3D Modelling: The Basics

In this article we will be covering everything you need to know about 3D

Modelling for beginners. This will include many examples of 3D Modelling
software and how to use it, how to complete the basic actions within the software
and how to make your work look professional to the highest standard.

Applications of 3D Modelling
There are many ways 3D Modelling is used other than gaming. For example
architects use 3D Modelling to create their building designs. People also use 3D
Modelling to create things for medical use, they can use it to create incubators
and to shorten the amount of surgery time drastically, and it has also helped to
separate 25 different types of conjoined twins and to create new body parts for
those who are missing them. Modelling is used in sports like formula 1 when
creating the body for aerodynamics for their cars and which parts need to be
reinforced. Modelling is also used in the army to create a scene for army troops
to complete with anyone being hurt (but they may get abit of motion sickness), it
can also be used to create weapons on a mass scale for people to actually use
but the firing pin needs to be created separately.

3D Modelling is used in creating movies like Shrek and Frozen, they dont have to
worry about the amount of polygons (poly count) throughout the whole film as
there is no limit on it. 3D modelling is also used in graphics like for a games
poster for Call of Duty and most obvious of all 3D modelling is used in Gaming to
create fully functioning, interactive and entertaining games. As technology gets
better there is a need to have more detail within 3D Modelling and a higher
increase in the poly count and this means theres more pressure on gaming
companies to produce these.

Geometric Theory
To understand Geometric Theory you first need to understand these key terms.
Vertex, Edge/line, Polygon, Mesh. First of all the Vertex is where all the edge
connect up to. The Vertex is represented by a single dot at a corner or at a
certain point within a shape. Next the edge is what connects all the vertexes
together which is represented by a single line (one line equals one edge). If there
was no edges there would only be a very funny looking shape which would be
hard to model.

3D Modelling: The Basics

A Polygon is in a basic explanation a face of a shape and the more polygons

there are the more faces there are on side of a shape. There are always different
limits when it comes to the amount of polygons aloud within an object like in
movies there is need to worry about the amount of polygons because you are
looking to make it as realistic as possible compared to games where there is a
limit to the amount of polygons due to the fact that if there is too many polygons
then the file size will be too big and games files need to be as small as possible.
A mesh is when a vertex, edge and polygon/polygons are all connected together
to make a shape but with a mesh it is easier to edit the shape as you can edit
any individual part of the shape at any given time.

Mesh Construction
Mesh Construction is when you create a shape/edit the shape to create a mesh.
There are three main types of Mesh Construction there is: Box Modelling,
Extrusion Modelling and primitives.
When youre Box Model, you create a box of any size and shape and you use
basic tools to change the details and the polygon count within the shape to make
the box look completely different than the start. When you extrusion model you
have a basic shape and you extrude (stretch) the shape to create more parts to it
then you do this multiple times in certain directions and at the end of it you
would have created a model you ideally set yourself the task to create. When
you use primitive construction you create multiple basic shapes and you connect
it all together in certain ways to get an object for example you can create a chair
with a few rectangles and a box.

3D Modelling: The Basics

This is a simple and very effective way to create detailed and very complicated
shapes easily. However if you do mess it up it can be very hard to undo the mess
you worked so hard to avoid and so you may have to restart. So save after every
few changes because you never know when you may have to restart.

3D Development Software
There are lots of software for 3D Modelling, some are better than others, some
cheap, some expensive. If youre a student you should be able to get the
software for free when you sign up. Most of what has been written has been on
the knowledge from 3DS Max which may be different from other Modelling
Software types.

3D Modelling: The Basics

There are many different type of modelling software which is specially used for
different purposes lie if you want to sculpt then Z type sculpting or Mudbox is
the software to use. If youre looking for modelling software then some good
examples are: AutoCAD, Modo modelling software, Blender, sketch up and many
more. You can easily find modelling software on the internet easily just do a
search for it on google.
There are lots of things to watch out for when downloading modelling software.
An example would be if you download it you will probably should have some antivirus software on your computer to avoid getting any viruses on the computer.
You should decide whether you want to buy the software or download a free
version and if you decide to buy it make sure youre only being charged for the
product itself and not the anything else other than that you dont want. If you do
decide that you a monthly subscription rather than paying full price you may
want to have a look around rather than just settling for the first one you find
because you may find a cheaper subscription which others the same or more
than the more expensive subscriptions.

Displaying 3D Polygon Animation

Basically this is when a low polygon model is transferred into another modelling
software to turn it into a high polygon model to make detail in the 3D model.
When this is done it is the placed back into the previous software which
something called Polygon Cruncher then reduces the polygons in the model so
that you have a detail model which has a low polygon count. This is then saved
into a certain file type to then be placed into a software called unreal Editor
which helps to make the model the best it can be before exported.

3D Modelling: The Basics

Even though this is a basic understanding you need to understand what is done
to get it to the final product which is going to be explained below.
To start with concept artists draw and design characters to fit the environment
described. They will produce multiple drawings of the same character in different
poses. Then once a variety of characters and poses have been drawn they will
then decide on one character and the draw a final detailed drawing to be handed
to the modellers.
This is then created in a modelling pipeline in the diagram below.
1) Start with
basic
Software
e.g. 3D Max

2) export into
advanced
software
e.g. zbrush/

4) final stage
3) Back into
exporting/ rendering
Basic
e.g. unreal engine 4.0
software

Visualisation Techniques are used to help create appealing

renders and objects to help make you say this is nice.
Using visualisation you can find the true proportions of and object and an
approximation of its Z- Axis. To help with this you can use things like shadowing,
textures UVW (object) unwraps.
Texturing allows you to create a close material to apply to an object to give a
certain look to it so that when the object is rendered it looks more lifelike within
the render. You have many ways to texture but there are two main ways. You
have these are with built in textures and and downloaded textures. Built in
textures come with the software you are going to be using
Shadowing is where a virtual shadow simulation is placed on an object edges and
points which is then is linked to a lighting system so when the system is being
moved the shadow is moved with it. Shadowing is used in games to help make it
look realistic and it can also be used to help the player judge what time of day it
is. Some examples of this are GTA V, Assassins Creed Black Flag & Unity etc.
API (Application Programming Interface) is where codes and conventions of
scripted language enable 3D Models to be displayed. When you add textures,
lighting systems and other objects etc. these will be transferred into codes to
help produce a 3D Model. Some examples of object oriented language and API
language are open GL and Direct 3D.
When it comes to rendering you can use various ways to make your end product
look amazing. The most used ways are to use virtual cameras and different
lighting types. Cameras are used to create a an image from a view in which you
can render to make it look like a photograph that was taken. You can also edit
how your cameras work like including depth of field and to decide what your
camera or cameras focus on to make it look more realistic.
To make it more realistic you can include different types of lighting. Using lighting
can give you certain effects to make it look like your object is real. You can also
use lighting to create shadows and effects to make it look as if the sun is hitting
it in a way to give of the effect of sunrise, sunset or even darkness which can
help improve your quality of your renders.

3D Modelling: The Basics

When you finally get your 3D model to look amazing and are happy with it you
will probably want to render the final Model and to do that to the top quality you
will probably want to use a render engine. Render Engines are used to create
high quality models to be used within a map or location these are also used to
render games. Different render engines and example of this would be DICE use
Frostbite and as unreal is a free render engine multiple company can use it.

Constraints
There are always going to be constraints (things that it cant do). For example
rendering power. Rendering is when you export an image of your model and if
you do this from different angles and in different ways this allows the viewer to
see the perspective of the creation. Rendering power is referring to amount of to
how long and how hard it is going to take to render the model, this can take
seconds or hours.
With a lot of the modelling software there is a high chance that it will crash when
you have a high polygon count as it struggles to keep up with the amount of
polygons in the system this can also make the render time longer too. If there is
a lot of polygons in a model then it could crash the software and if its not saved
lose all your work.
When you texture a map you make the image look different and more lifelike
than it would if you left it as is. The problem is with this though is that you can
make it life like, its just not possible as if you tried to do this it would you mean
you need an extremely high amount of polygons which could crash the system.
The file size with modelling software tends to be huge and if you need to save
this and you dont have enough space free then you are going to have to get
some. This is also a problem if youre trying to create a game because most
console limit has a max storage limit which cannot be exceeded and no-one
really wants to create more storage by deleting games.

Bibliography
http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/modo/?
gclid=COmO6dvDp8ICFVDKtAodGi4A6A
http://www.autodesk.co.uk/campaigns/autocad-sem/cad-software?
src=OMSE&mktvar002=589567
http://www.sketchup.com/
http://blog.ponoko.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/meshup.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/B56Ch4vsTlc/UuUsAN_94YI/AAAAAAAAAPg/rWv9CSAqOTI/s1600/Alien_Pistol_Traci
ng_01.jpg

3D Modelling: The Basics

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11317785
http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~haoz/pubs/images/dyer_et_al_sgp07.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/6JbYjQxOmWs/T6Ii8mbotdI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/aAEqNdePYQw/s400/Blender+2.63+Fr
ee+Full+Version+-+3D+Modeling+Software.png

Summary of findings
In this article I have created, I have researched and used my own knowledge to
complete this article. I have used imagery to help the reader to remember what
sort points are referred to and why the point has been referred to it.
In applications of 3d modelling I talk about how 3dmodelling can be used outside
of gaming. As an example 3d modelling can be used in hospitals to plan
ope3rations, what happens if it goes wrong and drastically reduce the time in the
operating theatre. 3d modelling can be used in a variety of jobs and places to
help produce and product ability.
In geometric theory I explain how a shape in modelling software is broken up
and explain what each point in a shape is. An example would be a square in
modelling software would be broken down into vertex, mesh, edge and polygon.
A vertex is when two of the lines of the square connect which creates a little
black dot. An edge is a line. Polygons are squares within a shape itself the least
amount of polygons in a shape that you can have is 3 or 4. A mesh is when the
shape is all connected but easier to manipulate.
. Mesh construction is when you create a model with only a primitive shape and
only edit it with the object being meshed together.
3d development software is what you use try 3d model. The software can be
bought or free.
Displaying 3d polygon animation is what is done to a model to turn it into a
model that is detailed and ready to be placed into a game.
Constraints are the problems with 3d modelling and why it isnt completely
amazing and the best thing ever.

Appendix with notes and

collected material

This is what I used to find out

details
aboutto
modelling
Board notes
help with
software
available.
writing the
assignment.
http://www.autodesk.co.uk/ca
mpaigns/autocad-sem/cadsoftware?
src=OMSE&mktvar002=58956
7

3D Modelling: The Basics

http://www.sketchup.com