3D Modelling - Latest Update (09/12/2011)

As you can see from the screenshot, i have finished making the cart by slighting modifiying the existing idea and updating it with a new technique I discovered earlier which gave it a much better finished quality. I also added in wheels and attached them to the cart properly. I also added some of my existing models to go onto the cart to show what it carries.

 Once that was done, I started work on making a stall which where a few of these will be dotted around the town selling different things. They will be situated in the main square mostly selling fruit and vegetables.

3D Project - Beginning (02/12/2011)

Started work on creating the environment and thought I'd start off by making the more simplistic components first, then gradually progress to the more complicated models.

So far I have created a simple barrel that will be dotted around the scene outside houses, nut mostly outside the blacksmith, and pub.

Followed by a crate, another model that will be dotted around my scene as they as commonly seen in environments similar to what I am aiming for.



Next, this model which is of a beer/wine keg with a tap which won't be used quite as much as the other models described so far, but will still be used around the pub.

The last model that isn't finished yet is of a cart, and obviously is what is used to carry the crates, barrels and kegs, and maybe a couple of these models will be in my scene, but as it stands, just the one at the moment.

Life During the Middle Ages

Daily life during the Middle Ages is sometimes hard to fathom. Pop culture loves to focus on exciting medieval moments-heroic knights charging into battle; romantic liaisons between royalty and commoner; breakthroughs and discoveries made. But life for your average person during the Dark Ages was very routine, and activities revolved around an agrarian calendar.

Most of the time was spent working the land, and trying to grow enough food to survive another year. Church feasts marked sowing and reaping days, and occasions when peasant and lord could rest from their labours.

Social activities were important, and every citizen in a medieval town would be expected to attend. Fairs with troubadours and acrobats performing in the streets…merchants selling goods in the town square…games of chance held at the local tavern…tournaments featuring knights from near and abroad…these were just some of the ways medieval peasants spent their leisure time. Medieval weddings were cause for the entire town to celebrate. 

Medieval superstitions held sway over science, but traveling merchants and returning crusaders told of cultures in Asia, the Middle East and Africa that had advanced learning of the earth and the human body. Middle Age food found new flavor courtesy of rare spices that were imported from the East. Schools and universities were forming across Western Europe that would help medieval society evolve from the Dark Ages on its way to a Renaissance of art and learning. 

Village Life

Medieval villages consisted of a population comprised of mostly of farmers. Houses, barns sheds, and animal pens clustered around the center of the village, which was surrounded by plowed fields and pastures. Medieval society depended on the village for protection and a majority of people during these centuries called a village home. Most were born, toiled, married, had children and later died within the village, rarely venturing beyond its boundaries.

Common enterprise was the key to a village's survival. Some villages were temporary, and the society would move on if the land proved infertile or weather made life too difficult. Other villages continued to exist for centuries. Every village had a lord, even if he didn't make it his permanent residence, and after the 1100's castles often dominated the village landscape. Medieval Europeans may have been unclear of their country's boundaries, but they knew every stone, tree, road and stream of their village. Neighbouring villages would parley to set boundaries that would be set out in village charters. 

Medieval peasants were either classified as free men or as "villeins," those who owed heavy labor service to a lord, were bound to the land, and subject to feudal dues. Village life was busy for both classes, and for women as well as men. Much of this harsh life was lived outdoors, wearing simple dress and subsisting on a meager diet.

Village life would change from outside influences with market pressures and new landlords. As the centuries passed, more and more found themselves drawn to larger cities. Yet modern Europe owes much to these early medieval villages. 

Source: Life During the Middle Ages 

Source: Village Life

Architecture from Existing Games - Skyrim (Cont...)

Second set of images from Skyrim, some taken at night to show how everything looks at different day intervals and how the houses and town are lit.

Add caption

Architecture from Existing Games - Skyrim

The theme that Bethesda has used in their latest game 'Skyrim' is the sort of theme I'm interested in, and will work toward creating textures similar to these, as well as the models of the environment. Everything in their town has been made to such high detail because of the lighting, the way in which the models have been made, as well as the textures that have been applied. All this really brings the town to life and helps give the player the 'feel' of actually being in the game. This is what most game developers are aiming for and with Skyrim, this works very well.

Architectural Designs - Walls/Textures

Here are some different textures that could be made similar and used on my models, as they prove to be very detailed, accurate, and fit the theme of my village very well.

Architectural Designs - Windows

Here are some different designs for Medieval Windows:

Architectural Designs - Doors

Here are some different designs of Medieval Doors.

Medieval Architecture

Medieval Architecture featured different styles which were called Romanesque, the French Style, Perpendicular style both more commonly as Gothic architecture. The following dates clarify the different styles of Medieval Architecture:

• Romanesque Architecture - 1066 to 1200 - Norman or Romanesque architecture
• Gothic Architecture - 1200 to 1300 - Early English Gothic Architecture ( also called Lancet Gothic architecture )
•  Gothic Architecture - 1300 to 1400 - Decorated style of Gothic Architecture featuring Gargoyles
•  Perpendicular Gothic Architecture - 1400 to 1500 - Perpendicular style of Gothic Architecture

Characteristics of different types of Medieval Architecture
The characteristics of the different types of Medieval Architecture are as follows:

• Romanesque Architecture - 1066 to 1200 - Romanesque architecture is characterized by round arches and vaults and by the substitution of piers for columns. Romanesque architects and builders generally used round arches and only very occasionally employed slightly pointed ones.
• Gothic Architecture - 1200 to 1500 - Gothic architecture is characterized by stained-glass windows, gargoyles, flying buttresses, tall spires, turrets and pointed arches.

Medieval Architecture

Architecture during the Medieval times of the Middle Ages saw many innovative changes from the Romanesque style of architecture to the Gothic style of architecture. Romanesque architecture was the name given to the style of architecture used in very early Middle Ages when much of these developments were pioneered by the Normans and their prolific castle building. Romanesque Architecture was succeeded by Gothic, or Perpendicular style of architecture of the later Middle Ages (1066 - 1485)  To appreciate the full extent of the changes in Medieval Architecture it is helpful to understand its fore-runner - Romanesque Architecture.

Medieval Architecture - Romanesque Architecture
The early Middle Ages saw the emergence of Romanesque architecture. Romanesque Architecture is the term which is used to describe the building styles which were used between 800 - 1100AD. The name of this style of Middle Ages architecture leads to the immediate association with this style of architecture is with the Roman Empire. The reason for this association are the similarities between Roman Architecture especially the Roman 'barrel vault' and the Roman arch. The Middle Ages Romanesque Architecture was the first major style of architecture to be developed after the collapse of the Roman Empire. 

Romanesque Architecture - Defining Features
The Romanesque Architecture of the Middle Ages can be defined as having the following features:

• Stone used in Romanesque architecture was cut with precision
• The use of the Roman arch led to the stone being supported in the middle by the arch construction
• Buttresses were introduced as a means of support to the basic design in Romanesque architecture in Medieval Times
• The vault was developed to enable the construction of stone roofs. Barrel or Tunnel Vaults - consisted of a continuous surface of semicircular or pointed sections resembling a barrel or tunnel which has been cut in half lengthwise. Groin Vaults were produced by the intersection, at right angles of two barrel vaults. The arches of groin vaults were either pointed or round 

Medieval Architecture - Gothic Architecture
The later Middle Ages saw the emergence of Gothic style architecture. Gothic or Perpendicular Architecture is the term which is used to describe the building styles which were used between 1200 - 1500AD. Middle Ages Gothic architecture and decoration originally emerged in France. It was initially called "The French Style". The name Gothic which is used to describe this style of Middle Ages architecture was a derisive term alluding to the Barbaric Goths who sacked Rome in 410AD. The name Gothic architecture was coined by people who were appalled at the abandonment of classical Romanesque lines and proportions.

Gothic Architecture - Defining Features
The Romanesque Architecture of the Middle Ages can be defined as having the following features:

• The use of the Gothic arch led to the construction of light and airy structures - lightening and heightening of Gothic structures
• Wider window openings
• Gothic Rose Windows
• Flying buttresses
• An increased number of towers
• Decorative designs and sculptures including Gargoyles

Gothic Architecture - The Pointed Gothic arch
The Medieval Gothic Arch was a major feature of Middle Ages architecture. The Medieval architects and builders discovered the amazing strength and stability of using pointed arches. The walls of Gothic buildings could be thinner than previous styles of architecture because the weight of the roof was supported by the arches rather than by the walls. The pointed Gothic arch provided greater flexibility could also could span greater distances, allowing vaults to be taller and wider. Thinner walls had wider window openings which encouraged the use of stained glass and the distinctive Gothic Rose Windows.

Medieval Architecture
The Medieval Times website provides interesting facts, history and information about these great people and important historical events which scatter the Medieval History books including Medieval Architecture. The Medieval Times Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts about the fascinating subject of the lives of the people who lived during the historical period of the Middle Ages. The content of this article on Medieval life and times provides free educational details, facts and information for reference and research for schools, colleges and homework for history courses and history coursework.

Medieval Religion - Medieval Architecture

• Read books from a history book club or watch the History Channel DVDs on Medieval Times
• Romanesque
• Gothic
• Medieval Architecture
• Medieval Architecture Glossary of Terms
• Dates and Characteristics of different types of Medieval Architecture

From the Site: http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-art/medieval-architecture.htm

Medieval Period Research

The medieval time of history spans a period of more than 700 years, beginning around the year 800. During this time, there were key advances in society, government and religion.

In 1066, William the Conqueror led the Norman Conquest of England which brought feudalism and started the widespread building of castles. Feudalism continued to develop, reaching its height during this period. Since there was little unity or regional boundaries outside of the large cities, the feudal system began to form to give this societal climate a basis for governmental structure. Under the feudal system, individuals were bound to serve a superior. The king was at the top with the nobles, barons, lords and knights below him. In return for service, individuals received protection from their superiors and in return would provide men to fight if the need arose. The basis of constitutional government can also be traced to the medieval period with the signing of the Magna Carta, or the Great Charter, in 1215. 

Following the rule of Charlemagne, Christianity spread throughout Europe which served as a unifying force for the continent. This was in part due to the Great Schism of 1054 where two competing religious authorities, Pope Leo IX of the Roman Catholic Church, and Patriarch Michael I of the Eastern Orthodox faith, excommunicated each other in a dispute over authority. 

A major part of medieval history were the Crusades. Following the split of the church and the expansion of Christianity, the Crusades were launched to defend Christianity from Islam. Thousands of Europeans traveled to Jerusalem to wage war with the Islamic forces, to settle the area and to regain the Holy Land. For a period of time, their quest was successful; however, with the fall of Acre in 1291, the Crusades effectively ended. In total, the Crusades lasted more than 200 years. 

While tens of thousands died in the Crusades, Europeans were enlightened to many new technologies and developed many new trade routes. Improvements in navigation were discovered and new items such as silk, gunpowder and navigation aids were introduced. As a result of this, the Age of Exploration was possible. 

Much positive came from the medieval times, but the period was not without tremendous problems. Population explosions caused poor sanitary conditions which led to the Black Death where nearly half of Europe’s population died. Much enlightenment could be found in the Church, but there was much injustice done in the name of religion. A particularly dark time in Church history was the Inquisition where in a blind quest for heretics, many innocent people were tortured and executed in the name of Christianity.

Overall, the medieval period can be divided into the Dark Ages, the High Middle Ages and the Later Middle Ages, the period which preceded the Renaissance. Much was introduced in this period and while some of the developments which had their birth in this time fell by the wayside and have been forgotten or lost to history, much that we take for granted today has roots during this period of human development.

From the site: http://www.medieval-period.com/

Rough Sketches

Here are some initial concepts as to how different models will look in my scene.

The first sketch is of an Inn. The colours of it will consist of a dark brown for the wood trim around the house, with the walls being a more subtle colour of possibly peach or light yellow. The roof will also be a similar colour to the wood trim but with a slight hint of red.

The second sketch is of a Smithy, which will have the same colours as the Inn to follow the buildings theme.

Next, is the house, which will be slightly modified when made into a model, just to make them different from each other but without remaking a whole other house.

Again, the colours will have the same consistency as the previous two models, again, to maintain the theme.

The town square will also have a few market stalls dotted around selling different goods. Just like the houses, once made, they will be slightly adapted to whatever it is they're selling so they won't all look the same. The top part of the stall will have a red and white striped theme, with everything else being brown as it's all wood. (Except the bottles!)

Little models that will also fill the scene will be such things as buckets, barrels, crates, sandbags and lamp posts. This will give the town a more 'lived-in' feel, and give the town more depth and detail.

The final sketch is of a cart, which can be filled with all sorts of other models, and again, adding this to the scene will give the game more realism and atmosphere. Colours will mostly be brown, again, because its entirely made from wood.



More Designs for Buildings

 This house could either be a simple house that village folk would live in, or it could perhaps be a house for a Blacksmith, with their forge, tools, and equipment in a small area beside it. This house also an 'awning' around 50% of the house not only to act as a decorative feature, but also for protection of items from the rain.

Another idea for a house, that would fit more as a 'basic house' than the last idea since it's much smaller. This house would consist of a few rooms, with only two on the second floor, three on the bottom.

The final sketch is of a building that could be used as a Pub/Inn. This building contains many rooms, upstairs and down, with a large room on the right-hand side possibly where the 'pub' type section could go, with the rooms for staying in on the left-hand side.

Final Referencing for Dissertation

 

1.     Cusson, R., Cardoso, J., 2010. Realistic Architectural Visualization with and 3ds Max and Mental Ray: Second Edition. Burlington: Elsevier Inc.

This book combines models with lighting, as well as with the metal ray renderer making the models look as realistic as possible. The books shows you ways of making organic models from real life images, and how they should be lit. Models such as trees, bushes, plants, and other sorts of foliage can be found inside this book giving you a good understanding on how they are made, and how you should achieve the end result. This book will go perfectly with my scene as it can show me how to make my realistic surroundings for the outskirts of the village, and how to bring them to life.

Referencing for Dissertation (Continued..)

So far, I have found another two books that can help me a lot in my dissertation. One is slightly similar to another, however contains useful information on other aspects that the other book didn't specify.

Gahan, A., 2009. 3ds Max Modelling for Games: Insider's guide to game character, Vehicle, and environmental Modelling. Burlington: Elsevier Inc.

This book contains a lot of techniques and ways of making different models in 3ds max ready to be imported into game environments which proves very useful when creating models for my own game and importing them. It shows simple methods for making low and high poly models, as well as new ways to texture them. It also gives a good understanding on normal mapping which will prove to be very useful as I learnt how to do this before.

McKinley, M., 2010. Maya Studio Projects: Game Environments and Props. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, Inc.


Although this book is about Maya, it is still very similar to 3ds Max, and so the techniques used in this book can still be applied in Max just as well. Again, in this book, there are additional methods of creating different aspects for modelling, as well as how to make models that have not yet been stated inside other books. Different environmental elements are shown in great detail as to how they can be made and textured to a high standard are shown throughout this book, which would greatly help me in my project.

Kahrs, J., Calahan, S., Carson, D., and Poster, S., eds. Pixel Cinematography:
A Lighting Approach for Computer Graphics. [pdf] Available through: http://education.siggraph.org/resources/cgsource/instructional-materials/archives/courses/s96-c30/s96_course30.pdf [Acessed 24 October 2011]

This is a PDF file all about lighting techniques that explains how and when what type of lighting method should be used depending on the current circumstances of the scene. It tells you how to get special effects and how to set the mood for your environment. It also explains how different different camera shots can add mood to the scene, when the correct light is also there to add depth and realism, and with these two methods working well together, you get the perfect realistic render.

De Jong, S., 2008.  The Hows and Whys of Level Design: Second Edition. [pdf] Available at: http://www.horences.com

Another PDF file that contains more useful information about level design. However, this focuses on most areas and not just on modelling. A section in this PDF that I will pay most attention to will be the lighting, as he goes into great detail on how it should be done, and what do avoid with several examples of good and bad lighting. This should therefore illustrate more clearly what I should and shouldn't do when lighting my environment.

Greenway, T. et all., 2011. Photoshop for 3D Artists: Volume 1. Worcester: 3DTotal Publishing.


This book will be very useful on another key area I will be focusing on in my work, and that's the textures. My level needs to have textures that look realistic, clear, and add the depth to the scene. If they were bad and pixelated, the lighting would pick up on this and the overall effect of the level would not be good at all. This book also suggests methods on lighting with the textures, and how to bump/normal map them correctly.
 

Reference Images

Some ideas as to how my project will look. Either by the layout or theme/style that has been used.



This image is almost exactly the same kind of layout that I will be aiming for in my work. A small town with only a few buildings, perhaps with a river and bridge leading off to maybe an Inn, or an abandoned house.

I won't be aiming for model characters however, as my main focus is the modelling and design of the environment.

Here is another image of the same town, just a close-up view on some of the houses. I would like to make houses similar to the style in the image, however these are very detailed and maybe slightly too hard to make in 3ds Max. But I wouldn't mind trying trying though.

For this image, I really like how the models have been made, and find they look very realistic. This is more or less the overall style I'd like my buildings to look like.

The town has been made very well with a good layout, but it's the buildings I like the most.

Here is an image of a blacksmith created in 3ds Max made by the same person as the last image, which is also something I'm aiming to have in my village. Although I'm not a huge fan of how this one looks, I could still use it as reference for when I make mine.

The building seems to look very low-poly too, something I will try to avoid, however not go over the top either.

I really like how this model has been made. It has been modelled very nicely and to a very high standard. Not necessarily something I'll be making for my village, but the shape/style of the barn could still be used as a house for my village instead.

The small cart just in front of the building looks good too, so I may make a similar one and could be used as an 'accessory' in my village. 

Simple things like this will be what brings the town to life, and make it look more like people actually 'live' there. It also adds to the realism.

The final image is of an Inn, and I really like how this one has been made. Again, very detailed and shows some of the accessories that the Inn contains on the inside on the outside.


All typical models you would expect to see there, making this a great image for reference and ideas. An Inn is a model that I would make for my village, so this image is perfect.

Reference for Dissertation

So far, I have been looking through books to find information on what I need as this proved easier than searching online.

Murdock, K., 2009. 3DS Max 2010 Bible. Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc.


This is the first book that I thought would be very useful to me, as it will further develop the knowledge that I already have with new additions to learn when working on the project. I could perhaps learn new ways of creating models and potentially increase my skill at in 3ds Max.

This will therefore allow me to create better models, with more detail and expertise.

Steen, J., Boardman, T., 2010. Rendering with mental ray and 3ds Max. Burlington: Elsevier Inc.

Since we have had no teaching on how to light a level professionally, this book would prove to be very handy with hints and tips in how to light my game environment realistically. It shows you different methods you can use and what effects the lighting will give you. It also suggests which lights are best suited depending on what environment you are going to be adding the lights to.

Ahearn, L., 2008. 3D Game Environments: Create Professional 3D Game Worlds. Burlington: Elsvier Inc.

This book gives great insight into different aspects into creating an environment for a game. It suggests how to plan out your environment before making anything for it, as well as different techniques for modelling, texturing and positioning.

It also gives you an understanding of what is needed when creating natural worlds with terrain, and what the world should be full of - trees, rocks, plants, sky, water etc and how to go about making these.

Meigs, T., 2003. Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds. Emeryville: McGraw-Hill.

Another book slightly similar to the last, however gives different views on level planning and building. It also gives information on lighting within a game world, particles, effects, the design by genre, scripting etc. All the main points that a game environment needs are in this book. With these key facts in mind, I will hopefully be able to build a well structured 3d village.