Course Title: Experimental 3D/Sculpture in Virtual Environment 3211.001
Department: FVNMA
Term/Year: Fall 2012
Course Credits: 3
Location & Time: 112 South Michigan, MC 714
Monday 9AM-4PM
Prerequisites: Intro to X3D or equivalent
Instructor: Frank Yefeng Wang
E-mail: [email protected]
Reference website
http://digitalbodyperformed.wordpress.com/
www.experimental3d.com
http://www.real-fake.org/
www.lynda.com
Course Description
Traditionally, the art world perceives sculpture to be something tactile that you can physically
touch and feel. Creating sculptures in an Experimental 3D environment does share some spatial
and design qualities with that of the physical world but also has others that are totally unique to it,
among them the lack of gravity and the ability to deform in fluid and organic ways. By using
digital imaging tools Zbrush and Maya, students translate the idea of a free-standing sculpture
from the real, meaning from physical space to 3d and 4d virtual environments. In the virtual
realm, sculpture can become a mutable form and therefore, an expression both of time and of
space. This is a class that investigates the possibilities of intuitive artistic creation in a rational
computer/artificial system. Classes will include screenings as well as advanced modeling and
physics simulations techniques. Potential output solutions include video installation and 3d rapid
prototype plastic prints.
Entry Requirements
It is highly recommended but not required that students be familiar with some kind of digital
graphic interface, such as Photoshop or be otherwise digitally literate. It will be a plus if student
has some basic knowledge or experience of sculpting skills in real world (that means you have
been working with clay, wax, plaster, etc.) Making a good virtual sculpture is just partially based
on your knowledge of the program, but more importantly, it is a matter of how well you
understand 3D space/ environment.
While demonstration of the basic interface will be done in the first week of school, the class will
be oriented towards those with a very basic knowledge of Maya or similar software. Those
without experience must expect to dedicate 4-6 hours per week in the beginning to homework
1/5
and to spend time with the digital tutorials and demonstration of Zbursh and MAYA available on
line. (Relevant video tutorials will be handout in class).
Learning Digital Program is a bit like learning a foreign language or a musical instrument.
Always easier to learn but harder to remember!!! It requires physical practice on a daily basis. It
is not a program that a project can be finished at the last minute. With this in mind, even a digital
novice, if willing to spend the time required in the first weeks of class, can produce a compelling
result by the end of the semester.
Syllabus:
Week 1
> Introduction
Understanding the class
Understanding the softwares
Explain the expectation of final project
> Zbrush demonstration:
Understanding the Interface
Navigating the canvas
Understanding local centering
Trying different materials
Activating symmetry
Viewing your work in various ways
Week 2
> Class Discussion: Readymade and Open Source
Marcel Duchamp's idea of the industrial Readymade versus Default objects provided by 3D
animation software packages, and the stock models downloaded for free on line (virtual
Readymade)
> The idea of incorporating technological instruments #1
From Google (3D warehouse) to MAYA to Zbrush
Download model and convert to .OBJ, so it’s Zbrush and MAYA friendly
Google Sketch up Tutorial
Some advanced MAYA polygon modeling tutorial
Importing prepared .OBJ model and personalize it in Zbrush
> Assignment #1: Appropriation and Adaptation (Erasure, Increment and Assembling)
Bring rendered .jpg images and original reference material to next class for critique
Referential artists: Paul Pfieffer, Robert Rauschenberg, Aram Bartholl
2/5
Week 3
> Critique on Assignment #1
Now with the basic understanding of Zbrush, we can start sculpting from scratch.
> Zbrush Tutorial
Z sphere
Making a ZSketch
Creating Meshes
Understanding polygon-based models
Week 4
> Zbrush Tutorial
Extracting from an existing mesh
Using primitive 3D meshes
Brushes and Sculpting
Understanding brush settings
Inverting brush effects
Switching to Smooth mode
Setting the stroke properties
Working with alphas
Using the Move brush
Using the Clip brush
Learning a few more common brushes (Polish, Clay, Flatten, Inflate, Tracks)
Saving and using brush presets
Week 5
> Class Discussion: Virtual Space
Virtual worlds have an uncanny quality because they are mathematically perfect and regular, and
filled with computer models of objects. On the other hand, the absenting of physical body and
physics law extends the possibilities of artistic creation which arouses artists to take the media to
a next level. The question is no longer “if this is art” but “how to emancipate”.
> The idea of incorporating technological instruments #2
MAYA rendered scene to Photoshop image or After Effects animation
Photoshop tutorial
After Effects green screen tutorial
> Assignment #2: Create an "impossible object," meaning one which could never exist in
the physical world but that has a paradoxical sense of the real. Do this by utilizing the
possibilities of Virtual Environment: Uncanny scale shifts and absurd physics.
3/5
The assignment must incorporate MAYA rendering and Photoshop or After Effects or other
similar program that the students feel more comfortable working with. Think about the idea of
site-specific when working on this project.
Referential artists: Ron Mueck, Keri Altmann, Mark Jenkins, Kurt Hentschlager
Week 6
> Critique on Assignment #2
> Zbrush Tutorial
Working with tools and projects
Working with subdivision levels
Masking off parts of your model
Masking based on cavity and occlusion
Selecting and hiding parts of a tool
Working with polygroups
Using deformation
Mirroring geometry across an axis
Restoring symmetry
Creating morph targets
Understanding surface normal direction
Week 7
> Zbrush Tutorial
Learning the basics of subtools
Making new subtools
Combining subtools
Deforming with Transpose
Masking with Transpose
Adjusting the Transpose Manipulator
Moving, scaling, and rotating with Transpose
> MAYA Tutorial: stitching polygons and UV map texturing
Week 8
> Class Discussion: the difference between object output from the virtual environment and
object made from the real world, and the potential approaches of building a successful
conversation between object and television/projected image.
What is the identity of the object obtained from virtual environment? A souvenir? A toy? An
intermediary/bridge?
> Rapid Prototype Tutorial (Today we will spend time in Advanced Out Put Center and use
Rhino on the PC computers there)
4/5
How to make a proper file for 3d printer
Converting .OBJ to .STL file - check mesh
> Tour to AOC, see the process of 3d print with your eyes, Mike will give us an introduction of
the rapid prototype machine
> Assignment #3 Recontextualized object or grotesque character
Referential artists: Jeff Koons, Cory Arcangel, Michael Rees, Claudia Hart, Goya
Week 9
> Final project presentation
Week 10
> MAYA batch rendering tutorial
Work shop
Week 11
Work shop
Week 12
Work shop
Week 13
Work shop
Week 14
Final critique
5/5