3D Modeling & Animation Reflections

2025-26

Quarter 1

2025/9/1

Why I Chose 3D Modeling & Animation

I want to learn what it takes to become a game designer and Publish my own game. This is because of my love for video games like Minecraft Roblox and etcetera. I love these games because they teach you about creativity and how to express what you build and how'd you build it in your own way. So that is why I chose to be in 3D modeling and animation.

What I expect to get out of this class is to learn What it takes to become 3D modeler. First the basics of using 3Ds Max for 3D modeling and animation. Next I would want to know how I could use those skills for getting into competitions after of course I maybe get into game design. After that I would want to know what jobs I could get by using these skills. That is what I expect to get out of joining this class.

2025/9/11

Module One

In module one I learned how to scale, move, rotate, and create primitives like boxes, spheres, cylinders, and others in the command panel. The command panel is one of the menus/panels that I learned to use in 3DsMax for 3D modeling. Next I learned how to combine primitives and use them to make more complicated objects such as pillars, walls, a snowman, a pencil and more. Speaking of primitives, they’re actually made up of these little things called polygons which are basically mini triangles and quadrilaterals which make some polygons, but not all of them. Those triangles and quadrilaterals have edges. Edges, which are made of vertices, make up polygons. You can see some of my work/examples below.

With the skills I've learned. I would use them in the future for applying for a game design job. Maybe the part that does 3-D modeling in a specific way that makes things such as scenes like I did for my temple of primitives. Where I used primitives to create a temple from an image of one you can see my example below along with some other examples. these other examples are other projects I’ve done like my temple of primitives project.

2025/9/21

Module Two

What I learned in this module was snapping, linking, and grouping primitives. Now using these along with the stuff I learned in module one I was able to create an actual scene called the four corners and a little friend called Alfie Hitchcat who yes is a cat made out of lego. Now let me talk about each of these starting with snapping.Snapping is where you use the snap toggle to precisely align primitives and their components (like vertices, edges, and faces), and transform gizmos to other objects or the grid.Next is linking, linking allows you to put two different primitives into a parent and child relationship which the child can move independently of the parent, but the parent whatever transformation is applied to it gets applied to the child you can undo this by clicking the unlink button. Finally there is grouping, grouping is where you group a lot of primitives together to create a group such as after I finished creating Alfie I selected all of the different pieces of him, and I clicked the groups button, gave it a name, Alfie, and after I did that I can move it as one object now you can’t go back into group and select ungroup if you wish to undo this. Speaking of Alfie and the Four corners, you can see some of my work on those two projects below.

I would use these skills in the future for applying for a game design job at a company such as Epic games or a indie studio such as Toys for Bob. You can see examples of what I did in this module down below such as how after I made Alfie I placed him in my Temple of Primitives and how I made Alfie in general. Another example would be the Four corners project I did at the beginning of this module at first I didn’t know how to do it, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy to do.

20/10/21

Module 3

What I learned in this module was how to make a Lego figure, a field scene, a screwdriver, a submarine, and a sword and shield. These are some of the examples of what I made in this module using symmetry, mirror, bridging, splines, and other tools not you bad for asking how are use these skills in the future well, I will use them to create scenes models for video games if I want to do video game design later down the line. You can see examples of what I made in this module below.

2025/10/30

Module 4

What I learned in module four was about lighting, specifically how to use cameras and lights in 3dsMax. Some of the things that I learned were about the different types of lights and cameras and how they affect a scene. Some of the examples of those types of lights and cameras are physical camera, target, camera, and free camera and for the lights target Spotlight, free Spotlight, Omni light, target direct light, free direct light, and Skylight. Each of these do different things now. I'm not going to go into detail about it because I want you to explore and figure it out for yourself. But you might be wondering how I am going to use the skills I learned in this module. Well, I’m going to use them to create video games and hopefully become a video game designer for a company, like Activision or Blizzard. No I know that may not happen but it’s something that I want to achieve. You can see some of what I did in this module below.

Quarter 1 Reflection

11/2/2025

Throughout this quarter, I have learned to master using 3-D shapes, specifically to create objects for scenes, such as my sword and shield for a project, a field scene with plants, rocks, and mushrooms, and a submarine. Using the polygons from a single block and a sphere, I was able to create a sword and shield. How I did it wasn’t simple, but I eventually started to understand after recreating it over and over. I used the polygons by going into Edit Poly and, in clay terms, “sculpted” them into a sword and a shield by extruding and beveling the polygons, then making copies of those extruded and beveled polygons to form the sword and shield.

Now it wasn’t just shapes that helped me, but also lighting. Using lighting and cameras to create two shots from the projector scene in the movie Citizen Kane, which is very famous, by the way—I do recommend watching it —I learned how important lighting and rendering are for adding realism and depth to scenes. Using different types of lights, such as targeted spotlights, free spotlights, omnidirectional lights, and skylights. I learned that adjusting each type of light gave a different look and feel. We also incorporated the camera and camera view into the scenes. This gave me more control over what I wanted to show. I was able to create different moods that recreated the hazy scene in the theater.

In conclusion, over the quarter in 3-D modeling using 3ds Max, I have learned the core basics that will help me model and light a scene to start telling a story. I’m looking forward to the next 9 weeks to further my skills in rendering, texturing, and animation.

Quarter 2

11/9/2025

Module five

In module five, I learned how to texture, render, and add materials to my models and scenes by creating a still life featuring movie props. For this project, I experimented with different rendering techniques, including Arnold and Scanline. The main material editor I used was the Slate Material Editor. If you’ve ever used Infinite Craft, you might recognize the process: you combine various materials and maps using nodes, then apply the finished material to your model either by dragging the output node or through the material menu. I find the second method easier so far. Examples of my work from this module are shown below. Looking ahead, I plan to use these texturing and rendering skills to design my own props and scenes for video games. My goal is to apply for jobs at major game studios such as Blizzard, Activision, and Toys for Bob.

2025/11/19

Module six

In Module six, I learned how to map textures and put them on my objects, specifically textures, like an Indiana Jones costume for a Lego figure. Some of the things I learned in this module that helped me do that are the UVW map modifier and the UVW unwrap modifier. The UVW unwrap modifier if you apply it to an object object will allow you to unwrap the object kind of like what you would do to a Christmas present and then you would go to mapping either select normal or flatten, which are the main ones that I used which will cause the object to separate into clusters, which then you would go to the top right corner and you would click the little down go to pick texture select Bitmap and select the texture you want to use and it will apply in the UVW unwrap menu which then you’d go to the peel button click it and then go to the pack cluster make sure rotate is clicked and so is the other one and then click the button once and then you should be good to go. Now you might be wondering how I would use the skills in the future. The next module is about rigging so I would probably use the skills to help me with the next module which involves making a scene from the movie Frankenstein so stay tuned for that.

Module seven

2025/12/1

What I learned in Module seven was about wigging specifically how to make bones in 3dsMax.Then connect and use those bones to make three different poses for Dr.Frankenstein or should I say Dr.Frankenstone and his monster. some of the things I used in this module to help me do that are the bone menu which allows you to create bones and adjust them. That’s just one of the tools I used in this module to complete my assignment. You can see my poses below. Now you might be wondering how I’m going to use these skills in the future. The next module is about animation so I will use these skills to further create scenes, poses,and animate them in Module eight.

Module 8

2025/12/30

In module eight, I learned how to animate and to create an animation using the stuff that was previously created such as the Indiana Jones Lego figure and Dr.Frankenstone’s monster a.k.a. a stone guardian. I used these along with the Temple of Primitives to create Indiana Jones and the Temple of Primitives. in order for me to do this I learned how to make key frames and how to use the time scorer at the bottom of the menu that we’ve seen in 3dsMax, but haven’t used until now. Now you might think movies and shows are created using star power or imagination which are made out of imagination but also frames and FPS frames per second. But that’s just the easy understanding for an order to create an animation. We needed to create free separate scenes, render them, and then combine them to create our animation. when you’re rendering depending on which setting you use to create your animation will determine the amount of time it takes to render for sometimes it could take hours or seconds. But that’s enough explaining you can see my animation down below and trust me when I say this It really shows what I have learned using 3DS Max.

preview2.avi

preview3.avi

Enconter Shot.avi

Eleanor Module 8 Final animation.m4v

Quarter 2 Reflection

1/15/2026

What I did this quarter was fun and the culmination of everything I’ve learned this year. I have made significant progress in 3D modeling and animation. Some of the skills I’ve learned include rendering my animations more effectively and applying materials and textures to my models, ensuring they’re applied correctly using the UVW unwrap tool. One of the projects that helped me improve my skills was Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Primitives, where I had to create an animation using keyframes, the time slider, and more. My skills in 3ds Max have improved significantly since the beginning of the year, as you can see from my reflections on the quarter two modules above. The resources and strategies that I found most helpful and will use in the future were rigging my models and the tools that go with it, including the Bone tools and Biped. My goal for the next quarter will be to keep practicing my skills in 3D modeling and animation, even though I won't be doing the class anymore. The reason this is my goal is that I want to, hopefully, 3D model and animate for a video game company, such as Blizzard, Toys for Bob, and more.

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