Lightsaber Final

This is the last time I post anything this school year. Luckily, I'm posting a lightsaber(Woot!)! I've actually been working on this for a few weeks now, I just didn't post much these last few weeks. Sorry about that. I'm also supposed to be coloring the lightsaber, but I won't have any time.

The reason the lightsaber has different backgrounds is because I set the render settings to mental ray and put a light probe into the image based lighting.

3-Point Lighting Gif

In order to make it even easier for you to see the differences, I made a gif with the three images from my previous post. Here it is:

3-Point Lighting Sea Urchin Repost

Last time I posted the images for my lighting on the sea urchin, I cropped the images horribly, making it difficult to see some of the changes that occurred as the different lights were applied. I did a better job this time as well as removed the text that was on the image. Here'es what it looks like now.

Keylight:

Keylight+Fill-Light:

Keylight+Fill-Light+Backlight:

Hope you can see the differences a bit better now.

Calling It A Sea Urchin

So I finally decided to call my random shape a sea urchin (as the title says), and I finished the lighting for it as well. I took screenshots of how the object looks with different lighting as well.

Keylight

Key Light + Fill Light

Key Light + Fill Light + Backlight

Random Thing Continued

I continued working on the lighting for the... thing... that I made last time. I actually got to rendering it, but I'm still not done. 

On another note, I guess modeling the robot concept is something that I have to wait until I get into Advanced 3D Graphics, because we only have time to do the sketch in this class.

Random.... thing...

Today I worked on using cameras to view a subject. I don't exactly know what I'm doing at this point, but this is how far I got.

Sadly enough, that's not very far. Guess I'll have to figure that out later... Anyways, this is supposed to lead me into 3-point lighting, but that requires me to get passed this point.

Finished Helmet

Apparently the helmet was due on Thursday, so I had to rush to finish it. Unfortunately I ran out of time to post it on Thursday to show you guys, but here it is. :D

The one on the right is the low resolution version of the helmet, which has more distinct edges. The one on the left is the high resolution version, which still has the edges, but they aren't as sharp.

As for the images for the video game concept, the scanner is broken, so that will have to wait.

Still Working On Video Game Project

As the time title states, me and my partner Kade are still working on the video game project. We'll have to hurry and finish up our concept too, because we have to present it on Thursday! After we present it, I'll probably post some of the papers here.

Vocab #4

Got another vocab assignment that I have to do, and once again I have to come up with a way to say the definition in my own words and I need pictures to go with it. This time however, I have a larger list of words that I have to work with.

Displacement Mapping: A mapping technique used in computer graphics that uses a texture height map.

Bump Mapping: A mapping technique used in computer graphics that is often used to create bumps or wrinkles on the surface of an object.

Rendering: The use of color and shading to outline an object and make it seem three-dimensional.

Alpha Channel: A mask that decides how colored pixels merge with surrounding colored pixels.

NURBS vs Polygons: NURBS are models used in computer graphics to represent curves and surfaces. Polygons are figures with at least three sides, edges, and vertices . In computer graphics, NURBS have more faces while polygons only have enough faces to create the shape.

Tiling: A way of arranging identical shapes so that they competely cover an area without overlapping.

Skinning: The covering of an object with a "skin".

Aperture: A gap or hole that allows for the passage of light.

Shutter Speed: The amount of time that a shutter is open when taking a picture.

Focal Legnth: The space between a lense and it's focus.

Dolly: The movement of  a camera on a mobile platform.

Pan: The movement of a camera on a vertical or horizontal plane usually used to follow a subject.

Robot Postponed, Video Game Project Started

Sorry that I haven't done any work the last week. I was on Spring Break last week. Anyways, I won't be working on the robot project until sometime next week due to the fact that my teacher assigned a project where you have to make a concept for a video game and present the idea. I'll be working with one of my classmates, Kade, during this time. Check out his website: http://3dgraphicssorensen.blogspot.com

Robot Sketch So Far

First off, I apologize for not posting anything on Wednesday. I was working on my robot sketch and lost track of time. I've scanned the sketch so far, but its incomplete. I'm almost done with it though, I just need to finish the hands, body and the legs, which may have to be drawn on another sheet of paper.

Update 9/18/15: This is the Maya robot project I mentioned in my earlier post today. It still has some work that needs to be done, but I am close to finishing it up. I'll bring scans of the finished work once that comes around. I'll probably begin working with what I have currently on Tuesday.

Robot Concept Ideas

After a lot of thinking, I started a thinking map full of ideas for my robot project in my 3D class. Since I spent more time working on it, I think I am going to use the GrimSevMk-I and SolIbis bot pair, but I might decide to do something else based on how complicated this gets. Here is a screenshot of the concept map at the moment.

I apologize for not posting much last week, I had to do a ton of testing. :(

100% Complete Temple

It took a lot longer than it probably should have, but I finally completed the temple that I was working on. Getting the decoration on the roof of the temple took the longest because I was trying to use a torus (which didn't work at all) instead of using a partial sphere and scaling to the proper size.

Beveling

This class I worked with beveling (or rounding edges) in Maya. The process of beveling is a little weird but basically you select the edges of a shape (or the shape as a whole) and use Edit Mesh>Bevel in order to bevel a shape. You can control how many segments a shape is beveled into, and you can also control the offset of the beveling. In the top row I edited the number of segments beveled and in the bottom row I edited the offset of the beveling. The first image shows the number of edges in each bevel while the second image shows how smooth the edges are after beveling.

Deformers

Today my teacher asked that the class messed with the deformers in Maya so that we knew how they work. There are six of them, and I have to use all six and make screenshots of them being used. I will also have to make two screenshots of multiple deformers being stacked (used at the same time). I will also make a screenshot of the original shape so that you can tell what's happening.

Original Shape:

Bend Deformer: Bends the shape from the center.

Flare Deformer: Moves one end of the shape and either makes it wider or more narrow.

Sine Deformer: Makes waves (can't think of a better work XD) using the shape. The frequency (amplitude) changes based on the wavelength.

Squash Deformer: Squishes or extends the shape. The point where this occurs is based on the Max Expand Position.

Twist Deformer: Twists the original shape. The angle of the twist is determined by the start angle. The number of twists is determined by the end angle.

Wave Deformer: Creates a wave pattern using the shape. Amplitude and wavelength determine what the wave looks like. Offset determines the pattern of the wave.

Squash+Twist:

Sine+Wave+Flare:

Vocab Review #1

Apparently there is a vocab review that I have to do, and it requires me to define the vocab in my own words and post pictures relating to the vocab, so I'm just going to go ahead and do that now.


Analogous Colors: Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel

Complementary Colors: Colors opposite each other on the color wheel

Primary Colors: Colors on the color wheel that cannot be made using any mixture of colors

Secondary Colors: Colors on the color wheel that are made by mixing two primary colors

Tertiary Colors: Colors on the color wheel that can be made by mixing a secondary color with a primary color.

Symmetry: Something that can be split in half at least one way and be proportionally the same on both sides
Asymmetry: Something that is not proportionally the same no matter how it is split in half.

Working On Robot Sketch

As my title implies, I am currently working on the robot sketch so I have a good idea of what I'm going to make when I start making this in 3D. When I'm finished with the sketch I will scan it and post it here.

Making a Temple in 3D

This is something I did at the beginning of the semester that I forgot to post. Basically I made a temple using basic shapes and classifying them as necessary so that I could easily tell what shapes were a part of a certain part of the temple, and duplicate them around the base of the temple if necessary. I also added a material (blinn) to the temple so it had some color to it instead of being grey. I still need to add stairs to the top of the temple, as well as a decorative part on the top, so I'm not completely done yet.

Reference Pictures for Robot Design

I apologize for not posting anything on Thursday. I was in a competition to get into Skills USA. Anyways, today the class had to come up with concepts for a robot that I assume we will be making in Maya soon, so I got some reference images and I am currently sketching out ideas for the robot. I don't have any sketches at the moment, but I have the reference pictures below.

I feel like I left out a few pictures, so here is the link in case you want to take a look for yourself http://www.pinterest.com/chaosdragon115/pics-for-robot-design/