Past 3D work

I have already done some 3D work in the past, the image bellow shows a locomotive.

This locomotive has been build in 3Ds max, this is the program I am going to use to build the spitfire and animate it. I already know a lot about this program so the spitfire should be a success. Past experience is very useful because it means I already know the techniques about the program and how to do things, so it means I don't have to learn the whole program which would take up a lot of time, time I need to build and animate the plane.

Photo Textures

While I was at the Museum I took some photos of some materials, these should come in useful for when I start texturing the plane. I also uploaded these to http://www.flickr.com/ .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelwhiteley/sets/72157624281436840/

I did some comparing with real texture and creating a texture in 3Ds max.

Lets take a look at the picture with the copper dome from a steam engine.

I then made a similar shape in 3Ds max. I the used the Arch and Design material and used the copper settings.

I then applied the material to the object and rendered the the object to see what it will look like.

It may not look exactly the same but it's similar. Some of the reason for this is because, of the camera angle, the age of the metal and the surrounding objects it reflects from. Though it's near enough, the colour is correct the lighting and reflection is correct so all in all, it's a good replica.

Museum in Manchester

Visit to the Science and Industry museum in Manchester.

I travelled to the museum.

I have made a flickr page and uploaded all thye photographs I took of the spitfire.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelwhiteley/sets/72157624049195212

In search of a Spirtfire

I need to get some more research of the Spitfire as there are some things wrong with mine that need correcting and sorting out. There are many mistakes on my model and bit that's need finishing off and my Internet based research does not help me. I need to go out some where and take many photographs of it.

I have found out that there is a small aeroplane exhibition called the Science and Industry museum in Manchester. http://www.mosi.org.uk/

Even though I'm creating TD248 and this one at the museum is not this particular one, it does have many things in common with each other.

Blue Print Research

I have been doing some research into to Spirtfires on public forums. The users on these forums have commented have have given me some interesting sources for airfighters from that era.

http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw_1w.html
http://www.airpages.ru/eng/index.html
http://www.luftarchiv.de (German Only)
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=...+drawing&rys=0
http://www.penio.narod.ru

These site also show different versions of the Spirtfire. Mk.I, Mk.V, Mk.IX, Mk.XIV Fighters. I will be re-creating the Mr.XIV.

Book research

It's always good to get some history of your model before you start anything, it just gives you a background of the model your doing and may give you some vital information.

These first two pages just gives you a quick history about the Spitfire. Talking about how France has fallen into German hands, how the Battle of Britain and how the Spitfire gained a place in world history.


This second page goes into some more detail of the Spitfire. It talks more about the style the different versions, speed and engine specifications. The book also shows a whole range of different images from different times and versions.It shows and tells me that each upgrade of the Spitfire has particular improvements and modifications.

These two top images are pages taken from the book 'Fighter aircraft of world wars 1 & 2' by Francis Crosby.


As you can clearly see this next page has a plane on it but it's not a spitfire, this is a concept plane made in the 40s. However it has a few similarity's, the camouflage uses the same colours and uses very much the same pattern. This plane also has the yellow, blue, white and red circles on it, also the red, white and blue flag on the tail. Other then these designs this plane is very different, though it's helped me to get an idea of the camouflage and design patterns.

This next image just gives me another perspective of the plane and more concept art.

These next two images are been take from the book 'Concept aircraft - The aviation fact file'.

Supermarine Spitfire Start

Supermarine Spitfire known short as the 'Spitfire' is a British fighter plane used by the British Royal Air Force and other Allied countries during WWII. The Spitfire was mass produced in great numbers more then any other fighter plan it was mainly used for front line air combat.

For this Part 2 Project I am going to create the legendary Spitfire as a 3D digital model with a small 3D animation of it in flight. To do this I will need to do some research on the air craft get Blue Prints/Line drawings and some videos of it's movement in flight.

The spitfire I will be focusing on is the TD248. I will be focusing on one paricular plain so I wont be creating something fictitions.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/spitregistry/spitfire-td248.html
http://www.deroeck.co.uk/planes/Spitfire-Mk-XVI-CRS.html

New action plan

Week beginning		Main Milestones - Assignment tasks
1	20 April	Complete Project Proposal.
2	23 April	Gather primary research for my 3D models. Getting first and secondary research.
3	28 April	Visit to Museum, getting photos of the locomotive.
4	30 April	Complete research and start 3D creations.
5	7 May	Continue with 3D work and present work and gather feedback.
6	17 May	Experiment in a sketchbook with different materials for model textures.
7	24 May	Start exporting the locomotive into the Rail simulator game.
8	31 May	Complete all work as much as possible.
9	7 June	Get feedback and make improvements on work.
10	14 June	Final deadline for project ­– start to put show up
11	21 June	Review week and final marks received.

New Project Proposal

Project proposal

This project is going to be about 3D modeling and animating. Creating a 3D object using digital 3D and 2D software and then to create a small animation to go along side it. The model will be an airplane from the Battle of Britain, a Spitfire.
My proposed end point is to create, finish and animate the model into a little movie clip and then for it to be uploaded to Youtube.com. I will work towards creating the model. This will consist of researching into what I want to create, creating the model, texturing, making sure the model is correct and then to create short animation scenes for the Film ‘First of the few’. I will be removing the old footage of spitfires and replacing them with my own animation footage. This is related to my previous work, as it’s graphic related and computer based. I will learn more complex shapes different tools and operations and also gain knowledge of the software. I will learn the importance of timescales and deadlines and to produce high quality work.

I am going to research into real spitfires, to have a look at motion blur, the way they move in flight. Also models created by other people in the industry. Looking into how they made the models and what program they used, looking at the detail of the models. Looking into the opportunities and constraints in my work place, render limitations and creating a film functionalities. I can gather this information from books, videos and the Internet.

I am going to use a wide range of different mixed media, I’m going to use a sketch book with my own rendering of surfaces such as metals and glass using different styles of printing.
The main 3D application I will use is called 3Ds max. This program is widely used in the industry, and used for games and films. This program will be only used for 3D modeling and rendering. For the texturing I will have to use 2D art programs. Photoshop will be widely used for texturing, also Illustrator, though Illustrator will be used to create my own details, unlike Photoshop which will be used more for editing. To put the animation with the film I will use Adobe After Effects, this program gives me great control over editing, adding sound and to make my final movie clip perfection. Photography will be used for accuracy so the shape will be spot on also for added texture detail and realism.

For this project I will get comments from the public from Youtube, where people can post their opinions, constructive criticism and general comments, however this all depends on the people watching, they may not want to comment. Their comments can range from good to bad and can be anything about the model or animation, from styles to the quality of it. At the end of the project I will write an evaluation about how the project went, what I can do with it in the future, what I can improve on and the general good and bad points with an overall summery.

New Project!

I have decided to re-plan my whole project because creating the locomotive, to export into the game and to sell it would take too long. I'm going to have to re-think my idea. I am going to create a new Project Proposal for my new project which I will post up soon!

Action Plan OLD

Week beginning		Main Milestones - Assignment tasks
1	16 April	Complete Project Proposal.
2	19 April	Gather primary research for my 3D models. Getting first and secondary research.
3	23 April	Visit to Museum, getting photos of the locomotive.
4	26 April	Complete research and start 3D creations.
5	28 April	Continue with 3D work and present work and gather feedback.
6	17 May	Experiment in a sketchbook with different materials for model textures.
7	24 May	Start exporting the locomotive into the Rail simulator game.
8	31 May	Complete all work as much as possible.
9	7 June	Get feedback and make improvements on work.
10	14 June	Final deadline for project ­– start to put show up
11	21 June	Review week and final marks received.

Project Proposal OLD

Project proposal

This project is going to be about 3D modeling. Creating a 3D object using digital 3D and 2D software. The 3D model will a train designed to be imported into a existing game called ‘Rail Simulator’.

My proposed end point is to create, finish and export the model into a game and then sell the model on my own website. I will work towards creating the model. This will consist of researching into what I want to create, creating the model, texturing, making sure the model is correct and then export into a game. This is related to my previous work, as it’s graphic related and computer based. I will learn more complex shapes different tools and operations and also gain knowledge of the software. I will learn the importance of timescales and deadlines and to produce high quality work.

I am going to research into other 3D programs and compare 3dsmax with google scechup. Also models created by other people in the industry. Looking into how they made the models and what program they used, looking at the detail of the models. I need to research into exporting/importing into the game. Looking into the opportunities and constraints in my work place, game limitations and game functionalities. I can gather this information from books, videos and the Internet. A lot of digital 3D applications cannot be found at museums however you do find real life 3D sculpture. However I will also research into other games related and unrelated to compare styles, details and animation.

I am going to use a wide range of different mixed media, I’m going to use a small scetch book with my own rendering of serfaces such as metals and glass using different differerenty stles of printing.

The main 3D application I will use is called 3Dsmax. This program is widely used in the industry, and used for games and films. This program will be only used for the 3D modeling side. For the texturing I will have to use 2D art programs. Photoshop will be widely used for texturing, also Illustrator, though Illustrator will be used to create my own details, unlike Photoshop which will be used more for editing, Photography will be used for accuracy so the shape will be spot on also for added texture detail and realism. The simulator has built in programs and extras built into it for easy exporting/importing and getting it to work in game.

For this project I will get comments from the public from forums, where people can post their opinions, constructive criticism and general comments. Their comments can range from good to bad and can be anything about the model, from styles to the quality of it. At the end of the project I will write an evaluation about how the project went, what I can do with it in the future, what I can improve on and the general good and bad points with an overall summery.