Blog post #8

For the 2^nd 3D modelling assessment for my course I am currently studying, I am required to produce a 3D model of a vehicle which will need to be efficiently created using 5000 triangles. I decided to create a space ship based on the appearance of the aquatic animal the stingray. I created a simple set of plans for me to create my model from. It portrayed the front view, side view and top view in order to insure the proportions of the model were as they should be. We were taught in our tutorials how to create a symmetrical 3D model utilizing the duplicate special function.

In the end the 3D model differed from the original plans slightly due to a shift in the visual expectations of the model. I discovered the extract faces tool which was used to separate the glass from the initial 3D model to allow an entrance into the seat of the vehicle.  An extra feature I looked into was smooth binding to allow the animation of the tail of the vehicle to give an organic appearance similar to that of the animal that inspired it initially, unfortunately the mesh would deform incorrectly until I learned about the ability to paint skin weights. This allowed the front of the vehicle to have a great deal of weight causing the tail to move appropriately for animation. I am happy with the vehicle because it appeared almost exactly how I imagined and I managed to make it nearly reach the provided tri count.