YOU ARE A GEEK » model

GE’s Augmented Reality Using Flash

kuruvata — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:08:37 +0000

I stumbled into this advertisement in YouTube’s sidebar. It was an ad for GE where you can print out their pattern and then flash reads that pattern and creates the 3D Augmented Reality Image in REAL TIME. The way it works is that it calculates the pattern in the middle, motion tracks it and shows us the 3D loop animation in the perspective the pattern is in. Here’s GE’s Augmented Reality Website, GE’s Wind Turbine AR, and Solar Panel AR. And yes, YOU DO NEED A WEBCAM! The Wind Turbine animation has the panel in the middle of the symbol open, and then the 3D “ground” comes out and then the sun comes out of that panel and slowly rises to the top. The Solar Panel works the same way except for the ground. It has been transformed into a desert scene with the solar panels protruding on the soil.

I first saw it here and months after, surely enough, a German Mini Cooper Company hired the guys that made the demo and paid them to create an ad using their newfound technology. The ad basically says to go to the website, hold up the magazine in front of the webcam and wait for the magic to happen. The website is pretty hard to understand (considering that it’s in German) but here’s their pattern and the website is supposed to detect your webcam right away. Just click on your webcam name and you’ll see the demo.

I’m pretty sure the guys from Boffswana were the same guys that did the ads. I really wish to see more of this kind of advertisement soon.

Curious on how it works? Check out the FLARToolKit - this link was provided by GE.

Lemme know what’cha think! Peace out!

Final Fantasy Hair

kuruvata — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:04:48 +0000

As I researched how people go by modelling hair, I stumbled upon an interesting article written about the Final Fantasy models. Turns out, Final Fantasy hair was made out of polygons. Yep, you heard me, polygons. According to the person interviewed, polygons are easier to animate with and that it requires less render time than regular particles. I’ve tried it and it’s true. Polygons render faster than particles no matter which 3D program/renderer you choose.

Here’s the article that I found on the web:

So guess which way am I going for to create my character’s hair? Yep, polygons!

Evolution of Tommy

kuruvata — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:59:39 +0000

I’ve started this project about a year ago – Spring Sem of my Freshman Year at CIA. We had to create a short film of any story. Me, being too ambitious decided to create a 3D short film involving one character, no dialogue and a story that deals with present day children’s imaginations. This story came to mind while hearing my mom’s rants about how children these days are so dependent on their toys to have fun. “In the old days,” she recalls, “we used to play with mud, sticks and rocks to have fun!” She was, obviously, right. Kids these days don’t realize that to have fun, “you just need a little imagination!” – as I recall from the old Barney series. This work-in-progress is currently in the modelling and story-refining stage. I’ve altered Tommy’s look to make him cute and kid-like as possible. Here is the Evolution of Tommy:

This was the my very first attempt to create Tommy. I introduce, Tommy 1.0

As I [barely] finished the short story for the short two-week slot our teacher gave us, I was able to create a partially finished short story together with the animatic and some parts in 3D. Here’s the shindig:

As you can see, it’s a rough cut. I’ve only been able to do minor keyframes to create the animation. It’s sloppy and the story’s a bit unclear.

Anyway, like what I wrote i while ago, I’m still on the process of refining the story. In the mean time, here are the later Tommy changes:

This was the second Tommy. I used Blender's subsurface scattering to create the skin texture but it didn't work right. Plus the hair was just taking too much render time.

I didn’t finish Tommy 2.0′s hands because I was having problems matching the poly count from one end to the other. Also, as I tried to add the bones, the whole thing just went haywire. I wanted a smooth character but also one that deforms right. I had to remodel so I did!

And now, I present my final Tommy:

Created to suit my cravings for optimal deformation.

Because I was satisfied with the character’s deformation quality, I’ve started texturing him and had a couple test renders just to see what he looks like under the lights. The hair will be added later. It has to be created using polys not particles since particles take such a long time to render and I don’t have a render farm to render the whole thing!

The first Tommy was just plain creepy. The second was too realistic. The last one’s just right and I’ve always wanted to make it look Pixar-like.

Here are the details of Tommy 3.0:

Spiffy!

Tommy 3.0 Sweater

Full Body Shot

I hope this inspires future animators and modellers.

Anyway, leave me your comments and I’ll appreciate it!