Michael Crow: 3D Printing Assignment

Concept:
The Legend Of Zelda is my quintessential connection to all things nerdy. It is what made me want to pursue my career in animation, modeling and video games. In the N64 Game "Ocarina of Time" you are sent to several dungeons to collect "Medallions" to beat the game. To me each of these medallions represent challenges I have overcome in my life. I consider learning the ability to create physically what i perceive visual a milestone in my training and a talent to carry forward with me. So I decided to recreate these medallions and a base fitting them.

Modeling Techniques:
Each medallion started out the smae with a wide cylinder base, using a slightly smaller copy of the base with a Boolean difference to create the raised lip edge. From there it was mainly simple shapes, adjusted using their "Control Points" and duplicated to create the reliefs I needed to Boolean Combine or difference to get the shape I wanted. from there I was able to Fillet the edges to create a nice swooping join along the edges that wast to wide or to pointed.



Materials:
3D Print - The medallions were all 3D printed at the UT Dallas Art Barn Fabrication Lab, using ABS plastic. These were then coated with 3 layers of XTC-3D to give the model a more cohesive look and provide a primer for the different colored Acrylic paints. One different color for each of the Medallions. The base was laser cut from 11x14 sheets of .25" thick Acrylic. A base and a Top layer were cut and the sides facing each other were sanded down and conjoined using Super glue. Once that was hardened the entire base was sanded using 120 grit sand paper and coated in multiple layers of Black Gloss Spray Paint and the Golden triangles were attached with super glue

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Keyshot - Starting with the base,I wanted it to be a dark stone color and texture, that way it would set a nice background for the colors used while also not really creating a distraction from the key parts of the piece. At first I wanted to make the medallions out of some sort of precious stone such as jade or ruby; depending on its color. However with such a dark platform the colors, being as transparent as they are, didn't get the effect I wanted across, instead much of their color was lost to the base. So instead I used textured and colored glass. It would make the model much more affordable, and even more importantly, give each of the medallions that transparent shine and luster, while still proudly displaying the color desired.

Michael Crow: Week 2 Ducky

Concept: I really liked the idea of a basic rubbery ducky sold to rich upper crust children. one where kids could have a ducky dressed in a tux, but of course that means that he cant be a bath toy, so extrapolating that he couldn't be a bath toy anymore so I changed his material to a harder plastic for everyday play.

Modeling Techniques: Following the tutorial i continued using "Project" to create curves on my duck to make the layers of clothing and the layers for the hat and the cane. The monocle comes form basic shapes. and the duck tails i used for the overcoat came from subtracting a square form the body of the duck. Due to this I was unable to have all closed edges, but that wasn't a requirement for this project, so oh well.

Materials Used in Concept: I wanted to stick as close to the original duck idea as possible so i stuck with rubber and plastics, making it a harder plastic since it would be a small child's toy. I wanted it to last a long time. the colors mimic that of a Tux mixed with the colors of a rubber ducky. The monocle is made of glass and gold. Making the duck a much more expensive toy and fulfilling its purpose as a toy for the rich elites.

Michael "Griff" Crow: Week 1 Castle

   

Concept
    My main idea was to work with a castle design that was unusual in my searching I found a rather unique Castle. which formed the basis of my idea. Though the circular symbolism of the castle made me feel like it was more of a holy site than that of war, so I opened the entrance and added an alter \ temple in the center to make it more of a place of worship than a true castle for defense.

Modeling Techniques
    In this model I used three main technique s. The first and most important technique that I used was Boolean Difference. This allowed me to make complex shapes that were still capped on all sides, such as the wall and the fortifications. The second major technique was ArrayPolar. This allowed me to create spires, pillars, and even subtraction wheels) used with the first technique to give the whole caste a uniform feel and that perfectly circular dimensions I was looking for. Finally I used several curves and the Two Rail Sweep tool which allowed me to make the perfect arches between each set of pillars at my entrance. along side the advanced tools I mainly used my Gumball and snap tools to create the rest.

Materials
    I wanted this castle to have a real castle feel to it, but the more I played with the stones and the like the more I disliked any of the presets. I ended up making my own variations on marble due to the unique beauty of the "veins" in the marble, which gave my altar \ temple more of a mystical feel. the rest is made from stones and precious metals to reinforce the significance of the site and draw your attention inwards through the main gate and into the altar itself. The dark Green stone is used to accent the white and black and offset the blue in the marble, once again pulling the piece together for a cohesive feel without distracting from the more important materials.