Oiling The Joints

My next part of the modeling process involved me creating a small metal pot/cap that is attached to multiple points on the steam pump. The metal pots, we believe, were used to allow oil to be applied to the core parts inside the engine.
I started by creating the small screw nut that attaches the metal pot to the pump. This was simply created with a cylinder with the sides decreased to 8, smoothing off and with a radius of 3cm.

The next stage was the main body. This again was a cylinder, but a bit bigger with the smoothing on. To create the lid I converted the object to an editable poly to allow me to manipulate individual polygons and points. I selected the polygons on the top of the cylinder and using the bevel tool I extruded and scaled the polygons larger then back in again, creating the effect of a lid on the cylinder.

On the side , at the top of the cap, there is a small lip which would be were you would flick open the lid. I created this part by selecting the polygons on a side and pulling them out creating the lip. With a mesh smooth modifier applied this section now looked similar to the actual part.

A hinge would have to be applied to the back of the metal cap. This was made by using a square shaped rectangle object at 4cm high with 3 width and height segments. Then converting it to an editable poly I could select the polygons down one side and pull them in from the bottom up, creating an incline from top to bottom. I then applied a mesh smooth modifier to make it look more realistic and less like a box.

For extra detail on the hinge I created to small spheres to go either side to look like small bolts holding the hinge.

A final added touch to the top of the metal cap included a small cylinder which acts as a kind of cover between the hinger and the lid. This was just a small cylinder with a mesh smooth applied.

Below is the final model for the metal cap. Like the wheel, this model has all objects grouped and named appropriately for easy import and export. This model can easily be cloned multiple times as needed  for the final steam pump model.

The Wheel

Before starting the modeling process, as a group we decided it would be best to set up the correct measurements. This is so we can be sure whatever we model will be at the correct scale and when it comes to importing all objects to one file the objects are not hugely off scale. Within 3ds Max, under 'Customize' and 'Units Setup', there is an option to change the default unit scale to Metric and then Centimetres. Inside the 'System Units Setup' there is another option to change from Metres to Centimetres.
With the units set up ready for creating objects I began creating the wheel. I created a cylinder about 9cm thick with a radius of 70cm, which I thought would be a rough estimate of the object. Getting the exact measurements isn't required as of yet because everything can be scaled slightly before the mapping stage. I increased the sides to 18 and checked the 'smooth' box to get a much more rounded look.

To create the hole in the centre of the wheel I had to clone the wheel, lower the radius and increase the height so it could be positioned in the centre and then use the boolean tool.

I created another cylinder like the first but with a slightly smaller height and radius. I repeated the same process as above and booleaned a hole in the middle of the cylinder, however this time made the hole smaller.

This created a much more realistic looking wheel.
The next stage was to create the centre of the wheel. Using a chamfer cylinder I created a rounded off cylinder shape with 14 sides. A mesh smooth modifier made a good shape which matched the the real wheel.

In the research photos I found that the centre of the chamfered cylinder the shape grew slightly larger. I converted the shape into an editable poly and with lines sub selection I scaled the centre to make it slightly larger.

I made another chamfer cylinder and made it much smaller, this would appear in the centre of the first chamfered cylinder object. This object wouldn't need a mesh smooth.

To finish off the centre I needed to make an object that sort of wrapped around the centre chamfer cylinder. This would be where the wheels spokes would attach from. I made a standard cylinder object with 14 sides that would be larger than the chamfer cylinder and applied a mesh smooth.

The final stage of the wheel would be creating the spokes that fill the middle. I started by just creating a single rectangle to get the rough size and shape of a single spoke. Converting the rectangle object to an editable poly allowed me to change the points at either end of the rectangle to make the object look as if it was moulded to the wheel frame and the wheel centre.

I applied a mesh smooth to the object which gave the rectangle a more realistic look for the metal poles that make the wheels spokes. Cloning and rotating the objects gave me the desired look for the wheel.

 Before saving the object I named each part of the wheel so later on in the project there would be less confusion when everything is combined. I also grouped all the objects together to allow for easy rotation and animation later on.

Below is the finished model with no textures applied.

Team Set Up & Outlook

Setting up the team blog was a relatively simple task. I created a group email address with Google Mail which then allowed me to create the Blogger account. I thought the ‘gmail.com’ email address would be the most straightforward because it is ideal to have a Google Mail linked to Blogger. All required login information was saved in a document and given to all members of the group.

Overall I am very happy with the fellow students who make up the team as we each have our strengths and weaknesses that compliment each others. Staying organised and keeping in touch is a vital aspect of team work so this is an area we all try to keep on top of. We are all keen to create an in depth and detailed model as each team member shares a great interest in 3ds Max. This helps the group work together and helps as needed. I am confident that as a team we can create a very detailed animation.

Group Presentation

This week involved our group presenting our idea for the project. For the presentation each group member spoke a little about each aspect of the project and how each part will come together at the end.

An initial allocation of responsibilities gives each member important roles within the group, from modeling and animation to post production and audio. However for the modeling process, each group member will be assigned a specific part of the steam engine machine. This will help save time and evenly divide the initial work load, as the next stage of the process cannot be started until the modeling is complete.
The presentation was good and I believe it was received well by fellow students as well as the lecturer. Only a small number of questions were raised and we were able to answer them as a group quite well. Given the opportunity to re do the presentation I think it would be interesting to have a video clip of the steam engine running, rather than an image.