Assignment #4- Model (3D)

Ciao ragazzi!

So here's some renders from the final 3D model for the Beauty and the Beast (BatB) Castle! There are lots of pictures for this post, but that's because I wanted to try and give you as much of a 360 view as possible. This model took me quite a bit of time to complete, but really that was mostly because I tried to start it without proper reference. Once I photoshopped all those separate shapes, the whole thing got a LOT easier and also a lot more fun!

Also, this is still a pretty basic model. I had left out all the details save a few, so I definitely have some work ahead if I want to finish it. But to be honest? I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I took a few liberties with the design so it's not EXACTLY like the references. Hope you enjoy:

Assignment #4 - Model (References)

Ciao, ragazzi!

Devo practicare piu italiano perché é una possibilita che io debba usarla nel futuro!

For this assignment, we were to create a model in Maya using reference material. I kinda decided to go all out on this so I chose to base my model off of the castle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Here are some screen captures of the castle from the film:






During my search for reference material, I actually stumbled upon some great semi-orthoganal views of the castle. One in particular stood out (I think it's from a coloring book):



Great stuff! With this view of the castle, it made it very easy to start modeling from it in Maya. The only problem? The castle was a little too complicated. All the shapes that make up the building are fairly simple, but from this frontal viewpoint, all of them appear to be stacked on top of each other. This made it very hard to clearly visualize what each of the pieces looked like, let alone where they are placed in the 3D space.

I struggled with this for a little while and realized I needed more broken down references, starting with the simples parts and building the castle from there. So I did a little photoshop engineering. :) First, I used the warp transformation tool to even out the sides. Then, I removed the majority of the detail and flair on the castle (statues, windows, etc.) and started to mask out the different sections (using the clone stamp tool to make any extensions where necessary). Here are some examples of the pieces and then the finished edited reference:







Pretty cool, huh? Well, I thought so at least. :) It helped SO much with getting started modeling. Only having to worry about the basic shapes one at a time has really got me going along. Check out the next post for my final model!

My Stuff: Sketch and Paint!

Ciao ragazzi!

Here's a little freebie thing I've been working on. By "freebie", I mean I won't get credit in a class for it--did it just for fun! And by "working on", I mean it took hardly any time at all.

So a WHILE ago, I did a doodle for my sister because she said she wanted to be a princess. Mind you, this is WELL before Princess and the Frog had even been announced--so any similarities are HIGHLY coincidental....(...and by "coincidental", I mean "Disney probably snuck into my room, stole my sketchbook, made copies and then quickly returned it all while I was sleeping in the middle of the night"....) I'll let it slide, THIS time.

Here's the sketch and the painted final:




Honestly, I LOVE the way it turned out. It was one of the first times I'd ever painted with Photoshop, let alone the first time I've even ever scanned any of my work. I think I should start working on some others. I have quite a few. :)

Assignment #3 - Planar Shapes, Revolve, Extrude and Loft

Ciao Ragazzi!

Come state?

This assignment had multiple parts. So bear with me. :)

1) First, we had to create a 2D planar shape from a logo of our choice. I chose the logo from my dad's non-profit organization, the Titan's Academic and Athletic Program. Here's a link to the site. I used curves to make the shape plane and here's what I have:




The first is the actual logo. The second is my planar copy from Maya.

2) Next, we revolved a curve. I chose to create a lamp from this reference. I wanted an object with a lot of divots and details so the model looked slightly impressive even though it was extremely easy to create. Here's what I got:




3) We then had to extrude a 2D shape along a path. My extrusion created a slide. I cheated a little and didn't closed my shape, but the process was the same and I like the way it turned out. I added the little stepladder on the side and made a playground slide. I might start adding more to this, texture/light it and make a whole playground playscape. What do you think?





4) Lastly, we had to create some sort of loft shape. I was having a little bit of a hard time thinking up an object I wanted to create with a loft, so I decided to go abstract. The base shape is a flower I drew with the pencil tool in Maya, and here's what I got:

Assignment #2 - Perspective Drawing and Painting

Hey guys!

Here's my perspective drawing and painting....FINALLY!! I'm so sorry for the delay. I wanted this to be REALLY good and I think I just wasn't satisfied at the beginning and got stuck. Then, of course, I started running away from it until it became this big, dark, disgusting thing that I never wanted to go near.

BUT! I sucked it up and finished it. ....kinda. Here ya go:




I love the drawing part. I got to get really analytical with the perspective, which I enjoy. But I'm not really satisfied with the paint. I just don't know enough about color theory yet to really pull this together. I was kinda just winging it. Still...it's the best I could do. :)

Assignment #1 - Skysphere

Hey guys,

For this assignment, we were supposed to create a skysphere in Maya. A skysphere is a 3D sphere with a sky or environment texture mapped over it. As I was google-ing panoramic images I stumbled across an interesting one of the Cloud Gate sculpture from the AT&T Plaza in Chicago. Here's the LINK to the wikipedia page and the panorama I found:



I like the overall color tone of the panorama and I thought the reflection on the sculpture was pretty cool. I mapped the texture on a simple 3D sphere in Maya. This allowed me to pan around the inside of the object and simulate a 3D environment. Pretty COOL! Here are some rendered stills from the project:








Unfortunately, with all the people in the photo, you can't do too much animation with it. But I thought it was cool nonetheless. Definitely helped me get more familiar with the user interface of Maya!

Till next time!

Introduction....Again....

Ciao, ragazzi!

Come stai? Bene? Good. :)

I just wanted to re-introduce myself to any new readers. I created this blog for Ben Bay's Visual Effects class but I've also added some of my other work and animation in here. Please, feel free to check it out (I encourage it, really!) and look out for some more entries. We have a lot of 3D examples coming as well as some 2D drawings and sketches I've been meaning to scan in. Exciting! I can't wait to show you all! :)

Alex

Here's some past posts of interest:

My first introduction with some insights into my artistic inspirations!

My very first animation I ever created!

An example of some work in Photoshop!

Some title effects I did in AfterEffects!