In this unit I was tasked to create a 3D virtual environment, more specifically an urban street environment. The outcome to this unit was to have an understanding of the software used, it's tools and be able to navigate a computer model environment. To be able to create 3D objects and show my understanding of how to do so, showing experimentation and creativity. To have an understanding of how to use lighting effects to present light on a 3D environment and render the environment. This unit works primarily on learning how to use 3D modelling software and develop the skills to show this, by experimenting with the tools to create objects.
To do this I had various introductions to 3Ds Max software and it's interface, becoming familiar with the tools and menus and experimenting with basic object making such as creating a 3D model of crate, I began this by creating a box, one of the basic objects Max allows you to create. I then went on to alter the form of the box object to make it look more like a crate. Finally then I was shown how to texture two different parts of the crate, the inside part and the outer border part of the crate, I textured the inside of the crate with a wood texture and lastly the outer part with a metallic object. Finally I was shown how to quickly duplicate the object so I was able to form a pile of crates.
This demo helped understand how to create simple objects and alter their form to be modelled into different things. From this demo I was able to experiment with what I learned to create different objects such as a large chest, or a wardrobe. Through experimentation I also learned how to curve objects, so I could effectively turn a straight edged box into a rounded object. This helped me with creating certain buildings and round corner pavements in my urban street.
The next task involved research into street scenes that I was going to base my urban street environment on. This involved researching existing cities and other places that I felt would help inspire me and imagine how I wanted my urban street to look like, I was going for futuristic street so I was slightly limited to what I could find, however there is a lot of cities and buildings from around the world that I knew that was on par with the futuristic image. I then went on to collect primary source images of street scenes in my local town. The purpose of this is to look at things in the environment that I would want to base my work on or something I would want to put into my work. Even though my work was based on futuristic art, there were some places of interest I managed to find with things that inspired me for my work. It made me look at them and imagine how it could fit into my work or be altered in a way that it will fit into my work. However a lot of inspiration would have come from other peoples illustrations of futuristic city environments and these helped the most for my work.
