Sheena Meany Week 12 Final Project: Pepakura

Original 3D Model: Pengwhale (Penguin and whale hybrid creature)

Concept

For this project, I knew I wanted to do a hybrid animal since it is much easier to create something with some basis in reality. I was inspired by the photoshopped image of an orca and a penguin which is what became the base for my project. 

Techniques

For my model, I used Maya 2019 to create it due to it being an organic creature. I started my model with a Polygon Cube, extruding it out then using the Smooth command to create the rough shape of the creature. I then used the Extrude command to create the wings and eye shape. For the mouth, I used the Boolean Difference command to cut a hole in the mouth. I only worked on one half of the creature in order to save time, and after finishing one half, used the Symmetry command to mirror it to the other half. After completing the model, I used the Reduce command to "reduce" the polycount level to make it easier for the Pepakura program to run. 

Materials

In order to create the base colors for the texture of the creature, I UV mapped it accordingly so I could texture the creature accordingly to the colors I wanted. I then assigned the creature a plastic texture, in order to emulate the cardboard used in the final Pepakura project. I chose a winter background as both animals live in cold environments, so it would be the most fitting for the creature. 

Final Pepakura Group Project: Pengwhale

    My design was chosen for the final project due to its simplicity and most structurally sound. It is titled "I now realize why Steve Buscemi was terrified of his abominations in Spy Kids 2". Since other designs would not have been able to stand on their own without additional support, mine was chosen on that aspect. Since it was a crossover between a whale and a penguin, there were many other routes of inspiration we could add to the design to elevate it. Ultimately, we decided to give it a nest of sorts with sticks and eggs, and other things you would normally find in a bird's nest. Another is that the design of the creature is inviting to an audience, with an open mouth and round body, giving it an opportunity to attract others to itself. 

    Responsibilities were divided upon ourselves equally, depending on time constraints and our own individual strengths. Logan was primarily in charge of the entire post-production process but helped in other aspects as well during building. He also designed and modeled the nest shape, and prepared it for laser cutting. Aidan assisted in preparing files for laser cutting, as we had several pages to cut for our creature. He also helped organize the project workflow, as well as troubleshooting during the building process of our creature. I assisted in operating the laser cutter and learning how it works, which was something I was not expecting in this class, but more than happy to learn. After all the pieces were printed, I built out a majority of the creature's shape, then we combined efforts to do finishing touches for the general shape until it went to post-production. 

    We endured many difficulties during this project, one being the laser machine on campus being down. Since the laser bed off-campus was a different size, all our pieces had to be cut down piece by piece in order to fit this new laser bed. Another issue was that we had many missing pieces, such as one eye, which went to the post-production department. In doing so, the penguin had a new unique design to it as a "pirate", which brought more attention to the eyepatch itself which was unexpected.