RIB WRANGLING
FINAL RENDER
REFERENCE
I found inspiration in this old Ming Chinese tea pot depicting the eight immortals.
LOOK DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
In addition to the kettle and cups, I imported a model of a linen hand towel I created in Marvelous Designer.
To simulate thickness, the cups have two layers: one for the outer surface and one for the inner surface, with a torus edge connecting the two. I used tori to imitate beveled edges.
To simulate thickness, the cups have two layers: one for the outer surface and one for the inner surface, with a torus edge connecting the two. I used tori to imitate beveled edges.
Kettle Main Script
TEXTURE MAPS
Instead of the eight immortals, I wanted to integrate my culture into the kettle by using Thai symbols.
Front Design Relief + Fractal Displacement Shader
OCCLUSION RENDERS
TROUBLESHOOTING
An interesting challenge I faced at the beginning of this project was figuring out how to create the ring shape of the kettle body. Since there is no ring or pipe quadric in RIB, my first thought was to create a disk and a black circle/white background presence map.
However, this method can be replicated using an expression for more mathematical precision.
The expression below calculates distance on a square plane. The UV of the square plane is 1 unit x 1 unit, therefore a circle within that square would have a radius of 0.5 units. Since I need to "cut out" two circles, I therefore have an inner and outer distance. As a presence map works, a value of 1 (white) equals visible geometry, and a value of 0 (black) equals no geometry. If the distance is less than the given radius float input, then the outcome is 1 for the outer circle, or 0 for the inner circle.
The two expressions for the circles can then be merged through multiplication.
However, this method can be replicated using an expression for more mathematical precision.
The expression below calculates distance on a square plane. The UV of the square plane is 1 unit x 1 unit, therefore a circle within that square would have a radius of 0.5 units. Since I need to "cut out" two circles, I therefore have an inner and outer distance. As a presence map works, a value of 1 (white) equals visible geometry, and a value of 0 (black) equals no geometry. If the distance is less than the given radius float input, then the outcome is 1 for the outer circle, or 0 for the inner circle.
The two expressions for the circles can then be merged through multiplication.
Expression for Hole
FINAL THOUGHTS
While this project was quite challenging, I also found it very enjoyable to discover how scripting and words translate into art. I can now visualize the interface nodes by reading the code. I am most proud of the way I approached modeling the kettle. It did take awhile as I used many hyperboloids, though I tried to be efficient by duplicating my RIB files. When I go back to touch up on this project, I would like to add imperfections and dirt in addition to the fractal maps which imitate metal dents. I would also like to add little details like black tea leaves and spoons. Most importantly, I have a newfound interest in coding and how such knowledge can supplement and improve one's work to the next level.