Module 1 Formstorming

Weekly Activity Template

Sanren Zhou

Project 1

Module 1

In this module, we photograph objects in our lives and analyze whether they are primitive or complex constructions. We select 5 primitive objects and 3 complex objects and begin to understand the tools and features of Cinema4D by modeling them up.
This is also the beginning of our design move from 2D to 3D.

Activity 1

Tomatoes with stems. A front view of tomatoes makes it obvious that the tomato is a sphere with a smooth surface.

Top view of a tomato. You can see that there is an indentation at the top of the tomato and the color of this indentation is different from the color of the tomato, which can be difficult when modeling.

My first C4D attempt. To make modeling easier, I changed the sphere to a hexahedron so I could use features like extrusion more intuitively.

After subdividing the surface, I got a smooth tomato. I tried to use boole to cut the cylinder so I got the stem of the tomato. Even though it was a bit rudimentary, I learned the basic use of C4D with this tomato, such as point and line modes, extrusion, subdividing surfaces, and so on.

The bottom view of the tomato.Again, I used the extrusion tool. This makes the tomato shape more vivid.

A lipstick. It can be seen as two cylinders and they are: tube and cap.The bottom can also be seen as a flat cylinder, but it needs to be modeled so that it transforms into a polyhedron.

Lipstick and its lid. The lid part is similar to the tomato stem and could probably be modeled using boole as well.

In modeling the lipstick, I became more adept at using the zoom function as well as the copy shortcut. As I learned more about Cinema4D, I realized in retrospect that there were a few details missing from this modeling, such as the bottom of the lipstick, and a portion of the plastic shell that protects the balm. These will be filled in as I become more proficient with Cinema4D.

Lemon front view. It can be seen as a sphere, and the pointed corners at the ends can be realized using the extrusion function.Its rough surface needs to be taken care of when modeling.

Cut up lemons. I cut the lemons open considering I've seen a lot of designs that show cut lemons to show freshness, so this would be a good reference image.

I got a model of a lemon by extruding the ends of the sphere. In this exercise, I began to experiment with using the materials in Asset Browser to apply to the model. This did create a different effect and the natural texture of the lemon's skin can be observed. However, the surface of the lemon looked too smooth, so further adjustments were needed.

After searching the internet, I learned that I can modify the roughness, diffuse reflection, and other parameters of an item in the Material Manager. My lemon model looks more natural as well. This also made me think back to when I modeled the lipstick, where each part of the lipstick was made of a different material, and therefore also needed a different rendering material to make the item look more realistic and natural. So my main learning goal for the next phase is to use different materials and textures to make the item more natural.

Front view of a banana. It can be seen as a combination and deformation of multiple cylinders.

Banana modeling. A polygons model is used and the curved banana shape is obtained by rotating, scaling, and duplicating each surface.

A front view of the can, which can be seen as a cylinder. The top and bottom are slightly deformed.

The top view of the can, the pull ring, the grooves, and the lettering on the can will be some of the difficult details to model.Deducing from past experience, perhaps I will need to use a tool similar to the pen tool to accomplish these details.

Front view of the can modeling. In this exercise, I learned about the Loop Path, the shortcut key “U-L” for select all, and the Bevel tool.

Can modeling top detail, with the Loop Path as well as the extrusion tool, the groove on the top of the can was created.It's difficult to try to adjust these details because I'm not familiar enough with the software yet, and there are times when I'll mistakenly touch some of the other features, but I think that's the most fun part of learning modeling software, especially when you find new features or shortcuts in the “mistakes”.

The can was more difficult to model than I expected, and the next step involved a lot of new knowledge in the creation of the pull ring and modeling other details. However, at this point, I had enjoyed Cinema4D as a software, so I was confident in making a finished can, and this work is to be continued.

Top view of a shoe, which is a complex object.It's hard to define what primitive object the shoe was combined and morphed from, and its material and texture is what makes it such a complex object.

The bottom of the shoe, covered with many regular grid shapes.Repetitive tools could probably be applied.

A front view of a pencil bag, similar to a cube or cylinder. Its soft texture makes it a complex object.

Side view of a pencil case, similar to a rectangle or cylinder. Its soft texture makes it a complex object. And it needs to be modeled with consideration of how to make the side handles.

Side view of the Rubber Duck, a complex item created by transforming and combining several primitive items. Either it or the coke can are candidates for prototyping in my final design.

Front view of the Rubber Duck, a complex item created by transforming and combining several primitive items. Either it or the coke can are candidates for prototyping in my final design.

Activity 2

After summarizing and reflecting on Activity 1, I changed the Coke can to a complex object because it required very many steps for the pull tab and the opening at the top. Therefore I replaced the Apple Pencil as a simple object and documented it.

Close-up of the nib. You can see that the nib and barrel are two separate parts. Beveling as well as extrusion may be used in the modeling.

I used Spheres and Cylinders to model the pencil. At the top of the pencil, I used Boole to create a rounded tip. At the same time, I selected and rescaled the top half of the sphere to make the top curvature smaller.

I use a cone to model the nib. As the photo of the Apple Pencil shows, it is two separate parts from the stick, and it has a rounded tip, so I still used Boole to create the nib. Meanwhile, at the end of the pen barrel, I used the bevel tool to create a groove.

Detail view of the nib. I got this by combining the separately modeled barrel and nib.

On the pencil, I applied boole to create a flat surface on one side of the cylinder. This will be more similar to the real object.

After finishing modeling, I added color to the Apple Pencil. This was easy because it is white and made of plastic, so there was little need to adjust the existing material parameters.

In Activity 1, I tried modeling a banana. However, it was clear that it was too rounded, whereas a real banana has angles on the skin, so I continued to add details to last week's modeling. I selected the edges that needed to be deformed in Edges mode and used bevel. this made the banana peel look a little more realistic.

In Activity 1, I modeled the lipstick, and in Activity 2, I added some details to the lipstick. For example, the bottom of the lipstick was created using bevel and extrude. I also used subdivision surface to make the lines of the lid softer.

I explored Cinema4D's MATERIAL feature with this lemon modeling. In Activity 1, I didn't adjust the roughness of the material, so my lemon looks like a balloon (hahaha). After watching the tutorial, I tried to adjust the material's roughness and used the “Lemon Model” in the Asset Browser, which gave me a realistic lemon skin effect. I also adjusted the projection, which changes the position and scale of the texture.

Another exploration in materials. This time I used the Node Editor, and I put a lemon surface map into the Bump map to get the effect shown here. But the lemon's surface isn't obvious enough, and I'll be exploring the material's uses and functions.

I continued modeling the can in Activity 2. When making the top, I used loop cut to split the surface and we could see that the opening of the coke can is irregular so I used the polygon pen to draw the opening. I also used the slide tool to adjust the lines.

Bottom of the can. You can see I modeled it in polygons mode. I think it's a useful trick in Cinema4D to keep switching between point, line, and polygons modes.

Top of the can. I modeled the grooves, as well as cut out the open part. This was done mostly with loop cuts, line cuts, bevels, and extrudes.

I modeled the cola pull ring with a cube. The technique used is similar to that used when modeling the opening, by adjusting the position and length of the lines I got a prototype of this.

To show a pull tab pulled up, I used the bend tool. Got this effect.

Now to put the two parts together. I realized there is something missing between the tab and the can, so I used a cylinder to connect them.

After combining and adjusting, the most difficult part of the can is done.

I started modeling the rubber duck from a cube.Loop cut and loop selection tools are used.

After constantly adjusting the points and edging the sides and noodles, I got the duck's body.

I used cubes for the duck beak part. Bend and twist were applied. By adjusting the angle of these two tools I can get an upturned duck beak shape.

By duplicating and rotating the cube, the duck's beak is completed.

I used two spheres and deformed them to create the duck's eyes.

The back of the duck. I'm happier with the overall shape. Next, I'll be sculpting mostly the details of the duck.

Material Workshop 1

Wool found in the textile department of Sheridan College. Generally used for spinning sweaters or other crafts. Rough texture, irregular edges, non-reflective, can be made in different colors.

Small beads found in the textile department at Sheridan College. Made of plastic and used mainly for decoration. Regular shape with a smooth, reflective appearance. Some are transparent or semi-transparent.

Thin wood panels found in the furniture design department at Sheridan College. Most are made of maple, cherry or ash. The surface is slightly rough, non-reflective, has a natural pattern, and can be bent to a desired curvature after soaking and heating. And is used to make baskets, chests, and other items.

Material Workshop 2

Rubber hand with metal brackets inside to allow for finger movement. The surface is slightly sticky, so there is dust attached to it. There are also some small holes on the surface. With a little bit of reflection.

A small bird molded from metal. Smooth and shiny surface with some reflections.

$A glass block. The glass is transparent, smooth, and highly reflective. The glass refracts objects in a way that distorts the object behind the glass.$

Project 1

Final Project 1 Design

Physical Published 3D Printed Model

3D printed duck model

I chose to print this duck because its base is on the large side suitable for 3D printers to stack material upwards. The difficult part of printing is the duck beak part, as it is larger than 45 degrees, so I needed to add supports and adjust the data in Cura. I reduced the layer height so that I could get a fine line to make the 3D-printed model smoother. I also adjusted the thickness of the wall, reducing it appropriately while maintaining the support, which saves printing time and material. Once the print was complete, I used scissors to trim a portion of the plastic first, and I used a mini electric grinder to trim in the details and in the parts where there was too much support material. Finally I used sandpaper to polish the model.

Digital Published Google Model Viewer Design 1

Digital Published ApplePencil 3D Model

The ApplePencil was the first model I tried for digital publishing. It is made of simple materials, but by rotating and changing light and shadow, you can see that it has a certain irregular deformation design on the side of the pencil, which was reached in Cinema4D with the Boole function.

Digital Published Google Model Viewer Design 2

Digital Published Coke can 3D Model

In the exercise of digitally publishing a Coke can, I focused on finding the most appropriate metal material, as well as modifying and tweaking the material in the material editor. I ended up using the material “Metal Steel Plate Rough 002 100cm”, which gave me a non-reflective metal material, and you can see some fine lines, very similar to the real can material.

Digital Published Google Model Viewer Design 3

Digital Published screw 3D Model

The modeling of the screws was the most difficult of all the modeling I attempted. When I finally finished modeling it and was ready to put it into the 3D model viewer, I ran into the problem of the file being too large as well as parts of the model being missing. This made me realize that digital publishing is not only about how to build the model and render the textures, but also about how to “safely” convert it into a digital publication. So I reworked the bottom half of the screw, and fortunately the publication went smoothly.

Digital Published Google Model Viewer Design 4

Digital Published cracker 3D Model

The making of the cracker was one of my favorite and what I found most interesting parts of the whole project. Here I explored the use of bump maps, UV wrapping and how to digitally publish models with complex mapping and texturing.