Easter Break

 

Semester B: Easter Break
Student: Tai Ser Yeet (22064351)
Programme: BA (Hons) Digital Media Design
Task: Easter Break

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EASTER BREAK

Step 1: Shell

Initially, I wanted to use an existing 3D shell sourced from the Internet. However, after much consideration, I came to the conclusion that I was better off trying to make my own because the 3D models I found online were not oyster shells but resembled more clams. I then compiled tutorials that could guide me into fulfilling that goal.

Below is the only tutorial that specifically does 3D oyster shells in Blender.

I began by forming the outline of an oyster shell; a wide and jagged upper with a tapered lower section. These outlines were created with a circle mesh as the base.

I first selected a pivot point then stacked each layer onto each other and rotated them upwards on a steep incline.

Upon completing that, I pressed CTRL+J to combine all the layers into one so I could use the "bridge edge loops" function to merge all the vertices together so that a surface is created.

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I outlined the shape of the oyster using a single vertex tool and repeated that multiple times for the different ridges. This is so that the model appears more realistic as each ridge varies from one another. 

Upon completing the outlines, I stacked each layer onto each other and rotated them upwards on a steep incline. I then pressed F to create a surface from the mesh and extruded them all, making sure that they were touching at the bottom.

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The next day, I experimented with another method of creating the shell in hopes of achieving a hollow inside. In brief, I reused the outline that I created before, extruded the sides, and only topped the model with a face while leaving the bottom open. I repeated the same steps for the subsequent layers. After finishing a couple of layers, it dawned on me that this method could not create a hollow shell either. I decided to move on to other parts of the oyster to avoid wasting time and could bring this issue to Josh next Wednesday.

Step 2: Gills & Intestines
To produce the gills, I roughly traced the reference image which ultimately produced a crescent-like shape. I then merge the two vertices at the end of the line to close the loop. After that, I added a face and extruded the sides to form the model's thickness of about 0.02m. 

Later on, I ran into an issue. Initially, my aim was to smoothen the sharp corners with the "subdivision modifier" but that plan was scratched when the results weren't as I anticipated. As seen from the image below,  the inner curve of the model turned into a very wide "V" shape. I took the problem to Janet and she suggested adding more vertices to the shape but unfortunately, that method did not work for me. Eventually, I digressed and added this issue to a list of things to ask Josh next week. 

I stacked 3 sheets of gills on top of each other, similar to the arrangement shown in the reference image. After that, I aligned the branches of the intestines to the gills on the X-axis allowing its tips to touch the edge of the gills. 

Next, I noticed that the actual gills had micro ridges running across their surface. 

I replicated the texture by following along with this YouTube tutorial on how to create ridges on the surface of an object.

To begin, I selected a circle mesh and cut it in half. Next, I made a smaller circle and cut that in half but kept the bottom part before merging the end of the path with the bigger circle. I then extruded the two vertices and pressed F to close the loop. When that was done, I elongated the bottom half and extruded the outline to create its thickness.

I duplicated that one ridge 100 times by applying a modifier called "Array".