Project #2 - JR Week 8 Update - Near-Finished Spatula

    This is the current state of the first prop for Project #2, which is a spatula. For the most part, this is completely textured, aside from the main shaft of the spatula (this will have the same texture as the end of the spatula shaft behind the rubber handle) and the back of the flipper. For the most part, this is complete, but I haven't yet added the textures on the two areas mentioned earlier because I still need to connect them. I'll probably ask for some help in connecting them "properly", as booleans aren't usually the best idea for merging polygons. Aside from that, I've also started part of the model for the second prop, and everything is going smoothly.

Project #2 - JR Week 7 Update - Project #2 Plans

 

         These are the three game props I plan to create for the project, going from least complex to most complex. The spatula and burger are meant to be restaurant props while the feather is one of the game's power-ups. The burger image was used as a reference for a couple of projects in GDD 110, so I decided to re-use it for consistency in the art. Even though these objects will be cartoony-looking models, I'll be able to easily form them and upgrade the overall quality with some of the new Maya tools I have recently learned. The texture style will remain the same style as before, but I plan to implement a few normal maps onto some parts of the objects (such as a faintly scratched metal texture on the spatula to give the illusion that it has been used, or a soft feather texture on the main part of the golden feather, or even a vein texture on the burger's lettuce).

Project #1 - JR Week 5 Update - Lighting

           This is an interior view of the restaurant room with lighting added. For most of the interior, I used point lights to mimic basic room lighting, while I went for a spot light in the kitchen. I also added a couple of point lights outside to mimic sunlight, which I thought turned out well. The yellow tint of the lighting was added for a nice atmospheric touch. I originally tried to use the mental ray lighting system, but I couldn't implement it due to technical difficulties. Either way, I'm really impressed with how the lighting turned out, especially that of the kitchen, even if I couldn't use realistic light bouncing.

Project #1 - JR Week 4 Update - A Finished Kitchen

                    This is the furnished version of the kitchen room in the JR Restaurant. I didn't have a lot of room to work with, but I was able to fit in the essential furnishings (aside from the conveyor belt, which I added last week). I decided on adding cupboards with a counter top, a fryer with a vent above it (I'll probably add a vent leading outside from it later on), and the grill. The grill, despite looking the simplest, is the most interesting of the three, because it is the first object I have utilized Maya's "Smooth Mesh" function on. The only real problem with it is that the bars on the grill's surface bend near the farthest inner edge of that surface, but I'll work on finding a workaround to that. The rest of the furniture was easy to make and texture. Overall, the kitchen feels a little bit cramped, but I am satisfied with how it turned out. All that's left to do for the room is to add windows and light sources.

Project #1 - JR Week 3 Update - A filled Dining Area

           This is the current state of the JR restaurant room. Using the cartoonish texture style from my maze project, I created textures for all of the furniture and the walls + floor. I kept the same kinds of furniture from week 2 and decided to arrange the chairs and tables restaurant style. As for the desk, I thought it didn't quite fill enough of the entrance, so I decided to place a second one next to it. Also, the conveyor belt was blocking part of the kitchen entryway, so I decided to make the entryway a bit wider. The stairs don't quite reach the next floor but I plan to fix that later on. The Combine Mesh tool in Maya was a major help when placing and rotating the furniture for placement. In my previous maze project, the furniture was placed still as separate objects, which made rotation a hassle. So combining each piece of each object into a single object made the process much smoother. Finally, I was able to use Planar Mapping to give the ideal mapping to each surface texture, especially textures like tabletops and the belt on the conveyor belt.

Project #1 - JR Week 2 Update - Some Interior Items

   
            These are some of the items I have designed for the interior of JR's restaurant. With the exception of the conveyor belt, this week, I decided to concentrate on the main restaurant/dining area. These were made in a similar way as the furniture from my maze project in GDD 110, but this time around some of the more advanced tools were used. Along with that, thanks to boolean merging, I can now merge my polygons into a single object, which will make them much easier to place and rotate.

         The first couple of pieces. the tables and chairs, are among the most important, as there will be multiple instances of them in the room. I decided to keep them relatively simple, with the table looking both wood-like and modern at the same time (I've seem pictures of similar tables in actual BBQ houses and restaurants). To keep the southern feel, I went with a traditional design for the chairs (though, I might add booths in another stage of the project), with the traditional rod backings and rounded seat boards. I was originally going to make the back board and seat board simply square-shaped, but more traditional chairs have them at a more natural curve. In order to emulate that, I used the edge looping tool to create more vertices on the object for me to move around, creating a curve in the process.

     The next two notable items are those that will be used in the main room once. With some measuring, the stairs were relatively easy to make, and will serve as stairs that would lead to the second floor of the restaurant. The second item in the image is the desk/booth up near the entrance that restaurants use to greet people, keep track of reservations, and to mark down which tables are available and which are occupied. I was able to create an indent (used for leg room for the person at the desk) with the difference boolean tool, similar to how I created the windows in last week's update.

   The final piece that I prepared is the conveyor belt that brings food to the divider wall's window for the waiters and waitresses to pick up. If you take a look at my GDD110 blog, this is the same conveyor belt that is shown in the animation of my title screen. I was able to give curved sides to both ends of the belt using the edge looping tool, similar to the chairs.

Project #1 - JR 3D Building - Model Base

      
          This is the general base of the 3D model for JR's restaurant, following the general format of the blueprint I posted earlier. I decided to go with relatively few windows r\to keep the feel of the restaurant (if the customers want a view of the lake/swamp behind the restaurant, they can take the stairs to the balcony or second floor, both of which I may add in one of the upcoming projects). I do plan to add stairs going up in the upper right corner of the main room. The window in the separate wall between the dining area and the kitchen is where food is handed through from the kitchen to the waiters/waitresses. Also, in order to keep the format, I decided to change the door position to be closer to the lower left corner instead of centered on the closest wall.