Logo

So there are two class reps for my class (3D91) who act as messengers to the administrators if we have any concerns/comments/criticisms that should be passed up. Our class reps (Marcela and Josh) are trying to make the class come closer together and bond so that we can ultimately be able to collaborate together better.  The tighter we are the better our work will be because we will feel more comfortable asking each other for help and feedback.

One way the reps think we can do this is by creating an identity within the school. They decided that we needed a class logo. (They made an announcement in class about it and the instructor was really happy and proud that our class is trying to become such a solid group.)  They made this like a contest. So whoever wants to participate will make a logo and submit and we will have a vote on it on Friday. There were no specifications about what it should look like or anything so I went home and started brainstorming ideas.

My first instinct went into designing something with a rocket in it. I think it may have been the large amount of Futurama that I have been watching while in Canada.  Here is my first concept drawing (click on the image to make them bigger).

I thought it was a good start but I wasn't too keen on it. So I reworked it some and I came up with this.

I really liked this design so I took it and started doing a much more polished outline of it.

And then I added some color and a space backdrop.

I really liked the way it looks, except that when I think of a logo I think of things that are rounded. Almost like they can fit on a pin or button. So I rounded out the space around the image.

Then I thought maybe there is a way to make the rocket POP more than this. So I finally decided on making this my final design for my logo.

I think the final design makes it look as if the rocket is actually coming at you. I'll let you know what happens with the results. Let me know what you guys think. I bid you farewell. I'm going to be late to class!

Still Life pt. 2

So I finished doing the proxy for all 5 of my models for my still life project. Here they are all lined up so you can see their relative size and shapes when compared to each other.

I didn't render out individual images for the mitten or the lamp because I was too lazy.  I talked to my instructor about doing the mitten and he said it would be difficult but not impossible. And since we won't be doing close-ups of the items then I don't have to worry about doing the fuzziness of the mitten (which he told me would be way too difficult for me to do at the end of this first term). All I have to worry about is the texturing.

I am now working on getting a finished model out of these, starting with Flash and Superman.  I spent the last 6 hours working on them and they are proving to be a bitch to get perfect.  I am thinking of almost starting from scratch to get it just right. But i haven't decided yet. Going to ask my instructor first. Modeling is such tedious and frustrating work.  Thinking about playing Batman for a while to unwind a bit (while I have the chance).

Good news is that since the mitten is such a simple shape my proxy is basically my finished model. So modeling-wise I'm done with it. The hard part will be the texturing.

Still Life

Hello. Wanted to give you guys an update about the work that I will be doing this term.  My final project this term is to create a "still life" in 3D space.  A still life is usually a painting of inanimate objects, often purposely arranged to create a nice composition. I'm sure you've all seen them before. A lot of them are of fruits, flower vases, and whine glasses/bottles.  Our project is to do something like this in 3D and it will employ all the skills we will be learning this term, including modeling, surfacing, texturing and rendering (lighting).

The assignment was for us to select 4 objects and a light source (like a lamp).  The four objects that we had to choose were to represent us as a person - who we are, what we like, etc.  As I don't have much of my stuff here with me I seemed to be very limited in choosing something that would be interesting.  Most of the things that represent me, like my hobbies, have really boring shapes - dvd/blu ray cases, comic books, books, Magic cards (all simple rectangles).

However, I found that the coolest things that I brought with me were things that people have given me as going away presents.  So the items that I chose were: (click the name of item to see a picture of it)

Superman toy given to me by my brother
Flash doll by my sister.
Cannon Powershot by Monique
Canadian Mitten by Marissa

I found that these items were by far the most interesting in terms of shape and texture but also mean a good deal to me as they were all gifts by those close to me. So I was happy with my selection. For a light source I chose my desk lamp. Sadly, I was told by one of my instructors that the mitten I chose will be very difficult to pull off since the texture is complicated (fuzzy things are hard to do apparently).  I don't know if I will learn all the techniques required to do it well, so I was advised to pick a backup (I chose my laptop).  So since I don't want to give up on my mitten, I will basically be working on 6  items instead of 5.

The first step was bring them into class and take reference photos of each of my objects. From every angle, and if possible with a ruler next to it so that I can know the dimensions (the photo I linked of the Flash has a ruler behind him).  Next was to measure and write down all the dimensions of the specific object (for the toys I had to write down how tall it was, how wide, the length of the arms, the legs, the head, etc).  This is hugely important so that our items are accurate when constructed in 3D space.  And finally we took orthographic pictures of our objects. These are flat 2D representations of our objects from the top, side, front, and back which are super helpful when building a model in 3D. especially because length of specific parts are not misrepresented due to perspective. (The picture of the camera Monique gave me is the front orthographic view of that item).

The next step is to model proxies of the items.  A proxy is a 3D model that is very simple and is usually used to show basic shapes and is a starting point for a modeler. Also, in a production pipeline a modeler will build a proxy to send forward to the animation department so that they have something to start animating with. Then when the modeler is done (or builds the newest version of the character) it can replace the proxy in the scene. Helps workflow be efficient. Proxies could also be used to show directors a feeling for the character without actually doing much work and wasting time. If it doesn't work at the proxy level it won't work later on.

So my proxy models of my items are due sometime this week.  I have already completed 3 of the 6 items I will be doing so I wanted to share them with you.  The first picture is of my proxy of the camera. (Click on the picture for a more hi-res version)

As you can see, the basic shape has been laid out with small details.  Also, you can see one of the orthographic reference photos I took in the back ground which helped me get the dimensions just right.  I also changed the default gray color (that you saw on my bike) to this cool blue color. Makes things more interesting when modeling. The camera's lenses I changed to different shades of gray so you can see them.

Next is my flash proxy.

Again you can see the orthographic pictures that I use as a guide.  As you can see this is what I mean by basic shape. You can see what the character will look like but by no means is it a polished product.  This time I changed the color to red, so that it is more interesting for you guys see.  Also, the computer can smooth the geo for you so that you can see what it may look like with a higher poly count (polygon count). Essentially what it is doing is subdividing the faces that makes up this object a bunch of times to make a smoother surface. Here is my flash proxy smoothed.

You might also notice that the limbs and head are not connected to the body. I left it unconnected because I don't know if it will be easier for me to connect them now and then add detail or add detail then connect them. I don't know which method will mess with my line flow the least. (Line flow refers to how the lines in my wireframe are arranged and are crucial for texturing and animating. Here is an example of a wireframe. See the lines?)

And finally my Superman proxy.

I made the color blue for the body and the cape I made red so that it looked a lot cooler. I will probably be working with all my future models in this blue color because I like it and is much more easy on the eyes that the default gray. And here is my proxy smoothed.

I will probably be finishing up the proxies for my other three items sometime this week so I'll post them for you guys to see.  Then at the end of the term I'll post my final outcome so that you guys can see how far I take it. I think it would be cool to compare them.  Sorry for the length of this entry. I get carried away in my explanations sometimes. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.  Let me know what you guys think. Enjoy.

St. Paddy's and a Bike

So I haven't written in a few days. 98 percent of the reason is because I have been really busy lately. The other two percent is that interesting things don't really happen too much to me. Most of what I do is go to school, stay at school all day, come home and sleep.  BUT, on Thursday a few of my classmates decided to go to an Irish pub to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I was still working on my bike and almost didn't go, but I decided that it would probably be good to have a break and to get to hangout with my classmates.

At first I was regretting going because when we got to the bar there was a cover charge of $15. I only had $5 in cash. So I was about to leave until my buddy Phil said he'd spot me and that he was buying the first round of drinks. So Phil payed for my entry but once inside I had to check my backpack (I had come straight from school) which cost me $3. I was pretty mad that this was costing me more money that I had intended on paying that night.

The pub was pretty big, and they had live bands playing Irish music (or stuff that sounded like Irish music) and it was PACKED.  We could barely hear each other. If you know me well then you know that I am not really comfortable with that kind of environment when I am not with people I know. Sure I knew my classmates but I didn't know them too well.  But that changed rather quickly. Phil had ordered 4 pitchers of beer, a platter of nachos, one of fried calamari, and one of poutine (which is the greatest thing I have discovered in Canada and will be importing to the US).  If you don't already know, poutine is the delicious combination of fries covered in gravy and topped with cheese curds. I seriously don't know how we don't have this in the US since America is a land of fatties.  But I digress...

Everyone started to relax and we all started having fun, talking, joking. It was pretty great.  Also, I am not much of a beer drinker but since it was the only drink that was free I decided to have a go at it. Phil (a native to Vancouver) told me that the beer he ordered was a Canadian brew called Mosley Canadian.  I had enough of it to get a slight buzz.  Later I would have another cup of beer that was tinted green.  I've heard of this practices but never partook until then. Obviously it didn't taste any different but in my mind it was kind of weird like that time when Heinz decided to dye their ketchup green or purple (remember that?).

After about two hours and a half I thought it best go back to school and finish my modeling project. At which point I decided that it would be fun, once we learn how to speed model, to get a group of us together and get good and drunk and try to speed model something. My classmates agreed it was a brilliant idea.  The rest of the night was boring in comparison. Got back to school and sat at a computer until 3am finishing my project.

Well, I finally finished modeling the bike I have been telling you guys for the last week and a half or so.  I would like to share with you what I did.  The next two images are images of my model in the default gray material.  First the side view. (Click on the image to see the detail better)

This next one is a closer look at some of the detail.

So you can't really see all the smaller details on the bike because since all of it is gray some of it blends. Also, it looks mighty boring in just that color. So I took what I learned in my first Surfacing class and applied it to my bike model.  Surfacing is when you give the surface of your geo (short for geometry) or objects properties as in terms of how they interact/reflect/absorb light.  This is basically giving the model properties of the material they are supposed to be.  This is not to be confused with Texturing, which is giving the model properties of touch (i.e. bumpiness, softness, roughness, graininess) and other smaller fine details.  We still haven't learned texturing.  Anywho, here are a few images of my bike freshly surfaced.  The environment in the background is just an image that I put there so that the metals of the bike (and other materials) have something to reflect.

Well I hope you guys liked it.  This bike project was fun but extremely tedious and time consuming.  A lot of this process was learning the tools in Maya (the 3D program we are learning).  After hours of working with this project I started learning tricks and techniques.  It has been a really good exercise to become comfortable (or at least a bit more comfortable) with Maya.  Let me know what you guys think.  Sorry this has been such a long entry, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Technical Directors

Today I learned that in the field of 3D there are positions known as Technical Directors.  So you can have a Modeling TD, a Lighting TD, Animation TD and so on.  The main difference between, lets say, an animator and an Animation TD is that the TD can do programming.  If you know how to code in the language of the software you are using then you become a valuable asset.  The position (if I understand it correctly) is kind of a supervising position where you can use code to fix any problems that might arise or write scripts/expressions that would allow faster work flow or do something the program doesn't do as a built in mechanic.  It doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be coding all day but having it as a tool could definitely help out your work and the project.  All that sounds kind of cool and impressive, but the main difference between the two jobs is money. A TD may make $50,000 a year more than their non-coding counterpart! So while an animator that gets paid around $30,000 a year, an Animation TD will make upwards of $80,000 a year. That's a lot of coin.

I am so happy that I took Computer Science while at Bosco (my high school).  I took 3 years of programming, most of which was in C++ (one of the major programing languages out there).  I don't remember everything and am quite rusty but I'm sure some review can jog my memory.  The programming language that would be needed for a TD position in any field is most likely different than the one I learned at Bosco but knowing some of the principles of programming could help.  We are not going to get any real classes on programming here at VFS, but I wouldn't mind learning some languages on my own.  I've always like the logical and creative thinking needed to solve problems in programming so this should be fun.  Let's see what happens.

Third Week

So it's the beginning of the third week and it already feels like its picking up.  Continued working on my bike model today for a good 6 hours after class.  I really have only had one assignment that I need to spend a considerable amount of time on. I wonder how intense it will be when I have multiple assignments like this.

So as you know, since I have been here I haven't had too much variety in food but today I made myself a freakin' amazing dinner. I was quite proud of myself.  Chicken, mash potatoes and a salad.  That's a main dish and two sides! I never make myself sides. Usually just the main course.

I'm sure this full meal thing probably won't happen very often but I am happy I got to try it once haha.The best part about this dinner is that it was delicious and filling. I will definitely try to recreate this dinner at some point. I might even try to add salads to everything I eat too ... but my tomato and lettuce bill might be too high cuz I can eat a shit ton of each - I believe "shit ton" is the scientific term for it.
 

Hard work

So yesterday I went in to school to work on my modeling assignment. We are modeling a bike.  I went in around 1pm and worked until about 8:30pm - which is when I got hungry and went home to eat. Made myself a delicious meal of lemon pepper chicken and potatoes. Yum. But sadly it was back to work for me. Got back to school at around 9:45pm and I didn't leave until around 3:30am.

I was going to go back to school this morning around 11:30 but I wasn't able to wake up. So I'll probably go after I'm done writing this to work on it some more. At the moment I am multitasking while writing this, eating and changing out of my pj's.  I don't want to be at school all night again so I'll probably be home around 8:30ish. I have another assignment to do at home so I need to get that done. This bike isn't technically due until Friday, but it's taking a crap load of time to build. Do you know how many parts a bike has? Too many.  The assignment calls for modeling the bike as close as possible to our reference, and I know since it's our first assignment it probably doesn't have to have every detail, but I'm a perfectionist so I am modeling every bolt, nut, and sockets. I think my perfectionism will work to my advantage... although I don't think it will let me sleep.

Well before I go, I found the videos that they showed at Friday's graduation that I was talking about. They were finally put online.  This is what I hope to be able to do someday.


ANIMATION
Tryin' Flyin'  : http://vimeo.com/20941028
Little Hero:  http://vimeo.com/20963513

MODELING
The Sweetest Thing: http://vimeo.com/19714721
Gliese 851: http://vimeo.com/20965918

VFX
Hyperlink:  http://vimeo.com/20948815


Enjoy! I'm off to school!