Tuesday 19 June 2012

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.

Thursday 7 June 2012

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.