New Tree Type

I want to have a few varieties of foliage in my level, so I've started work on a second tree-type. I'm going to allow this one to be a little higher in poly count (under 2000 triangles) as there will be fewer of this type used in the level. This type will also be placed more 'closely' to where the player will be roaming, as opposed to the first tree type which I will use to create a woody area around the outskirts of the level. 

I've tried out a different shape for the leaf plane which I've noticed being used in some examples of low poly tree models I looked at online. It's more like a curved plane which recreates the appearance of how a real-life tree's leaves form in sections. 

I have had to duplicate each of these planes, with one sitting very closely underneath the other and the normals reversed because in Unity, only the face normals appear visible - the other side of the faces are invisible. After a quick test with my previous tree in Unity I noticed that at some angles the tree branches appeared bare, but with the doubled planes technique, the leaf textures are visible at all angles.  

In Photoshop I've painted two variants of a copper birch tree leaf. I decided to go for a red/purple hue like one I tested in my concept art from pre-production, I think it will be an interesting contrast to the turquoise and greens that dominate the rest of the level. 

This is the finished tertiary branch texture, each leaf was originally on a separate layer so that I could alter the hues and brightness of a selection of leaves in order to give the branch some variety. I created two variants of this texture too, so that the tree should look a little more natural.  

This shows how I've built up layers of leaf planes from the lower branches upwards. 

The almost fully-filled tree. 

After the poly count exceeded 2k triangles, I decided that I would need to change the mesh of the leaf plane in order to halve the number of triangles. Now the tree is just over 1500 triangles. 

The tree model (not yet with textures or a skybox) in Unity. Once the normal maps are sorted it will start to look a little more solid. 

Improving the Tree (Type 1)

I've started work on the textures for my first type of tree. The leaves are based on a Sycamore, but I have painted them from scratch in Photoshop. 

I layered the leaves over and under one another, and also tweaked the hue/saturation/lightness of a selection of leaves to give the branch some natural variation. 

This is how I built up the layers of leaves, from the lower branches upwards.  

Manor House UV Mapping

I've been using combinations of planar and automatic mapping to unwrap the UVs of the manor house parts. I'm taking snapshots of the sections and considering the level of detail that will be seen for each part. 

I've been making the most out of the 'move and sew' and 'sew UV edges' tools, as well as sometimes having to resize sections to ensure they fit together correctly. 

Cherub Models

To create models of the cherub statues that Estelle designed, I was faced with the challenge of modelling a humanoid object. Even though they wouldn't require rigging, it's quite difficult to create a still character model from scratch. I figured that the best way to do this would be to find an existing rig for a child/baby character and use that like a rough guide to then build my own model around. 

Once I found a rig, I had Peter Charman help me to position the rig into different poses for each of the four statues. I attempted to model their faces to begin with, but found I was struggling to get it right so I had his help to model their heads. Once that was done, I was able to model the bodies by myself with no problems. I had saved the rigs as obj. files, stuck in their positions and placed in one layer so that I could turn their visibility on and off whilst constructing my models on another layer. 

Above is my attempt at modelling the face, but I felt it was too messy and I was struggling with the connection from the face to the rest of the head and the neck.  

The process of extruding the edges of the mesh to create the torso and limbs. I tried to keep the poly count as low as possible without resulting in an unappealing model. 

I decided to give one of the statues a broken arm to add to the unsettling nature of the scene. 

For the cherubs' wings, I used a lattice to create a smooth curve in the shape of each wing. I find this tool quite useful for altering the shape of my low poly models. 

                                      

The finished models in their different poses. 

Ivy Vines Continued

I've painted two types of ivy leaf textures which I can apply to the leaf planes. I started with larger canvasses so that I could paint in all the details and then reduced them to 128x128. As these textures will be used on hundreds of planes in the scene, it is best to keep them low, and they are at such a small scale within the scene that they won't appear too pixelated.   

I've also created a texture for the vine, below. 

Here's how the first ivy vine appears with all the textures applied, including the normal maps. 

I've created some different shaped vines which I've grouped and exported as separate objects so that I can apply them to other models easily in both Maya and Unity.  

I used a point light to quickly test out if the normal maps are working. When I move the light around the leaves show the details of the high poly model which I used as a source for my normal map - so it works!

Ivy Progress

Below is the normal map that I produced using the high poly version of my ivy leaf model. I made a couple of adjustments to the image by smoothing/blurring the edges of the leaf to give it a more natural appearance. This is a subtle change but it will show up in the way the lighting affects the finished model.

I've applied the ambient occlusion and normal maps to the low poly/plane version of the leaf model, which gives me a guide as to how the leaves will look so that I can position them before I add the diffuse map. I created a couple of curves (using the EP curve tool) as a guide for the ivy vine and then used the 'snap to curves' tool to position the ivy leaf planes along the vine.  

I've made sure to change the scale of the leaves towards the end of the vine to replicate how ivy naturally grows. The spread of the leaves is also important here. The next step was to create a vine model, which I did by extruding a NURBS circle as a tube (in the surfaces > extrude options) resulting in a polygons model. I then tidied model by repositioning the vertices to create a smoother curve. I reduced the polycount here as much as I could, as I know that this vine will be barely visible so it's not an issue for it to be a very basic low poly model.  

Next is the diffuse map for the ivy leaves. I used the ambient occlusion map as a guide to work from. I started by positioning the veins (which I took from a photo image I found online), however I then decided that I wanted to create the real details that would be seen from scratch. Using the photo as a guide, I then painted my own veins design on a separate layer and extended these across the whole leaf.   

I also painted the base colour of the leaf using a variety of brushes to end up with a painted look rather than aiming for a photo-realistic style. I intend to work this way with all of the textures I create for this project. 

Carriage Interior and Improvements

I've created an interior box to fit inside the outer 'shell' of the carriage. I felt this was the easiest method to do for this as simply extruding the existing faces inwards presented me with more problems than solutions. This section will be visible to the player during the introductory scene, so it's important that I get the details right and that all the face normals are facing the right way.   

I've created a luggage rack and wheel supports, using my old model as a guide. 

Now with the added interior, I'm having another attempt at 'wrecking' the carriage. When the player sees the wrecked carriage, the door will be open to appear as though they have just climbed out.