I made a digital version of something I want to make a physical version of – an adjustable RGB flashlight! I think it would be a fun learning tool for when people learn about light waves, photography, and how to code color. This version doesn’t have numbers, but the physical version would have a lens-like scale on it.
Tag: 3D Modeling
Animation II Project 4: See You Later!
I’ve been wanting to recreate this gas station toy for months and finally had a reason!
Project Details:
Class: MDIA 5501 Animation II (3D Animation)
Project: Project 4
Software: Maya and After Effects
Project Goals:
- 3-5 rigged moving parts
- Textures
- Turntable animation
- UV mapping (optional)
Personal Goals:
- Rigging a zig-zag collapsible “neck”
- Aim constraints
- Transparent textures
- UV mapping use with bend deformers
- Moving eyes to focus on an object
Random Notes:
The rigging for the zig-zag part was interesting. I made the dots on the end of each piece have their pivot in the center then connected the rotation of the dots with the “spoke.” Each new “spoke” and dots were connected to the first. I created an attribute and used a set-driven key for the opening and closing of each “X” and another that controlled the extension of the neck (this also involved some Y-axis changes).
As for the teeth – I originally made a straight cut through the head and was going to make and duplicate teeth, but
I went in and adjusted and textured the teeth and edges of the mouth. I had to bend some teeth inward to have the lip overlap.
After removing the excess material, I had to select all the faces of one half and pull it down – it took time to find the tiny areas that just extruded – then duplicate the head and remove one side per instance. This allowed me to operate the top and bottom separately.
So, yeah, the “cute” toy looks like something from my nightmares at the moment. I took almost a week break from this and it’s due tomorrow modeling takes forever, rigging is fast, animation kinda drives me nuts but is fast, but I’ll be rendering all tomorrow morning.
Dec. 12, 2018 Instagram Post | See it here
I actually have candy in the back and it’s slightly transparent, but I didn’t light it well enough for it to be seen.
Work-in-Progress Gallery:
Original effect of cutting the teeth out. 
Animation II Project 3: Bouncing Balls
We were supposed to have two balls bounce differently. I wanted to focus on learning how to use
Project Details:
Class: MDIA 5501 Animation II (3D Animation)
Project: Project 3: Bouncing Balls
Software: Maya and After Effects
Project Goals:
- Two types of balls
- Rigging
- Using squash deformer
- Animati
Personal Goals:
- Modeling something more complex
- Texture maps
- Blendshapes
Random Notes:
I made the
Testing an idea for creating the lines on a basketball. I just used bends on flattened cubes, used a difference boolean, then a black sphere inside. I need more divisions, make the line spacing equal, and to go in and smooth it when I redo it.
Oct. 30,2018 Instagram Post | See it here
Work-in-Progress Gallery:
Animation II Project 2: Daisy
Second project for MDIA 5501 Animation II: Daisy
Project Details:
Class: MDIA 5501 Animation II (3D Animation)
Project: Project 2: Overlap / Flower
Software: Maya and After Effects
Project Goals:
- Overlap in Animation
- Rigging skeletons
Personal Goals:
- Make a Daisy characte
Random Notes:
This took so long to render, I had to play in After Effects to make the lighting look intentional instead of a mistake. I’m proud of covering it up decently.
I plan to update this one to have the bee move better and have its wings actually flap and legs swing. I’ll also use Arnold surfaces instead of Lambert and update the lighting.
I also plan to turn this into a Unity project where the user can move the bee and the daisy hops after it.
Work-in-Progress Gallery:
First time using skeletons and joints. I kinda went overboard because I want to make this guy expressive. There’s a skeleton per petal, per leaf, and the stem.
Oct. 12, 2018 Instagram Post | See it here
Rough start with the animation. Ended up breaking everything to have more control. This is just the beginning rough keyframes. I don’t even have the bee, yet. However, I hope I have time to play with having the petals move more when I have him jump or follow the bee with his head. Note: in case you’re curious, the leaf is gray because I had to add a shader to the opposite side of the normal and the color doesn’t show in this view.
Oct. 14,2018 Instagram Post | See it here
Animation II: Learning to Rig
Played with rigging and set driven key for the first time with a random side exercise. I still need to make my daisy project.
Animation II Project 1: Tear, Fall, and Land
Project Details:
Class: MDIA 5501 Animation II (3D Animation)
Project: Project 1
Software: Maya and After Effects
Project Goals:
- Animating 3D text
Personal Goals:
- Use deformers
Random Notes:
I need to fix the T and a few other things, but I’m proud of it. I had to remake it a few times since each time I switched the computer I was working on, the text would mess up. It’s good practice, though.
Unconventional layout and I can’t draw, but this is idea #1 for the animated text project. “Tear” tears off, falling into “fall” then spelling “land” just as it lands.
Sept. 4, 2018 Instagram Post | See it here
Work-in-Progress Gallery:
Animation II Begins
First time in 15 years that I’m getting back into 3D animation and modeling.
We were supposed to “stack primitives to make another shape” and my brain wanted to manipulate faces and edges to make a pumpkin. I made a crappy flag on a pole before this.
Adventures in Unity 3D & Vuforia: Dream Pandas AR
I had an odd dream and decided to recreate it in Unity 3D and Vuforia. The game doesn’t have “I love you” on the heart, but it was there in my dream, so I added it to the target image.
Download Dream Pandas AR here!
