MODELING-MATERIALS

Weekly Design Challenges

Cole Norman

Module 1

FIRST WEEK OF CLASS: THE BASICS OF C4D

Objects

Easy Objects

Pop can
Door key
Pen
Banana
PS5 game case
Pencil case
Oreo cookie
Lamp

Hard Objects

AirPods case
Garmin watch
Desktop monitor
DualSense controller
iPhone 13
Race medal
Running spikes
Loaf of bread

AI Use

AI was used only to create portions of the website, including hover states and animations. Below are the prompts:

When you hover over each image, enlarge it by 15% and have it follow the cursor within the image box. When the cursor leaves, return the image to its regular size with a simple ease-in and ease-out animation.
When hovering, place the image above everything else on the screen and add a drop shadow below it.
Make the hover animation faster.
Add a thin white border that fades and spirals around the image edge on hover, then spirals away when the cursor leaves.
the body copy in the main content spans too far across the screen. Can you break it up into two columns where it lists the objects on the left and then on the right it talks about AI

Design Challenge 1

Just after installing the application I am learning how to resize shapes. Lots to learn from here!

Watching the videos provided in class, I am learning how to add colour to shapes.

After learning how to resize and add colour to shapes, I am now learning how bend shapes in various ways.

We were then told we needed to find simple objects to recreate. So I attempted to recreate my AirPods case. I learned a bit about the bevel tool here.

Using the same model as before, I experimented with the taper tool.

Once again, I am using the same model, but this time I add on the twist tool. Now it is starting to look like a bent screw!

Using the polygon pen tool, I am drawing out flat shapes. I learned this from the class tutorials.

After drawing 2D shapes with the polygon pen tool, I am now learning how to turn them into 3D shapes. Changing the perspective in the view is important in this step as you are working with the XYZ axis.

Tried making a simple pop can. I started with a cylinder and then used the bevel tool to create the top and bottom of the can. I also learned how to create an empty can by subtracting the middle with Boolean.

I was experimenting with more tools. This is a sphere that I used explosion on. I had a good laugh at the animation it makes. This is a freeze frame right after the initial break.

Still experimenting here with tools. This shape is liquified. I think that it is interesting that you can create realistic looking spills/water effects with this.

I was attempting here to create a metal water bottle. Still getting used to resizing and adjusting 3D shapes.

I decided to return to the screw model and start again. I tweaked the settings so much that it started to look like a tornado.

I decided that I wanted to try creating my house key in C4D. The reason it was on my mind is that I just got an extra key cut recently. Now I can make it on my own.

Continuing with the key model, I am working on making it 3D. I ran into an issue where it didn't make the other side. It was only the top side of the key.

I learned a bit more C4D in Mark's class. I then took what I learned and brought in a .AI file of the key and then extruded it. I also used the bevel tool to make the edges of the key more realistic. After that I made little cuts into the sides to add the styling of what my key really looks like.

I decided that I wanted to try working with lighting. In this image, I used two light sources which made it look way more realistically quite fast!

This image is a few of the good tutorials I found online. I learned a lot from these and they helped me get to where I am now. I felt it worthwhile to include them here in my process as they helped me a ton.

From those tutorials, I learned how to make a mug. This was one of the objects I wanted to make. Linking two objects together was something I wanted to learn, so I think it turned out pretty good here. It's impressive that one selection can round off the whole shape and make it less blocky.

I decided to go back to the AirPods case I made at the very start. I began with a new file and then used the skills I learned to make it way more realistic with speaker holes, dividers, and a charging port.

After all the other objects I made, it was time to create the main object! I decided that my garmin watch would be the complicated object to go with as it means a lot to me. I am on the cross country team for sheridan and I even have a race TOMORROW as I write this. Basically its always on me and I have had running on my mind constantly so it felt right.

Creating the watch face consisted of various shapes all put together. You can see in the final photo that there is a lot going on at once, so I broke it down into sections.

The band was quite tedious to make. I tried to figure out how to repeat objects, but I wasn't able to figure it out. I just decided to copy and paste each one, then group them all together and use Boolean to subtract the shapes.

The end of the band has various pieces that tighten the band to your wrist. I created these all afterwards and attached them to the main piece. I used bend to create the sense of realism with the hinge on the end.

OK. I know there's a lot going on here! But I feel very proud of what I made considering I only just learned how to use C4D this week. I will continue to watch tutorials and expand my skills as the weeks come. The sizing is actually pretty close to what it is in real life, as I was working in millimeters.

Design Challenge 2

AI was used in this challenge to assess what it is possible to do, or not do, when generating objects. I used Meshy.ai, using the Meshy 7.1 Flagship model, to generate certain objects. I will have a tag under each generated object to signify that it was not created by me.

This photo shows me learning how to use the plane cut tool. First, I created a rectangular box to simulate a video game case and then I used the new tool. I was following along with the tutorials to learn this.

This photo shows me learning how to colour separate tiles. This is a simpler process than others, but it is important down the line as we were then adding meshes onto complex shapes. I was following along with the video tutorials to learn this.

This one shows me adding texture to the video game case. I believe I used the cut tool incorrectly here, as the slices down the middle were not able to be moved afterwards. Nonetheless, I think I succeeded here in adding the mesh.

This photo shows me learning how to use the bulge tool. I was following along with the tutorials to learn this.

This photo shows me adding lighting to one of my objects. I wanted to practice a bit more this week, so I decided to spend more time on various objects before trying new tools. This Nintendo controller is mostly made up of various cylinders and rectangles. I used the Boolean and bevel tools a bunch here.

This is a photo of me attempting to use subdivision surfaces for the first time. I did not add enough segments to the object before making it editable so it created this weird wavy effect.

After I finished the tutorials, I decided to try sculpting for the first time. I actually have a Pokemon plush in my room, so I decided to do Glaceon. As you can tell, this first one was pretty rough, but I really had no clue what I was doing. The body and head are made from two squares. I pulled the ears in polygon mode and then molded the body and face to make it resemble the Pokemon.

After finishing my other sculpting attempt, I decided to try again from scratch. This time I used what I learned from the other one and used subdivisions, Booleans, and the wax tool to make the body feel way more believable. That being said, there is lots to learn, and this is still not perfect, obviously.

The next two photos are more of a two-in-one. I just wanted to show each side, as it shows the work better. The first side of the game cart has the game cover on it. I added this texture in and then scaled it down to fit the shape. I also added a bevel to the edges as well as a slight deboss to the front, so it looked more like the real cartridge.

This is the back of the switch game cart, showing a more complex shape. I used the boolean tool here with many rectangles to create the contact pins. There are layers to it, it might be hard to see from the single angle but there are many small layers that took a long time to get right.

I decided to try using AI for the second half of the challenge. Since no one else seemed to be doing it, I thought it would be interesting to see what it could be capable of. This is the photo I gave meshy.ai to generate.

After giving the jpeg to AI, within 20 seconds it generated a pretty good model. Obviously since it was only from one angle it has to make a few predictions. One thing to note is that it did not make the straw hollow. It is fully solid.

Next I decided to choose my MacBook. I wanted to do this as it has many small details (like the keyboard).

The AI made a pretty decent model of the shape, but the finer details were not as good. The screen had a bunch of weird shapes added to it, and the keys were not in the correct layout.

Next I wanted to try my Oakley sunglasses. I figured that, since they have clear glass, the AI might struggle a bit.

The next object I wanted to try generating was my Switch Joy-con. Since I had already made the controller myself, I was curious to see what it would do.

Unsurprisingly, the AI did a good job again, and only from a flat 2D image. The buttons were all accurate. One bizarre thing I noticed was that it embossed the Zelda printing.

The next object I wanted to test was my running shoes. Since the Novablast 6s have a very complicated shape in the sole I was curious if AI would struggle to reproduce this with only an image.

For my last set of free tokens, I figured I would test the AI with something it is notoriously bad at. The text on the medal is very small and detailed.

Just as I expected, the AI really did not do well with the text. Some of the words are basically unreadable. That being said, the shape of the medal is fine.

Here is a photo of the Glaceon plush I have in my room. As I said before, I wanted to choose this as it has many small details that would give me a hard time. I think I did a pretty decent job, especially since I'm still very new to all this.

This is the game cover I used in the 3rd photo. This is the image I used but I do actually have the real game case too. I picked this as it was the easiest way to follow the tutorial.

The Zelda game cart was chosen as it seemed like a good object to test what I've learned so far. I had to use all the tools I learned in the first two weeks to get this to a place I like.

Material Workshop 1

For this workshop, I did not really have any specific goals
in mind for what I wanted to find. I was just searching
around the AA wing for interesting materials. One cool thing I found
was this metal sculpture that really reflects light as it is very polished.

PLywood from contstruction in the AA wing.

Material Workshop 2

In this workshop, I searched through Adobe Stock
for materials that would be good to use for my final three objects.
These three materials are quite unique as they all reflect light very differently.

Matte black material I can use for the glasses

Silicone looking material I can use for the watch

Project 1

Project 1 Models

Published 3D Model 1

Explore the Garmin watch model by dragging to orbit and scrolling to zoom.

Background brightness 34%

Garmin Forerunner 165 smartwatch

I worked on this object throughout the entire project. I went back and reworked it over time as I learned more skills. This watch is quite complicated in that there are many small parts that make up the larger object. This watch uses a lot of booleans to subtract space in each hole. I also had some struggles trying to get the textures to work properly. Eventually, I was able to get it working correctly. I find it weird that they don’t default your render settings to “default” automatically.

Published 3D Model 2

Explore the Oakley glasses model by dragging to orbit and scrolling to zoom.

Background brightness 34%

Oakley Glasses

This one was quite interesting to figure out. I was determined to learn how to make them as they seemed like such a complex shape to get right. This object was made using a lot of planes and extrusions. I used the symmetry tool to efficiently make this object. Once again, I was struggling to get my texture to be transparent. I had to watch a few tutorials to get it right.

Published 3D Model 3

Explore the Ottawa Race Weekend 10K medal by dragging to orbit and scrolling to zoom.

Background brightness 34%

Tamarack 10k Medal

I set a challenge for myself here. I wanted to do this without just dropping an illustrator file in for the building. (I did it for the logo). The whole idea for doing this was to get used to working with many shapes at once. Even if they weren’t necessarily complex shapes, having to scale it correctly to the perspective was quite challenging.

I never did figure out how to trace the text like it is done in the real medal. Though what I have done felt like the next best option, as it shows the depth.

AI prompts used for code:

can you place this into the website. I want to be able to move around in it this is published 3d model 1

can you add a slider to make the background lighter and darker.

now do the same with the oakley glasses. but this one goes in model 2 spot

Ok i like this. but now make it so you can keep scrolling through the webpage without getting stopped by moving the mouse over the 3d element. Maybe add a button that allows you to move it around. only show this when hovering over the box

do this ofr a third time. now placing this Ottawa Race Weekend 10k medal in the 3rd 3d model spot below the glasses

can you make it so I can go full screen for each one

can you change the numbers to not be old style

can you fix the line length too. it should only be 55 characters long max