Dead on arrival - But it's not because of my model

(This is a photo through the Makerspace window)

So I'm glad I went into the Makerspace today. I hadn't heard anything about how my print went. Here's the result. I ran into Robert (another student in the class) He explained to me what happened. Apparently my print was going great - for 2 days - and suddenly the printer stopped. It wasn't because of my model though, which was good news. It looks like it would have made a great flower pot. 

 

Reverse engineering a flower pot

 When I originally saw the flower pot design I thought it would be relatively straight forward.

It originally looked like 2 cubes rotated at 90 degrees. 

After that it would just be a matter of cutting out the hole and moving the vertices to the correct heights.

This is was I originally thought was going to be needed as a base shape to build from. I was really wrong and the design is actually more complex that this. 

This is the flower pot starting to take shape. There were a lot of sharp angles and it wasn't exactly smooth sailing like I thought it would be.

I tried to bevel the whole thing in object mode and this happened... I don't even know what went wrong. I discovered I had to select certain edges at a time, the bevel. Even then if I did them in the wrong order strange things would happen.

This was another strange issue that happened more than once. This face had some weird error where these invisible edges would cross over one another. It would be an easy fix but you could not select or see it unless the face was selected and I was trying to use the multi cut tool. I wasn't even able to select them then. I had to delete the face a few times and try different things like 'fill hole' and 'target weld' which then created other problems.

This was the result of having to delete the problematic face.

This is the result of using the 'fill hole' tool. It created a double face in the drainage hole.

I ended up trying to use Boolean/Difference with a cylinder. That just recreated the 'Ghost' geometry issue I was having in the beginning. Lines crossing over that didn't exist.

I ended up having to completely fill the hole and created this geometry using target welding. I actually learned quite a bit trying to fix this issue and overall it was fun. I did have one error that I just couldn't get rid of. Every time I sent my flower pot over to Mudbox I got the same error. I tried cleaning it up multiple times and it was always the same error.

From what I can tell it was some kind of double edge somewhere. I looked everywhere for this thing. I couldn't find it. 

I send my pot off on 31/5/22 to be printed. I haven't heard anything back from Dom yet and everything is due today. I had a class on Thursday and I think I saw it printing but I could only see it from the front window. I think I might drive in to UNH and see if it's finished and someone is there on a Sunday... Maybe I'll do that now. 

Maybe no Ncloth afterall

 I really enjoyed experimenting with Ncloth, but in the end I decided to stick with my original Gooball abstract. I tried making additional Spheres that fell from above and collided with the original Gooball but in the end it wasn't very interesting. Ncloth is an amazing tool though and I'm glad I asked about it.

I've decided on an object to replicate for my Major project. I when with a geometric flower pot.

I wanted to make something I can display or give to someone as a gift. I found this photo on google image and thought it would be straight forward. I did however spend more time than I anticipated trying to figure out how this shape is broken down. There is actually a lot more to the design than I originally thought.

Ncloth is amazing

 I've really enjoyed learning basic modelling skills and getting my head around how Maya works on a basic level. I've manage to make my abstract sculpture with little to no issues. I feel like my Maya training is starting to culminate into something fun. Maya even has features I hoped it would even if I didn't know what they were called and it's widened my horizon quite a bit. Ncloth! What a cool feature. I haven't quite wrapped my head around everything I can do with it but the possibilities are really impressive. You essentially can smash objects together using gravity and adjust the properties of the material that is running into each other. Very cool. I've found a more in-depth tutorial to help me get to know the feature a bit more. I can't wait to see what I can do with it in regards to my abstract sculpture. 

Here's a look at where I am as far as my Gooball:

Week 7

Week 6

 This week was online again. In some ways I kind of prefer it, it's easier to see and hear. Going to miss these social interactions when we're all locked in a closet hooked up to the metaverse. 

I finished the Rough boy model from the PDF tutorial. I had a bit of trouble getting the lumps out of the head but I figured I would continue on and extrude the hair out of it anyway. It was a good exercise and it gave me a lot of ideas for my Piggy Bank. 

Week 5

 This week I've finally completed the Boy figure pdf and I'm moving on to the boy's features. I'm feeling pretty confident with Mayas basic functions and navigating around the model. 

During our tutorial this week I pitched my Elden Ring stone sword statue idea and I think it became apparent that it might be too difficult with all the negative spaces. I have been sketching loads of ideas that might be more achievable.

This is a Stone Clock idea I had.

A garbage bag paperweight.

A piggy bank that shoots a coin out when you drop it in.

I realise that the first assessment might call for a biped figure but I'm hoping at least one of these will be suitable.