Jake Lenzen Week 8: Slots

Continuing on the theme of my last project, I wanted to create a model with ties to my favorite book series, The Wheel of Time. Each element of the construction is a reference to different elements of the books. The central tower represents the White Tower, whose occupants have steered the world in the direction of their choosing for centuries. The tear drop shapes represent the two sides of the One Power. Similar to Yin and Yang, there is a male and female side to the power, equal but different in all aspects. The dice were more specific, a reference to a particular character who, by his nature, influences the luck of happenings around him.

Technically the project was fairly simple. I created the vector file in Illustrator then imported it into Rhino. I decided after seeing other projects that I wanted something central for the rest of the project to revolve around. I took two silhouettes of the Tower and cut long notches through the center of each, one starting at the top going down to the middle, the other starting at the bottom. When put together, they create an X construction which can stand on its own. I was most happy with how this part of the project turned out.

Jake Lenzen: Week 5 LED Sleeve

For the sleeve, I wanted to create a simple, practical model. I made a textured grip to prevent slipping, and a rounded cap to help tell where the end of the flashlight is.

I used curve modification, mainly booleans with an array of circular shapes, with the revolve command to create the shape.

For the texture, I chose a blue rubber because its similar to the material grips are made out of.

Jake Lenzen: Week 5 Free Model

For this project I decided to make something out of my favorite book series, the Wheel of Time. This symbol is repeated throughout the book, and has become very iconic. I chose a smaller scale so the model could be used as a key chain or some similar token.

I worked mostly in Maya, using basic polygons for the wheel shape. For the snake body, I created a curve that went through the wheel the way I wanted it, then extruded a cylinder along the curve. The head I made by drawing a curve, then making it into a surface and extruding. I then made holes at the front of the body, and the back of the head, and combined the vertices to form a cohesive shape.

I chose a gold like texture for the snake to better imitate the books, but a plastic material to the wheel and spokes to keep it modern.

Jake Lenzen: Week 3 Ducky

For this model I wanted to create the perfect rubber ducky toy. I followed to tutorial to create the organic structure, trying to keep the proportions close to what I thought would appear normal. The ducky didn't have as much class as I would have liked however, so I added a top hat as a finishing touch.

The duck was created with 2 spheres which were rebuilt. The spheres were then squashed and stretched using control points. I used a curve to project onto the head and body to create holes for the neck. I then blended the two curves together to create the neck itself. The top hat was made using simple cylinders, both for the hat and the band.

For materials I used the closest I could find to yellow rubber for the body, with a similar black material for the eyes. The top hat used a cloth material, both for the band and the hat.

Jake Lenzen: Week 3 Flashlight

For this project I mainly followed the tutorial. I wanted to stay to something simple that could be easily identifiable as a flashlight. I added a rim around the button to make it look slightly more realistic, but other than that I kept a classic structure.

The flashlight housing was created with a normal cylindrical shape, with a truncated cylinder added to the front end for the reflector. Another truncated cylinder was then used to hollow out the flashlight for the lens. The button was a standard sphere, with a cylinder around it to make a rim.

I kept the textures simple to reflect the simplicity of the model. The housing is glossy black plastic, while the button and button rim are rough rubber material. The inside lens is clear glass.

Jake Lenzen: Week 3 Castle

For my first Rhino model, I wanted to make something simple and classic, but with some stylistic elements. My inspiration was the Wray Castle. I began with the tutorial, but wanted to create something a bit more gothic, so I strayed from the original design.

The octagonal towers were made by creating a polygonal surface and extruding upwards. The details, such as the crosses or battlements were made using the boolean difference command.

Materials were a bit of an issue, whenever I would try to use a scale greater than 0 on the texture, the result would be incredibly pixelated. The only texture this looks good with was the brick. In order to retain some variety, I edited the texture to make it darker for the battlements and trim.