Late Update 6-4-09

Today was not a particularly big day for modeling work. Spent a good deal of the day helping out fellow students tie up loose ends on final projects, alleviate some anxiety over things like building websites and portfolio books, and coordinating some group projects from other classes.

I did get to speak with esteemed Professor Jim at length today about the state of the project, the things he and I would each like to see added before the end of the project (which is realistically coming up very quickly, with the post mortem and final mentor evaluation coming by Tuesday), and what can realistically be accomplished for the final milestone between now and then.

It's late in the game for a really major piece to be introduced. The purpose of the current (and final) milestone has been to create and distribute environmental decoration items... essentially a lot of set dressing to add realism to the scene. A lot of that has actually been accomplished.

Jim, of course, still wants a train (which I also want badly for the scene, but don't think I can find the estimated 20+ hours to build, and which sensei Mikkel believes is outside the scope of the project from an environmental modeling standpoint), although Jim and I do also seem to agree on the idea of the City Hall I mentioned in the previous posting. I showed Jim some of the reference photos I'd dug up previously, and we both really like the Victorian/Neoclassical architecture of a couple of the examples.

I think I could build the exterior of the structure in 3 or 4 hours, although some of the cornices and roof pitches look pretty complicated. However, I had previously estimated I need to produce in the neighborhood of 25-50 more environmental props to finish fleshing out the realism of the scene.

The problem I'm facing is one of dwindling time. I may not have more than 10 hours to devote solely to this project between now and next Thursday (realistically factoring in my obligations to other classes). The final, formal presentation of the project is on Thursday. This suggests I need to be done by Wednesday and ready to release whatever has been completed by then. That may diminish available hours even further.

25-50 evironmental prop items may conceivably consist of 5-10 completely unique pieces, modified and/or duplicated throughout the town. An environmental piece like that could be as simple as a 5 or 10 minute model, or may be as complicated as a couple hours per unique item. For example, Jim would like to see more flora in the desert (particularly, different species of cactus beside the saguaros I've peppered around the outskirts of town). That would be a pretty quick job. But something else I would like to see is a boardwalk/sidewalk type of structure running down at least one side of mainstreet. Something like that could take 2 or 3 hours to construct and then form to the terrain.

In the end, there are pros and cons, and I will also seek the advice of my good mentor Mikkel on the subject. Would one more standout landmark and a handful of "flavor" pieces benefit the project more than just a larger number of flavor pieces? That's a decision I'll be working on pretty quickly.

Meanwhiles, I did get a couple more minor things accomplished in the scene today. Among those:

• Sheriff's Office: Added the 19th Century telephone to the Sheriff's desk, after some discussion with Professor Jim.
• Hotel/Saloon: Modified the wall clock behind the bar slightly, at Jim's suggestion.
• General: Added a pile of feed bags on the porch of the building across the street from the Livery. Will evalute those tomorrow for some physics issues in the way they lay on top of each other.