Envelope Ideas

I have created an envelope using Photoshop to demostrate how my stamp might look had it been published. I created this for fun showing my artistic side in Photoshop.

Evaluation of my work

I am very pleased with my final 3 stamp designs. A the start of the assignment I was a bit taken back by the software as I had never used 3d Studio Max and I did worry wheter or not I would be able to create 1 stamp! I also worried that as I had started the course later than everyone else I would be extremely behind compared to others.

My initial 3 designs are completely different from the final 3 I have produced. This is definately due to my lack of experience and I think I set my sights too high for what I wanted to achieve. Now I am more familiar with the software I feel I could build the three animals but this would take me quite a bit of time as my final 3 stamps took me a while to build. I am pleased with the leaf theme that I chose and I think the flower, ladybird and butterfly work well with them as a background. As a whole I am pleased with my progress and feel that I have learnt a lot from this assignment and I look foward to futhering my 3D design skills in the next project.

Stamp 3: Butterfly

Stamp 2: Ladybird

Stamp 1: Flower

My Final 3 Stamps

To finish my stamps I used a template to create the outline. I opened the template in Photoshop and opened my finished design. I dragged the template over and holding down the Ctrl and t, and then shift, I was able to drag my image out to fit the template. I then pressed enter and the image was clear and did not appear distorted. Next I used the template of the Queens head, I imported that and rotated it round the other way and changed the colour to white. I finally inserted some text '1st' to highlight a 1st Class stamp. The template stamps came with a background image but I decided to remove this as I thought it clashed with the image as I wanted the main focus to be on the actual stamp.

Progress Update

I have completed my final three designs. The final stage of making them look more realistic is applying them to a stamp background. I will either use a template or create one myself.

Butterfly

To begin designing my butterfly I chose an image online that I wanted to use as the wing I would then use the mapping technique like I did to create my flower. I saved the image and then opened it in Photoshop. I created a new layer that I made white and then I cropped the image so I only had one wing to work with. I then used the lasso tool to cut around the wing until I was happy with what I had and then I cut it out. I opened Studio Max and using the material editor tool I imported the image. I made a plane and then dragged the butterflies wing onto it. To ensure I had two of the same wings I used the symmetry modifyer and then used the edit poly modifier to shape the wings so they werent just flat thus making them look more realistic. After I created a body using box and changed the shape unitl I was happy with how it looked. I used the edit poly tool again and dragged out the top half so it appeared round and this would act as the butterflies head.


The image shows the wings that I created using the symmetry modifyer.

As you can see the butterfly now has its body and finally I placed the it onto a leaf to continue my theme.

Stamp Idea 3: Butterfly

I have decided that for my final stamp design I will create a butterfly. I have decided to use a butterfly because it continues with my theme of being on a leaf. I have looked through various images to help myself come up with some ideas that I can use.

Ladybird

For the final stage of my ladybird I had to apply the spots to its back. In Photoshop I created a red background with black spots and a black line going down the center, this was to create a line of symmetery as we know that ladybirds have an even number of spots on each side. In studio max I then opened it in the materials editor and applied the colour to its shell. This has transformed it from looking like a bug to a ladybird which I am really pleased about. The last thing I wanted to do was carry on my theme of animals on a leaf so like the flower I added a leaf background which the ladybird sits on. I played around with its layout until I was happy with it.

My ladybird is almost complete all I need to do is create a stripe down the back of the shell and find a position on the leaf I am happy with.

Ladybird

After doing some research I decided to start modelling my second idea which is a ladybird. I started by creating a sphere and changing the hemisphere to 0.5 to cut the shape in half. I then change the amount of polys in the sphere making it easier to work with. After this I edited the mesh to push the top 2 vertexes inwards creating a heart shape for its body. By switching views from edit poly and curve edges I was able to see what the finished shape will look like. I then created a box to act as the ladybirds head. I put a line in the middle of it so it was centred and then I was able to pull the edges out using the same method as I did for the body to create a curve edge. In the final stage of creating the body I had to draw another box and edited the mesh to make it curved.

The image above shows the shape of the body.

The above image shows the completed shape of the ladybirds body.

The next stage in designing the ladybird was creating its antenna. I started by drawing out a cylinder and stretching it to the correct size but Richard pointed out the number of polygons in the shape and suggested a simpler method using a box. I drew the shape of the box and editing the mesh, I then dragged the edges to make it bend. Switching to the mesh smooth view the antenna appeared curvy and not jagged. I placed one of the antenna in place and then mirrored it so another one appeared, I then rotated it into its position.

In the final stage I had to created its legs. I used one of the antenna I had already created and clicked the element button and then detached them so I could clone one to use for its legs. After cloning each leg I used the top view to carefully put them in place.

The below image shows the completed ladybird.

Stamp 2: Ladybird

I have decided that the second stamp I design will be of a ladybird. At this stage I am gathering ideas from the internet of different images to help when I start building my ladybird.

Flower

I wanted my stamp to appear on a background as I did not like it being just plain white. I expermentied with placing the flower over different images and chose a leaf. I opened the image in Photoshop, cut the section of the leaf I wanted then in the Rendering menu I chose Enviroment and Effects and mapped the leaf to the image. I finally played around with the flower until I was happy with its position and rendered it.

Flower

In the next stage of creating my flower I had to make a sphere to place in the middle of the flower. I drew a sphere shape and then I had to cut it in half to fit into the middle. I done this by dragging up and down the shape until I was happy with its final position.

Once I had created the sphere I wanted to change the colour and texture so it looked more realistic and blended in with the rest of the petals. I opened the material editor and clicked on the noise button to give it some bumps so it was not a solid colour. I then changed the two colors, the first one I made a dark purple and the second a lighter one so they contrasted each other. I then applied the settings and played around with it until I satisfied that it looked like a flower.

The image below shows the middle part of the flower a cream color, this was when I was experimenting with the different colours it could be. As you can see the flower is really starting to take shape.

SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis

Strengths
I feel my strengths so far have been researching different animals and ideas to use on my stamps. I have created mood boards and completed a write up of each animal I initially chose.

Weaknesses
I feel my weaknesses lie in using the software. Having had some practise and using the tutorials as guides to get to know how it works, I still do not feel confident enough to actually build the stamps.

Opportunities
I feel that I have a lot to learn and can benefit from using the software. I just need to be patient and work through the tutorials and also use the internet to research different methods. There is definately a lot to learn and I can use this software in the future.

Threat
As I joined this class late, I am worried that I am really behind compared to everyone else. However, I just need to keep working with the software to familiarise myself with it so I feel more confident and catch up to the same stage that everyone else is at.

Flower

I changed from my previous ideas and have now decided that my first stamp I will create will be a flower. I firstly searched the Internet for an image of a petal. Having found the image I then opened it Photo shop. I had to use the Lasso tool to cut round the image so I only had the petal shape that I wanted. I then opened the image and with the magic tool wand I set the tolerance to around 60, then selected the white background. After I created a new layer and filled the selection with black, so my petal was ready to be masked in 3D studio Max.

I then created a plane and increased the number of length and width segments to 30, this would allow me to shape the petals. Using the material editor I mapped the image of the petal around the object of the plane. However there was white showing around the leaf, so I had to go back to the base level of the material and locate the black and white image (above).

I then had to ensure the leaf looked more realistic by adding more texture using the bump map. I selected the original image of the petal and increased the bump to around 130. Then I had to apply the petal to the plane by dragging it across.

I then wanted to clone the petal so it appeared as a flower. Clicking on the hierarchy button, then affect pivot only this enabled the petals to move round the center of rotation. To clone the petal I held down shift and chose to have 8 clones. This then produced the flower.

After I wanted to make the flower look more realistic by modifying the petals so they did not appear exactly the same. This also helped the flower to look more realistic. By using the modify button, I then clicked edit poly and right clicked on the petal. Using the move button I was able to drag the x and y axis until I was satisfied with how it looked.

Design Stage

As I do not feel very confident using the software yet, I have decided to start creating a stamp that is a little bit more simple to help familiarise myself with studio max.

Moodboard: Endangered Animals

Before I chose my three initail designs i created another moodboard. This time I focused on animals that are extremely endagered in todays society. The mood board then helped my decided on three animals to use on my stamps.

Intro to Lighting in 3D S Max

In this tutorial we was introduced to different lighting techniques that we can use in 3D s max. We were given a pumpkin and we had to implement two lighting techniques. One light coming from above the pumpkin and one that represents a candle inside it. To create this scene I used an omni light and placed it inside the pumpkin and a target spotlight that has been placed above it. The ground of the pumpkin was put in place by using a base to put it on top of and then I changed the noise so it appears bumpy and wavy, setting a spooky scene for the pumpkin.

3rd Stamp Idea: Sumatran Orangutan

The Sumatran Orangutan is the more endangered of the two species of orangutan. Habitat loss and poaching are pushing them imminent extinction. These animals were once widespread across the forests of Asia however they are now confined to just two islands Sumatra and Borneo. Orangutans breed very slowly producing a baby on average every 7-8 years. They can live up to the age of 45 years in the wild and a female will normally have no more than 3 offspring in her lifetime meaning the population grows extremely slowly and take a long time to recover from habitat disturbance and poaching.

2nd Stamp Idea: Giant Panda

It is reported that there are only 1,000 giant pandas left in the wild. Pandas live in remote areas in central China in mountainous areas where there are high bamboo forests and the weather is cool and wet, ideal for the panda. They can climb up to 13,000 feet to feed on higher slopes in the warmer seasons. The panda has become such an endangered animal due to habitat loss and a low birth rate, both in the wild and in captivity.

1st Stamp Idea: White Rhino

In today’s society there are very few white rhinos that live outside protected areas. There are five species of rhino, three species are found in Asia and two can be found in Africa. The white rhino is the world’s largest land mammal after the elephant. The rhinos have become so endangered because poachers have killed hundreds of these animals for their horns. The horn is very valuable in North Africa and the Middle East and as it can be used for an ornamental dagger handle. Their hard hair like growth is used for medical use in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore thus making the rhino an extremely endangered animal.

Examples of Animal Stamps

Having looked at my mood board and producing two initial ideas I have decided to create 3 stamps each showinga adifferent endangered animal. I have carried out some research on animal stamps to help myself come up with ideas as to which animals I can use.

Modelling from shapes in 3D Studio Max

I have created a beautiful flower using a path created in illustrator.

Making Leaves Using Mapping Techniques

Using the online tutorial I have completed the steps to create a leaf. I found the tutorial helpful and the stages were clearly detailed on how to move onto the next stage. As I have never used this software before I am still learning, it is taking me a while to get used to it and completing the tasks but I am definately learning.

I saved a screen shot of the leaf. This is the final stage of creating the leaf, during this stage I played around with the toggles so it does not appear flat experimenting with different styles.


This image below shows my finished leaf after I have experimented with it being dragging out the vertices to shape it.

Biodiversity Mood Board

I have produced a mood board to help me come up with ideas for my 3 stamps. Searching the internet for inspiration I mainly looked at different animals and their habitats. My initial idea now having researched it is to do 3 stamps and use different animals 1 from the sky e.g. an eagle, 1 from the sea e.g. a shark and an animal on land e.g a lion. Using these 3 potential animals all show they are powerful creatures in their habitats ones that should not be messed with. My other idea was to look at endangered species which is a big problem in this world today and use 3 of the most threatened animals on my stamps.

Building

I have completed the introduction to 3D Studio Max. After playing around with different buttons and icons to familiarise myself with them I have created a 3D image of the building Big Ben.

Reaction to brief

Having read through the brief I understand the project and the outcomes for semester 1. However as I have never used 3D Studio Max software before I feel it will be a challenge but I am looking foward to using the software and being able create three successful stamps.