I made this LEGO style animal using basic shapes and scaling them to match the blocky look. I mostly used boxes and cylinders and then adjusted the size to make the legs and body look right. One challenge was trying to get the proportions correct because it looked weird at first, like too short or too wide. I fixed it by resizing and moving parts until it looked better. I’m proud of this one because it was one of my first models where everything actually started to look right. It shows I understand how to use simple shapes to build something more complex.

This LEGO character was a bit harder because it had more detail compared to the other model. I used shapes like cylinders and spheres for the head and hands, and boxes for the body. I also had to pay attention to the small details like the hands and the connection parts. At first I had trouble making it look like a real LEGO figure because the proportions were off. I kept adjusting the size and position until it looked more accurate. I think this piece shows improvement from my earlier work because its more detailed and cleaner. I’m most proud of the hands because they were kinda difficult but I didn’t give up. 

For this piece, I created a chess pawn which was different from the other models because it was more smooth and not blocky. I used tools that help shape round objects and tried to make it look realistic. It was kinda hard to get the curves right and make everything smooth instead of sharp edges. I had to keep adjusting and sometimes redo parts when it didn’t look right. This piece is one I’m proud of because it looks more professional compared to my other models. It shows that I can work with both simple and more detailed shapes. I also think it looks clean and nice overall.

I decided to put this project in my portfolio because it was really my first time diving deep into the Material Editor and rendering tools in 3ds Max. I actually build the whole Still life scene from scratch from the objects themselfs to the lighting and the final render. It was a huge learning curve figuring out how to make different surfaces look right,like getting the reflection on the gemstone or the way light hits a glass object. 

Getting the lighting and materials to play nice together was probably the hardest part. I spent a lot of time running render test and tweaking settings just to get the shadows to look natural and not too harsh. Im honestly pretty proud of how the lighting interacts with the materials now, especially on the glass Mltese and that red Bowling Ball. It really shows how much I've picked up when it comes to making things look realistic.

This project was a huge help for figuring out how textures actually get slapped onto 3D models using the UVW Editor. I built this Indiana Jones Lego Costume and spent a lot of time mapping texture images onto all the different pieces. Honestly, the toughest part was making sure the face and the clothes didnt look all stretched out or end up in the wrong spot. 

Working through it really showed me how UV coordinates actually handle texture placement and why you have to be so precise if you want a character to look right. Im especially happy with how the little clothing detail and the face turned out, they actually fit the model perfectly and make it look like a real character. It was a great way to practice combining modeling with texture design, and I think it shows I can handle the technical side of UVW mapping to make things look alot more professional. 

This project was where I finally got to grips with the basics of character rigging using Biped and Bones in 3ds Max. I had to build a rig from scratch and then figure out how to hook the model up to the skeleton so it would actualy be ready for animation. It was a lot of trial and error positioning the biped structure and assigning bones to the right body parts to make sure everything moved the way it should.

One of the bigest headache was getting the rig to move smoothly without the mesh collapsing or deforming in weird ways whenever I posed the character. I ended up spending a ton of time just tweaking the bone placement and testing out different poses to catch any glitche. Im really happy with how the final functional rig turned out, it actually let you pose and animate the character without it falling apart. It definitely gave me a much better appreciation for the whole character setup process and how much work goes into just getting a model ready to move.