The Part Of The Story Nobody Likes... - UV Mapping

It has been a while since I updated this blog but that has come down to various different factors. My last post was from me beginning to model the tree in ZBrush. After spending a lot of time sculpting the tree, I finally got something I was pleased with. I then began to UV Map, which took an insane amount of time but I am happy to say I have now finished UV Mapping!

So here is my finished piece in ZBrush. (The different colours represent the polypaint which gives a rough idea of the UV Map created:

Final Model

I created the UV Map in Maya as I had much more input in what I wanted from it. This process took me an extremely long time but I am now happy with the result. At first I UV Mapped all idiviudal branches so I could place the seams where I thought would work best. Once I did this, I went on to sew as much of them together in order for a seamless piece. The previous image shows clearly where the seams will be. Here is my final model in Maya along with the UV Map:

UV Mapped in Maya

Personal Notes

I am at the point of this project where I am relatively anxious of the final outcome. With this beign a new field to me, I hope I can get it as close to the standards of my last project (which I was really pleased with). I have it all in my head, it's just getting it to come out like that!

My next step is to begin painting the tree and placing it into Unreal Engine 4 - thats when things start to fall into place - I will paint it for the next two days and by then I will called it pretty much finished (maybe come back and edit the texture map at a later date). I want to (next week) start assembling the rest of the scene, starting with the hill, and then adding in some other (much more basic!) trees and bushes. I can then come back to this tree and add some more features to it (ropes, hatches etc)

Here is a quick updated list of what is too follow:

• Place into Unreal Engine 4
• Finish Diffuse Map/Normal Map (Make two and multiply)
• Sort landscape (Hill + Night Sky)
• Begin making various bushes
• Add further features to main tree

Lighting etc will eventually be added to this list...

New Plot Line - The route of ZBrush

So after switching to ZBrush I spent a while (again) familiarizing myself with it's interface and controls. I have been looking at many tutorials in order to find something decent that can help with my next project. Eventually I found this one which I am pretty much following step by step except instead of a monster, I'm creating a tree! (It's more exciting than it sounds)

http://www.digitaltutors.com/tutorial/1536-Indie-Game-Development-Pipeline-Volume-5-Boss-Character-Modeling-and-Texturing

So I am onyl at the early stages but already, this tree is looking much better than my last attempt and there are still plenty of steps to go through before the final model (lots and lots of iterating).

So to begin with (much like my last method) I began with using ZSpheres to create a basic shape model which I then converted to a low poly skin:

Using ZSPheres to Create Initial Skin

In order to improve from the last model, I am really taking my time with this as I am aware it should be a lengthy process. I imported this adaptive skin into Maya in order to tweak it and add some further geometry:

Modifying the Base Mesh in Maya

As you can see, I used Maya to add simple stumps and finesse the branches a little more. This is purely a base mesh and I will now take it back into ZBrush to sculpt further.

Personal Notes

I am much happy now I have a pipeline example to work to. It really helps when you are not too familiar with a package or the correct approach to take with it. I am taking it slow and so I am going to do a little touch up in ZBrush today then start the major sculpting tomorrow and Friday.