Day 1 - Let the journey begin
Oh boy! Let me tell you, this was a rough start into my #1hModelingExercise Challenge. But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?
So, what happened? First of all: I didn’t opened Grant Abbitt’s Videos on my Second Monitor as I said in my Preparations Post. Also I just sit in front of my Monitor and just started.
That’s how it looks, if you just start. If you look closely, you can see my models on the left and Grant Abbitt’s Models on the right. The resemblance of these two different pictures are almost indistinguishable.
So you could say, the first thing I’ve learned today is not to “just” start. I have to be better prepared, I should have some references I can work with opened and not just try to model from my Imagination.
But what I’ve also gained today is the knowledge, that this Exercise is absolutely possible to finish in under one hour and get also a good result out of it.
The Table
The first four Objects in this Week are a Table, a Chair, a big Bowl and a Bottle.
The Table isn’t a problem per se. It’s one of the easiest things to Build in Blender.
There are many Ways to build this table. I made it the following way:
I made a plane and rescaled it to about the size I thought would be good for a table. Switched into Edit mode and Extrude it downwards. Afterwards I did a quick bevel on all sides.
The legs are built out of one cube downscaled and edited to a fitting size, positioned with face snap onto the bottom of the table. And giving this one leg a Mirror Modifier gives me four legs. I twisted the bottom a bit and scaled it down.
These are all techniques I’ve already learned in the past few weeks. No problem, just stay on track and go to the next object.
The Chair
This Chair didn’t only cost me time; it slowly killed my motivation.
What I thought in the exact moment I started that chair: “I can do that. The Table was easy, a suitable chair shouldn’t be a big Problem for me either!”
Man was I wrong.
I focused so much on the back of the chair that I forgot about my time. This f**kn, beautiful looking chair did cost me about 10 Minutes!
But it’s done. What have I learned? Don’t focus too much on one part of the Object. It only costs you way too much time. I better should focus on the whole object at once and try to make a good looking chair. And not a… Man, even I don’t know what this possible could show! Everything, but not a chair.
The Bottle
My Motivation was at a low as I started the Bottle. I took a last look at the devilish looking thing named (pressing F2 while the Object is selected in Object Mode in the 3D-View) Chair and moved it to the side.
I can do this. Easy as hell.
I made the bottle from a circle, extruded upwards a few times, created the rim with extrude and inset. I also put in a few more loop cuts and played around with the rotation.
Lection learned: If you have time (time that I didn’t have because of that Chair), play around a bit. Maybe you learn new technique or discover a cool looking form.
’nuff said. Onto the next one!
The Bowl
With the bottle finished, I got onto the bowl.
The bowl was made with a circle (ngon filled), extruded upways, solidify modifier, bevel on the middle part of the bowl
Alright, let’s check the clock real quick. I’m at the 27th minute, about half an hour left for Level 2 and Level 3.
Level 2 - Inset and Extrude
Level 2 mostly consists of Inset and Extrude exercises. So this part was easily done after another 10 Minutes.
You see the outcome on the top. Learned again, that a reference would be big plus. But I could solidify my extrude and inset skills, of which I’m already pretty familiar with thanks to Imphenzia (e to extrude, s to scale).
You can see the outcome of these ten minutes at the top.
Level 3 - The trifecta of props
Like “Hello World!” in most programming languages, the Barrel, Shield and Sword are in my eyes the trifecta of 3D Game Art. They are easily made and consists only of simple structures.
That didn’t helped me at the moment I started the sword.
In contrast to Level 1 and Level 2, I haven’t watched this part of the playlist, yet. And so I couldn’t wrap my head around on how to model the sword handle. The blade interestingly wasn’t even a problem, if you take the fact of my missing feeling for proportions at that moment away.
The Shield was the moment I got over my time. I wasn’t even sure how to start this one, but after finally watching Level 3 I understood what is going on.
1 Hour and 10 Minutes is my final time for today.
What I've learned today
First and foremost: I had a blast! This was hectic, chaotic and soo much fun! I’m motivated like hell and can’t wait for tomorrow. I couldn’t myself from working on after finishing the Exercise for today. But that’s my plan exactly.
Don’t stop when you’r done, stop when you’re finished.
Todays learnings
- Take your time, don't rush
- Focus on the whole object, not one part
- Prepare yourself before you start doing anything
- I can't stress this enough: References, Videos opened, Screenshots and more: PREPARE!
- It's possible to do this in under 1 hour! And getting a good result!