Orrery...yeah I had the same look on my face ¬¬

So this is known as an Orrery. An accurate one shows our solar system in a simple way and how the planets orbit our sun. Mine, dear friends, is not as yet accurate. So forgive the rather fast inner planet but this was mainly to give me a taste of getting a basic animation to work, and in this respect it has done. Whilst making this model, and through the seminar I learnt about Hierarchy and what parts have to be slaved to what. The actual term is linked to but it gets the same meaning across. I also added some extra moons to some of the planets, and before you say it yes I did look them up so I know which planets have moons and how many there are. The next stage would be to add some detail to the whole affair, such as lighting effects and materials, but for now it will remain as it is as I have a presentation I need to create.

So, nearing completion...

So, this is the car after some tweaking, and I must say I am rather pleased with the whole thing =) I added an Omni light to the scene and played with the materials a bit, I also created clear windows and added some interior detail.

So...Has been a while...

So hey

I know it has been a while but I haven't had access to 3DS MAX at all over the holiday.
Anyhow this is the first of my new models since getting back to Nottingham. Basically, to fill you in, I got obsessed with Red Faction:Guerilla, completed it in a day and all. However what I found I liked most about it was the designs of the vehicles. Thus this creation was born. So far it is just a basic model, without the detail I want added. I also gave it a basic colour scheme so that it was easier to view. The main chassis was made from just one box. I manipulated the polygons, extruded faces and all that to create the angular shape of the armour. Like I said earlier, I still need to add more details and create a better colour scheme, but that will follow in the next few days =) Enjoy...

Rational-Interactive Media

Right, so what to say. Firstly Flash is a pain, constantly ignoring you and doing its own thing and then messing up at a crucial moment. Despite this I managed to get a working quiz finished, and one I am surprised to say, that I actually like. Ok it's not the best looking quiz, and there are certainly some bits that need fixing and sorting out, but besides these little issues I am happy with it. The inspiration came from any basic internet flash quiz I have ever played. It's a series of quick fire questions with helpful pictures along the way. I also tried to include a video question but seeing as the video was on my laptop it would not work on the net. I now know that I need to upload it to the web and then it should hopefully work. The background itself is a wacky combination of colour and shapes with a musical feel. I felt that this certainly worked for my quiz, hence its presence on every page. The scoring system on the quiz works well, although in my presentation I put the wrong code in so it just navigated back to the menu straight away. It records the right answer and adds it to a tally on the last slide. Annoyingly I wasn't able to figure out the code for recording the right and wrong answers and displaying them at the end. There isn't really much more I can say about this really. I had no intention of being a Flash wiz when I started the year, and I think this shows that. However I am still happy with how it turned out and hope it gets me at least a half decent grade.

Rational-Virtual Environments

So I know this is a bit late but hey.

My lair that I created for my virtual environments project is, sadly, not what I initially had in mind. However due to polygon issues and the need to restart it has ended up like it is now. The inspiration for my lair came from the idea of having an ex soviet union KGB style man. Bearing this in mind I went for a very soviet era Russian look, with simple concrete buildings and functional fittings. I also kept the lighting low to try an add a bit of a gloomy atmosphere to an already gloomy scene. The main inspiration came from looking at photos of old Russian cities, and how they followed the same pattern of simple block type apartments. I also noted that there was a large amount of Soviet propaganda pasted onto the walls, and thus I have tried to capture this feel by placing it around my lair, almost like pictures. The colour scheme is a combination of concrete outer surfaces, as was common in the photos, and then simple interiors, in true communist fashion. The only major difference to this colour scheme is the red carpet in the main hall. I made this red as I thought it helped to emphasise the villains connection to Russia and what it used to be like.
The other additions to my lair include a garage which I have kitted out with tools that would be used to fix the large truck inside it, and then the large truck itself. The truck started life with a more complex track system then the one that is in my lair. However these tracks were well over a million polygons in themselves, so after some remodelling I ended up with he truck seen in my lair. Saying this I'm still happy with it, just not so fond of the tracks. The inspiration for the truck came from looking at old half tracks and armoured personnel carriers. Thus I created a high sided, tracked vehicle. I also have another truck within my lair, and this is more of a high performance truck than an armoured beast. This is reflected in the fact that it has wheels and a streamlined body instead of tracks and a heavy armour shell. This truck was more inspired by racing trucks than half tracks, thus the streamlined body. The workshop in my lair contains what I feel to be my best models, the guns. These were inspired by my old Warhammer models (sad I know but they were good inspiration. I also added tools and shelving to the workshop to give it a bit of a filling as it were. It was around this time that I started laying with the renderer and discovered the Raytrace materials. From this point on I used them almost exclusively. The last building in my lair is the shooting range. This is simply a long building with targets at the far end. The targets were simple models with a bitmap attached to them to create the bullseye.

The compound itself is something right out of a prison, and this also I thought suited my villain down to the ground. The high walls and watchtowers mean nobody can get close without being seen and thus dealt with. Overall I am please with how it turned out, but will certainly be doing lots to improves it.

A quick look...

Ok so my laptop keeps messing up, end of the world? I think so! And just as those tories cam into power...Coincidence? I think not!!!

Anyhow enough political ranting and pot stirring for the moment.

Basically what we have here is the one rendered shot of my armoury I was able to get before my 3DS MAX had a memory crisis and crashed for the 10th time. This is not wholly completed but shows what I am basically going for. Any how enjoy...

Has been a while...

So between working on my 3DS MAX project and casting a vote that made very little difference I haven't had much chance to update my blog. Well here is the latest major addition to my lair, a tanker kind of vehicle to kit out the hanger/garage with. It is almost all one piece, having started life as a simple box which I then edited polygon by polygon. The track system was fairly simple in that I created one wheel and then just cloned it and resized it where needed. The tracks themselves are simply tubes which I have extended and extruded to create the raised parts. The colour scheme is a simple military green with grey detailing. The reason I chose this scheme is that this is a working vehicle and not one used for being flash, thus what is the point in having an over the top, colourful paint job. SO this is what it finally looks like, enjoy...