Elias Perez - Week 13: Laser Scanning

Original Object

Rapid Works Polygonal (500)

Rapid Works NURBS Patch

Rapid Works Smooth (5k)

Rhino Ghosted NO Naked Edges

Render 1

Render 2

Concept:

I tried to focus on an object that I would want to use for this assignment and so I decided to use a ring holder that was shaped like an elephant as it was originally my sisters. She has always enjoyed elephants and so I thought it would be interesting to bring an object of hers into the real world within my campus and show her once I went home for Christmas. The object itself was originally very shiny so I sprayed it with a matte white paint so that it would better be picked up on the scanner. I chose the pond outside of the North West Residence halls as it seemed like a playful area and there used to be a big fountain there which made me think of an elephant fountain with water spouting from its nose which seemed pretty cool. As for the other image I am outside of the Johnson Hall, this section in particular was very open and wide and that gave me the idea to place an elephant in a wide open space to coin the term "The Elephant in the Room".

Scanning Process:

I scanned the object three times so that I could get a clear, smooth, object with no open portions. I scanned the object in a 360 view, then I did it in single shots from the top, bottom, and both the left and right side to ensure there were no holes in the object. I then pinned points and brought the different scan families into one family. I then brought the object into Rapid Works where I cleaned up my object, there were no holes so I simply had to do an all object smooth after going in and cleaning up certain portions that the program didn't get. I then moved onto to dropping the poly count of my object to a low 500 as anything higher still felt to smooth. I then did a poly count of 2k and 5k just to see if there were any subtle differences. After undoing these actions I then finished by making my NURB patch, it wasn't perfect but it worked well and had enough detail for mysimple object. I went with the 5K object as I preferred its look to the others and saved it as a .obj file and input it into Rhino where I checked for naked edges, from here I moved to Key Shot.

Rendering Process: 

For my backdrops I wanted to create the sense that the viewer was standing in the location, standing in front of the object (render 02) or staring from a far (render 01) to give the sense of an exhibition of an art piece. Using the Match Perspective option in Key Shot I set the x, y, and z positions of the picture to create a more in depth shot and make the viewer feel as if they are standing within the location. I felt that the use of a jade colored elephant made the object truly pop and give it the sense of good wealth and health especially in such a playful and cool area. In the second render I used a more ruby red glass texture to make the elephant very prominent as well as make the deep shadows pop and give a lonely image  you can't help but notice(hence the elephant in the room). The most difficult portion of lighting was the need to find a mid ground between dark and light as there is more light, blue, winter like shadows in the images. I had to rotate the shadows so that it did not leave a bright shine but also did not make the object purely black. I then took the Key Shot renders and placed them into Photoshop where I placed the background with the shadows and lighting as well as fixed the levels of both to create a realistic feel. I then added the text and saved them as TIFF and JPEG images.

Elias Perez: Week 11 - Laser Engraving

    Concept:
    For the design in this project I was considering what it was that I had wanted to do and I was setting up to sit by my computer. On the way there I had grabbed my favorite cup with coffee in it and almost tripped and spilled it directly onto my computer. From this I got my inspiration for the design as you can see with the two hands and the cup slipping from them, the gigantic "NO" in the background.

3D Model Designed in Maya

Technique:

    First I modeled the image in Maya and used google images for concept pictures of different mugs and cups used by coffee shops. I then exported the Maya file as a .obj file and imported it into rhino. I then used the command MeshtoNurbs so that I could convert the .obj file. From here it made it possible for me to use the Make2D command which created a flat vector design of my 3D model. I then joined and exploded each object so that I could set each individual color for each line so that I could get a mixture of raster engravings, medium engravings, and shallow engravings. 

Before I added Raster Engravings to border and make the NO pop

The Final Product

Materials:

     I used an 7.5 inch skateboard deck which was laser engraved and then gloss acrylic paint dry brushed on top to create a solid look. The red and yellows meant to create a caution sign or cautious feeling. The use of the regular board color to make the red and yellow pop as well as give sight to the borders and engraved portions of the board. 

After Laser Cut No Paint 

Final Painted Product

Elias Perez: Week 10 Cardboard Ball

Concept:

    The concept I had in mind for this project was to create a large jack-o-lantern helmet in the spirit of Halloween. I knew that I wanted it to fit on the persons head and that I didn't want a perfectly spherical pumpkin but rather one with many crooked edges to give off a sense of eeriness or madness almost like a Tim Burton style film. The color palette I used was based off of Vainglory's character Petal's Halloween cosmetic as I felt the purple and green complemented each other and made them pop creating an eerie feeling.

Petal Halloween Skin - Reference

Finished Product of Jack O Lantern

Technique:

    

    The Jack-O-Lantern was modeled in Maya by extruding the faces of basic polygons as well as by moving the vertices inward to create the crooked shape that I was hoping for. To help keep the polygonal shape I would set up sub divisions in Maya so that it would be easier to cut the edge loops once I got into Pepakura. After the modeling process in Maya I changed the .ma file to an OBJ file and imported it into Rhino where I changed the file into NURBS so that I could further lower the amount of polygons. I then imported the file into Pepakura where I cut the edge loops to unroll the mesh. From here I put the vector file into Rhino where I prepped the lay out for laser cutting. The helmet is made from eflute cardboard and was put together using Loctite Super Glue, the candle and the helmet were made as separate objects and glue together after both objects were painted. 

Jack-O-Lantern Pepakura File

Jack-O-Lantern Rhino File Lay Out

Materials:

    The materials used for the Jack-O-Lantern Helmet were eflute cardboard, Loctite super glue, and Apple Barrel Gloss Acrylic paint for a smoother shine and color that pops. The assembly began before the painting but the candle and head were both done at separate parts. To better fit the polygonal flame on top of its candle base I cut multiple slits and glued around both objects to help it stay upright and did then glued the candle to the head after completion. 

Cardboard Ball:

    As requested I attended the cardboard ball and saw quite a few interesting projects that other people had done and was absolutely astounded by what could be done with laser cutting and 3D printing. I took a few photos of the event with others and their costumes. 

Jack-O-Lantern and Ryuko

Jack-O-Lantern and Ryuko  

Jack-O-Lantern and Tribal Wolf Barbarian 

Jack-O-Lantern and Dark Souls 3 Suit

Gathering of others at the Ball