Category: Son

Thesis:

Violence is featured prominently in mainstream entertainment media, television shows or even commercials. Producers of these shows usually take little responsibility in determining how the violence would affect children’s behavior or psychology. As we are incorporating more and more of technological advance into our life, our experiences will be come increasingly digitized. The project shows a hypothetical situation in which the famous Samsung Curved TV Commercial is expanded by 10 minutes.

Concept

Renewable energies are unarguably  the most important transitions in the world economy during the 20th century. Yet, progress toward renewable energy in the United States has been very slow, due to and inefficient management bipartisan government. The sculpture set is the my personal take on the issue of renewable energies through the lens of two humanized characters: Fans and Windmills. The project is also an experiment on animation with Keyshot, a software that produces amazingly high-quality renders but has little support for animation.

Renders

Animation

Please watch the swf file at this link.

http://www.fastswf.com/dTP07R0

Important learning:

• The update function in rhinos can be used repeatedly to change the render frame by frame. While the process is still tedious, it is do-able. I personally think the quality produced from Keyshot is very well worth the tedious process in Rhino
• Angle of rotation can get reversed if the change in angle was not calculated appropriately.

Future updates

• Reduce the rotation rate of some windmill. Make the vibration of the fan more natural.

Notes:

• Lower the body on the left Sam
• Think about ways to extend possibilitities for the whole windmill population

Concept

Human beings are not capable of controlling their own states once they grow more than they sustain. Overpopulation, Industrial Revolution and the rise of technology have all impacted human’s lives in the most fundamental ways. It always seems that there is a constant fear that the process is unsustainable, and that human beings can do nothing once things get out of control. The project attempted to represent human beings’ “overgrowth” through the lens of overpopulation in a surrealist city.

Renders

Important learnings

• The most important learning from this project was to separate one big file into multiple files of separate geometry so that the whole process becomes more manageable. The whole modeling process suffers a lot of wasting time from simply waiting for the geometry to work. And separting the file into multiples not only increase the speed of modeling, but also increase the likelihood of being able to import the geometry to Keyshot
• I also found that Keyshot has its own limit in the amount of geometries it can hold. Thus, the best way to go with this is to also separating the Keyshot files so that each file render separate objects. As long as the camera angle stays the same, the two renders can be perfectly lined up and produce one coherent final renders. Now, I have to be careful to separate the projects so that most of the important effect (such as reflection) is unchanged in the final composition. For example, I don’t want to render a boat and the water separately because the reflection of the boat on the water will not appear and the final composition becomes unnatural.
• For small details such as windows, I can instead use UV mapping since UV mapping will flow through the surface of the objects. While I sacrifice some geometry and the alignment of the windows won’t be “perfect,” my render time can increase drastically (And the windows are so small they obviously don’t need to be aligned with perfect accuracy).

Future additions

I had to drop 40% of the geometry so that the project is importable to Keyshot renderers. Since I figured out how to keep the same angle for two different Keyshot files, there is the possibility that I can render objects separately in Keyshot and assemble later by other photo editing software such as photoshop. I really hope that I can bring out the remaining geometry so that the project would be more complete.

I am really glad that I was able to bring the model into keyshot to apply material. Initially, I resorted to my old styles which use mechanical and plastic materials. The result looks quite dull and doesn’t have that much emotional emphasis on it. I was initially very unhappy with the result.

I decided to completely overhaul my own style, switching to a more flat and comic approach. The result turns out to have a lot potential! Since materials are almost completely vanished, the focus of the picture was turned completely into form. Even though there are little edges or contour, the form are still very recognizable. The audience would take the form as it is instead of getting distracted by the material.

Several possible modifications for the final render:

+ Make the hour hand and the minute hand more visible.

+ Extending the background to the hold picture frame and add a sun into the background to represent sunset (or the down fall)

+ Adding buildings and windows.

+ Adding sky castles and possibly some more “building circles” to truly represent unplanned growth. The circles right now still look to have some what an order into it.

 

 

Description

Animation is a series of images that create a recognizable sequence of motion that is really catchy to the eye. In order to keep things manageable in this project, I wish to do a project exploring the potential of animation in 3D sculpture. The project will be 3 or 4 GIF animation sequences using multiple keyshots render at the same camera position.

Throughout the last 2 projects, I have always have a very “formalist” approach. My concept tends to gradually change over time based on the situation and the geometry that works. Since this project is only 2 weeks, instead of digging deeper into conceptual problem and devise a representation, I want to try to get emotion from the simple shape that I that usually use. The simple shapes of the geometry, combined with the harmonic motion, can produce very emotional effect. Some artists were able to combine animation with simple geometry to produce phenomenal effect.

Visual researches

Intellectual researches

The sky castle and the tower have some enhanced geometry. I also optimized the building geometry so that the building parts can be copied around. I also finished sketching the overall composition of the piece. Here are the screen shots of each.

The final composition will look like this.

I hope I will finish the geometry by tomorrow so that I have a full Wednesday for doing Keyshot materials and renders. Wednesday night will be reserved for any little problems that arise.

Motivation

Dreams have been powerful creative tools for me to break off from normal way of thinking and all kinds of constraints and come up with a normal approach. Thus, I would like to dig deeper into the field of irrationality and come up with a surrealist object or artwork that based on dream and impossible objects. This has a lot of potential because the object doesn’t necessarily have to make sense and there are a lot of rooms for more warped and organic forms. I also want to take the next project to break off from my old style of using a lot of hard curves, black metals and black plastic, which starts to look cliche.

The object that I want to examine is the nail. Nails contain very interesting screw curves that can be further explored for meanings or modified into other kinds of objects.  Minimally, I hope to create some kinds of objects or buildings that can represent the nails, and somehow use the curve of the nails to create some wild and elaborate geometry.

The project potentially relates to Twist and Bend command. These are the commands that I really want explore more of their potentials.

Visual images collected

Some sources of Surrealists artworks:

• http://www.beautifullife.info/art-works/surrealistic-paintings-by-vladimir-kush/
• http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/surreal-photo-manipulation-40-amazing-artworks/

Surrealist artworks turned out to be plenty. Thus, I would have to figure out a unique style for my objects.

Sketches

This sketch is done by combining 7 different A4 sketches together. Takes 8 hours to complete.

 

Critical thinking about the project

The theme I chose is the wearing down of human’s emotion  in the face of social challenges and constraint. It seems that as humans grew older over time, they start to have troubles finding sweetness for their long days. People can still buy a pack of candy, but they don’t know how to eat the candies like a child. The project aims to demonstrate the complexity of human’s emotion based on surrealist arts. Objects can be warped and modified wildly to be more expressive. My aim is not to follow the traditional style and goes for more organic materials, even though these organic materials might not fit the smooth nature of my geometry and demands more meticulousness. I also would like to use Adobe After Effects to apply some flat color into my work because as a “formalist,” I want to apply flat color so that the renders appear more expressive. Flat colors will also served to hide some of the weakness in geometry and make the final results look more natural.

Intellectual research

I am really glad that I was able to bring the model into keyshot to apply material. Initially, I resorted to my old styles which use mechanical and plastic materials. The result looks quite dull and doesn’t have that much emotional emphasis on it. I was initially very unhappy with the result.

I decided to completely overhaul my own style, switching to a more flat and comic approach. The result turns out to have a lot potential! Since materials are almost completely vanished, the focus of the picture was turned completely into form. Even though there are little edges or contour, the form are still very recognizable. The audience would take the form as it is instead of getting distracted by the material.

Several possible modifications for the final render:

• Make the hour hand and the minute hand more visible.
• Extending the background to the hold picture frame and add a sun into the background to represent sunset (or the down fall)
• Adding buildings and windows.
• Adding sky castles and possibly some more “building circles” to truly represent unplanned growth. The circles right now still look to have some what an order into it.

Concept

Ancient weaponry and futuristic technology have a potential to combine aesthetically to create interesting form and functioning. This is an attempt to depict the Armored Elephant military unit in the ancient world, combined with some futuristic elements.

Models and renders

Future addition

Due to the time constraint, I was only able to render the model in a studio setting. Incorporating photo-realistic background introduces a problem of blending virtual and realistic elements. In the future, I hope to create additional military unit and construct meaningful scenes (Project 3)

Tank tread is a little bit over-complicated. Consider simplifying it depending on the processor. (The PC already shows sign of slow when the tank is assembled.

Motivation and description about the project

Ancient warfare has always been one of the most appreciated topics in the field of history. The strategy, the tactics, the victories of the underdog and the mastermind behind them have drawn great inspiration for historians, artists and politicians of all era. As for me, I have always been interested in the history of Three Kingdoms (181 – 265). During this period of time, China descended into total chaos; eunuchs use the puppet emperor rule the imperial court; people suffer hunger and drought, warlords fight each other for territory and survival. During such a chaotic time, many intelligent and capable generals have the opportunity to prove their virtue to the worthy ruler they serve and to the people they protect. As such, Three Kingdoms, while full of sufferings and bloodshed, featured some of the greatest historical figures in Chinese history, with great military achievements and significant advancement in warfare technology.

Much of the philosophy in military warfare during the Three Kingdoms period were recorded in texts by several scholars of the era, but there was a lacking in sources of illustrated images. Therefore, this project aims to use 3D technologies to recreate the ancient warfare system, including army, weapons and different kinds of units, in a more futuristic settings.  Specifically, the author will try to combine imaginary weaponry and construction technology with the philosophy of the ancient military system to create a visually satisfying representation of ancient military, The project will include renders of each military units, their descriptions of strengths and weaknesses. Further developments may also include portrayals of historical figures but in futuristic costumes. In the initial stage, I will focus on designing cavalry unit, since horses are symbolic icons of ancient warfare.

Visual sketches

The sketches start with diverging and exploring some new idea about how to connect futuristic elements with traditional value of warfare. Much of the philosophy and strategy of each weaponry remained the same, but the form is much altered to fit the new futuristic feeling and struggle. In order to avoid being only a mere 3D representation of new kinds of weapons, I mustn’t emphasis solely on technicality and has to incorporate elements that represent the material and emotional struggles in war time. Such elements can be composed into meaningful scenes.

Visual researches

Collected images are related to Horse, Armor, Tank Tread and the Cross Bow. I’m trying to collect images such that the materials don’t significantly favor either machines or ancients.

Intellectual research

The hardest part about the project is to combine elements of ancient warfare with more futuristic aspects. Ancient weaponry (as evident in collected image) usually features assemblage of small pieces, while futuristic elements usually have really smooth curve. Unbalanced combination between the two can make the model look quite toyish, evident in the first model version, which is heavily based on the sketch.

The resulting model looks quite toy-ish and doesn’t have much room for improvements. I decided to redesign the front of the image by breaking apart a lot of pieces. The breaking apart into pieces have a lot of advantage. A lot more sharp corner can be created, while the model still retains the smoothness of each element. The modeling of the front, attached with a cross bow on the top, shows a lot of potential.

Since Albert Einstein discovered the Theory of Relativity, modern physics opened itself to a whole new spectrum of reality in which space and time are blended together in a set of madly distorted interactions. Humans once again had to break their own visual limitations, cast doubt on not just what they hear but what they see. We came to realize that everything we had blindly recognized as status quo has always been relative and the truth only came from a multitude of perspectives.

The discovery that every life in the world is indeed a set of data allows the possibility that one day, we would be able to create genetically engineered organic robots that have the same intellectual and emotional qualities as of humans. If that happened, how would we treat these robots and use them to further increase our productivity? Would they have equal rights with human-beings or would racism repeat itself in a new form of struggle in which “robots” are forbidden to make decisions, to love and to pursue happiness?

Thesis statement:

While vastly extending productivity, enhancing humans’ capability and raising the standards of living, technology has been constantly changing the way we live to a boundary that if surpassed, could plague humanity with class struggles, civil conflicts and possibly overhaul the entire existence of human-beings.

Collected images and inspiration:

(In the folder)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSGBwUEcM6c “Blade Runner” who uses prosthetic legs to compete with ‘proper’ athletes and even surpasses them in athletic ability.

Link: http://www.behance.net/gallery/STYLEFRAMES-NY-TITLE-SEQUENCE/9076851 An implementation of future New York with stylish art direction.

Blade Runner (1982) the Movie

Cloud Atlas (2012) movie.

Brief description of the research:

One of the common problems of arguments on posthumanism is that the assumptions of “human values” and “happiness”, are not clearly defined. The movie “Blade Runner” perfectly illustrates this ambiguity. The story of the movie sets on 2019, when a number of genetically engineered organic robots called “replicants” are manufactured by Tyrell Corporations and a number of “mega-corporations” around the worlds. Because the use of these robots is banned on Earth, replicants are forced to work on “off-world” colonies. Those who defy the ban will be hunted down by a group of police called “Blade Runner”. The movie showed a lot of existed problems accompanied with technologies such as dominance of corrupt corporations and excessive surveillance. It also challenged our assumption of what it means to be humans, and whether these replicants should be considered equal to humans.

In the same way, Cloud Atlas also portrayed the ambiguity on the definition of human and the problems that could arise. Sonmi~451, a genetically engineered robot is not considered a human-being. She and her ‘species’ are enslaved on the promise that they would be free after serving their term, only to later be recycled into other robots. Without a clear definition of human-beings, post-humanism becomes a dirty politics game, a tool for the elites and big corporations to exploit, disguise and make profits for themselves.

However, in this project, I decide to focus on something I called ‘boundary’. From my observation, humans’ development and technologies have been a naïve process of pursuing profits and short-term benefits. While being a very productive force for the society, these technological advancements already step into controversial field such as human-cloning or genetic modification. By advancing too naively and too fast, we already did something without fully perceiving its consequences. I do believe that all technological advancements should be limited by a well-defined moral ‘boundary’. One such boundary, for example, might be that genetic modification should only be used for cancer treatment, not physical enhancement. By clearly defining this boundary, we set a right direction for technological developments and this will help increase the material well-being of society.

Quote:

“Humanism may be coming to an end as humanism transforms itself into something one must helplessly call posthumanism” – Ihab Hassan, theorist

Project description:

I will do some keyshot renders for this sculpture set.

 

 

Genghis Khan has been notorious for his military leadership. His leadership is a harmonious balance between order and flexibility. The full-cavalry army of Khan is always in motion, yet the movement is smooth and not chaotic. Therefore, a vehicle for Genghis Khan will not only be powerful and flexible but also strike fear to anybody who come in his way.

As for the harsh environment, I would choose a tsunami. A tsunami is also total and sweeping. It would really frustrate Khan as it totally threatens his life but leave him with no flexible options except to run away. Furthermore, as his personality represents fire, a quick, powerful yet flexible force, water would be the obvious antithesis.

Several important elements inspire the design of the vehicle. I chose a horse for Genghis Khan as this is the single most important factor for his massive success and would obviously be his favorite vehicle. I build my vehicle based on a huge set of horse skeleton as this would strike fear to the enemy (and also because Khan catapults human heads into the castle to scare the people inside). The vehicle would be well protected to resist exceptional force like a tsunami. The cavalry also includes wheel and a jet engine in the tail to provide him enough speed for his escape. As for decorations, I incorporate the pattern found in Mongolian crown to make a noble appearance. An avid equestrian, Khan would prefer the old way of riding horse to the modern automobile handling system. Therefore, he would control the head of the horse by pulling the chain, similar to the technique of riding the horse.