This weeks Task were to:-

    - Create a low Triangle/ Polygon count book
    - UV unwrap the 3D model
    - Create and Apply the texture in Photoshop

To start off with i made a mistake, I decided to Planar Model the book to give me more customization with the triangle count, and i thought it would be easier and quicker in the long run, How i was wrong!

I started by dragging a rectangle Plane into the Perspective view-port in Maya 2013, From there i created 3 Polygon faces using the edge loop tool which would allow me to define the shape,Size and style of the asset. From here i could then start to create the shape of the top of the book this was done by selecting the four vertices on the outside of the book and the spine and scaling them in the shape, From here i then extruded the main body of the book

Creating the spine and Covers of the book was done by extruding the sides of the plane and scaling them down, and again on its own, From here i then had to extrude the Inner cover of the book cover this was easily down by again selecting the edge loop extruding and scaling the faces in. Then using target weld I tidied up the front covers mesh. From here i had to create the geometry that would act as the pages of the book, This was done by simply extruding the edge-loops of the geometry I had created previously  From here i had created the main body of the book, as i was going to mirror the geometry to save time on modelling and unwrapping the UV's Later.

Creating the clasp :-

The clasp was easily created by using Block Modelling techniques, I simply used a cube as my starting point positioned it on the geometry of the book and started to model, From here i created what you can see above by simply just re positioning vertices/edges and adding more using the edge loop tool where needed. I also had to extrude the back of the clasp, That cannot been seen in this image.

Creating the Unwrap :-

The UV Unwrap was an extremely simple task to do because i had only modelling half the geometry, Knowing that mirroring the existing model when i had unwrapped it would created Identical UV Unwraps that i could re position as necessary, Final Result Below. Once i had done this i could clear up the Extra geometry that had been created by the Mirror, and then Render the UV's out for use in phtoshop

The Final Texture :-

The final texture was created by manipulating a simple series of different leather images together to create the main style on the book, i then used a more damaged surface to create the wear and tear around the sides of the cover. The pages where created by manipulating a photo of the inside of a full filling cabinet into one images, and adding colors to darken and make it the book look aged and used. The patterns and Celtic knots where all created by myself in Photoshop using brush constraints and the marquee tool and then layer FX such as bevel and Emboss to give them more depth, The text was based on that of the dragon language from the elder scrolls skyrim.

If i was to do this task, Which i may do in the future of this semester, I would use just one leather texture, and spend more time on creating a much neater, Professional UV sheet. Aswell as that i would spend some time gathering reference