Creating the Colosseum in Blender

So I may or may not have mentioned that I take Latin as my language course, and since latin isn't exactly spoken anymore, learning the language also entails learning a lot about Roman culture. So in my latin class, my instructor gave us the project of basically doing anything to present an aspect of Roman culture, so, naturally, I decided I would try to recreate the entire Roman Colosseum in Blender. Then, in my true lazy fashion, I decided to start the project the night before it was due. This is the photo log of that project.

I started off by modeling one arch.

Then I created an ellipse to judge how large the finished
project would be. I also began messing with the lighting.

I added an array modifier to duplicate the arches, then a
mesh transform modifier to rotate the arches in a full circle.
I messed with the lighting some more and couldn't figure out
why the arches were so grainy so....

I started over, this time adding a cube in the middle where the arena was.

Stacked the arches vertically, and began changing the occlusion type.

I added the seating, and became fed up with the current
lighting system and switched to the cycles renderer instead.
This one looked much nicer.

Finished the stairs and outer wall as well as turned up the emission
on the light. The cube along the bottom is just for me
to measure how long the stairs needed to be.

Added one last array modifier, and another mesh transform modifier

to rotate multiply the one section and then rotate

them all in to one full arena. I then scaled it on the

X axis a little bit to elongate it and

make it more of an oval.

This whole process took about 7 hours, not including the 20 hour render to make a one minute video. I would post the video, but I accidentally textured the words incorrectly, so I'll render it again in the near future and post a new improved version. I also didn't render it using the cycles renderer at the time, so I will change that as well. Oh, and for those who were wondering, I got a 95% on the project with 5 points deducted for turning it in a few days late since I had to render over the weekend.

Work in progress: simple room

So after seeing The Silver Linings Playbook, which is a fantastic movie by the way, I decided I would model a room based off of Tiffany's dance studio. The reason I'm making this it's own post is because I'm going to update this as I make progress on it. Right now, the things I need to do are finalize the textures, finish the lighting, and work on the compositing to make it look like a real room. So over time I will continue to update this post with my progress on the room.

Day 1

3D Printing our future

So I'm sure you've all heard some of the buzz surrounding the new 3D printing technology, and if not, there are 3D printers now and they're awesome. You can print basically anything you can think of as long as you can model it on your computer. Now, this has already lead to certain groups using 3D printers to print guns, and other groups panicking as a result. However, the guns that are being printed are pretty limited in what they can do, but that's not the point. The point is, you can make some pretty awesome things with 3D printing. Like I said before, you can create almost anything you can actually imagine. Luckily, you don't even have to drop 2000$ on a printer to have this awesome privilege. There are 3D printing services like Shapeways (what I use) and Kraftwurx, and what makes it really awesome is you only really need some basic skill with 3D modeling software to do it. For example, I'm an amateur modeler in Blender, but I can make some pretty awesome stuff to be printed.

Pictured: a pokemon phone case.
Expect an update later today with the actual case.

Unfortunately it didn't fit my phone, but that's why we printed a test version.

This case is actually scheduled to be delivered today, but the point is, 3D printing can actually do some really awesome things. As another example, my friend and are trying to compete in a contest where people submit their designs that are supposed to benefit the world, and the whole contest is structured around helping people. It's contests like these that people should be focusing on, not one 3D printed gun. You can't judge a technologies potential based off of the actions of a small group.

3D printers even cater to those of us who don't want to print guns, but who also aren't exactly about to go save the world, or in other words, your average person. You can print as a hobby or as an artist, or as a designer of a new product. You can even open a shop on Shapeways and sell your own designs for a profit. There are also plenty of guides on how to model for 3D printers, such as this one.

All in all, 3D printers are a technology that is very new and like any new technology, it's going to gain some controversy. So what do you think? Do the benefits of 3D printers outweigh the losses?

Nostalgia - a sentimental longing for the past

The title pretty much says it all for this one. Last night, while rummaging through my piles of useless things, something caught my eye. A wrinkled package with two CD's inside: Stronghold 2. Now what you'll learn very quickly about me, is I'm a nerd. I've always been a fan of my video games, to put it mildly, so I was naturally quite excited to find one of my favorite childhood games. I popped the CD in the disk tray, followed the instructions, downloaded a CD crack so I could play with no CD, and opened the game.

Ah, the intro scene. I had seen this scene more times than I care to count, so it was skipped. I was then greeted by a voice all to familiar to me: the voice of your steward. 

"Welcome, my liege." 

This was it. I quickly started up a kingmaker game, a deathmatch, if you will, between myself and seven other lords. I allied myself with my favorite childhood characters: Olaf, The Hawk, The Bull, and Sir William. The game progressed quickly, with castles being build and destroyed as the battle moved with a serene ebb and flow between victory and loss. Slowly, my estate grew as the most powerful estate; a force to be reckoned with. I built up my army, marched to gates of the enemy castle, and awaited the dramatic showdown. 

The burning carts were sent first, burning his castle, but the wells worked faster than the fires. They would have to go. A dozen trebuchets were set up, and proceeded to methodically hurl boulders on the enemy, razing the entire enemy castle. Archers were lined up, picking off and enemy soldiers that tried to attack. Their castle was falling.

After a short time, what was left was only the keep, with the king awaiting his fate on top. He stood, a stoic in nature, watching the destruction. It was time.

The enemy marched to his keep, up the stairs, and confronted him on the roof. The battle was quick, the outcome: predictable. After all, all kingdoms rise and fall eventually. 

"Victory!" The words flashed across my screen. It was 4 AM. That was nostalgia; reliving your childhood until four in the morning.

Now that I've told my story, what do you do that makes you nostalgic?

Summer - The warmest season of the year

Ah, school's out for the summer, and spirits are high. I found this Blog on my google account, and figured I might as well get some use out of it. Write now, I have no clue what it'll be about. I plan to just write frequently until I find a topic I like and to stick to it, but this is also a test of my writing abilities. I've always been a strong writer in the classroom, or I can write essays that teachers would grade as an A. I've never really tried my hand at writing outside of the classroom though, so I hope this blog serves as a way for me to do that; a way for me to break down the rigid classroom style of my writing and transform it into a more fluid, everyday style, all in a way that I enjoy.