Playing with fire.

Fire is badass, it's a scientific fact. Pyrotechnics fire fire. Therefore pyrotechnics are basically "badass rays", and it this logic that forces me to use them in this animation.
I used a simple tutorial on youtube to learn howto make low poly fire in 3Dmax using particle systems. This is the result I got.

Enviromental animation

This monring I added wind to my scene and added it to the cloth forces of the canvases at the side of the stage and simulated it. It's a little too strong at the moment so I will need to turn down the wind. I also animated the lights moving around, completling the enviroment animation, and giving the whole thing a realistic atmosphere.

People!

I imported the basic human model from mudbox to use as the mesh for all mt characters, and then lowered the poly count of one and copied it to make the crowd. I also imported the music intruments I modelled last year to use in this scene. Ive imported the music into the scene to prepare for the animation and mapped the main characters to match the storyboard designs I made. Tomorrow I will move onto rigging my characters.

Its time to...set the stage... hahahaha no.

BOOM.
This morning I modelled the stage for my animation unit. I started with a standard box as the stage base/floor, then latticed some more boxes to make the girders. After buliding the foundations I used planes to where I wanted their to be canvas and use the cloth modifyer to make it sag like real canvas.

 

I created the Screen and spekers using simple box modelling.

I used box modelling to make the stage lights then attached a spotlight to each one then grouped it all together, moving the pivot to the base of the light, allowing me to move them around like real stagelights.

Advanced 3D modelling evaluation

For this unit I had to create a working low poly model showing advanced modelling techniques, and sculpting using a sculpting package (Mudbox). I decided to separate my modelling and animation unit, even though the choice to combine them was open to me. By doing this I felt I could focus on each unit independently and better hit the specifications of the brief for each unit.

For this unit I decided to model an Enzo Ferrari, as I had never tried to model A vehicle before and thought it would be an interesting way to test my skills, and ability to handle new challenges. I decided to specifically do and Enzo Ferrari for 2 reasons. Firstly due to it being my favourite car to have been put into production and owning a scale model of it (which helped with the modelling immeasurable) and secondly, because it is a very complicated car to model and I wanted to test my modelling abilities.

I used box modelling on the majority of the modelling process, avoiding splines because they can sometimes cause problems with smoothing.  I began by building the individual parts of the Enzo’s bodywork then attaching them together, ending up with a low poly model resembling the contours of the original model but still very basic. I then moved onto cutting into the model, insetting and extruding polys and removing other poly’s to start building up the finer details of the model.

For some of the intricate details of the model such as the vents and tire treads, I used Mudbox to sculpt the details onto the flat models I produced in 3DMax. I did this using the stencil tool and images of tire treads and vents I found online as stamps.

If I were to try modelling this again, I probably wouldn’t change anything. I didn’t encounter any major problems while modelling this object. There were a couple of times where I hadn’t welded geometry together correctly and it caused horrible creases in the model after smooth had been applied, but these were easily rectified, after I had found the broken geometry.

While working on this model I have learnt a lot of new techniques and tools in max. One of the ones I really like are the mental ray default material settings, that can be (an were) used to give objects realistic effects, with computed reflections and refractions. They increase the render times significantly, but the end result is worth it. I learnt that the soft selection tool can be used in a variety in situations to give good results (I was used to just using them for facial animation). The bend tool is, as a whole, useless. It bends cylinders nicely but anything with more complex geometry ends up horrible distorted and look horrible.

I am extremely pleased with how my model turned out after all the work I put into it. The model looks just like the physical one I worked from, and the metal ray maps I’ve applied to it really help to bring it to life.

Enzo modelling pt11...or is it 12. Modelling completion

Toda I modelled the dashboard and seats for the car, using box modelling as I have done before, with mudbox and mentalray maps to add detail, to give me these final results.

So here we are, 1 month, 3 backups, 6 indipendent save files, 36 materials, 79 objects and 2.8 million polys (and a similar number of disgruntled cusses) down the line, and the model is finally complete. See now the fist render I took aof the front of the car as I began modelling.

 

I've made a little bit of progress since that point!

Enzo modelling pt 11, Engine

I modelled the Enzo engine Using mostly standard primatives. I used a little bit of box modelling on the main block and the base but other than those most of it was modelled with simplicity.

Then I mapped it and placed it within the car chassis, Giving me this result.

Next step will be the dashboard. ACTION SHOT!!

VVVVVVVRRRROOOOM!

Enzo modelling pt 10, Final bodily details

 I made the badge using a simple bos, then used mudbox to paint on the ferrari logo

And used simple tubes as the exhausts and UV mapped the licence plate to one I found online. All thats left to do now is the interior.

Enzo modelling pt 9, WE'ALS!

 

I started off by modelling my wheel from a cylinder that I subdivided, then medellied for about 2 hours to get the shape of the Rim I wanted, Then I moved onto the tires.

This is a tire texture that I found online that I then used to stencil onto a tire (made from a tube) in Mudbox, to create the treads, giving me theis final wheel

I then placed the wheel into the chassis and cut out the wheel archs. I will now model the exhaust and ferrari badges.

Enzo modelling pt8. chassis

Using box modelling, and more of the same techniques Ive used over the course of producing this model, I have models the chassis section of the enzo ferrari. Tomorrow I will start work on the wheels, replacing the incredibly bland cylinder that they are at the moment.

Enzo modelling pt7. Mudboxing vents.

Today I decided to begin work on the vents of the ferrari, starting with the front. I started with a standard plane shapped to the vent hole, then imported it into mudbox, and bumps the sudivitions upto 8 (it was only a 2 poly mest to start with). I then got a picture of a vent off the internet to use as a stencil, which turned out quite nicely, so I exported my displacment and normal maps.

I then imported the maps into max and used the displacement modifyer on the original plane,with a turbosmooth to give me the final result.

 

I then repeated this process on the side and rear vents.

Enzo modelling pt 6, Rear vents and detail, outer shell completion

I began the rear the same way as the frond and sides, using insets, extrutions and other forms of poly modelling to start building up the shape. I then modelled the Rear lights using a cyclinder and mental ray materials like on the front lights.

After another hour or so of modelling I completed the rear of the enzo, meaning the outer shell is complete. Next up is the inner shell and vents, moving onward to the interior, then lastly the wheels.

Enzo modelling pt 5, Side vents and doors.

Using the same techniques as the bonnet vents I modelled the side vents into the car. I spent about 3 hours altogether on this process making sure the flow was perfect and true to the original car. I then cut out the shape of the doors and detatched them from the car. After moving the pivot to where the hinge lies ion the original car I now have operational doors, Although this doesnt effect the marking criteria at all for the modeliing unit, I thought It would be an interesting addition.

Copyright work

RIAA v the pirate bay

The Pirate Bay is a Swedish website which hosts magnet links and .torrent files allowing users to share digital media files and software via BitTorrent software.
On March 31^st 2006 the Swedish police raided 10 locations of servers that hosted the pirates bay (as well as seizing servers that had no connection with the site, but where at the same location) in an effort to shut down the site. Three days after the incident, the pirate bay was relocated to servers in the Netherlands and was up and running again.
On January 31^st 2008 charges were pressed against the four founders of the pirate bay, and the trail began in February 2009, using evidence from the 2006 raids. After only 1 day on trial, half the charges had been dropped, amending the charges from “complicity in the production of copyrighted material” and “complicity to make (copyrighted material) available” to only the latter.
The rest of the trial involved the prosecution attempted to show the pirate bay as a website that makes its money by helping others to violate copyright law. While the defence attempted to show the Pirate Bay as a search engine, no different from Google or Yahoo.
On the 17^th April 2009 the pirate bay founders were sentenced to 1 year in prison each and fined 30 million Swedish crowns (about £2,800,000) but this sentence was overturned on November 26^th 2010 after an appeal and their sentences were reduced to 4,8 and 10 months respectively and the fine increased to 46 million Krona (about £4,300,000)

Bibliography
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/31/piratebay_raid/  21/11/11
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/06/71089 21/11/11
http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.143146 21/11/11
http://www.thelocal.se/17640/20090217/ 21/11/11
http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/the-pirate-bay-sentenced-to-one-year-in-prison 21/11/11
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/26/pirate_bay_appeal_verdict/ 21/11/11

The Yankee Candle Co. v. New England Candle Co.

This case started when the plaintiff, The Yankee Candle Company, Inc., noticed that the defendants, New England Candle Company, Inc., had opened a retail candle store that possessed aesthetically similar characteristics to their own stores. Yankee turned directly to the Court with a complaint alleging federal and state trademark infringement, federal copyright infringement, and state deceptive trade practices against the New England Company.
While examining the blueprints, the Court found that five of the six elements expressed in New England's plans resemble designs found in its competitor's blueprints remarkably.

“The designs for New England's storefront windows and framing, the display units depicted from the front and the side, and the overhead layout of the store, including its French doors and recessed entrance, could pass for replicas of the designs for the same elements in Yankee's Holyoke store plans. Only the "light cove detail" that illuminates the New England store's sign does not have a twin in the Yankee plans. Nevertheless, given Komosa's access to the copyrighted blueprints and the similarities between the two sets of plans, the Court concludes that copying has occurred.”

After extensive hearings, the Court granted Yankee's motion for a preliminary injunction on the copyright infringement claim. Despite some initial difficulty, the New England Company complied with the terms the Court ordered by making structural changes to their store.

Bibliography
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2468963775610038891 12/11/11

Exxon Corp. v Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd

Exxon Corp. v. Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd is considered a leading decision in English law on the existence of copyright in a brand name and the infringement of a trade mark. The Court found that usually a name cannot be copyrighted, invented or otherwise, and that a trade mark can only be infringed when the party shares part of the same market segment.
Exxon took the position that there is copyright in the word "Exxon" for two reasons. Firstly due to the fact they put considerable time and effort into the creation of the word, and second, as there was a significant investment into creating the name they argued it was an "original literary work". Further, they argued that size of a literary work does not matter.
The Court found that the name Exxon, while a trade mark, is only a word which is not capable of being copyrighted. A word alone does not convey any information beyond its dictionary meaning and thus cannot be a piece literary work. Furthermore, allowing copyright in single words would then negate the need for trade mark law completely and would make use of the word in question difficult in public.
With regards to the trade mark, the Court found that the use of the word Exxon by the defendants, who work in a completely different market, doesn’t dilute the plaintiff's brand name or infringe its trade mark.

Bibliography
http://dictionary.sensagent.com/exxon+corp.+v+exxon+insurance+consultants+international+ltd/en-en/ 12/11/11

STAGES!

For my animation unit I have opted to animate a band performing a song live on stage in front of an audience. I intend to use a lot of environmental animation such as the audience moving, stage lights moving and pyrotechnics. I have used the internet as a research tool to gather images of stages that I can use as references as I design mine and draw out my storyboards.

This is the song I have decided to use.

Enzo modelling pt 4, Mirrors and lights, finished the font.

Using materials and a sphere I modeled lights for the front of the enzo, and I then box medelled a wing mirror. I used standard mentalray materials to make the lights turn on, the glass over them, and the working mirrors on the sides.

Enzo modelling pt 3, Detailing the front of the car.

After deleting unnecessary geometry I insetted the polygons for the windows and deleted them, forming where I would eventually plave the windows, Now I would begin modelling the detail.

Using insetting, extruding and cutting I began modelling the fine details in the front of the enzo, using chamfer to build edges more finlye where smooth was working to hard.

And this is the completed front of the car.

Enzo modelling pt 2, welding

For started today I welded together the enzo model to allow a smooth modifyer to be applied. This took about 2 hours of tediouse edge placements, moving and welding to get it to this stage, with little difference to the overall shape of the model, but now I can start thinking about detail after I remover the unnecessary geometry... another couple hours work that will make to visible model difference.

Enzo modelling pt 1

Today I began modelling my Enzo Ferrari.I stated by putting the images Id taken into phoshop and lining them all up to me made into a template in max, which I then made (tedious work, but incredibly helpful).

After setting this up I began to model. The best way to model an non organic object it usually to break it down and model each part seperate then rejoin them, and this is no exception, but due to the way the Enzo is designed I struggled to find where I could break it down.


After a short discussion with Lee I started working on it, using box modelling. After building up a basic shape of the car using seperate geometry I need to start welding it together, which I shall begin shortly.

Mudbox, Maps and a very ugly man

This is an ambiant occlution map. It uses a bright colour to pick up shadows in the mesh that can then be overlapped over the final material to give really nice lighting and shadow effects to a final render.

We used mudbox for some sculpting practice on a basic head for an hour or so and then practived bringing it back into 3DS max. The above image is what rendered out.

Moshing, moshing and cannons.

Today we did some more animation practice, starting with a conceptionalised idea of a cannon firing at a bell. I modelled the whole scene myself and used key animation throughout. I then decided to use CAT to try and make some of the motions needed for my animation project, namely headbanging. Ive aniamted the guitarist and vocalist in a manner I find apealing and will likely use in my final animation.

Displacement maps.

Today we covered displacment mapping, how it works, and how to use it. Displacement maps work in a similar way to bump maps, but where a bump map just gives the illution of geometry, a displacement map acttually changes the geometry of a model. This would be helpful for scenes with lighting as geometry reflects light properly.

Research for Modelling

For my modelling unit I have decided to try modelling a car, as I have never tried to model one before. I have chosen to try and model an Enzo Ferrari 2002 as, not only is it my favorite car, it has a very interesting body shape that I feel will test my abilities as a modeller.
It happens I have a scale model of an Enzo so I feel it will help me greatly in the modelling process. I have taken images of the side, front, rear and top view of the model to use as a stencil in 3D max when I begin the modelling.

animation practice

Wooooooo animation!
We were told to practice some simple animation like someone walking down the stairs so I used a mech rig. Once completing the simple steps lee suggested pelvic animation (weight and sway) which added to the animation. I then went abit overboard with rendering and using particles to animate bullets being fired from the gun. After rendering it out I used premier pro to add some sound effects because....I could.

Little man.

 So for homework lee gave us a basic model of a bipedial man, to unwrap, map, rig and animate.
 Lets do this.
First unwrap.

 Yaaay! to Mudbox for texturing and paint

Lookin fine, time to export the paint and normal layers (yes he's green)

Huzzar time for the rigging/skinning.
During this point I think I came across this error and I could not rectify it, so my skin didnt look perfect in some places and I had no way of repairing it.
I then made a basic scene (thowing in alot of the preset foliage) to show him running through a field, and renderd it out.