Falcon Unveiling
Trade Show Banners
Software used:
Blender
Gimp
Inkscape
Project for:
UVAD
This was my first large project at UVAD. The goals was to create two trade show banners for use at the SMD Symposium. I had two months to create these banners. This was my first time using Blender so I had to mix both learning and creating while also managing contact with the company that would be printing these. The banners are 10ft x 10ft with the background images being made in blender and the added text and graphics were made in Inkscape.
With this project being my first time using blender beyond the basic controls there was a lot to learn to get to this point. I did have the models of the aircraft provided but because of them being made in a different I had to spend time learning hard surface modeling to fix them. In the process of fixing the model I kept in mind making the model more than just a still piece. Keeping that in mind I worked to keep the topology as correct as possible so that I could rig and animate it in the future. After fixing the model I implemented a rig to its control surfaces so that it could be animated in the future.
Once the model and rig was complete I moved to designing and mocking up how the two banners would look. I gathered information about the space the banners would be displayed to best navigate its design. Keeping in mind peoples eye level and low level furniture such as desks and garbage cans I made sure to keep the logo of the company and products placed high enough. With the outline of the banners decided on I moved to learning how to create the environment.
Working in the cycles engine in blender the goal was to create a realistic looking display of the product. To do this I chose to do a sky view to keep visual clutter low and let the bold orange and reds of the product and logos to stand out. Creating the clouds was the largest struggle because I made them a part of the scene as 3D objects. This meant making procedural clouds that looked realistic. This made the render time of these scenes quite heavy because of the layered 3D clouds. I mitigated this and cleaned up the render by utilizing compositing techniques.
After they were rendered and recompiled into one image I added in the graphical elements and prepped the images to be sent off to the printing company. This project was long but fun because of all the components I had to learn. The banners successfully served their purpose as there was compliments and interest in the product at the SMD Symposium.