3d Projects
3D stuff always fascinates me. Without it, I would not be able to propose to my wife on stage or make any 3D images and videos. Here is a story of my 3D-related journey.
Learn 3D painting
The story begins with street art. When I was a child, I learned how to project a 3D object onto a 2D paper, a.k.a. sketch and painting. I saw an excellent street art picture that shows a vast coca-cola bottle on the ground one day. It looks so real. I think it would be cool if I could also create this type of art by myself. So I tried to sketch one. However, it looks fake since the perspective is wrong.
To solve that perspective issue, I think I can get some help from the computer program? I can morph the image to a certain angle with some basic geometry knowledge and print out the result as my guide to drawing in 3D. So here is my work printed out from MATLAB.
With the help of my MATLAB program, I can draw something more complex but still very accurate in perspective. Here are a couple of examples:
Propose on Stage
What does 3D have to do with my proposal? The answer is: I don't know how to dance or sing, but I need a way to show what I can do. I decided to create a 3D painting and take a time-lapse video of the process.
This time the new challenges are:
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I don't have MATLAB to help me morph the image since the garage corn is consists of 3 faces, not on a flat ground
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I need something super easy to operate on so my friends without any painting background can still do it.
I resolve the challenges here by introducing a projector. In theory, if I project an image to any surface and draw it down. When I took a picture at the same point from the same angle, I could see the same image from the projector.
I used a ladder, a cutting board, and two ropes to make sure the projector was at the correct position and right angle. It isn't lovely, but it works. Here is what the projector and 3D painting look like:
After 5 hours of hard work, my friend and I finished the 3D painting and got 3000 images. After making them a time-lapse video, I secretly planned the process with the talent show host organization and the dance group my wife was in, and I think I am ready to go.
I proposed to my wife on a talent show at Duke Bryan Center. Want to see how the proposal goes? Here is the video:
Learn 3d modeling and rendering
In 2018, I saw a couple of beautiful 3D renderings on Apple Music, and 3D artist Peter Tarka created it to celebrate Chinese New Year. After that, I decided to learn how to use 3D software and hope to make something cool like Peter did one day. Here is one image created by Peter:
Starting with creating a donut in Blender, I learned modeling, topology, material shading, composition, light setup, camera setup, rigging animation, AR, and after-effects. I tried many different styles within three years, like low-poly, photorealistic, and even 2D Ghibli style.
I enjoyed the learning process very much since it changed the way I looked at this world. For example, I do painting and photography, but I didn't know the looking of material is controlled by some basic settings like metallic, emission, roughness, and transparency. I use my single-lens reflex camera a lot but didn't know I could easily simulate any lens with any f-stop, focal length, depth of field in the 3D world.
Finally, before the Chinese New Year of 2021, a local non-profit (CAFA-NC) needs a banner for its website to celebrate the Chinese New Year. So I put Peter's style into the design, added some Chinese elements, and created the following 3D render:
Create 3d onboarding Videos
I was assigned to work on some UIUX issues for the ITS Portal. The project team is going to add a new feature called Policy Group. Policy Group will allow users to group their machines using any criteria and then assign the policy to the group. We also provide multiple level subgroups to form a tree structure to set different policies at different levels.
However, some of the concepts are very vague, like:
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We have already got a feature called Package (a collection of policies) which can also assign to partner-level and site-level. Why do we still need the policy group?
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Suppose a device got different policies assigned from Package and Policy Group. Which policy will win over the other one?
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If a device belongs to a policy group and a subgroup, and different policies were assigned to a different level of the policy group, which policy will be effective?
Even we provide an intuitive user flow to deliver the policy group feature. Users still need to understand what is the best use case for Policy Group vs. Package.
With all those problems, I feel I need to clarify those concepts for our users. Since I am a visual person, I want to draw an illustration to deliver the info. Here is what I did:
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I start to illustrate the concept in Figma and discuss it with PM to ensure their accuracy.
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The 2D diagram is still the same as other technical diagrams on our documentation website. I want to add a new dimension to it by making it 3D.
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I create a case to show Policy Group and Package on the same image and draw a sketch to illustrate that.
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A problem with one 3D illustration is that the user may not understand what each 3D object means? And how do they interact with each other? What about adding another dimension -- Time?
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I write a storyboard to explain each object in 3D illustration; how does Package group policies using policy types, and who got higher priority in Package vs. Policy Group?
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Invite PM and Documentation team to revise the voice-over text in the storyboard.
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At the same time, I did 3D modeling and rendering in Blender and exported videos to Adobe Premiere.
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Import voiceover from Documentation team, and combine the voice with 3D video to generate the final video.
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Gather feedback from the PM team, UX team, and users to iterate the video.
Here is what the final video looks like:
Starting from 3D painting to 3D modeling and rendering, I loved each step I took in my 3D journey. Those 3D projects require a good combination of technical skills, design skills, and soft skills. I learned a lot during the process, like coding, modeling, and teamwork. Even 3D skills are not required in my daily work, and I am still glad it made my job more fun.
