Retrospective

Overall, I am happy with how my project progressed through its stages, even so there are still a lot of fix’s that need to be applied. For the most part, time management and being able to think economically were my main improvements from my previous project, being able to deduce where I should be spending time, how much time I should allocate to each task and the tasks importance. But also making better use off otherwise wasted time, like my hour journey to and from the studio on the tube made for more time spent working. with how I was creating, for example deciding to model, sculpt and texture only one tentacle, opting to rig it instead and duplicate, saving me well over 20 hours of work. Being able to think economically is the only reason this project was manageable.

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Something that I am most please about was my process of sculpting and texturing, particularly on the tentacle. This worked mainly due to the realisation that normal, cavity and AO details are the driving force behind substance masks, I was able to bridge the two (sculpting/texturing) with relative ease. To do this I created a simple workflow for Wood, metal and the tentacle. creating a process to follow for all, keeping all of my textures in balance with each other.

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Unfortunately, in this project I didn’t feel like I had the necessary skill to pull off integrating substance designer textures into my project. Being that all my objects were packed into a sets and being uncertain of the workflow for packed UV’s. This is mainly due to how big my project is a and having to make the decision on whether spending a couple of days for a single texture was worth it. I have every intention of bridging this gap in my workflow as I know how powerful this application is. I feel that in the end I made the right decision but being sensible with what I cut out was the only way to meet the deadline.

One of my main problems was having to many ideas, starting a process only to realise I would not be able to go forward due to my time restrictions. Having to cut out vertex painting and extra tentacle features like moss and barnacles. Simple things to polish the scene.

 

If I had the chance/had more time I would go back to the ship hull, and put more effort into its sculpted design and texturing. I found that when I got to a certain point it was taking too long, and cut my process short. I feel that this is reflected somewhat in the diorama, simply adding small details like moss and barnacles would have really made it stand out, along with emphasising the details in the planks, such as the grooves in the wood. This would have been a much simpler process if the hull didn’t have four different materials as a result of its size.

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A final touch touch would have been to add music or some sound track to make it feel more complete.