Friday 5 March 2010



This is final design of the pub sign that I did in flash.
The difficult model of the lot as I had big issues in what type of shape I should use and what elements I should implement into the model. My first couple of models, I thought to use an overhang on the building which could of been good for creating shadow and abit more atmosphere in the scene. But after discussing this with the group they thought the alley would lose is narrowness and would open it up to much, so I went on change my design.
With the new design I decided to keep the original shape but get rid of the overhang then created several roof designs to let the group decide upon which one we use in the environment.




After finishing the house model, I went on to build the extension houses. The
initial idea was to have a back of a factory in the middle of the terrace of houses, but we thought to change that as it would of been out of place within the environment.


Making the model was quite simple as I used the house design and modified it to only have two windows no doors. After that I used one of the photos in my research as a reference point to put some detail in the model.
When I finished the model showed it to the group and they were happy with what I had done.

Thursday 4 March 2010

From bottom to top is my development of the housing for the environment. My first attempt failed badly as it wasn't really suitable for our project. But from that I was able to learn several quick shortcuts which would help later in my other developments.

From this I thought to easier if I kept the house as simple an cube shape and modify it. From this I found making the roof less of a challenge by use the extrude tool in Maya. After finishing the basic model the group thought to try and include some more detail into the model. So I included a chimney and supports for the roof to flesh the model out abit.




Using the reference photos from my research I have model multiple different styles of windows to be used in the buildings in the environment. My first couple designs did not work to well as I was trying to insert an arched window frame into the design. But after a few more designs and fighting with Maya, I was able to produce three models.

I tried to design each one of the w
indows to represent the social class of the time, using a more simple design to show more of slummy side of some of the buildings, while the more compliacated designs could be used for the shops or even the pub.




I decided to look into a possible pub name, and looked at the author Arthur Conan Doyle. Famous for creating the fictional character 'Sherlock Holmes', I thought it would quite suitable to use one names of the novels.

Within our group we have decided to use 'The Engineer Thumb' as the pub name and I have started developing possible a design and animation in the pub sign.
This is my plan and quick storyboard of our environment. Each one has done a plan and we are decided upon which one we shall use.

My fly-through of my plan in maya is not liking the upload but I was able to upload it to our facebook group instead,

http://www.facebook.com/klflint?v=feed&story_fbid=374076389809#!/group.php?gid=248990657856&ref=ts
More photos from London, we were thinking of including an train bridge within the environment, so looking at what possible detail we could place on to the archs. I think these might be able to help us with the shadows and light of our scene.

Adventures to London

Our adventure to London was good we were able to get several good photos of different things that might want to include into our environment. I took these photos in case we wanted a big iron gate to go in front of factory or workhouse which could work as the design is not to complicated to replicate in Maya.


More images that relate to the others below:



These are a couple more photos I discovered looking more at the factory and workplace areas within the Victoria times. More or less more reference for windows, doors and roofs. Also possible positioning of buildings and how the connect to each other.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

I found these photos while looking for references of Victorian back-alleys and slums. I think these are good examples of how cramped and make-shift the housing was during the time. With massive influx of the people moving into the London during the 1800, the population increased from a one million to just over six million within an century.

From these photos I can see several elements which I could use for our environment. The different shape and styles of windows give the buildings there own uniqueness. I think the top image would help with the development of the roofs, as its looks like its been pieced together like a jigsaw.


This is selection of photos of back-alleys and shop fronts, I have chosen these because there are several different elements which I can pick out and possibly use like the chimney stacks, the wooden fencing and the type of window.














These are a couple of shop/pub fronts which we could possibly use with are environment, as pubs were very popular in the Victorian ages.
This photo is from my home town of Hastings. While walking through the old-town and I noticed several alleyways, but I liked this in particular because of it twists near the end making it unwelcoming and giving it a sense of claustrophobia . Also not being able to see the end you don't know what could lurking round the corner at night. The lack of light helps the atmosphere of this photo. I hope to implement something like this into our environment.

From my discoveries I decided go to the library and found a couple of books about Victorian architecture and pubs which we could use in our environment.

From this image I can see how simple Victorian architecture could be easily replicated in maya.
While looking into Joseph Bazalgette I discovered an famous architect that I have never heard of before, John Nash. I was amazed to discover that he designed and built several famous buildings like the Brighton Pavilion, the east side of Regent street, the marble arch and the redesign Buckingham house which is now Buckingham Palace. To be quite honest, I'm wondering why I didn't know this information earlier, as John Nash's buildings seem to be a fundamental piece of English architectural history.


East Side Regent Street 1820-22

Marble Arch seen from Oxford Street, 1828.

Royal Pavilion, Brighton, 1815-22

I thought to start by investigating Victorian infrastructure, and have discovered a small gold mine of information that I didn't know, woo !

One of these was name of the engineer that built the sewer system during the time, Mr Joseph Bazalgette (pictured). I remembered a TV program 'the seven industrial wonders of the world' which included his construction of the sewers but just couldn't remember the name of the engineer until now.

The other information I also discovered that London had a open sewer which caused mass outbreaks of cholera and other diseases through out London.


From this information I have discovered that for our environment it would have to be pretty grimy if we did the back alley before the sewer was in place.
Well our idea for the environment project is a Victoria back alley. I plan to look at different varieties of Victorian buildings, and how they would integrate into are environment.I also want to look into the infrastructure during the time.