CSCI 140 Group Gallery

3-D Computer Modeling 
CSCI 140 Spring 2003

Stonehenge Debunked

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Jessica Orman
Donna Al-Ali
Cole Ferrier
Jim Hilley

Stonehenge Debunked
by
The Lemurians		Group Scene
 
Inspiration:     
The divine heel glares down upon men
Men labor and serve the sky
Birth and death are played out
Silence is king and the past is jester
The fog merges myth with reality
To play the fool we all do
To the stones we are enraptured

The megalithic monument Stonehenge is the focus of our project. We wanted to portray a few of the theories and misnomers that plague its past.  Druids, sacrifices to sky gods, and astronomical alignments are the main features of our scenes.  We wanted to recreate what Stonehenge would have looked like at the end of its third and final phase of construction.  So here for your viewing pleasure and amusement is our vision of Stonehenge.
 
 
Objects:StonesJessica Orman & Donna Al-Ali
 GrassJessica Orman
 PathJessica Orman
 SkyJessica Orman & Donna Al-Ali
 DruidDonna Al-Ali
 PlatterDonna Al-Ali
 DaggerLightwave
 BottleCole Ferrier
 Goat(body)Jim Hilley
 Goat(head)3D Cafe
   
Textures:StonesSarsens & Trilithons- mossy_rock.tga, tan_rock3.tga(J.O.)
 Bluestonesblue_rock.tga(J.O), rock.tga
 GrassPlugin Sasquach Lite
 Pathdirt.tga, bumpMap.tga
 Skyeclipse.tga, peaceful.tga, & cloudscape.tga
 Druidcloth(druid).tga for Day Druids (None for Night Druids)
 DaggerFractalRelfections.tga
 BottlePrefabricated Glass Settings from Lightwave
 GoatPlugin: Sasquach Lite
   
Resources:Path texturehttp://3dtextureworld.com/organic/organic6.asp
 Stone textureshttp://www.skitzer.demon.co.uk/webgfx/rocks.html
 Sky textureshttp://www.webshots.com (Requires registration for bitmap)
 Druid Cloth texturehttp://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/texture/cloth/
 Goat Headhttp://www.3dcafe.com/asp/animals.asp
 Dinosaur Tutorial (for Goat)http://creativedigital.bizhosting.com/Creative%20TutorialsPage.htm
 Sasquach Lite Tutorial:http://www.lightwave3d.com/contests/dec-02/winners/index.html
 Stonehenge Fact Siteshttp://www.witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries
 http://www.stonecraft.co.uk/Projects/FeaturedProject/Stonehenge/content1.htm
 
Construction Details:

Stones:
Using bounding blocks that were the dimensions of our stones we arranged these in their appropriate locations.
Jessica Orman- Sarsen Circle & Heel Stone.
Donna Al-Ali- Altar Stone, Trilithon Horseshoe, Bluestone Circle, & Bluestone Horseshoe.
Jessica Orman used Subdivide's Mediform & Fractal tools to manipulate the surface to simulate freshly cut stone.  Also using the move tool was able to manipulate polygons to give a more realistic effect.  In order to get the desired look on the texture two separate texture layers were created each with a different texture. The opacity on the top texture layer was set to 50% in order to see both texture layers.

Grass:
Jessica Orman made a large box with minimal height, then she divided it into quarters using the Knife tool.  Then to leave space for a path she did Boolean Subtract with a cylinder.  Then she used the plugin Sasquach Lite which comes with Lightwave3D, and by following a tutorial and through experimentation, was able to achieve the look we needed.

Path:
Jessica Orman created a flat cylinder and applied a Bump map to get a more realistic effect. Then she applied a dirt texture to the path to get the final look. She then inserted the path within the landscape to get our final Stonehenge set up.

Sky:
Creating a sphere approximately the same size as the landscape Jessica Orman cropped the sphere in half to create a dome structure. Then by reversing the surface normal applied a sky colored surface.  Jessica Orman & Donna Al-Ali applied different sky bitmaps and so by adjusting the texture's orientation found the desired look.

Lighting:
Jessica Orman & Donna Al-Ali after Stonehenge was done, took the different sky domes and using the Area Light we were able to get the lighting effect we wanted.  The light was situated according to the moon, sun, or horizon line established by the particular sky dome in use.

Druid:
Donna Al-Ali made a flat box and by using the Bend, Magnet, and Drag tools was able to achieve the desired shape for the hood.  Then finding a skeleton figure in Lightwave, resized the skeleton to stand 6 ft. tall.  Then Donna resized the hood to fit over the skeleton's head.  She created another flat box that would eventually be the cape for the druid.  She used the Bend tool to make a semi circle around the skeleton.  Then grabbing the top three rows of polygons she used the Bend tool to create a curved area over the shoulders of the skeleton.  Then by using the Drag tool and the Magnet tool was able over time to mold the cape around the skeleton.  Then after the shape was created came upon an issue with shadow ray tracing.  There were too many coplanar polygons, then by using the Triple tool and Double Siding in the Surface editor was able to eliminate most shadow issues.  Then to achieve the cloth look went to the Surface Editor and reduced Specularity to 0%, Glossiness to 40%, and Diffusion to 80%.  Thus the objects had a cloth-like appearance.  Finally applied a cloth texture to the Daytime Druid object; which Donna Al-Ali gave a blue hue.  Also brightened the cloth texture within the Texture Editor in the Surface Editor section of Modeler.

Platter:
Donna Al-Ali created a flat box and by experimenting with the Bend tool spun it across the x-axis and was able to achieve a platter shape. Then by increasing the glossiness and changing the color to a gold hue finished the platter.

Bottle:
Cole Ferrier used the Sketch tool to create the basic outline for the bottle.  Then he used the Drag tool to align the sides for equal thickness. He also used the Drag tool.  Finally he went into the Surface Editor in Layout to use the prefabricated glass settings and adjusted these till everything looked as desired.

Goat:
My task for our group's Stonehenge themed scene was to create a model of a goat. I started off by finding a side profile image of a goat from the web. Next, I used this as a backdrop in lightwave and proceeded to trace the body of the goat by creating quad polygons. Once I had a reasonable approximation of the goat's torso, I extruded the model along the X axis, then went into NURBS mode. Next I just simply moved points around to shape the goat's torso along the x axis. I then beveled out two polygons, one in the front and one in the rear, then beveled out these polygons further to shape the legs of the animal. I continued this process of beveling and shaping until I closely modeled the shape of a goat. I also went back and added some more detail and skin folds to his shoulders and haunches. After I completed the body I went through a painstacking process to join the completed body with the goat head we obtained from 3dcafe. Finally, I applied some sasquatch magic for fur, and the goat was complete.