! Turned out easier shaped was more likely to print with PLA material. 

FDM printer in action

PLA prints done

Resin base

Jar on the glued base

I am very happy with how it came out! I was also very thankful for the lab technician to help me with the FDM. 

I tested a bit of paint on the coral and relised I can not use watercolours if I want a double coat. I had to either use oils or get acrylics.

For the rest of the week I plan to take care of dissertaion and the documentation for this project. Then from Monday, I will likely:

 - print additional base to lift the model in the jar

 - paint the model

 - accomplish textures for game model

 - set up the scene in unreal

 - finsih the snow globe and needed bits

 - edit the video of the process form all the material I recorder so far
 - if there is enough tiem, pose the model

I WILL MAKE IT ON TIME, I HAVE TO.