Final Project

Final 3D Project: Goldberg Machine

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For our final project, we were challenged to make a Goldberg Machine. What is it you may ask? It’s the kinetic machine that starts with one object that triggers a chain of action and reaction using different objects.

The scene that I chose for this project was from Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s stone, the scene were the trios (Harry, Ron and Hermione) met for the ever first time on the train towards Hogwarts. Link to the clip can be found below!

Harry Potter and Friends first meeting

We didn’t know what our project was when we first chose our specific scenes. But when Peter told us the project brief, the only words that came to my mind was “die lah”. 

My scene was all talk and no actions! How do I put that in a machine that was suppose to show movements, actions and reactions? After having a discussion with Peter, he suggested using sounds instead of sight. He made a point and I proceeded on with that idea and added in parts of mine.

I separated the scene I chose into 2 parts; Harry and Ron’s first meeting and then their meeting with Hermione.

I specifically took 3 different actions from each part to include in my machine.

For the first part, I added in the following scene with the following sound/objects.

First scene:

  1. Bells: First meeting of Ron and Harry
  2. Plastic bag: Them eating the entire food cart (sounds of food wrappers)
  3. Washboard: Sound of the chocolate frog when Harry first opened it from one of the snacks

Second scene: 

  1. Bells: Hermione casting a spell on Harry’s broken glasses
  2. Glass: The sound of glasses being fixed
  3. Bells: Them arriving at Hogwarts

I used 3 different balls to represent 3 different characters. I’ve painted the faces of each characters onto the wooden balls. I placed Ron and Hermione on different parts of the machine to represent their meetings during the clip. They knocked into each other and moved on together.

Peter commented that some of the sounds were very subtle like the wrappers/plastic bag. Maybe that was one part I could improve on and also the visual of it. I didn’t think they would want to see my product as I would want them to hear instead of seeing but oh wells.

Below is the video of my final project. It seemed quite rushed but I hope you can see the 3 different characters meeting one another.

 

MY GOLDBERG MACHINE 3D FINAL PROJECT

Reflection:

Honestly, this final project challenged us to the very max. It was very stressful as we’re working with both “engineering” and design. It’s like I’m back to DNT during my secondary school days. I really feel I could’ve done better despite the amount of time given. Even Peter was worried when he looked at our progress. If we didn’t have other modules to focus on, I would’ve definitely given my all for this project.

3D Project: From Useless to Abstract (FINAL)

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Final Product – Golf Structure

I was given a choice to pick between 2 objects. One useful, another worthless.

Useful: Honey Beeswax Lip Balm (I use it everyday without fail)

Worthless: Expired Golf Proficiency Certificate

I’ve decided to use the “worthless” object to show that I can make something useful out of something worthless. My main object is the golf proficiency certificate. So, I’ve decided to focus more on the use of Golf.

Golf is a sport that represents calmness. You need to concentrate and be calm when you play this sport. Research shows that the color green presents calmness. Hence, the greenery in my artwork represents the calmness. When you’re playing on the green, you’re surrounded by almost everything nature-related. Hence, I’ve decided to focus on the materials of nature such as wood and grass to represent my artwork.

Moving on to the balancing beam, the 2 balls hung on the balance beam represents balance. I made sure both of the balls are filled with the same amount of sand to balance it well. The balancing beam is placed on a rotating platform and spun around to show the swing effect. Both of these techniques are very essential in a game of golf. The part that supports the balancing beam to the ground, that represents the feet. It shows how important that part is as the placement of the foot is very crucial. If not placed properly, the entire artwork will collapse.

I’ve enjoyed doing this project as I had a chance to bring out my craftsmanship and apply it well to my product. Overall, I am very satisfied with my final artwork.

And spinning the balancing beam around can be quite addicting. 

Threads and Planes (3D Project): Process and Final Outcome

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The main scope of our first project was to create a plan using threads. We were tasked to make holes on our plane (paper and then hard plastic) and then sewing in and out with needle and thread to create that plane. I’ve tried to use different color threads so that it won’t be confusing.

 

Ideation & Process:

 

Initially, I had this design in mind. I’ve decided to create a squarish plane and combine each side together. I would’ve gone with this design but there were 2 problems as to why I didn’t. Firstly, the plane was forcefully folded and it wasn’t the threads that gave its shape. Secondly, only the inner part of the plane was aesthetically nice. There were no threads found on the back or bottom part of the plane.

 

This was the finalized design for my final project. I’ve decided to fold some parts of the plane and also using the pull and strength of the thread to create a fold. Initially I wanted to put a “pole” in the middle of the artifact for support and wrap the thread around it (as shown in the image below) but realized that it was not encouraged when Peter checked my work and gave me feedback. I saw this idea from my friend’s instagram and decided to give it a go but failed miserably. Very very miserably.

 

 

The process was hard as I had to crack my head and find which angle and folds work best for my artifact. I used a long rectangular plane and the cut it up and fold to make it into a smaller one. I had to make use of both sides to get a balanced look but as I added more threads to my artifact, it became messy, small and overly-tightened.

 

FINAL OUTCOME:

 

This was my final artifact for the project. I’ve used different colors. I’ve added some plane by the sides too. However, I’ve come to realize that using threads of many colors has caused the whole thing to look messy. I should’ve used at most 3 different colors to make it look nicer. And some of the thread color I’ve used seemed too bright to be seen from far, especially in the pictures above. All in all, I’m proud of how I was able to tighten the threads to make it look neat and presentable.

 

In conclusion, this project has greatly taught me the importance of these 3 basic elements: Dots, Lines and Plane. Without even 1 of the element stated, I would’ve not been able to complete the project smoothly. By combining these 3 together, it has created a aesthetically pleasant visual form of art and may create something else if used differently with different amount of emphasis on each element. I this particular project, we mainly focused on lines and planes. All in all, I’ve enjoyed completing this project as it enhances and opens my creativity to different mediums.