This is going to be a small project where I will be modeling a simple, cartoon face using the software 3DS Max. Within this project, I plan to do the following:
I have already completed the first task, I will post the designs below.
I will update this as I complete more.
I am planning to start working on the animations and animatics early for this project. I am not planning to create any character animations within 3DS Max or any other 3D program for a while though. What I am planning to do is to learn the fundamentals of motion for animations by doing 2D based animations first.
First thing that I am going to do is create very simple animations, such as a rotating cube using the animation feature which is in Photoshop. I will also create a rotating cube within 3DS Max and render it out as a reference for the creation. What I am planning to do with these animations is to work out how the major points of an object move, such as an example with the cube, how each of the corners will move within a 3D space using 2D animation methods. The reason for doing this is so when I get to the more complicated animations and animatics, I will be able to work out how the object or character will move, by the major points of the object.
After I have created a few basic animations, I will start doing character based animations within 2D, which I will be starting of by recreating fight scenes from films and cartoons (using as a reference) to learn how to make the motion look more realistic. These will be done by creating stick-man animations which will be fast to produce and if done right, can have great motion which can teach me how to make more realistic motion within objects and characters.
next step is to start creating animatics for possible movements to be used within my game. The way that I am currently planning to do this is to record myself doing these movements to the best of my ability, or using an object to recreate the motion that I am after, placing the video in the background, and draw out points on each of the major movements within the video, and draw lines and circles to draw out a mannequin like character. This will be done for side and front views of the movement. The plan is that I will be able to use these animatics to create the motion within 3D animation using 3D animation software which will look professional and fun to watch. I do plan to edit the final movements slightly to make them look more powerful and fluid if need be.
I am planning to complete all of this within 4 weeks.
Over the last day, I have finally been able to get morph targets to work within Unreal Engine 4 by creating it within 3DS Max. I figured out the problem being was that I had to set the FBX file to 2014 within the setting before the export as the default 2011 FBX type, for some reason does not support morph targets. The result is having the morph within the game editor, and being able to change the shape of the object; but I still have not worked out how to get the morph targets to work within a running game.
I have also started to learn BluePrints, I have decided to try and find tutorials that will aid me when creating my Final Major Project game. Within the tutorial that I found, it taught me how to make a object move from one point to another using the BluePrints system. This will help me when creating my game as I will want to have moving platforms, doors, gates and etc. throughout my game.
The next tutorial that I want to find is how to make an object move around using the direction keys on the keyboard, as I feel like I learn better from making something or doing something from stratch. After, I will have to try and learn how to make the object jump. At this point, these are the most important goals as without them, I will not be able to make this game. Once I have learned how to do these task, I will then create the first early version of the level, as these will be the only mechanics that I will need at this point.
I have recreated a scene from the movie Thor in Isometric and low poly.
Below is the final version.
Below are close up renders and other renders of the same scene.
I have tried having a go at creating an Isometric environment in 3D softly (I use 3DS Max). I got the idea after seeing work created by “Pig Art“.
Here is a link to his YouTube channel – here.
Below is what I created(time: 40 minutes Approx):
I am going to try and do more work like this in the future. Due to liking the style of this 3D art.
GrowGuu 