This week was more normal, but I was absent tuesday so you could say it was technically a shorter one. I continued with what I was already doing and moved to placing the walls that I made into the unity scene. As I said, this week I made some more walls and began to bring them into Unity. I don't know why they kept their colors from unity but not their material/texture, but that's an issue for another day, so I won't worry about it right now. It doesn't affect anything anyways. Personally, I preferred the modular crystals for the walls, as I could mix and match them to make unique and more interesting structures and patterns, but I was told to do this, so I did it anyways. Another problem I had was that tere isn't a key for the layout, so I don't know where to put the walls. I think I figured it out without having to ask, but if I'm wrong I'll change it. Overall, I'm most proud of the fact that I had no issues importing my objects into Unity. I think at this point I've figured out how everything in that regard works and am happy with what I have done. Next week I will most likely be told what to do, as I do not know what is next for me right now. Maybe I'll have to make more walls, maybe there will be a key for the layout so I can place things correctly (if I was wrong).
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This week was a shorter week, since we don't have school on friday. That being said, I still got a bit done in terms of what I was supposed to be doing. I also feel like it was easier to not render since the material is so glossy. This week I was supposed to make crystal structures that would better act as wells, being more thick/wide, but still have jutting, polygonal features that make it seem natural. I think that they turned out pretty well. I probably am going to make more of them, but for now this is what I have. I think the biggest thing I had to do was get reacquainted with 3DS max. I know I've been using it for the past 2 or so weeks, but this is the first time I've really had to use it. I used the pro-boolean and edit poly features for pretty much everything. Id say the pink wall is what I'm most proud of and is what was the most important thing I did this week. Next week I'll probably continue to make walls and work on whatever new things are thrown at me. I hope it's nothing too complicated, but I know rigging is in my future, so I'll have to learn how to do that soon.
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I didn't do much this week. I was absent on monday, so I didn't get to start on anything on time. I didn't have much to do anyways, so I'm not strung up by it. I was told to look at the concept art and start to make new crystal models/find more. The image on the left is another modeled crystal that I found, and the right is my attempt based on concept art. The material is awful so its harder to see. Personally, I liked the low poly crystals I was using initially. They looked way better and had way more potential for mixing and matching/variety in the scene. The new crystal I found feels like too much is going on and doesn't really fit with what was being gone for. The crystal I modeled is just plain terrible. I could put more work into the crystals I'm modeling, though, so its not the end of the world. I didn't do much this week, so I'd say the most important thing was the realization that the new crystal isn't great. I even placed it in the unity scene and saw how it kind of clashed with everything else. I still am awaiting meaningful instruction and am hopeful for what comes next.
In Summary:
Recently we had to make an outpost in AGAD using modular components in 3DS MAX. I wanted to make a sort of future-colony looking base. I made hallway pieces to connect all of the hub pieces I made, and made a bunker door and fence to make it seem more protected. I tried to keep it really simple, because I don't think it was necessary to go overboard. I kept my components relatively basic so that I could fit them together more easily and have to worry less about restarting or changing a piece later on. It also means I could develop them later if i felt like it. Overall, I think it turned out well. It looks like one cohesive unit, which was something that I was going for. I also like how the door turned out, but it's hard to see from so far away and with no texturing. Besides that, I think this went really well for something so simple.
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In AGAD, our first assignment was to create a house out of modular pieces in 3DS MAX. A lot of simple things came back quickly, like using the edit poly function and combining basic shapes and those sorts of things. Compound objects, though, gave me a little trouble. I don't think they were necessary for the assignment, but I like to use them anyway to combine things or remove sections from objects. I think I just used the attach function of the editable poly section to do all that instead though. The foundation pieces were tedious, but not difficult. I mainly did as I was told and it overall turned out pretty well. .In the end, I learned a lot about modular design and how quickly you can create something if you do it right. I am happy with how it turned out in the end.
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Over this past quarter, simulation in 3DS MAX has been a hot topic that I have been struggling to work with in my class. MassFX, the daylight system, particles, and cloth simulations are a special part of 3DS MAX that are so cool and interesting, yet so frustrating and hard to deal with. They're a blast when they work and a pain when they don't. There are a lot of things about the features that I like, but those mainly boil down to how cool or funny things can work. MassFX is not that complicated, there is just a lot to remember and a lot of small things that can go wrong. I like how they do simplify it more than they could've (because they could've left a LOT more things less easy to access, understand, or use in conjunction with other things), and how when I do get it to work it's just stupid fun. Making things crash int each other and knock things down is way more fun than it sounds. The daylight system is also pretty cool. It allows you add just that extra bit of spice to your final render. It's easy to set up; all you have to do is select what location, time of year and time of day you want it to simulate (and where you want you light to come from in your scene). It does the rest itself. The only hard part is actually getting it to render correctly. There are a lot of small settings that have to be on or off that aren't that easy to intuit or even remember on your own. Particles are also in that "stupid fun" category, but doing more advanced things like using pbombs and other forces is still not entirely clear to me. I think understanding particles will just take time. Unlike Particles, cloth is, to my understanding, a pure incarnation of evil. It can and will fail to render, fold in on itself, not obey collisions you have set up, and crash your computer for seemingly no reason at all. When it does decide to work, it can make things look cool and more natural. But most of the time it will fight you just for having one setting missing or doing one thing out of order. Overall, I think that the simulation features in 3DS MAX will be great tools for me in the future, but for now, I do not know how to use them to their fullest potential
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In my DDA class, our most recent project was to make a wild west scene using the techniques we have been learning over the past month. Those techniques included array, sweep, scatter, terrain, and (pro)boolean. The terrain tool was the newest and hardest to get used to. There are a lot of small things you have to get right for it to work, like that pieces have to be directly under each other, and there can't be more than one piece per piece below. It was really satisfying to use in the end, though. I was proud of my end result. The scatter tool was definitely much more of a pain. It's not that hard to use, but it's also not hard to screw up. You cant use multi object objects, so moving my plants was difficult since I had already used the scatter tool to make the needles on my cacti. The array tool wasn't actually part of the assignment, it just made making my tumbleweed easier. The sweep tool was used for roof details for the buildings that we had to make. The buildings were probably my favorite part. Seeing them come together, after going from standard primitives to decent looking buildings that might have actually been around during that time. Boolean was used wherever I could. It's convenient in all situations, so I used it for most of my things that weren't any of the other tools (i.e my tunnel entrance, my platforms, the ladder). Overall, I really enjoyed this project and feel like I have at least a decent grasp on the tools I have been taught to use.
In Summary:
These past few weeks in DDA have been about learning how to use different compound objects in 3DS MAX, some of which where more fun and or useful than others. My personal favorite compound object would have to be the scatter tool. It's very simplistic, used for scattering objects around a scene or other objects. It is very easy to use, and very satisfying to use as well. It may slow down the school computers, but using it at home is a lot more enjoyable since my computer isn't terrible. There aren't that many steps to using scatter, all you need really is an object to scatter and a source to scatter it on. After you pick those things all you have to do is choose how many of that object you want scattered and a few orientation options for "precise" detail."Planst" made in 3DS MAX, both cacti use the scatter tool for the needles (the tumbleweed uses array). The most useful compound object that we have learned in 3DS MAX so far would have to be proboolean. I talked about proboolean in my last post, but in short it just a very versatile and convenient all purpose sort of tool. You can combine objects, subtract an object from another, take the intersecting space of two objects, among other things. It's my go to whenever I need anything done; it's what I think of first that can get a job done. I enjoy using it too; it isn't that hard to navigate around it once you know what you're doing. Those two tools are definitely the two compound objects I enjoy the most, with the proboolean definitely being the more useful of the two. "SWAG BB" made in 3DS MAX from an assortment of proboolean modifyers including but not limited to subtract, union, and intersect. In summary:
In my DDA class, we are beginning to make 3D objects and modify them with the ProBoolean modifier. ProBoolean is definitely a fun and rewarding modifier, but takes a little bit of getting used to. There are multiple different tools that you can use within ProBoolean, and small modifications that my class has not gone deeper into and I don't understand. The tools, though, were very fun to learn and work with. All of the tools are very convenient and rewarding to use as well. The union tool allows you to make multiple objects into one selectable object (and removes overlapping polygons). The intersect tools allows you to create one object out of the intersection of two selected objects. The subtraction tool removes a section the dimensions of a selected object from a specified object. The merge tool merges two objects together (without messing with polygons). The attach tool attaches multiple selected objects to your chosen object. The the insert tool is complicated and I have yet to use it. It basically masses only with the polygons of one object but not the other or something along those lines. I'm sure all of these have a use, but for the ones that I did use it was evident how they worked and it was just so satisfying to make one thing out of so many small things. It's a little uncomfortable at first, but it doesn't take that long to get used to.
In Summary: -there are a lot of ways to use ProBoolean -ProBoolean is very satisfying and fun to use after learning it During this past month, I have been working for my dad doing 3D modeling for buildings. I have been doing all of the modeling in a program known as SketchUp. SketchUp allows you to do basic geometry for more practical, real life objects (like buildings, boxes, etc.) with real life measurements. This makes it a good tool for architects and craftsmen. This is a door I made using SketchUp There are a lot of really niche things you have to get right with this program. Sometimes you just have to hope that you are on its good side. The biggest issue I had is that if make a mistake and don't realize it (which is very easy to do), you cant go back and fix it without a lot of trouble. Objects like to get rid of their backsides and invert normals after you use any of the tools to change an existing object (especially using the move tool on an edge). Creating lines in places you want can also be difficult. Lining up objects can be a real pain when there isn't an edge or face right where you want to place your object/line.
Besides these issues, the program is satisfying to use and rewarding when you accomplish something like finishing a window, or figuring out how to merge two roofs together. Overall it wasn't the best experience, but I still think it is useful in the right hands. Summary:
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