Sci-fi - Updates for units.

In this blog spot there is going to be updates to the work that has previously been done to try and bump up my Merit to a Distinction.

Unit 66 - 3D Modelling.

For this section, I have to update the model and the textures. This is because, when doing the texture, I did not UV unwrap my model, and there were seams and also there were places where I have not added textures, and just used the HyperShade tool to make it so that the objects had a base colour.
To get the Distinction for this unit, I have to make the model more intricate, and also work the textures so that they are better, with no (noticeable) seams.

The first thing that I am going to do is to change my model, making it less simple in it's design. This is going to be done by manipulating it in Maya.
I am going to change the spheres, the staff and also the bottom of the barrel.

Sphere -
For this one, I am going to change the orange spheres, I may change the brown, glass ones, but that is only if I feel as though I would need it, this is because, it might become too busy if all of the spheres are changes and then are textured.

This is what the sphere is now going to look like in shape, not colour/texture, that has yet to be done. This is just the improvements that I have made on my weapon. I have made the sphere more visually interesting, and also the mechanics of it. Due to the parts all being separate, only that they are combined at the moment for easy move and such, there is the chance that this part of the model could be animated, if that is what the creator of the game wanted within the asset.

This is going to follow the same colours when I am textures, I am just hoping that that goes as well as I am planning it to.

The disk in the center that connects the parts is going to be barely visible when I do the textures, this is because I want it to look like there are vein like connectors coming from the center sphere.
To create this, I used a total of three shapes. Sphere, cylinder and torus.
First I made a central sphere. I then made a series of four little light blue oval shapes. These were then indented with a different pattern, these however, were not intricate shapes, this is because when the weapon is in play in a game, the small things on the weapon will not me as highpoly because there will not be any focus on this part of the model. After that, I made four smaller spheres, and plotted them in between the ovals.
Then using the torus, I made a hoop that neatly sat in the artificial ring that was already there.
This was then all coloured in with the HyperShade tool, this was to make it clear to me all the separate parts.

This is a close up of the sphere. There is going to be a set of three of these and these shall be going down the shaft in the center.
Also you can see I have textured everything here. The one thing that gave me more trouble was the center ring. For this I had to make an Alpha within Photoshop and then import that into Maya, this was slightly difficult due to my lack of knowledge when it comes to alphas, however, I manages to get it to work, so that the 'veins' were visible, but the background was transparent. This is what I wanted the disk to look, I wanted the outer hoop to look connected to the sphere by energy pulses. I feel as though I have got that effect.
I then did the ovals, because all the ovals have a slightly different shape to them, I wanted the texture to be less complicated, so I stuck to a similar theme with these. I made it so that the main of it was a pale blue, and I then added an orange in the middle, this was to show the energy transfer from the centre sphere to the hoop.
Then, I made the hoop a slightly darker blue, I decided while doing the texture in Photoshop, that I did not want the hoop to be shiny, so I made the colour as matte as possible, and as you can slightly see from the image above, I have kept the blue colour, then while I was in Maya, I have put up the transparency on the model, this was to give it a more glass like texture.

This is the render of my spheres, with the hoops. I did this image so that I could see whether the slight glow that I put on the hoop was noticeable, this was something that I thought would work with the 'energy transfer' into the hoop. Making it look more active. But another consideration that I thought of was that I did not want the glow to be too powerful that it would detract from the rest of the model, so I did my best to make it subtle to the model. 

This is the second sphere that I have re-done for this model, this is because all the other spheres were basically just copies, and the all looked the same. I have decided to bring some individuality into this sphere. I started off with the basic sphere shape, I then got to work manipulating the edges and the side, due to it being a sphere, and me wanting to be able to keep in within the same size area that it was already taking, there was not anything too extravagant that I could so with it, so trying to keep it simple, but also making it interesting was hard. So to make it interesting, I decided to indent the sides of the model, bring out the top and bottom edges, and to add a point to the top and bottom of this model.

This is then going to be textured with an orange, veined texture, This is because the weapon is to be slightly organic. And this is a way that I can so this, I also want these to have a slight glow, so I shall also work on that in the HyperShade.

This is an image of the final texture on my main sphere, I used a wrinkled texture from this part of the model, I wanted it too look as though there was energy flowing freely inside of it, it was kind of hard ti visualize how to actually make it, to look like it did in my mind, but I believe that I did a good job when it was finished.
This used a lot of different effects on Photoshop, to get it the way that it looks, and I am very happy with the way that the texture turned out.

Staff -
This is going to be made so that there are more nodules on the staff, and also there are going to be more levitating bits on the staff. This is going to also be done within Maya.

This is going to have a texture that is metallic, this may be hard to show, due to it being on the black side, so it might not  show though as clearly, but I also do not want the texture to look gaudy and out of place, I want it to look natural.

This is the first thing that I created, when thinking of how to make the staff for my weapon more interesting. For this I created a number of torus shapes and then manipulated them until they looked like they do in the image above.
These are probably not the colours that I am going to stick with, I might keep to some, but the purple is definitely going, this is because this colour does not fit with the already decided upon colour theme.
There were four rings made, and then manipulated, some by extrusion and others by edge manipulation, making them all different from one another. I then copied three and then put them below the center ring. and I also flipped the second ring, 180 degrees.
These were rather easy to make.. compared to other parts of this model but I think that this adds more character and also complexity to the design of the asset.

This is a model of the rings when they have had their texture put onto them. I wanted something simple, so that they did not look too out of place. So to keep them in sync with the other parts and colours. This is to how that there is power radiating though the entire weapon.
This is not an obvious thing about the weapon, however, I believe that it fits nicely in with the other power rings within the asset.
These rings have a glass like texture added to them, and also the transparency has been heightened on these rings, also that has been a special effect of glow that has been put onto the rings.

 As can be seen from these rings in this rendered snapshot, I have put a glow on them, but as can also be seen, I have intensified the glow, the further from the center ring, so the cyan coloued rings have the brightest glow, compared to the red rings near the center barely glow at all. this is to show power radiation from the center ring to the outer rings.

This is a spiral that I made with the helix shape. To make it look like this I flattened so it was less rounded. I then pointed the ends of the spiral. This is so that the piece looks whispy. This is going to going to be the part that 'holds' the second sphere that I mentioned earlier.
This is going to sit at the top of the staff, and will wrap around it. I have made it so that the bottom is narrow and the top is wide. This is because I wanted it to have a cup like form, so that it would look like it is holding the sphere, but also tight around the staff.

This is going to be made in a blue type of texture, this is to show that it is separate, and not attached to the staff. This is going to be a difficult one to texture, for the simple face that I do not know exactly how this is going to look just yet.

This is the textured version of the model. This is pictured above. I have used just a simple colour base, this is because I want this to be there, but I do not want people to be distracted by it, that is why I have made it simple, by no complicating the textures on this part. There are plenty of other parts on this weapon as a whole, that catch the eye, that I do not want everything to be like that when it comes to textures.

This is a rendered view of the model, I have taken this to show that this part of the asset is slightly glowing, but this is just to make it seem as though energy is transferring though the staff to the barrel. Showing that it is active. When the power on the weapon is shut down then the glow of the spiral will also shut off.

These are two new images that I have taken of the spiral this is because I noticed that the spiral did not have the glass effect on it that I wanted, this was done just by upping the transparency on the material. I thought to add this though, just to show that I did make and add this decision, and that it was not just a last minuet thought.
I have added this so that it ties in more with the house style that I am working with, otherwise this would just look like an after thought and that is not something that I would like my thought out new model to look like it was planned rather than just a mix match of different objects.

As you can see this is just a pretty straight staff. I have extruded bits of the staff at the bottom, and then manipulated them to be slightly round. I have gotten rid of the zigzag at the top of the barrel, this is mostly due to it looking simply out of place, and also I could not get the angles right on that part, so some parts of the staff were thinner/flatter than others, and this was something that I was not happy with. As you can see from the image above, I have replaced the zigzag with the spiral shape, and I feel as though this fits much better together.

This is the bottom of the staff as you can see in this image, the staff is white, this is because, the metal texture that I am using for it is grey, however, I want this darker, so in the material manipulators on the side, I have changed the defuse setting, this will make the material darker when it is rendered.

This is what the staff will look like when it is finally rendered, when I export these into the upgraded version of Maya, I may up the defused slider, to make it so that the darkness of this matches the original barrel.

Barrel -
This is the section that connects the actual barrel to the sphere that connects to the staff.
This is going to have grooves manipulated within it. Also, I may change the complexity of the buttons, that are also on this bit of the barrel.

This is the bottom of my barrel. This has been changed so that it is not as rounded as the first one. I have also changed the buttons. I wanted them to be something other than just squares. Due to my model being rather high poly, I went with a friends suggestion that I should make the buttons low poly, due to the not being very see-able, due to them being small. Also, through the same person, they thought that I should make the button in two different pieces, this is because later, if I liked then I could animate the button.

Textures on this is going to be different as to what it was before due to it being a different shape. I shall, however, still use the yellow texture that I used previously.

This is the barrel that has now been textured. As you can see this has been done differently from the previous model, this is mostly due to the shape of this part.
In this area, I have also textured the buttons, I have made a green and a red one. I then added a black trim to the buttons, to make them a little more detailed, without just the shade/dirt that I have applied when doing the texture in Photoshop.
There are also some crevices within the model, that I have coloured in green, this can be seen in the image above.
This was quite hard to do, and is still not completely up to the standard that I would like the textures to be. However, comparing this to the previous model, I can see that there is a huge difference, and that this one is textured better than the other one, and for that I am grateful.
I have used some textured images, and manipulated them within Photoshop.
I used a two different textures, one was yellow, with rust and the other was blackened and scratched. I used the scratched texture, rather than creating my own in Maya, because I wanted to cut down on the amount of polygons that I am going to be using, within the creation of this model.
I then over-lade these textures with colour, this is because I wanted the textures, but they were just not the right colour that I had in mind, and personally, I would of liked it better if I could of made the grey darker, but I did not want to risk loosing any of the detail with the scratches with the texture. So that is not exactly how I wanted it, but I am happy with how it turned out.
The yellow is something that I am happy with, this was rather more difficult to control, due to it not being a repeated pattern, so I have to cut and slice, to get it as close as I could. The only thing that I do not like about this is that it has seams, and these are something that I would like to get rid of, but hopefully, the actual barrel of this weapon will cover the seams.

This is a rendered view of the barrel, I have done this so that you can see the glow effect that I added to the green, I have added these to show that the weapon is on, if the green was to be a dull red, this would mean that the weapon as been powered down, and you get this to work by using the buttons that are shown in the image above.

This is what the updates look like when they are assembled together. I have yet to texture the models, I just thought to add this in, to show that there has been progress with the creation. And that there is a colour scheme to the weapon.

These are all going to be done separately to the model, this is so that I can do some at college and then assemble it at home, this is due to me accidentally making the model in Maya 2013 rather than in 2012, which is what the college uses. I have to so this in 2013, because by the time that I had realised that I would not be able to work on the model in college, I had already completed the asset in the updated software, and could then not open it in the older version, but I can work in the older version and then import it into the 2013 version.

This is what the model looks like in Maya, as you can see the three globs on the barrel are transparent and have a brown glass like texture. Also, you can see the other models that I have re added into this model. Like the handles, decorative bottom and also the main part of the barrel.
As you can see there is a similarity between this model and the previous one, but that is how I wanted it to be, I basically wanted this model to be an upgrade to the last. I know that I have not changed everything within the model that was simple. Like the handles and also the small sphere down at the bottom of the weapon, but I thought changing it too much, and also wanting to make everything 'better' would ruin the design, due to be getting bogged down in detail, if that is what I had done.

This is a final render of my model, using the lights and camera that were already set up from the previous final render that I did, I made this render.
The only thing that I have a problem with this is the shadow that was created during the render, in some places there seems to be no shadow at all, and I do not really know why that is.
However, this final render, to me shows that the hard work that I have put in has paid off. I am happy with the final result, and also peers have said that this was a good design and model.
One thing if I was to do it again, I would try and make it with less polygons, due to there being about 50 thousand polygons within this weapon, so in the future, I shall be more conscience of this, when making other game assets and models.

Evaluation of this model.

The reason that I re-did this model was so that I could demonstration a more complicated mesh that I had made. I wanted to show that my technical knowledge when it comes to Maya has grown since the last time I touched this model.
That is why this is a new model in many aspects, this is basically an upgraded version of the previous model that I made.
Also I wanted to show that my handling of textures has also grown, when I first did this model, all the textures were all over the place, and this time I wanted the textures to be done inside their UV restraints, so that there would be less seams on the model. I know that there are still some seams within the model, but most of them are hidden, or were put out of the way.

The thing about this model the most is not the textures, but the mesh. I like the way that I have updated the old model, but also kept it so that it similar, to show that I have not completely detracted from this.
I like the way that it turned out, because I did not make it gaudy by making it too busy, but I believe that there is something about this that makes it pop. I think that this is the intricate little things that have been placed on the staff most of all, instead of it just being a straight cylinder, I have extruded parts and also I added little things to it, to make it just a little more interesting, the the part above it explains why I added each thing.

One thing that I do not really like about this the that the texture on the main barrel did not seem to get any better when I did the textures on it again, that is the reason that I did not show it.

But all in all, I am very happy with the way that this model has came out.

Unit 2 - Materials, techniques and processes in art and design.

For this I am going to show application of me using different mediums.
There are going to be a number of different images, and not all of them are going to do with Sci-fi, I know that wasn't completely practical, but I believe that this will get across my use of techniques and processes.

Pencil

This is a drawing I did of a creature from alien. I then added some other assets to it from other subjects like the iron contraption on the head and the bone arm and rib cage.
This was don in pencil, and then cut out and backed onto blue paper. This was done with as minimal smudge as possible. I know that students have a great love for the 'smudge technique' but to me, it is more rewarding to get the transgression from dark to light smooth with just the pencil.
Where there are big gaps within the image I did the darkest pencil shade that was possible. This is to show the depth and how far that part of the creature goes in. For the rest I did my best to make the shadows and highlights see-able but also subtle, this is because when doing realistic drawings, one would not really like to make exaggerated lights in the image, be they dark or light. This would cause the realistic effect of the image would be lost, since shadows usually trail out and so do highlights.
I think that with the pencil that I personally reached a high quality with this one image, this is because within the image is a lot of detail that is shown, by the line drawing, but also by the shading.
Also, I think that with the pencil I was able to use a smooth technique.

Graphite

This drawing was done in graphite. The page was first intensely marked by the graphite, so that most of the white of the paper did not show through. Then with a rubber you rub away at the graphite, this is basically doing a drawing but using the equipment backwards. This was something that I liked about it, because it was a different way to work, and mixed things up for a while.

This is an image by Giger and this is also has somethings added to it, changing it from the original. 

This was a good material and also a good technique and process to use. This was one of the most time consuming things that I have ever done within my art. Drawing this taught me how to handle a rubber as more of a tool within my work rather than something that just gets rid of mistakes. 

With graphite, because they are softer than pencils, they transfer on to the pages easier, making it more free flowing. Allowing me to make areas darker in the graphite areas that are already there, showing that I am not only using the rubber.

This was something that made me think of markings in art. This is because even with the rubbing out I was not able to fully get rid of the markings. This is something that I feel added more depth to the image. Looking at this image makes me think of whether or not to add some exaggerated markings into my other pieces of work, to also add to them. 

Ball point pen and copic Markers

This is an image that was done in ball point pen and copic markers. This was drawn out in pen so there was a lot less room for mistakes, due to there being no applicant that could rub it out.

If I was to re-do this image, I would do it in pencil first, for the simple fact that the ink of the ball point pen ran when the copic markers began their work to shade in this Sci-fi character. This character is holding a variation of the model that I have made as an asset. Working with ball point is one of my favouites, this is because I like the effect that is got when shading with a pen. Copic markers, they are good for shading in different things. This is a good thing because when used correctly they can make a smooth gradient from dark to light and this is what someone might think hard to do with a marker, this is however possible and also very good with copic markers.
So for future reference, unless one is looking for the ink pen to bleed they should not use both ink pens and copic markers together.

Watercolours and Pen

This is an image that I used both watercolours and a ball point pen. For this image it started with making the back ground, this is because I wanted the girl to be a type of overlay. Making the background was rather simple in technique, I got a brush, loaded it with either either red or blue watercolour paint and the got to work putting it all over the paper, I like that the background is not too busy and that the main focus of the art stands out. I liked using a ball point for this image I find that it works really well for the whole composition.

Using a pen is difficult due to the knowledge that if I mess it up in a big way, there is no correcting it, other than trying to incorporate it into the image. This does not all ways work though. However as can be seen from the image above there is not any major noticeable mistakes within the drawing. After doing the basic out line of the image in pen, I gathered the black and white watercolours, and watered down the back a lot, and got to painting. As seen, there is a very stylized look to this character, and that the shading on the girl is very defined. This adds to the image.
To me the image looks very patriotic to the USA, that is not what was imagined when I started out with this image, however I believe that it just adds more meaning to the painting.
I think the mix of watercolous and pen was a good mix, I was not so sure when I started out, but I am very happy with the end result.

Watercolor and marker

This is an image that used both watercolours and a black marker. Doing this was a lot of fun for me, as the focus of this painting is Harley Quinn from the Batman comics.
The main thing I was thinking while painting this drawing was that I wanted it to be bright, this is because personally I see Harley Quinn to have a colourful personality and thus I wanted to show this in the painting.
The character and the design is of the likeliness of the actual character Harley Quinn from the Batman games. This is coloured as closely as I could get it to that. I believe that there is an easy resemblance that can be seen, by those that know of the character. However what I would really like to talk about regarding the paints is the bright coloured background. I wanted it to look like the colours are emerging from behind her and that they are reaching outwards. I also wanted there to be a number of different colours and I tried my best to get them so that the colours that were similar were not together, I wanted a clear separation of the colours. The colours that I used were all bright an stood out from the page. This is to show that Harley would stand out from the crowd.
Another thing that was done to this image was the hard outline that was done with a black marker. I wanted the character to stand out against the background and also something that subtlety showed that she was a bold person. Using this technique of hardening the outline, shows that she is special to the drawing and should be the main focus.

Acrylic

This tigers face was done with acrylics. I wanted to make a smooth workable surface, but I also wanted a material that would later allow me to add lighter than the bottom colour to show though and that does not really happen with any other material other than maybe oil paints (there may be others, but right now I cannot think of any). I wanted something that could give me more freedom with the mixing of colours. The mixing of acrylic colours is rather simple if you know fundamentally what colours make what other colours, like red and yellow make orange and blue and yellow make green. There are different dependencies within the paints, like how much of one colour to add to the other colour to get the right colour, that bit is a bit trial and error, people eventually get better at this the more that they do it.  

This is another acrylic painting, but this time is is of flowers. I used this medium for this painting because I wanted to show the vibrancy and softness of the flowers. I do not believe that I would of been able to get the image to look that good with watercolours or with pencils, due to my lack of skill when it comes to doing realistic art with those other mediums.

I like that the paint ran smoothly and it allowed me to blend other colours into it when still wet, onto the canvas. This was something that I had never done before. So for this being the fest time doing it on canvas in acrylic I am personally proud. I find that the flower, while obviously a painting has a realistic quality, and I think this is due to the fact that I was using acrylics on this painting.

This is an animal that is born form Greek Mythology. I painted this creature in acrylics. There are parts of this painting that I am extremely proud and others that I wish I had never painted.
For this I am happy with the creature as a whole, there are things that I would have liked to of done differently, but they cannot be undone. For the thing about this image that I really like, is the wings. not so much the brown, due to there being a disappointing lack of detail, but the white. I like how they look soft even though they are greatly painted. I feel as though the allowance of being able to add and blend in greys and whites, I was able to make them look weightless, and also the long free strokes in the same direction make it more look like they were feathers going in a certain direction, and how there is no defining line around the subject that makes it look more realistic to the eye, even though it is an impossible creature to be real.
The thing that I did not like, was that with the paint being so opaque, it makes the clouds look more like they are mountains, I did try to negate this by using a sponge and dabbing, but that did nothing to help it look more like clouds which I was rather disappointed with.


Computer Art

This is a piece that I did on the computer and it was all created on there, the line work and the colouring in.

I have mentioned that I did the line work on here because that is not a part of the usual process that I follow, I usually start by drawing by hand and then going on to finish it by the computer software. The software that I use when I am at home is Paint tool SAI, I like the features that it has, and also it does not cost as much to own.

Using SAI is different from Photoshop due to the brushes and tools and how they differ in some aspects. Making something like this was quite difficult because I wanted there to be an element of transparency but without using the layer opacity, I wanted to use my own skill. The end result is something that I was happy with because I feel as though it looks and feels the same. What I mean is that it looks like it is raining and muggy, but it also feels as though it is foggy and grey, and I just like that I was able to do this with a new technique that I had not used before.  

This is a SteamPunk themed image that I did on SAI. With this I started with a Line drawing and then lead onto filling it out in the computer software. 

The thing about this image that makes it slightly different is that it is an image that I grabbed from the internet and brought it into my art. Showing more of the Steam punk theme, however, I am not that happy with the way that it looks, it just does not really do anything for the piece.
The part that I do like about this image is the image that I used for the bow that is coming from the hat. I also got this image from the internet and added it to the line work and then faded it out a little bit. I think that this adds a little more character to the person within the image.
Using SAI allows me to do things, like taking images from the internet, to just add a little extra to my images.

This is a piece of at that I made that I was extremely happy with the way that it came out.
This image uses different techniques and processes all over. This is something that also used images that are from the internet, just to add a little extra jazz to the image. Also the character in some areas has more shading and colour, like the hair and the ribbon. This is to draw the eye to these areas, because when I was drawing this image, they were key factors that I wanted noticed.
The main thing that I like about this image, is the background. I believe that it is simplistic, but also fits with with the busy character, I like the contrast between them. I also tried to tie it in with the style of the character, personally, I think that they do link, but from an outside perspective, I do not know how it would be interpenetrated.

This is also an image that was done on the computer. This is another one of Haley Quinn, the reason that I am showing this image is because of the shine in the clothes. The character is supposed to look like they are wearing latex. I think that I was able to catch this material, in the style that I was doing, and by that I mean that I was not aiming for this to look realistic at all. This is also an image that I like because of the stance that the character is in. With the head looking over their shoulder. I also like the extras that were in the image, like the Bat signal and the hammer.
The character is also splatted in blood, this is to show that Harley Quinn is not all giggles.
This was done in a very cartoon style, with the harsh shadows and lights. I tried to get a comic style, and I believe that I got near this with my art.
The background of this image is very simple. This was so that It did not distract from Harley, but it was to also give her a setting, and the signal was to show that her bad deeds of the night had not gone unnoticed.

Photoshop

This is an image that I did on Photoshop, I did this while I was in college, I did this so that I could refine my skills with the software. I wanted to be able to get as close to realistic as I could. I think that other than the hair, that the image looks very real for something that I created on the computer.
I did the main of it in greys, this is because to start out, it would be easier to do it in monotone rather than getting all the different skin tones that I might not get right.
This is an image that I wanted to have fun with. I added blood and also I made the eyes a very clear cyan blue. The blood was done in a number of layers, this was because I wanted to be able to make the blood look as realistic as possible, there was a multitude of tools that also when into creating this blood effect on the girls face, but in the end, even though it was hard work, I think that the image benefits from having it there because it add a little bit more to the character.

Unit 3 - Ideas and Concepts in art and design.

For this section, I have to make it clearer in the transgression of my work and also the annotation was to what it is that made me decide on my ideas.

I chose to go with the

Sci-fi Naginata

The reason that I went for this one was because I thought it was more interesting than just doing an ordinary gun, but also the practicality of it was pretty good as well.

This is a stand alone rechargeable weapon, I may have gone a bit far, with suggesting Lunar power, but I just wanted something different for my weapon that no one else had done.

Compared to my other designs, such as the fist gun and the Giger(ish) gun and the others that I created, the Naginata gun was by far my favourite in design and though out the choosing process. I knew, even when I was doing silhouettes for all of the weapon ideas, I knew, from the way that it popped out at me from the page, that, that was going to be one idea that I was going to carry it on.

These were the images that I looked at for my Weapon creation, I used these images to build up what it was that I wanted the weapons to look like in silhouettes and this was rather difficult. As you can see I have images of swords, and they are not generally called into being anything Sci-fi. However, they are kind of used within Starwars as they use their lightsabers, which to me, are basically glowing swords.

But for this I thought that I would look through the obvious first, and that was guns, and as you can see from my sketchbook there are influences from Giger and also there are influences from the moodboards, where it shows where I got my gun ideas from.
However the drawing do differentiate from the originals due to me wanting them to look better within a sci-fi theme.
However when doing these ideas I have also added in a Naginata type weapon, but it should also be like a gun, so that it can be used as a long range weapon, because that is what man other Sci-fi weapons are based on and I wanted to make sure that my weapon kept to some of the basics of what Sci-fi weapons are.
As can be seen from the images above it can be seen as to where most of my thoughts of weapons come from. Like the sword idea and others, and these have all been documented within my sketch book.

Initial concepts and development.

I have done this because I know that there is none of this with the sketch book, that is why there shall be images for this one, but there will not be other the others (building and helmet).

As you can see with the purple writing I have annotated the weapons.
The reason that I have done them simple on here is because I am now going to explain them.

The first drawing is now the initial idea, this used to be the main, but now I have gone and re-hashed the work so that I can get a better mark, so I took this idea and made it into a concept, this is so that I can keep the basic idea but also improve it. So the annotation for this one is in the sketch book and all the other information that I put on there.

The first thing that I am going to mention is that all the weapons are powered the same, this is pointed out by the annotations, I just wanted to make it clear that they all work the same way fundamentally. Yes, I know that Lunar Power is not a real thing, and the object that give the light to the moon is the sun, so indirectly it is still Solar Power, however, I wanted something different for my work, and this to me was making the power source for the weapon accessible, believable and also useful.

Another thing that I would like to mention that the sets of 3 orbs are something that I decided on, because visual it is preferred when things come in sets of 3. So I added these, not just for practical application, but also for aesthetic reasons.

The first developed idea: for this one I wanted to see what the model would look like with a wavy staff, this is because I wanted it to look less stiff, however, for the next development ideas, you can see that I abandoned this. This is because, in my mind it looked awesome, on paper though it just looked horrible.
Also I made it so that this one was made out of iron, this is because, with the wavy staff I wanted something that was easy to manipulate and if my knowledge is correct iron is.
The barrel of the gun has been changed slightly in the fact that the end bows in rather than out like in the initial concept. This is because if needed this weapon can also be used as a close-combat one.
There is only one energy ball due to the lack of space on the wavy staff.

Second developed idea: For this I decided to go outside the range and see what it would look like if it was different, but fundamentally the same, as soon as this design was done, I knew immediately that this was not something that I would like to work with, It looked dull and boring.
From the image above you can see that there is a pointed tip to the weapon, I did this because I wanted the barrel to have a more focused tip, rather than a long line, this is because for battle purposes this would be better.
Another thing about this that is major difference is the second handle on the weapon, this is made by just separating the staff in the middle in two, thus making a handle, this was just something to me that looked out of place on the model when it was put down on paper.
The material that I decided for this weapon was that it was to be made out of carbon fiber, this is because, most of the new most powerful cars are made out of this, this is because it is strong but it is also light, and I wanted to make sure that, that was taken into consideration when I was making the weapons, what would be realistic, if it was to be used by people.

Third developed idea: This when drawing it made me think of a sting ray. This has a pointed top, so can be used as a close combat weapon but also this allows for easy shooting, due to it being open, it can be set to wide beam and also pin point, so that multiple enemies can be got, or just a single foe.
This weapon, if made would be made out of glass. This is because I wanted something unbelievable to be the material, this is because Science fiction can make anything possible, and I personally think that would include making a weapon out of a fragile substance, but it would still work.
This was a basic design, for the purpose of minimalism, that is due to me wanting to make these ideas as close but also as far a part in design as I could possible get them.

The Final Developed Idea, after looking into a number of different ways that I could do this, I got to the part where I finally got to something that I would be happy with making.
That was number four, and the last drawing from those images that you can see. I wanted something that resembled the first model, and I wanted something that would show my greater application in working with meshes in Maya, and I feel as though this has done just that.
I decided on this because as you can see this is an easy weapon to see how it work, I did not want to make complicated machinery. So I thought of ways that I could make this so show that I have thought about every part of it, I have thought about what the different parts would signify, there is nothing in this design that I just put there because I thought that it 'looked pretty' even though that is my argument for most things.
I wanted this to show the energy that was going though it, since it was something that was made to be powered by Lunar Energy. That is even absorbed by a fixture on the model. Also I thought about what the buttons would be like this time, and I have made it so that they are better visually compared to the original.
Another thing that I thought for this model was that it should be made out of Inconel, this is used in aero space engineering and is one of the hardest metals found on earth, I thought to using this because I thought that it being Sci-fi that the natural enemy that they would be fighting against would be aliens, and since not knowing what kind of aliens would be used (so preparing for the worst) I though that I should give them a metal that would be able to withstand a fight.

Sci-fi Building

This as a difficult one to accomplish, in the way that I had to think a bit more technically about this one, because for the other ones, they are basically fit for one thing. That was that they would be usable by people.
This had me thinking about shape, how much room would they need, what order would the rooms/sections go, so I was pondering for a while about that.

What I was looking for, was that I wanted this to be organic in nature and due to this being Sci-fi, the boundaries were pretty much none existent.

Coral

Shells

Shells

Sea Sponge

I used these images to get a grasp on what it was that I wanted my building to look like, this was after I picked out from the silhouettes what one I wanted to base my work upon.
I then looked into materials, of what they could be, they were, coral, sea sponge and sea shell.
While looking though images for the research for these, I came upon these images, and the reason that they are so diverse, is because I realised that the shape did not correspond with the materials that I wanted, so I had to look for something organic that did. So I have merged two pieces of research together, this was the coral and the shell. This is because, as can be seen from the images above, the shells have the spiral nature that I wanted my building to have, and as you can see from the image of coral the colours lean more towards what I was using when I was doing the final 3/4 view.
The mock ups before that were based on colours that are associated by the majority of people, of the sea/ocean. That is why I used blues, greens, and yellows. But then I thought about being more outside the box, and I wanted my alien building to be more organic.

From the images above, even though it might not seem like it, I generated a number of different ideas from then and put them into my sketchbook as a sequence of 3. I used a number of different shapes to make these, but the one thing that I had not decided upon at that time was the colour, so this was not mentioned in the annotation of the development ideas.
Using my research and moodboards for forestation, I came up with these ideas. Forestation was when I was looking into building covered in plants and vegetation and also buildings made out of it. This was what got me onto making buildings out of organic materials.
After making my silhouettes I moved onto making the moodboards, I made some for buildings/different types of Sci-fi/weapons, and these all helped me in making more detailed sketches, showing a progression though my work.

The annotation and reason for the ideas for this building is all in the sketch book, some is on pieces of paper that I clipped into the books. 

Sci-fi Helmet

This was created after a huge series of images spilled out from my brain and onto the pages of my sketchbook. I wanted to be able to get them all onto paper, this however was impossible, since my idea generation quickly out ran how fast I could draw... However, I drew quite a few silhouettes before deciding on what it was that I was going to do.
The next thing that I did was take an idea that I liked and played around with the design in a couple of more drawings, the all looked basically the same, but they were all different, in separate ways.
The final was something that took me time to decide on, and as you can see I did a small 'prototype' first and then I did the 3/4 after I had figured out what the orthographic of the helmet looked like. Because this is quite hard, since it was new to me to have to think about what an object would look like from all sides, and not just the one that I was drawing.

These were some images that I collected for my helmet mood board, this is because I want some variety within my helmets, and these ones helped me do that in my silhouettes, I made about 15 different silhouettes. A couple of these were then used to generate even more detailed sketched as you can see I used the jewel from the 3rd image and I then went on to use the horns that are featured in a couple of these.

Then using the Sci-fi moodboards that I had, I manipulated some of the helmets to be directed at a certain bit of a Sci-fi genre, some one of the noticeable one was the steampunk, it was very obvious that, that was what that idea was directed at.

The annotation and reason that I chose the idea that I did for the helmet is spoken about in the sketchbook.

These ideas can be seen within my sketchbook - which I do not have at this time, so I cannot put photographic evidence on this blog right now. But it is there.