Block out

Week three is blockout and presentations! (Joy)

Using the reference images and the plan I made, I used a scale model (curtsy of Kyle Horwood) to build the blockout in UE4, to make it easier to walk around the level and test out the size of things. I made a few basic models in Maya, such as the stairs/ramp and the bookcases.

As I didn't have an official floor plan and had to use my own, it seems like the shop could be a bit too wide, but just for block out I decided not to worry about it too much and would concentrate on it later.

For lighting, I just planned on using the default light as with previous projects, areas seemed to be too dark and I didn't want that problem again with this one.

Here is the video:

I know this can't be seen very well so I've cropped out the asset list (below). I've included this image so you can just get a general idea of the plan as a whole. 

 I tried to bulk out my scene with as many assets I deemed appropriate and then listed them by importance.  I thought about what sort of approach to take with this project.

I know how my attention can easily waver with long projects and I had enough of a hard time trying to turn this in to a project I could take an interest in, so I thought it would be beneficial to split up the longer modelling tasks with little quick assets just to keep my workflow going.

I still had to think about which assets would be needed first so the bookcases, floor and balcony came first. I knew the stairs would take a lot of time so I tried to keep it near the top.

I tried to judge how long it would take me to model things and then added a few more hours to it. When originally planning out the Gantt chart, I was estimating it on a 15 hour day, but then I realised that's unrealistic.  I stripped it down to 12 and to also work weekends because I come to uni on those days anyway. Once all the hours had been divided, plus texturing, I had about 3 weeks contingency to work with. Seeing how much time I had left, I decided to keep the 12 hours a day so if I didn't complete it on a few days, I'd still have plenty of time to make it up.