Minor Project | Experiment Set 0.3 | Sphere, Cube, Cyclinder & Cone

As the first two sets of experiments yielded encouraging results, I've decided to blend the two deformation tools of bend and twist together in a singular model to push for more 'broken' results as well as to force the twist function into making something more interesting...

Minor Project | Experiment Set Development

After a discussion with Phil concerning the next few steps of my project, A few different avenues are still available for me to go down, whether that be centred around animation or installation. With this in mind, I'm continuing on with my tests, now combining the deform tools of bend and twist together, as it was clear that the twist function could create much more interesting results when linked with another already applied tool. 

An aspect of the models I have already created that I want to explore more exists within the broken faces/edges of the various sculptures, these flipped or reversed faces have often been something to actively avoid when modelling and in keeping with the motives of my project I instead want to, as Phil said "Hang a lamp on it".

With the combining of the two different deformation tools comes a much larger opportunity to have an effect on the causation of these, as I'm calling them, rips. As the two different tools combine, the different models geometry struggles to cope with the drastic changes in its structure and essentially tears, making for moments that I want to highlight upon and force into a limelight that the software doesn't want it to be in.   

After some different tests that promote and encourage these results, that will mostly follow the same formula as the previous experiments (evenly increasing different variables), I'm going to take the different chronological models into After Effects or Premiere in an attempt to create an even more detailed creation which has stemmed from logical steps taken from its most pure form.

After spending so much time taking logical steps to reach a new point in a model's aesthetic, I'm keen to carry this formula into After Effects, taking different values from the models essential structure and plugging them into different tools in After Effects that can encourage further results that stem from an identical methodology. The results of these experiments that begin to tread in the lands of a different software will ultimately determine future steps these creations take, if the results suggest that the models thrive in an animation based environment then they will continue to exist in that realm, if not, then different software will be ventured into, potentially concerning audio as to help craft a richer environment for these models to own.

These next few images are an example of the kinds of renders I can take from the models I've created so far, this model in particular (depicted above also) has both the bend and twist deform tool applied to it and has a curvature of 500 and a start angle of 500...

After initially liking the look of these first few renders I decided to take a few playblasts of these creations forming to see what the process looks like in real time...

This first look at what my creations look like as living forms is extremely encouraging in terms of future process' and could definitely have an impact on the next few methods I use to create my structures.

Minor Project | Experiment set 0.2 | Sphere, Cube, Cylinder & Cone

The next set of experiments I'm carrying out will focus on another area of the deform tool, the twist function. For this set of experiments I've increased the start and end angles by 50 per model, along with an increase of 50 per model for the low bound, the models have also been limited to a base primitive shape, those shapes being the sphere, cube, cylinder and cone once again...

In this final sheet which focusses on the cone primitive, the only difference is that as of .16 the model has been rotated by 90 degrees in the x axis to encourage some more varied results. I also believe that this sheet offers the most detailed 'broken' moments of Maya, meaning that rotating a model at some point within an experiment set may be something to keep in mind for future tests.

In comparison to the bend tool, the twist function offered very different results, it became clear very early on that the utility wouldn't create drastic changes but could have a big impact upon a model if a different deformer had already been applied, leading me to thinking slightly further into the future and the possibilities of blending tools.

In terms of results overall, I think this experiment set has created some moments that really depict what this project is trying address when it comes to the notion of the 'broken side' of Maya and the sculptures it can naturally create if left, to some degree, to its own devices. 

Minor Project | Experiment Set .01 | Favored Results

After completing the first set of Maya model experiments, focusing on the bend function of the deform tool, there's more to take from the creations beside their appearance, they've given me a huge boost in terms of delivering what the project is setting out to achieve. I feel as if I can begin to see how working in this experimental manner is really going to aid my work, it's giving me a large number of what are essentially thumbnails in a fairly short amount of time and the results are lending themselves to being molded upon and showcasing the 'broken' side of Maya, whilst also coming across as pleasing artifacts in their own right.

Here are my favored moments from the first experiment set, further down the line these will likely be experimented on again and potentially crossed with another tool to try and yield more abstract results, whilst still keeping in tone with the 'Lewis Hates Maya' motive...

  

Minor Project | Experiment Set .01 | Cyclinder & Cone

Fitting with the previous two Maya model experiments, these have also been restricted to a base primitive shape as a starting point and a curvature value increase of 50 per model...

I feel as though both sets here emit some really encouraging results and have interesting moments at different points in the value increase, I'm excited to take some of these results and elaborate upon them once I leave this alternative thumbnail stage of the project.

Minor Project | Experiment Set .01 | Sphere & Cube

This first set of Maya model experiments have all been limited to a base primitive shape as a starting point and will focus on the bend deformer tool, with each model differing in a specific value so to ensure different results. I will repeat the same value experiments on each primitive shape before moving onto the next starting shape, here are the first two sets, the sphere and the cube...

  

Minor Project | Idea Development

After further conversations concerning the ideas behind my project, Phil introduced me to the term Mimesis, a term defined by the Oxford dictionary as the imitative representation of the real world in art and literature, something that my project is gravitating towards in these first few weeks.

I'm particularly interested in presenting this idea as Phil has informed that this notion exists within the realms of the crisis of representation, a topic which discusses the issues such as those that painters had with the invention of the camera as it essentially made their work irrelevant, as they were trying to replicate the real in a world where the camera had just made presenting and preserving the real a possibility that yielded much more accurate results, essentially putting painters out of business. This idea is extremely relevant to my work as my creations will serve as commentary on a software that is to sculptors what the camera was to painters, why try and recreate exact results in a medium that offers much less accurate representations? 

These ideas lead me to the core of what my project will exist upon, why use Maya to only create models, or virtual sculptures, that could be created in the real world, essentially giving Maya limitations that it doesn't need or necessarily already possess, perhaps we should be embracing the 'ugly side' of Maya and its natural limitations and boundaries, potentially opening up an entirely new realm of work to be created.

The famous works below are perfect examples of the ways in which certain mediums not only open avenues of possibilities but present natural limitations...     

All the works are incredible moments of art in their own right but showcase the boundaries of their mediums.

I'm keen to showcase the 'broken' moments of Maya as sculptures in their own right, as these moments occur when Maya essentially gets to be Maya, the user has little control of the outcome, potentially due to human error, and the software gets to affect a model in the way that it most naturally wants to, creating unexpected outcomes that defy intentions.

The search for these moments will come in the form of a number of experiments that give Maya the chance to 'Maya' something, presenting a number of opportunities for the software to naturally break or affect something, resulting in models or moments that counter what is generally expecting of its creator.