This project was my first experience working in 3ds max and with 3d modeling in general. The process of building the environment for this project involved me following a tutorial in Brain Buffet, an online educational company that offers courses to learn programs like 3ds Max. The tutorial in Brain Buffet started with me learning the basic building blocks of 3ds max, called primitives, and the tools involved in transforming these shapes like scale and rotate. I used these primitives and transformation tools to create a column from a reference image provided by Brain Buffet's start files. After creating the first column, we used the array tool, which allowed me to duplicate the singular column I created in ordered lines, allowing me to build the entire temple environment quickly and efficiently.  I'm proud of this project because of how it helped build my fundamental skills in 3ds max, and how I was able to follow the reference image very well using just primitives and transformation tools. 

Building this model helped me learn the more advanced modeling tools in 3ds Max, and the final result is something I'm very proud of. The process of building this model was similar to how I built the Temple of the Primitives, as the process of building this model involved following a series of tutorials in Brain Buffet. However, the tutorials for this model were much more complex and in depth, with the tutorials covering the modifiers that can be applied to primitives to sculpt them into complex models. I'm proud of this model because of how I was able to build up the model of the Lego mini figure in a mostly smooth process, though at one point towards the final stages of building this model 3ds max crashed and I lost around 20 minutes of work due to not thinking about saving and my last auto save being 20 minutes beforehand.  

This is by far my favorite model I created this quarter, and the model I had the most fun making. This project gave us free reign to choose any real world object to model in 3ds max as realistically as possible, and for this project I chose a duck key chain I have on my schoolbag that a friend gifted me.  The process of making this was very loose, which I enjoyed greatly due to it being such a far departure from the usual video tutorials that we had to follow in Brain Buffet. I used a lot of the modifiers we had learned in previous assignments and projects such as the boolean and edit poly modifiers to shape the final model for this project, and I am still fairly satisfied with the final result. Though I am fairly satisfied, I feel I could have done a better job with the beak of the duck, as I couldn't find a good way to emulate the curved or connected parts of the duck's beak, so had to compromise with a few modified cylinders. 

Though this was a short and straight forward assignment, I still am proud of this project, and excited to use the tools used in the creative process of this project in the future. This project had me use the materials and rendering settings to build a still life scene using models taken from famous movies. I really enjoyed the process of adding the materials and rendering the models in 3ds max, as the materials add a whole new life and layer of realism to the models. The way the added materials reflect the light shining on them and the way they interact with the environment as a whole is something I'm very proud of. I was also intrigued with how I can use both materials and the rendering settings in 3ds max to abstract my final renders, as surreal and abstract elements are something that I enjoy adding to all forms of art that I work in. 

Quarter 2

I feel this piece demonstrates my creative skills in 3ds max, and I feel it reflects my own personal artistic style the most out of all the creations I've made in 3ds max.  I used images I found funny online and added them as textures to the Lego mini figure model one day when I was messing around in 3ds max. However, once I realized I had to pose Dr. Frankenstone and his monster in a cohesive way that would tell some kind of narrative, I decided to use the textured mini figure in my final screen capture. due to the disturbing nature of the pictures I chose, I decided to pose Dr. Frankenstone and his monster running away from the textured model I created, with more of the textured model appearing over time and taking over Frankstone's monster.  I had a lot of fun creating the ridiculous premise and textures for this piece, and I really enjoyed having more creative freedom in my projects, for the better or for worse. 

This piece was an important stepping stone in learning how to apply textures to my models in 3ds max, and many of the skills I learned in the process of creating this I used throughout my new projects. This was one of the first projects I worked on that taught me how to use the unwrap UVW modifier and custom mapping to apply textures to my models. I used these skills in tools in subsequent projects after this, like Its alive and the simple textured tank. Learning how to remap the UVW's of my models has helped me be more creative with my rendered models and make my models more dynamic and interesting.