3D Environment Reflection

Environment Overview

And finally, I discuss about the environment I developed. This post is a general reflection on that environment and should work to give a detailed insight into the development progress of the Salts Building.

This was the main theme of the project we set out to develop, and my environment was at the forefront of this creation. Initially I decided that I would create a photorealistic replica of the Salts Building Exterior, however, in realising time constraints, the volatile nature of 3DS Max, and also the skills I possessed, I felt it would best if I developed a more simplistic but appreciative concept style. I took inspirtation from the image of the Salts Building I took previously in the year, and also on the dynamic nature of the environment, trying to picture a more worn down, and lucid Salts Building, I realised images from fantasy games like Dragon Age, and Witcher 2 helped me to generate a good idea of the concept I was intially planning on.

Witcher 2  - Catle Ruins
http://www.el33tonline.com/images/cache/18334.jpg

Dragon Age - Ruins of Ostagar
http://greywardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Ostagar.jpg

I knew, during the concept phase of the environment I had to use all my resources to generate a feasible solution, I knew the software I had to use, Photshop coupled with 3DS Max for the environment development, but simply getting an idea of what I wanted was key to the successful development of this environment.

I started by producing sketches and concept designs, collecting images and collating them together to get a good theme and standing for the end product I wanted to develop. Below are some concept designs I created for the 3D Environment itself.

The question, how did I  do this,  is a viable question to ask, I generated the foundation of the environment through box modelling techniques, to create the base theme and setting, this allowed me to construct around it and add on the extra detail with minimal effort. I chose box modelling techniques over other conventional methods simply because I believe through experience that for constructing buildings, box modelling serves a better purpose in the long run. Plus it is simple, quick, efficient and easy to get started.

Lets also take a look at the Salts Building Image, coupled with some development images from the production to get a good on the technnique used and how it compared to the final product.

Above is the actual Salts Building, below is my rendered environment, looks alike right ? Okay maybe not, but  you get the picture.

How did we manage our time ?

During the development process we created a production plan, which detailed the amount of time, and the hours during the week we could realistically spend on the environment itself. In the project plan I detailed various times when I'd work on texturing in photoshop to apply to the environment, this came in handy on Thursdays, which we didn't have intial access to the production suite with 3DS Max installed.

The main advantage to this is it allowed us to manage our time effectively, we knew when we needed to generate textures and allowed us to allocate specific hours, and gave us an absolute insight into what was going on and what I specifically, needed to drop in order to assure we met the end deadline.

I do believe personally, that more could have been done for the environment, if I had managed my time, and my teams time more effectively, this could have been done by outlaying what had to be done by week, and also keep a to-do-list or changelog that helped define what was done, changed and needed to be done still, with this, I could have accurately spread out the development and still managed to develop a more robust environment.

What problems did you face ? 


We faced a wide range of issues, ranging from time constraints to general crashes of the software. One big issue that affected everyone was the volatile state of 3DS Max. Luckily the software came with a backup system, to ensure that we did not lose too much work, which helped to eliviate some of the stress from production.

Another problem we faced was man hours approachable on the environment, we had roughly 3 Hours on and Monday and 5 hours on a Tuesday to work on our environment, thats 8 hours a week, for a 6 week period, overall thats 48 Hours in total, about 2 days worth of work to get this done. Not a lot of time if you consider, give and take the hours we actually did at home, mind you.

Another problem was my texturing skills. Texturing was one of those small detail aspects that was difficult to work with, and required alot of work to create a repeatable background for the intial design.

What did you find easy?

I found that lighting and modifying the intensity, volumetrics and placing on bump maps that reflect the normals, was a very easy part for me. I also found that using the lighting to create a design and compliment the environment effects and ambience was great addition to the overall look and feel of the final production piece.

 Did you learn anything new while working on this project ?

To say I learnt nothing would be a lie. I have learnt not only skills in 3D Modelling software, but an appreciation for the work that goes into it as well. I have learnt about lighting techniques that I have been able to apply over to my programming realm, learnt more about 3D Geometry, Normals, Vertices and Polygons, all couple with the basis of bringing together a dyanmic environment, and the knowlegde attained is something I can take with me through life in my future careers.

How does your finished product compare to a professional example?

If we compare my final product to one of a professional concept, we can clearly depict the differences.