Project 1 : Modeling

Date Assigned:
Due Date:
Tuesday, April 20:

Critique (in lab)

Reading: Chapters 2 and 3 (Kerlow)

This first assignment introduces you to the process of creating a model using Power Animator. This assignment has two parts. The first part is four lessons from the Alias tutorial books. For the second part of the assignment you will work in a group of two or three. Groups will be assigned during the first class and will change after every project. The work you do individually or as a group will vary for each assignment. For this assignment, the purpose of the group will be to develop a theme around which you will each build models. Each group member will work alone, handing in thier own model.

Part 1 - Alias Tutorials

What to do

You will be doing four tutorials from the Learning Alias books in the lab. Unfortunatley, some of the tutorial books are for earlier versions of Alias. This means that the tutorial titled Organizing Your Work is not in all of the books. Xeroxed copies of this tutorial will be in the lab. Below are the four required tutorials and where they appear depending on which book you have.

Required Lesson Learning Alias V8 Learning Alias V7.5 Learning Alias (no version)

The Alias Interface Lesson 1 pgs.15-42 Lesson 1 pgs.17-44 Lesson 1 pgs.17-44

Organizing your work Lesson 2 pgs. 43-55 Use Hand Out Use Hand Out

Modeling with Primitives Lesson 3 pgs.69-85 Lesson 2 pgs.57-72 Lesson 2 pgs.57-72

Curves and Surfaces Lesson 4 pgs.87-132 Lesson 3 pgs.73-116 Lesson 3 pgs.73-116

You will only be handing in the lessons Modeling with Primitives and Curves and Surfaces. It is critical that you do all the assigned tutorials (not just the ones you turn-in) since there is vital information you won't want to miss. Don't wait until the last minute to start the tutorials (some of them are long).

Turn-in

When you save your model from Alias, a wire file and an icon (.ICON) file are created. You will only turn in your wire file (the wire file has no special file extension...it appears just as you typed it).

The Modeling with Primitives Lesson:
1. Save your model as username-primitive (e.g. cassidy-primitive).
2. Copy to /home/cse458/critique/modeling/primitive/
  (e.g. cp cassidy-primitive /home/cse458/critique/modeling/primitive/)
The Curves and Surfaces Lesson:
1. Save your model as username-surface
2. Copy to /home/cse458/critique/modeling/surface/

Part 2 - Modeling

What to Do

For this part of the assignment you and your group will find three related objects that might be found together in a setting (e.g., fruits in a bowl, a flower and some autumn leaves, lawn ornaments, and so on). Meet with your group as soon as possible to brainstorm ideas for this project. Make a list of related objects and choose a grouping that seems fun and challenging. Try to imagine a group of objects that tell a story when placed together. Each member of the group will be responsible for one of the models through all phases of modeling.

Bring your object to class on Tuesday, April 6 and prepare to present it with your group. If you like, sketch your object to get a better feel for how you will model it.

What we're looking for

The important thing to remember when working on your model is that we will be much more concerned with quality than complexity. Here are some tips to remember when designing your model:

Too much detail is as bad as too little -- remember that more detail can be added later with texture mapping.
Try not to use too much geometry (or too many CV's).
The model should have no cracks or seams.
The model should not be too regular (noise and asymmetry are good).
One-sided surfaces (with outward-facing normals) render much faster.
The group's related models should be built to the same scale.

Technical Requirements

Your SBD window should be uncluttered and easy to read:

Delete any extra cameras and lights
Delete any unnecessary geometry such as construction curves or histories.
Group the entire object under a single node.
Name your object something sensible, and also name any major components. (For example, the front wheel of a bike should be called "frontwheel", not "torus#31".). Under the Alias menu, see Window->objectInfo to name a selected object.
Keep an eye on the size of your wire file, and how long it takes to refresh the screen when you move the object or camera around. A very complex object may be slow to update, but a very simple one shouldn't.

Turn in

Projects will be critiqued in the lab on Thursday, April 15. Before the critique, hand in your model as follows:

Someone in your group will need to create a directory in /home/cse458/critique/modeling with an informative name (i.e. autumn_scene). Be sure that each group member knows the name of the group directory.
In the new directory, put the following:
1. A README file containing group member names, a short explanation of who did what model, and any other comments that seem relavent. This needs to be written together as a group.
2. A wire for your individual model (name it something like: username-objectname).
Make sure that the directory and files are world readable.

Tips

Be sure to start early so you can bring your questions and problems to the help sessions.

Name your components as soon as you create them. It'll be much easier than changing them all later. Name your objects something simple. The idea is that the names should be easy to type. When you have a complex model and need to pick one little part, it is MUCH easier to pick it by name than with the mouse

Take the time to learn keyboard shortcuts (especially for transforming the camera), the marking menus, and how to customize your toolshelf.

Required Lesson	Learning Alias V8	Learning Alias V7.5	Learning Alias (no version)
*The Alias Interface*	*Lesson 1* pgs.15-42	*Lesson 1* pgs.17-44	*Lesson 1* pgs.17-44
*Organizing your work*	*Lesson 2* pgs. 43-55	*Use Hand Out*	*Use Hand Out*
*Modeling with Primitives*	*Lesson 3* pgs.69-85	*Lesson 2* pgs.57-72	*Lesson 2* pgs.57-72
*Curves and Surfaces*	*Lesson 4* pgs.87-132	*Lesson 3* pgs.73-116	*Lesson 3* pgs.73-116