Posts

Sub Polygon Displacement

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SubpolyDisplace_1

 

The above animation is an early sample result of my toying with sub polygon displacement in Cinema 4D. For anyone interested in learning how to get started, a great intro tutorial can be found via Greyscalegorilla. Sub polygon displacement is a simple yet highly flexible tool that can be used to quickly build some very complex forms, both geometric and organic. And as you see from the gif above, it is all animatable. Here are some other examples of what I was able to quickly create:

Subpoly_01 Subpoly_02 Subpoly_03

 

RealFlow and Cinema 4D – Fluid Dynamics Simulation

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I’ve been curious to try out fluid dynamics simulations in a 3D package for a while now. The image above is my first test using RealFlow together with Cinema 4D. It’s a very powerful tool, but also one that is very demanding on hardware. RealFlow works as a standalone program, but I started inside of C4D, to create my name as a 3d object, which I imported to RealFlow to serve as my “container,” so to speak.

I’d like to show you the full animation, but with Global Illumination and Ambient Occlusion on (for the uninitiated, basically settings that help renders look richer, and more realistic), outputting this single frame on my laptop (never the ideal setup for 3D) took long enough. I likely would have had better luck with my trusty old Mac Pro tower, but really, this served as a reminder that it’s probably a good time for an upgrade! Long render times have never stopped me from trying things in the past though, so even if I have to leave my system running over night, I plan to explore this tool further.

Here is another pass of the same simulation, textured more to resemble clear, natural H2O:

Laserfiche – Promotional Video

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I don’t think any designer likes spec work, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil. Over the weekend, I put together this video piece as a sample of what I can do for Laserfiche, tapping into my abilities in design, motion graphics animation, video and sound editing, and marketing, as a multimedia designer and an MBA. The only asset provided was the raw green-screen interview footage, captured at 2 vantage-points simultaneously, which I have edited down to what you see here. All other elements, such as logos and icons, I have created from scratch (or recreated from online reference, in the case of the Laserfiche logo). I used Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects, and Audition, as well as Apple’s Garageband, and Maxon’s Cinema 4D.

I should add, the source audio was pretty bad, which didn’t give me much to work with, but I’ve improved it as much as I could through some processing in Audition.

Learn WordPress – AMA Event Flyer

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If you’re in the LA area and curious about how to get started building out a website of your own, head out to this event, presented by Patrick Greenough, president of Technology of the American Marketing Association, Los Angeles, who I have been working with for a few months to improve the organization’s overall branding and quality of marketing communications. I designed this e-flyer as part of that effort. At the talk, he’ll be focusing on how to get started with WordPress as a CMS (Content Management System). I can vouch for the usefulness of this platform – my own site is built off a WordPress framework!

Fun with 3D: Retro-Futuristic Space Capsule

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After my last posting (see “One Eyed Monster”), I felt the urge to continue working in 3D space with the scifi theme, but with something more directly retro-futuristic in styling and content. This was the result. I again based my model off an original sketch, but I was inspired by images of old-school tin toys, which I found in a book appropriately titled Robots and Spaceships. The book compiles several examples of US and Japanese space/scifi themed toys from the 1950’s and 1960’s. I combined that with a more contemporary and minimalist aesthetic, like a mashup with a Marc Newson or a Philippe Starck design. Once I had finished it, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a certain pill shaped speaker/ipod dock design, but this, again, was completely unintentional. Trust me, I wouldn’t want to bring upon the wrath of Dr. Dre, since he made it abundantly clear in “Forgot About Dre” that he’s held on to his weaponry from his gangster days in Compton. Word.

Fun with 3D: One Eyed Monster

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I’m still not really sure what this is supposed to be – a robot, or some type of alien life-form. Maybe both? It started as a quick doodle that I decided to bring into Cinema 4D, just for kicks. I initially had something more robotic/mechanical in mind, but as I started to build it, I began to veer more towards a more organic form. Hmmm… adding a mouth would probably make sense now, no? But really, who knows how the hell life on another planet functions or looks? I’ll stick to that story for now. Either way, making this has got me wanting to build something retro-scifi inspired. I’m thinking ray-guns.

PS – Any similarities to Mike Wazowski are purely coincidental.

Low Poly Testing – Sombrero Scene

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I’ve continued my explorations into “Low Poly” modeling and rendering, and above is one of my sample renders. True to my Mexican roots, I started this scene with a sombrero, and ended up rounding it out with a maguey (agave plant) and a nondescript bottle that we’ll just say is tequila. Personally, I’ve become a fan of the style, and the abstractions and the overall minimalist aesthetic it introduces. Plus, I won’t lie, objects are just way easier to build when you’re not worried about realism or any type of strict precision. However, I’m finding the simplicity of the forms ends up placing more weight on proper lighting, which is an interesting challenge in itself.

More explorations into low poly 3D likely coming soon.

Low Poly 3D – Testing

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I had been meaning to do this for a while, but I finally recently dove into trying out a “Low-Poly” style in Cinema 4D. All that essentially means is reducing objects to stylized and simplified forms, composed entirely of flat sides. It turned out to be very simple to achieve. I plan to use it in a few projects soon, but for now, I’ll leave you with this animated GIF of one of my early tests with a low poly object and a deformer: