For our last task for BA1b, we have been asked to create a gateway to another dimension. With only the limit

of 4.000 triangles in front of us, we have been allowed to continuously play freely around with the most

farfetched ideas we can come up with. The idea of creating a gateway provided me with a lot to think about:

Style

Genre

Architecture

Overall feel I want to give off

And most important for me, which historical period/ historical figure will I use as inspiration? I create a few

moodboards of different themes in order to categorise the ideas I had made up.

From film and TV to concept art and existing

architectural marvels from different countries, these

buildings all have different uses (religious buildings

to architectural mysteries). Been given the freedom

to explore different themes and modelling styles,

gives me the chance to become a more confident 3d

modeller as I can try out some new techniques I have

learned as well as model particular objects or scenes

which interest me (so long as it conforms to the

brief). This task gives me the chance to explore the

idea of narration through a 3d scene. Being able to

explain with minimal words what the scene you are

looking at means/ what it is trying to say. That why I incorporate existing buildings or at the very least the

stories associated with them because the combination of history and mystery brings out my creative side. I

associated the word “gateway” with gigantic arches (Arc De Triomphe, etc…) mostly roman arches, I then tried

to find different uses of arches. From that, I was able to discover Indian, Buddhist, Roman and Pakistani

temples (including entrances: Egyptian and Indian) which ultimately led me to uncovering the foreground for

the scene: the gateway will be situated in a cave. Knowing what the background of this scene would end up

being the key to discovering what era and what historical figure I would look at. I chose to look at Leonardo Da

Vinci because I remembered reading about one of his few childhood memories which he took wrote about

was when he discovered a cave in Apennines, the fear of discovering a bear was surpassed by his burning

desire to uncover the mysteries of this cave leading to his love of geology and some of his first recorded

drawing (the study of the Arno valley). The unknown going in and the mystery of an unexplored cave made

me want to centre my scene on this, I started to design the gateway around this idea: renaissance gateway?

Something left behind by our ancestors? Or something supernatural? I have always associated roman god

temples (Roman, Greek, Indian, etc…) because of the stories accompanying them. The gods Janus and Saturn

represent the gods of beginings/gates and time respectively, giving me the supernatural element that I was

looking for.

I then began cultivating ideas and designs which I

turned into quick sketches, so that I can elaborate on

the chosen design as I go along.

I started by drawing the different pillars as I believed

that they would be one of the main focal point of the

gateway, at the same time I took into consideration

the polycount in my head (as I had created a pillar not

too long after I had chosen a temple as a gateway) I

knew that it would be roughly 600 to 800 depending

on the damage and details I put in and of course the

use of the pillar in the scene. I created a quick mise en

scene of the pillars depicting their different styles and

uses from having the Janus heads on to balancing an

arch.

From different I tried to visualise what might

accompany the temple in terms of structural integrity,

soon I then followed by defining the dimensions. I felt

that I didn’t show enough variety in my design so I

made a few others, some similar in architecture and

others based off of existing pieces (Stonehenge for

example) and off levels in video games (ones where a

destroyed room was shown). Still I wasn’t completely

satisfied with the designs I had created and so I sought

out Chris’s advice to understand what I should

perhaps change.

I told him that perhaps I focusing more on the exterior

aspect of the gateway and less on the gateway itself,

he agreed and at the same time he showed me a

process he does when he’s working.

He told me that by using your moodboards you can roughly determine the polycount you need and then start

to distribute your triangles accordingly. As well it helps your creative motor as he had me select the door

frames and say why I had chosen it. Some were chosen because their placement inspired my idea, others

were chosen through their designs and the others because of the lighting in the photo. Gaining this clarity

early in the production stage is vital for me to understand the rigors of managing my time efficiently in order

to maximise my modelling time and great the best scene I can in the designated time frame. This as well gave

me the opportunity to explore new designs.

The Arc of Septimus (above the drawing on the bottom right

corner) shows similarities with the Temple of Janus and thus

became inspired me for my last designs and was my chose of

design.

I’m glad I had spoken with Chris before the Easter break as it

allowed me the opportunity to rethink my scene and the

contents. Prior to our talk, I had begun my modelling part of

my schedule and I had worried that I had not done enough

on the door. I had spent two days thinking about the

polycount of the items I had wondering where I could take

triangles off of or remove completely.

After talking with Chris and having a new process that I can

utilize for my projects, I felt reinvigorated about the project

as a whole and the design as well.

I didn’t feel as if I had wasted the first week and a half of

the project, in fact I was able to use almost every aspect of

the work I had produce starting with the reference images

for the pillars and door frame size. I referenced real life scale

to make my model as authentic as I can and making it a scale

replica of an existing temple is the perfect way to start off.

Beginning with the pillar I estimated the diameter to be of

1m, I found a good reference which gave me an indication of

what a greek pillar’s dimensions were. Alas they were

dimensions for a pillar on a grandeur scale so I went out I got

reference photos of a roman/greek pillar next to a business

and took reference of the size of the diameter.

I adjusted the size of the temple frame

and door to more realistic heights as

well as to conform to the pillar

dimensions I set. The height of a

temple varies from 3m height to 23 m

(if the temple is supposed to be an

arc), the temple I imagined was no

bigger than 6m in height as I wanted it

to feel like a shrine and less an edifice

in honour to one of these gods.

After changing the units to meters, I

use to cubes to measure the height

between the maximum and where the

door frame begins. I did the same for

the height of the temple, for the width

of the frame I incorporated the

dimensions of a door (which included the width of a single frame) and the allowed sufficient space for the

pillar to be placed in the middle.

Starting off with the pillars, I used one of the ones which had the least amount of triangles and chose it for

this design. A damaged look for both but different in how they were damaged led me to cutting them both in

half in different styles, allowing the scene to get a lease of life through these pillars: setting the scene of an

old, almost abandoned temple feel.

Like the barrier we made before, I readied my pillars (equal amount of parallel and perpendicular lines added

to them, resulting in an equal amount of small squares – smaller means retains more detail/information

during Zbrush process). In the above moodboard, both pillars including their high poly Zbrush versions as well

as their UV maps and the original pillar from the first iteration with next to it a pillar I found whilst playing Rise

of The Tomb Raider which happens to be the inspiration for one of them (the other came about from seeing

numerous destroyed pillars whilst playing different games). Ever since the jersey barrier project, I have been

more and more confident whilst using Zbrush - such a fascinating piece of technology with an unlimited

potential behind, like all softwares – so I wanted to test my abilities by paying attention to fine detail such as

cracks in foundation, through extensive pressure or through collision. Paying close attention as to how and

where these cracks will appear and how acute some will be (numerous at the point of contact and thicker,

scarce when away from the radius). I found I great tutorial online which showed how to make cracks using the

standard brush and a sphere for the alpha.

Next up was the

frame of the temple, I

had spent a day and

half creating the Chi-

Rho symbol (a

Christogram with the

alpha and omega

symbols, was said to

be called the

“Chrismon of Saint

Ambrose”. It was said

that in the 12th

century, Saint

Ambrose used it to

introduce

catechumens to the

mysteries of the

Christin faith) as I was

wondering in what

capacity should I

introduce this symbol. Initially, I wanted to create an alpha which I could then paint over on the spot where I believed it

should go, then I thought perhaps as a flat normal. None of these suggestions satisfied me so I chose to add it to the

temple frame and decimate it in Zbrush. Showing little of the symbol but enough for it to be noticeable. The symbol is

the earliest form of christograms, using the Greek letters chi and rho, however I didn’t want to use religious

connotations in this scene. I was

more interested in using this

symbols association with the

Alpha and Omega symbols

(beginning and end of the Greek

alphabet), paired with the gods

Janus and Saturn; I wanted to

give off the idea that it is

unknown where you would end

if you go through the gateway :

to the beginning or the end of

the world? After seeing the

positive results from the cracks I

made in the pillars, I continued

on my temple frame as it’s

supposed to be in a cave; more

detents and cracks should be

both visible and present. Along

with the Chi-Rho symbol, I

wanted direct sunlight to come

in from the top of the temple landing on the door frame. When I was making the original moodboards I came across

numerous photographs of temples, shrines entrances with beautiful natural lighting coming from a hole in the ceiling, I

wanted to replicate it the best I could.

I then went on to work on the temple door, similar to the temple frame as the back will not be seen in both cases I have

left those spots untouched allowing

me to allocate more geometry to

others parts. Whilst in Zbrush, my

thought process behind this door

was to show some damage but

significantly less than with the

temple frame as the chances for

any rocks to hit the door would be

minimal due to the small hole in

the ceiling but big enough for

smaller rocks to hit it.

The last two pieces were the

scythe and head, unsurprisingly

the heads took slightly longer

then the scythe to make. The

only slight problem I

encountered was the fact that

whenever I changed from one

angle to the other and I had

made a change it would no

longer fit in the reference

image. So to counter balance

that I found another image of a

nose from three different

angles and superimposed it on

the reference image for the side

view once I had created the

mouth (I did the same for front

view). I spent a day working on the heads and I wound up starting from scratch because changing images

halfway through the process put a dent in my workflow (also it was highly unethical to start with). However I

ended up enjoying the process and the end product as well, even though it is not perfectly proportionate the

likeliness is there. I modelled one side and used mirror geometry to mirror the other side, I originally planned

to put the heads side by side like the coin but I thought that it would look out of place in the scene. Then I

thought about damaging the heads in Zbrush but when I brought it in to retopologise it, the triangle count was

higher than I would have liked it to be. Finally I thought about it the next day and decided after seeing a photo

of a marble head cut in half, it perfectly epitomises the fell of the scene (I also loved

how the eyes were looking at polar opposites of each other).

What was now left after this was the scythe, I used the decimated idea –originally for the heads- on the

scythe: breaking off the tip of the blade and cutting the scythe in half (length). I blocked out the parts needed

to be decimated, prepared it for export and started destroying it –slightly because of how fragile it was

(perhaps upon reflection I could have made the blade thicker? As well as the body?).

I spent a week

where I relaxed, so

that I could recharge

my batteries and

comeback with a

refreshed mind

ahead of the

remaining weeks of

the task. I found

some great

environments when

I was playing Rise of

the Tomb Raider, I

wounded up taking

screenshots of some

parts of the game

which I found

beneficial to what I

would be doing in a

few weeks after my

return to Norwich. The old, dirty, mossy and oxidised walls of the ruins made me think about the textures I

would put on my assets later on. The fine detail from the brick wall were water has trickled down and has left

marks on the walls to the decolouration of the stone made me aware of what I can strive for in this task.

I also went out to take photographs of moss and how the different stages affect stone and bricks. The

variation in colour depending on the amount of sunlight it is offered. As well I took photos of columns which

showed elements of what I stated prior, giving me inspiration to work off of.

The penultimate part of the task, creating

textures for the assets with all the

references and inspirations I brought in I

was very excited to begin this part. I saw

that (in Rise) every piece had the same

base colour, then alteration were done to

meet a certain criteria. Roman arcs

usually have a linear colour palette

(usually maybe of marble), that’s the kind

of appeal I was going for with my assets

having them linear in terms of texture,

both shows that the resources used were

rare – perhaps solely used as a gift to the

gods- and that there discolouration shows

their age.

Using a combination of smart materials

(already have effects applied in order to

attain a material’s likeness), normal

materials and materials I created using

generators (effects) on hand to create

oxidisation, moss and dirt.

I used the same pattern on each starting

with a concrete base colour as it already

had small cracks and discolouration;

followed by a faded concrete which I fade

slightly onto the base colour creating a

slight dirt effect. I would then add the

marble polished smart material (I chose it

as it has numerous stress marks, similar

to cracks) as the colour was brighter than

I would have liked instead of changing

colour like the faded concrete, I wold

bring the marble into the base colour

lighter in some parts and darker in others

to show the decolouration more

prominently. Then I would make a quick

dirt material using existing materials,

slightly changing the colour scheme and

again fade it into the texture. Finally I

would add the moss material (either use a

smart material and change the colours

and effects or use a material, add a

generator and add a black mask on the

group to finally paint the moss into it.

I am very happy with the results of the texturing, it came out exactly how I wanted it to be as well similar to

Zbrush I felt much more confident using it and enjoyed it much more too.

The last two parts were left, creating

my marmoset scene and my UE4 scene.

I encountered problems when making

my marmoset scene as it appeared that

I had forgotten to resize my assets

when I had remade them and they

came in miniature form. This gave me

the chance to revaluate their individual

sizes, should the pillars be in the middle

of each entrance frame? Should they

be big enough that a man/woman

could walk on each side with no

problem? How big should I make the

heads and scythe? Not too big that they would look out of place but big enough so they would be considered

a statue and not a decorative piece. Knowing that the pillar that I saw had a diameter of 1m, I could make it 1

m in length and width and add 1m 50 for the height so that the texture would not be undervalued. As for the

heads and scythe, having them at 1m across all boards wouldn’t make them seem too out of place but could

be slightly too big for the scene. I made numerous changes, exports and imports and finally arrived at a

suitable size for them.

I ended up making them around .9m in

size, as I imagined them being statues

on top of the pillars. The only thing that

I would take from this is that a scythe is

one of those objects that isn’t

necessarily very big in size, I could have

given it more girth but it wouldn’t have

looked realistic in my opinion. I created

a marmoset viewer which I then posted

in my Artstation (as well as to make

sure that the polycount was correct

one last time), I had made the mistake

of not using my UE4 packed textures

and when I tried to export the file it was too big to do so. This made me aware that in fact the texture files

hold more information than the actual assets, thus the reason for packing them.

The last process was finally here,

creating my scene in UE4. I’ve used UE4

quite often when I was in college (I

even used to present my level in VR), so

I knew the basics such as importing

assets, changing the collision box and

how to use blueprints and particle

effects. What Chris taught us from

importing assets and creating materials

to creating a base colour which you

apply to a mesh and can be change

with minimal delay (similar to when

you change the colour of a car in a

menu of a racing game, same

knowledge could be applied to changing hair colour/style and other features). A pivotal lesson I learned from

Chris was naming conventions and making an organised folder system. I am an organised person and I came

to realise very quickly that working in a creative field (or any other field) you will make multiple files and

multiple file changes, so having an organised system in which you can find whatever file you may need in a

moment’s notice is essential for you and your team.

Before making a new level, I make it a point

to always use the default first/third person

map; importing the assets making sure I

ticked every box correctly and making sure

the size is right. The problem I did have was

the size, I’m still unsure as to why the scale

was wrong when I imported it I had made

sure to rescale whatever needed to be

resized properly and used the correct FBX

files. Nonetheless I had to scale them again,

perhaps this was for the better as this way I

was able to be certain, using the character

model, that the sizes I had chosen weren’t

wrong.

When the sizes were right, I started to build

my scene using the meshes at my disposal. I

then worked on the lighting in UE4, changing

the lighting wasn’t very difficult but making it

look the way I wanted certainly was. Unsure

whether I wanted a colourful sunset

(rose/pink clouds indicate wind for the

following day) or a supernatural looking sky

or even a night sky. I played around with it

for a couple of hours before making a

decision.

Over the last 8 weeks, I have seen how much I have progressed this past year from both the modelling side

and my own personal philosophy. Having someone you look up to, in every domain, aspiring to become an

environment artist to wanting to improve my communication skills (through concept art and contextual

studies) I have been able to relax and think much more as I have been giving tasks to do. I have seen a massive

difference between the concept art tasks and the modelling, mainly due to the fact that I have fallen in love

with modelling coupled with the fact that I have discover what I want my career to focus around (I have no

doubt that I might change my path as I experience more and more fascinating experiences). That being said I

have been more critical about what I can and can’t do but I always strive to try everything before sticking to

one path, before the art test I had never made a character model before and less so in this one had I ever

created a human head. I enjoyed making them but it is not were my heart goes, seeing my progress not only

in modelling but also in unwrapping and texturing shows that the work ethic I have given myself since I started

this journey 2 years ago is working. There is always room for improvement such as with my unwrapping

knowledge and skills, I believe I can be more efficient and quicker with more and more experience I know that

this is attainable. The same goes for texturing, using Zbrush as well as using Unreal Engine, I have seen the

potential these softwares can have on my career and my vision for the future; I have no doubt that with more

and more practice I will be able to produce greater quality of work. I have noted elements which I want to

improve on when this year is over:

Gain more confidence in drawing (characters, environments, thumbnails)

Formulating unique ideas (being more creative on how I envision something)

Worry less about what everyone one else is doing, be more confident in our creative choices (mixing

history with modelling is what I enjoy doing). Be open to trying different styles and themes.

Below is a selection of screenshots I took in UE4.

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