Project Cube World: Goodbye to A World
For Project/Ambition class, we were assigned to make a Cube World. The concept was to make a small world in Blender3D. This project was more or less to get back in the swing of things and test our skills after what we've learned from our internship and put out knowledge to the test.
My goal for this assignment was to improve and get better at 3D modeling by watching a variety of tutorials on how to make my assets. This also includes learning more about Blender's modifier functions.
Before I did any research, we were supposed to spin the wheel to get a theme since we weren't allowed to choose a theme of our own. So my theme was Adventurous.
I had a couple of ideas in my head and was quite indecisive about it, but I finally settled for a Japanese aesthetic and implemented my theme into my CubeWorld project.
I had a couple of ideas in my head and was quite indecisive about it, but I finally settled for a Japanese aesthetic and implemented my theme into my CubeWorld project.
Moodboard (left), style board (right)
For a while, I've always wanted to create a Japanese-themed project because I like the aesthetic of it. I decided to go for low poly modelling considering the time I had for this project and that I'm not fast with modeling just yet. Low poly modeling is more doable for me for this project.
I made two concept blockout models to see with which one I wanted to go with and compared them to each other. I wasn't quite aware to make more than two models and jumped right into the project.
I decided to go with the model in the back because it was more balanced with how the models were placed and the elements weren't clashing against each other.
I created the mountain by using a landscape modifier and played around with the settings until I get the desired mountain-shape that I wanted. Next, I picked out a bonsai tree from the BlenderKit Asset to visualize the concept of having trees in my scene. I then quickly modeled a simple torii gate and placed it between the trees because I thought the gap between the trees would be the perfect focal point to place the gate. Last but not least, I modeled some simple lanterns and stairs to complete the visual of my concept.
I started out by modeling my lantern first. I followed a tutorial for this. What I mostly did was beveling and extruding my cube and build my lantern upwards. I then scaled down a cilinder to create a simple candle/light bulb.
Later on, I thought it would be good to test this scene in SketchFab to see if it things go well with placing lights in the scene. So I made a few SketchFab tests.
Later on, I thought it would be good to test this scene in SketchFab to see if it things go well with placing lights in the scene. So I made a few SketchFab tests.
The second element for my project was making the Torii gate. I followed a tutorial for this one as well, but when I saw how complicated it became, I decided to simplify the gate than the one from the tutorial. I made half of the Torii gate first and then duplicate that mesh and connected it to the other side before merging it together.
Last but not least, I modeled some low poly stones to give the scene some variety in nature elements. For the stones I followed a tutorial as well. I started with a cube and beveled it until it has a weird shape before throwing some modifiers in there. I applied "Subdivision Surface" and "Displace" and played around with the settings. This is where I found my favorite tool as well, which was "Decimate". After that I got rid of some vertices to create some flat sides on the stone.
This is where things get a little messy because this was mostly my experimental stage. In this period of time, I started to question my project on what I could add and what not.
The first thing that I thought was whether I should change the scenery a little. I was adamant on not to model a new tree because time was not in my favor. Keep in mind that I also needed to model the stairs. So I got stuck in my project for a while.
The first thing that I thought was whether I should change the scenery a little. I was adamant on not to model a new tree because time was not in my favor. Keep in mind that I also needed to model the stairs. So I got stuck in my project for a while.
So the first thing I did was playing around with the rocks I had. I placed two piles of rocks; one on each side and then duplicate multiple rocks, flatten them and use those as little stairs instead of modeling a completely new set of stairs.
The scene lacked organic plants and there was too much stone in there, so I gave in to my temptations and modeled a tree eventually.
The scene lacked organic plants and there was too much stone in there, so I gave in to my temptations and modeled a tree eventually.
Again, I followed another tutorial on how to model a stylized tree. I created a mock-up first by extruding my cilinder, creating branches for the Cherry Blossom tree as I went. After that, I started sculpting some details into my tree before I moved on to make the leaves.
Making the leaves was interesting because I got to use the modifier "Particle System". It was tedious work to do, but I managed to solve my issue by googling stuff.
Making the leaves was interesting because I got to use the modifier "Particle System". It was tedious work to do, but I managed to solve my issue by googling stuff.
I quickly put together a texture for the plane I was gonna use for the tree and then exported this as a png into Blender. After that, I fiddled around with the Particle System Settings to get the desired appearance of my Cherry Blossom tree.
Unfortunately, I don't have the screenshots of the whole process since I was too focused on making and finishing the tree.
Unfortunately, I don't have the screenshots of the whole process since I was too focused on making and finishing the tree.
"An adventurer who had been travelling for days on end, jumping and exploring new worlds. He was mostly known for being a traveler, but his job was to spectate and protect these Worlds from danger. World after world, portal after portal. Each step, he was saying goodbye to a world and was then welcomed by a new one after the next leap. Who knows where this portal might lead this weary traveler to next."
This was by far the coolest project I've done so far. I haven't reached the goal I wanted to just yet, but I have improved and got better at modelling in 3D for this project.
I suppose what I can take away from this is that I should be more thoughtful of how much time I have on my side, since I rushed the project a bit at the end. I could've done a little better on the mountain and perhaps add some grass sprites as well. But I'm satisfied with how my scene looks now and I'm quite happy with the results.
I suppose what I can take away from this is that I should be more thoughtful of how much time I have on my side, since I rushed the project a bit at the end. I could've done a little better on the mountain and perhaps add some grass sprites as well. But I'm satisfied with how my scene looks now and I'm quite happy with the results.
