Unit 61 Interactive Media Design

Unit 51 3D Computer Modelling

3D Modelling with Cinema 4D

We were tasked with creating 3 simple shapes in Cinema 4D and making them look good, so here's my attempt:

 Step 1: I produced a cube, simply by clicking the objects menu in the primitive shapes area. The cube was auto-positioned to the very centre, so I had to move it up on the Y axis. I then clicked object, then scene menu, and selected a floor object. I made a new material set and made it red with 20% reflection properties. I applied this to the cube then made another material set with a checker pattern and a 20% reflection amount as with the cube.

 Step 2: I then added a cone, brought it up 100cm so it was resting on the floor. I made a new material set and did exactly the same as I had with the cube but this time with the colour blue. I positioned this shape -300cm on the Z axis.

 Step 3: And finally, I added a sphere, brought it up 100cm as I had done before, made a new material set and did the same again with green. I positioned this shape 300cm on the Z axis.

 Step 4: I then added in a light source with the tool above and positioned it 500cm on the X axis, 350cm on the Y axis, and -300cm on the Z axis. I then changed its shadow properties to soft shadow map.

Step 5: Finally I rendered the project and all the various reflections and shadows come into being!

Then I put it in photoshop and edited the hue and saturation to make the shapes different colours with the magic of photoshop

Advantages of using this technique
This technique Includes very simple shapes that you just need to grab from a menu, no modelling required. The light and shadows are also presets, making this extremely simply, just a matter of clicking what you need. Since these shapes are a solid colour, they are easily changed in photoshop. In this case, I just altered the hue of the whole picture, in other cases when I may want to change each shape to a specific colour I may need to use other techniques, like selecting one shape at a time and changing the colour.

Disadvantages of using this technique
Unfortunately, with simplicity, comes limitation. These shapes are very easy to put down, but you may find it very hard to actually make anything other than the shapes themselves without other techniques. This is mainly something that can be applied to other techniques, with color and lighting.

Making Merchandise

Ipod

The task of creating an ipod in Cinema 4D was set, the following is how I managed it:

 Step 1: I started out by creating a cube from the primitive shapes menu, I then stretched the cube out and flattened it some to get the right size and dimensions. I then curved the edges a little to give it the right shape for an ipod.

Step 2: Next, I got a plane object from the primitive objects menu and resized it to make it the correct shape for a screen.

Step 3: I then took a tube shape and flattened it to create the button wheel on the front. The actual model is beginning to take shape. .

Step 4:The last piece of modelling was simple, just a floor from the scene menu. Now I began texturing, adding reflections and making the floor completely black. I managed to copy the ipod a few times and position them as seen below.

Step 5: Finally, the finished product. I'd used textures to add all the colours and reflections, the arranged them how I saw fit, in a way that would make it look like they were piled up. The red ipod at the back is just for demonstration. It forgot physics was a thing.

Advantages of using this technique

This technique, as with the previous one, is good due to its simplicity. Just selecting predetermined shapes and resizing them a little. Or a lot depending on what you want to create. In this case, it was a matter of taking cubes and tubes and putting them together in certain sizes before adding a texture. The texture, luckily didn't go wrong, but I could quite easily have had the scroll wheel texture to one side. So it depends on what your modelling, but in general, this technique isn't too hard to get the hang of.

Disadvantages of using this technique

Again, the problem lies with simplicity. This technique is still very limited when it comes to modelling, but combined with a few other techniques

Iphone

This iphone was made fairly simply by taking a picture of an actual iphone and tracing around it, taking the outline, then adding extrude Nurbs. With the shape created, I modelling the shape of the screen, making a super thin rectangle to fit on it, then a small circle, also super thin for the home button. Then it was just a matter of texturing the screen, button and phone. After that, I formed the floor and added a texture on it of a blue with reflections.

Advantages of using this technique

Disadvantages of using this technique

Earphones

Step 1: First off, I found a side on picture of the earphone I wanted to model. This happened to be the basic apple earphones. Or earphone in this case. I then places a number of circles surrounding the shape.

Step 2: Once I'd finished marking it with circles, I switched to 3D view and the above is what I'd made.  The size of the circles meant it still retained its basic shape

Step 3: I then added loft Nurbs to the outline, filling in the gaps and making a mesh of the shape. The above is the result.

Step 4: I then copied the earphone and laid it next to the original, keeping a basic look of physics taking effect, as if they were lying on a surface.

Step 5: I then took a tube shape from the basic shapes menu and resized it to fit the bottom, this is the rubber surface between the earphone and the wire.

Step 6: I then made two spheres and flattened them down, placing them on the front. These were the speakers, and I textured them as such

Step 7: One of the final stages of the model itself; The last thing I added were the wires, they at no point connected, but as long as I kept that off-screen, it would keep up the appearance.

Step 8: I then added a floor, texturing it with wood and adding shine. I then added a light source above the earphones and rendered it as seen below.

Step 9: This is the final rendered model. I'd moved the wires down a little to give it the illusion of gravity once more. Having the wires crossing over.

Advantages of using this technique

Disadvantages of using this technique

Perfume Bottle

Step 1: The first thing I did was find the perfume bottle I wanted to make, I then imported the picture into cinema 4D and traced around one side, coming back on myself once I reached halfway through the base. This meant I was able to make the bottle itself hollow, meaning when it was glass it wouldn't just be a solid object.

Step 2: I then added Lathe Nurbs to the outline and the bottle came around full circle. The bottle was now complete in shape, and hollow. I did the same for the top of the bottle, only without comign back on mself, meaning the whole thing was solid.

Step 3: After adding colour, texturing and light, and a wall and floor, I came up with this design. I was aiming to get the colour of the bottle onto the wall behind it. And it worked!

Advantages of using this technique

Disadvantages of using this technique

Spaceship

This was a model I'd put together while experimenting with different techniques. I'd made the cockpit separately to the ship itself, adapting the shape until it fit. The ship itself was made after stretching out a cube model using extruding techniques, then adding nurbs to smooth it out.

Advantages of using this technique

Disadvantages of using this technique

Character modelling

Step 1: I decided to try my luck at modelling Charmander from Pokemon. If you don't know who this is, please leave my blog. I started off by using a reference picture of another 3D model of Charmander. and following the same technique I'd used for the earphones.

Step 2: Once I'd done, I added Nurbs to fill out the mesh and came up with this. Yes, it's the tail! I was planning on making each part of Charmander separately then placing them together once I'd modelled them all.

Step 3: I decided to add a texture of orange to the tail, to make it clearer as to what I was modelling. It's just the right kind of orange too!

Step 4: I then began trying to model the arms, using the same technique as I had with the tail. His thumb points downwards, so I decided to model that separately.

Step 5: I modelled the thumb just underneath then copied and flipped the entire arm placing it on the other side.

Step 6: I then added Nurbs and a texture to give it the same orange as the rest of the body. It was when I tried modelling the head and body that things started to go wrong. Scroll down if you dare!

This is what happens when modelling goes wrong, learn from my mistakes, don't use too many points while tracing...Time for a new strategy!

Meet Billobe. He's a character I snatched from google images that I have taken in and named, and will now 3D model! Charmander will be for another day...when I learn to model a head.

 I grabbed a back view from the same picture               And then a side view, also from the same image.

This was a result of placing down a plane object, and placing Billobe on it as a texture. I will be using this as a box model template

The first stage was to model the body. In this case, I decided to model the body first. After all, I need something to work off. I used box modelling to drag each individual point to the line of the reference drawing. The box selected is the to-be leg of almighty Billobe.

This is the leg once I've resized it and added Nurbs to it! It's a basic leg shape, but it works. I have changed it further down to make the feet a little more foot shaped.

I then added a symmetry Nurb in order to mirror the leg exactly. This meant anything I did to the original leg, would affect the second as well.

Here you can see the way the symmetry Nurb works. You take the entire group of an object and place it inside a symmetry Nurb

This is all of the perspective views I had to model. The bottom right image is the back of the model I was creating, and the bottom left quite clearly is a side view. The top right is a top view, and the top left is the main 3D view I use throughout the rest of this tutorial. I just needed to move each point to the outline and add nurbs to smooth out the cube I was using. The reason it's off a little on the bottom right is that I've repositioned the model to compensate for the waist I have yet to add.

Here I modelled the head, using the same technique as the body and legs. Simple box modelling to shape the cube around the head shape, then an addition of Nurbs to smooth it out to the right shape. I am able to tweak the head shape once Nurbs have been applied, but it's not as effective due to the fact that when you move a corner, it'll move anywhere without affecting the rest of the shape. Move a curve, and it'll shape everything around it.

Now Billobe is starting to really take shape, I've added an arm here, which I will reflect using the symmetry Nurbs. I could just copy the arm and move the copy to the other side, but if I were to do this, the arm would be the same shape and still look like a left arm. I do not know how to flip a shape so, the symmetry Nurbs come in handy.

Here I've added the symmetry Nurbs for the arm, and the new hand. This was also quite simple to do. A blob of box modelling. The issue with using symmetry Nurbs is that sometimes, things can be positioned slightly off. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to move both arms in the same direction instead of having them both move in opposite directions.

This is the backback seen in the drawing, but without straps. I was just making this simply and adding straps would have been a little too time consuming with me trying to learn how they work.

And finally the basic model is finished. I've added a waist and moved the legs down, giving him a bit more variety. All I need now is a bit of colour and texture work.

Here it is. The finished model. I've added a texture to the torso and arms, and coloured them green. The trousers were simply a colour I thought would match and I decided to make the skin completely white to make it featureless

I also added colour and texture to the backpack. Making it a darker brown to make it stand out.

This is once I'd added shadow maps to the light source. It does make the character look a little more 3D or real.

A front view of Billobe shadow maps

The almighty Billobe

Advantages of using this technique

Disadvantages of using this technique

How are 3D models used in the industry?

3D Modelling; A summary:

Furst off, what is 3D modelling? It may seem obvious, and for the most part it is, but its use and functionality isn't quite as clear. 3D modelling, is simply put, creating a 3D object or figure, either by hand, or having it digitally formed, or even scanned in digitally after having it created by hand. However it's created, 3D modelling can be used for many things in modern industry such as:

Gaming

3D modelling is used in gaming probably more than any other industry type. This is for character models, scenery, objects, accessories and anything else in the world that looks like it has more than two sides. The image below is a model created for a popular game you may have heard of.

3D modelling in games can give the player a sense of immersion, giving the user a world crafted by the developers that you can interact with, walk around, and be a part of.

Architecture

In the past, Architects would draw out building plans, drawing at each angle to capture the shape and how each room would fit inside. Nowadays, 3D modelling can quicken this process and give architects a better idea of what they were creating. Entire buildings can be rendered on computers with measurements and proportions already there to be used.

As seen above, the buildings created digitally can be quicker to make, and have more detail than pencil drawings could ever create. Different textures and aspects can be tweaked to perfect design.

Advertising and marketing

Often, when a company comes up with a new idea, they need to take a while to visualise it, and here's where 3D modelling comes in. The company usually likes to know their design looks good, that it looks functional and appears to fit together well.

They can test this with 3D modelling to get a sense of scale and view all sides instead of just using drawings and viewing one side at a time.

Publishing

Often, text books need to demonstrate the various things they explain with diagrams and cross sections. Sometimes though, it's easier to demonstrate an object or diagram with a 3D model. The creators can create an entire model of the object and can rotate around, labeling different areas depending on the angle. This can help make work quicker in the long run and saves hours of sketching and redesigning the object at different angles.

Occasionally, a publisher may want to create something that doesn't necessarily exist. This could be for concept or just using examples for a tutorial book. Whatever the reason, 3D modelling can help this process too. The publisher can simply model whatever they need and place it on a page whatever angle they like.

Geology And Science

Geologists and Scientists can use 3D modelling for reconstructing earthquakes and other natural events. This can assist in research into how these events affect other things in the environment and see the effects of stress.

They can even simulate motion. Things like flight patterns can be tested, factoring in wind and other things that may effect them.

Medical

Often, when treating patients it helps to be able to see a little clearer what you're doing. This is where 3D modelling can come in. Reconstructing accurate representations of bone and muscle for medical staff to examine and use as reference.

With the ability to zoom, rotate, and really see where various areas are, 3D modelling can be used as a life saving resource, making things easier and quicker.

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping is a process in which a product is designed as a 3D model then printed using a 3D printer.

It can then be evaluated and tested to see how well it works and then developed into a final product.

Police

The police have gotten involved in 3D modelling plenty of times, using it to reconstruct subjects faces for investigations.

Currently, technology is being developed to enable police to scan crime scenes into a 3D computer to be projected before a jury in order to point out evidence and look over things that the human eye may have missed.

Film

Film is a rather obvious use of 3D modelling. Used to create animated characters, environments, and objects. 3D modelling can be used in a movie entirely made from 3D animation, or even a film that is filmed with a camera.

Monsters and objects and various lights can be crafted using 3D modelling software in order to make the film more believable.

Aerospace

3D modelling can be used during development of various aircraft and rockets, the ability to simulate wind and air resistance means more accurate designs can be created quicker, with the ability to move said aircraft around in a 3D space.

Character and Environment Design

My task was to design a character that I would later model in cinema 4D. There were a few specifications; The character needed to be simple. A complex character would only be difficult to model and my skills in cinema 4D were not up to scratch. The character also needed to be aimed at children around 3 - 7. This meant the character had to be extremely simple in design and obvious as to its character.

Planning

With this project I can choose to design either the character or the environment first. Whichever I choose, will affect the other. if I was to make a character who tended to be around certain areas, that would give me an idea of the environment I was creating. If I was to design an environment first, that would narrow the character down to certain things that could be found in that environment. But first, I'm going to start with the basics. Do I want the scene to be set inside or outside?

If I set the scene outside, quite a bit more planning would need to be put into it, to design an entire landscape, using a skybox and floor, stretching on seemingly forever. If I was to design it inside, the environment would be significantly smaller, yet would need more detail. Objects would need to be designed and placed around the room in the places you'd find them. The walls and floor would also need to be textured and sized correctly along with signs of the character being there if I was designing a home for them. I've decided on designing it inside in order to create more personality in the character with items etc in the room.

Now for the character. The first stage to creating any character is planning. I first had to find out exactly what I was going to be drawing, and then modelling. I could do this in several ways; take an existing item and anthropomorphise it or take a simple shape and develop it slightly further.

I ended up sketching various characters by using a simple technique of scribbling on paper and finding characters in the lines. The paper I used can be seen below:

Ignore Doc. Scratch, I got bored and drew him. I have quite a range of characters here from birds to frogs to weird superhero blobs and a strange eyeball man. I ended up choosing to model Captain Scribbles! My superhero blob character. I chose him due to his simplicity and his possible appeal as a cartoon character. Of course this meant I had to sketch him again a couple of times to get all of his angles. Front, side, and back.

The next stage would be to design a basic environment for my character to stand in for the 3D scene. This is a stage a struggled with quite a bit more than the character design. Architecture is not my forte.

I eventually decided on a space penthouse station...Yep, seemed good at the time.

I then started modelling good old Captain Scribbles. This is what happened:

Then I began working on the space penthouse, seen below: