Strengths
I think one of my strengths throughout this project is my use of materials, although in some cases the objects I've made look fairly good without any, while other objects such as the ice hockey puck, plane and beach ball needed them. My materials are fairly minimalistic and yet work well.
My other strengh is that I have been able to create simple but effective scenes for all three of the images I have been working on.
Weaknesses
One of my weaknesses is, strangely enough, to do with materials. In some cases I have had trouble applying materials properly, however this was before discovering UVW map settings. I still have trouble with certain other materials, e.g. realistic sand because all I end up getting is one or two colours rather than the image I applied.
Another weakness is that I tend to spend too much time on one object at a time, with prime examples being the Autumn tree for October and the airplane for August.
Also, I have had difficulties working with lighting and shadows, which is a combination of the overall structure of the images and the ways I have used the lights.
Opportunities
Coming up next Semester is an animation assignment for this module which will probably still require 3D modelling. The fact that I have been able to learn the basics of creating 3D objects will prove helpful when it comes to this next assignment. Also next Semester, I have another project to work on not relating to this module that may require at least one thing in 3D.
Also in coming years I may have to do another module that involves 3D Modelling, for example Virtual Environments.
Threats
My biggest threat regarding this project is that I have been using a newer version of 3DS Max to create my models at home, and for some reason this makes the files incompatible with the older version of the program that the University uses.
Also, by the end of Week 12 of this Semester there are more assignments to be handed in, so some time has to be split between this project as well as those ones.
Sunday 23 November 2008
Thursday 13 November 2008
August - Progress so far
For August, instead of making an image that makes fun of British Summer, I am instead producing a holiday scene on a beach, including palmtrees, and a plane in the sky.
First of all, I shall go through how my plane was made:
Following an online tutorial, the first thing I did was create a cylinder and adjust some settings, then extruding the wings from the cylinder. The tutorial I followed was on how to make a low-poly airplane, however I followed it slightly differently to make a model based on a commercial airline plane.
The next thing I did was to adjust the shape of the wings as I saw fit, making it look slightly more accurate to a real airplane.
Then, going in a completely different direction to the tutorial I was following, I chose to make the main body smoother using the Meshsmooth modifier. Applying it to the whole object makes the whole thing smooth, making it look more like a shark than an airplane, so what I did next was clone the plane, deleting the wings from one copy and deleting the body from the other.
As shown in this render, I also attempted to add windows to the plane using a material I created on Photoshop. Initially I had difficulty with this, as you can see the windows are not in the correct positions, all stacked on top of each other making it look like a double or triple decker airbus with slanted windows.
Eventually however, I was able to correct the problem by using UVW map settings to place the materials on the plane correctly.
As shown in the render I have also added a logo to the tail fin using the same UVW map settings, and made the plane's engines in a similar fashion to the main body. The plane is now finished.
The next object I created for the image is a palmtree.
For this I started out by making a cone, and then using the Array tool to stack several copies of it on top, and then using the bend modifier to... well, bend it. Next a leaf was drawn using the line tool and then extruding the shape, and again the Array tool was used to create four more copies of the leaf. All four were then placed on top of the tree.
At the moment, this is what the image looks like:
The sand an sea were both made with two completely different cylinders, and the islands in the distance are simply green spheres. Two other new objects were added as well: a beach ball, created using a sphere and materials, and a shark. Rather then create a whole fullt 3D shark, I just used the line tool to create the fin. Also, the background was made in Photoshop, using gradients and a lens flare effect.
For those who are curious, this is what the scene looks like from a distance:
Yes, the plane is actually nearer to the beach than the shark is. You wouldn't have thought that, would you?
First of all, I shall go through how my plane was made:
Following an online tutorial, the first thing I did was create a cylinder and adjust some settings, then extruding the wings from the cylinder. The tutorial I followed was on how to make a low-poly airplane, however I followed it slightly differently to make a model based on a commercial airline plane.
The next thing I did was to adjust the shape of the wings as I saw fit, making it look slightly more accurate to a real airplane.
Then, going in a completely different direction to the tutorial I was following, I chose to make the main body smoother using the Meshsmooth modifier. Applying it to the whole object makes the whole thing smooth, making it look more like a shark than an airplane, so what I did next was clone the plane, deleting the wings from one copy and deleting the body from the other.
As shown in this render, I also attempted to add windows to the plane using a material I created on Photoshop. Initially I had difficulty with this, as you can see the windows are not in the correct positions, all stacked on top of each other making it look like a double or triple decker airbus with slanted windows.
Eventually however, I was able to correct the problem by using UVW map settings to place the materials on the plane correctly.
As shown in the render I have also added a logo to the tail fin using the same UVW map settings, and made the plane's engines in a similar fashion to the main body. The plane is now finished.
The next object I created for the image is a palmtree.
For this I started out by making a cone, and then using the Array tool to stack several copies of it on top, and then using the bend modifier to... well, bend it. Next a leaf was drawn using the line tool and then extruding the shape, and again the Array tool was used to create four more copies of the leaf. All four were then placed on top of the tree.
At the moment, this is what the image looks like:
The sand an sea were both made with two completely different cylinders, and the islands in the distance are simply green spheres. Two other new objects were added as well: a beach ball, created using a sphere and materials, and a shark. Rather then create a whole fullt 3D shark, I just used the line tool to create the fin. Also, the background was made in Photoshop, using gradients and a lens flare effect.
For those who are curious, this is what the scene looks like from a distance:
Yes, the plane is actually nearer to the beach than the shark is. You wouldn't have thought that, would you?
Saturday 8 November 2008
December - Progress so far
Since I haven't had the chance to upload any renders other than my puck and tree, I will do so now instead.
Basically for December, I'm creating a simple, stereotypical Christmas scene that includes a snowman, a Christmas tree, and presents.
This is the snowman. He was mostly put together using spheres, a torus for the scarf (with one bit extruded), and a geosphere (cut in half) for his hat.
Next we have a Christmas tree:
The above snapshot shows what the tree looks like before rendering. It was fairly simple to make: the trunk is just a cone shape, the baubles are made from a sphere that had a bit at the top extruded, and was cloned several times, and the star was made from a cylinder with 10 sides, with each side being moved to form a star shape.
The main part of the tree, with needles, was made by creating a helix and adjusting the settings, then creating a circle, using a loft modifier to make it follow the helix as a path, creating a solid helix for me to work with. Finally, I used the hair and fur modifier to make the needles.
Here is the tree after rendering:
And finally (so far), we have the single most important thing, as in what Christmas is all about: the presents!
This was a much easier shape to make, as all I did was make a box, add some patterns that I made in Photoshop for the wrapping, and added a torus knot to act as the ribbon.
These objects have all been placed into a scene, which at the moment looks something like this:
As with my October image, the background is a desktop wallpaper that I made in Photoshop a few months ago, and again I put it in just to see what it looked like. I may need to create one more object to fill in the empty gap on the right hand side, or move the camera around if I run out of time.
Basically for December, I'm creating a simple, stereotypical Christmas scene that includes a snowman, a Christmas tree, and presents.
This is the snowman. He was mostly put together using spheres, a torus for the scarf (with one bit extruded), and a geosphere (cut in half) for his hat.
Next we have a Christmas tree:
The above snapshot shows what the tree looks like before rendering. It was fairly simple to make: the trunk is just a cone shape, the baubles are made from a sphere that had a bit at the top extruded, and was cloned several times, and the star was made from a cylinder with 10 sides, with each side being moved to form a star shape.
The main part of the tree, with needles, was made by creating a helix and adjusting the settings, then creating a circle, using a loft modifier to make it follow the helix as a path, creating a solid helix for me to work with. Finally, I used the hair and fur modifier to make the needles.
Here is the tree after rendering:
And finally (so far), we have the single most important thing, as in what Christmas is all about: the presents!
This was a much easier shape to make, as all I did was make a box, add some patterns that I made in Photoshop for the wrapping, and added a torus knot to act as the ribbon.
These objects have all been placed into a scene, which at the moment looks something like this:
As with my October image, the background is a desktop wallpaper that I made in Photoshop a few months ago, and again I put it in just to see what it looked like. I may need to create one more object to fill in the empty gap on the right hand side, or move the camera around if I run out of time.
Thursday 6 November 2008
October - Progress so far
In my previous entries I posted renders of two objects that I made for my October image: a tree and an ice hockey puck.
During last week's lecture, we learnt how to use lighting effects within 3DS Max such as omni lights in ways to make renders look more effective, so I implemented what I learnt into the project.
I placed two omni lights in different places to make the scene look more dynamic, as there will be a sunset in the background. Also, to create the grass I simply made a cylinder and applied a hair and fur effect. Also, I placed more leaves into the scene to make it appear as if they were falling from the tree.
Next, I added a background from a desktop wallpaper I made a few months ago (just to see what it looked like, I will probably put together an original one for this project), and I also added some pumpkins.
I will probbaly add more to this later, however I want to even out the amount of time I spend working on each image.
During last week's lecture, we learnt how to use lighting effects within 3DS Max such as omni lights in ways to make renders look more effective, so I implemented what I learnt into the project.
I placed two omni lights in different places to make the scene look more dynamic, as there will be a sunset in the background. Also, to create the grass I simply made a cylinder and applied a hair and fur effect. Also, I placed more leaves into the scene to make it appear as if they were falling from the tree.
Next, I added a background from a desktop wallpaper I made a few months ago (just to see what it looked like, I will probably put together an original one for this project), and I also added some pumpkins.
I will probbaly add more to this later, however I want to even out the amount of time I spend working on each image.
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