Week 7 - Bouncing Balls Animation

This is my first animation created in 3DS Max during one of the tutorials. It is a very simple animation of some bouncing balls.

During this tutorial I was introduced to the auto key and set key features. I found the animation side of 3DS Max much easier than the modelling side, since I already have some basic animation experience using Adobe Flash. Hopefully it will continue this way so that I can create a very good final project.

Golden Gate Bridge Model

After many hours of work, here is the final version of my Golden Gate bridge model. I created this using the mental ray daylight system and made a whole environment around the bridge, including the river, in order to make it look as realistic as possible. I am extremely happy with how this model has turned out and this is by far my best work to date.

Using the mental ray system allowed me to apply lots of different materials to different areas of the environment - using a stream/river water material for the river, a metal material for the bridge structure and a rough concrete material for the road. The use of these different materials is another thing which helps my scene to look so realistic.

The grass texture was achieved differently. For this I created an image file in Adobe Photoshop and imported it into 3DS Max as a material, which I then applied using the UVW Map modifier - a similar technique to how I created the airship skin. The bumpy terrain was created by using a noise modifier, and rotating the planes a little. I then had to convert these planes to modifiable polys in order to create a deep recess for the river to run through.

The daylight system is set to around 16:00 on an April date I believe, in order to achieve an optimum lighting setting for my animation.

Now all of the models have been created it is time to start looking at the animation. I am very pleased with how I am progressing so far.

Golden Gate Bridge Research Board

Here is the research board I created for the Golden Gate bridge model. This features several different pictures of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, crucially taken from different angles in order to give me a full perspective of the bridge. I know this model is going to be very difficult to create and I hope I can use the pictures on this research board to truly do it justice. This is the main model for my animation, the whole setting for the animation. Therefore, this needs to be good.

Airship Model

This is the airship model I have created for my animation. As with the bullet model, I created this by using Adobe Illustrator and importing the file into 3DS Max. However, this time there were two different parts of the airship that I had to create in Illustrator first - the balloon part and the room underneath. As with the bullet model, I used the lathe tool to make these outlines 3D.

The skin for the airship was created in Adobe Photoshop and then imported into 3DS Max as a material and applied using the UVW Map modifier. This technique was originally taught to us as a way of creating reference planes but I have made use of it here in order to make the airship look more like the one in the film.

I am quite happy with this model, except I still find that it looks a bit basic. The Golden Gate bridge is sure to be more of a challenge than the models created so far and hopefully I can pull it off.

Airship Research Board

Here is the research board I created for the airship model. This features several pictures of airships in order to help me create the Zorin Industries airship from the film. This will be a key model in my animation.

Bullet Model

After further thought and to avoid overcomplicating things, I have decided to create a bullet model instead of a gun. The reason behind this is that the bullet will feature far more in my final animation and the animation would still work well without a gun model at all. This golden bullet will still be flying towards the airship over the Golden Gate bridge as originally planned, I have just dropped the excess model.

I used Adobe Illustrator to create the outline and then imported the Illustrator file into 3DS Max. From here I used the lathe tool to make the model 3D and then converted it to an editable poly in order to refine some detail around the head of the bullet. I then applied a metal material to the bullet to give the shine effect.

Guns Research Board

Here is the research board I created for the gun model. This features several pictures of different guns in order to help me create my model.

Assignment Plan

For my assignment I have to create a 30 second trailer for a James Bond movie. I have decided that my trailer will be based the film A View to A Kill.

My animation will revolve aound three models. The opening scene will be of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. This is part of a key scene towards the end of the movie and my animation will be set up to point towards that scene.

My animation will then switch to an image of the Zorin Industries airship. Max Zorin is the 'bad guy' of the film, James Bond's enemy. His airship is also part of that key scene in the film.

After this there will be an image of a gun, rotating around before firing a bullet. This bullet will have 007 written on the side. The animation will then follow the bullet as it is fired before switching to a scene of the airship floating over the Golden Gate bridge.

At the end of the animation the bullet will head towards the airship before cutting the scene, leaving the animation on a cliffhanger as to what actually happens.

Therefore the three models I will need to create are as follows:

Golden Gate bridge,
Zorin Industries airship,
A gun and bullet.