A Time Gone By

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI5sj6-R1Js To accompany the bunker experience flythrough i experimented with a quick type of VR, something i have no experience in or desire to continue. I exported a HDRI image through 3Ds Max by changing the camera to a cuboid (something i wasn't aware you could do) this put it simply allowed the software to get a sequence of adjoining shots of the same scene/environment, that then gets flattened out into a long wavy render. This took a few tutorials and alot of reading and advice but i got there in the end. I understood HADRI imaging but not using 3ds max, i would've used normal photography skills, a hdri reflection sphere and after effects, with 3ds max the final render was far greater quality though and it would be something useful in future if ever needed as a back up visual in the career im pursuing. There are several things you can do from here including using roundme, vr for all and VR Media Player, i suggest unless sitting at...

Lighting and camera work was in a way the most basic skill wise but the most complex experimental wise. It took a number of tutorials before i understood the basic idea of studio lights setup, previous projects either had no light or just one photometric light and no real experimentation was needed, intensity might've been experimented with but that was the height of it unfortunately, so this was a massive learning curve on very little time. As you can see through the 50 plus examples i've given on my lighting work i experimented with the intensity, reflected lights, ambient lights, angle and attenuation. It took about a week at least of fine tuning the lighting, i'm very proud of the outcome, it took alot of work and i could've stopped after a day or so experimenting as the results are better than previous work but the point of this project was to professional quality for both the client and my final year portfolio. I would've liked a warm summer glow however it...

At this point i'm very back and forth between modelling the building and taking a break to model the furnishing assets and come back to the buildings more intricate features with fresher eyes and rejuvenated energy, This is seen in the screenshots and test renders on Behance. I find this productive and time useful as opposed to just pushing on through and getting the exterior bits and pieces wrong and still having the furnishings to do afterwards. For the most part modelling for this project was extremely basic, the odd extrude, bevel and turbo smooth but essentially it was alot of boxes and spheres. I made the mistake of booleaning alot of the windows and doors, this made it difficult to alter the original objects (walls mostly) when it came time to model doors and architrave's, so it took a fair bit f back tracking to change the ingons to polygons for further editing purposes. This left the topology cleaner and easier to work with. I think i have become alot more careful...

3D Prints/FDM test prints are achieved through creating workable designs, and exporting them as STL files, at this point i am back and forth with Eamon when they are available to look at my model, to see if its a viable model for printing and when there is space in the fablab in and around the holidays to print it. Unfortunately its busy season and holiday season and the fab lab is short staffed until February which isn't going to work this project as the deadline is very early January. I have sent different sizes back and forth a few times this past fortnight but unfortuatly i can only go as fast as they are available to help. The premise of the Fablab incase you don't know is its free to use and learn but there is a small cost of materials. Eamon has informed me 3Ds Max is one of the worst 3d prgrammes to 3D print from, the options would be to awkwardly edit it or export it as an STL and pop it into a programme called CURA, which should be free for students and scale ...

Now the basic model of the exterior is finished i recently moved on to interiors. Although similar in creation there was alot more involved, especially in regards to measuring and naming. This project constantly reminds me of dominos or Russian dolls, something is always hinged on the previous and following model, name or measurement. Every so often i think to myself i either need a second brain or an actual personal assitent to deal with the records and writing aspect of this project. Now i have the exterior complete i feel confident enough in approaching the local FabLab at the Nerve centre to discuss 3D printing options. As you can see from my earlier posts and sketches i'm hoping to either print the exterior or three models (exterior and two levels showing different stages of construction, as insight into the materials of the building) This is for several reasons, the two most prominent is it gives the grading person a more physical visual of the final product and knowled...

In my second meeting with Mark Lusby the curator of the Base One Europe museum the date for the exhibit had been set, and it would take place in the university (which i hadn't pictured, i originally thought to this point that it would take place in the museum) we discussed finer points of the design but i thik he thought the 3D would take less time that it had, or that once the exhibit was over we were finished with our projects, i quickly explained the situation, we would like concepts perhaps exhibited but nothing 3d would be ready to view. Shortly after this meeting we were all CC'd in on an email thread discussing the universities involvement in the exhibit and what all should be expected on the night. discussions on the creative arts/design/games students exhibits of course came up and was asked what we could contribute and what they hoped would be shown sent us into panic modes. I relayed this all to the boys and together we decided what was reasonable if we worked da...

Ongoing screenshots of the 3D development and defining processes can be seen in the Appendix of the State of the Art Review and on Behance (unfortunately they aren't as aesthetically pleasing as other behance galleries because of this, but blogging sites are insanely slow and to understand these ramblings you would definitely need reference photos). I began by modelling on and off with the assets which you can see in presentations two and three however for the purposes of chronological understanding i will explain the modelling from the building from the ground up exterior to interior and hopefully then onto UV maps, materials, lighting, cameras etc. Just to note, the 75TH Eleanor Roosevelt Exhibit happened during this process, so What was exhibited at the show was not the final model or even the model i'm going discuss in this post. Unlike previous 3D projects that although ticked the boxes i wanted this to be a show piece in my final year portfolio, i also had a level o...

Although i started and stopped this part of the project many times as i found it involved alot of trial and error, i eventually got there ! Recording precise dimensions of the high res plans was difficult for a few reasons. I have a list a mile long of ways not to record or document these dimensions, but that might bore a few of you away before we even start discussing the actual 3D part of this 3D project ! So i will only describe the way that worked and why ! Apparently I'm ready for a pensioners bus pass because jumping between different files and zooming in and out and all around a MASSIVE high res file, (i wish i was exaggerating) to get the measurements i needed to calculate the measurement of one wall that possibly needed four measurements to create but also needed five coinciding walls dimensions already calculated just to find those measurements to calculate the one! if that makes sense. alot of find X type of equations. To solve this in and out and zooming probl...

Unlike any reconstruction projects i have come across, this will as I've said before stand out as the time, culture and environment will shape the project as much as the clients deliverables and personal preferences. This was a building in Northern Ireland, used and built by Irishmen and women, but it was also designed and used by Americans. Two vastly different cultures and styles, I need to research both and pick and chose what would and wouldn't have been available at the time and place. Northern Ireland has always been a associated with mainland UK, but what most don't seem to remember is when the UK was watching coloured TV Ireland still had black and white, if the common households even had a TV. even in today's society opinions and perspectives differ vastly in such a short space of land/water. Asking historians and google what existed is one thing but asking real life members of the community (who i will not name for safe guarding reasons) was more beneficia...

The point of this project is that it is a live project, with actual contacts and clients to speak with not just a class only task. These contacts include the University (permissions and guidance), the US.Navy (when looking further information and high resolution images) and Base One Europe Museum (Where it will be exhibited) After the initial meeting with all the contacts i got Base Ones Europes Mark Lusbys business card, knowing i would eventually need his help and expertise. I've barely begun the project and am only in the Discover stages and i've probably done the poor mans head in already. So far there has been alot of back and forth questions mostly regarding his ideas for the project and the confidential high resolution images of the bunkers plans but while sketching and researching i have built up alot of questions that would be best asked and answered in person. So a meeting was arranged and a glimpse of the museum was decided as a meeting point. Similar to Aber...

At this point the style of the final outcome is what I've been brainstorming and researching. I know who i want it for, i know i want to have it human centred and speak to the users senses and give that overall feel of happy but respectful nostalgia, but that's all done visually so having a clear idea what i want to show and how i show it is imperative. There have been alot of criticism on artists and Hollywood using rose coloured glasses on the past in many adaptions of historic events and stories. I will hopefully find a happy medium. Addressing the criticisms, but still making it appealing to the viewer. I will do this by following the same positive perspective many modern day reconstructions have but keeping all visuals as accurate as possible. Shows are becoming more elaborate when retelling history however after one receives much criticism the one to follow usually succeeds by staying more historically accurate. I believe these shows coincide with the growing inter...

You have to love early morning Autumn meetings where you have the choice between hearing everyone at the giant table or de-numbing your frozen fingers near the radiator. I think its safe to say i developed a great sense of lip reading in that meeting and had a fantastic view of the River Foyle and leaves all changing colour while i waited for the rest of the meeting party to arrive. zero regrets being the warm albiet deaf person at the table.  Meeting Participants were as follows:  in no fancy order, just from the head of the table downwards. Malachy O'Niel, Who i subsequently labelled the University Suit until i figured out his actual job title.  Mark Lusby, Who even though i now know his Job title of Museum Curator at the Base One Europe Museum i still stand by my original description of History Genius Guy Justin Mage,  Who now upon writing his name i realise will likely read this, so "HI JUSTIN !" The Two Hungover Drama Girls,...

After initial ideas and brainstorming concepts (all of which you can find at the end of this blog under the Sketch PDF, or the sketches file on behance), influences began to pop up, some were momentarily influential and some were long term influences that shaped the project to the point  they should make it into the state of the art review at the end of this project. Jaime Livingston: I wouldn't say i'm a massive fan of photography, i'm a known photo hoarder with little to no skill and i appreciate some photographs but there's no particular style that really influences me on a day to day basis apart from perhaps J.Livingston, probably most well known for the fact he took a Polaroid photo a day for over 18 years until the day he died. I always admired his day to day perspective and storytelling through his photos, something i'd hope to reenact in this project.  He could capture a story in the long term and short term through no great technique or skill. It was...

My brainstorming and research and reference footage is building up now the project is getting on a bit so here are the links to any other platforms im using for this project. Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/donnelly911208/ Behance: https://www.behance.net/donnelly918b3e Blogs: (just for future reference) https://atimegonebydes514.blogspot.co.uk/

The most notable piece of advice given in the Discover period of this project is WHY WHY WHY, always ask WHY no matter the topic . This is to inevitably lead to a more defined and understood outcome. I could say who this is for and what it is and where it is or where it will be located in future and when I base it on or intend publish it but there is no substance to those answers. to have a successful project 'why' must be the follow up to any answer, continuously until the project is solid. I took this advice and researched why i should ask 'why' and what the benefits of asking is, I then started researching the whys after every answer and intend on continuing doing so until the very end of the project. The first WHY i asked myself was why i chose the Bunker project, this gave me personal goals as well as the already established deliverables. Some of those goals include: -Improve 3D skills including lighting/animation as they aren't focused in my portfolio...

Welcome one and all who have in all likelihood stumbled across this by accident, I will start of by pointing out that this is a student blog on my process of completing module DES514 3D Innovative Design, from start to finish...So bare with me! Lets Start where everything starts, Day One. The Brief! There was a lot of back and forth whether i thought 3D design was the best module for me this year, being final year every move and grade and final outcome is of the utmost importance because realistically its the most recent work employers will look at and within 10 months that would be my biggest concern. I have worked in industry so i have a fair understanding what employers want and how focusing on everything and taking on too much and in the end being mediocre overall isn't going to sell you to any particular job, well no job your bank balance wants. I've known the last few years that 3D is the all rounder seller for my particular skillset, i have enough other modules and ...