Starting my Project- April

This week I started on my image for April. For this I have chosen to create an image of St George and the Dragon as I felt it would be interesting to create and also quite a unique idea. I decided to start with the dragons body and began by drawing a capsule shape and used the soft selection tool to edit it into the shape I wanted. It took a while to do this as I struggled to get the shape symmetrical and keep all the edges smooth, but eventually I elongated parts of the capsule into a suitable shape.

Next I worked on creating the tail of the dragon. For this I chose to use a cone and selected bend from the modifier list. I applied a bend along the z axis as this created the curve I wanted for the cone. I chose to use a bend angle of 129.5 as it curved around the edge of the stage well. Once I had applied a bend the length of the tail appeared to be too short in comparison to the body and so I increased the length of the cone.

Afterwards I decided to work on the neck. I decided to do this in two parts as I wanted to include different thicknesses along the neck as well as two different bends which went in different directions. I started with the section closest to the body. I chose to use a cone to do this so that the base was slightly wider than the top. I then made the shape into an editable poly and applied a bend of a 40.5 angle and in a direction of 48.5 so the shape was twisted forward slightly.

I then drew a cylinder to create the top part of the neck. I made the radius of this the same as the radius at the top of the cone. I applied a much greater bend to the top section of the neck and chose a slightly different direction. I did have a bit of trouble lining the two parts of the neck up, but after a while I managed to do this and am very pleased with the results.

The next stage was to add a head to the dragon. I used a sphere for this, although I was not happy to leave it like this. Due to this I then edited it to make it flatter and rotated it before putting it in place.

After this I tried to create the dragon’s legs. As I wanted there to be a bend in the leg I decided to do it in sections rather than using the bend modifier as I felt this would create a better effect. I have therefore worked on three parts; the foot, bottom and top of the leg. I started with the upper part of one of the legs and to do this I used a cone so I could show the narrowing in the leg width. I made the radius of the bottom circle slightly smaller than the top circle to create this. I then used a cylinder to create the bottom half of the leg. I made sure that the radius was the same as the radius of the base of the cone so the leg looked like it was one. For the foot I used a sphere and flattened it as this technique worked well for the head.

To try to make the creature look fiercer I added claws to the foot. For this I again used the cone from the create toolbar to create a long, pointed claw. I aligned the claw with the foot and when I was pleased with its shape and length I duplicated it and placed them around the foot at the points which I felt were most suitable.

At this point I was quite disappointed with how the joints between the parts of the leg looked as it was obvious that I had pieced several objects together. Due to this I used two spheres to cover the areas where the joins were. The leg now looks much better, even though the joints are still quite bold. I hope that when I apply a consistent colour and texture to the dragon this will merge in well. Currently I am quite pleased with how the leg looks.

Once I completed one leg I duplicated it and re-arranged the sections on the other side of the body.

Lastly I started to work on the arms. For this I used a cone for the top part and a cylinder for the bottom part. I drew a cone with a height of 24.227, the top radius of 6.267 and the bottom radius of 4.11. For the bottom of the arm the cylinder’s radius was 4.11 with the length of 18.224. Initially I was quite pleased with the outcome of these so far, but now I have looked at then again I feel more work is needed as currently they are too long.

I now need to continue with this by adding the dragon's wings, a face and by creating the figure of St George.

Week 5- Lighting Tutorial

During this weeks tutorial I learnt to apply different lighting affects to a scene. I started by trying out target spot lights and arranged then around the objects to try to highlight more than one side at once. For this I used different intensities so that one light source was stronger than the other and feel I did this quite well. I used one circular light and a square light to try to see the difference between the two.

Secondly, I used an omni light. For this I chose to use a pink light from a different angle to see what impact this would have on the image. I did not make the intensity of the pink light as strong as the other lights as I felt it would be more suited being subtle. Also, I changed the shadow colour slightly to a lighter shade of grey.

The first time I rendered the image the light intensities were too high which made the objects difficult to see and so I lowered the intensity. When I rendered the image again this image was produced.

I am pleased with the way I arranged and changed the light sources. This will be very useful when I complete my project images as I will be able to light the objects from the angles which are most suitable and also create a mood in the images.

Week 3 Tutorial- Materials

From what I have learnt about materials today I feel this will be a very useful tool for my project. Applying the colours seemed to be a very simple process, and even though the textures were more complex I still managed to do it quite easily.

To start with I tried to apply different effects to spheres by using the preset options of Blinn, anisotropic, metal shader, multilayer and translucent shader. Most of these turned out quite well apart from the couple which looked very similar, and I feel I could get the effect I require with a bit of patience. One thing which I did struggle with was arranging the spheres as the layout did not look the same in both of the viewpoints.

I then tried to add a bitmap image to one of the spheres using the "Get Materials" icon. This process was quite simple with only slight editing needed to get the red spots in the position I wanted them to be in. I believe that this will really help me to apply the appearances I want to shapes or surfaces which are not preset in the menu.

Afterwards I added a checkerboard to a sphere and edited part of the design by adding a material to part of the surface. I think that this looks quite effective; however I am not sure how I could incorporate this into my project images.

Secondly I tried to apply different materials to one object. For this I used a teapot. I decided to try to include flat colours and patterns to make sure I could apply both in this situation. I did have some trouble to begin with when trying to apply pattern as I could not get back to the original window which listed all of the materials. Eventually I worked this out and was able to apply the materials to the teapot quite easily.

I am pleased with the progress I made during this tutorial. I feel quite a lot of what I learnt today could be useful to me during my project.

Research and Mood Boards

The months which I have chosen include April, June and October. I have chosen these months as they appear at my favourite points in the year due to the weather being quite warm and the changing colours of the seasons. I have researched each month and collected a range of images which relate to them and then created a mood board to show how each month makes me feel.

April.
I picked April as I love the way our part of the world seems to be coming alive, instead of the gloomy months we are leaving behind. When I think of this month I think of new beginnings. The anticipation of the summer makes this time of year seem exciting as many people have holidays and breaks from work to look forward to which generally creates a more positive mood amongst people.
On my research board I have included images of many things which I associate with the month. This includes the animals which are being born and the flowers which are appearing to mark the end of winter. I have also included images of Easter as this quite often falls during the month and is a symbol of new life. I chose to include an image of St George as it is a celebration in April and part of England’s history which is quite often forgotten about. Lastly, I included rain as the amount we get is still quite high in April and links to the saying “March winds, April showers, May flower.” On April’s mood board I tried to create a fresh feel by including images of life and nature. Due to this I tried to base it on the colours blue, green and yellow as I feel they give the fresh feeling I was trying to create. I started with blossom on a tree for the background as it shows how April brings a brighter, prettier environment to be in compared to bare trees in the winter. I chose images with bright colours as they have a positive connotation.

June.
I like this month as I find it to be happy and relaxing, partly due to the weather, but also because other people around me feel good to. I also like the fact that the days are long and the weather is brighter. There is a lot of wildlife about with the sounds they make being quite gentle and calming, and flowers in the gardens make places brighter and therefore more cheerful.
When I think of June I think of three things; sun, holidays and wildlife. Due to this I chose images based mainly on these themes for June’s research board. I also included pictures of father’s day and the changing of the guard as these events also occur in June. For this mood board I tried to create a couple of moods at once. I chose an empty beach to create a relaxing and tranquil feeling of a holiday. I also used an image of a group white water rafting to try to show the fun and excitement people experience during the summer. I chose pictures which were in bright colours as I feel they show how happy and enjoyable the month is. I also wanted to show how many natural elements there are in June and so included pictures of flowers, animals and insects.

October.
I chose to include October as I love the colours which are in the environment as the seasons change from summer to autumn. My favourite colour is red, and so as the leaves change to all the reds, oranges and gold I get a warm feeling inside despite the fact the weather is usually turning cold. For my research board I chose images which I relate to October. Due to this I included lots of pictures of nature, such as leaves changing, conkers and pinecones. I also included images relating to Halloween as this occurs in October every year. I selected images of Diwali to include on this board, even though I do not follow the Sikh religion. I decided to include these images as I felt that their celebration of light adds to the warm feelings I experience. When I created this mood board I wanted to show the happy and vibrant feeling I get during this month. To do this I concentrated on using reds, oranges and browns to create a warm feeling and so used a close up of a tree for the background. I mainly used images of nature as these are the main things I associate with October, and also as the elements of green would contrast the reds and oranges which dominated the image. I have also included an image of a pumpkin as it relates to Halloween, and is orange so keeps within the theme of warmth. As well as this I have used images of Diwali as the light of the festival links well to the oranges and red I have used.

Week 2- Tutorial

In Monday’s tutorial I was pleased to find that I had remembered a lot of what I had learnt during the previous lecture. During this weeks lecture I also learnt quite a lot.

I found the spline process quite easy to complete. The drawing of the basic polygon and extruding the shape to make it 3D was straight forward, but I did have trouble with capping the shape to begin with. On my second attempt I managed to make a solid shape and so I am happy I understand this technique.

I found the boulean and pro boulean techniques more difficult to use. After a couple of attempts I did get the boulean process to work, and feel pleased with what I achieved. However, I was unable to get the pro boulean process to work and so will try this again another time.

I was really impressed how the lathe technique created the shape from a simple, 2D polygon. I created the bowl shape quite easily in this way and feel I understood this process well. I am slightly disappointed that the angle I chose for the bowl has made it difficult to see in the image as the background is black.

I am pleased with what I have achieved and feel that I am beginning to get to grips with the software. I think that I would still have to work from my notes to complete quite a few of these processes, but I hope with a bit more practice this will not be the case in a few weeks time.