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.