Mechanical Marvel Steampunk vehicle project.

This project will be about the development and creation of a steam punk themed 3d air vehicle.

What is steam punk? Steam punk is a sub genre of science-fiction themed and usually associated with Victorian themed steam punk but their are different types such as old Western steam punk and alternate universe. steam punk can also substitute modern technology with steam variations for example here is an example of a clock

and frame of mind when thinking about creating something steam punk is science fiction from the point of view of an Edwardian individual what they with the current technology they have their imagination on what future objects and technology would look and act like typically steam powered because that was the current technological innovation at the time.

for this project i should look into the origins of air aviation and the different forms of air flight during the Edwardian era such as airships airplanes.

i will research into the first types of air aviation and create initial idea that i can generate from these forms looking at key characteristics

During the Edwardian era many inventors have tried to create a working flying machine but it wasn't until the wright brothers who were inventors and air pioneers  in 1903 after many attempts with glider s  did they create the first heavier than air human flying machine it was called the wright flyer 1

It is important to look at these kind of airplanes because they are around the same time period that steam punk is centered around and look at how this worked compered to other planes



planes are one of the first engine propelled aircraft in order to create realistic steam punk version of a plane it would need to be powered by steam I should research this idea of steam powered engines that are light enough to be carried by a light aircraft.



Hot air balloons and air ships.
Hot air balloons is the oldest and most successful flying machine in history it involves having heated air enveloped in a balloon to make a aircraft lighter. this can be substituted with gasses that are lighter than air like helium and hydrogen making like Zeppelins and blimps are powered


                                                                                              Hot air one of the very first flying aircraft a hot air balloons uses hot air to lift it self into the air later then they created the zeppelin and the blimp they used lighter than air gasses what were more effective lifting heavier objects into the air.

zeppelins were primarily used during war time specifically ww1 which is why i don't think it is a good idea because i don't think it would be a unsuitable  model to create because of the simplistic design i also don't think it would make a very good steam punk design because of the time period they were primarily used

Zeppelins.









initial designs and concepts with annotation
key parts of air planes should be researches such as propellers or balloon shapes.for airship because these are the small detail that i think is needed to create a realistic aircraft.

I am now going into Maya to have a look at various shapes and scales on a 3d plane to see if any or my concept have the right angles and shapes that i wouldn't see on 2d drawings

currently i am now in Maya constructing my airship so far i have used the same method of doing only half of the main body and then creating a instance duplicate which mirrors to create a symmetrical ship this enables me to do as much work in half the time this is what I have so far

i have done the main ship body the side propellers the masts and the top railing i still need to make the sails and the rigging also the main railing in the centre i am confident i will be able to finish this ship in time for the texturing and animating.

i have made the balloon  with the metal outer part with the two side wings with steam pipes and propellers i created this in a separate maya file and imported to my main maya file i still need to make the straps (rigging to tether the balloon to the ship)

i have completed my ship and have also added details like lanterns and leavers as well as a flag i have completed the mesh within my goal of under 15.000 polygons my next goal is to texture the model and then animate.
here is my untextured and un animated model.

I am now going through the process of creating a uv map of the different pieces of my model this is the process where i take a 3d model and unwrap it into a 2d shape, this is needed to achieve the best possible outcome when i apply my texture so far the process of uv mapping is easily and is simple to u understand and learn however i have been having difficulty with the checkered pattern that get overlayed on the uv map not properly showing on  the 3d model because of this i have been delayed however I am confident i will finish on time.

I have finished the process of uv mapping here is why work looks so far.

I am now ready to begin texturing the model. texturing this model has been challenging and i have found difficulty to understand but i have finished texturing my model the texture follows a rule i have made so no texture looks out of place i wanted my steam punk airship to have a degraded look towards it rusty metal clunky animations for the propellers to give it a work appearance.

here are my results 

i am now working on the animation which is going to be approximately 10-15 seconds long and involves 5 scenes the first scene takes place behind the air ship an a 45 degree angle to give a side angle of the airship and the ship goes along the motion path (a motion path is a line called a curve that objects can be attache to so it can be animated) the second scene is a tracking shot where the camera tracks the airship the third scene is  a Aerial view of the airship the fourth is a position from the point of view of the pilot and the final scene is in from of the ship going towards the camera ans the animation ends before it reaches the camera 

evaluation overall developing creation texturing and animating this model had been very challenging some aspects such as the texturing proved difficult at times but from this project i have leaned a great deal more about designing a 3d mesh in such a way that it has the least amount of geometry and yet still has detail because of texture creating the illusion of geometry that isn't their.

the modelling of the airship didn't seen that difficult because of previous experience with other projects 

the uv mapping and texturing was a difficult process because of getting the seamless realistic look is difficult.

the animations of the airship along the motion path and the key frames of the propellers and the cogs was a easy concept to understands and was one of the easier parts of the project.

the process of going into after effect i found easy because looking back on my initial research of paper and pencil animation/flip book animation it uses a similar process of inning up a sequence of pictures or frames to create an illusion of movement.

overall the project has been a successful experience of the process of researching developing creating animation an producing a game asset that can go into a fully working game. it has also given me insight about how game developers can create models with little amount of geometry and still make it look as realistic as possible because of texture being able to create the illusion of geometry without it actually being there.

Steampunk character creation.

Definition of steam punk: A genre of science fiction that typically features steam powered machinery rather than advanced technology 

Where did it come from 
Although many works now considered contribution to the genre were published in the late 1960 and 1970, the term steam punk originated in the late 1980s as a variation of the genre cyberpunk   
steam punk is science fiction from an Edwardian or Victorian  point of view what a Victorian person with the current technology would generate as futuristic technological  development.
an example of steam punk literature is h.g wells the time machine .

Different variations of steam punk

American western a variation of Victorian styled steam punk mixed with the theme of the American wild west.

Victorian a style of steam punk set i the 1800 industrial revolution Victorian Britain this is typically the most well known type of steam punk 

Fantasy and horror usually set like a Sherlock Holmes jack the ripper type horror. also can introduce supernatural elements. stream punk is a very diverse science fiction genre because it can cover a huge range of aspect much like science fiction it self i should research these aspects to find type of steam punk that that not as comely know such as apocalyptic steam punk or alternate steam punk 

Some examples of steam punk designs for characters  





an example of an Victorian styled outfit combined with steampunk elements from the prosthetic arm
i am looking at this example because it shows interesting composition of the angle the photo was taken an the use of warm colour between the metal of the arm and the blues of the clothing.





Another example of steampunk is metal in this specific case  armour I think that this is not suitable reference point for a steampunk design because the face is obscured that overall the idea of taking a item of clothing that already exists and giving it a steampunk theme.

most of the metal used in the steampunk genre are brass,copper and iron these elements can be incorporated into the concept piece in the form of attire such as the metal on a artificial limb or a piece of augmentation like scouters.
It is therefore important to have practise with the tone and texture of metal if we are going to place it into our final concept. 

An example of a aviation styled steampunk which is more relevant to look at because of the context of the project that we have to create a steampunk concept character that is a pilot for a steampunk airship. this picture also tells me about steampunk it tells me that steampunk do not always have to be prosthetic limbs and scouters in order to be a successful representation of steampunk.


I have begun practising the different proportions and human shapes to find one suitable for my character a average proportion of a human being is 8 heads that's 8 times the size of an human head i the average size of an adult here are some of my early work i am currently working on.

This are pictures of me practising and developing my skill in body shaping trying different poses and stances as well as facial expressions thee are key skills when creating my concept.

also i am trying different genders and ages to see where there are variations.

I think that i can improve on the various proportions of the human form such as the hips and legs i should work on these so i can improve.

This is a picture is from  my scrapbooks showing me trying humans with limbs that are missing and replaces with steam punk styled limps such as stream powered arms.

Here is a mind map i have created taken different types of leather to see which one would best git any leather parts of m character. 

I am now creating different styles of clothing seeing what people wore at the time of the Victorian and Edwardian periods comparing materials and colour and textures after researching i should start taking colour pallets from these clothes when I begin replicating and practising then. 

Here are some examples of pallets of colours i have researched by taking mid range colours from different cloth pieces that are period accurate to steam-punk 

the top left picture also show me taking those colour palettes and applying them to various forms to create 3d effects i am very satisfied from this aspect of my research.

Here is an example from my work of a mood board i have created taking different shades of colour to see different modes that created emotion.

different shades of colour can invoke different kinds of emotion such as red dark colour can have a warming felling while a light yellow can give of a more uplifting aura.

I have now begun creating some concepts for my character I have taken key aspects from the human form and applied then to various faces and body here are some examples taken from my scrapbook  

Here are various shapes and sizes and heads as well as poses these two pictures are what i want my character to look like young male with long hair the outfit will also be similar a waist coat blue or grey coloured with rolled up sleeves I should take different types of blue and grey to find the best shade and contrast or my character.

Here are some pictures of applying colour to part of a body to replicate the colour of human skin the colour was taken from a skin colour pallet. 

coming close to producing my final concept i am creating thumbnails these are small renditions of my concept to check composition which what angle the character is shot at the height of the camera the position of the eyes and face the angles of the limbs here are some example that i have created.

Composition is a key point to considering when creating our final concept piece where everything is positioned why at what angle is the head and where the eyes are looking all of these point are relevant to this project we also need to combine different elements such as shape colour depth texture  in order to ford a successful concept piece. 

I have decided for a upper body shot that contains the head torso and arms and angle is a bit off to the right.i have decided on this composition because of example of Victorian portraits from  that time period that shows something i want to create.

i am now ready to create my final concept on Photoshop.

here are my results.

 

my evaluation of my final concept is that I planned out my model with enough detail that was needed the clothing was planning and colours taken from my pallets to give it as much realism as possible I have blended the colour of the skin to create definition then the shadows are on the face arms and clothing well I have also used colour theory with the opposing colours of the skin colour and the blue clothes with a combination of the warm colours of the fire in the furnace and I am satisfied with the correct proportions of the arms shoulders neck and head however I think that with practise I can make ever more realistic concept pieces I am also used composition rules such as having a light source so it creates a more realistic look and using simple yet effective background pieces to draw the eye of the onlooker with the red of the shirt down the body then towards the light colours of the fire in the furnace back towards the head ending up at the table I also am insure about the position of the eyes I think they are too high on the face they should be in the middle of the face rather on the upper half it am pleased with the outcome of my final concept work. I have also composed the object in the room in the shape of a triangle to get the onlooker to take in the various aspects of the concept piece such as the warm colour of the fire the cool colour of the book on the table.

In terms of is this a concept piece that is steampunk I think I have successfully portrayed the genre I have included attire relevant to the time frame of steampunk I have included common features of steampunk such as welders goggles and   pieces of popular items common to the victorian or edwardian time for example facial hair.

Animation research.

Definition of Animation The technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the film is shown as a sequence.
Animations have been used throughout history dating back to prehistoric times cave painting depicting horses in a state of moving over the years through refinement and innovative technology like the magic lantern wich is a early form of projector that concentrates light through a glass slide. A phenakistoscope which uses a spinning disk and projected light combined with images moving  in rapid succession to depicted movement. And the flip book which concept works the same way only it is a notebook flipped rapidly with alternating images to produce movement.

Paper much like the same concept as the flip book this was the first method of animation to be used by walt Disney and the first animation to have synchronized sound implemented into a animation. Steamboat Willie this is important to see because giving sound to an animation gives more interest and should be explored when we are designing our own animation.

stop motion is a method of animation which takes figures made out of mold able material like clay and moving them frame by frame taking pictures along the way and are eventually put togetjer to produce moving figures. The first recorded movie/film that uses stop motion is the humpy dumpy circus in the 1890s this type of animating is also interesting because like our models stop motion animation also used 3d models so it is interesting to see a physical counterpart. 

CGI a more modern method of animation creating animations completely generated by a computer originally first used by the company. Pixar to create toy story 1995 this is an important part of my research becasse this is sort of how we are doing to to our animation but in a much simpler form.






The first animated film the first animated film was a short animation created using pictures taken on a black board called Fantasmagorie by Emile Cohl  researching this is important becaseu this is where the concept of using frames (picture with changes to give the impression of movement) was developed on from simple 1-2 frame cave paintings 

Modern day animation movies are big budged especially the large companies like pixar and Disney 

Brief history of the company Walt Disney source the Blog the Walt Disney company   The Walt Disney Company, usually referred to as "Disney", was founded by Walt and Roy Disney on October 16, 1923. At that time it was known as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was later reincorporated into Walt Disney Studio. The company has estimated a net worth of about 36 billion dollars. In 1928 the first Mickey Mouse cartoons were released to the public audience. For the next few years to come Disney began producing and releasing many different cartoon characters such as Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. It wasn't until 1937 when the unimaginable happened and Disney featured the first animated film to ever be produced, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

     By now Walt Disney Productions had already began selling dolls, books, figurines and tooth brushes. In 1952 Walt Disney announced plans for a theme park. In order to provide funding for the park Walt Disney decided to make Disney a publicly traded company in 1957. The current ticker symbol for Disney is "DIS".  It wasn't until 1967 that actual construction began on the theme park. Disney is now one of the largest media conglomerates in the world with ownership to various resorts, theme parks, radio stations, cable television networks, and even their own cruise line. To this day The Walt Disney Company continues to do exciting new films and television series. 


the current animations type we will be using will be compute generated animations using out steam punk air vessel design it can be shot from different angles in a verity of different ways it will mostly be comprise with motion paths and particle effect such as fire and more importantly steam. 

researching different types of animation is important because it introduces early on an understanding of frames for example stop motion animation and paper and pencil animation used pictures called frames taken and minute changes happening whith each one to giver the impression of movement this is similar to what we will be doing with keyframes and motion paths