Intro to 3D Design Management Report & Projects

Research and Report on my Area of Focus

Environmental and Safety

Environmental section/ Treehouse – Photos by Lindsey McEwan Lindsey Ann McEwan – Lindsey’s creative space

“Environmental & Safety involves creating a safe and healthy living environment. It includes maintaining a clean and organized space, ensuring your physical safety, and being mindful of your impact on the environment.”

This is the space that I chose to work in for our class project in Second Life. It is a place that I most relate to due to the fact I grew up in a wooded area and was fortunate enough to have the privilege of building a tree house with my father and brother. This experience helped shape my love of the great outdoors and my respect for the environment. although I have not been in Second life to work on anything, I do appreciate the space provided and I hope that by placing my digital 3D objects there that it will help to encourage people to explore and learn more about environment and safety.

As a result I have spent much of my adult life exploring the great outdoors and following the above guidelines by always respecting nature. We can all do simple things to respect the environment such as not littering and picking up after ourselves. How simple is that? We don’t always have to go out of our way to be mindful of the environment. For ensuring our physical safety can simply be dressing for the elements. For more adventurous pursuits it is always a good idea to check the weather forecast, let someone know where you are heading, and bring the right tools for the job, such as a fire starter or flares in case of emergency. Simply by personal respect for nature you can do your part in protecting it and yourself. After all you are also apart of the environment. according to 10 Ways To Protect Environment: Actions That Make A Difference – Sigma Earth some other things we can do to be more mindful of the environment are supporting sustainable businesses and buying local, saving energy and recycling. and check out 13 Important Safety Tips for Outdoor Enthusiasts for outdoor safety tips including planning ahead and being prepared for the unforeseen events by packing essential gear and supplies especially for longer trips, and staying on marked trails which not only prevents people from getting lost but also promotes being mindful of the environment by not disturbing natural growth in areas off trail. by following all of the above tips you can feel accomplished knowing that you are doing your part to keep the environment and yourself safe.

The Effect Created by the Environmental & Safety Space in Second Life

In Second Life there is a tree house, a pillow fort tent, trees, benches and information boards. The effect is people can take their avatars there to relax and explore and when they come across this area they are reminded about self-care and the environment. This keeps the importance of our environment and safety in focus so that we all may consider it. I am not sure that much can be improved in this awesome space as it already has great main attractions, but I do like the idea of people who journey there can pick up a 3D coin that I am creating to help encourage traffic to this space.

12 Steps of the Superhero’s Journey

January 7, 2025 – March 20,2025

Though this journey really began 08/24/2024

Step 0 01/07/2025 to 01/12/2025

Step 0 is the decision to start. Like many superhero’s my decision to start came from a series of events that were out of my control which created the perfect circumstances for me to make a choice. I was at a crossroads in life and for once I decided to bet on myself and found the courage to try and become a better man through an opportunity to pursue an education that holds the key to my future.

My name is Tom. I have always been interested in arts such as photography, video, and graphic design. I used to mess around in the Paint program on the early computers when I was a kid and when cell phones were finally “smart” I have been taking pictures and video everywhere that I go. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to actually do something with my interests or even enough money to buy an actual camera. I ended up at Mckinley Paper Mill and worked there for years. I worked an average of 80hour weeks though I have worked 100hr weeks there also. With all of those hours I was able to learn a lot and move up the progression ladder from labor pool to backtender. I pretty much lived at the mill and people would joke that I had a cot in the back as I was always there. My coworkers even called me Mr. Mckinley. When the mill shut down, I was depressed and didn’t know what I was going to do. When the college had an open house for us mill workers, I met Renne and realized that this program was a good fit for me and my interests. Since enrolling in college here, everyone has been helpful with any and all questions that I have had. The staff made transitioning into college easy for me. I am grateful to be here with this opportunity to learn new skills and I look forward to earning my AAS degree. I want to see what I can do with these new skills to make my interests profitable and help others along the way.

Define these aspects of your Lodestar:

Love is awesome enthusiasm. Creating content that shows my interest in the outdoors.

Objective defines our purpose. My objective is to build skills with the knowledge that I learn here

Drive is what gives you energy. find a way to make my interests profitable.

Enjoy is to be fully engaged. Seeing my creations come to life.

Step 1 01/13/2025 to 01/19/2025

Step 1 is the ordinary world before the adventure begins. Before embarking on this educational adventure I was working at the local paper mill and a ton of overtime. I was great at my job and I was valued and irreplaceable due to the fact that I would come in any time at a moments notice and turn chaos into a smooth running shift. I loved my career choice and I loved that I was great at it.

1. If you were a shape, what shape would you be and why? I relate most to the rectangle as I greatly desire stability, structure, and organization even though since losing my mill job, I no longer feel that stability. 

2. Does the color of your shape have important significance? neon blue #1b03a3 the color represents calmness which is something that I also strive for.

3. Describe the texture of your shape and how it got that way? the texture is rough with deep grooves for the depth of the path the led to this shape

4. Where is your shape? What setting is it in? my shape is sitting by a lake during sunset

5. How do you like your shape lit? Is the lighting above, below, inside, or off? the light comes from within my shape

Step 2 01/20/2025 to 01/26/2025

My Pre-Vis Board is a hard copy of an idea deciding on what my 3D achievement awards will be. The challenge will be to create them. As the world of multimedia continues to grow 3D design work will become even greater in demand making it a profitable skill.

Step 2 is the call to adventure. In my case the mill decided to shut down due to “market conditions” which for me was heart wrenching and completely blindsided me. I had built up debt and did not know what I was going to do. I was fortunate that the mill allowed Peninsula College to come and talk with us about possible opportunities of pursuing an education. The seed was planted and I gave it some serious thought while researching and considering what my options were and what career choice would best fit me and the new world market conditions. After all, with each paycheck, the government made sure to heavily tax my hard work for years and the thought of using that money I paid into the system to level up in life sounded like a great idea.

My first seamless textures that I created in Adobe Photoshop. These are used to wrap around digital 3D objects and can be monetized and sold to other digital creators. Textures for box are metal, paper, stone, wood.

Step 3 01/27/2025 to 02/02/2025

Step 3 is the refusal of the call. I would be lying if I said I did not think about giving up. At the time the mill closed I thought about just giving up on everything and being a bum. After all, the mill was my life for years and the career that I truly believed was my way out of debt, into financial freedom and into a better living situation. On top of that there was the self doubt of, could I even do this? Am I really good enough for a college education? Will it actually lead me into a career that will help me succeed in life? There is always a reason to say no and not even try, but when has that thought process helped anyone. In my experience it is best to be like the buffalo and run straight into the storm. Facing the challenges as they come head on.

more seamless textures for wall are brick, cement, stucco, timber.

Key For Success

The key I chose to build is the Curiosity Key. I chose this key because curiosity is the steppingstone to discovery. May I always remain curious and aim to discover new things. My curiosity has led me to become successful in many areas of my life accomplishing things that other people deem impossible. My curiosity will be the key to my success in life. Now to create this 3D key it took some effort. I utilized Adobe Illustrator to create the model then exported it to Adobe Photoshop Beta and then exported it to Blender to create the final product and be able to save it correctly to be uploaded into second life. A lot of extra steps, but turned out great.

Step 4 02/03/2025 to 02/09/2025

Step 4 is meeting with the mentor. I decided to attend the Peninsula College open house where I met Professor Renne Brock. I was nervous and still doubtful of my ability to succeed in college. Professor Brock took the time to talk with me and outline what I could expect in her classes while giving me some insight on how these skills could benefit my interests. She made the choice to bet on myself easier to make.

My seamless textures for couch are jacquard, leather, pattern, woven.

This oversized 2-seater couch would be perfect for comfort while adventuring in Second Life or used while accomplishing tasks in the hero’s journey as part of this educational course. In Second Life you may find the hero or companions seated here. This couch was created in a program called Blender.

Blender is a great app used to create digital 3D objects that can be sold to businesses and other digital creators.

Step 5 02/10/2025 to 02/16/2025

Step 5 is crossing the first threshold into the extraordinary world. I finally made the official choice to bet on myself and signed up for classes. My first day of class the professors were all very helpful and eased us into all of the work we would be doing. My journey to becoming proficient in multimedia communications applications has begun.

Really starting to get into seamless textures learning new ways to create them. Textures for glass are clear, colored, dirty, frosted.

Achievement Award Prototypes

These are just ideas that I am contemplating on making in Blender for my intro into 3D design projects. I am trying to keep it simple, but good.

What I ended up working on

Step 6 02/17/2025 to 02/23/2025

Step 6 is the discovery of superpowers and challenges including tests, allies, and enemies. My greatest superpower found here was creating 3D objects that set records for largest items to attempt uploading into Second Life where they would have the largest land impact. I found that not just scale, but also details in objects increased the size. Although they looked great with the details, simple is better sometimes. In all seriousness my superpower is that I am hard headed, stubborn and I just keep moving forward no matter what life throws at me. I find solutions to my obstacles and I keep working until I accomplish my goals and then I move forward to the next goal. My challenges are also my greatest teaching moments such as learning new tools and apps that are frustrating at first but I keep at it and eventually use them with ease to create amazing works of art to turn in. Other challenges I ignore while prioritizing the challenge that I can solve. The challenges that I have no power over are my previous acquired debt, my travel trailer home that is falling apart, and my truck that is in desperate need of Maintenance. I focus on what I can do and I keep moving forward. My Greatest allies are my family, the reputation that I built up as being a hard worker and dependable man, and everyone at Peninsula College who have helped me to achieve my goals. My only enemies are negative thoughts which I battle to keep at bay as I continue to conquer my goals.

Screenshots of my achievement awards being created.

My seamless textures are really starting to become easy to create despite the complexity. Clothing textures are knit, plaid, print, tie dye.

Step 7 02/24/2025 to 03/02/2025

Step 7 is adaptation of perspective and approach. My 3D objects that I created were too complex making the land impact on Second Life to great and so now my goal is to redesign and remake these objects so that I can contribute to this amazing program. Pictures will be coming soon. The I learned the designs need to have a much more simple mesh which is less detail. I will find a way to make this happen while still having great looking 3D objects. Another example of a setback I had in college this year was screen space for following along with the instruction and working in Adobe apps. I quickly acquired an additional screen for my computer and learning to overcome challenges has been so much easier ever since. I have also remade my website twice in order to best suit my needs. A challenge that my mentor helped me to overcome.

screenshots of me working on recreating my key to success using only the Blender app.

My seamless textures for surface are dull, rough, shiny, and soft

Step 8 03/03/2025 to 03/09/2025

Step 8 is the ordeal reveals resources and inner strengths. With my new 3D prototypes on the way I will be utilizing YouTube as a resource. My inner strength of strong will forces me to perfect these designs so that I can accomplish my goals.

New coin creations simplified to work in Second Life

Seamless textures leaves, bark, flowers, moss

Step 9 03/10/2025 to 03/16/2025

Step 9 is the unforeseen reward. My reward is knowledge and skills gained. Though these apps are not easy to learn, they hold the power to create valuable 3D assets that I can monetize and sell.

Seamless textures fauna fur, feathers, skin, scales.

Step 10 03/17/2025 to 03/20/2025

Step 10 is the road back and metamorphosis. as this class ends, I am looking forward to using the new skills that I have gained to enhance my other digital creations. The knowledge learned has changed my view on 3D and in a way took the magic of wonder out of it as I now look at other 3D works and make a mental blueprint as I now understand how they are created.

Seamless textures are elements fire, wind, water and earth

Step 11

Step 11 is the resurrection hero evaluation and reflection. Having been subjected to the frustration of learning 3D software I am now more skilled than I was before this class and I can now look forward to creating more 3D work in the future.

Step 12

Step 12 is return with education elixir and becoming the mentor. One of my favorite things to do is show off the 3D work that I create and I am able to help show people how to create it themselves or at least direct them to the resources available for them to also learn.