Embedded Files
Week 8 20/4
Week 8 20/4
2. I started off by making a single cube and bevelling all sides of it to give the little bit of curve, and also so I could give it a black border, which made it look a bit more realistic. I scaled this cube down, so it was 2cm each way, making it 8cm³ like a regular chunk of a Rubik's Cube.
4. I textured the Rubik's Cube using a reference I found online showing the colours of each side, this helped to ensure that I got it correct for what colours are on each corner. Once my model was textured, I decided I want to randomise it so I can do the solving animation. To ensure that I get the moves right and I don't have to solve it myself, I found a website to generate a randomisation algorithm for me so that I could animate the reverse of each move. I am very glad that I thought of this asI did not want to have to solve a Rubik's Cube myself which would result in loss of time...
Rubiks Cube
Rubiks Cube
The Rubik's Cube was the first model I actually finished, although I started making some a while ago and decided I would remake them as I am not very happy with their quality. I think this model came out really well and was created to a better standard compared to some of my previous models. I also animated it, which I have attached below, however before that I will talk about the process of how I made it in the build-up for the final product I have with it animated.
3. Next, I used a few array modifiers to get the 3x3x3 of the cubes to make a total of 27 so I could then go on and texture them with each colour for the different sides and make this look like an actual rubiks cube.
5. This is the randomised cube I modelled and I have attached the animation below. I believe that it came out quite well and overall I'm pretty happy with the outcome of it despite running into some issues whilst trying to animate it. Instead of giving up, I spent some time working out the correct way to animate it which paid off in the end as the result of my model and animation is high quality.
6. This is the final render; it was made up of 120 frames. There was a 10-frame gap at the beginning, and then it would complete each move in 10 frames and would have a 5-frame gap between each movement. The 7 moves ended at frame 110, and then I had 10 frames at the end, so you can see it finish. I then made this video 60fps because it only needs to be a short animation since each animation will only have a few seconds to be shown in the final product I end up with for this project.
Week 9 27/04
Week 9 27/04
Retro Robot
Retro Robot
This is the robot I ended up making and I decided to use reference images that I found on amazon for a real life product. The reference that I found was incredibly similar to this robot which made it easier for me to get the dimensions and proportions as accurate as possible.
This final render is just a short animation of the robot moving arms body and head to make it seem like a toy with movement limitations but i also made the movements seem as robotic as possible to really get how i imagined it as closer to my idea as possible.
This model was lost during week 11 and i forgot to include it on my blog so i cant really write about it any more than i did but here is the final render that i didnt lose and the image render above.
This model worked really well in my opinion, for the nostalgia side of things, because I think it looks very retro compared to other robots I saw online and referenced in my research.
Part 1
Part 1
The first image I have here is when I think I got the first checkpoint for this model, as you can see I have what I would consider the base of the model as it doesnt really have any of the intricate details but has a bit more of the shape made - like the dip for the label and the indents around the top so the base shape of the model itself was complete.
This was made from just a cube that I then rescaled on all 3 axis so that it was proportioned perfectly as I completed this with a reference image, but also with a real-life reference of a Game Boy cartridge which I brought from home so I could make sure it was perfect. Most of this was done with only loop cuts and filling gaps between vertices that were left empty by deleting faces from the loop cuts, as seen on the sides, to give it that cut corner that only goes partway up.
I used loop cuts and inward extrusions for the ribbed parts towards the top and then I used a sphere, which I split in half, mirrored, and bridged to make the capsule shape, I then scaled it down massively on the Y axis to make it so when i use the boolean modifier, it doesn't make it too deep for the dip on the top of the model.
Part 3
Part 3
The model is finally complete and textured, so now it is ready to be imported into the scene when it is created. For the main texture of this model, I used just a basic red colour and raised the roughness a little so it had a bit of shine in the light, but I wanted it to look nice and plasticky.
I then just used an image texture for the sticker and applied a white texture around the faces, as you can kind of see on top of the image texture, to make the sticker part of it look real.
On the inside section on the bottom, I used a dark green texture so that it separates from the golden parts, but still clearly looks like the components inside of this cartridge. The gold parts are literally just made with a slightly pale-looking yellow texture, with the roughness lowered and the metallic increased ever so slightly.
Finally, there is the little piece on the back which I just made with a high metallic, low roughness white/grey colour to give it that nice shiny metal look, just like the real cartridges
Wire frame view.
Wire frame view.
Game Boy Cartridge
Game Boy Cartridge
This Game Boy cartridge is the first part of the Game Boy models I'm going to make. I plan to use this model alongside the gameboy rather than having them as seperate models on show. The purpose of this model is to coexist with the gameboy, the scene will include my gameboy floating towards the viewer, like every other model, but as it approaches the viewer, the cartridge will float out and spin to show the cover art being pokemon red, which goes nicely with the theme of retro and nostalgia that I wanted to implement into this project for the target audience. However, it also shows younger generations the older pokemon games so I thought the pokemon red would be the best option as it is my favourite generation 1 version.
Part 2
Part 2
On the second part of making this model, I finished the entire model, and all I needed to do was texture it. I added the last few details to the model being the text on the label at the top, cut the middle in a little bit and then made the extra face for putting the cover sticker on it, put the whole in the bottom that allows the reader of the gameboy to insert itself into the cartridge, added the triangle gap so you know which side goes in, and added the metal bit on the back of the model.
First off i added the text and the way i did this was by using text objects which i then converted to mesh objects and added it to the dip on the cartridge so it pokjed out a bit to give it that extra bit of depth and realism of an actual cartridge, the only thing i really found difficult with this part was having to find the right font so that it would look as close to the actual thing as possible because my original idea of using the knife tool wasnt very efficient and getting the curve on some letters like G for example was really quite difficult so using text objects was by far the better option.
Next are the front details, like the sticker and the triangle, both of which I integrated into this model with Boolean modifiers. First was the sticker, which I did by getting a separate cube and beveling the corners exactly to the reference image, so it had a slight bit of curvature. I then set the bevel modifier to cut the slightest bit of this shape so that there was just the slightest gap. To make the sticker part, I inset the face of this gap and then extruded it to the surface using the snap feature so that it was perfectly aligned with the front surface. The triangle was basically the same as the gap I made for the sticker to fit into, but obviously a different shape, so the way I went about making this was by getting another cube, but I deleted one of the corner edges by deleting the vertices, so that I just had 2 faces left, being the bottom and the side. Next, I took the 2 edges on each corner and filled them to make it a right-angled triangle. I then filled the front and back faces between the 3 remaining vertices of these sides. Now that I had my shape, I rotated it on the y-axis by 45 degrees to make it. Hence, the right-angled corner was at the bottom, and I fitted it to the correct proportion of the reference image. I bevelled the corners accordingly, with the bottom corner needing a different bevel to the top 2, as the angle between the faces is different by 45 degrees. Now that my triangle was like the one on the reference, I used the boolean modifier again to put this slight indent to the front face of the model, and then I brought it forward to match the depth of the bit under the sticker.
The next detail I added to this model was the metal part on the back side of the model. I implemented this detail by creating a cylinder, smoothing it, and using the Boolean modifier to make the hole this component would sit inside. After getting this hole perfect to the reference i then started making the metal part and i made this by insetting the top face of the same cylinder that i also scaled down ever so slightly so it would be fitting the hole without literally being against teh walls of it, once i had inset the face i then extruded it up and made it so it had some of the sections lifted to the same level as the extruded face i had made. The only way I can describe it is like the opposite of a Phillips screw, but with 6 sides rather than 4.
Finally, I had to make the slot for the Game Boy's reader so it could connect to the cartridge. To do this, I couldn't find a reference, so I simply inset the bottom face ever so slightly to give it the thickness for the outer shell of the cartridge, and then I extruded it quite far inwards, and I made the inside section with the sections cut out for the gold coloured parts on the inner components for the reader. I made these sections with loop cuts and then insetting the faces slightly individually so that it took the inside of these original faces, which you will be able to see in part 3 when it's textured.
Short animation to showcase on YouTube and Instagram portfolios.
Short animation to showcase on YouTube and Instagram portfolios.
Keyframes for this animation
Keyframes for this animation
Week 10 04/05
Week 10 04/05
Game Boy
Game Boy
This gameboy was going to be one of my hero assets until i unfortunately lost it in week 11 amongst other assets i had put together but i still managed to get the screenshots for the process of making it.
Personally i was so happy with this model and i think it is probably one of the best models i have ever made so i was veyr proud of it but luckily i still got the final render i made of it just before losing it.
Part 1 - Basic shape
Part 1 - Basic shape
For the first milestone of this model, I just made the basic shape of my Game Boy, and then I would build off of this later on.
The way I made this was by getting image references, but also bringing my Game Boy from home so I could have a real-life reference to maximise accuracy for this model. First i started by getting a regular cube and just scaling on the 3 different axis to make sure it was proportioned correctly to the reference, I then went onto the back side of it and took the back left and right corner edges and beveled them far more than I beveled the other sides of this model because it is much more curved on the back than anywhere else which you will be able to see later on because I didnt manage to get any screenshots of it at this stage which wasnt my best choice ever. Next I went on to make the little taper on the bottom right corner on the front, the way I went about doing this was to use the knife tool and cut along the line for where it tapers off on the refence and setting the transformation orientation to that new edge I had cut into the model so that I could then go on to rotate the corner around this cut but before i did that I also beveled the bottom right edge so that it had that larger curve than the other edges. Once I had made that bevel, I then bevelled all remaining faces so that they had the little curve to make it seem less boxy, which I think I actually did quite accurately. I then went and rotated this corner around the knife cut edge and used a reference I had on the side view of this model to get it nice and accurate. Finally, for this section I went and cut the curved rectangle shape out of the front so i could go on and place the screen into it, the way I went about doing this was getting another cube and then scaling it to the reference and beveling the corners to make it that nice curved corner rectangle and i used a boolean modifier to cut this shape out of the front face.
Part 2 - Front Details
Part 2 - Front Details
For these first details i implemente to my game boy model, i thought i would also texture it so you can see the details easier, especially text. To begin i made the buttons, the red A and B buttons were the most simple to make, as i just used cylinders that i then bevelled onm the top faces edge loop so that it had that tiny little bit of curve to make it look smoother. next i made the d-pad button which was also fairly simple as i made it by getting a cube and then extruding the top, bottom and both side faces to make the plus shape, i then went on to bevel it ever so slightly just like the A and B buttons to give them that nice little curve. To adde the details on the to the d-pad button i used cylinders that i scaled up massively on the z axis after rotating it to make that oval/capsule shape and then duplicated it twice to get the set of 3 which i then positioned using the reference and i then duplicated those sets of 3 to make all 4 sets. Fianlly for the buttons i had to add the dips into the game boy itself for these buttons to go into so i started on the dips by using a sphere i severely flattened and then scaled to amke the capsule shape for both of the red buttons and then for the d-pad i just used another sphere i flattened.
Next, I made the start and select buttons and these are very similar to making the previous buttons; for these, I got a sphere and then deleted half of it. I duplicated the remaining half, moved it away from the other and then connected the ends of each half to make a capsule shape. I then scaled them more towards the back of the Game Boy to make them seem straight on the sides.
For the speakers, I used stretched cylinders to make the shape for these gaps and then used a boolean modifier to actually make the gaps, Before applying the modifiers i matched the objects up with the reference to make sure it was accurate and then i hit apply to get the result you can see in the picture.
For the text i had to find a font on blender that was close enough to the one on the reference on my game boy i was basing the model off of, after finally finding the fojnt i think was clowsest i went and added some text objects into the scene, i typed out what i wanted the text to say and then matched it up with the reference make sure it was perfect on all sections. Once i knew the text was well positioned, I used a boolean modifier after turning the text objects into meshes so they can actually work with the boolean modifier. Once the boolean was done, I then took the face at the bottom of the gap and brought it forward to the same level as the front of the Game Boy to make it look printed onto it.
,For the very top I used loop cuts and inward extrusions to make the gaps you can see going across the middle and towards the front. Finally, I went on and added the power switch. I did by taking a cube and then using the boolean modifier in union mode to make it so I can attach a sphere to the top to give it that little notch.
Part 3 - Final details
Part 3 - Final details
First i will take about the wheels to raise and lower the volume and contrast levels which can be seen on both sides of the gameboy, i made these by taking a cylinder and selecting every other edge around the side of it and then scaled them outwards to make it slightly spiked to make it look as close to the actual thing as possible, i then used a cube and a boolean modifier to make the cout out gap for both of them and i inserted the wheels into the gaps along with the reference.
Next, I made the headphone port on the with a very simple process. I started with a cylinder, and I used a boolean in the bottom of the Game Boy to make the hole; next, I pulled the bottom face further out of the hole, deleted the top and bottom faces so it was just a loop m of faces. Once I had done this, I used a solidify modifier to thicken these faces, and I changed the texture to the black colour you can see.
Next was the extension connector cover on the side above the volume wheel; this was made with a cube. I bevelled the corners off with 1 segment to make it into a cut-corner cube; after I had done that, I scaled it down and positioned it so it matched the reference. Finally, I got a sphere again and transformed it to the shape that is cut out of the cover and used a boolean to make this dip.
The next detail I added was the charging port on the other side above the contrast wheel. I made this similarly to the headphones port and i did this with a cylinder boolean, and then i made the cut out on the actual Game Boy using half of a cylinder and yet anotehr boolean modifierinally the back details, to start with i made the cartridge slot and this was just done with a cube and boolean modifier then i added the panel that pokes out to make it so the slot isnt fully exposed. Next, I made the holes that would contain screws using cylinders and boolean modifiers matched up to the reference. I then made screws to go inside, which I gave a metallic material, although it won't be seen in the render. Finally, there were the stripe gaps going along the bottom half of the back of this model; this was done with lots of loop cuts and then extruding them inwards by normals.
Week 11 11/05
Week 11 11/05
Kirby
Kirby
This is the first 3D sprite I made out of 2, and I will just have it animating between 5 different frames so it looks like the old game, but it will be 3D to match my project, as it's a 3D project, obviously. I like the way that this model has worked out, as it's combined 3D and 2D elements and comes out looking really nice.
I also think the limited colour palette is good, as it shows that the ability to have such a large range of colours on old games wasn't as good due to lower bitrates. I think Kirby was a cool choice, as he is an old character, but not as old as Donkey Kong, so this choice gives an arcade game character and a Game Boy character, which in itself shows a slight evolution between 1981 and 1992.
The way I made Kirby is literally just by getting the 3 different colours shown on him, changing the material of cubes into those 3 colours, and then duplicating them and placing them where needed, so it was actually really easy to make and then for the opther 4 frames i just had to delete all but 1 of each colours and then do the same again with the 3 cubes but have then rearranged.
Even though this model required absolutely no skill, it gave me a chance to learn that you can add the render visibility of different objects to your keyframes so that they can disappear and reappear at different frames.
When making the animation, the frame shown on the left here was only used at the very beginning, as it then cycled through 2-5 until the end of the animation
This is how the final render looked in the end. I uploaded this to my YouTube and my Instagram, which i am using as portfolios, but I think that the animation came out really nicely and just looks pretty clean to be honest. However, I think when it goes into the final render i will probably end up making it a little bit faster. Hence, it looks like he is falling faster rather than just clicking between frames, but this video was used more to showcase each of the models themselves separately.
2nd Frame
4th Frame
3rd Frame
5th Frame
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong
Donkey kong is the second 3D character i made for this project and i think this has also come out really nicely although it was just as simple to make he is just a bit bigger than kirby.
This model only actually consists of 4 different frame rather than the 5 kirby has and it is just donkey kongs animation of beating his chest because i feel like this is just a good animation to go for since it is the action that comes to mind when i think of donkey kong and the fact he is a gorilla and that is a very gorilla like action.
Like i mentioned in the previous section for kirby this shows the difference between characters since Donkey Kong is 11 years older than Kirby so this age gap is good since my project is 80s and 90s thats a 20 year timeframew so it even though it is retro it shows evolution in this era i am focusing on.
I think that kirby and donkey kong are also good because it gives that nostalgic feeling to older viewers of my final product but it also ties into showing the evolution of older games compared to nowadays whewre everything is 3D on newer nintendo consoles and handhelds which people from newer generations have grown up with.
2nd Frame
3rd Frame
4th Frame
This is the animation I also uploaded to both of my portfolio pages for Donkey Kong. This video is also slower than I would like to have it animated in the final video I produce, but this was again actually to showcase each frame for viewers to see.
Also, I realised that the 3rd frame has a couple of mistakes, but I have now fixed the issues that were there since writing this, and they will be shown below.
Mass Loss of Work 14/05
Mass Loss of Work 14/05
I have opened various models made upto this point and after making the video renders of each one the model itself has vanished.
Game Boy
Game Boy
So I opened up my files for the ones I have attached and labelled, and I think what happened is that when I had rendered each frame and put it together in the video editor, it, for some reason, deleted my model. The way I will work around this is by continuing where I left off and just keeping the animation videos I made for everything I lost. For anything I haven't lost, or I am yet to make, I will continue to do it how I originally planned.
Robot
Robot
Kirby
Kirby
Week 12 18/05
Week 12 18/05
Scene file corrupted
Scene file corrupted
I went to open the file for the scene I began making for this final product, which I was planning on making with what work I had left, but that file seems to have corrupted, so I will have to have yet another change of plan. For the final product, I will just have to hand in my final renders for the models I have made so far, and for the rest of this project, I will just be focusing on my written work instead, since I have lost too much to recover from due to having no base to build this project off of now.
Greatest Comeback in History 19/05
Greatest Comeback in History 19/05
Return of all lost assets
Return of all lost assets
I managed to regain all lost assets with a method I wish I knew was an option far earlier than when I'm writing this, almost a week later. The way I went around doing this was very simple; actually, I went into my File Explorer and changed the blend1 files for the blend files that lost the work and converted them into blend files from blend1. I was very surprised this worked, but it means that I can actually produce my final product the way I wanted to.
Week 14 01/06
Week 14 01/06
Scene
Scene
I have made my scene for this project and im actually very happy with it, this is exactly what i had in mind for making this project and i cant wait to put everything into the scene itself.
How i created this scene
How i created this scene
So, rather than modelling this and making the camera move forwards on an infinite expanse of these mountain-looking things, I decided I would take this as a chance to learn how to use geometry nodes in which I used a YouTube video that would teach me how Geometry Nodes work, and then I put this together with what I learnt from this video.
The Nodes
The Nodes
This the geometry node setup i used to generate this scene procedurally, it uses quite a multitude of nodes. There is a lot to go over so i will try and just summarise it instead as it would be far too much writing otherwise.
So the way this works is that it all goes into a group node that then becomes a geometry nodes modifier, i did this so that i could then customise the scenes biggest variables as easily as possible.
To start i made it so the X(width) and the Y(length) of this scene were customisable with the distance they cover and i ended up deciding on 45m wide as that covers enough area that the camera cant see the edges of the scene and i think this was efficient as it lets the scene still seem like an infinite expanse. The distance from front to back being 85m is so that i can set the camera quite far away and it allows the models to have more time to be shown on the screen rather than having a short scene that shows the models for a second or 2. The speed of movement i am planning on trying to match to the models themselves so that it seems like the camera is moving rather than it just generating. The road width of 4 was just so that the middle section was not too big but big enough to seperate the mountain sides nicely which sort of makes it seem like you are in a vehicle potentially to travel through this art gallery.
First pair of assets
First pair of assets
I have added my first pair of assets to the scene so that the real animation can begin. I decided to put the robot and the rubiks cube together as they are both retro toys, I have made it so they are the first to float up and come towards the camera and they both do there animation roughly half way through when they travel towards you.
I decided as i made this that i wanted each set of assets would have a 300 frame timeframe that they would float up, play animation as they come towards you then float out of view, I used the first 30 of these frames to make the asset float up to your view and then the next 270 to float towards and past the camera.
This is a screenshot of the camera view when all of the samples have loaded, i decided i would screen shot this in material view so i could show that the same materials were used from the animations from the actual render and the original videos shown above.
Below, I will attach the keyframe with annotations of what each keyframe is for during the full render.
Robot Keyframes
Robot Keyframes
This first keyframe is used for only 1 function, and that is so that all of the objects that make up the robot have their render visibility turned on so it can be seen in the render.
These keyframes are used so that the robot does the animation shown above in the YouTube video I attached. They make the robot move certain limbs: arms, head, torso. I think moving these parts adds realism to the model, as it is the kind of play functions that old toys would have had. I also made it so the movements are very basic, only rotating on a single axis, because it means they are just limited to certain movements, which is also something I would consider true to old toys
This keyframe is used to make it so all parts are made invisible to the render after it is behind the camera, as it then limits how many vertices are used in this render so that when actually rendering the scene, it may be quicker and smoother.
Rubik's Cube Keyframes
Rubik's Cube Keyframes
This first keyframe is the same as the robot's first keyframe; it is used so that all 27 segments of this Rubik's Cube have their render visibility turned on. This is again so I can make sure the poly count is lower than it needs to be during the render.
These middle keyframes are used to make it so that the Rubik's Cube goes from the original state it was in being mixed up, and then it will solve itself in 21 moves, so each keyframe has a different use. The first one will be to make sure that the rotation of all cubes is set to their starting point, and then every other keyframe from there is used to confirm the rotation is where it should be on each of the cubes. On the other hand, you have the 2nd keyframe, and every other one after that is used to apply specific rotations on the side being used for that move. This was really quite a trial-and-error process until I thought that confirming the rotation of all the cubes after changing it just on the chosen side for the previous move would actually work, since before that the cubes would just float around weirdly, which got very frustrating very quickly
This final keyframe is used to make the Rubik's Cube disappear from the render view after it is hidden behind the camera, keeping the poly count low, just like the robot.
Second Pair
Second Pair
This is the second pair of assets I am using for this project, and I put these 2 together because, as I mentioned previously, they are 2 characters from old retro games. I also think the fact that they are basically 3D pixel art means they should definitely go together. I will attach the keyframes below, but the animations are the same as I had attached in the YouTube videos above. The image here does look a bit weird, and I'm not too sure why, but I have checked how it would look actually rendered, and it looks absolutely fine, so it must just be a glitch in the viewport.
This section went from frames 301-600, and the way it worked was that 301-330 were the assets floating up into the view and then 331-600 were them floating towards you. The way I would describe these animations is that it's not really an animation but a cycle of each sprite as frames so that it looks animated, but it's just the basic sprite cycle animations from the old games, and they were made fast enough to just look like real movement.
I have also got this solid view version so that you can see all of the lights I have set up, which I had on the previous pair but I forgot to mention it. Basically, I have a light on all 6 sides of each asset so that they are nice and lit up from all angles.
Kirby Keyframes
Kirby Keyframes
This first keyframe is yet again the same as all of the first keyframes, and it will continue to be the same for each of these assets. All this was for was so that the asset is now visible to the camera while rendering the scene.
These frames are used to cycle between the 5 sprites I made for Kirby; the first one is the first sprite, and then it cycles onto 2,3,4,5 but then doesn't use one again, so it's just a cycle of 2,3,4,5 all the way through. On the original animation, which can be seen above in Kirby's section, this cycle only went on for 120 frames, so I had to make it go on for longer in this final product so that it looks like he is rolling all the way towards the camera rather than just stopping with 150 frames left of him just frozen.
This final keyframe is actually used as the final frame of the cycle between sprites but also to make Kirby no longer visible to the camera while rendering.
Donkey Kong Keyframes
Donkey Kong Keyframes
This keyframe is again used so that render visibility is turned on, making it so the poly count is only as high as it needs to be at the time.
This big section of frames is the same as Kirby in the way that it just cycles through sprites, but it only has 4, so it goes 1,2,3,4,3,4, etc., only cycling through 3 and 4. This is because it goes from his idle sprite to smiling and then beating his chest while smiling, which again goes to my previous point of it being basic sprite swaps, but it looks like actual movements, which gives the retro charm I am really looking for.
This is again the final part of the cycle between sprites, but also makes the asset invisible to the camera in the render.
Hero Asset
Hero Asset
For the Game Boy, I decided I would make this my hero asset, along with the cartridge I made with it. I thought that since it was the one I wanted to show off the most, I would let this one come down the middle directly towards the camera, and then 9it would stop in front of the camera for a second to reveal the cartridge, so it is like it was inserted into the Game Boy and the game was on.
These two assets have their animations spanning from frame 601-900. They float up together from601-630 and then float towards the camera up to 800 until it stops for a window of time for the cartridge to then reveal and then float above and rotate to show all sides, and then they float out of the camera's view at 870 up to 900.
Here is the game when its close enough for the cartridge to have come out and revealed its cover art, i thought i would show this in solid view to show the lighting set up again.
Game Boy Keyframes
Game Boy Keyframes
This first key frame is the same as the previous first ones, as it is used just to make the assets' render visibility turn on. This Game Boy is the biggest reason why the poly count down was a good idea, as it is by far the most detailed and highest-poly asset in this project(114,818 polys) and why I consider it my hero asset in a way.
2. These are the movement keyframes, and they are, as I explained previously, kind of in 2 separate groups. The ones labelled 2 are what make the object float up from the first keyframe in that section; the group 3 will be explained in the next section.
Keyframes in this section are used to make the Game Boy stop in front of the camera but without it being so close that you can't see all of it, and for there to be enough room for the cartridge. The second keyframe in this section is for the Game Boy to register where it is supposed to be, then for it to have been able to stop there; otherwise, it would just float from where it was and then straight to where it is supposed to end up, but this keyframe tells it to stay there until that frame
This final keyframe is used to get the Game Boy to come out of the camera's view after being stopped, but is also used to turn off the render visibility to make it so there are no assets left to be rendered in the final frame, which is kind of pointless since it's just one, and they only take about 30 seconds, but oh well...
Cartridge Keyframes
Cartridge Keyframes
This keyframe is used to make the object appear and have its position registered so it knows where to float from. This is again to keep poly counts to a minimum for faster render times.
These are again the movement keyframes in this window; the cartridge is being told where to be when.
These are for the cartridge to stop, just like the Game Boy, and then having the location set to there again on that keyframe so it can actually stop where it is and then it is ready to move from that frozen position from that final keyframe.
These 2 keyframes are for the cartridge to do its own little animation; the first keyframe is used to make it float up into position, but it was facing the back so I could show that all details were done rather than just what is visible to you. The second keyframe is then used for the rotation so it can spin around to show the game on the label.
This final keyframe is used to make the cartridge float towards the camera to take it out of view, but it's also used so that the cartridge is no longer being rendered like the other assets I've spoken about.
Final Evaluation
Final Evaluation
What went well
What went well
When I think about what's gone well with this project, there is a lot I could talk about if I'm honest. I am really quite proud of what I have managed to create for this project, and I will absolutely have this as a huge portfolio piece I can truly show off. First off I would like to talk about the fact that I have learnt so many knew skills while putting this final product together and I think that the learning curves of these projects are what make them so good as it opens you up to new opportunities with what you are capable of being able to model, I mean I managed to learn how geometry nodes worked and how to do basic animation during this project and I already have so many new ideas coming up for what else I could achieve in later projects.
Another thing I would say went well is how I have managed to put together such an amazing product and managed to refine my skills massively compared to my project from last year which has made me feel really quite confident with what I could achieve in the future, I got to use my new and refined skills to make some really good assets for this project and one I will highlight is the Game Boy, I spent about a week working on this overall and I think that it has come out really really nicely, I would probably consider it to be one of the greatest assets I have ever made. This project also improved things that I wouldn't consider modelling skills but more like modelling methods; this being my ability to model from reference. I think that getting better at this will absolutely make future projects far easier, so I am very glad I could develop this skill.
Going with Blender for my project was a smart move, especially since I learned 3DS Max in college. Having five years of experience with Blender made the whole process a breeze; I could focus on refining my skills instead of learning the basics of a new program. I honestly think Blender is way more powerful than 3DS Max, with impressive features for modelling, texturing, and rendering. Its open-source nature means it gets regular updates and has a supportive community, which really enhances its functionality. All of this made my workflow smoother, allowing me to be more creative and get things done efficiently. Choosing Blender definitely helped me achieve the results I wanted.
What didn't go so well...
What didn't go so well...
I’m proud of this project, but I can’t help feeling disappointed that I didn’t include more of the assets I discovered. I wish I could have expanded it to explore the many ideas I had in mind. Ultimately, I ran out of time, which is a shame. However, I chose to focus on enhancing the quality of my other models instead of simply filling space, and I believe that decision paid off. This experience has taught me important lessons in prioritisation and efficiency, which I hope to carry into my future projects.
Another thing that I would say didn’t go well in this project is some of the problems I ran into with lost work and having to deal with parts of creating this product breaking, which forced me to start over a few times. It was super frustrating, especially when I lost a handful of the assets I made—definitely a massive roadblock for me. Even though I managed to bounce back from that setback, I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t gone through those issues, I could have ended up creating even more assets, as I mentioned before. It’s one of those things that taught me a lot, but man, it was a challenge!
If I were to do this again
If I were to do this again
If I had to do this all over again, I’d definitely make it a point to check my files thoroughly before making any backups. I ran into a pretty annoying setback because of a bunch of corrupted files during this project. This whole experience really taught me how important it is to manage my files carefully. So, I’d take the time to make sure everything is organized and in good shape before I back anything up. By adding this extra step, I hope to steer clear of similar issues in the future—not only did they slow me down, but they also added a bit of unnecessary stress to the whole process. Going forward, I realize that just taking a few extra minutes to confirm my files are good can save me a lot of hassle later and help me work more smoothly and efficiently.
Another thing I would do differently if I was to approach this project a second time would definitely be to not let certain assets take such a long time compared to others I was making in as little as a day. As much as I am proud of my Game Boy, it did take me just over a week, and looking back I realise I could’ve managed that time a lot better. Instead of sinking so many days into a single asset, I could’ve spread that effort out and produced a wider range of pieces for the project, keeping everything moving at a steady pace. It’s not that the Game Boy wasn’t worth the effort—it absolutely was—but I can see now how that imbalance slowed down my overall workflow and left me with less time to polish or expand other areas that deserved attention too.
If I had more time or if I were to continue this project
If I had more time or if I were to continue this project
One of the things I would do if I had more time or were to continue this project would, as you might’ve guessed, be to make more of the assets I spoke about and researched in the earlier stages. I feel like expanding on those ideas would’ve massively strengthened and lengthened my final product, which is something I really wish I’d managed to do within the time I was given. I was genuinely excited and intrigued by the whole concept of this project, so having the chance to build out more of those assets would’ve made the final outcome feel even more complete. I also think it would’ve allowed me to properly show off my skills to the fullest, instead of only scratching the surface of what I was aiming for.
If I was to continue this project, I could, like I mentioned in my target audience section of my research, actually see it being used in a museum of recent history. That idea alone opens up so many possibilities, because having a real space and a real audience in mind would’ve broadened the range of ideas I could explore. It would also mean I could respond to possible requests from a client or curator, creating additional assets that fit their vision or help tell the story they want the exhibit to communicate. That kind of collaboration would’ve pushed the project even further and given me a chance to expand the whole thing into something much bigger and more meaningful.
Problems I encountered and how I solved them
Problems I encountered and how I solved them
One of the biggest issues I faced was when multiple asset files corrupted. It was a massive setback, and for a moment I genuinely thought the whole project was over. Opening those files and seeing my models completely gone was honestly painful, and when I realised my Game Boy file—the one I’d only finished days before—was also broken, my heart just sank. I lost all motivation until I remembered that if I wrote enough on this blog, I might still scrape a decent grade. Then I discovered I could convert the blend1 files back into blend files, and suddenly everything came back. It felt like the project was mine again.
That lasted until the start of my final week, when I tried to render my finished scene and was met with a grey checkered frame instead of the animation I’d worked so hard on. After hours of trying fixes, nothing worked, so I made the assets appear and disappear to keep the poly count low. It seemed fine until I noticed my robot and Rubik’s Cube weren’t showing up in the render. I added keyframes, tried again, and got the checkered frame all over again. I was really losing hope, but the next morning I realised the Game Boy and its cartridge somehow had subdivision modifiers on them. I deleted them, tried rendering again, and finally it worked. The models were there, the frames were rendering, and I could actually finish. It slowed me down over a few days, but I worked around it by rendering on one computer and writing on another so I could keep things moving.
The Final Product
The Final Product
This is my final render for this project, i am beyond proud of the work i have produced and think that all of my hard work has really paid off. Seeing what I have produced since last year and how much the quality has improved, I am happy to say I can see a huge difference.
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