school marketing project

# 1 20-01-2007 , 05:34 PM

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hey guys, im working on something for my marketing class, my group wants to sell a device that works as a cell phone, PDA, and such, a bit like an iphone from apple, just all mounted on a wrist strap (phone done through bluetooth)

anyways, i need to come up with the concept, so far its a bit basic, but i need some help, realism has never been my thing, and im completely self taught, can anyone please help me figure out how to texture and light this so it will fit into a photograph more realistically without looking so out of place?

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# 2 20-01-2007 , 05:48 PM

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Hmm, it's difficult to know what I can suggest without changing your concept completely. In my opinion though, it could do with some side buttons to distinguish it's use (like volume / camera buttons on most newer nokias) and more like bevelled edges than 'round' edges (if you know what I mean by that...)

Other than that, the device seems very flat, and by that I'm not talking about thickness... Set the material of your model to a blinn, or something that will give you specular highlights when light bounces off it. Get the model right first though, then worry about renders.

Good luck though, cool idea user added image

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# 3 20-01-2007 , 05:54 PM

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thanks, my group members are already impressed (most people are easily impressed since not alot of people are particularly geeky) but i dont want to leave it the way it is, i want to get this right

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# 4 20-01-2007 , 06:03 PM

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for one thing, wouldn't it be more comfortabale to have it on the top of the wrist, rather than underneath? It looks good, if a little large and bulky at the moment.

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# 5 20-01-2007 , 06:11 PM

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oh i know, i would much rather it be there, buy its really difficult to find stock photos that work, and the dimensions are going to be about 2" by 5" when i get around to a final product, but right now i want to get the model to look right in the photo before sizing it properly since im going to have to do that again anyway

Last edited by Kalzenith; 20-01-2007 at 06:18 PM.

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# 6 20-01-2007 , 06:32 PM

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From what I see your concept is fine, but the model needs some refinement.

As suggested, buttons on the top and side are a must (unless its 99% voice activated - :p ), so add a line to seperate the geometry to show this is not 1 bit of moulded plastic. This is all about detailing (also shrink the screen) tbh. Once thats done then work on the textures some more.

I think you have a really nice project and idea there, just expand a bit more user added image

Enjoy...

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# 7 20-01-2007 , 07:07 PM

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alright, ive added some buttons on the side, though the concept was that the screen is fully touchscreen, thats why its large, but im having one problem here, i tried making the body out of a polygon and just beveling the edges, and that works fine, but it goes semi transparent when i try to texture it and maya glitches and shuts down when i try to render a screenshot

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# 8 20-01-2007 , 07:13 PM

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just reapply your shader to the object. when you bevel you create new geometry that doesn't have a material attached.

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# 9 20-01-2007 , 07:13 PM

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i see what youre saying there, but what i described happens when i retexture it after bevelling it

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# 10 20-01-2007 , 07:17 PM

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hmm.. not sure then. Maybe something to do with your uvs? i doubt it though. sorry, I haven't done much texturing.

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# 11 20-01-2007 , 07:23 PM

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have you UV mapped it? Polygons need UV mapping to sort out the location of the texture. If you've done procedures to your geometry, the UV's will get screwed, and thus when you apply a texture it will be stretched and skewed ALL OVER the place. That might well cause a crash, although to be honest with such a simple object i'm not sure this is the answer but... worth considering maybe.

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# 12 20-01-2007 , 08:11 PM

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alright, ive reworked some things you guys pointed out, though that one crease on the shaded side looks too bright but i dont know how to fix that ( i just booleaned a ridge into the polygon). It looks more realistic than before but still nowhere near realistic

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# 13 20-01-2007 , 08:19 PM

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it just needs more detail.

Places like, where the USB connector and buttons connect; well anything that intersects with the body of the device would need to create holes (boolean) in the main device to allow the actual device to pass of as a real manafactured item.

After that get working on UV mapping out the texture for the body etc... The materials you choose for this is really important also.

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# 14 20-01-2007 , 08:25 PM

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ok, this may be a bit of a noob question, but now whenever i try to boolean the holes you were talking about, the whole shape disappears no matter which kind of boolean i use

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# 15 20-01-2007 , 08:41 PM

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whenever i try to boolean the holes you were talking about, the whole shape disappears no matter which kind of boolean i use

Originally Posted by

Welcome to booleans user added image

You're better off cutting the holes around the buttons manually, and creating a kind of 'housing' for them . Looking better though. Keep at it. Study mobiles and other PDA's for some extra detailing.

Oh and for more realism, remember that pretty much nothing in real life is an exact 90 degree hard edge. You'll probably want to smooth/bevel most of the corners.

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Last edited by petrol; 20-01-2007 at 08:44 PM.

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