Group Meeting to put together work

We recently met up finished putting all the parts of the model that we have created together into One max file, to also see what else needed to be done and have a general group discussion.





































Me and Tom met up early before the lesson to spend time putting our work together it took us about 2 hours but we finally managed to produce the image shown above. It was then a case of speaking to Kevin and Teresa to then add there work to the model.

Finding out about the other members work

We had all set a time line for this Friday to have all the modeling completed giving us enough time to work on animation and setting up the environment and textures as well as the final presentation.

Kevin had successfully created the wheel for the pump and it was looking awesome, he has spent allot of time working with different ways to make the cut out segments look good and creating the lip around the wheel. It was the correct size and fit on the model perfectly.

Teresa had only finished one part of her modeling and still needed to complete her main part, she was trying hard but in my opinion she had spent far too long researching the machine. Ill give her credit she managed to find some amazing information that really helped the group and will make us stand out from the others who are building the same model.

But due to this she had little time to model, so I gave her only a small amount making her able to cope. But she was unhappy with this and asked for more during that week. Upon speaking to her on the Friday she then told me there was too much to do, so I ended up taking more modeling off her. This was an easy mistake to make as she did not want it to seem like she had not done her fair share, but at the same time it slowed down the project as I could have got it done and ready for the Friday.
















Here is how the work looked at the end of today's lesson, the only piece that is missing is the silver piece on the side containing the intake and outtake. This part has allot of pipes and dials coming from it, so it might take me a while as I know that I will spent ages making it look as good as I can with the detail.


Conclusion

But overall we got all of it sorted, I now need to complete the last bit of the model and then get it sent off to Tom and Kevin who can then start to animate it and texture it.

I have found working in the group quite hard because some group members argued allot about modeling and the amount of work that was set, so I found it really frustrating. I also was told in the beginning that I was suppose to be doing all the modeling, which I felt was quite unfair but in the end I completed most of the modeling for the group. I am happy with the work I created and has given me allot to document, really making me feel a valuable part of the group.

Sending Work

We noticed that when we wanted to show each other work in progress etc and when it had also been completed. Sending the max files to each other made some strange errors.

How the Object should have looked....

















What happened when it was exported and sent.

















As you can see the object has become split and deconstructed, It was a royal pain to get it back together again. This mainly occurred because we all had different versions of 3D Studio Max so had to export the models to enable anyone else to open them.

More Modeling

It was now time to crack on with some more modeling, my next task was to take on the section of the model with the outer green casing (the housing for the governor). From first eyeballing the pictures, breaking it up into sections would be quite simple as it did not comprise of many complex shapes.


















I started off by creating a chamfer box, then used the line tool to create the mounts that connect the chambers to the box. (The reason for this was because it gave me the most flexibility as there were no objects that resembled the shape I was looking for, I felt that box moddeling would have taken too long to get the desired look.


















































The Bolts were then made by simply using the "Gengon" and giving it 5 sides, I stumbled upon this by accident when creating the previouse model and remembered that it would be a great way to create nuts and bolts.

I then added a sphere that was cut in half to the center of the bolt, which really finishes it off. (These are the small details that I like to spend time on, becasue they will make the end result look so much better.)




















The chamber casings were made by using the "Oil Tank" and changing its Cap Height so that the top and bottom become very rounded. Then my simply adding a cylinder to the top, there was no need to make it all 1 piece because it would have looked wrong when smoothed.













For the front parts, I used the mounts that were created earlier with the line tool, scaled and rotated them. I then modified and used the bolts, adding them all to some spheres.














The back was also very simple to make, taking the bolts created and duplicating them (Holding down shift) and adding some more spheres.














The above image shows how it looks when all the parts are put together, I did not attach all the items simply grouped them. The reason for this is because it they need to be edited or removed at a later day then they can be ungrouped and done easily, where as when you connect them you cannot break them apart. (This also will help out the other members when animation is taking place.)













The above image shows the wireframe once the 2 models that I have made have been put together, you can really start to see the model comming to life. I am not brilliant at moddeling but am suprising myself throughout this module.





















Here is the rendered vesion of both models added together.

Moddeling the Middle Part

As I knew this was going to be the hardest part of the model, getting it out of the way first would mean plain sailing for the rest of the model.I am not the best at modeling in 3D Studio Max, but unknown to me everyone else in the group said they wanted me to take on the main part of the modeling. But I really felt confident that I could produce something to be proud of.

The Main element of the Model (Rounded Segment)














I managed to get a new picture that Teresa collected from a member of the museum, which was perfect for modeling. I started off by using the line tool and following round the edge of the rounded piece.














After converting to editable poly, I then used the extrude tool, for some reason once it had been applied one side was missing. As I am not really familiar with this tool was unsure if that was normal behavior but I had to use the symmetry tool to make sure that both sides were sealed. This did the trick and is not noticeable once the widget to get the right proportions.















I needed to figure out a way of adding the arms to the sides of it, I wanted it to look flush with the model not making separate objects and then attaching them. (The problem with this is that you can see the connect marks and it looks really poor when rendered.)

I had to delete segments from the model and then add more points by selecting the edges and holding down the shift key, then using the weld tool to connect the newly formed edges.
This took a long time to say the least but was worth it when the a turbo smooth was applied as it all flowed well.
















As you can see from the image above, the elements flow well when turbo smoothed. The image above also shows some further details that will be explained later in the blog. But the details on the main element that you can also see were simply blocks coming from within the model itself.

Adding Further Details
















I have added details to the model, as I wanted to make it look as realistic as possible. Unfortunately it took the longest but really makes the model look better when you spent time on the little details. (Even as frustrating as it is, also that most people wont even see parts.)

It was a collection of spheres and squares, that were bent, poked and moved around to fit with the shape and contours of the model. There was a ridge that ran across the top of this piece I spent allot of time making it look smooth with the gap in the middle. (Simply just using a square and extruding it in different places and using the chamfer modifier to make the edges nice and smooth.
















The image above shows the finished the element finished with the pole that travels thought the entire model. This was key to get this in the correct place as it aligns all the parts of the model.

More Detailed Parts

















There was allot of details that had to be added to the middle section, there were allot of elements including circular objects, allot of embedded markings and items that were generally not straight.




























I used cylinders to make the rotary spheres on the model, simply using smaller sizes that bevel from the outside. The main block was made from a box that was modified to give it more side and height segments, these extra segments were then extruded and inset to give it the metal work look. I then added small cylinders for the small notches on the casing.

The side parts (green scribble) were very simple you can guess that it was created using a box scaled and then duplicated, to both sides of the model. I wanted to give the more detail but from looking over the pictures of the steam pump from the museum, that is exactly how they look. I might be adding a chamfer to them to just make them not so 3Dmax generated.

Rendered Model So Far
Below are some images of the model that have been rendered with some lighting, just to really get a feel for the model and show how it is starting to shape together.








































The Base of the Model

















I then started to make the base for the model, as it would help with the scale. Also as it was not assigned to anyone and was also relatively simply, it was also a key part when starting to join the other group members work together with mine.

















I simply used a standard box, then used the pro Boolean and an oil tank object to cut out the hole where the model parts could be placed. Then by using the images as references, added the sides of the base so that the pipe that runs through could be attached.

I know that the base needs more work but as its one of the easier parts of modeling, could be done later in time. Wanting to spend more time on the actual model as it was the main selling and visual part of the work.







































I rendered some VRay versions of the model in its current state, you can really start to see it taking shape. I have high hopes for the finished product, the challenging part will be putting all the work that we have all created together as scale, sizing etc could be off. But I am sure that we will work it out.

Break Down in Communcation

Unfortuanlty becasue we had not spoken about who was going to build the base, 3 members of the group including myself ended up constructing the base. This obviosly meant that we wasted time on moddeling, but luckily most of did not start moddeling it on great detial.

Tom had pretty much bulit the entire base so we decided to use his version, but also used the side parts from teresa's model as they were more accurat to the working steam pump. So luckily the extra models were not wasted and were used to improve the base of the main model.


















Next time moddeling in a group I must make sure that everyone knows exacley what and who is doing what peices, as problems can easliy occur. Lukcily in this work it was only on a small scale and ended up working to our advantage, but could have turned out allot worse wasting valuable time of the members.

Further Model Choices and Sketches

We were all going to take a part of the model to make, as the model was mainly my part of contribution to the group I was asked to divide up the work. I had told everyone the parts to start modeling but believed it would be a good idea to have a visual representation to e-mail to each member to help them.

















I was going to be doing the main (dark blue part) with Teresa and Kevin doing the wheel and front mechanism.

I took my part away and started modeling to get the ball rolling, as we were increasingly running out of time and needed to stop researching and make sure we were working on the model.

















I realized from looking at the images that we had collected from the museum that we did not have any directly side shots of the model. This meant that it would be hard to model as everything is at an angle, so I decided that I needed to draw a sketch of the model both for modeling but mianly for personal refrence.














The image above shows the sketch, that I came up with. It was nothing special but as mentioned was just needed for refrences and to model within max.












As we were giving a presentation to the class, I wanted to quickyl turn my sketch into a real image. So in the late hours of the night I made something for the presentation, once again It was not fantastic but this was to lull our competition (classmates) into beliving our model would not be that good and then blow them away with the finished product.

The Presentation

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As mentioned in the previous post we did not prepare too much for the presentation this was mainly due to not asking the tutor if it was a formal or informal.

We made a PowerPoint presentation just to be safe, but due to uncertainty we did not put too much information but tried to verbally explain to the class everything about our group.
I think that the presentation went well, I helped to talk about how we have split up the work explaining that we want to be a well communicating group that helps each other out sharing as much work as possible.

I always find that when I talk in presentation that I talk way to fast and this was not an exception, they don't scare me but I generally talk to fast at the best of times so need to lean to slow myself down when speaking to a group of people, to ensure I am understood.

Once this had been completed and we had seen the other groups work, I realized that we were a bit behind and needed to start actual modeling to ensure that we have enough work done as time was running out.

Group Meetings

Before our first meeting we spent time talking about visiting the museum, if we should go alone or as a group. We decided to go separately because then we could have a good look round and focus on the things that we found interesting.

We decided to all choose a few different machines that we liked the look off, to talk about in the next meeting where where we would hopefully agree on the final model. We made sure to take as many pictures as possible, from as many angles reducing the chances of having to travel to the museum and to better understand the machines from the images. (Video was also taken to help show us the specific movement of each machine.)

First Meeting

The first meeting was spent looking over the images and video that we had collected from the museum, talking about what models would be best for both our skills and the time frame. We went over all the possibilities and narrowed them all down, we all liked the look of the reliable steam engine but did not make a definite decision.

We decided that we made need to visit the museum again to get more footage, but we also managed to get in contact with the people at the museum to get more information and some broken down images of the actual model itself.

Second Meeting

We had decided on the Joseph Evans Reliable Steam Engine, we had all spoken over e-mails and decided that we could produce a project to be proud of and that would impress the staff at the power station. We really wanted to share the work among us and help each other out if anyone got stuck, we did not want anyone to feel pressured in the group and to be able to use the other members for help and guidance. Instead of all running off and working it alone, then coming together and hoping it works.

Splitting Up the Work

The main focus of the meeting was to organize what work would undertaken by what member, we talked about our strengths and weaknesses.

I am not brilliant at modeling but as everyone was very hesitant to take on the main aspect of modeling, I took it upon myself to get it done and don't to a level that I would hopefully be proud of.The rest of the work such as texture, environment, lighting, story boarding, and animation. Was divided up among the rest of the group members, but as mentioned the work would be split up so that work is constantly being done to avoid missing the deadline.

The presentation

We then spoke about the presentation for the coming week, Kevin decided to make the power point presentation and we all wanted to chip in to help talk about what we had done. We did not prepare too much as we were unsure if the presentation was a formal version to the class, or if it was informal to our tutor.

Group Work Blog

I have created this new blog on my account that is strictly devoted to the group work project, for virtual environments.

The Group Blog is located at http://3dvirtenv.blogspot.com/ But this blog will show all the work that I have created myself and my thoughts and experiences about the group and how we are progressing.