Today we created a model of a tree on 3D Studio Max, and here's my finished foliage - I managed to craft the tree without too much difficulty, but struggled a bit with mapping textures onto it. Eventually (and with Andy's help!) I finished the tree off, but there are still a few things about it I'm not too happy with. I drew the leaves out myself, and here they look way too small, making the tree look a little...odd! I've gotta admit, the more I learn about 3D modelling, the more confusing it seems...
The process of getting my head around 3D animation is slowly but surely making progress. In uni the other day we had to design little octopuses, and then make them float up down in a relaxing manner... Here's mine -
I was very satisfied with the way the octopus looked, as from all angles he did indeed resemble a happy-go-lucky cartoon squid, but unfortunately his movement didn't go quite as smoothly. Rather than bobbing up and down, he kinda shoots into the air and then falls back down again. Just to add insult to injury, then all his legs fly out in the wrong direction and he, erm, gets himself into a bit of a mess. However, by confusing this poor octopus I think I've learnt a little more about 3D Studio Max. Hopefully within a few days/weeks/months/years (let's hope it's not years, eh?) I'll have cracked it!
Yesterday we started using the programme 3D Studio Max to, erm, make giant bulbous letters jump up and down, which was pretty cool! At the moment, I have to admit I'm pretty bewildered by the interface. After a bit of fiddling about and experimenting with it I managed to make a little pig, and then make his face glide about like a swine in a lava lamp. I've literally just downloaded Blender, the free 3D animation programme, and it looks even more complex, but I'll have a read through the tutorials and see what kind of creatures I can concoct...In the mean time, enjoy these!
And a happy new year to you all! Here's a little visual aid as to how mine was spent - But enough of this frivolity, lets sink our teeth into a tasty hard work sandwich. After several projects last term didn't actually come to fruition, it's probably a good idea to look at why. The Pixelation videos turned out fine, other than one me and John were working on which was probably a little too ambitious to finish off in the time (who knows, maybe we could have done, but with other projects, a social life and a need for sleep, realistically maybe it was a bit much...).
The film was going to be about a sketch artist who can't really sketch very well, and just as he gets frustrated by this, he gets sucked inside his own crude sketches, and then goes on a little adventure. We got as far as taking all the photos for the artist starting off in 'real life', and then him sticking his hand into the paper and watching it turn into a cartoon, and then him jumping in and landing in the animated world, but no further! There was a further plan to get him onto a little cartoon boat, and then voyage across seas of ink, but this sadly never happened. Even though it won't be marked now, I'd still like to finish it off, as it'd look pretty cool!
The One shot films weren't quite as successful, partly because our group could never get together. This term it might be a good idea to make group meetings a higher priority, but I think for this one it was maybe because we were all a little uninspired to begin with, and when we did start having some cool ideas we were all too stuck into the Flash animations and it was too late to give them the time they deserved.
Finally, here's my presentation for the last term! I decided not to use Power Point, because pixelation is way more satisfying, heh! The different projects are meant to be viewed in between each part of the presentation, but you'll get the gist of it. Enjoy!
