Revision Topic - Colour Theory

Today we also looked at colour theory.

Colour theory is based on the feeling and symbols we can create by using certain colours.

First we must have an understanding of primary, secondary and tertiary colours as shown in the colour wheel:

Primary colours are those which are the basis of all other colours
Secondary colours are made by mixing two primary colours
Tertiary colours are made by mixing a primary and a secondary colour.  (and are named using these two colours i.e. red-orange or red-violet)

Colours next to each other on the colour wheel are in harmony and those opposite are in contrast.  Depending on what type of colour scheme you are going for you may choose colours to be in harmony or contrast.  Generally contrasting colours will stand out from each other and harmony colours will melt into each other more.

Warm, or advancing colours are colours with a basis more in red and yellow.  They give a warm feeling and also make objects look closer.  This means that if you painted a room in advancing colour it would feel cosy, but also smaller as the walls would look coser.

Cold, or receding, colours are with a basis more in blue.  They give a cool feeling and make objects look further away.  So a room would look bigger if painted in a receding colour.

You also need to know what mood or emotion the different individual colours create. These are very well explained in the Leckie and Leckie book.

A tint of a colour means that you have added white i.e. red become pink
A shade of a colour means that you have added black. so red becomes this colour!
A tone of a colour is how strong or weak it is.  We use flat tones in our rendering to show the difference between flat surfaces > light, medium and dark.  We use graded tone to show that a surface is curved.

Yellow and Black are used for danger identification

Safety Signs are Green

Prohibited Signs are Red

Mandatory Signs are Blue

You need to be used to answering questions on theory based on choosing colours for given situations.  Make sure you know the symbols and emotions well.

Revision Topic - Prisms and Cylinders

Today we revised prisms and cylinders.

First we had to construct the front elevation.  I would start with the hexagonal base and then tackle the cylinder.  This proved not too much of a problem for the class as a whole, but we missed out some hidden detail.

Remember that numbering will aid your construction.  You should number the hexagon starting at the shortest side and going round the shape.  You should use clockface construction on the cylinder and therefore number it like a clock.  It will then be much easier to follow your construction lines and plot the points you need.

(Note that the bottom of the cylinder is also a slope and therefore you will need to plot this circle also)

From this image you can also see the start of the construction for the true shape.  Remember that the angle between the sloping surface and the construction lines must be 90 degrees as if you are looking straight onto the slope.

Using these construction lines and projecting them onto the center line (or drawing your own center line) you can use the distances from the center line to outline of the slope from either the front elevation or the plan.

The Surface development is drawn along the "ground".  You must draw the ground first to know that your sizes are correct.  From the plan use a compass to transfer the sizes between points.  As this is a hexagon, all the distances will be the same. Number these points as you have your plan. From each of these points project horizontally away from the ground.  These are the height lines.  From the elevation or end elevation mark the height of each line along the height lines.  Fill in the outline of the top by joining all the heights together and draw your fold lines.

These stages are the same for all prisms and cylinders,  the only difference being that if it is a cylinder you have to create your own points using the clockface construction, and if it is a prism you will have the points from the edges and you must use these.

NEW feature! Reactions!

I have added some "reactions" to the blog.  This allows you to quickly comment on how much you understand something.  Please use this so that I can gauge how much people understand, and which areas I need to go over more.

You don't have to comment, and it's anonymous so please give me this feedback so that I can tailor my teaching to help you.  If you would like me to go over something individually then leave a comment and I'll catch up with you :)

Student Record

To complete the work you must write a student record to explain how you produced each piece of your CAD folio.  This proves that you produced it yourself using the guidelines and not from a template.  This does not have to be a long essay detailing every single line you drew!  Just an overview.

Make sure you use the terminology you have learned about both in DTP and CAD

Use the checklist to make sure that you cover all the information required.  If you would like to copy and paste the work you have already done into the correct sheet you can find this on the server:

Curricular > Technology > S3/S4 Int 2 Graphics

You need to print the whole thing off and sign the front to declare that you did all the work yourself.

From the documents you need to include: What this means to you:

• a description of each graphic item, software and graphic medium used and how the graphic item was produced.
• What software did you use?  Mention how you used the software and the commands you used to produce each type of drawing from the CAD model, and how you created the CAD model in the first place.  
• With DTP mention how you set up the page and how you then used the commands to create your magazine article.  (The poster comes under CAD illustration and presentation along with the final rendering of your camera with lighting)  
• When describing marker rendering start from drawing the 2PP sketch and how you used markers first of all to get the different flat tones, and then used pencil to enhance, using white for highlights etc.
• an acknowledgment (including source) of all scanned, captured or clip art images used
• For all images you used you must say where it came from i.e. the website, or if you took a photo yourself.
• a description of any work carried out to enhance any of the scanned, captured or clip art images.
• No matter where the image came from, if you used photoshop, or just in InDesign, (or any other editing software) mention this in your student record.  Say what you did to it i.e. changed the colouring, cropped, made a clipping path, changed the opacity. Remember to mention the software you used to make these changes.

You also have to ensure that you have saved an electronic copy of ALL your CAD and DTP work onto the server.  

First put all your final drawings into one folder (make sure you don't include drawings from a previous save) and make sure that they have sensible names.  Make sure your name is the name of the folder.

Drag this folder into:

Curricular > Technology > Graphics Drop Folder (it's green) > Int 2 > Miss Rae

So that when I check this on Monday at 3:30pm, I will have a folder from each of you, with all your work in it.

Final Deadline - 14/3/11

After the 14th March you will have to have everything completed.  You will also have to transfer an electronic copy of your files into the server but I will show you how to do this on the day.

The last piece of work (as well as making corrections suggested on the other sheets) is the marker rendering.  You should already have this but you may have to do some work on it.  Again read the checklist.

You must have a marker rendering of a 2 Point Perspective drawing you have done, using two or more mediums, effectively mounted with creative use of text. 

Here is an example, even though it is not of a clock.  It uses marker pens and pencil to enhance tone.  It has creative use of background and text.

Deadline 10/3/11 - Promotional Material and DTP

You should already have your double page spread of DTP done from last year and touched up for today's deadline.  USE the checklist to ensure that you have all the elements you need to get full marks.

You then need to use the InDesign software to create a poster to promote the camera you drew in VectorWorks.

Set up your pages with the rules and frames in place.  Having looked at some examples of different magazine articles you should have a good idea of what you want your advert to look like.

You need to export your VectorWorks rendering as an image file.  Change the type to TIFF so that you can increase the resolution for a better image.  You can then "place" this into the frame you have ready.

Make sure that you source a good image as a background or additional image.  You must also include creative and informative text.  So have an eye-catching heading and add some information about the camera.  My example here shows text along a path which gives a more creative use of text.  Make sure that you use a clipping path around your camera image so that you don't have any white outlines.  My one still needs some work but it should give you an idea.

Deadline 3/3/11

By Wednesday of this week you must have your 3D camera model finished with good textures and lighting.

You need to add two light sources to create good shadows.  I suggest one to pick out the detail on the top of the camera, and one to light the lens. Place the lights on the plan view and then use the front view to adjust the position, and the object info to adjust the tilt/pan/brightness/spread of the light.  Don't change the colour, it just makes it look really odd!

You can use the textures from object info, but these are limited so you can use the resource browser to find more from the library. I will show you how to do this.

You need to take a screen shot (shift+apple+4) of this showing the light sources for your student record, and you need to print this off showing a table, or surface, that your camera is sitting on, straight from VectorWorks. 

This is the image that we are then going to use in the next DTP exercise.

Deadlines for Next Week

Next week we will be looking at rendering and lighting your camera.  We then need to put the rendered camera into a magazine style poster.

What you need to do first is find 3 examples of a magazine full page advertising poster so that we can look at the layout and style.  Over the weekend look for these examples and bring them in on Monday.

These are some examples of what we are looking for:

This Week's Deadline - 25/2/11

Your deadline this week is to complete the orthographic drawing with a section.

To get the correct dimensions (British Standards) you must go to:

File > Document Settings > Document Preferences > Dimensions.

You then need to create a new dimensioning setting and call it something you will remember.  You will get this screen and you need to change this 0 to 2 to ensure that your dimensions do not touch your drawing.

You may have to draw "phantom circles" in order for the circle dimension to work.  No Problem, just draw the circle the exact size you need but change the line and fill to none.  You won't see this circle, but the computer will then be able to dimension it :)

You need to make sure that your outlines/hidden detail are black and thicker than the dimensions.

You should put in centre lines and the section plane in red.

You should make your dimensions green or blue.

The MAIN focus of the drawing should always be the camera!  Not the dimensions.

Make sure that you only ever draw a dimension once, and don't make your drawing too messy with too many dimensions all over the place.

Orthographic View of Camera with Sectional End Elevation

CAD Revision

Here is a sheet to help you remember some of the CAD commands.

Remember that you need to know the GENERIC terms for the CAD commands because not everyone uses VectorWorks!  You can also use page 49 of the Leckie and Leckie Text book.

Today's Deadline- Isometric Drawings

Today's Deadline is the Isometric Drawings. 

I have included below examples of these drawings, but take note that my camera model is very very basic and I expect yours to include text and filleting as well as the basic body shape!

Assembled Isometric with Section

Exploded Isometric with Parts List

Dates for Hand In

Intermediate 2 Graphic Communication - Presentation Folio

To help you make sure that you have everything handed in on time stick to these deadlines for handing in your Presentation Folio.

Remember to use the checklist to ensure that you have added all the details required.

18/2/11 - All Isometric line drawings (Assembled and exploded)

25/2/11 - Orthographic Drawing - including proper line types, labels and dimensions

3/3/11 - Rendering in CAD - including lighting and textures

10/3/11 - All DTP including the magazine double page spread, and the poster using your CAD camera

14/3/11 - COMPLETE FOLIO including Marker Rendering