FINAL EXTRA CREDIT: FUNDAMENTALS OF BLENDER

Started off with the basics.

Learned how to zoom in and out.

Added a monkey to my grid.

Started to play with the vertices and stretched them out to give him a hat.

Stretched out his ears and gave him a really long goatee.

I then created a cylinder and stretched out the vertices to create triangles.

Started to play around and make a rocket ship kind of object.

Created a sphere.

Gave my sphere a little cone at the top.

Added a donut to the tip.

Brought out another monkey and used the draw feature to make eyes, eyebrows,nose, and mouth outline.

Used the light and animate feature which gave me these lines and this pyramidal shape.

FINAL EXTRA CREDIT: BLENDER vs. MAYA

After reading about Maya and Blender, there are benefits and cons to both of them. First of all, I will start off by explaining what these programs are. Maya and Blender are both 3d computer graphics software that can create a variety of applications such as animated films, video games, and the visual effects that you see on TV. This software is available to everyone and can be run on Windows, OS X, and Linux.

After reading some articles about Maya and Blender, many people agree that Maya is the best 3D application in the computer graphics industry at the moment. Maya allows a programmer to do models, create textures, render, and animate. However, Blender should not be underestimated and is sometimes better in different aspects. One of the biggest things that drew me to Blender was that it was absolutely free! So people that start off computer graphics can practice on Blender with almost the same functionality as Maya.

Another comparison is requirement for the software. Maya does not require as much intense hardware as Blender. Maya only requires the user to have 4 GB of ram on their computer, compared to Blender's 8. Furthermore, Blender also requires a stronger processor. However, if a person goes into computer graphics, I assume that he/she is able to invest in a good computer anyway so this does not really matter.

Even though Maya is said to be better in all aspects, some people argue that Blender is actually a lot more useful in those fine details on models. For example, in Blender, you select objects with the right mouse button instead of the left mouse button. This is really useful because in Maya, the left mouse button selects the edge, face and vertex. It is actually very difficult to select things with only the left mouse button and if you are trying to get those small details with lots of vertices in a model, it will take a long time. However, in Blender, the right mouse button is the one that selects objects, so it makes it a lot easier to do this.

Blender is also a lot more newbie friendly compared to Maya. For example, in Blender, it is much easier to render. Compared to Maya, the render option is very simple and right in front of you. In Blender, to render an animation, you just have to click "Render Anim", which makes it very simple for new programmers to find. In Maya, you have to go under many different settings and find an option called "Batch Render" which may confuse new programmers since it does not blatantly say"Render animation".

FINAL EXTRA CREDIT: MESHES

A mesh graphic, or a polygon mesh is a group of faces and vertices that create the shape of a polyhedral in computer graphics. It is usually comprised of quadrilaterals and other convex polygons. The concept of polygon meshes is a huge part of computer graphics and there are a variety of meshes are utilized for different goals that these programmers have.

To create one of these polygon meshes, there are some criteria that need to be made. First of all, the meshes must have edges, face, vertices, polygons and surfaces. However, many times, vertices and edges are the ones that are used the most. Furthermore, renderers can use a variety of polygons, such as 3 sided faces or quads. Some polygons are used for different modeling such as creating a head of a person.

I named some of the criteria above that are necessary to create a polygon mesh. I will now try and define some of them so it is easier to follow along. A vertex is a position where two lines meet and an edge is the connection between two vertices. Furthermore a face is an enclosed set of edges. For example, penta face has 5 edges and a quad face has 4 edges. Most of the time, we will not see more than 4 since a lot of hardware these days only support 3-4 sides faces.

There are many ways that a polygon mesh can be represented. One of the ways is a winged edge mesh, where each edge points to two vertices, two faces, and four edges that touch it. There are benefits to this, but also downsides, such as higher storage requirements. Furthermore, you can do a vertex-vertex mesh which uses only vertices that point to other vertices. This is one of the simplest ways, but it is very inefficient and does not allow many operations to be performed on the mesh.

Identity in the Context of Virtual Worlds

After reading the two articles and reflecting on my own experiences in virtual worlds, I agree with everything that the CNN article mentions about virtual identity. I have played many MMO's or Massively Multiplayer Online video games and can relate to the article. I love playing virtual world video games because you are able to customize a character and make it look however you want. Furthermore, you are not limited to only playing your gender.

Even I am not an introvert, I can see how these virtual worlds can help people that are not very comfortable with real life confrontation. They can create identities for themselves in these virtual worlds and pretend to be someone they wish they could be in real life. A person can be whoever they want online and become anyone they want. I like how the article mentions that there was a professor who played a little girl in a video game. This just proves that there are no limitations to a virtual identity and a person can take on whoever they wish.

Relating virtual identity to Second Life, this game allows a person to actually make an avatar that resembles them because there are so many options a person can choose from. This gives them the opportunity to be themselves in virtual world or be a completely different person. It also talks about how a person can create an identity through the chat and language that they use. I agree with this because if a person only speaks English in real life, but wants to start taking on the identity of a Spanish speaker, he can start speaking Spanish in Second Life.

From my personal experience and playing video games for a long time, I do not think that I choose avatars based on myself. I usually choose the most bad-ass looking one or sometimes I choose a female to mess around. However, even though I choose these avatars, I do not think that they represent my personality. I know that for a lot of people, they try to create a different persona online and be someone they're not. For me, I usually just play to get stronger in the game and do not really care how my avatar looks.

Virtual worlds are a great place for people to create a "new self". A person can be whoever they want to be because they are not bound by the limitations of the real world. I think that virtual worlds are great for people who want social interaction (introverts), but not able to talk to people in real life comfortably. This still allows them to talk to others, while being hidden behind an avatar of their choosing. A virtual identity is what you make of it because the possibilities are endless.

Examining Gender, Race and Body Image in a Virtual World

So when as a guy, I tried to get someone to talk to me. 

As soon as I changed into a woman and asked the same question, someone responded and said Hi to me.

I went into a difference place as a woman, and did a general hello. After waiting, no one said anything.

I changed my avatar into a good looking, latino( seems like it) man and asked the same question. Instantly, someone responded by saying "Wonderful".

I then started to talk with her later.

It was weird. When I first entered as a guy, I greeted people by saying hello. However, no one talked to me because I was surrounded by males. As soon as I changed into a female avatar, I had someone say hello to me instantly. After I changed places, I did the same thing as a female and said hello to people. However, no one responded to me. After I changed into a guy, I had a female talk to me. I think its the people you're surrounded by that determines your ability to socially interact with people. 

Final Project Part 2: My Completed Immersive Library/Museum

Outside view of place.

Different perspectives. You can see my ice cream tree.

Closer look at my tree and pig buildings

Inside of my house has a garden enclosed in glass.

Inventory:

House- 2900 blocks

Tree-750

Pig-239

Glass vase= 144

Ice Cream = 100

Purple Block Monster= 1728

Total: 6000~

This is a part 3 of one of our final projects. This shows our process of building our immersive library/museum and our final product It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal a thttp://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

FINAL #3: GROUP 3D BUILDING PROJECT (Did alone since I was absent)

Started building the base.

Added a room to my house.

Built indoor swimming pool.

Started to build a glass enclosure.

Only put one side higher because I thought it looked cool.

Planted flowers on the roof.

Built a swimming pool.

Expanded it into 3 levels.

Added windows

Top view of the house.

This is me building a house in Minecraft. It was suppose to be done in a group, but I was absent for that day so I built it myself. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://immersiveeducation.org/@/bc