Coding 8, Section 11 – Character Modeling

For 8^th grade Science/Coding I am doing Pixar in a Box in Khan Academy.  Currently, I am doing the eleventh section in the course, animation.

The eleventh section in Pixar in a Box has two parts: “Modeling with Subdivision Surfaces” and “Mathematics of Subdivision.”

Part One

Subdivisions.  What are they?  Subdivisions are mathematical formulas, and at Pixar they are used to construct the characters in each film.  Subdivisions are much more expressive compared to parabolas, which is why they are used instead of parabolas.

This is what a subdivision looks like.  There are commands that let you make the blue dots, this is called splitting.  And when you split, you can average the points, which makes the shape rounded.  You can control the shape by using the four points, A, B, C, and D.  Splitting and averaging, in technical terms, is known as subdividing.  

In the third exercise, I was able to work with subdivisions.  I could add points and make the shape smooth.  This gave me a feel of what Pixar artists do to make characters for their films.

Before:

After.  This is my best attempt at making a hand:

In exercise four, I learned how to subdivide with 3D shapes!  I was able to work with a cube, a ring, and a hand.  This is one of my favorite exercises!  I can almost imagine Pixar artists doing this everyday as work.

Part Two

Part two was all about the math behind modeling.  I learned about weights, weights are how far the object moves when you subdivide.  For one of the exercises I was able to play around with the weights to see what happens when I use certain weights.  I learned that when you have three weights and you use negative and positive numbers you create a fractal.

This is what a fractal looks like after you subdivide:

That is all for this essay!  My next essay will be on the 12^th Section of Pixar in a Box on Khan Academy, Crowds. 

Thanks for reading!