Project 1 : Modeling

Date Assigned: Monday, March 31
Date Due: Monday, April 7

Reading: Chapters 2 and 3 (Kerlow)

This first assignment introduces you to the process of creating a model using Power Animator. For this assignment, and for the four that follow, you will be working in groups of two or three. Groups will be assigned during the first class and will change after every project.

The first help session in Alias | Wavefront will give you enough of an introduction to get started on this assignment. To start earlier on your own, do the tutorials in the Learning Alias book, lessons 2 and 3. There are copies of the book in the lab. They should stay in the lab at all times.

What to do

For this assignment you and your group will design and model two or three related objects that might be found together in a setting (e.g., two chairs and a table, fruits in a bowl, a flower and some autumn leaves, and so on). Each member of the group will be responsible for one of the models through all phases of design.

Make a paper design first before diving into the actual modeling. Your paper design can be either hand-sketched or copied from a book or photograph. Bring the design to class on Wednesday or Friday. Some sample physical models may be handy too.

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 assymetry are good).
One-sided surfaces (with outward-facing normals) render much faster.
The group's related models should be built to the same scale.

Turn in

Once each team member has built one or more models, your group will assemble them all together in a single scene. The models and scene need not be shaded or rendered. Just use quick-render to view them. Retrieving models without overriding all aspects of the current scene is covered in Lesson 1 of Learning Alias (p33).

Projects will be critiqued in class on Monday. Before the critique, hand in your models and scene as follows:

Make a directory in /home/cse458/critique/modeling with an informative name (i.e. autumn_scene).
In the new directory, put the following:
1. A README file containing group member names and a short explanation of who did what.
2. A model and model icon for each individual model (i.e. leaf and leaf.ICON).
3. The scene and scene icon (i.e. autumn and autumn.ICON).
Make sure that the directory and files are world readable.