Tree - Work In Progress

The second object to be used for my October image is nearly complete, and I've been working quite hard on this for the last couple of weeks. Since October is the start of Autumn, I have been working on an Autumn tree, which will be my main focus for said image.



To start off, I created a box from which I then started extruding, and eventually finished extruding the tree's branches. As you can see in the above render, the tree looks very blocky, so what I needed to do next was to make it look smoother by applying the meshsmooth modifier.




After applying meshsmooth, I then extruded some roots from where the original box was, and then applied meshsmooth again.



The next thing the tree needed was some more branches, as well as some leaves. So I made a new branch in a similar fashion to the tree. After that, a leaf was drawn using the line tool, and then extruded slightly. It was then cloned several times and placed on the branch, as shown in the above render.



The new branches, as well as the leaves, were cloned and placed in different places on the tree, and some more leaves were added to the original branches. So far I'm very pleased with how this is turning out, and all I need to do is finish adding the leaves, and then add a realistic texture to the tree.

On a side note, I have finished the ice hockey puck which I posted in my previous entry:



Compared to the one I posted earlier, this one is much less polygonal and is much smoother. All I did to make that improvement was change the number of sides from the default setting of 18 to 50. This puck is now final, and will be used for the October image.

Ice Hockey Puck

To make up for what I feel is a slow start so far, I have already nearly finished one of the objects to be used for the October image.



The first thing I did was create a cylinder, to which the images would be added. Boths images were created in Photoshop, and the texture going around the cylinder (which may or may not be clearly visible in the above render) was added first. After adjusting some settings, I then went on to add the second image.

The second image, on top of the puck, was put together using a gradiented silver ring as well as logos of my supported team, the Anaheim Ducks. It was added by converting the cylinder into an editable poly, then selecting the top and then adding the image. The reason I've decorated the top is not only to make it look more like a real life NHL puck, but also because the first material I added also went over the top of the cylinder, so it needed to be hidden.

Here is the material used for the texture on the side of the puck:



Overall, I'm very happy with how this puck turned out, however I need to learn how to smoothen to shape to make it look less polygonal.

Mood Boards

The project we've been given to work on is to produce three still 3D images based on selected months of the year, and which will include what we associate with those months. To aid me with my project, I have put together some mood boards to show some imagery of what I associate with my selected months, which are October, December and August.

October:


October is traditionally associated with the beginning of Autumn, when the weather starts to get noticeably colder, and Halloween. But personally, being an ice hockey fan, when I think of October, I think of the start of the NHL (National Hockey League) season. Players might be difficult and time consuming to create, so I may just include a puck and stick in the image.


December:


To many people, December equals Christmas time. That's all there is to say about it, really.


August:


To the kids, August means six weeks of no school (we University students get three to four months off, so hah!) and possibly going on holiday abroad with their families, who are more than likely trying to go somewhere else to get away from the rain and humidity of British summertime.

Tutorial 3

In today's lecture we learnt how to add materials to 3D objects, which is a technique used to add some realism to an object without spending too much time recreating things such as wooden textures.

Firstly, I created a sphere that I was going to work with. Then I opened up Photoshop and painted a white 'S' on a red background, which was the pattern I worked with.




Next, I added the pattern to the sphere by opening the material editor and importing the image from there. After playing around with some of the settings, this was my final result:

Lecture 2

Shown here is a shape I made during the second tutorial (last Monday). I wasn’t going for anything in particular, as I’m still inexperienced with 3D modelling, so I used the line tool to create a very random shape that looks very similar to a bird, an angel or a splash of paint.

After drawing the shape, it was converted to an editable poly, and was then extruded to make it almost fully 3D rather than a flat object. After extrusion, the cap tool was used to fill the shape.

During this lecture, we also played around with text, and when trying to create a bowl shape I ended up making something that looked more like a garden ornament. Unfortunately, I do not have that object anymore.

I’m hoping to get started on some less basic stuff soon, so that I can get my project underway.

My Favourite Cartoon Character

I was originally hoping to get this entry up first, but because I arrived late for the first tutorial, I didn’t have enough time to get it done. So now, here it is. And as I don’t really have a favourite cartoon character, I’m going to talk about my favourite videogame character instead.



This is Mario, Nintendo’s mascot, better known to many as Super Mario. He first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong where he was originally known as Jumpman, but after the discovery that he bore a comical resemblance to Mario Segali, Nintendo of America’s landlord, they named the character Mario instead.

Since then, Mario, and his lesser known brother Luigi, have been depicted as Italian plumbers who live in a world known as the Mushroom Kingdom, going on many adventures to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil King Bowser, a turtle-like dragon monster. The Mario series has been highly successful over the years, and has since spawned many spin offs, cartoon series (so I guess he does sort of count), as well as a very poor live action film where he was portrayed by, of all people, Bob Hoskins.