Western Blacksmith Scene
For my western modeling scene I will be creating a black smiths forge and workshop. I will be adding a few weapons, tools, and other goods that could be realistically created and sold at a blacksmith during the time of the expanding American frontier. I am hoping to be able to add some coals or ember like lighting to create a nice looking interior scene, primarily lit by these forge embers.
I found two references that I like that evoke the style I am trying to recreate as well as being not overly complicated for my current skill set.
I started off modeling a water trough for the blacksmith to cool his tools in after working and also started working on the forge that I will be adding. I struggled to get the look right on the forge but ultimately it turned out ok although I will be tweaking it to make the UVing easier. My blacksmith will be partly outdoors because I want there to be an open feel to the overall scene by having some large windows that reveal an HDR panoramic for the outside.
I also started a quick model for a horseshoe that was easy to put together although the bend on it may be a bit too much based on my reference. I may not have added enough sub divisions or perhaps to many because I think that it looks a bit too bent at the ends. I will try modeling it again with a new curve for better results.
This week I plan to finish up the forge and horseshoe, as well as adding the doors and walls to my blacksmiths shop. I'd also like to start UVing what I have so far and think about what textures I would like to add. I am trying to keep my objects simple this time so I can get as many as possible into my scene and not run into any issues later down the line.
Above is my first reference which has some lighting that I really like that I hope to recreate. Next it is attached my second reference that will be more useful having proper scaling for the interior. Most of the tools are pretty simple shapes so with enough time and practice I think I can replicate enough of them to give the sense of a busy blacksmith’s workplace.
So far I have only blocked out my areas and starting thinking about which tools I would like to try and make. Chains, horseshoes, and fire pokers can populate my scene and make it lived in. I would like to try and make some stones for a forge as well as a cabinet or tool rack near the work bench. Below is my blocked out scene with interior and exterior views.
Overall, I have a lot of work to do still but this time around I am trying to keep my scope within reason and work on my foundations instead of trying anything too complicated. I am motivated by my choice of a blacksmiths workshop because it involves making some fun tools and weapons for the scene. I am looking forward to making progress this second week on my models and UVs.
Anvil model and texture map
I choose to make a blacksmith because I felt it could show many different objects and tools as well as be fun to make. I have attached images of some of my favorite objects from the scene and their progress as well as my final renders and an ambient occlusion render (AO). My story was pretty simple and was really just a local blacksmith who can make weapons and repair wagons; shown by the daggers I added and the broken wagon wheel. He also has a drinking problem, but he keeps it hidden by having his whiskey out of view of customers. His forge is always on and can be seen from miles around.
Final beauty and AO renders
I was able to make most of my objects pretty early on in the project but my biggest issues can when UVing because I did not do it as I went with my objects so eventually spent an entire day UVing everything at once which was very draining. Next time I will take each object as it goes and try to get it done as soon as it is modeled. This way I can finish an object completely or nearly completely before I move onto the next one. While draining, my UVs went much more smoothly this time and it was a good learning experience for how to do more complicated objects (see anvil) as well as the simple ones (work bench). I had a few times where Ngons and bad geometry made it impossible to UV; I had no qualms about just restarting an object if it was not working out and I tried to keep things simple and checking regularly with the constraints tool. I really enjoyed the theme so it was fun to create everything like the grindstone and forge.
The anvil was one of the more complicated objects and I divided it into 4 parts and got help when I needed to. It was tricky to UV initially but did not take long when I really thought about how to fold it flat even though the object was oddly shaped.
The first render came out better because it was a nice shot of all my objects and gave a nice look out of the window and showed the inside of the forge. With more time I would have liked to have added some smolder embers or something instead of just the area light but it was still a cool effect.
The second set above is a bit awkward but I wanted to show off the glass bottle and textures in the background, but it also showed that parts of my scene were pretty bare compared to the corner. Nevertheless, I liked the barrels in the back and closer view.
I learned so much from this project about texturing, modeling, and putting the scene together. My references were perfect and I want to go back and edit the scene more to reflect it. It helped a lot for coming up with ideas and how to structure my overall scene. For the next project I really want to get an earlier start and completely finish and object with textures, so it is completely ready for the scene; rather than modeling everything, then UVing everything, and then finally texturing everything. These big chunks of work did not really help for my efficiency and it was so draining to do everything at once. Therefore, I think it will be more satisfying to finish an object completely and put it to the side. I had a lot of fun doing this project even though it was challenging.
Thank you very much for reading.
Second set of beauty and AO renders
References for the scene