Lisa Adolph - Ends 170 Project 2

For my second project in Ends 170 I recreated a model I designed in my design studio that represented the word resilient in the third dimension. I used Autodesk VIZ to model my box by first creating the frame: a 10 x 10 inch box, and then deleted one side of the box to make it open, and then thickening the shell to match my phyical model exactly. I then recreated all the shapes I put in my original box by creating the different sizes of cubes and boxes I used in my design. This was a rather tedious process because I had to find the exact angle of every cube in my design, and I had a lot of cubes, as seen in the photograph below. I also had to use boolean operations to modify the cubes inside my box because many of the cubes places on the sides of the box were sticking out of the shell. Although this process did take awhile, it was still considerable faster and easier than making the physical model, and also much cleaner and exact. I then added a daylight system set for July 22, 2008 at 10:00 AM so that even the shadows on my computer model would match a picture I took of my physical model at that same time. I had to choose an orientation that showed the light on my model the best, and then make sure my physical model in the picture was facing the same way.

I also modeled a second box on the computer that was a variation on my original model. I used a wider variety of shapes and design for this model because of the ease of creating on the computer. This was still based on my original design, so it was basically the same creation process as the original except I placed the forms in different places. I enjoyed modeling this second box because the computer allowed me to try different designs that would be extremely difficult and time consuming to physically create. I used a daylight system in this model too, but also added colored omni lights. I set three different lights that were all different colors at different intensites to show the contrast between the forms within my box.

I then made an animation of a fly through of both of my computer models. I did this by setting up a camera and then moving it to different locations in my box every 60 frames. I chose to feature the best aspects of my design in these animations with the best lighting. This method allowed me to showcase my design in much more detail than a rendering of a still image could.

Although many of the operations in VIZ were difficult to understand and work with at times, I enjoyed using VIZ once I understood the operations. This project helped me to really learn what I could do with VIZ. I now think that it is extremely helpful in modeling 3D objects and animations.

Animations:

http://thelab.tamu.edu/students/lja0284/classes/ends170201/web/movie1.avi

http://thelab.tamu.edu/students/lja0284/classes/ends170201/web/movie2.avi

Ends 170 Project 1 - Lisa Adolph

In my black and white composition, I attempted to evoke the feeling of the word resilient. In my first preliminary I simply experimented with what different shapes I could make given the restrictions and rules. This first preliminary was unsuccessful in depicting the word resilient, but gave me a good idea for what to do in my next preliminary. When I transferred my first preliminary to the computer in Photoshop, I found that the drawing process went much faster on the computer because I did not have to measure the distances myself, and I did not have to color in the shapes with a pen since the computer automatically did this. I simply created different shapes using the pen tool, which allowed me to easily make the unique shapes I needed for my composition. The ease of creating shapes on the computer allowed me to try different shapes out on my original drawing. I could see how different shapes worked in my composition without worrying about making mistakes, since I could easily delete anything I didn’t like. I enjoyed using Photoshop to recreate this composition because I could even plan out my second and third preliminaries on the computer before I put them on paper. My second and third preliminaries were much more successful in depicting the word resilient because I had a better feel for the project and what I could do, partly thanks to my experiments on Photoshop. In my second preliminary I attempted to create a feeling of stretched yet flexible shapes, twisting in every direction, while still evoking a feeling of lightness. I feel that most of my shapes achieved this, accept for those in the bottom right corner. My third preliminary continued in this direction, experimenting even more with twisting and stretching shapes. The computer greatly aided me in this part of the project, as I first tried out different shape combinations in Photoshop, and then transferred them to my paper. I feel that in my third preliminary I was able to achieve my goal of depicting the word resilient while also maintaining quality throughout the composition. Photoshop also aided my design process by allowing me to experiment with different colors extremely easily, which brought this project to a whole new level.

The Beginning

My name is Lisa Adolph and I am about to enter my second year at Texas A&M University as an Environmental Design major. This summer is the first time I have ever taken a design studio and its been more than intense, but I love it. Thanks to this first studio I now have experience in making snowflakes, beads, collages, and bundles. I hope to add much more to this site as I advance in my architecture studies!