DESIGN VISUALIZATION - M.01 JOURNAL Module 01 | A Digital Still Life Chandavinel Ath 900333
MODELLING For the first part of the assignment, we were required to document a number of objects through photography and dimensioning. Some of the objects that I have chosen to model include a wine bottle, wine glasses, orange, apple and banana. In this part of creating the composition, techniques used to create these 3D models of objects include simple polygonal tools such as extrusion and chamfer, basic geometries creation such as cylinder, tube and boxes. For this part of the journal, we will focus on modelling process of the banana and wine bottle.
MODELLING PROCESS
Banana
1. Create a plane through the ‘Create’ panel - ‘Standard Primitives’ - ‘Plane’
2. Import the photo of documented fruit onto the plane by dropping the image into the Material Editor and then drag and drop onto the plane.
3. Create a cylinder. Adjust the radius and faces of the cylinder in the ‘Modifier’ tab.
4. Once adjustments are done, convert the cylinder into an editable polygons for further adjustments. This can be done by right-clicking the cylinder - ‘Convert To’ ‘Editable Poly’.
5. Select the edges of the cylinder, hold down SHIFT and move the edges with the gumball. This allows the edges to be duplicated and manipulated. The ‘Edge’ selection can be found under ‘Selection’ Panel.
6. Using the ‘Vertices’ selection, adjust the shape of the model’s radius and curvature following the referenced image. Use the ‘Chamfer’ command to create the seams in the model. This makes the model look more realistic. Apply ‘TurboSmooth’ modifier for finishing touches.
MODELLING PROCESS
Wine Bottle
1. Create a plane through the ‘Create’ panel - ‘Standard Primitives’ - ‘Plane’. Drag and drop reference image of the wine bottle on to the plane from the ‘Material’ editor.
2. Use ‘Line’ in the ‘Spline’ panel. By using line, it allows me to trace the outline of the wine bottle in the reference image.
3. I traced out the outline of the image with double lines, as it allows me to use the ‘Lathe’ modifier later. In the Modifier tab, select the ‘vertices’ under Selection option. This allows you to adjust the control points for perfect, straight lines before Lathe.
4. In the ‘Modifier List’ drop box, Select Lathe. In the parameters setting, I aligned the line to “Max” in order to get the bottle shape seen here. More segments also allow for a smoother, rounder shape.
5. With the wine label, select the polygon faces and detach them. Drag and drop the wine label from the Material Editor onto the newly detached faces. Go to ‘UVW Map’ from the Modifier list. Use Gizmo to re-align the label as needed.
6. For the wine bottle cap, create a capsule from ‘Extended Primitives’. Rescale and adjust the size of the capsule. Move the capsule close to the wine bottle cap, go to ‘Hierarchy’ - ‘Adjust Pivot’ - ‘Affect Pivot Only’. This allows you to to center the capsule’s pivot, in preparation for array. Go to Tools- Array. Adjust the parameters as needed.
MATERIALS & TEXTURES In this second task, we will go through applications of materials and textures onto our 3D models. This includes unwrapping objects, editing textures and colors to give the objects a realistic look. Understanding the physical forms of objects is really important when it comes to applying materials and textures. For example, the longitudinal section of a banana may reflect light differently from a deep, ceramic bowl. Wine bottle (made out of glass) would have a different IOR (Index Of Refraction) compared to a ceramic bowl. These factors will influence the rendering qualities of images. For this second part of the assignment, we will focus on applying textures and materials on an orange and curtains.
MATERIALS & TEXTURES APPLICATION
Orange
1. Using the ‘Sphere’ command, I create a 3D model of an orange. I selected the faces of the top of the cylinder and extrude them to create a dent at the apex of the orange. I placed a cylinder on top as the apex.
2. Next, I applied ‘TurboSmooth’ modifier to the sphere to create a smooth surface. Changing the iteration values affect the smoothness of the object’s surface (The more iterations, the smoother the object).
3. Once ‘TurboSmooth’ was applied, select ‘Unwrap UVW’ from the Modifier list. This allows me to create seams and unwrap the object for a more accurate application of materials and textures. The green lines represent the seams created.
4. I created seams that allows me unroll the orange into 3 parts: Top, Bottom and Middle. This can be done by using the Pelt command. For accurate textures, the unrolled maps should be flatten and relaxed. Relax command can be found under ‘Tool’ menu. ‘Arrange normal’ allows the unwrapped maps to fit onto the bounding box. I rendered out the UVW Template in the UV Editor menu, so it can be exported out into Adobe Photoshop for texture application.
5. Once imported into Photoshop, I tried covering up areas of the orange where the textures were not applied properly by using the ‘Clone’ stamps.
6. By using bitmaps as bump and diffuse maps, I was able to created a simple realistic orange material and texture. These maps can be created via Adoe Photoshop 3D Filter or found on the internet. Bump maps create textures, diffuse maps create the base colors and reflect maps affect how light hits the object.
MATERIALS & TEXTURES APPLICATION
Curtains
1. Create a plane. Increase the plane’s width and length segments, since this allows us to create the “wrinkly” textures of the plane later. Then, create a box. This box will serve as a collision object in order to achieve the wrinkly texture.
2. Apply ‘Cloth’ modifier to the plane and the box. In the drop down menu from Cloth, select ‘group’ - ‘Make Group’. Make sure you would only select the box and the part of the plane that intersects with the box. This will allow us to simulate a collision later at the intersection point, to create the curtain texture.
3. Once that is done, go to ‘Object Properties’. Another diaologue box will open up. Select the curtain plane and check ‘Cloth’ box to give it the material’s properties. Select the box and set it as the ‘Collision Object’.
4. Once the properties are applied, toggle on the ‘Auto Key Mode’ and move the animation slider along. This allows us to create animated simulation for the collision between the plane and the box.
5. Once done, untoggle the ‘Auto Key Mode’. Simulate the collision by pressing the ‘Simulate’ button under Object. Check the ‘Self Collision’ box in the Simulation Parameters to ensure the collision happens. Adjust the simulation frames if needed. Then, the curtain is done.
6. For further materials and textures application, open the Material Editor - Modes - Slate Material Editor. Create a VRayMTL, FallOff and ColorCorrection maps. I used a bitmap of red velvet texture for the curtain. ColorCorrection map helps correct discolorations in the bitmap, while FallOff map creates a balance between textures, colors and contrast. Apply the material and texture to your curtain by dragging the VRayMTL onto the curtain. Adjust each map parameters if needed.
LIGHTING & CAMERA
In this third part of the task, we will go through composing light, camera set up and rendering the scene through VRay. Lighting adds complexity to a scene. There are different types of lighting, ranging from artificial lights to natural sunlight. Setting up cameras allow us to get views of the scenes from different angles. This also adds more layers of complexities to the scene and the views may range from a bird’s eye view, to eye level or a frontal one. For this part of the module, we will focus on Vray lighting and camera set up. We will also discuss rendering set up to achieve great renders with minial noises or resolution problems.
LIGHTING
Lighting positioning and the types of lighting techniques used in a scene have a lot of influences on how the scene will be rendered. For this module, I used three different types of lighting: Reflected, Ambient and point lights. In the first render, only reflected light is turned on. The render is lit up but not consistently. This is due to the nature of light and its positioning. The source of the light is placed further away from the scene to create a dramatic composition. I positioned the light at a higher angle while lowering the attenuation value. This means, the intensity of the light diminishes the further away it is from the source. Second render is affected by ambient light. I placed the source a bit closer to the scene this time. Since ambient light do not have discernible source or direction, it lits up the scene evenly. Third render is affected by point lights. I placed the lights above the scene, focusing on the table with lowered intensity and more saturated color.
Reflected Light
Ambient Light
Point Lights
CAMERA SET UP In the first render, the camera is set up at an eye level, looking towards the table and composition. Motion blur is added to the camera set up, hence the blurriness in the image focusing on the wine glass spilling caught in motion. In this view, we are able to see certain objects such as the depth of the table and the orange in the bowl, which may not be visible from other angles. Second render is a frontal shot of the composition. The camera is set up to emphasize symmetry between objects in the composition.I adjusted the Field of View (FOV) in this shot to include some other details such as spilled wine and eye balls on the floor. Depth of field is added to focus on the composition while blurring out other surrounding elements such as the curtain back drop. Third render is a close up view of the wine glass. No effects were added to the camera set up. This allows us to see details in the wine glass such as finger prints and cracks which may not be visible from faraway.
First Render
Second Render
Third Render
RENDER SETTING
Rendering creates a 2D image based on the 3D scene created. The lighting, materials, environment and atmosphere that you set up generally affects the quality of the render. In order to achieve the render for this module, I set up a ‘Print Size Wizard’. This option allows 3DS Max to create a render based on the page print size with adjustable DPI Value. The DPI (Dots Per Inch) values affect the pixelation/noises quality within the render. In general, a 300 DPI value is needed in order to create a render with high resolution. This means the render created will have lesser noise and cleaner image.
COMPOSITION The nature of this omposition mainly stems from the idea of using complimentary colors and shapes. Recurring shapes are spheres and cylinders, while the main primary colors are red, black and white. The placement of the objects in the scene is done intentionally to create a hierarchy within the composition. Wine glasses and bottle locate at the back due to their sizes compared to that of the fruits and bowl. Surrealism is the main inspiration behind this composition, with the set heavily inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. The juxtaposition between elements, ranging from half eaten apple, untouched banana and orange to the pairing of red wine and Xanax are meant to evoke confusion. The material and textures of the grapes are done intentionally to blur the lines between an edible object and metal. This can also be seen in the spilled wine.