All with the Modeling (3D Graphics) tag

Previous Next

As a small portion of the "Beyond the Byline: Erma Bombeck's Story" exhibit in the University of Dayton Roesch Library, I put together a video that runs on a loop in the space (you can see the video in the intro of the exhibit opening YouTube stream). This project was great for expanding my knowledge of DaVinci Resolve and finding a presentation solution for low-resolution clips.

Based on our first test with the low-resolution clips, displaying them full screen on the TV was not ideal. I had the idea to incorporate a retro TV scene to keep the videos smaller but still visually interesting. I created a composite image in GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), which was a successful start, but it was a challenge to find freely available photos that checked all of the boxes.

To have control over the scene, I decided to recreate it in Blender. Using a few reference images for a retro-style television and Erma's typewriter, I modeled everything in the scene except for the flower and vase. Through trial and error, I found lighting, HDRI, and rendering settings that produced a reasonably realistic result. The clips in that portion of the video were on the air in different years, so I created individual renders updating the "On Air" sign appropriately.

This was a ton of fun to put together, and I am pretty happy with the final result. After seeing all of the photos in the exhibit, if I were doing it over, I would replace the image above the TV with something else. I also would have modeled something to replace the flower, possibly putting in a few of Erma's books, centering the TV a little more.

As an example of the technology and a peek of what I could create within a short time frame, I set out to incorporate the DeGrazia Madonna, a variety of Mother Mary statues, and the Erma Bombeck Rose Gallery exhibit from 2022 into a virtual reality (VR) experience on the Quest. As a simple art exhibit, I added UI panels for each of the statues and wall clings to describe the piece and recorded voice-over audio. The Rose Gallery was created in Blender, the wall clings were photographed and turned into usable textures, the DeGrazia Madonna was turned into a 3D model using Meshroom, and "The Juggler of Notre Dame" stained glass was modeled in Blender and textured painted from a photograph. The wind/water mill was modeled in Blender based on a course. These assets and models found on Sketchfab were used to create a simple environment in Unreal Engine 5.

Attributions:

• "Assai vivace" by Dee Yan-Key
• "Spring Birds Loop with Low-Cut (New Jersey)" by hargissssound
• "Saint Mary of Antioch" by Geoffrey Marchal
• "Statue of the Cloister Mother Mary" by Northern Heritage Network
• "The Virgin Mary with Child and Saints" by Computer Vision and Reverse Engineering Lab
• "Virgin Mary Clay Statue" by FilippoViciani
• "DeGrazia Madonna" by DeGrazia, M.
• Erma Bombeck Collection

The Marian Library at the University of Dayton has various Mary-related statues. This DeGrazia Madonna statue was previously photographed using a rotary table. I used Meshroom, a photogrammetry application, to generate a 3D model based on these images. Although the photos were not ideal for reconstruction, Meshroom created a reasonably clean model. I used Blender to smooth out inaccurate geometry at the head and base and corrected some areas of the texture. The resulting model is imperfect, but it was a successful test of capability based on previously captured photos and free software. See the model at Sketchfab.

A medieval wind/water mill game asset with animation created following a course by 3DTudor in April 2022. This model was added to the Rose Gallery VR Demo as extra eye candy. I did little to "make it my own," as I was pretty happy with the overall plan.