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An Italian paratrooper from the Folgore Parachute Brigade reviews proper exit procedures of UH-60 Black Hawk with a U.S. Soldier from 12th Combat Aviation Brigade during rehearsals for an air assault on Lielvarde Airbase, Latvia, during NATO exercise Steadfast Javelin II. Steadfast Javelin II is a NATO exercise involving over 2,000 troops from 10 nations and takes place across Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The exercise focuses on increasing interoperability and synchronizing complex operations between allied air and ground forces through airborne and air assault missions. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Venessa Hernandez/Released)
Linux is much better than Windows when you give it a proper chance. I don't like Unity, not one bit, so I'm sticking with the more stable and better looking Gnome2 desktop for now. May consider switching distributions to Linux Mint Debian Edition in the near future (I need to reinstall anyway, I need 64bit and am running 32bit at the moment).
Distribution: Ubuntu 11.04
Wallpaper: Dusk by ether (no link sorry)
Icons: Faenza
And why not just look at the places it brings me to! This is Cow Green Reservoir the source of the mighty river Tees and lying between here and my (proper) home near Stockton the Tees waters tumble down the black-rocked cascades of Cauldron Snout, a violent precursor to the even more impressive waterfall of High Force a dozen miles east near Middleton-in-Teesdale; a thoroughly pleasant walk shared by all who trek the Pennine Way or the Teesdale Way. I can remember how the building of the dam created a public outcry during the 1960's but despite a parliamentary inquiry and sustained opposition from conservationists and botanists the construction was given the go-ahead and the reservoir was officially "opened" in 1971. Its about two miles in length and drains a vast catchment area and is about as sparsely populated as any part of England, so the argument seemed persuasive. But this land was host to rare species of alpine flora and a rescue operation was set in hand to physically remove as many plants as possible, from memory of something read earlier about it all, many thousands of plants were saved in this way. The ICI complex and the developing chemical industries downstream at Middlesbrough (where river and sea meet) needed the water, and in economic matters, conservation often gets short shrift. And so it has transpired as now forty odd years later ICI has disappeared from Teesside (and 7,000 jobs with it), and bulk chemical production in Middlesbrough has gone too in the way of the great Victorian Iron-Masters Balkow and Vaughan before them. Time creates her myriad victims and the Spring Gentians, Mountain Pansies and the lovely Birds Eye Primrose and legions of lesser things have paid their price too. But at least the Tees has been tamed, the dam controls its outflow and the regular floods of yesteryear have been banished from the life-cycle of the communities along the river's banks, so perhaps a good thing comes out of a bad one?
This is a wonderful place to spend the night. The head-wall of the dam can just be seen at the end of the reservoir, beneath it Cauldron Snout descends to the gentler terrain of upper Teesdale where farming and sheep have knocked nineteenth century lead-mining from the top perch in the economic pecking-order. This dun-moorland landscape is if not all; then substantially owned by the Raby Estate whose tenants are required to keep their farmsteads whitewashed and these attractive buildings prominent among the rough upland browns and more fertile greens of the intakes and valleys have become a symbol of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and that's a designation not to be argued with.
As for the camping it lived up to the promise of its position, I got the mandatory brew going and watched over the stilled water as grades of grey evening edged the receding blue into the darkening night sky, and the Curlews sang, some Swans flying to roost honked their contact litany, a Snipe drummed while Oyster Catchers piped out the fading day and unison of all common things combined in wide and open splendour. I love my bike.
The Tunkhannock Viaduct was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) in 1912 and was completed, dedicated and ready for use on November 6, 1915.
The Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct received its proper name from the Tunkhannock Creek that it traverses. However, it is also known as the Nicholson Bridge because of the small Pennsylvania borough where it is located.
This engineering marvel was designed by Abraham Burton Cohen with George J. Ray as the chief engineer of the project. Concrete was first poured in January 1913 with the entire project using 185,000 barrels, or 1,093 carloads, of cement producing 167,000 cubic yards of concrete. In addition, about 1,140 tons of steel were used to reinforce the concrete. Moreover, the bridge was built to endure 6,000 pounds per square foot, considering that some engines at that time would weigh 233 tons. At that time, the bridge itself cost about $1.4 million to build.
Five hundred men of which only half or less were skilled laborers worked 24 hours a day with very little equipment. All they had were steam shovels, dynamite for excavation and a cement mixer that was built on-site. At piers 5 and 6, the workers encountered quicksand making it necessary to use pneumatic chambers and many extra hours of manpower.
There have been rumors that men died building the monumental bridge by falling into the concrete and being buried alive. This is physically not possible, as the metal reinforcing rods would have prevented anyone from actually being buried. There were a number of workers, at least four, who died during the construction, either from falling from the towers or one from checking on why the dynamite hadn’t blown.
The DL&W would not allow dynamite to be transported on their railroads so the dynamite was shipped by the Lehigh Valley Railroad into Springville and transported to Nicholson by horse and wagon.
The Nicholson Bridge is 2,375 feet long and 34 feet wide. It is 240 feet above stream level and 300 feet above bedrock. There are twelve arches with ten being 180 feet across and two being 100 foot arches, one at each end of the bridge that are totally buried in the land fill. In Theodore Dreiser’s 1916 travel biography, he called the bridge: “A thing colossal and impressive. Those arches! How really beautiful they were. How symmetrically planned! And the smaller arches above, how delicate and lightsomely graceful! It is odd to stand in the presence of so great a thing in the making and realize that you are looking at one of the true wonders of the world.” Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and former President Theodore Roosevelt were among the many people that came to view this one of a kind bridge.
This remarkable construction and engineering feat of its time was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (#77001203) on April 11, 1977, due to its national architectural, engineering and transportation significance. The nomination application that was submitted in August 1976 affirms the national significance of the viaduct: “The literal keystone in the early-twentieth-century modernization of a major railroad, Tunkhannock was put up at a time when a reinforced-concrete structure of such a size was considered venturesome, and before perfection of a number of now commonly accepted techniques in concrete construction.” The national significance narrative was taken from William S. Young’s 1967 book: The Great White Bridge (pp 19-20).
Earlier in 1975, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) designated the bridge as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark due to its significant contribution to the development of the United States and to the profession of civil engineering. As of 2008, only 244 landmarks in the world received this designation.
Additionally, the viaduct has been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which was established in 1969 by an agreement by the National Park Service, the ASCE and the Library of Congress to document historic sites and structures related to engineering and industry. The Library of Congress website states that: “the collections document achievements in architecture, engineering, and design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types and engineering technologies.” The HAER affirmed that: “More than 50 years after its building, the Tunkhannock Viaduct still merits the title of largest concrete bridge in America, if not the world.”
The Nicholson Bridge was part of a larger project, called the Clarks Summit-Hallstead Cutoff, built to shorten the DL&W main rail line from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Binghamton, New York by 3.6 miles, lessen the steep grades that had previously required pusher engines, and straighten the rail line. The DL&W president at the time, William H. Truesdale, was looking for ways to modernize the railroad and make it more efficient. Not only did the railroad construct a smaller version of the Tunkhannock Viaduct nine miles north in Kingsley, Pennsylvania, called the Martins Creek Viaduct, the DL&W also built a 3,630 foot tunnel about two rail miles south of Nicholson. The entire cutoff, sometimes referred to as the Nicholson or Pennsylvania Cutoff, was built with two sets of tracks to allow for trains going north and trains going south at the same time. This shortened route costing more than $14 million saved considerable travel time between the two major cities: as much as an hour for freight trains and at least ten minutes for passenger trains.
At the turn of the 20th Century, the Lackawanna Valley, which included Scranton, was the industrial hub of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority website details the importance of the region’s coal, iron and steel industries: “Settled in the early 1800s, the rugged frontier (Lackawanna) valley rapidly grew to be a hub of commerce and manufacturing because of the enormous anthracite coal reserves just below the surface. The Pennsylvania Anthracite Region eventually produced 80 percent of the world’s anthracite coal, a clean, hot-burning fuel that was perfect for running machines and building empires. Historians consider Scranton the industrial center of the region.” The huge coal industry, iron and steel production, railroading and railroad building, food processing, large-scale fabrication, and textiles all played a significant role in the area’s growth. The region became the powerful engine that drove America’s Industrial Revolution. The Nicholson Bridge provided the capacity for increased goods, including coal, iron, and steel, and passenger traffic in the Northeast that contributed to the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
The bridge is still in use today for freight service by the Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern. While the bridge was double tracked when completed, it currently is only single tracked.
Theme: Magic, Mystery and Occult Featuring: Accessories, Apparel, Cosmetics, Decor, Jewelry, Nails, Sale Items, Skins, Tattoos Event Opening Date: May 22, 2022 Event Closing Date: June 12, 2022
South Carolina's kicker starts of the second half of last year's senior day game at University of Arkansas. I couldn't help but notice his hand placement. That pinky belongs on a tea cup. :-)
Five crew cars and a caboose make up the end of a westbound Denver & Rio Grande Western coal train at Moffat Tunnel on May 15, 1984.
Prevents Piss-Poor performance.
As the saying goes.
I'd been looking forward to photographing the BLS Garston Growler at the site of my old box of Garston Junction that burned down in 2002. Having found a decent location thanks to the elevation of the pole, I was set up and could hear the flanges squealing as the train traversed the tight curve from Allerton Junction.
That's when the top section of the pole collapsed (loosened bracket) dropping the camera 3ft lower and ruining the shot. "Oh dear" said I - or words to that effect.
So the only shot I got of the inward working to Garston Docks was this classic after I'd spun the pole around as 37516 leads 37676 on 1Z32 1326 Preston to Crewe on 3rd September 2022.
Having had an aborted drive round to the freightliner terminal to try and get a shot there and finding there was nothing obvious available, I headed back to try and get a photo of the outward leg from Garston. All in all not a very successful trip!
So remember the seven P's.
I'm sure there'll be another tour along here in ten years
First proper glimpse of the Church of St Michael from the church walk. Was before I entered the churchyard to have a look around.
It looks nice with the daffodils.
The Church of St Michael is a Grade II* listed building.
Church. C13 origins; nave raised and clerestory windows inserted late C15; late
C15 tower; chancel rebuilt and extended 1634. Random coursed stone rubble to
lower part of nave; stone ashlar to chancel, tower, and upper part of nave; old
plain-tile roofs to nave and chancel; tower roof not visible. 3-bay nave, 3-bay
chancel and west tower. 2-centre arched doorway with hood mould and C19
door to centre of nave. 2-light stone mullion window to right of nave. Three
3-light stone mullion windows with cusped lights to clerestory. Tudor-arched
doorway with C19 plank door to left of centre of chancel. 3-light stone mullion
windows to left and right of centre. 5-light Rectilinear tracery window to east
end of chancel. North side: 2-centre arched doorway with hood mould and ribbed
door to centre of nave. Y-tracery window to left of nave. 2-light stone mullion
window with cusped lights to right of nave. Three 3-light stone mullion windows
with cusped lights to clerestory. Tower: 4-centre arched doorway to west side
with plain spandrels and hood mould. 3-light Rectilinear tracery window with
hood mould above doorway. 2-light Rectilinear tracery louvred openings to each
side of top stage of tower. String course to base of tower parapet has carved
water-spouts. Battlemented parapet. Interior: chancel; 3-bay barrel-vaulted roof
with moulded wood ribs. Altar tomb to right to Sir Edward Ferrers (1465-1535)
and his wife Constance, in Tudor-arched recess, having quatrefoil spandrels.
3 panels to tomb with elaborate tracery and armorial bearings. C19 choir stalls.
2-centred chancel arch with chancel screen, dated 1634, having wood panelled
base and strapwork slats above. Nave: 3-bay Perpendicular roof. C19 pulpit, font
and pews. 2-centred arch on octagonal half-columns to tower. East window is C16
in origins but much is probably now mid-C18 restoration. History: Nicholas
Brome, who was responsible for the late C15 work on the church, was lord of the
manor, and carried out the work in expiation of his murder of the priest, whom
he found "chucking his wife under the chin". The church contains a Sarah Green
single manual chamber organ.
(Buildings of England: Warwickshire: 1966, pp80-81; C.J. Baddeley: The Church of
Saint Michael, Baddesley Clinton (guide book) 1970)
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Parc Lineal Garcia Fària
Aquest parc, de més d'un quilòmetre de llargària, enllaça dos grans espais verds del litoral barceloní: el Parc del Poblenou i el Parc de Diagonal Mar. Ideal per circular-hi en bicicleta, ja sigui per passejar o per desplaçar-se per la zona on està situat, el Parc Lineal Garcia Fària també és una excel•lent porta d'accés a les platges més properes al Besòs i a l'espai del Fòrum Barcelona 2004.
El Parc Lineal Garcia Fària és el resultat d'una sàvia combinació de topografia i vegetació, quelcom que dóna lloc a espais paral·lels molt ben diferenciats, separats per grans parterres, alguns de plans i altres d'atalussats. Ocupa l'espai situat sobre el gran aparcament que hi ha en un costat de la Ronda del Litoral.
Per la banda de la muntanya s'estén un carril bici, llarguíssim i molt ample, delimitat pel parterre que fa la funció de mitgera entre les dues zones del parc i el parterre que el separa de la calçada del passeig que li dóna nom.
De tant en tant, els parterres s'interrompen en amples accessos de comunicació entre un costat i l'altre del parc. Si passem a la banda del mar, el límit esdevé una mena de mirador sobre les platges properes. Aquí és on hi ha les zones d'estar i els jocs infantils.
Es pot accedir directament a les platges creuant el parc pels carrers de Bac de Roda, la Selva de Mar i Josep Pla.
Vegetació
El verd, organitzat en faixes, està format per espècies adequades a la situació del parc, a primera línia de mar i sense elements construïts que protegeixin la vegetació. És per aquest motiu que abunden els tamarius (Tamarix gallica).
Als parterres que donen al passeig hi ha gramínies de diferents espècies, amb combinacions d'alçada molt ornamentals. Hi trobem Hyparrhenia sp., Festuca sp., Pennisetum setaceum i Pennisetum villosum. També hi ha mates de Nassella tenuissima, una gramínia que oneja harmoniosa quan bufa el vent.
Juntament amb les gramínies, els grans protagonistes vegetals d'aquest parc són els baladres (Nerium oleander), de floracions espectaculars, i les palmeres, sobretot les washingtònies (Washingtonia filifera). També hi ha margallons (Chamaerops humilis) i, fent ombra, petits grups de morera del paper (Broussonetia papyrifera).
Història
El Parc Lineal Garcia Fària forma part de la reordenació urbanística del front litoral del Besòs, situat a la desembocadura del riu, que es va realitzar en motiu del Fòrum Mundial de les Cultures Barcelona 2004. Aquest esdeveniment va tenir com a principal objectiu la reflexió i el diàleg al voltant de la diversitat cultural, el desenvolupament sostenible i la pau. La nova urbanització va permetre recuperar una gran extensió del front litoral situada entre els termes municipals de Barcelona i Sant Adrià de Besòs.
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Garcia Fària Linear Park
This park, which is more than a kilometre long, connects two large coastal green spaces in Barcelona: the Poblenou Park and the Diagonal Mar Park. It is ideal for bikes, either if you are on a leisure ride or trying to get around the area. The Garcia Fària Linear Park is also an excellent entrance to the beaches closest to Besòs and the Barcelona 2004 Forum.
The Garcia Fària Linear Park is the result of a wise combination of topography and vegetation. It gives rise to very different parallel spaces that are separated by large flower beds, some flat and others more inclined. It occupies the space located over the large parking area next to the Ronda Litoral coastal road.
On the mountainous side, there is an extremely long and very wide bike path which is bordered by flower beds that serve as a median between the two park areas and the flower bed that separates it from the walkway that gives it its name.
Every so many metres, the flower beds are interrupted by large entries that link one side of the park and the other. If you are walking on the sea side, the border becomes a kind of viewpoint over the nearby beaches. Here is where the rest areas and child play areas are located.
The beaches can be accessed directly by crossing the park on Bac de Roda, Selva de Mar and Josep Pla streets.
Vegetation
The greenery, organized in strips, is made up of species that are suitable to the location of the park right on the beachfront and free of any man-made elements to protect the vegetation. This why the tamarisks (Tamarix gallica) are plentiful.
There different fountain grass species with very ornamental height combinations in the flowerbeds that stretch to the walkway. You can find Hyparrhenia sp., Festuca sp., Pennisetum setaceum and Pennisetum villosum. There are also small bushes of Nassella tenuissima, grass that ripples harmoniously when the wind blows.
Along with the grass, the main protagonists of this park are the spectacular blooming Oleanders (Nerium oleander) and the palm trees, especially the California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera). You can also find Mediterranean fan palms (Chamaerops humilis) and small groups of paper mulberries (Broussonetia papyrifera) that provide shade.
History
The Garcia Fària Linear Park is part of the urban re-zoning of the Besòs coast at the river mouth which was done at the time of the Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona 2004. The main objective of that event was reflection and dialogue on cultural diversity, sustainable development and peace. The urban development made it possible to recover a large section of the coast located between the municipal districts of Barcelona and Sant Adrià de Besòs.
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Este parque, de más de un km de largo, enlaza dos grandes espacios verdes del litoral barcelonés: el Parque de Poblenou y el Parque de Diagonal Mar. Es ideal para circular en bicicleta, ya sea para pasear o para desplazarse por la zona en la que se encuentra. El Parque Lineal Garcia Fària también constituye una excelente puerta de acceso a las playas más próximas al Besòs i al espacio del Fórum Barcelona 2004.
El Parc Lineal Garcia Fària es el resultado de una sabia combinación de topografía y vegetación. Da lugar a espacios paralelos muy bien diferenciados, separados por grandes parterres, unos llanos y otros más ataludados. Ocupa el espacio situado sobre el gran aparcamiento que se encuentra junto a la ronda Litoral.
Por el lado de montaña se extiende un carril bici, larguísimo y muy ancho, delimitado por los parterres que hacen las funciones de mediana entre las dos zonas del parque y el parterre que lo separa de la calzada del paseo por el que recibe el nombre.
Cada ciertos metros, los parterres se interrumpen en amplios accesos de comunicación entre un lado y el otro del parque. Si pasamos al lado del mar, el límite se convierte en una especie de mirador sobre las playas cercanas. Aquí se encuentran las zonas de descanso y los juegos infantiles.
Se puede acceder directamente a las playas cruzando el parque por las calles Bac de Roda, Selva de Mar y Josep Pla.
Vegetación
El verde, organizado en fajas, está formado por especies adecuadas a la situación del parque, a primera línea de mar y sin elementos construidos que protejan la vegetación. Es por ello por lo que abundan los tamariscos (Tamarix gallica).
En los parterres que van a parar al paseo se encuentran graminias de diferentes especies, con combinaciones de altura muy ornamentales. Encontramos Hyparrhenia sp., Festuca sp., Pennisetum setaceum y Pennisetum villosum. También hay pequeños arbustos de Nassella tenuissima, una gramínea que ondea armoniosa cuando sopla el viento.
Junto con las gramíneas, las principales protagonistas de este parque son las adelfas (Nerium oleander), de floraciones espectaculares, y las palmeras, sobre todo las washingtonias (Washingtonia filifera). También encontramos palmitos (Chamaerops humilis) y, dando sombra, pequeños grupos de moreras del papel (Broussonetia papyrifera).
Historia
El Parque Lineal Garcia Fària forma parte de la reordenación urbanística del frente litoral del Besòs, situado en la desembocadura del río, que se realizó con motivo del Fórum Mundial de las Culturas Barcelona 2004. El principal objetivo de este acontecimiento era la reflexión y el diálogo en torno a la diversidad cultural, el desarrollo sostenible y la paz. La nueva urbanización permitió recuperar una gran extensión del frente litoral, situada entre los términos municipales de Barcelona y Sant Adrià del Besòs.
Site5 forums thread: forums.site5.com/showthread.php?t=9680
Yes, sometimes my job requires hunting down drawings of Supergirl. :D It's a rough life.
Again, what a proper Americano should look like. If you don't get it like this in a cafe, send it back. NB - the "blonding" was from the one or two drips after the shot was done.
Used:
- 3oz hot water into preheated cup
- 2oz espresso pull (a double), using Intelligentsia Black Cat
- Rancilio Rocky and stock Silvia, temperature surfed.
And it was tasty :D
Modelling
For the modelling process I decided to work and create the model in a very segmented manor, building the character out of smaller modular pieces of geometry to be combined later as this allows me more time to work on the more important things by making me prioritise what requires the most detail and what will be the complex and to complete these items first.
Head
As instructed I imported the images on to an image plane on the x and z axis’, using the “create polygon” tool to trace the outline of the model’s side profile, then using the extrude tool to create a grab-able edge that should be used to create the proper topology however when I tried to extrude the proper edges again to produce more faces, the normals became uncontrollable and wild, as a result I abandoned this technique and opted for one I have had more experience with in the past, thus I created a cube with several separations that I can use to create the head by inserting additional edge loops and manipulating them into the required shapes. In retrospect it would probably have been wiser to start with this method to begin with and working on building the skills I developed last year rather than jumping straight into a new method, however the knowledge I gained from these videos did help as I went along and may be a skill to work on for future projects.
I continued creating the head by scaling the cube up so that an the orthographic view would show all the corners of the cube meeting the nearest edge or being as close as possible to the edge of the face in the images, I then cut the cube in half and deleted the entire left half so that I can work on the right half and duplicate the finished half mirrored in the z axis then combine the two halves to create the final head. I’ve began by inserting additional edge loops around the main features such as the eyes, nose and mouth so they would act as outlines on the orthogonal view, I then began to use a combination of standard selection and soft selection to move the vertices to the required positions then using the sculpt geometry tools to refine the final shape, I have also added additional edge loops into the facial construction to give more definition to the features and also entered smooth mode to see how the face will eventually look. This process was extremely time consuming and difficult but on the plus side there was little guess work to be done as the two image plains provided me with most of the outlines and places of shape for me to work from, however one particular part that I did find tricky was the indents around the nose where the eye sockets are, as the images couldn’t convey that sort of information.
I modelled an eyeball and eyelids by using the poly sphere tool and creating three spheres about the same size with only one being slightly smaller than the other two and selecting several faces that form a circle and pushing them inward a bit to create the pupil and using the now introverted faces that surround the manipulated faces as the irises, I then went in and deleted the top half of one of the outer spheres and the bottom half of the other, this way the lids can be rotated to give the impression the eye is opening. This was a quick and very efficient method to produce an effective eyeball.
After several days’ worth of attempts to get the head right, the head model wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be even after trying to get it up to scratch using the sculpt geometry tool, as a result I have decided to totally recreate the head using a technique that my lecturer demonstrated to me, using the quad draw tool in the modelling toolkit to recreate the character’s head and create better topology in the process, making the edge loops curve around the major features such as the mouth and eyes, then using the sculpt geometry tool to refine it. After several hours of trying to get as many quads in as necessary in one go. I’d finished the head geometry, while it was not perfect I believe it is still enough of an improvement to go forward with I’ve also aligned the eyeball with the head, I have aligned all the central vertices so that they can be mirrored along the z axis to be duplicated, flipped and combined to make the final geometry. After doing so I had the idea to create the characters hair by duplicating the characters head, deleting the faces that will show any flesh, extruding the edited geometry to give a slight off-set from the character’s head but then selecting vertices at every other interval then scaling them outwards so as to create a bumpy effect as if the character has curly or un-kept hair. This was a quick way to produce a head even if it wasn’t what I hoped it would be and while my idea to create the hair may be unorthodox, I think it gives the model a unique character.
Hands
I began work on the character’s right hand by again starting with a polygon primitive cube and using the insert edge loop tools to create the faces that I later extruded outwards to form the fingers and thumb using the scale tool to stretch and compress the vertices to manipulate and distort the original shape into the desired form, adding extra edges in order to enhance the shape to bring it closer to the form I want it to be such as around the knuckles and finger joints, scaling the finger tips down to get that more telescopic effect in fingers and thumb and manipulating the vertices to give the knuckles and finger joints more prominence. I then added any additional edge loops to give additional shape when the arms and body were finished I then put everything together, scaled it so the proportions looked reasonable and finally flipped the whole thing. This was a very efficient and quick way of modelling the hand and in hindsight is much better than my initial approach of tracing an image of a human hand with the create geometry tool, extruding the created face inserting edge loops then adjusting the new loops to give shape which totally backfired as the faces created a webbing around the mesh.
Feet
When I started to model the character’s extremities I started with the feet as they seemed to be the most simple and easy to get out of the way. I began by creating a polygon cube then using the scale tool to stretch the geometry to be more in line with the proportions of a typical foot then inserting edge loops at the required points to create gradients in the shoe’s geometry such as the shoes rim and soul lip, I then entering smooth mode to see which edge loops needed to be manipulated and how, this has resulted in some peculiar shapes in the standard mode, however this was later remedied by adding extra loops at strategic places. This method was quick and efficient, while it may not have produced the most detailed result or used the proper topology recommended for similar situations it serves its purpose. This shoe was eventually placed under the leg and reflected in the z axis.
Midsection and legs
I started to work on the character’s body by firstly creating a poly cube then adding loops around the general rib area then adding some horizontal loops to help give the right kind of gradient in his shoulders and pectoral muscles. In addition I have used the extrude tool to get the bottom of the shirt and get the rim that turns back on itself and lead into the hips, at the top of the torso I also added the neck through the use of the same tool to get a stem like shape that has a slight offset from the shirt that I can place the finished head on top of later. I have also constructed a basic arm out of “pipes”, filling the hole of one end then adding edge loops for the articulation points such as the elbow as well as around the characters muscle areas to try and get some definition in the bicep and triceps to try and give the impression that the character was physically strong and in the filled hole to get a rounded end to the arm. When work began on the lower body, I proceeded by extruding the edges from the inverted edges of the shirt to create the waist and hips, then cutting the geometry in half and extruding the bottom face of the hips to create the leg, again extruding trouser leg inwards on itself, again I added edge loops on both the vertical and horizontal axis’s to manipulate the leg into the correct shape. In my personal opinion this construction looked ok when separated into the modular components used to construct it, however when compiled together and flipped the mid-section and legs proved to be the weakest component.
Texturing and rendering
I started to texture the character using the pre-created shaders in maya including the wood for the eyes and hair and cloth shaders for the pants, I have decided to use a mixture of lambert, blinn and phong textures re-coloured to reflect the type of material they are and how they reflect the light, I decided against using UV maps as they are extremely finicky to get right and bearing in mind the percentage the model is worth I do not believe it is worth the effort. I have decided to give the character brown hair along with a purple top and blue pants as well as blue eyes. Upon consideration, I have decided to recolour my character in a red top, dark purple pants and blonde hair, as red and purple are colours that are more associated with dark impulses such as arrogance and ambition, which fit the characters personality better, the choice of blonde hair comes from what has been discussed I my animation analysis module which also harkens back to a typically villainous hair colour in animation.
Covicted: without proper guardianship. Although the National Childrens Home did not resort to showing much of the ragged children they took in, tugging at a few heart strings from time to time did work
Using a proper stance, when hand holding a camera, is important to minimize camera shake. There are a number of stances that accomplish this. Here, my mother-in-law demonstrates one such stance. :-)
on a road trip along MO-86, Missouri
7-2006