Final Image

This is my final image, I created it using the Blender Software. Which is a 3d modelling software freely availiable for download. This Software took awhile for me to learn how to use, as the UI is unlike anything I have used before. The online tutorials availiable on the Blender website were very helpful to me while trying to learn the software. These tutorials were also useful in providing shortcuts and techniques that I used while creating the image.

I created the main structure of the ski jump by creating cubes and then manipulating the mesh or the cube object to create the shapes of the objects that I required. Once the shapes were created and placed I changed the materials of the windows and rings to match the required colors. For the windows I tried to create a transparent glass effect however this did not work as well as I had hoped. Along with different color materials I used 2 textures, one for the sky and one for the concrete of the ski jump. These textures provided a much more realistic look than simple colors can achieve.

The most difficult part of creating this image was trying to create the grass. Natural materials seem to be much more difficult to create than man made structures using 3D modelling software. It is much easier to create solid blocks than curved surfaces. To create my grass I found an excellent tutorial dealing with grass and hair (which can be found here). Basically the tutorial takes you through the process of creating a particle effect that creates a realistic grass look from a standard plane object.