Computer Applications

Project 1: Modelling of an Architectural Design

Step 1- Blue Print The floor plan and elevations of the retreat house are drawn out in Autodesk AutoCAD as a reference blueprint in creating the model	Step 2 - Creating Polygons The CAD file is imported into 3DS Max and arranged into a blue print. 8 tube polygons of various sizes are created.	Step 3 - Capsules Making The smaller tubes (tinted in powder blue) are dragged and inserted into the brown tinted tubes using "move", "rotate" and "snap" keys.
Step 4 - Creating Slab Each capsules are then aligned and arranged according to the blue print reference. A ground slab (red polygon) is created by using the "line", "surface plane" and "extrude" function	Step 5 - Skylight, louvers and ledge A skylight is created by selecting, editing and deleting the polygons of the tube. Louvers and glass frames are created using rectangular polygons. The dented surface of the polygon is acting as a movable ledge. It is created by editing the polygons and using the "detach" function. It is then extruded inside to create a dent.	Step 6 - Double-Hang Sub-frames The sub-frames of the double hang windows are created using the "inset" function.
Step 8 - Trimming The excessive edge of the louvers that stick out from the capsules are trimmed off by utilizing the "cut" function to divide the polygons accordingly. The excessive polygons are then selected and deleted. The edges of the louvers are then "capped" in the modifier.	Step 7 - Openings Skylights, windows and openings are created gradually by manipulating the polygons and splines.	Step 9 - Copy objects The objects are copied by using the "shift + drag" shortcut key. The diameters are then modified in the modifier to fit into the other end of the tube.
Step 10 - Creating Remaining Capsule The remaining capsules are created using the same method demonstrated above. They are aligned on a higher level as they will be arranged along the contours of the side.	Step 11 - Opening and window frames. The opening frames (tinted red) are created by modifying the existing tube polygons. The selected poly are detached from the original poly and extruded to create a new surface. The excessive parts are trimmed off by using the "cut & delete" function. Vice versa for the window frames (tinted white). The site contours are created using the "terrain" tool.	Step 12 - Assigning Materials Glass materials are assigned accordingly to the model for a clearer presentation. Daylight system is inserted to create lighting and shadow for the 3D model. Some of the best angles are then captured in order to proceed to rendering.

We are required to produce a complete 3D model of a selected building by using Autodesk 3DS Max/ Rhinoceros, or both softwares for Project 1. I have chosen to model my Design Studio 2 Retreat House solely in 3DS Max. Below is the weekly 3D model production progress.

Work In Progress (Project 1)

Project 1 Rendered 3D Model Images

Built-in interior furnishings Boxes are extruded in ascending order to create the built-in staircases of the retreat house prior to rendering as this section will be visible from the exterior.	Built-in interior 2 More built-in furnishings are created using various geometries and "Edit Poly" modifier.	Assigning MR Materials Windows frames, sub-frames and glass are assigned with Mental Ray materials.
Assigning Bum Materials and UVW Map The timber strips texture images is sourced from the internet and edited in Photoshop to create bitmap materials with bum effect. The bum effect is to enhance the texture of the selected material into creating a much more 3 dimensional realistic material for use. The materials are then rotated, re-sized to align with the geometries using "UVW Map" modifier.	Importing Trees The trees are sourced online and imported into the current 3Ds Max scene. They are then re-scaled and edited to the appropriate size. The original leaves of the trees are cloned to create a denser foliage.	Landscape The landscape is regenerated by using the plane geometry. Terrain contours are created along the surface with "edit poly" and "turbosmooth" modifier. Grass material is then assigned to the landscape to create an open field. It is then tweaked to suit the curves of the plane using "UVW Map" modifier.
MR Sun &Sky The Mental Ray sun and sky is positioned into the scene to create daylight effect with shadow castings.	Assigning Trees Materials Bitmap materials are assigned on the tree bark and leaves to allow them to look much more natural.	Setting Camera Views The cameras are portrayed into the scene and angled/ tilted to desired eye-level views. Test rendering is then carried out from the camera views.
Final Rendering Final renderings are then carried out for 2 eye-level views.	Post Production The rendered scene lighting is then enhance in Adobe Photoshop using the level tools.	Post Production 2 Maple leaves patches are then added into the scene, underneath the Maple Trees. Background sky is inserted followed by human silhouette vectors to provide a sense of scale of the retreat house.

Project 2A: Exterior Still Rendering with Materials, Lights, Camera Views with Site Context

Work In Progress (Project 2A)

Project 2A Final Rendered Exterior 3D Model

Eye Level View 1

Continuing the same scene from Project 1, we are required to add in materials, lights, site context and camera views for the final production of Project 2A. In this project, we explored on creating daylighting system, framing camera views, editing material textures and also building landscape in 3Ds Max. The rendered scenes are then imported into Adobe Photoshop to enhance the overall composition of the scenes.

The WIP screenshots are to be read from left to right.

Eye Level View 2

Step 1: Doorway The polygons of the cylinder are selected in the modifier and detached from the original polygons for the construction of door frame and double hang doors. The remaining polygons are deleted to create an opening for the doorway leading to the upper capsule.	Step 2: Bridge Over The highest thread of the staircase from the lower capsule is extruded to create a connecting slab to the upper capsule which will be the bedroom location later.	Step 4: Isolating Polygons The selected polygon is isolated from the rest of the scene to enable easy editing using the isolate and cut modifier.
Step 3: Built-in Cabinets & Drawers The selected polygons are detached as clones from the original polygon to be turn into the built-in shelf and drawers of the space using the extrude, inset and cut function in the modifier.	Step 6: Assigning Materials Materials are assigned accordingly to the built-in furniture of the house. (Using mental ray, diffuse map, bump map and reflective map materials)	Step 5: Built-in Mirror The selected polys(highlighted red) are edited to create a mirror surface for the dressing room and the edges are separated to create a mirror frame.
Step 8: Fixed Lounger/ Couch The loungers of the living room are created using rectangle polygons. The rectangle is then modified in the edit poly modifier using cut, select & delete poly function. The loungers are shaped according to the anthropometry of human body. They are then assigned with red velvet fabric material.	Step 7: Built-in Drawers on Ledge Drawers are created on the seating ledge of the dressing room for storage.	Step 9: Importing 3D Furnitures The rest of the furniture (clothes, bed, curtains, decorative items etc. etc.) are downloaded from 3D Archive and imported into the scene to enhance the interior of the retreat house. The imported furniture are re-sized to the appropriate scale and proportion using the scaling tool.
Step 10: House Furnishing Decorative items (books, boxes and sculptures) are arranged onto the built-in shelves to create a welcoming and habitable impression. Soft furnishings (rugs, pillows, curtains and blankets) are incorporated into the scene. The soft furnishings set off nicely with the solid hardwood timber, creating a cozy feeling for the interior.	Step 11: Themed Furniture Materials Appropriate and matching materials are assigned to the imported furniture and items using mesh select modifier to enhance the overall mood of the interior.	Step 12: Decorating the Bedroom The built-in night-stand of the bedroom is further decorated with lamps and trinkets.
Step 13: Self-illuminating Materials Standard materials are set to self illuminating by checking the self-illumination box with the luminance units set to "1000000".	Step 14: Target light with IES flare Target lights are set to the selective lights with photometric web by inserting selected ies file to created realistic lighting.	Step 15: Grouping The lights and its target lights are grouped together and duplicated in the scene to illuminate the stairs.
Step 16: MR Sky Portal Mental Ray Sky Portals are created and then located on the openings of the building. The multiplier of each sky portals varies depending on the primary and secondary light source.	Test Rendering 1 Test rendering is then carried out in 320 pixels to examine the effect of mr sky portals.	Test Rendering 2 Multiple test renderings are done to examine the camera positions before the final rendering takes place.
Post Production 1 The final rendered scene is then imported into Adobe Photoshop for final editing and touch ups. The clone stamp tool is used to fix the foliage of the tree to hide the extruded edge of the curtain.	Post Production 2 The overall brightness and contrast is then adjusted to enhance the scene's lighting.	Post Production 3 The joints of the the capsules are slightly flawed. The region that is to be edited is highlighted with magic wand tool to isolate it from the rest of the image and then covered up with patches of clone stamp tool.
Post Production 4 Background sky is then inserted into the scene.

Project 2B: Interior Renderings

WOrk In Progress (Project 2B)

Project 2B is the continuous work from Project 2A where furnitures, interior lighthing, materials and camera capturing the interior view of the house are added into the scene. In this project, we explored on importing non-native 3Ds files into the scene and also assigning materials onto the imported files using mesh select in the modifier. We also learned to manipulate the interior daylight brightness by adjusting the Mental Ray Sun Multiplier as well as the MR Sky Portal to light up the interior scenes and framing the mood of the interior by carefully composing the furniture arrangements. Soft funishings are contrasted with solid funishings to soften the overall mood and feeling of the house. Lamps and lights are included into the building interior to light up the spaces by setting self-illuminating materials on it as well as IES light flare to create a much more realistic effect.

My 3D model consists of 6 cylindrical rotating modular capsules. Hence, 50% of the furnishings required to be built-in / fixed along with the modular capsules. I started off project 2B by continuing the building process of the interior funishings, then imported the rest of the movable funitures from 3D Archive into my spaces.

Project 2B Final Rendered Interior Views

Interior View 2: Daytime Bedroom Scene

Interior View 1: One Point Perspective of the Retreat House, featuring living room, kitchen and foyer.

Test rendering before post production	Test Rendering 2 exploring on mr sky portals
Test rendering 3 before post production

Test Renderings (Before post production)

Project 3: A Maximum 90 seconds Animation of the Completed 3D Scene

Work In Progress (Project 3)

Scene 1 A ballerina downloaded from 3D archive is imported into a fresh scene and materials are mapped on it.	Scene 1.2 Texture of human lips is being assigned to the selected polygons.	Scene 1 Test Rendering Upon completion of scene 1, test renderings are then carry out.
Scene 1.3 An enclosed cylindrical room is created for the dancer. Materials are mapped accordingly to the selected cylindrical backdrops and synced along with the key frames. Spotlight target light is fixed upon the self-illuminating flat cylindrical plate and the luminance is adjusted to achieve the over-exposed effect.	Scene 2.1 The MR Sun is moved closer to the horizon to create sun rise in the animation. The position of the sun is then being drag along the key frames. The sun will be then moving along the key frames and the cast shadows position moves as the sun rises.	Scene 2 Bitmap and opacity map maple leaf materials are assigned to planes to produce fallen maple leaves in the second scene. The planes are then duplicated to form patches of fallen leaves.
Scene 2.3 The camera position is to the spline using path constraint. This is to make the camera move in line along the key frames.	Scene 2.2 The modular capsules of the retreat house is then adjusted to moved along the key frames to show the formation process of the house.	Scene 3 The second camera is then lock to the circle around the retreat house. The camera will then move along the circle with the target facing the house to frame the exterior walk through of the building.
Scene 4 Christmas spirit! Christmas wreaths are imported into the scene to decorate the interior of the house.	Scene 4.1 More Christmas garland are imported into the scene to decorate the interior. The camera path is then set in one straight line to frame one point perspective of the interior.	Scene 5 The ballerina downloaded previously from 3D Archive is then imported into the bedroom scene. It is then attached to a wooden box to create my own spinning ballerina music box. Materials are then mapped accordingly.
Scene 5.1 The music box is then placed on top of the bed. The ballerina is then rotated clockwise along the key frames in order to create a spinning ballerina in animation. Camera is set to zoom in towards the bed, then the music box.	Test renderings Certain key frames are selected for test renderings to ensure everything is in place for final rendering. Final Gather Map calculations are being generated to be reused for final renderings.	Final Rendering of Scene 3 Final rendering is then carried out for scene 3 with all the default rendering settings in 720p. However, it takes 46 HOURS just for 101 frames! All of the rendering settings (FG, soft shadows, reflection and image precision) is then set to low to speed up the rendering process. The rendering time is reduced to 20 minutes per frame.
Final Renderings in Computer Lab The average rendering time for my scenes are 10-20 minutes per frame and I have about 700 frames. (I have already increase the fps to 10-20 frames per second!) Clearly, my desktop couldn't finish all the renderings in time so I've decided to move my renderings to the computer lap as well. The screens pasted with yellow post-it notes are all doing my renderings.	Rendering in Lab 2 The total amount of desktops I've hogged in lab are 9, plus my desktop and laptop is 11. Gosh, look at the numbers.	Video Stitching While waiting for the rest of the renderings to complete, Windows Movie Maker is used to stitch the available animation clips together.
Sound Production The Piano Guys' rendition of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major and Mozart's Wiegenlied are chosen as the main soundtrack for the animation. The tunes are then trim and sync accordingly in Audacity.	Animation Final Production The animation clips are then stitched together, along with the soundtrack sync accordingly. The video is then exported to YouTube.

Final Outcome of Video

Best viewed in 720p.

Scene 1 : Spotlight Multiple test renderings of this scene is carried out to experiment with the target light: spotlight effect.	the cylindrical background wall is mapped with reflective materials and the camera is targeted towards the dancer.
Different backdrops are arrange to switch simultaneously as the dancer spins. This is achieved by manipulating the position of different cylindrical backdrops using key frames.	Exploded Axono
Exterior Walk Through	Interior Walk Through
Night Scene The MR Sun is being pull down gradually, closer to the horizon to achieve sun setting scene.	Final Scene Final scene of the video clip depicts the bedroom of the retreat house. A spinning ballerina music box is placed on the bed.
Test Rendering of Final Scene Test renderings are being carried out to determine the light source and shadows of the indoor target light. The soft shadows appears to be too harsh on this rendering due to the error of FG Map Calulations.	Test Rendering 2 of Final Scene The soft shadows and cast shadows are fixed by regenerating Final Gather Calculations and the desired lighting is achieved.

Test Renderings of Key Scenes (Still)

Test Renderings (Animation)

Upon completion of this project, I have learned that animation is not as easy as it seems as it takes weeks and literally blood, sweat and tears to complete just a short 60-90 seconds video clip. I have learned to create simple polygons in both Rhinoceros and 3Ds Max and the process of how a simple polygon is edited to transform into a house is truly wonderful. I have also learned to source and map photo-realistic materials onto objects and understood the principles of light source in digital imaging. We have also learned to create relevant site context and setting cameras to frame the desired angles and views of our buildings. Project 2B is undeniably my favourite project throughout the entire semester as we learn to play with lightsource, as well as the arrangement of furnitures and objects in details to create a pleasant space. The rendering process may be long and tedious, but if the outcome desirable, then it is a truly fruitful project.

Project 3 consist of the compilation of projects from Project 1 to Project 2b by animating the scenes created previously. It is to showcase the completed 3D scenes using Autodesk 3DS Max animation command and tools and the clips are then exported into video editing software to stitch and further enhance the animation before publishing to online video hosts.

STORYLINE:

The video started with a ballerina dancer dancing underneath the spotlight. As she is doing her spins, the black cylindrical backdrop changes and gradually evolves into the backdrop of the retreat house site context. The scene then changes to the open field site with the sun rising as the camera moves forward. The modular capsule unit of the retreat house gradually takes its formation by sliding in one by one into the camera's focal range. The camera moves along a circular path to capture the overall view of the house and it is then directed into the interior of the retreat house. The camera moves along a straight path to capture the one point perspective of the interior.

The sun sets in fast forward motion as the camera travels along the path and the lights on the foyer staircases lit up. The camera is then directed towards the lited bedroom. A spinning ballerina music box is set on the bedspread. The lens is then zoomed in towards the music box with the ballerina spinning all the while, indicating the ballerina dancer from the starting scene is actually a music box ballerina. The video ends by fading out into darkness.