The Final Animation

Here it is. Enjoy. :) Apologies for the depressing tone, it fitted my feeling at the moment of completion.

Cheers.

 

Don't forget to look at my WIP for this final project below this post.

Live long and prosper.

The Final Kerja Dalam Progress (WIP)

Hey again.

Picking up where I last left off, the following were my steps taken in producing this minute+ animation. Having learned basic animation techniques in the previous classes, setting camera positions, constraining paths, animating objects,etc. were not a problem.

The above 4 pictures were taken during the course of the animation rendering setup.

After hours and hours of rendering, the final movies were produced.

The separate movie files were edited using iMovie on my friend's MacBook. Music was added after that. I found that certain movie files that were to be connected were a bit off-set. Therefore, I utilized the fade-in and fade-out effects available on iMovie to smoothen the whole video out.

And that is that, really. Unlike the previous couple of projects, I found myself capable of doing whatever I was required without real need for references online. This can only go down to the brilliant help from my tutor Mr. Angus and various other people that have helped me throughout the past three months.

Finalizing the video and uploading it online were the final pieces of this complicated, complicated puzzle of a subject. I for one am glad it's over. But it's been fun.

Signing off,

Keshav.

Til' we meet again.

An animated way forward.

Greetings.


 After the massacre that was Project 2, things have toned down for the time being. Tutorials have resumed for the final project this semester. Today's class introduced me to animating objects in 3ds Max.

We covered how to manipulate camera angles to follow a given path, how to use the timeline given and the things you can do with it, such as rotation of objects, vertical and horizontal displacement, bouncing of balls, etc.

Was pretty fun on the whole. Below is a video of my first attempt at rendering a short video using the view of a camera.

Project 2 Submission WIP

Greetings, ladies and gents. I've been inactive due to my incapacity to take screenshots during class. We all have flaws. I've learned quite a bit since my previous post, mostly in manipulating lighting, daylighting, materials and orientation according to climate.

On to my progress for Project 2 transitioning from beginning to end. Yes, I've finished finally.

Started by modifying the layers in my SketchUp model. This is because previously I had problems applying materials to my imported SketchUp model in 3ds max due to the model being one entire layer.

The new imported SketchUp models. Colourful like a pretty little butterfly. I used flamboyant colours so that the layer differences were prominent. This made it easier for me to add materials and identify the layers from afar when adding these materials.

I also added a base for the model. I intended to use a grassy base because The Rolling Huts is based in a forest terrain, surrounded by lush trees for the most part. The result will be shown later on in this post.

An alternate view of my model. This was the view I always referred to after modifications here and there as a personal comparison.

After I was satisfied with the modifications and base, I decided to skip materials first. I proceeded to planting the trees around my model to help create the "foresty" feeling of its surroundings. I was satisfied with the result. Above is an image simulation.

After adding the trees, I then started to add materials to all the objects in my model as seen above. For the most part, I found the materials on offer in the 3DS Max software to be satisfactory.

With the materials added, the next step was to add interior elements to my model. I sourced various websites to find suitable interior decorations and models that fit with images of the actual building I found, with my own minor modifications...

... such as this plate of gingerbread men and doughnuts.

After I was satisfied with my interior, I moved on to the daylighting. For my renders, I decided to go with a more subdued, morning daylight. Thus, I changed my background colour from the dull default grey to a mellow blue using the daylight function in rendering. Results will be seen later. I also added daylight in the form of sunlight. I set the timing using the options provided to 9.30am on 3/5 of my final renders. The above image shows the sunlight direction used.

One of the main aspects of Project 2 was to manipulate camera views using 3DS Max. That is what I have done using prior knowledge learned in class over the past few weeks. I selected the 3 most interesting views I could find and wanted to portray in rendered form as seen in the picture above. The other 2 renders were taken from perspective shots.

The two pictures above are examples of my final renders in 3DS Max.

After that, I proceeded to post-editing using Adobe Photoshop CS5. I manipulated the lighting curves, added human figures and edited them using Motion Blur to make them more realistic. Finally, I added my name and student ID, ready to be printed and submitted :o)

VOILA!

The five pictures above are my final products from this entire process. Hope you like it ;D

PS: I forgot to mention I added Batman's Tumbler from the Nolan Universe. Because, well I like Batman.

Live long and prosper.

Spot the Prime Minister

A week after the submission for Project 1, we returned to classes as usual.
For this Com Apps class (11th May 2012), we were introduced to 2 new features of 3DS Max.

Firstly, we learned how to manipulate daylighting. We learned to create focus points of sunlight and how to manipulate its angle and direction by changing locations that are remotely stored in 3DS Max's database.

Below are the results of the daylighting practice:

Spot the Najib.

Moving on, the second part of the class focused on playing with NURBS curves. NURBS curves are used to make curved walls, holes in curved walls and Frank Gehry-esque buildings.

Below are the results of that practice:

Oh and this is something else I did after finding out how to create 3D letters:

Good-bai.

Project 1 Submission (WIP) Pt. 2

Managed to find technical drawings for my building online!

I then proceeded to tracing them out using AutoCAD. It had been a while since I touched AutoCAD so it was nice to be refreshed. Progress.

The drawings I found online and the corresponding AutoCAD drawings. Quite painstaking.

Later on I tried to use Mr. Angus' method as he thought in the import CAD drawing/house modelling class but I could not remember the steps. Also, I installed the 2012 version of 3ds max. The controls there from the ones in the computer lab are different and I found it difficult to find certain functions. Therefore, I uninstalled 2012 and installed 2010.

I still could not quite get the hang of the extruding function, need more practice.

Because of that, I moved to SketchUp.

This is the first time I've ever used SketchUp. I'm amazed at its simplicity. 

The above images are where I am at right now. I extruded the walls and most of the interior.

The things I have left to do are:

1) Edit the stairs

2) Finish the roof

3) Finish railing

4) Material rendering

5) Context rendering.

No sleep tonight.

Project 1 Submission (WIP) Pt. 1

Since I'm on a roll, may as well continue with this blog while I take a break from my project 1 work.
So I started out by searching for nice huts with modern designs and relatively modern concepts and here's what I've found :

 

Building Name: Rolling Huts
Architect:  OSKA Architects (Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects)
Concept: Seclusive Nature Retreat

Building Information:
Rolling Huts is located in Washington’s Methow Valley. It was designed as a modern alternative to camping by Tom Kundig of  in Seattle, the six huts are grouped as a herd, each with views of the mountains. The construction of each hut is simple. It is, in essence, an offset, steel clad box on a steel and wood platform. Living occurs not only in the 200 sq ft inside the box, but on the 240 sq ft of covered deck space surrounding it. Interior finishes are cork and plywood which are simple, inexpensive, and left as raw as possible. Exteriors are durable, no-maintenance materials, namely steel, plywood and car-decking.

Source: http://cubeme.com/blog/2009/07/09/rolling-huts-by-oska-architects

The House That Wasn't There

Lesson number two:

Learning how to import CAD files into 3DS Max whilst also learning to extrude walls and windows using the extrude function. I learned how to rotate plans and elevations and place them accordingly using the snap function. More basic knowledge was learned but I felt like I was not completely up to speed.

I had little to no problems generating the complete model for the house but the same problem arose. I could not remember the steps well 20 minutes later. It was quite frustrating really. While some people had already progressed to rendering the house/using lighting and such, I was still trying to retrace my steps.

I need a foolproof way of remembering my steps during the lessons. Writing them down will not work, there has to be some way of absorbing the info while practising, there was no problem with doing so for AutoCAD, so why is there a problem with this?

Wow. So I tried opening the .3ds file which had my attempt at the house and now it's not opening. Just my luck.

I've uploaded it here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/n4gmqg

Just in case it's my laptop that's messed up and hopefully Mr. Koh and Mr. Angus take the time to try and open it. Thanks.

Jesus & The 3D Vase

Now be forewarned, I came into Semester 3 with no prior knowledge on SketchUp, 3DS Max or this Rhino thing Mr. Angus keeps talking about. I'm starting fresh here, so please bare with the less than pretty results I've conjured up so far.
Hopefully, with more tutoring over the semester, things will get better. After all, this is ' Work In Progress ' :)

Right then.

First up, we have the 3D Vase. Made this in the computer lab during my first CA2 lesson. It was quite amusing, pretty good exposure to 3DS basic functions but sadly it is very, very hard to remember everything step-by-step all at once. It was quite overwhelming in all seriousness.

Played around with the vase size, and had introduction to material rendering.
Below are the results of the lesson:

The initial vase solidified using polygon modelling.

First attempt at light & shadow manipulation.

The final product that I was satisfied with. As for the material used for the vase, I used Jesus.

More to follow...

Cheers.

The late welcome note.

Greetings, lecturers/tutors/whoever else that looks at this.

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the inactivity on this 'work in progress' blog. I have either always been caught up with other work or other non-uni related activities hence this blog has become a victim of my procrastination.

Anyways, on with my work that I've done at various times over the past month.