Sunday, June 13, 2010

Diffuse, Specular & Normal Maps

dds plugin for photoshop can be downloaded from here:
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html

alternatively you can save your textures as tif from photoshop (make sure the image size is 512x512 or 1024x1024). save them into your objects folder.

once you've exported your object into sandbox, open the material browser and select the objects material by using the eyedropper [see below]. you can change the texture file by clicking on the folder next to the channels.













The diffuse channel is the standard texture file which represents colour. By expanding the + box next to diffuse you will have options for tiling of the texture. This tiling will be reflected throughout all of the other channels.

Diffuse Map:

























The specular channel defines shine. Use either gray scale images where white is shiny, black is dull and gray is anything inbetween. Change the specular colour (default black) to a light grey. Then adjust Specular Level and Glossiness to suit the material.

Specular Map:




Normal mapping is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents. Normal maps can be created in photoshop either using the nvidia dds plugin (file/save as/*.dds) or by downloading xNormal and using the photoshop filter.

Normal Map:


Complete Material:

Monday, May 3, 2010

Crysis Capture ::

High Resolution Crysis Screenshots

1. figure out the ratio of your game screen (top right corner) divide width by height (ie 1600/900 = 1.77)

2. use the ratio to set high resolution dimension using 4096 as width. (ie 4096/1.77 = 2314)

3. set the dimensions in crysis:

press ~ when in game mode to get the console command prompt

type:
e_screenshot_width = 4096 [press enter]
e_screenshot_height = 2314 [press enter]

4. capture screen
set up the angle in game
type:
e_screenshot 1

5. Image will be saved in your game folder under screenshots\high-res\
image will be in targa format - edit with photoshop. save smaller jpgs (1920x1200) and upload these to your blog.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

EXPERIMENT 1: GENERAL COMMENTS

GENERALLY EVERYONE'S BLOGS ARE MESSY. REFER TO WUN'S BLOG AND TAKE NOTE OF THE TITLES AND ORGANISATION.

ANIMATIONS ARE TOO FAST OR TOO SMALL OR GENERALLY CONFUSING. REFER TO DANIEL KUIT'S AND MATT O'BRIEN'S ANIMATIONS FOR THE BEST IN THE CLASS.

THE BEST GRADE IN THE WHOLE YEAR WAS JING YAO CHECK IT OUT [HERE].

EMBED YOUR YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO FIT THE COLUMN WIDTH OF YOUR BLOG - IE DON'T EMBED A YOUTUBE 800p WIDE IN A 500p COLUMN. CHANGE YOUR LAYOUT OF YOUR BLOG TO SUIT IF YOU PREFER A WIDER ANIMATION.

ONE LAST THING - CAN EVERYONE PUT A LINK BACK TO MY BLOG ON THE TOP OF THEIR SIDEBAR.

EXPERIMENT 1: MARKING COMMENTS

An Phan
Key strength of the scheme:
Good use of materials.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The exhibition space doesn’t relate to the sketch section.

Daniel Gormly
Key strength of the scheme:
Strong architectural elements that provide interesting forms and spaces.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Design development was not evident. Sketches are scratchy and lack clarity. Overall cohesion between sketches / models / design is vague.

Daniel Kuit
Key strength of the scheme:
Good resolution of the spaces, forms and materials. Animations are clear, detailed and describe the architecture well.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Sketches could be taken further.

Hannah Devine
Key strength of the scheme:
Sketch sections and textures show good variation in technique and experimentation.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The architecture is under developed especially the notional exhibition space.

Huadong Cai
Key strength of the scheme:
Nicely proportioned spaces with interesting materials. Demonstrates neat and well organised spaces.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The stairs lack the quality of the workshops. No balustrades!

Ivonne Supandi
Key strength of the scheme:
Strong development between sections, textures and the developed model. High level of resolution to the form, materiality and relationship of spaces.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Animations aren’t embedded properly on your blog - half missing.

Jarrod Hinwood
Key strength of the scheme:
The spaces have interesting relationships. The scheme demonstrates strong balance and composition.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The animations are hard to follow and do not describe the architecture clearly.

John Kapos
Key strength of the scheme:
Interesting complexity and creation of 3-dimensional space from the section.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Be careful of using a metaphor as your architectural principle if it is famously associated with another piece of architecture and you don’t reference precedents and there are obvious similarities.

Kourosh Adabjou
Key strength of the scheme:
Scheme developed well with particular emphasis on materiality, construction and organisation.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The design is very rigid and would benefit from some freedom and experimentation.

Matthew O’Brien
Key strength of the scheme:
Highly resolved architectural concepts which maintain the relationship with the initial sketches.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The floor plates in the underground floor space don’t complement the form.

Matthew Scragg
Key strength of the scheme:
The architecture is strong in terms of its form and composition.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Architecture is under-developed (the final model is more like a draft). Your presentation is poor – blurry photos, spelling mistakes etc.

Meng Chen
Key strength of the scheme:
The proportion, materials and composition of your forms are well considered.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The animated sections move too fast and spin around too much which make them hard to understand.

Neil Ayaso
Key strength of the scheme:
The sections and resulting architecture show experimentation with spatial organisation.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Architecture feels contrived and rigid without following the themes inspired by the artists work.

Oscar Rios
Key strength of the scheme:
Some interesting forms and spaces but lacks progressive development.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Architecture lacks definition of materiality. Make sure you set your youtube videos to public otherwise I can’t watch it and will mark it as Not Evident.

Shaotian Xu
Key strength of the scheme:
Creative spaces which show a dynamic response to the sketch section.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The animated sections are too fast and the camera is too far away from the target.

Suren Pakeri
Key strength of the scheme:
The architecture has a nice balance and the use of material is appropriately considered.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
18 Sections not evident. Overall submission lacks cohesion. The sketches are weak, scratchy and yellow? WarmestNuts is not a suitable username.

Tai Ma
Key strength of the scheme:
The architecture which you arrived at could have been developed into an interesting work.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
There is no difference between the two draft models apart from colour. The elements in your proposal have no substance. The stairs are floating – they have no structural support. Missing sections. Sections are thin.

Wang Tian
Key strength of the scheme:
The textures and colour add substance to your design. The stairs are also well integrated with the building.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Your sketches are sloppy. They should be more accurate, precise and detailed.

Wun Shin Liew
Key strength of the scheme:
Well considered spatial relationships and forms. The stairs work well together and individually and connect the three spaces convincingly.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The sectional animation is rushed which makes it hard to watch.

Yichao Xue
Key strength of the scheme:
The scheme has some interesting elements and arrangements of forms.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The scheme was not developed thoroughly. The criteria of the brief was not met.

Zhou Fang
Key strength of the scheme:
Well modelled and detailed building with an interesting use of materials.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
The projection of the section in three dimensions is poorly considered. It is hard to gain a full appreciation of the scheme from the animations and images submitted.

Ziheng Zeng
Key strength of the scheme:
The stairs have a good level of resolution despite their size.
Most significant weakness of the scheme:
Architecture is disjointed. The workshops and exhibition spaces do not sit well together.