Adding a material to the windmill...

Now the model is complete I began to add a material to it by using the material ID's. This allows me to assign different materials to one object by selecting polygons. In the material editor I chose sub/divided object. I began to assign different materials. Here is it materialised...

Thaxted windmill...

I began by starting to model the windmill that is located in Thaxted. It's of brick construction with wooden panels. I took this into consideration when modeling. Here is a step by step guide of how I created it...

I started with a cylinder and selected the top poly. I could then use the scale tool to make this poly smaller, creating a cone shape. This gives me the base of the windmill.


To create the indents, I connected the top edge with the bottom edge which creates a new poly in the middle. This can then be extruded inwards to give the effect of indents in the brick work.


I copied this around the edge of the cylinder and played around with the shape some more.


I added turrets and a domed roof, using editable poly cylinders and a sphere which i put into place and then attached to make it one.


Now i had the rough shape of the body. I could begin to model the 'fan blades' i started with a flat box and long thin box, I then attached them together and deleted some polygons in the flat box to make it look realistic.



I positioned it correctly and copied the part 4 times and adjusted the rotation. This finalised the 'fan blades'. I attached these 4 shapes together so that when I came to assigning materials It would make it much easier.


A nice touch which I saw on a few windmills was rope hanging from the fan blades. This Would also give me a chance to experiment with new methods and try out newly acquired skills. I started by selecting the line tool (under splines). I changed the intial type to smooth to give the effect of rope hanging and drag type to bezier. I could now Drag the vertexs to where I wanted them to make it look as if the rope was falling off of the blades. I could now adjust thickness to give the splines a 3D element. Under the rendering heading, I changed the radial thickness to 3.


The windmill model is now complete.

Starting modelling...

Now we each had some scenes to model, We set about preparing images for reference. I wanted to make a generic windmill to show that there are many situated throughout essex.





I can begin modelling.

Beautiful Scenery in Essex...

We started to brainstorm places that Essex is famous for and places that are of beauty. We also asked family and friends for their opinions of what places they think essex is famous for, aesthtically pleasing or unique. After collecting the results we compiled a list of scenes to model:

Southend sea front
Maldon
Burnham on crouch
Thaxted windmill
AR university
Chelmsford train station
Northweald track days
Northweald airfield
Hylands house
Viaduct
Beautiful rolling fields
Hadleigh Castle
Beach huts
Shoeburyness

I started to collect some images from the internet of landmarks and scenery in essex that would promote the county and that I could use for reference when modelling...














Now I had collected some relevent images I could begin to model.

Further Idea...

It turns out that alot of groups had also had a very similar idea. As a group we decided to change the idea so that ours was unique. We saw the visit new zealand ad campaign:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEZ-wdFegU)

This shows all of the beauty of New Zealand in one video. We decided as a group that we should try and recreate this idea for Essex. There are plenty of beautiful scenes in essex that we could model. This will encourage people to visit, which is the whole point of the project.

I am pleased in the group I have been put in. I have worked with Sam and Glenn before and know that they work high to an outstanding standard. This is the first time I have worked with Matt and he seems very keen to give to this project and his strong modelling skills show in the animation.

First Idea...

As a group we brainstormed the task in hand and came up with a few rough ideas for the short animation.

We wanted to keep it fun and light-hearted so decided on a catoon-like feel for the animation. The main idea was to have the camera follwing a course that 'travels' through Essex, passing landmarks and iconic environments as it goes. The horizon could be curved to give the idea of travelling around the world (showing that Essex has everything to offer, from historic villages to pictureque fishing towns).

Having the main idea sorted, we decided to think about a start scene. Some of the group discovered that Essex is home to over 70 golf courses! We felt it only right to include some sort of golf reference in the animation. The opening scene could be the camera zooming in on the world, then england, then essex. This will show the viewer the location. The camera will eventually zoom onto a golf course and show a golfer tee-ing off. As he hits the ball the camera will snap to show the balls-eye-veiw. This will be the start of the camera's route.

Group Work: Visit Essex Animation

We were asked to form groups and create an animation to encourage more tourists to visit essex. My group members included Glenn Osborne, Sam Brazier and Matt Rodi. Our brief was set by Elli Constantatou. This group project seems very interesting to myself, personally, as I have always lived in Essex. Designing and creating a short animation to promote essex from a tourists point-of-veiw will help local business's and shops. I am looking foward to getting started on this project and getting my ideas down on paper!