Project 1 – 80%-100% FINAL

Standard

ICE SCULPTOR (80%)

I managed to find the proper ice texture. The object was made with a blinn (shiny and reflective) material. I changed the attributes of it, playing around with the refractive index so that the ice will be transparent but at the same time, refracting the background and lights. I added in bump map, which sole purpose is to create realistic texture but it is actually a flat image pasted on top of the blinn material.

I changed the background to something with more detail so that the refraction can be seen clearly in the ice.

 

PRESCHOOL TEACHER (80%)

 

I’ve decided to submit this 80% piece and then focus on improving the typography later on. I made use of the colourful scheme to make it look like a preschool classroom. Preschool are mostly filled with babies and toddlers. Their toys are mostly for educational purposes. I’ve decided to use this particular toy as there’s more freedom to create free-form shapes using the metal rods.

 

JAZZ MUSICIAN

I’ve decided to go with the outdoor scene as it looks more realistic. People would see this outside the club before proceeding inside. I changed the letter “Z” to a saxophone and the letter “I” to a microphone. I made the rest of the letters cursive to give it an informal and casual feeling. I feel that it’s quite easy to see that I am a jazz musician/singer due to the saxophone and microphone. And also the mini light bulbs surrounding the signboard.

 

ENGINEER (CIRCUIT BOARD)

This is the final outcome. I’ve combined various electrical components to create my name. I’ve used resistors and a crocodile-teeth wire for the letter “Z”, wires for the letter “A” and finally, an LED light board for “F”. I’ve decided to use my nickname “Zaf” instead of my full name. I thought of changing the wires for the letter “A” to a blue-coloured wire but decided it didn’t compliment the colours of the other 2 components as both of them are red in colour. I decided to use 2 different tones of red for the letter “A” to create a contrast. Props such as soldering iron and battery are placed around the name to show that I was working on the circuit board.

This project has allowed me to explore various ways of creating names in a unique manner. I have to say that I really enjoyed myself doing this project. Totally worth staying up till 5am everyday to complete this work *smiley face* I’ve decided to use Maya 2016 as the main medium for this particular project. I am still finding ways to improve myself. I have a feeling I’ll be more of a 3D graphic designer rather than a 2D for most of my work but I will try to explore different mediums more and step out from my comfort zone.

Project 1 – PROCESS

Standard

ICE SCULPTOR

For this particular piece, the main problem I had was to get the right amount of texture and composition to bring out the best from it. I started out with having a basic font and played around until I got the right texture.

The top image has a specific spotlight pointing directly at it. Thus, the bright shine omitted from the reflection of the ice. Where as the bottom image has a more realistic feel to it. I have decided to go with the bottom texture. But after consulting, I received comments that the font used was too simple and to play around with the placement of the letters. Upon further exploration and modeling, I came up with the piece below.

The first image was horrible. I forgot what the settings were for the ice texture. Thus, the outcome. Light was pointed towards it which makes it almost invisible. I removed the spotlight and replaced it with an ambient light instead. Thus, the result in the second image. The ice texture didn’t come out that much too. I realized that there was something wrong with the settings and attributes of the texture applied. I went back to Youtube to find the tutorial and realized I left out one major step which made made such major difference. The third image came out but I realized the background didn’t bring out much of the ice texture. I decided to edit the background further and the final outcome will be revealed in another post.

 

PRESCHOOL TEACHER

For this concept, I decided to make it as bright and colourful as possible but still maintaining my name to be legible.

However, after consultation for this piece, comments were given that the background and foreground had too much contrast. It was illegible in beginning and suggestions were given to make the background more subtle/darker while making the name brighter and center of attraction.

I modelled the background from scratch and decided to give it a more preschool classroom feel rather than the play-tent kind of background.

I decided the walls in the top image was a bit tad too plain so I added in some educational posters to make the classroom look more like a preschool classroom.

After showing this to my friends, they said they liked it but I could do something about the fonts. The ending of my name was a little bit hard for them to read. I used cursive fonts but the lowercase alphabets are all of different sizes. This makes it hard to read and differentiate which one of the letters are of upper case or lower case. One of my friends told me to refer to font proportion online and see the difference between an uppercase and lowercase.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8707/28400030326_6314874581_o.png

I should change it but I’ll submit the 80% first. Hehe.

 

JAZZ MUSICIAN

When I hear the word “Jazz”, the first thing that came to my mind was a dark and gloomy place filled with good music and one of the important factor, NEON LIGHTS. I decided to make use of the neon lights to make a Jazz signage and portray that I am somewhat the jazz musician for the night.

I used the letter “Z” in my name and edit it to look like a saxophone as it’s the major instrument in Jazz. After consultation, I was told that the “afirah” was too fixed and constant. I could make further improvement and make it look more cursive.

I came up with 2 different backgrounds. One of the signage was hung outside the jazz club whereas the other one was hung against a brick wall in the club.

I’m contemplating whether to post the signage outside the club or the one against the brick wall for my final project.

 

ENGINEER (CIRCUIT BOARD)

I had a history of being a Design and Technology student. So I thought I could infuse my knowledge and my design together for this particular composition.

I started out with the basic empty circuit board as the base.

I started adding in components to create my name. I’ve decided to create my nickname “Zaf” as it is shorter than “Zafirah”. I added in resistors, wires and LED lights to create my name. The soldering iron at the top and battery are placed there for props. I’ll be posting my final outcome on another post!

 

Final 3D Project: Goldberg Machine

Standard

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.