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Independent Project- Week 31

 

Semester B: Week 31
Student: Tai Ser Yeet (22064351)
Programme: BA (Hons) Digital Media Design
Task: Week 31's Class Task


WEEK 31

Learning Blender

26.2.23
I have never used Blender before so I am definitely starting from scratch. I aim to dedicate this week to learning the Blender software to create the 3D model of my oyster. The YouTube tutorial I am following is called BlenderGuru and he breaks down the teaching process into 16 parts. 


Takeaways from the videos:
  • To make the object smooth, add modifiers and choose subdivision surfaces
  • Make sure to set the scale to 1 by right-clicking and pressing the scale 
  • If you get lost in the scene and cannot find the object, press the key to the left of the number 1 and click on the "View Selected" function.



28.2.23
I started with the donut icing and tried the sculpt mode, including the grab tool, inflate/deflate, and smooth tool. I ran into a few issues with the icing where some parts were dissolved into the donut base. As a result, I needed to redo the whole part but it was definitely worth it because the end product was successful and aesthetically pleasing.


I added color to both the icing and the donut. Additionally, I gave the icing a glossy finish to make it more realistic by reducing the roughness of its material.

I experimented with the texture paint function and painted a white-ish ring around the donut base to resemble the part that often gets missed during the frying process.

Takeaways: 
  • To solve the problem of the icing separating from the whole donut mesh, apply a modifier called "Shrinkwrap" and arrange it to appear first, then solidify and subdivision.
  • The topmost mesh is the modifier that gets applied first
  • If you want to go low-resolution on a 3D model, do not pass on round objects because it will be very obvious 
  • To add color, refer to Part 5: Shading tutorial where material is selected. If you want to change the texture of the material (e.g from rough to glossy, reduce the roughness to 0)
  • To make the icing follow the donut base, make the icing a child of the donut base (parent) by selecting the icing first then the base. After that, press Ctrl + P and "Object (Keep Transform)".
Josh's Feedback
  • Experiment with both marker-based and marker-less approaches for AR and see which is more suited for your project
  • You will not get marked down if you only choose one method 
  • You can get the source file when you export your Unity project and you can generate a link for users to download your app
  • You can use the regular charging wire to connect your phone to the camera
  • Make the app catered for tablet use because most preschool students use the device compared to a phone
  • You can also simplify
  • The marker-less approach allows the software to know the correct size to display the model when users first open the app because they can use an object to scale proportionally 
  • If you want to choose a marker-based approach, the user cant interact with the model but you can create a function for them to zoom in or out with buttons
29.2.23
The next day, I tried creating a different 3D model to expand my skills so that when the time came to make my oyster, I would be well-equipped. The first exercise I chose was a wine glass. The common tools used during the making of the model were the Ctrl+R for the division of sections, the extrude tool, the scale tool, and the grab tool.

Exercise 1


  

Final Outcome of Exercise 1

Re-Iteration Design

4.3.24
This week, I reached out to Janet about the issues I faced last week while making my wine glass in Blender. The major issue I couldn't solve was the distorted stem of the glass when I scaled it. Janet corrected the problem by: 
  1. Deleting the current stem entirely from the model
  2. Shift + A to insert a new cylinder
  3. Adjust its circumference starting from the bowl to the foot/base 
  4. Press the F key(Fill) to combine each vertices of the stem and the bowl together.
Janet advised me that I should remember the number of vertices of each shape so that it is easier to create a new shape and combine them together later. The maximum vertices to start off is 32. Not only that, I can also save time by adding a Mirror modifier in the initial design stages so that it is symmetrical every time. To incorporate that into the design process, I have to delete half of the model before starting anything. 
Mirror modifier

Before (Low-Poly)

After (High-Poly)


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