3D Modeling & Animation

Planning & Storyboard

Asset & Prop Design

Assets:

• Tools - Requires special attention

• Blueprints

• Table - Requires special attention

Rigging:

• Pistons

• Gears

The design of my character reflects its personality since it is unfinished in the cutscene and is made of scrap-metal, showing that it might not be very intelligent or futuristic.

Environment and Layout

The layout of my scene is very open with only a table, some boxes and a shelf. The key objects, being the table and robot head, are in the center of the room, drawing more attention to them. My cameras will be placed in three positions. One will be pointing directly at the head of the robot, one will be a close up of the gears and pistons on the robot, and one will be pointing towards the tools and blueprint on the table. My layout supports the flow of my scene since it is very open which lets the viewer have more time to focus on individual things, specifically the main object of my scene which is the robot head.

Artifact 1

The concept for my main character is the head to an unfinished robot. This fits in with my prompt because in the prompt description, the character is an unfinished mechanism, and I think that a robot would be a great choice since not only is it a machine, but it can have a personality too. Sketching my design helped my modeling process since I was able to import my sketches into 3ds Max so I had a reference to follow. I used the symmetry and mirror modeling tools very efficiently since I successfully used them to create a symmetrical model before adding the future details. My material setup enhanced the realism of my model since I used realistic metal materials. One of the biggest challenges I faced while making my model was texturing, since I found it very difficult to find textures that looked good and matched the design I was going for. I am most proud of how much character the robot has while only being made of a few parts.

Artifact 2

My assets connect to my chosen prompt since they are things that you would normally see in a mechanic's workshop, such as a wrench, toolbox, metal shelves, and boxes. I chose to make all of my assets myself since it would give me more creative control and the ability to easily change the appearance of any prop later in the production if I need to. One prop that I am the most proud of is the blueprints that are on the table. I was very proud of myself for these since they look like realistic paper with the way that they hang slightly off the table, however they took me a very short time to make. I ensured that my models matched the genre and visual style of my prompt through the textures I used, since the are realistic and fit the dark mechanical theme. I organized my scene by naming every object and them grouping the ones I wanted to keep together. I made very few changes to my scene plan after I started modeling, and only really changed the location of the tools and the scale of the room. If I could improve one part of my workflow it would be to not let myself get slowed down too much when I get stuck with a difficulty or problem. My completed scene supports the story behind my character by providing context as to who is possibly building the robot, and how the robot is being built.

Artifact 3

I aimed to make a dark and somewhat mysterious mood with my lighting. The major challenge I face while setting up my lights was finding the right level of brightness and intensity on each light. I used two types of lights in my three point lighting setup, being omni and spotlight, so that I could have a specific key light, being the spotlight, and two omni lights to light up the rest of the room.

Artifact 4

In my animation, I chose to animate the camera, the gears, the pistons, and the lights in the robots eyes. I animated the gears, pistons, and lights to make it feel like the robot it is coming to life, and the camera so that the viewer can see each moving part individually. The part of my animation that I am most proud of is the movement of the camera, since although there is some room for improvement, I was able to use difficult tools like spline paths and tangents to make a smooth animation.