Project 2: Blockville BuildUp

Okay, we're getting into component modeling now. Verts, edges, and faces are your new companions. Your project for Thursday, January 22 (furlough day on Tuesday, so no class) is to build out some of your scene objects in Blockville using component modeling to create some more detailed, cool elements to give your scene 6000% more bad-assery. Demonstrate this increase with three more scene renders posted to the blog. Remember, be deliberate in your choice of what to model so you get maximum visual impact out of your efforts. Do appropriate VISUAL RESEARCH and post it. I don't know much, but I do know that  you (yes, you) do not yet have a fully detailed architecture library floating about in your head.

Responsive essay. This essay should have a bit of before and after reflection. Before you get too involved in your modeling, write a bit on what emotional impact you are trying to convey in your scene and how you might achieve that effect. After your shots are getting done, reflect a bit on your use of modeling, architectural repetition, research, shot composition, and the like and how it contributed to the success/failure of your work.

Basics:
1. Right-click, hold, and drag on an object to set the component level you want to work on. This is also where you get back to object mode.

You can also use f8, f9, f10, f11 to access the different component levels. If you do this, you'll need to set up your mac hotkeys: Apple Menu>System Preferences>Keyboard> use f1 etc as standard function keys checkbox.

2. Avoid the following like the plague (because we all very consciously try to avoid the plague).
a. Non-planar faces:

The top face of this block is f***ed (i.e. non-planar)

The top face of this block is fine--it's planar.

b. Do not pull verts through faces! Ugh. Don't make me look at it:

wtf???

c. N-gons. These are polygons that have more than 3 or 4 verts. 

This is one polygon, but it has 8 vertices.

Here's the same model, properly "quad-ed out".

d. Unnecessarily complex geometry. Hello, olde-fashioned booleans.

Clean-up on isle 5!

To avoid these unfortunate types of things, we've got to learn how to add geometry to our models carefully and deliberately. The Heads Up Display (HUD) will help you keep tabs on your "poly-count" as well as give you a constant read-out on health, ammo, and special ability cooldowns. Access the hud through: Display>Heads Up Display>Poly Count

DemoTemplate. Click to enlarge, then download.