Milestone 1 - 2D Designs and Turnaround
Design References
The requirement of this task is to create a 'Seuss inspired drone' which can carry several people within it.
Naturally I began looking at the art of Dr Seuss for inspiration. Specifically, I was looking at how he drew machines and how they worked.
What I leant is that Seuss' technology is often not made for efficiency, but rather to replace human action. Take for example the woodcutting vehicle, which instead of cutting with something more practical tool like a buzz saw, instead uses a human made axe.
Artistically, the visuals of Seuss' works are simplistic. Most vehicles are made of one solid colour with the most diverse vehicle being made of 4 colours. A noticeable principle of his tech is that corners are rounded, pipes are wonky and curved, and the mechanics of splined objects (the robot hand) are made of segmented pieces.
Color Pallette
Design Sketches
Final Design
The design I have gone with is a balloon-drone. The idea is that it picks up and drops off its recipients with giant mechanical hands, while those same hands manage the steering wheel up front, as well as the fire engine in the middle.
The base of the vehicle is hollow, and holds at least 4 seats surrounded by a table. It is my approximation that the vehicle will be made of at least 10 parts or more.
Turnarounds
Milestone 2 - Greyscale Model and Turnaround
This is a greyscale rendition of my final piece. It is made of 10+ pieces.
The important part of this piece is conveying that it is an 'autonomous droid', which I have reinforced with the robotic arms. I created them by using a spline and running a tube through it.
You may have noticed that there are certain parts of the design that are missing (windows on the side of the base and props most notable). These were removed because of scope issues. I also decided to skip the strings between the balloon and the base of the ship because they made the model look too cluttered. It's being held together by unthinkable science!
Wireframe Turntables
Milestone 3 - UV Map and Textures
This model is made of eight different UDIMS. It was made this way because of how many different parts there are to the model (base of the ship, the engine in the middle, the balloon, etc).