Purpose: To finalize the dynamite Prop Model and prepare it for exporting into HL2.

Objective: To practice advanced techniques we have learned to produce a professional grade prop model.

Create Fuses

Now that our Dynamite Time Bomb is nearly completed, let’s finish off the remaining details and prepare the model for exporting into the HL2 Game Engine.

  • Maximize the Front View
  • Activate the Modeling Toolbar by pressing 1
  • Create > Curve > Draw Cubic By CV’s
  • Starting inside the center dynamite stick, LMB click about 10 times in the shape of a connecting wire, like so:

Note: You can press (M) to edit your points at any time.

  • Return to the Camera View
  • Press C to Rotate; however make sure you are out of the COG option.
  • Rotate the wire so that it intersects with our keypad.

Create Profile Circle

  • Get > primitive > Curve > Circle
  • Scale it down to about 0.075
  • From the Top Main Menu, Model > Create > Poly. Mesh > Extrusion Along Curve
  • Now using the radius slider from the property page, take it down a bit so it looks more like a wire, like radius 1.
  • Also in the property page we can increase the number of vertical subdivisions to make the wire smoother, set V to about 3.

  • And finally we just need to move our keypad (and all the buttons on its surface) out a little bit so the wire appears to connect to its side.

And now we are connected!

Add Phong to Fuses

  • Select the Fuse in object select mode
  • Press 3 to activate the Render Toolbar set
  • Get > Material > Phong
  • In the Phong Dialogue window, select a color you like, I will choose a Dark Red Color, and a lighter Red Ambient

Add Phong to Rubber Bands

  • Let’s do the same for our Rubber Bands
  • Select both bands (holding shift)
  • Get > Material > Phong
  • In the Phong Dialogue window, select a color you like, I will choose the Color Black, with a Dark Grey Ambient

Create Torus’s for remaining wires

To connect the rest of the dynamite sticks with wires we will create a series of Torus’.

  • Activate the Modeling Toolbar by pressing 1
  • Get > Primitive > Polygon Mesh > Torus
  • Set the Radius Main to about 5.2
  • Set the Radius Cross Section to about 0.3
  • Increase the U subdivision to 17, and the V to 9
  • Set the Start U to 270, and the End U to 90
  • Scale the Torus down to about 0.19 in all axis’
  • Finish rotating and translating the Torus so that both ends fit in to the end of a dynamite stick.
  • Use the front and side windows to fine tune the scaling, translation and rotation of the torus till you get the following.

TIP: Remember to use (F) to frame any current selection to make orbiting and viewing it easier in the camera/orthographic windows.

  • Using what we learned to make this torus wire, repeat this process 5 more times by duplicating the original torus and rotating & translating them via the Front and Right Orthographic views.

  • Add variously colored Phong materials to the 6 Torus wires we created.

Now if extrapolate what we know in creating Torus wires and adding Phong Materials to them, add about 12 more tiny torus wires primarily connecting to the keypad with perhaps an extra one coming out of the battery pack in to the circuit board.

Remember: You will need to select Get > Material > Phong every time for each new material that you apply – otherwise the phong material will be applied to all your Toruses.

Note: You will need to experiment with setting the Extents Start and End U Angles on the first Torus wire you create on the circuit board, as it’s facing a different direction then the wires connecting our dynamite sticks.

Polygon Count

In any video game it is important to keep the number of polygons down to a minimum. Too many objects with a high poly count will render a game choppy or even unplayable in some cases. Therefore we are going to optimize the poly count of our prop by reducing the number of triangles being rendered.

  • In the Camera View select the eyeball icon next to the camera and click Selection Info
  • In the Camera View select the 6 Toruses at the end of the dynamite sticks

Notice that in these objects along we are close to 2,000 triangles! Let’s bring this number down.

  • Press enter to open the Object Properties for all 6 Toruses, and slowly reduce the U Subdivisions to about 9.
  • Do the same for every other Wire and Torus on your prop.
  • Save your model as Timebomb_03

Now that we have brought down the triangle/poly count, we nearly have a game ready model!

In the next module we will finalize our model and prepare it for exporting into HL2.

  • Feel free to save your work in the Scenes Directory under Haus of Mapping Curriculum Project Path.

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