Exploits In 3D

Sierpinski's Calm

2010-12-07T05:04:00.000-08:00

Proof Of Concept I

Proof of Concept II

Oily

Final Presentation

For these renders I began by building the pyramid. I did this by creating a single square based equilaterally-sided pyramid. I then arrayed this in 2 dimensions using an offset of the length of a side of the square base. This created a 3x3 square of pyramids. Four of these were then instanced above and aligned so that the center of this layer aligned with the center of the other. A single one of these was then instanced above and aligned so each vertex of its base touched a point of the pyramids in the layer below.

This whole unit of 14 pyramids was then grouped, so that it could be treated as a single (pyramidal) object.

This entire process was repeated 3 times (only twice for the first 2 images), treating each constituate final group as a pyramid.

The result was 14^3=2744 separate base pyramids, i.e 2744x5=13720 faces/vertices.

I set up a simple mental ray lighting system, and also calculated the global illumination pass too. The results (due to the "spongey" nature of the model) appear to have a macroscopic sub surface scattering (SSS) effect.

Bubble Men (The "Knellers")

2010-09-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Conceptual Particle Bridge/Toon Shaders

2010-06-02T07:53:00.000-07:00


Bridge Construction - Standard Render

Bridge Construction - Toon Shader

Mental Ray - Ambient Occlusion - Rear View

Quick Particle Test:

Pen....ROCKET - Continuation of Pen Modelling

2010-05-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Extrusion by Polygon

Subsurface scattering material used for flames.

Omni light and glass material used for flames.

Extrusion And Scale

Pen - Hard Edge Polygon Modelled, MR Rendered

2010-05-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

Initial Model - Proof of Concept - Modelled with control edges and turbosmooth.

Initial Presentation

Two Pens - Environment Added

Depth of Field Added -further modelling done.

New Environment Test

Colour Corrected Environment Map

New Layout/Composition

Environment Added

Perspective Left View - Lens Correction

New Composition

Animation Reel

2010-05-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

Kit Elliott - Animation Showreel from Kit Elliott on Vimeo.

Walkway

2010-04-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

In a previous post of mine I had a sketchup-exported model of an odd building with a walkway. Digging out some old renders I came across these:

Looks as if I used a mental ray sunlight haze-driven system paired with a fog effect. In conjunction with these I seem to have used some custom MR materials. New material coming soon.

Sky Models

2010-04-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

3DS Max presents us with 3 different sky models to use: CIE, Haze, and Perez. Note that all the images below have undergone levels correction as a post process.
At render time, the fastest was CIE, then Haze and Finally Perez. Apparently CIE is designed to be fast and accurate, and Perez is designed to be used in conjunction with real weather data files. It appears to me as if the haze driven model is designed to look accurate, without actually being so.

CIE System

Haze Driven

Perez Model

Solidworks Surface Modeling

2010-03-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Having gotten used to the Solidworks workflow I decided to move on to something a bit more challenging - surface modelling. For the subject I chose to model a car. I began by sketching out the profile, and then by sketching guides to extrude this profile along (using the boundary surface modifier):

This resulted in a mesh (having 3 dimensions but a thickness of 0). The blue and lines coming out of the mesh, "combs", show the curvature at that particular point. During manufacture this would correspond to the amount of bend that point would have to undergo to achieve the required shape:

Having brought this mesh into photoview for a test render, I realised that the scale of the mesh was incorrect. To fix this I added a scale modifer to the stack. From there on I added thickness to the surface and modelled a cockpit and adjusted some of the colours. The image below is a screen shot of the finished shell part, and therefore will not be identical in colour or geometry to the render.

This was opened up in photoview for the following render:

But what is a car without wheels? I started a new assembly with the car shell and a new wheel part, which was built seperately:

The wheel was locked in place by using perpendicular, coincident and concentric mating pairs. I only added wheels on the back to begin with. The following renders were calculated in photoview:

Front 3/4

Right

Rear 3/4

Rear Tyre, Depth of Field

This is where the problems began. I wanted to incorporate front tyres too, but the current ones looked too small (on both the front and the back). The front of the car also dropped lower than the base of the rear tyre, meaning that I would have to enlarge the rear tyre to sustain the profile. However to do this I would need to alter the initial sketch profile of the surface cage. When I tried this I got many rebuild errors due tot he scale before adding the other features. So in the end I decided to bring the wheel out from the body of the car, resulting in a caricatured/remote controlled look. The front tyre was a copied version of the rear tyre with the scale changed. The wheels were then rigged to the axles, and then an assembly belt was added. This meant that if and wheel was rotated (i.e if it were moving along the ground), the opposite tyre would rotate at the same rate and the other tyre pair would rotate at the correct speed (faster or slower depending on the diameter ratios). The final assembly and belt can be seen here:

Opened in photoview for the following renders:

Satin Finish Front

Gloss Finish Front

3/4 Black

3/4 Final

More Attempts in Solidworks

2010-03-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

In this image I attempted to replicate a windows flag. The flag was constructed using the following steps:

An equation-driven spline (using y=sin(x) between 0 and 2 pi) was sketched on the front plane.
This curve was offset, and then the ends were joined.
This face was then extruded by a distancce of 2 pi [mm].
Two rectangles were sketched on the top plane, and an extruded cut feature with a through-all distance parameter was applied to this sketch plane.
This resulted in the part being split into 4 bodies, which I then apllied textures to and rendered in Photoview 360.

Here I was experimenting with recording and using macros. I recorded a macro to offset the boundary of the selected face inwards 10mm, and then to extrude cut this new sketch inwards the same amount. The object is meaningless, but in creating was useful practice for becoming a more efficient Solidworks user.

A Quick Word On Post-Processing

2010-03-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Having realised that almost any renderer will churn out a washed out image, I've decided to post-process my renders from now on.
This is done by importing the .jpg file in photoshop (although any program with a histogram will do), the black threshold is then defined in the levels dialogue box either by using the colour droppper or moving the black slider to the right. This is then repeated and adjusted with the white point. This has the effect of squeezing all colours available in to between the two markers, contrasting the image. The curves and gamma are then adjusted to meet my requirements. Here is an example of what this method can be used to do:

Early Days in Solidworks

2010-03-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

For these images I build the mesh in Solidworks and rendered in Photoview 360.
This model was not made to represent any object in particular, but came out resembling a mix between a tyre hub, an ash tray, and a cylindrical bearing axle. It was my first attempt in Solidworks, and so it uses most of the basic sketching and featuring tools. To name a few (roughly in order used): circle, polygon, extruded boss, fillet, chamfer, shell, extruded cut, dome, circular array.
The model is not fully dimensioned, as I was just getting used to the interface and malleable workflow of Solidworks. A screenshot showing one of the sketch dimensions is posted above.

Here I used a checkered studio material, and applied Depth-of-field to the PhotoView 360 Camera. The scene is a 3 light set up with a soft HDRI image for an environment. I feel the DOF may be too strong.

Here was my first go at adding materials, a flecked car paint. Environment was altered, and gamma slightly adjusted.

Here the environment was again altered, and I changed the focal length to enable a more realistic DOF in a later render. A bloom of 95% threshold and 4% radius was also applied in post processing.

Here is my final image. The material is shown to be the correct scaling on the mesh and the differences between the filleting and chamfering can be seen on the top faces and edges of the hexagonal extrusion. Diffuse reflections are also well shown. Bloom was added for a more "showcase" image. The render size is 1600x900.

Powerplant Study

2010-03-09T16:43:00.001-08:00

This is one of my most complex models to date. The tanks were modelled in Sketchup, imported into Max in 3ds format. The materials (where shown) were applied to sub-object groups which I defined by hand. The pipes were built around the tanks in sketch up, and imported separately.

Materials are all mental ray, as is the lighting system (when a sky is visible). I used the architectural materials in mental ray, experimenting with brushed, satin, polished (etc.) metals. For less important parts I utilized the MR wood and porcelain templates, and modified them until they gave me the image I wanted.

One very important thing to remember is to set up many cameras, instead of moving a single one around, its just a lot more practical.
Speaking of practical, I used the Mental Ray "render region" and "render selected" to great extent in this project.

In order to develop the image some more, I referenced industrial design objects using google images, and sketched them in sketchup. These were then merged into the same Max scene. It was therefore important to keep an eye on scale. To do this I kept a 2d "person plane" visible when modelling in sketchup.

Again, I couldn't help using my orthogonal clay render technique...but I added a twist. I left the pipe material as a MR Metal, which to me really makes the complexity and design stand out.

Racer

2010-03-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

(Click For High-Res Version)

Another go at editable polys. Here I worked off a cube, using a mirror down the middle so I only needed to model half of the racer....so surely there should be the same number of exhaust fins on one side as the other...right?

*Lighting setup - the MR usual.
*UVW's need a touch of re-mapping.
*Postwork done in photoshop.

Large Scale Greeble

2010-03-09T15:49:00.000-08:00

Cityscape build and lighting set up described below (scene was also used for blog banner):

To create the cityscape I created a ground plane a few kilometers squared, with a high mesh density. I then applied the greeble script until I had the look I desired. In all cases I used an MR lighting set up, except for the below images. For these views I reassigned a standard material to the city and added a simple skylight with Light Tracer enabled and rendered using the default Scanline Renderer.

Here I show the difference between perspective and othogonal cameras:

I feel an orthogonal camera could show more complex designs more clearly when dealing with large structures, similar to a floor plan.

Speakers

2010-03-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Having started messing with editable polys, I decided to model the first thing I saw: the speakers on my desk. This was my first attempt at non-abstract modelling, turned out well! Materials are MR, all of them custom except for the grill texture, which was downloaded here.

A Small Collection of Images

2010-03-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

A quick creation in Terragen. I reckon that if I could really get the hang of Terragen, I could get some very nice results. However I find the finer details quite complex, and the render times far too slow for the quality of image:

Another use of my favourite modifier: the mesh bomb. Used on the Utah teapot. Depth of field is a single pass mental ray effect, and for lighting I used a simple daylight assembly. I also left an animation with the DOF rendering overnight, which I will post soon along with some krakatoa particle rendering videos:
The original model was created in sketchup. It was then exported in .3ds format into 3DS Max. As I knew I wanted to have the camera close to the ground I wanted to avoid using bump or displacement maps, so I modelled the grating. I set the depth of field using camera.target distance:
This was my first attempt at polygonal modelling. I the gear as a hollow tube. Various faces were then Extruded, Bevelled, Chamfered, Offset etc. until I had my desired result. The gear was then instanced, and arranged as shown. The material is a very simply custom MR Material, utilising diffuse reflectivity. DOF was applied directly in mental ray as opposed to using a multi-pass effect:
This is a simple scene using a sphere, plane, and box. I have used a MR daylight system (including environmental map) and the red material is the default car paint material. For the water I used the blend edges in special properties of the mental ray material editor, this creates subtle water tension on the sphere for a more realistic result. DOF once again applied in a single pass:

An Attempt At C4D

2010-03-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Always wanting to branch out a bit, I decided to give C4D a go...here are my less then spectacular results:

The first is the default biped object with a bomb modifier applied and animated. The same is used on the other two, but instead applied to an icosahedron. An environment and global illumination, including ambient occlusion was also set up for the last image.

Water Tricks

2010-03-09T06:43:00.001-08:00

In this image an ocean shader was used. However in the following a simple plane was used, and the caustics are generated by a simple caustics map in the relevant slot in an omni:

Which is better? I think it depends. The render time was unbelievably fast on the second one, as all the effects are faux. It is also more stylised, however the lighting is not true to the geometry. May attempt an animation to test realism.
Another similar image:

Edit: Found this free open source caustic map generator for animations!

Lighting Study

2010-03-09T06:32:00.001-08:00

Using the date time and location setting the Daylight System Assembly head, I rendered 100 frames of the transition of light across these surfaces. Pretty neat! If anyone was intereseted the date was set to summer, and the location was Miami Beach.

More Abstract Creations!

2010-03-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

Publish Post

These images use the scene set as my MR Architectural post below, only with a few added spheres. Here I applied a checkered reflective colour map to the material. The lighting was a standard skylight.

Here I discovered the wonders of rendering with an orthogonal camera (in this case top) instead of the defualt trigonometric perspective. (I like straight lines).

My initials are a simple extruded text object with a standard red clay material. I like the way it looks partially like a clay-render - really makes the reflectivity stand out.

Mental Ray

2010-03-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

This image was created using the hose object. I was experimenting with all the different shapes and exploring the programs structure. The sphere is perfectly reflective, with a hint of colour. The opposing sphere can be seen in the ball. Depth of field was rendered directly in Mental Ray. Lighting is a standard Skylight.

Here I set up a simple daylight system in Max, assigning MR Skylight and MR Sun in the specified slots. Walls are AEC extended "Wall" objects set out in top view with snap-to-grid on.
The material is an anistropic metal, resulting in the streaks.

Greeble + Noise

2010-03-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

Greeble is a free plugin for many 3D applications, it links for which can be found at the bottom of this page.

I made these images by stacking many different modifiers to a "greebled" object. Custom material, background forced white, and rendered in Mental Ray.

For the second image I applied a turbosmooth modifier. Depth of field was rendered as a multi-pass effect.