Forest bench

This week was... unpleasant. I originally meant to write that it sucked balls but since I'm well-behaved, I won't.

But it totally did.

As a result, I didn't have much time (or capacity) to accommodate my artistic needs. I did intend to create a simple scene, but I also wanted to begin character courses on CG Cookie, to get a head start on the March class. That didn't quite happen. I managed to squeeze in a bit of Animation Bootcamp time, but the animation is not yet finished and I didn't want to post a half-baked result. So, it's only going to be this one render, I'm afraid.

To my surprise, I was at a loss as to what to create—when just a short while ago I had so many ideas I didn't know what to do first. Inspiration is a weird thing. In the end I excavated one of my older ideas (remember the Chippendale furniture?). In that scene I wanted to have a top hat on a chair. Well, now I have a top hat on a bench. Much better.

The bench is taken directly from Mr. Squirrel's, converted into human size and freshly painted (read: I changed the color ramp a bit). And the props? Carefully chosen. Since I couldn't go through the character courses, I did the second best thing. I've probably mentioned that I have an idea for a short film brewing in my mind. That is still ages ahead, but the hat and the wand are two items that are going to play a certain role in it. I hope to complete them with a character (my first!) during the March class, and kill those two pesky birds with one hat. 

I'm not sure how well you can see it in the picture, but the wand is somewhat special. If it looks like a glass tube covered with a duct tape, then don't worry, you are not going crazy. It is a glass tube covered with a duct tape and there is a good reason for it. But all in due time, my dear Watson.

While we wait for the revelation, though, I can tell you how I created it. Not the most straight-forward thing in the world, that wand. I knew I wanted to create a long, bendable plane, which I could wrap around the cylinder. I also suspected that the Shrinkwrap modifier would have a role to play. But how to twist the plane, that remained a mystery.

At first, I thought I'd do something fancy. I enabled additional curve types and chose a helix. Then I added a plane with Curve and Array modifiers. That had the effect of duplicating the plane along the helix path. The only issue was that it produced one of those Möbius strips—double twisted, as well. Weird thing to look at, even weirder to use with Shrinkwrap modifier. So I took off my white gloves and used the good old Array. With a little help from the rotation department, I was able to position the plane in just the right way to make the illusion of a long winding strip. 

Or I could have used the Screw modifier and save myself all this trouble. *sigh* That's the thing with 3D modelling, isn't it? There is rarely one way of doing something, but you will, undoubtedly, choose the most complicated one. No? Just me? Oh, alright then.

Next week I want to: a) finish the latest animation, b) start a character course, c) work on a CG Challenge submission (as long as the topic is at least decent). So I will most likely d) end up with something completely different. What would be the fun otherwise, n'est-ce pas?