For my answer to the first question, these activities helped me understand the basics with primitives, parameters, and transformations using 3D max through first showing how to do it using the tutorials. I then I did it myself, using the skills that were outlined. Some of there skills were creating the basic primitives like spheres, blocks, planes, cones, and cylinders. I used these in the multiple different scenarios to create the object specified for the project in question. One of these was creating a cylinder with six side segments to create the main body of a pencil, then creating several more cylinders with smooth sides to create the eraser at the end of the pencil and the metal housing for the eraser. To answer the second question, one tool I used was the sphere creation feature to create spheres to the correct dimensions and ratios required in the snowman project, which the main body and it's eyes, buttons, and main body were all created using spheres of varying sizes. Thirdly, the ways that this information can be applied in the future with more complex projects could be with the the creation of the very basic model needed for the creation of the more sophisticated final product, with the basic primitives forming the outline of the project needed, which could be a video game prop/component. To answer the fourth question, some challenges that I had to deal with concerning the creation of the items required in the projects were the primitives not being the size needed or the primitive in question being out of line with the other primitives. Lastly, my initial thoughts from working with these primitives is that they aren't all that simple to use, and they can still be complicated for someone to make into the desired product, even though they are the most basic parts of 3D modeling, not getting into the more complex parts of modeling.  

In this set of projects, I used the modifiers ProBoolean, Grouping, and Splines. These tools greatly improved how I could model the projects, and it also made the projects marginally easier to complete and solidify. The Boolean tools helped make more complex models through merging objects together, removing specific portions of the target object, and adding on many things. Secondly, the grouping option allows the object in question to essentially be turned into one object, which was useful in several situations. Lastly, the splines function allowed me to draw a line/shape, then manipulate it to the dimensions that would be unable to be accomplished using basic primitives. If these were available in my blocking out project, I most likely could have made my project look a lot more refined and have much better quality and detail than I was able to accomplish just with basic primitives. There were also challenges with using these tools, like with the proboolean modifier being a bit difficult to use properly in the beginning and the way that splines had to be used also being confusing.  

In creating the Rebel Alliance Y-Wing (Star Wars, Episodes IV-VI), I used basic primitives, splines, both Boolean and Proboolean, Loft, and the Edit Poly function. 

Concerning basic primitives, I first started with two boxes to make the main fuselage of the Y-Wing. My approach from the beginning of the quarter is much different. Instead of trying to use a bunch of basic primitives to try and create the desired shape, I first made two boxes, then edited them instead of trying to make multiple primitives in order to create the project. I now know the importance of starting with the basic primitives first, since these allow for the general shape to happen before the complicated stuff is applied, so I have the thought path to go on before the intricate detailing comes into play. The way that it's helped create better models is through establishing the base idea, then adding the details that add up to the finished product.

For splines, I used the spline function to create the ion turret, laser cannons, and main engine sections to create these through the use of lines. After drawing the lines to the length I wanted using the top viewport, I then used the spline menu again to draw several circles and then used these circles to apply it to the lines using the loft function. I personally thing that the spline function is a hard rival to beat, because paired with other functions like loft and Boolean in compound objects, any of the shapes drawn in the spline menu can be turned into shapes that can be used in the project, with curving lines allowing a cylinder to be curved without the several steps necessary to use the bend modifier, and without having the cylinder need segments needed to bend.

Surface modeling was a trickier thing for me to use, just because each type of Subobject has a vastly different effect on the project in question. The most helpful tool for me has been the bevel or the inset tool in the side selector part of the Subobjects, being able to inset the parts of the project to make it so that there can be another side inside the existing side, with the side being the same proportions as the original side but on a smaller side. The bevel has been helpful due to the way that I can draw it out then either expand or contract the extended bit to make better variations in the shapes, like I did on the middle section of the Y-Wing's fuselage to create better detail, not just the blank boringness of the basic primitive box. It has improved the details of my projects by a lot, giving the projects much more depth and making them look at least somewhat what I see in video games (Star Wars Battlefront II(EA version) and War Thunder).

As for compound objects, I mainly used the modifiers Loft, ProBoolean, and Boolean in the Rebel Alliance Y-Wing. These have helped refine the model through being able to hollow out polys, create intersections, make holes and windows and also connect different objects together into one poly. The ways that these tools have made me get better models is through creating details that are small, but overall contribute to both saving time in modeling and also making the model look that much better. Some ways this was the case was with the Y-Wing, where I used the Lofting feature a great deal in order to make specific parts of the model, like the blaster cannons, engine housings, and the ion turret. I have used the ProBoolean modifier to both connect two things together on the Y-Wing, like the ion turret's smaller details, and also hollow things out to create better details, which is used with the blaster cannons to make them seem like actual blasters and to give it that little bit of depth that makes it so much better. 

Overall, I would say that I have improved by a lot from where I started from the beginning of the quarter. I might have missed a good bit in the beginning, but I kept going and have turned in all of the assignments prior to this and can say that I have learned many things from doing all of them. Where I've made the most progress is in the blocking out phase and creating the model on which the product will be created. Easily the most challenging was the surface editing, but I have improved significantly from where I originally was, and now I can adeptly use this modifier and create the final products. I can definitely say that my confidence in 3D modeling has improved significantly, and I don't feel that I'm doing the multitude of modifiers wrong.

I completed this assignment from the instructions on the assignment, but also added my own style to it along with the style from the tutorial in canvas. I used the tool editable poly in the modifiers menu of 3Ds Max, and I created it out of a simple sphere. I learned from this how to properly use the modifier's ability to warp the simple poly into the image on the left, and I have applied that to other projects that I have done in both quarter one and quarter two.

I completed this piece entirely out of one box and used the editable poly modifier again to create the spaceship model. I am proud of making the unique shape of the spaceship itself, without having to use additional poly shapes

In this project, I used several polygons and cylinders along with the join tool in several places to create the mech as a whole, then converted the shapes into editable polys and messed with the angles until they had the right shape. I then positioned the different parts together, then used the turbosmooth modifier to create the smooth texture that is seen on the mech to the left. I feel as though this work is comparably better to other projects I have made, and I'm proud of having been able to properly put together multiple different parts of this project to create the overall effect.

This project is the first time I've used physical materials, creating the box asset that is seen on the left. I followed the tutorial and made it so that the different sides of the box lined up with each other to create the overall effect of an actual asset for a game. I'm most proud of the fact that I managed to get the project together at all, since the problems that I was running into were really annoying and hindering progress on the project. I was able to finally figure out the problem I was running into on the project and assign the correct values to the project to line up with the multi/subobject material in the menu, finally creating the textured box that is seen.

This project was the first time creating textures using photoshop, and I followed the tutorial for the basics of how to make the texture then decided to do something different and try to fit the texture to a shorter box than the crate in the tutorial. I feel that this piece demonstrates that I can accurately follow instructions and requirements set, but I can also show some creativity and go off the script to get the finished product when the instructions don't line up with the product. I'm most proud of the fact that I was able to figure out a solution to the issue of the box's dimensions by working around the problem with the texture.