Time to Decorate

Posted on December 23, 2014 by SusanG

The Christmas tree has snow, now to dress up the palm tree. A few ornaments should brighten it up.

The nice thing about the ornaments for the palm tree is that because I just wanted the the round ball type ornaments, they were fairly easy to model. I chose to go with a basic approach in the shape since it fits better with the look of the rest of the scene. First I created a sphere to a relative size. Then I created a cylinder to act as the little metal bit that goes over the top where the hook is attached. I then chose to extrude the top interior ring of polygon faces up to make that bit of the ornament that goes in the metal bit. With that created, I scaled the cylinder to fit just over the extrusion and just around it. I had to do some scaling of the cylinder to get it just right. I applied the turbosmooth modifier to the sphere shape first and found that the definition between the extruded portion and the rest of the sphere was too soft and so I add a couple of edge loops to create a more defined corner. I applied the turbosmooth modifier to the cylinder as well and had to add a
few edge loop so that the top corner/edge was sharper as well as the bottom part.

With the ball and the topper part being two different objects it was fairly easy to apply materials to them. The trick was finding the right thing. I finally settled on a gold foil material. It was very shiny and a little washed out. But looks good so I kept it. For the HolidayCard_1221atopper I went with a basic titanium. I didn’t what it as shiny as the gold foil look and the titanium worked out nicely.

I also created a hook to hang the ornaments by. This helped immensely with making sure I got the placement right.

I created the hook from a cylinder with many more sections so I would have enough edges to properly curve the end.
Then I selected the very end and using the soft selection tool I rotated and moved the end to get the basic shape. I added another set or two of edge loops and selected the edge loops and adjusted those individually to get the shape I wanted. I put a zinc material on the hook so that it wasn’t shiny and was even a bit more dull and matte looking that the other two components. This got the first ornament created. To make the copy process easier I grouped all three items. That allowed me to select the group and move it or rotate it or whatever else I might need to do.

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I copied the ornament group and then opened it so I could change the color of the material on the ball part. In setting up the material, I could see where I could change the color, so first I did that and chose a lovely red. It looked great in the preview and not quite so awesome on the actual object, it was a bit faded or washed out. I found a setting in the material that let me adjust the color saturation versus the texture so I was able to get a HolidayCard_1221c
deeper red on the ball. It didn’t look quite right where I put it so I moved the red ball up higher in the leaves where it supplied some contrast to all the green.

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One more ornament to add and make it green. And this should do. However, it was pointed out to me that where I had the green ornament, it got lost in all the green of the palm leaves and the cactus.

 

So I swapped the green and gold ornaments around to make it easier to see each of them.

HolidayCard_1221g

That gets the palm tree decorated.

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Finally! Snow!

Posted on December 22, 2014 by SusanG

So when last we left the tree that was getting snow, the snow was still a little sad looking. The very top had a nice coat but the next level down, while it had snow, it wasn’t sitting quite right and still needed some adjusting, not to mention the part where the rest of the tree needed snow as well.

I did get the snow on that second level down properly adjusted. I had to manipulate some vertices and edges to get it to look just right. Because some of those vertices and edges were buried in the tree, I had to switch to wireframe mode to find them and then I could adjust them as needed.

I did exactly as I had planned. When I finished a set of the snow, I copied it and shifted it down lower to the next level down and then I scaled it in the x and y to make it wider so it fit on that set of branches. Once it was scaled I then rotated it so that it didn’t look just like HolidayCard_1220bthe one about. I rotated around the z axis to get what I needed. Then with it all in place I did the minor adjusting to make it all properly sit on the branches.

The angles of the branches, as they go down the tree, are different so even though I would have the snow sitting just right on the level above, when I copied it down to the next one, it would be just a bit off. So for each one I had to do some adjusting. For one level I even had to adjust it’s placement and bit in the x and y because it just wasn’t fitting right.

The more I got done the better it looked. At the last two levels, I had some bits of snow hanging off the branches really far and also looking a bit too fluffed up. This all required more tweaking and adjusting than the other levels. And, though I do not always like working with the turbosmooth modifier applied, I found it was, while a jumble of HolidayCard_1220cwire frame, it was easiest because I could then really see the way my adjustments were impacting the model of the snow.

One of the things that happens when the turbosmooth modifier is applied is that you lose some volume on your model. To compensate for the loss of volume, I did a bit of over exageration of the snow shape and size. When I was making the final adjustments for the last of the snow, this difference was, really important and it was just easier to see it live instead of go back and forth adding and removing the modifier.

I did have one moment where I thought I was messed up like happened with the logo project. I was trying to scale and it wasn’t working as it should have been. If I scaled out in the x and y it was getting shorter in the z and vice versa. I figured out I had some how clicked on either the wrong set of short cut keys or actually clicked the button on the tool bar that controls that. Fortunately, I was able to find the correct setting to put it back. Though, for a moment I was slightly devestated. I didn’t what to have to fight that again.

HolidayCard_1220d

It’s all good now and the tree has snow.

Next up, is some ornaments for the palm tree and some sort of dressing on the cactus.HolidayCard_1220e

 

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Snow! Who knew.

Posted on December 19, 2014 by SusanG

So it’s time to add snow to the scene. This has not been going entirely as planned.

First off, I thought I had a snow texture already built into 3DS Max. I didn’t find it. It might be there, I didn’t find it. I considered using some texture from a picture I took of February’s snow storm that pretty much closed the southeast for 2 days. But decided not to in favor of trying to come up with something using the built in materials. It took some time and a bit of fiddling with settings.

Getting the look I want hasn’t been that easy either. I got it on the ground by creating a plane and with enough subdivisions to allow me to deform it so it looks like uneven ground. So that wasn’t so bad. It was getting it on the Christmas tree that was a challenge. And I’m still working on it.

At first I tried using a cone since the tree is basically a cone shape. It was a good idea and could have worked. It would have required a bit more adjusting of things, though as it is I still have quite a bit of adjusting. I found that a sphere worked better. It starts off rounded so I get a bit of that fluff look to start with. When I tried the cone I only used 8 segments and that wasn’t really enough to get some good droops of snow. So when I tried the sphere,HolidayCard_1209a the first time I used 24 segments, the same number as in the tree. That, as you can see was not really that great. It actually allowed for too much detail and would be very tedious to clean up.

I did try it. I figured I might as well check that what I wanted to do was going to work well. So I cut off the bottom half of the sphere, since I wasn’t going to need it. I selected the very bottom edge and scaled it in so that it would help to provide some depth when I extruded the polygons above it. I used the same extrude method I did on the tree so that I extruded it by polygon to create the differentiation for the branches. Then I transformed them down into place. But it wasn’t quite that simple as I did the extrude twice to give me two segments to work with. That made the transform a little bit more involved.

With the branches in place I started to deform them by moving edges and sometimes entire faces to make them shorter or to make them a bit rounder looking. Then I would apply turbosmooth to check to see if it was looking the way I hoped. I don’t really like working with the isoline display. I get too many edges and get confused, so once I check for the look then I drop the turbosmooth modifier and go about my business.HolidayCard_1209b

As you can see, with 24 segments, it’s going to be really involved and not look quite right. But the idea is there and that’s the important bit.

I deleted the partial sphere and created a new sphere, this time with 16 segments. This has turned out to work out much better. I went through the same process as before, delete most of the bottom half of the sphere, scale the bottom edge in to create a lip, extrude the now, last row of faces using the by polygon method and then a second extrude. Once the extrusions were transformed down instead of sticking straight up in the air, I started really shaping everything.

Since the top was round and everything was very round I had to adjust each edge around and move it a bit to make it look a bit more cone like. While I didn’t want the flatness of the cone, it is still the basic shape I am dealing with here so I did make the snow a bit more cone shaped. This did take a bit to get right. Sometimes I just had to move the edge (really, it’s an edge loop) up or down some, at other times I had to do a little scaling to get it right. At this point it’s a matter of adjusting the arm sort of things sticking out so that they are closer into the body of the partial sphere as well as making them look more like the had slid down and created natural droops of snow. Sometimes this required the very end polygon be removed to take the arm back to just one segment instead of two. Some of the arms have had to be eliminated completely which helped to create a nice sort of indentation or transitioning area to move into the next droop.

As I got segments of the droopy areas complete, I added the turbosmooth modifier to see how things would look. When I did this I bumped up the smoothing to 3 times as smooth. That really made a big difference in how it looked. It also showed where the snow wasn’t always sitting on the tree, it was sticking up from it a bit, defying gravity. To make this look right I selected the underside polygons and transformed them down into the tree a bit. In some cases I had to make the transforms by selecting one edge, making the adjustment and then selecting the next edge.

As you can tell, doing the snow, is a process that is requiring some patience and HolidayCard_1211dpersistence. Fortunately, once I have one set of the snow done, then I can copy it and transform its position down so that it is in position for the next level of branches, then I have to scale it in all the right directions and rotate it so that it doesn’t all look the same on every level. At the point I got enough of the top snow done I tested this idea for starting the next level down and it looks like it is going to work pretty good.

I have mostly finished the very top level of snow. I do have one bit to adjust. I have started HolidayCard_1211bon the second level down. I’ve got it in place and mostly sized right. I went in and deleted most of the central faces that are not going to be seen. No sense rendering them if they won’t ever be visible. Here you can see where I have that top part done and have started on the second level of snow. You can easily see in this where there snow is not sitting properly on the tree on that second level down.

Now to get the snow finished and do something about the other two trees. They do need a little dressing up I think.HolidayCard_1214a

 

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Seems Like A Lot

Posted on December 11, 2014 by SusanG

When I sat down to finish up the walls I got on a bit of a roll and got quite a bit done. Of course it helps that there wasn’t too much on the last two walls and that most of the furniture is not only very rectangular, it’s also just blocked in. Turns out, creating blocks and putting them in place moves pretty quick.First, I had to finish up the last two walls and do something about the colors.

The window wall was only a little bit tricky. I first had to figure out where my window was to go and then I had to add edge loops so that I could delete the planes that represented the window. This gave me the gaping hole for the window. Then I had to bridge the front and outside planes to create the inside surfaces where the window is. My window isn’t fancy. I don’t have frame around the opening just a sill at the bottom. As you can see I didn’t add glass or anything like that. Right now this is really about getting the bits roughed in so no reason to get too involved. I added the sill and all the other pieces for that wall, which, fortunately were few.

Office2014_1125b

The final wall has no openings, just a couple of power outlets and a door stop. Come to think of it, there might be a phone outlet that I’ve forgotten about since I don’t use it, I am fine with covering it up. Most everything else needs to be reasonable accessible. So with the few items to model for this wall it was a quick thing to finish up.

With the walls, ceiling, and floor in place and properly accessorized, it was time to do something about the textures. The walls got a basic paint texture that is pretty close to the acutal color of my wall. Since this will impact the quaility of the light and mood of the room that’s pretty important to get right. In addition, if I want to change the wall color this will give me a way to see what might happen. I got the carpet as close as I could in color and basic texture. I also had to add a light up near the ceiling. I didn’t model one, at least not for now. I just have one to show the overall behavior of the overhead light in the room, and to provide light in the room in general as it is a closed box and with out it there would be only black to see.

I decided I wanted something to see outside the window and to add a light to represent the sun so I could see how that would impact the look and feel of the room as well. So I created a plane and applied a stucco texture to it and put it outside the window, far enough away to allow the “sun light” to show through.

With all that fiddling done time to build some furniture. This went really quite fast. For the tall bookshelves I modeled one and then duplicated it. No point in doing more work that required. Then I built the other bits. I applied textures that represent the basic color and look of the object though I’m not sure my file cabinets are quite right. Still it provides a good idea of what I’ve got going on. Again, the colors will impact the feel of the room and how the light behaves so it’s important.

Office2014_1125d

The only piece of furniture that I did more detailed modeling on was my desk. It’s got this curve shape to it and I thought it was important to represent that properly. What I did for this was to first create two cubes. One that represented the long side of the desk and one that represented the short side of the desk. Then I lined them up so that the out side edges were even and so that the were right up against each other. Next I created an edge loop on the long box at about the point that it matched the shorter box. What I wanted to do was to connect them. To do that I needed points that I could weld to create the one object. So I created the edge loop and then I deleted the planes that would be touching. This gave me the option to select the points and weld them and create the one object.

To get the rounded section on the desk I used a tube. I probably could have been more efficient with my tube and only had one or two height segments. I didn’t. Oh well. My solution was to add edge loops to the box combo shape to accomodate my extra points.I created the tube at the height I needed and made it just big enough that the inner faces would properly line up with the edges on of the box part. I really should have taken screen shots when I did this. It was the most challenging part. Once I got it lined up I deleted the outer faces completely. Then I deleted the inner faces except for the ones that woul create that round edge for the desk. I had to add and edge loop or two to help create the points I needed for connecting the segments from the tube to the rest of the desk top. Then I had toOffice2014_1125e delete any of the faces that were going to be hidden. With that part done I could create a line/edge between the points and then I could bridge the edges to create planes in between.

As you can see I have my nicely shaped desk top now.

When I got to this point I looked at all the stuff in my virtual room and realized that there is a lot of stuff in there. And that’s not all of it. I haven’t added the desk chair yet. And I have all kinds of stuff to go on top of things, lights and monitors, and printers and so on. So that is still to come and already it seems like a lot.

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A Brief Intermission

Posted on December 7, 2014 by SusanG

You may have noticed a longer than normal interval between posting about the modeling projects. I got interrupted.

I did a bit of travel during the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the states and that kept me from working on things. Just before I left I did manage to get a significant amount of work done on my office model. I need to go back and review what I got done and I should have
something about that up in the next few days.

In the mean time. I had a very pleasant visit with family. I also had a visit from a few of Santa’s elves. They showed up with these goodies.IMG_0292

 

That was a lot of fun to unpack.

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It came just in time to help out on this project. Yes, it’s a pumpkin. Yes, I started it before Halloween. No, I don’t think it will be done by Christmas. But it should be done for next Halloween!

Back to that project. Yeah, with those lovely new inks, working on the pumpkin has been a bit of an obsession this weekend. Finding the right place to stop where it looks like progress has been made and the experience has been satisfying has taken a bit of work. However, I think the 4 hours spent on it today should hold me for a few days and not have me suffering withdrawals as I return to work this week.

Here’s how it looks up to this point.
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Enjoy!

 

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