Practical Skills for Computer Games design - Summary

Throughout this unit I have been mainly refreshing my modelling technique in Maya, and have learned some new methods along the way, I have produced a low poly mesh I am happy with and have exported it as an FBX file. I have also gotten acquainted somewhat with Unreal Engine 4 through the import process and an looking forward to expanding on this through projects yet to come.

I could have possibly developed the low poly mesh some more following the second set of peer feedback, though with my intention being to detail the mesh in the high poly stage I can justify not having altered the mesh after having been alerted to some peers not knowing which was the front and back side of the asset.

I will continue to experiment in UE4 for the time being, until I revisit it in a future project, so as to keep my engine knowledge fresh ready for any in-engine work I may encounter.

Practical Skills for Computer Games design - Exporting from Maya/Importing into Unreal

Preparing a mesh for Export.

To prepare each mesh for export from Maya into Unreal Engine 4, each model I create through this unit must have two individual sets of UVs assigned, the first of these is applied to the model for visual render purposes, the data for Diffuse, Normal, Specular and any other maps will adopt this UV set and will textures will be laid out as such.

The second UV set is generally used solely for Light Maps, these are the maps which hold the shadow rendering data for each individual mesh. Without shadows, a finalised textured mesh lacks a certain element of realism, and does not look as good as it otherwise could.
These UV maps may not end up looking identical at all, but for the purpose of this post, the maps have been simply transferred to the new UV set.

Most game engines prefer a model to be built or placed at the centre of the world, giving the mesh a relative point to begin rendering from.
To transfer a mesh to the centre of the world it is very simple, the pivot point is selected as desired by holding D to access the pivot itself, then holding V to snap the pivot to a specific vertex, holding X following this will allow the mesh to be snapped to the grid via its newly assigned pivot point.
Once the mesh is positioned at the centre of the viewport, the values are then frozen, returning each respective translate, scale and rotate value to ‘0’.

One more accountable feature which must be taken into account when exporting a mesh is the mesh’s history.
As a mesh is modelled, each manipulation through the modelling and UVing processes creates a stack of history type data, this will need to be removed in general, when a mesh is finalised and ready for transportation into a game engine.
To remove modelling history, from the top toolbar, select Edit > Delete by type > History, this will remove the history data from the file.

Any other manipulations made to the model will also need to be coupled with a deletion of history and freeze of transformations, these can include for example scale manipulations with regards the scales needing to be worked to in various game engines.

To further prepare the mesh for export/import from Maya to Unreal, I have applied an example texture to my mesh, disregarding the UVs for the time being.

This UVing, positioning and history removal process when applied correctly, will ready a mesh for transport into a game engine.

Exporting the mesh.

To export a mesh, it must first be selected, once selected, navigate to File > Export Selection, this will bring up a dialogue box allowing the user to name their export and select their file type, the file type I will be using to export ready for Unreal is FBX.

The next screen I am presented with is the FBX Exporter menu, within this screen multiple options will need to be selected, though they are not necessarily a mandatory selection right now, further down the line they will be and as such I will be keeping them selected now.

The optioned which will need to be or remain selected are as follows;

From the expanded Geometry menu:

- Smoothing Groups

- Smooth Mesh

- Triangulate

From the expanded Advanced Options menu > FBX File Format

- Version: FBX 2013

With these options selected, provided the scene has been saved in case of errors/crashes within the export process, the mesh can be exported via clicking the Export button.

If the model exports without errors it is ready to be imported into Unreal, however if there are any errors, or the model does not export correctly, everything I have documented must be looked at and assessed, if the model:

1. At the centre of the world?

2. Free from a history backlog?

3. UV'd?

If these are all correct then issues may be deeper, within the model itself and the model itself must be assessed for errors.

Importing the mesh into Unreal 4.

To begin, Unreal 4 is opened up, having previously made sure the engine is up to date (it is useful to check very frequently for any updates, to keep any possible downloads down to a minimum.) For the purpose of this exercise I am opening Unreal Egine 4.9.2.

Creating a project folder will place the named folder in the documents directory, this can be transferred to another PC via a hard drive, the folder can be located on a different letter drive (for example a C: or D: drive if booting OS from a Solid State Drive.)

Through working in Unreal Engine 4, the size of the folder will grow exponentially in size, so when working on specific aspect of a project, the respective folder within the file structure can be copied across on it's own, as to avoid having to copy the entire project folder across every time the project is updated from different PCs.

On the left hand side of the User Interface is the Content Browser, from here I can import my basic Containment Chamber shape, with test texture included.

Upon importing my mesh the first time, I was presented with an error as I had not yet scaled my mesh up to a level at which it would be appropriate for use within Unreal Engine 4, I scales a single cube up to an appropriate size for a character as the containment chamber is built with a view to contain a character.

Following the creation of a character sized cube (180 units high), I then scaled my containment chamber accordingly, I reached a scale of 25.46, taking into account the size of the original mesh at a scale of 1 (Having frozen the transformations previously), them re-imported my mesh into UE4.

The scale felt fitting at 25.46, though for each of use, I lowered the scale to 25 and reimported once again.

The result can be seen below, sized in comparison with two default chairs and a table within the viewport in Unreal Engine 4.

For the purpose of this task, I am happy with the scaling of my example containment chamber import, as I feel this would hold a character well in both height, width and depth, but once more I am seeking peer opinions on the matter.

I have again been tasked with producing 3 questions to ask my peers, my 3 questions were as follows:

Question 1:
As my plan was to create a containment chamber for a humanoid specimen or otherwise I have scaled my mesh to a size at which I feel a human could be suspended inside. Are there any changes you would make in the scaling of the mesh? For example should it be bigger or smaller? Slimmer or wider?

Question 2:As highlighted in the last session of peer review, some peers could not immediately tell which side was the front of the mesh and which was the rear, I intend on making this clearer within the high polygonal mesh as the front panel is intended to be flush.
Do you have any suggestions which I can build on to represent the front of the mesh more clearly to fresh eyes?

Question 3:Combined with a metallic outer body and a transparent glass chamber, I am contemplating inserting a light at the bottom of the chamber, effectively illuminating the contained specimen, is this something which you would find aesthetically pleasing and why? Are there any ways in which you think the idea could be improved?

As with previous review cycles, the feedback was mostly positive, with one main standout point which has been made.
The point risen is scale related, in that the chamber may not be tall enough, or in some cases wide enough, dependent on the "specimen" inside. I will most certainly be considering different types of chamber sizes.

Another suggestion was made for further production, an idea which resonated with an original design idea I had already had. I am aiming to have a 'specimen' suspended in the chamber and as the chamber is filled with liquid, I intend on having a very slow current passing over them.

I will most certainly take these points into account for further development and use the feedback to build upon my current position.

Practical Skills for Computer Games design - Containment Chamber Blockout.

To begin blocking out my Containment Chamber, I placed three planes and applied textures to each, using my digitalised orthographic images so as to give myself an orthographic surround to work from.

Using the orthographic layout I began modelling my basic structure, keeping tabs on topology and poly count as I progressed.

Using a cylinder as my base, I started by creating and manipulating subdividing edges to create a shape to be extruded outward to form the outer surround of the containment chamber, both on the top and bottom of the mesh.

Upon being advised to create a clear division at which the model's UVs could be split for easier unwrapping and texturing in the future, this creates less stress when it comes to texturing and though I plan on creating seamless textures in PhotoShop, it will make the eventual texturing phase a lot easier for me.
I created a fresh extrusion at the rear of the mesh which although not in my original design, could be easily implemented with the simple addition of a electrical access panel for maintenance purposes. Panels could be simply placed into a high poly mesh using kit bashing techniques to represent the access panel.

The finished low poly mesh with the rear extrusion added can be seen below.

Feedback Session.

Following the completion of my first low poly mesh build, I asked a group of my peers for feedback on my proposed asset.

For this purpose I needed to formulate another three questions, as before with the initial conceptual creation stage, the questions were as follows.

Q1. I am aiming for my containment chamber to be fitted within a sci-fi environment, do you feel the overall shape of my low poly mesh would fit within such a surrounding? If not, what aspect would you change to make it fit.

Q2. In a material sense, my plan is to go with either a deep metallic purple or a deep steel for the top and bottom sections surrounding possibly a tinted blue glass chamber, do you think this would work well for a containment chamber? Do you have any other material suggestions I may benefit from considering?

Q3. Bearing this in mind, my mood board is located HERE, how does my model relate to my mood board, do you feel I have stuck to my topic or veered away? If you feel I have veered away from the topic, how would you go about bringing my mesh back into line with my mood boards?

The answers received were largely positive, but two of the peer replies highlighted an issue, they could not tell immediately from the blockout, which side is the front and which is the back. Whilst it is evidently clear to myself, as it is my own conceptual piece, this highlights the reason I have been tasked with formulating these questions perfectly, to get fresh eyes and a second, third or fourth opinion.

Whilst there are ways I could fix this issue within the low poly mesh through adding more edge loops and working on maintaining the topology of the model, I am aiming to detail doors in in the high poly creation stage at a further point. My concept is to have opening doors that fit together quite snugly, taking this into account, I have added another image to the post to bring clarity to the concerns, and made my peers aware that I intend on adding in this detail at a later stage.

Practical Skills for Computer Games design - Recapping Maya Tools

Before I can begin modelling my low poly mesh, I am recapping some simple tools and settings included in Maya which will assist me in the modelling of both my low and high poly meshes.

First off, settings within the software can be changed and modified according to the project and/or dimensions provided, these settings relate to elements such as the working units such as grid size.
A grid size is usually defined at the start of a project and is relative to a scale size within an engine, such as Unreal 4, each 11 unit on a Maya grid is relative to one centimetre of in-engine space, in all X, Y and Z axes.

Preferences can also be changed accordingly to your own work flow or again, according to a brief, things such as the UI can be changed, between Maya's UI and the Native OS' UI. At the same time an Autosave schedule can be configured, to save between 10 and 100 minutes, creating an automatic backup of your work in case of any hardware or software based malfunctions.

Shelf Drop-down list.

Maya consists of many tools, divided into shelves for each division of the software, these divisions include Animation, Polygons, Surfaces, Dynamics, Rendering, nDynamics and a custom option also.

Not all of these shelves are of immediate use to me, Polygons, Animation and Rendering are the main three which I will be using, Polygons for my general modelling, Animation will be useful for any deformer-specific manipulations I need to use, possibly within piping on my containment chamber.
The Rendering shelf is pivotal to the transferring of maps and therefore creation of normal, specular, and other maps to be used on my low poly geometry.

The Toolbar atop the viewport within Maya is the most used navigation element, at least until any user is more experienced and is familiar with icons for certain tools.

The toolbar contains menus including:

Modify - Modify contains features such as Freeze Transformations and Center Pivot, both commonly used within the modelling process.
Create - Create is the centre or all creation options, including polygon primitives, lights and cameras, these are used frequently through all stages of production.
Display - The display menu allows a user to access various elements of their on-screen display, accessing the Heads Up Display and UI elements, in order to display things like Poly Count, vital when working to a budget.
Mesh - The Mesh menu allows a user to combine, separate, extract and more, taking two meshes and making them one mesh to further work on the merging of vertices for example.
Edit Mesh - The Edit Mesh menu is also a very frequently accessed menu, this gives access to all the main editing tools such as Extrusions, Bevels, Bridges. it also allows access to the merging of vertices, either together, or together to a central point.
It is also useful to note that tools like Extract occur multiple times within the menu, once each for different elements in the models, Edges, Faces and Vertices.
Mesh Tools - The mesh tools menu is frequently accessed in the modelling process also, utilising tools like the Append to Polygon tool, Cut Faces tool, Multi-Cut tool and Weld Vertex tool.

Custom shelves can be set up within the above 6 options by using the arrow displayed to the right, allowing anybody using the software to rig a shelf which contains all of their preferred tools, whether for modelling, UVing, texturing or rendering. These tools themselves may also span over multiple shelves according to the desired software layout and ease of use.

Creation Menu

The Creation menu as already mentioned, is the central menu for creation of primitives to be worked into models, with access not only to Polygon Primitives, but NURB primitives, Volume Primitives, lights and cameras also, each item has its own creation options, accessed by way of a small square to the right of the option itself. When the square is clicked, the option menu will appear, allowing the user to dictate the values within the creation prior to creation itself.

Channel Box Editing.

Each respective element within a viewport can be edited in multiple ways, one of which being editing values through the channel box directly. These values will change as the primitive is modified via the translate, scale and rotate tools, or can be accessed directly if mandatory scales and rotations are already known prior to object creation.

The values can be edited as necessary, though if the transformations are frozen, values will be reset to default.

QWERTY functions.

The QWERTY keys have been assigned their own respective functions within Maya, for selection and manipulation.

The Q key is assigned to selection, and when selected, allows selection of any object, such as a mesh, camera, light or deformer.

W is assigned to the translation tool, this allows translation of an element like a face or vertex point on the X, Y and Z axes, using the offset squares in the tool as well, allows the simultaneous manipulation on two axes.

E is assigned to rotation, allowing rotation of all of the same elements that W is allowed to translate.

R is assigned to scale, with the same permissions as the W and E keys, allowing the scaling of vertices, faces and other tools. The scale tool also features the simultaneous manipulation on two axes similarly to the translate tool.

T is assigned to re-use the last tool that was used, though I personally haven't found myself to ever use this function, it may be of use in the future.

Located just above the QWERTY menu, keys 1-7 can all bee used within Maya too, keys 1-3 represent differing subdivision scales, and display a mesh in a rough/smoothed state, when a mesh is correctly subdivided, it will display accordingly within the subdivision view assigned to 3.

Keys 4-6 are assigned shading values, Wireframe shading is assigned 4 to, Shaded to 5, and Shaded including textures to 6 respectively, Shaded with texture being absolutely necessary when producing a textured asset.

Key 7 is assigned 'Use all lights', this does exactly as would be expected, turns on all lights in use in a scene, altering the shading accordingly, this can be returned to default by hitting 5, and returning the viewport to Shaded, using default lighting.

Orthographic Views.

By pressing the space bar, four different orthographic screens can be utilised, giving views from a perspective angle which can be tumbled, and a trio of views from the Top, Front and Side of the model which cannot be tumbled, I use these most commonly when starting the base of a model to get the basic shape or my mesh, though for things like making precise alterations to meshes on one axis at a time they are also useful.

Space Bar functionality.

As well as controlling the transition between different orthographic views, the space bar can be used as a gateway to a vast array of different options, from selecting projection, to selection of tools from the top toolbar, to the selection of tools located on completely different shelves to the shelf currently in use.

As such this is a very useful tool, I have not yet used it much myself, but throughout this unit I will attempt to become more acquainted with the tool as opposed to using the longer method of selection.

Viewport Alt+Mouse functionality

Within the viewport, the Alt key can be used for various view manipulations, these are as follows:

Alt + LMB - Holding the Alt key and left mouse button allows the rotation of the camera in the viewport, this function is only available in the perspective mode as previously mentioned, as the orthographic views cannot be 'tumbled'.

Alt + MMB - Holding Alt and using the middle mouse button allows panning of the camera, moving the camera in a straight line on one axis, or two if used in the perspective view.

Alt + RMB - Holding Alt and the right mouse button allows the camera to be zoomed in and out, to and from the mesh, this allows for a clearer view of finer details when working in any of the four orthographic views.

Framing an element within the viewport.

The F key has a relatively simple function in comparison to others, as it simply places a selected mesh in the viewport as a main focal point to be worked on, it is also very handy for if at any point the user loses track of a mesh in one view, as the mesh can be selected in another view, then F can be hit in the prior view to bring the mesh back into view.

What are meshes made of? Faces, Edges and Vertices.

Any object within Maya is made up of a combination of Faces, Edges and Vertices and these are usually combined to create a model made up of four sided faces called Quads.

Quads can also be joined by Tris, but are less desirable in comparison to quads dependent upon the model in question.

A face must have no more than 4 sides, as 5 or more sides creates what is known as an Ngon, these are geometrical errors and do not compute well within a game engine. Game Engines attempt to triangulate each mesh upon import, and a 5 sided face cannot be as easily triangulated as a face with 4 sides.

Bearing this in mind it is common practise to model in quad with fewer triangles, only creating Tris where necessary or in higher detail areas, to avoid any possible errors further down the production line.

Component Menu.

The component menu is used to make a desired selection of the element which is to be manipulated, Making sure that the mouse is currently rolled over the intended mesh, the right mouse button is held to bring up the selection menu.

From here, faces, vertices and edges can be selected amongst other elements such as UVs, vertex faces, and 'object mode' can also be selected, returning the intended selection to meshes as a whole.

This same menu also opens up a multitude of other features, such as the ability to invert a selection, the ability to select all and deselect all meshes in the scene, and application of materials to an object.

Drag Marquee Selection.

Drag marquee selection and shift selections are very useful within Maya, used as a method of selecting multiple components at any given time, it can be used to create things like group extrusions, deletion of multiple faces or simply the manipulation of multiple vertices in order to shape an asset, for example.

This can be useful in a developmental sense for cleaner asset construction, for example two faces on opposing sides of a model can be extruded outward from their own respective point along the same axis, creating a symmetrical look, if desirable in an in-game object.

If I were to want to manipulate various faces or vertices within my mesh, I would either Marquee select or shift select in a fashion such as shown below.

Within my mesh I used the shift selection tool in order to create the rear central extrusion. this by my conceptual design, will be built to represent an access panel at the rear of my containment chamber for theoretical maintenance purposes.

As can be seen above, extrusion made from the back has been marquee selected following the extrude itself, pulled out slightly from the rear of the unit to create the access panel.

Now that I have covered basic manipulation and selection tools and methods, I will move onto physical tools themselves, and how they will assist me in the creation of my in-game asset, whether low poly or high poly, ready for use in Unreal Engine 4.

Soft Selection.

Soft selection is a useful tool, possibly not so much in the creation of a hard surface mesh, but more in a flowing mesh, in the creation of possibly a level or the creation of an object with a smoother curvature.

Soft selection allows a used to select multiple vertices, edges or faces, with a customisable level of falloff assigned to the selection radiating around it. This allows the customisation of multiple components on a gradient, creating a curve for example in a landscape, used to create an incline in the ground with relative ease.

• Soft Select is accessed by double clicking a tool within Maya, the tool settings panel appears on the left hand of the viewport by default and soft selection can be toggled on or off from here. The soft select can be seen clearly as the more heavily affected components will appear a bright yellow, and will fade through to black dependent on the amount of falloff.
• Falloff is customisable within the tool settings, allowing for the radius to be made larger or tightened accordingly, this allows for finer or larger gradient changes within a mesh. The falloff itself can be either edited numerically through the tool settings, or can be changed using the holding of B and a mouse drag left or right to alter the size.
• There are curve presets to manipulate exactly how the falloff effects the mesh throughout the soft selection manipulation. process. The most commonly selected presets are the first and third in the list, the first providing a very linear falloff to the curvature, and the latter providing a smoother, flowing curve to the affected vertices/faces/edges.

I will be able to use the soft selection more widely in the creation of my higher polygonal mesh, though it could be used in the creation of a lower poly mesh also, for example the creation of a slight dome in the upper of an object.

This would be used to avoid the use of a sphere, which would need to be brought in, combined with the current mesh and stitched together, it also may be less desirable then a soft selection, with this mesh being somewhat open to interpretation.

Extrude.

The extrude tool is a very commonly used tool within the design of in-game assets and there are three different extrusion types are available within Maya. These are used separately for Vertices, Faces and Edges respectively.

• Using each option, the given selection can be extruded out, creating extra faces and adding to the existing model, this is a very common tool in games design for creating a lot of different assets.
• The elements to be extruded can be manipulated via the use of numeric value inputs, these values are Thickness (Value the face/vertex/edge is extruded by), Offset selects the scale in which an object is extruded, and Divisions controls the amount of subdivisions added to the extruded portion of the asset.
• Dependent on which face is selected, some minus values may be needed in the offset category as positive numeric values can cause portions of the model to cross over itself and turn inside out.
• A window of options can be selected for Extrusions through the small square options button next to the tool in its correct location (Edit Mesh), these values can be set for a custom extrusion without need for manipulation after the extrusion if a specific input value is already known. Note that there is a settings tab for every tool within Maya, allowing the user to customise the effect the tool will have on the selection.
• Settings can also be reset to the defaults from the Edit selection in the settings panel toolbar, this is helpful for if anybody else has been accessing the computer and possibly working to a different scale or if they have edited any settings in general.
• Within the extrusion tool settings, a ‘keep faces together’ option can be toggled on and off, this determines whether the primitive will be extruded as one or each face will be extruded outward on its own path.

Extruding along a curve.

Using largely the same process as with a standard extrusion, but assigning a curve, an extrusion can be projected along a curve, allowing for further custom manipulation of a mesh, this is slightly less common than a standard extrusion but is just as useful none the less.

• There are two distinct types of curves to be selected for use with extrusions, these are CV and EP curves. They can be selected from the create option in the top toolbar, these allow the user to draw out a curve ready for extrusion.
• Using a shift select, the face which will be extruded can be selected simultaneously with the curve, once both are selected the Extrude option from the face menu is selected.
• Checking the 'selected' option will allow the extrusion to begin, though the face will be extruded straight to the finishing point without the body of the extrusion following the curve, to counteract this more subdivisions are added to the extrusion, this now allows the extrusion to follow the curve appropriately, with a neater and smoother outcome.

I expect to be using the standard extrusion tool a lot in my forthcoming asset creation process, as it is such a widely used tool for multiple components, I expect to be using the curve extrusion tool less, possibly not at all but if a conceptual situation were to occur in which I needed to use it, I know how and can use the tool successfully.

Combining Assets.

The combination of assets is necessary in various asset creation processes, and can be used for many reasons, either in creation of a new shape asset, or to combine all sections of an asset ready for animation, for example a finalised character or mesh.

•  Two items can be simply combined, using the combine tool, this effectively makes two objects into one, allowing for the tying off of vertices where necessary and the creation of neater topology in a final product.
• Objects can be simply separated also, undoing the combine function.
• When combining assets, Maya assumes you require the pivot point to be assigned to the centre of the world, if the objects are then separated, the pivot points will stay at the centre of the world, this can be fixed by selecting Modify from the toolbar, then selecting Center Pivot from the menu.
• Pivot points can also be manually assigned and snapped to vertices by holding D on the keyboard to access the pivot manipulation, and simultaneously holding V to snap the pivot point in line with a vertex point.

An example of a combined mesh can be seen below, with a singular cube selection in the prior screen cap, and a combined mesh using both cubes in the latter. the combined mesh would still need modification in the form of some re-topology work to become a usable mesh in a videogame. For example the Ngons which are created in the combination process would need splitting to create two 4-sided faces, and creating a mesh which can be effectively used in-game.

I may find myself using the combine tool later in the design process, throughout both the high and low poly creation, as any added extras on the surface of the low poly mesh which cannot be simply extruded will need to be brought in, combines with the main body of the asset and stitched into place.

Extraction tool.

The extraction tool is used for the extraction of components from a mesh, I have not yet used this tool within this project, but have used it in others.
I have used it to break up parts of another mesh for development in other software outside of Maya, and when developing a higher polygonal mesh with this asset further down the production line may well find myself using it again.

• When creating assets, single faces, vertices and edges can be extracted from the object, allowing more manipulation.
•  Any faces can also be duplicated before extraction using the extract duplicate tool, allowing for easy access to adding extra details to objects, for example adding buttons to panels, duplication and extraction is an easy way to provide yourself with a perfectly placed face to modify moving forward.

Bridge Tool.

The Bridge tool is a very effective tool for filling gaps in geometry, as its name suggests it literally bridges any gap between selected edges. The tool itself is used by selecting present edges bordering the gap in the model then activating the bridge tool, the tool can be set to have multiple divisions and as such expands manipulation options upon using the bridge tool.

If the bridged face is subdivided however, this can create Ngon based issues within the mesh and these must be addressed accordingly using stitching techniques to create an engine compatible mesh.

I have not yet used the Bridge tool within this project either, but again may find myself using it in situations further down the line as it is a very useful tool for correcting geometrical errors.

Append to Polygon tool.

The 'Append to Polygon' tool is essentially an alternative to the bridge tool, used to once again fill gaps between edges in a mesh. The one main difference between the Append to Polygon tool and the Bridge tool is that the Append to Polygon tool creates one solid face and cannot be subdivided to create extra faces within the replaced surface,

I have used both the Append and Bridge tools in the past on other projects and if I need to use them again will be capable of doing so.

Cut Face Tool.

The cut face tool is useful for creating incisions in faces, where an extra division may be needed at a precise angle, as the faces selected can be cut using a 360 degree cut tool.

The tool can be used across a single face or across multiple faces simultaneously.

The tool can be useful to create guidelines for intersecting geometry, for example when a cylinder needs attaching to a cube, guidelines can be cut ready for deletion of faces and stitching of vertices.

It can also be used when extra vertices are needed, though dependent on the mesh itself it may be advantageous to use an edge loop as opposed to a facial cut.

The tool can be used in all viewport modes, all orthographic views as well as perspective view.

This may well come in useful in the modelling of my asset, though up to now I have used mainly Edge loop insertions as opposed to facial cuts, as facial cuts are not what the mesh required.

Fill Hole Tool.

The fill hole tool is very much a ‘does what it says on the tin’ kind of tool, in that it is literally used to fill all holes in geometry, for example a hole in a plane, as long as the plane is selected can be filled in effortlessly by simply using the Fill Hole tool.

The ease of this tool does however come with a cost, it can immediately present the user with the issue of an Ngon in mesh, dependent on the vertices in the surrounding shape, forming the sides of the newly created polygon.

I know how to physically use this tool, but will be attempting to avoid using it where possible, instead using the Bridge and Append tools, as the tool creates Ngons within a mesh and in comparison with using alternate tools, could slow down the modelling process.

Bevel Tool.

The Bevel tool allows the user to add a small chamfer to edges on a shape, this in turn allows the user to create higher poly meshes and bake the high level details onto a low poly mesh.

Dependent on the user, edge loops can be added to the mesh manually, giving more control of the emphasis on the shape, determined by the control edge loops. The tighter the edges are together, the more pronounced the curves of the shape generally are, with a tighter, smaller flow

I will most likely be using bevels and edge loops a lot throughout not only the low poly but also the high poly mesh creation, knowing how to use this tool as well as the manual addition and control of edge loops will serve me well through the creation process.

Insert Edge Loop Tool.

Edge Loops are an extremely useful feature in Maya, they can be used in many ways and as such the 'Insert Edge Loop' tool is very useful.

An edge loop can be inserted at a point within a mesh, if creating a mesh and more subdivisions are needed, they can be easily added on any axis by inserting an edge loop. Alternatively they can as previously stated, be used as a measure to rival the bevel tool, to manually control the definition and emphasis on a properly subdivided mesh.

Edge loops can be specifically useful when working with a cylindrical object, as there will more than likely be triangles within the mesh, edge loops do not work with triangles and only pass through quads. To pass this type of modelling obstacle, extra edges can be added and scaled so as a flush, defined edge can still be obtained through the use of the Edge Loop tool.

Equidistant loop tool.

The Equidistant loop too acts very similarly to the standard Insert Edge Loop tool, in the sense that it adds loops into the mesh and can be used to add extra control loops for definition and precision subdivision. However, the equidistant tool adds in two loops at once, which can in some cases half the time required to add in edge loops, though this is highly dependant on the mesh itself.

I may find myself using the equidistant loop tool, but I am more likely to use the standard insert edge loop tool more commonly.

Edit edge loop tool.

The edit edge loop tool is again a very 'does what it says on the tin' type tool, in the sense that it allows the user to edit an inserted edge loop, but in a more specific way than they could otherwise control it. The user can simply select an edge loop and move it using the W keyboard shortcut, but this does not give much control in comparison with the edit edge loop tool and can present more work, as the loop may need rescaling after moving, the tool therefore improves the experience overall, allowing the user to move the loop without necessarily needing any following modifications to the geometry.

Vertex Snapping and Welding tools.

The vertex snapping and welding tools are absolutely necessary in the process of development, for both stitching meshes together and tidying topology without the need for merging vertices in one move. 

•  Vertex Snapping is a common way of tidying a 3D model, when one vertex is selected, the user can hold V on the keyboard to snap to vertex. However once snapped the vertices still need welding together, as both vertices are still present, this can cause issues.
• The weld tool fixes these issues presented by use of the Vertex snapping method, as the tool acts interactively, allowing the used to snap one vertex directly to another and welding them together instantly, this again speeds up the process of tying off any necessary vertices, speeding up modelling and production overall.
• Manually welding vertices is another option present to complete this, as the user can snap a vertex to another using the V shortcut on the keyboard, once in the same place the user can then find the ‘Merge components’ and ‘Merge components to center’ options under the Edit Mesh toolbar option.
•  Manually welding does present the user with another issue, Lamina Faces are created if two face are present at the time of welding, this can produce large texture issues in engine and ultimately in a game.
• When Merging multiple vertices, ALL points must be welded, to avoid unnecessary occurrences of inappropriate geometry as even though the faces are not present, the data within is necessary, expanding the file and scene significantly, possibly putting undue strain on an engine or machine.

Collapse Edge tool.

Collapsing edges is another very useful element involved in 3D modelling, effectively acting as a "weld vertex" tool, but used for edges.
The process of collapsing the selected edge  removes the edge and welds the vertices on either side of the edge, shortening the mesh in the process. This could also effectively be used in some way as a method of removing edges securely without breaking the model, though it would be much less effective than simply holding CTRL and deleting the edge or edges necessary, holding CTRL removes any floating vertices which may remain in the mesh upon edge deletion.

I may find a use for this tool further into the modelling process, but I'm not yet sure, as there are many tools which can do the same job for many processes, with the difference being how effectively the job is done.

Normals (Softening and Hardening an edge).

Using the soften and harden edge tools, the user can harden or smooth the edges of a model, allowing for the users conceptual design to be slightly more smooth or hardened where necessary.
This is however, a purely design based choice, sometimes the choice is necessary to provide a more realistic feel, when creating a high polygonal mesh for example. If edges are not smoothed on an object which is smooth in reality, as can be seen below, the object will lose some portion of realism from its visual impact.

Booleans.

Booleans are used to represent a union, a difference or an intersection between two pieces of geometry.

• Union is used to join two meshes together into one object, removing the intersecting geometry and presenting all faces as they are seen.
• This can present problems in the form of Ngons, faces with more than four sides, these are no longer quads and cannot be triangulated properly in-engine.
• Difference is represented by placing one mesh in such a position that it intersects another, the intersecting piece then effectively sculpts out a shape from the original mesh, resulting in an indentation being shown in the first mesh.
• This can also present the same Ngon geometry issues as with the Union Boolean type dependent on the objects used for Boolean creation. this will result in the meshes needing more manipulation to be fixed ready for use.
• Intersections are used to present the intersecting portion of 2 meshes, for example if two cubes are intersecting, the portion of both cubes present intersecting with the other will be the shown result

Union.

Difference.

Intersection.

I may find a use for the Union type of Boolean in pipe work later in the development process, as this could be a solid improvement on methods I have used in the past, improving my overall modelling and increasing my creative efficiency.

Deformer Creation.

Deformers are commonplace in the 3D modelling process and are found under the Animation shelf in the drop down selection box or under the deformer shelf, located next to the polygon shelf containing the basic primitive creation tools, there are some deformers more commonly used than others. For example, Lattice deformers.

Lattice deformers. 

Lattices can be used for prototyping a shape, as a bounding box or cage around another polygonal element. Their values can be edited to create more points for manipulation, however less points, dependent on the shape being manipulated, can be advantageous.

One very useful thing about Lattices, is the manipulated mesh can be duplicated in its manipulated state and it will stay manipulated. The lattice itself can be removed and the mesh will return to its original state and can be reassigned a lattice to begin editing again.

Other deformers commonly used in modelling are 'non-linear' deformers, there are multiple different types that act in multiple different ways, but the most commonly implemented deformers are the Bend and Twist Deformers.

• The addition of a deformer to a polygonal primitive will turn the primitive’s wireframe Magenta, for visual notification that a deformer is present
• Once the deformer is assigned, the user will press T to gain a set of manipulation anchor points, used to transform the mesh according to the deformer.
• The Bend manipulation points can be moved to straighten or bend the mesh, or extend the curvature of the bend itself.
• The control points MUST always intersect with the geometry, or the bend will not function correctly.
• The same theory works with Non Linear deformers as is implemented with Lattice deformers, in the sense that the mesh can be duplicated and the mesh will appear in its altered form, the deformer can then be deleted, returning the mesh to its original state ready for an alternative method of manipulation/deformation as desired.