CPSC 3710 - Computer Graphics

Modelling Project

Patrick Lenaour

The image I chose to create is Jake the dog from the show Adventure Time. This is one of my favourite shows so I figured this would be a good model to create. Initially I was just using it as a test project to get to know blender a bit more, but the more I worked on it, the model started turning into something I was proud of and was worthy of submission.

First angle of the finished product

Here is a picture of the model with a 2D picture of the source material:

Tackling this project was the first time I have used Blender and it was interesting getting to learn the software. Looking at the initial overlay with a simple 3-dimensional cube on the screen it was a bit intimidating thinking about how to begin. Fortunately the time we live in it is very easy to find information on any subject, including the basics of Blender. This is what I did and started by watching and following along with a few tutorials. One was a general setup, learning some of the basics and handy key shortcuts. I then followed along with the creation of a teddy bear and a coffee mug. Both were very simple to follow along with and really provided the knowledge needed to work on my creation.

This is the basic setup I was using

I tried to add a bit more to the finale rendering by adding a sky blue background and a grass texture for Jake to stand on.

Overall the project was not terribly difficult, but creating a model I was happy with was time consuming. The most challenging thing was dealing with fixing up edges and faces and getting the camera in a position where I could accurately see what I needed to work on. The model itself is built using simple meshes that I was able to reshape. The most difficult piece was the snout mesh. It involved creating the basic curved design, but this resulted in flat ends. I had to reshape a sphere to get the correct shape, cut it in half and manually attach the edges to the curved piece. This needed to be done for both the left and right sides. Although not conceptually difficult, it was a challenge to get things attached in a manor that left it looking like one mesh.

I by no means feel as though I am a Blender expert. It is a very powerful piece of software and I feel like I have just scratched the surface in terms of what is possible. I am interested in creating video games, so getting experience with this tool is highly beneficial.