Week 1 / 0
Research and inspirations:
For Project 1 I have started to research images of different gallery layouts, along with house structures. I am wanting to create a space that is cozy and warm like home but has an “outside” section. Both sections would be within a glass-like structure. I thought about Meow Wolf and the house they have inside of the larger structure.
Meow Wolf, Santa Fe New Mexico, photo courtesy of Austin Chronicles website https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2018-11-30/meow-wolf-origin-story/
Apple 5th Ave Flagship Store, NY, photo courtesy of Eckersley O’Callaghan https://archinect.com/news/bustler/7127/james-o-callaghan-engineer-behind-apple-s-most-daring-glass-structures-honored-with-2019-gold-medal-from-institution-of-structural-engineers
I am wanting the viewer to walk into a building or gallery and be transported into memories I had experienced. Creating a bubble in time for them to see. When they approach the building it looks like a regular building but inside there will two rooms, a living room, and a dining room. Then when you exit you go through an “outside garden” like space which would be enclosed in glass.
Progress and process:
I am going to create still 3D images of the structure and rooms within it, along with the garden area. This will be done in Maya or Blender. Once the shell of the structure is done I will then into the spaces and set the scenes with my works for my thesis exhibition.
Reflection:
I feel good about the idea but I am not sure about the time it will take since 3D modeling uses up so much time. I think I am going to start inside and work my way out.
Week 2 / 1
Research and inspirations:
I have decided to have the whole structure within a space but the glass “outside” area will only be on the back half of the building. Similar to the image I found below the Museum of Islamic Arts Atrium. The front will look like my drawing/sketch of the house I grew up in, see below.
Museum of Islamic Arts Atrium photo from courtesy of https://everybodyhatesatourist.net/layover-kuala-lumpur-jalan-alor-islamic-arts-museum-malaysia/
Drawn version of the house I grew up in from Affinity Designer
The actual front of the building isn’t important really to me but I was thinking it could be brick and maybe a three-story structure.
Progress and process:
These are screenshots from Maya of me working on my ideal exhibition space. I want to create the building or structure first then fill it with my work. Maya is currently causing me issues if I click on anything to deal with the shaders, it basically shuts down the whole program. So I have decided to try to create the building in Maya like the images above then move it over to Blender to color and apply textures. Of course, I haven’t really used Blender before so I have been watching videos to figure out the things I want to do for the surfaces.
Working on my structure in Maya 1 of 2
Working on my structure in Maya 2 of 2
Working on my structure in Blender 1 of 2
Working on my structure in Blender 2 of 2
Reflection:
I am feeling better about using Blender but it is frustrating trying to locate all the right menus. After my one on one, I have searched to find Blender Shortcuts/Hotkeys for 2.8 on Mac. I think this will help me a lot not be so frustrated while creating.
Week 3 / 2
Research and inspirations:
This last week I watched a lot of videos along with checking out sites for Blender textures and models. I went down a little bit of a rabbit hole looking and searching through these sites and videos. I wanted to see what all was out there and I had never really used any of these options in Maya. I went to https://texturehaven.com/ and https://blendermarket.com/ as suggestions from Professor Chris Coleman. I looked at grasses and wall textures that I can’t wait to try out. I also went to https://hdrihaven.com/hdris/ to find background scenes.
Screen shots from https://texturehaven.com/
Screen shots from https://texturehaven.com/
Screen shots from https://texturehaven.com/
Screen shots from https://hdrihaven.com/hdris/
Progress and process:
I have gone into Blender and placed and environment texture. I will probably try different ones to see how they each look.
Screen shot of HDR’s I have selected to test out
I downloaded a few to try out not sure but will see how they will all work. Next, I will work on blocking out the inside space and then go from there.
Reflection:
I can say learning Blender has been a challenge since I have been so used to Maya. I am happy I am learning it though it is just all the short cuts I am still getting used to and how the screen sets up the menus.
Week 4 / 3
Research and inspiration:
Since I want the front of my exhibit when you walk into the doors of the space to resemble the house I grew up in I needed to look up and watch videos on how to complete this in Blender 2.8. I watched two videos on Youtube that I feel helped the most and both of them were from the same You-tuber: Thilakanathan Studios, link included.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIkpG3AWgGo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnFb_4xVGW8
Progress and process:
I got somewhat frustrated when trying to create the house within Blender so I decided to go to Maya and see what I can create there and then bring into Blender to work on further.
Images from Maya
After working in Maya for a little while I decided to move back over to Blender for another try. It took me a few tries because the first video was really fast and the second video was for a different version of Blender.
Image from Blender first try
I was able to do it finally but it came out a little wonky.
Image from Blender second try
I tried again and was pretty happy with it but wanted to have a cut-through on the sides of the protruding porch.
Image from Blender (issue I was having)
So I pulled that area out and was wanting to “Subdivide” the two side faces but it wouldn’t work like it did when I complete the front and back sections.
Images from Blender
Reflection:
I need to look for more videos for Blender 2.8, there are a lot of them. It takes so much time to find the right video and watch then try it yourself. Also, I need to figure out why it will not allow me to “Subdivide” again, it is as if I have to do ALL Subdividing at one time but that makes no sense. I also started to have a weird issue in Blender. Items were not showing on my list on the side.
Image is menu in Blender (issue I was experiencing)
The cube in the right image is not listed in the menu on the left. I wanted to delete it but I can’t even select it.
End of Week 5, we have critique today to see what we had so far for our project 1. I got a lot of good advise about how to possibly setup my space depending on if I want it to look more realistic or more surreal. I need to work on my explanations as to why I have selected items and placement.
Image from Blender for Critique
Image from Blender for Critique
Week 5 / 4
Research and inspiration:
After my feedback for the second half of the quarter I wanted to get the house structure looking more like a house, with thicker walls and the windows and doors cut out. I decided to try extruding everything like Jeremy had suggested.
Progress and process:
I got the windows and door cut out and thickened the walls within the house structure, I did this in Maya.
images from Maya
images from Maya
images from Maya
Reflection:
I wanted to get more done this week but struggled a bit with motivation. I did make progress but wanted to figure it out in Blender but I got really frustrated and went back to Maya. I will try again in a little while.
Week 6 / 5
Research and inspiration:
I watched a few tutorials, one showed me how to add Addons to use that can be helpful. I added LoopTools and TinyCad and can’t wait to play with them.
Progress and process:
In Maya, I cut out all my windows and the door but when I tried to import the OBJ it started to do some weird things to the mesh when it was brought into Blender. Basically I couldn’t get all the pieces to Boolean Union, only some would connect together. I saved as an OBJ before and after. I tried to bring into Blender again but it is now doing different things.
Images from Maya
Images from Maya
Images from Maya
Images from Maya
I was able to learn how to select and extrude correctly in Blender. So I deleted the sides of the outer building and extruded them instead.
Images from Blender
Reflection:
I guess all I can do is start over with the house structure again. I will try to make it all one object so I don’t have to Boolean it and have issues. I really wanted to get further but it is so tedious.
Week 7 / 6
Research and inspiration:
I looked into the issues with Maya that I was having and couldn’t really find anything specific. I am not completely sure what is causing my problems. I also researched textures and materials for my surfaces. I found a website that talks about adding Addons for materials. So I am going to see about adding it to Blender like I did the other Addons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xFUNFG-UKE&t=20s
Progress and process:
I started my new house front for the space which I am happy with both it was done in Maya.
Image from Maya of House Front
Reflection:
I really wanted to get further along on progress this week but it has just taken me a while. Trying to work on everything that is going to be due for my classes this quarter and for my MFA requirements have stressed me out a bit which I feel like what I am creating just isn’t good enough. I am not a fan of being stuck in the house but I keep telling myself I will get through it.
Week 8 / 7
Research and inspiration:
I have been trying to work on surfaces after finishing my house that I had to redo. I have added the BlenderKit for materials and I tried to add one by following the instructions but I seem to be having a few issues with it because when I go to render it is not showing correctly. I think I am rendering wrong and need to watch some rendering videos to see what to do.
Progress and process:
At least I was able to finish my house redo but I am wanting to complete more. It is just taking me so long. I redid the house in Maya. The main portion of the house is made all from one cube and the front porch I copied from the previous house and is Booleaned together. When I try to Boolean the porch to the house it won’t work so I am just going to bring it into Blender the way it is and see if I still have issues like previously.
Image from Maya of new house front
Image in Maya of inside new house front
Image in Maya of new house front
I brought it into Blender but ran into a different issue. So now I will need to repair it.
Image in Blender of new issue I am having
Reflection:
I like learning new programs but I am a little stressed right now with everything going on and having these odd issues pop up.
Week 9 / 8
Research and inspiration:
I watched a video on Blender and it showed me a few more hotkeys and how to navigate a little better and also Chris assisted me how to clean up the issues I had previously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqYTgaFDxU
Progress and process:
I fixed my issues as best as I could then tried to add all the sides and interior space back. Once I complete that I will start to add my works to the space.
Image in Blender
Image in Blender
Reflection:
I think I have said this before but I wish I had more time to work on this space. I just really feel I am not in the right headspace right now. I am going to try to complete as much as I can before our final class.
Week 10 / 9
Research and inspiration:
As I worked on finishing my ideal gallery space for my show I needed to figure out combining together objects using the Boolean feature. It took me a bit to figure out how to complete it in Blender, so I decided to watch some videos on how to do it. I found a good one at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCJxQyZRT3I and was able to locate it and get it done.
While filling in space I somehow lost my camera and couldn’t figure out how to get it back. I went to watch videos again to see if I could get it back or add a new one, this video https://www.blendernation.com/2019/09/02/add-camera-to-view-addons-tutorial/ helped me add one but I couldn’t figure out how to use it and it got very frustrating.
Progress and process:
Image from Blender
I created steps that run up the front of the building and tried to smooth out the sides for wheelchair accessibility.
Image from Blender
View from the front through the entrance.
Image from Blender
Placed windows in the front entrance of the space.
Image from Blender
Started adding in my mechanical flowers in the garden space.
Image from Blender
Completed all the flowers in the space.
Image from Blender
Overall view of the space from the front. All the colors are to be able to see the objects so they don’t blend together.
Reflection:
Moving through this process of making space was very challenging, learning new software added to that. I liked learning Blender but got frustrated at times. I just need to watch more videos and work more within it. It is really getting all the hotkeys or shortcuts which makes it a lot easier. I just wish I could have completed more. I colored several things so they were visible but they are not the right colors and losing my camera really caused me issues.
