The document describes the process of 3D modeling a robotic "sidekick" over several weeks. It discusses designing the robot based on retro futuristic influences and modeling each component in Lightwave using primitives. Details include adding surfaces and textures to give the robot a metallic appearance, as well as lighting effects on vents and other areas. The modeling process concludes with rendering images of the completed robot from different angles in Layout.

1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTec Level 3
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Games Design
Unit 66 – 3D Modelling
HA5 – Sidekick Task 6 – Production
Name Luis Vazquez
Date: 23/03/14 – 30/03/14
Using my previous research and my own imagination, I created this set of designs to use for my ‘Sidekick’ model, as seen in task 5.

2. While researching robotic partners in fiction I decided that I wanted to create a robot that had a more simplistic, almost retro futuristic design. To this end, I did
additional research on older science fiction, as well as real world technologies (with a particular focus on wood-panelled radios, cameras, light bulbs, and military
drones) and used them to create this overall design. I also decided to base the shape of the casing of a species of animal, a type of Ray.
When drawing my designs on paper I included additional ‘cut-off’ views of individual elements of the design as a visual aid when I would create the model, as I
felt some details in the design weren’t clear enough in other the other design views to create a convincing idea of how they would look in 3d.

3. Date:31/03/14 – 6/04/14
I began to create my sidekick model using my designs. I loaded the images of my designs into NewTek’s Lightwave modelling program, adding them to the
backdrop so that I can use them as a quick reference for the approximate dimensions of the model. I also Lightwave’s built-in ‘invert’ option, which causes the
backdrop image to invert colours, which makes the drawn lines of the image more visibly distinct from the vertices of the model, reducing the chance that I
would confuse one for the other, which would lead to errors in the model.
Over the course of the week I have made the central body, the uppermost exterior case, the ‘face’ of the robot and its left wing. Each of these components are
made using primitives such as boxes and spheres, that I then edit, using the knife tool to add more points and vertices to an object, and the drag tool to
manually adjust the placement of a point, which changes the shape of its object.
I have made an error when creating the uppermost exterior case, as I used a completely flat box primitive to create it, which means that the surface of the object
is only visible from one side; the underside is invisible. As that part of the model isn’t complete, I will correct that later, before I add and adjust surfaces.
Date:21/04/14 – 27/04/14
I corrected my error since the previous log entry, by using the multishift on the case object to create a slight protrusion that isn’t large enough to visually change
the shape. This means that LightWave recognises the object as being ‘3d’ and applies the default surface to both sides of the object.
Rather than create the second wing from scratch, I chose to use the Mirror X tool to create a ‘reflection’ of the objects on one side of the X axis, onto the other.
In practice, the only major change this added to the model was creating the second wing, as the other objects were already symmetrical on the axis. I waited
until I completed this step before working on the tail, as I was worried that using the Mirror X tool would cause disfigurements in the tail if it wasn’t perfectly

4. symmetrical.
I created the tail using two separate objects – the ‘cord’ and the ‘lightbulb’. The cord I made starting from a disc shape, using the bevel tool to gradually extend
the shape in a consistent style. The lightbulb consists of two objects of the same shape, one smaller and inside the over, and an orb that is inside both. I chose to
make the lightbulb this way so that when I add surfaces to the objects, the lightbulb will have a more convincing 3d look to the glass, with an inner layer and
outer layer, while the orb will serve as a source of light from within the glass.
I have also began to apply surfaces to the model, done by selecting the area to surface and using the ‘q’ function to create a separate surface that can be
manipulated directly. I applied pre-made textures to the model using the surface editor, and its preset panel. I chose a variety of metal based surfaces that didn’t
reflect light as harshly as chrome metals to create a more modern, practical appearing machine.
I do not find how dark the model currently appears with its surfaces satisfactory, so I will later begin to add or manipulate current surfaces to adjust the model to
have a brighter appearance.

5. Date:28/04/14 – 4/04/14
I have completed all of the ‘physical’ detailing on the model (the additional parts on the ‘face’ of the robot, as well as vents on the underneath). I have also
begun to add and adjust the final surfaces to complete the model, which includes the surfaces of various details on the face, the glow coming through the vents,
lit up areas of the wings, and the face.
To create the vents, I bevelled the outer part from a flat oval shape, creating a hollow case, which I then put multiple rectangle shapes ‘through’ and then used
the Construct Boolean tool to separate the parts of the rectangles that were within the vent from those outside of it. Then I deleted the outside sections, and
copy pasted the result multiple times to space them out on the underside of the robot.
I wanted the vents to have a ‘glow’ coming from inside them that would be seen when looking up at the robot from underneath, so I created a flat rectangle that
I put inside the lower case of the robot, and added a simple coloured surface to it. To create a glow from the object, I used the surface editor to adjust the
surfaces ‘luminosity’, which applied the effect I desired. I also applied this effect to multiple other surfaces, including the wing tips, the camera lenses, and the
light within the bulb on the tail.

6. My final adjustment to the object was the surface on the face. As I had designed the object to have a somewhat retro technological look I wanted the face to be
recognisable as being made from a radio, in this case a wooden panelled radio. Because there was no premade surface within the editor, I acquired a high
resolution image of processed, flat wood, and then used the surface editor to load the image onto a flat colour surface, and then edited the Alpha so that the
image was visible on the surface.
I considered this to be the final product and ready to be rendered in layout, so I downloaded the scene template and the object template from the college
moodle files, and loaded them and my finished object in NewTek Layout, where I used the move and drag tool to move the camera into various positions and
views of the object, and I used the Render Frame tool to create a rendered image of the robot, including lighting and a background.

7. My final adjustment to the object was the surface on the face. As I had designed the object to have a somewhat retro technological look I wanted the face to be
recognisable as being made from a radio, in this case a wooden panelled radio. Because there was no premade surface within the editor, I acquired a high
resolution image of processed, flat wood, and then used the surface editor to load the image onto a flat colour surface, and then edited the Alpha so that the
image was visible on the surface.
I considered this to be the final product and ready to be rendered in layout, so I downloaded the scene template and the object template from the college
moodle files, and loaded them and my finished object in NewTek Layout, where I used the move and drag tool to move the camera into various positions and
views of the object, and I used the Render Frame tool to create a rendered image of the robot, including lighting and a background.