Jeremiah Baker: Week 2 Duck

ghosted painted black

ghosted with keyshot material assignments

Concept: I pretty much just followed the tutorial to the letter to get this one put together. I'm not very practiced at organic modeling, so it was difficult enough managing that.

Modeling Techniques: I used two circles for the body and the head. Control point editing helped a lot in making the modeling process easier, though I did struggle with selecting the right points. I used curves, projection, and split in order to cut off the beak and make the holes for the neck and head to join. I used surface blend to join the neck and head. For the eyes, I created a distorted sphere, used curve>project>split to separate the pupil, and then aligned it to the head. Then I used mirror to make another one on the other side.

Materials Used in Concept: I just tried out a lot of different materials for this one until I found one I liked. The Axalta materials stood out to me, so I used those and modified the colors a bit to go with the coloring I wanted for the body and head of the duck. I also used an environment with more interesting lighting because of the very reflective quality of the Axalta materials.

Jeremiah Baker: Week 1 Castle

ghosted painted black

ghosted with keyshot material assignments

Concept: This concept was not really inspired by anything, (besides the dome, which was inspired from Arcadia from Doctor Who) but was instead just a result of me making random patterns. The symmetry and repetition throughout the design are intended to create a structured and organized feel to the piece. The dome creates a sense of everything working together, but also suggests a menacing and claustrophobic atmosphere. The repetition of spheres creates a city-like model, getting larger and larger towards the center. When approaching the center, the towers get higher, creating a sense of progress. The bridges also create a sense of connection between the many different pieces and the ability to progress.

Modeling Techniques: The snap to grid feature was incredibly useful in the modeling of this castle. It allowed everything to stay perfectly in line with everything else. To create the dome, I created 2 spheres, one smaller than the other, and used a boolean difference command to make it hollow. The mirror command was also very useful in duplicating the squares and especially the bridges to symmetrical positions.

Materials Used in Concept: I used the darker Axalta materials in order to create a sort of menacing and structured feel of the square buildings and the bridges between them. The gold Axalta finish in the middle represents the peak of progress, a light in the middle of the dark. The dome had to be glass because otherwise we wouldn't be able to see anything inside, but it also gives the idea of the ability to see the outside world from inside. Also, the mirror-like quality of the black Axalta gives a really cool effect on the central cone. Because of the reflections, it can be seen from pretty much any angle even though the cone itself is usually hidden behind one of the central towers.