[adamaley]

Hello to all. I've been a long time member of this venerable website. I've received priceless advice from members over time, and gained a lot to help me along on my audio odyssey. As much as I love music, and love the components in my life that present it to me in the most wondrous of ways, unfortunately, I have never learned to play an instrument. This is something I hope to change moving forward into my 34th year on this good earth.
 
Although, I am no musician (yet), I take solace in having significant artistic ability, which I use sparingly these days, being that I work full-time in a completely different field. However, I do freelance as a graphic designer, and aside from the work I do for others, I try to find time to pursue my own personal fulfillment through my talents. About 3 years ago, during a period when I had sold off both my speaker and headphone setups, I started a personal project which sought to combine one of my favorite hobbies - audio - with my other - design. This was also around the time when I had began to self-teach myself 3D design, and this was to serve as the foundation for my newly-conceived personal project: Create a 3D model of my favorite room, in which I will showcase some of my designs and my favorite audio components - ALL 3D MODELED.
 
THE ROOM:
 
The room was to be modeled after the living room of my childhood home. I grew up in Ghana and had many fond memories of that room, so much so that even after living Stateside without being home for 12 years, it was the one and only setting that would be fit for this project. During a visit in 2012 I took the pictures you can see below (forgive the terrible photos):
 

 

 

 

 

[adamaley]

The signature piece in this room had always been a wooden sculpture of two mermaids kissing. It had been in that very same position ever since I could remember. So, it was the first thing I chose to recreate. Here is a picture with myself and my brothers taken circa 1999 showing the sculpture in the background.
 

 
Here are some wire-frame images from 3DsMAX showing the sculpt:
 

 

 

 

[adamaley]

And here are some renders of our favorite mermaids making out in outerspace:
 

 
Here they are with exaggerated wood grain depth:
 

 
From an interesting angle:
 

 
Here is a test scene against the modeled stucco wall of the living room:
 

 
Coming together. Walls and entry door are modeled. Here is a test image:
 

 
Here's an unrendered version:
 

 
Next up was the creation of one of the most important aspects of any audiophile's listening room: the listening chair. I chose a chair belonging to a friend of mine. It is a very uniquely made chair, and very comfy to boot. Below are some of the reference images I used as inspiration:
 
  

 

[adamaley]

Here are the unrendered versions of the listening chair. I chose to go with leather upholstery as opposed to cloth for a more classy touch.
 
    
 
Below are some test renders of the listening chair without and with the leather cushion. The wood texture is still iffy at this point and quite unpolished, and it will require some fine-tuning. Nonetheless, I was happy with how the model itself was progressing. The image on the right shows the leather cushion in its earliest stages. Also, I chose to go with a darker wood for the arm rests to contrast the lighter wood of the chair's body. You can see some progress on the wall and windows. I had also done some work on creating curtains, but at this point the material wasn't working as it should - it was a little too reflective. Also, you can hopefully make out the stucco texture of the walls. The parquet flooring is also in place. I'll show some images of its creation later. I'll do the same for the Turkish-style area rug in the middle of the room - the corner is visible in the image below (bottom left).
 
   
 
The image below is a sneak peak at one of the most important elements of a listening room: Shelving. I chose to model a true to life version of the armoire in my childhood living room (refer to images in first post). Here you can see the chair placed next to it. The leather of the chair had been worked on some more at this point, and had began to resemble real leather. You get to see the intricacy of the wood flooring in this image a bit better. The picture to the right is a wireframe of the model in 3DsMAX.
 
  
 
 
I'll post some more later in the week when I find time, and dont worry, the audio components shall follow. 

 

[NLNH]

That is a nice chair.... nice renderings too 

 

[adamaley]

  That is a nice chair.... nice renderings too 

Thanks, NLNH. There's more to come.

 

[vwinter]

Very cool project. I'm kind of in the same boat in life vs my artistic side so this kind of hits close to home.

Absolutely looking forward to seeing this all come together and very much appreciate all the WIP screens.

 

[RSVRMAN]

Subscribed. Looking forward to more 3d modeling. 

 

[adamaley]

Very cool project. I'm kind of in the same boat in life vs my artistic side so this kind of hits close to home.

Absolutely looking forward to seeing this all come together and very much appreciate all the WIP screens.

Thanks vwinter. I'll put up some more images tonight. It is worth mentioning that this project isn't yet complete. Actually it is less than 1/4 of the way through, and I haven't worked on it for close to two years. I was hoping to get motivated to continue it once I put it out here for others to see. I wanted to pace the rate at which I post pics because once they get up to date, I'll only be able to post my current progress.

 

[vwinter]

Thanks vwinter. I'll put up some more images tonight. It is worth mentioning that this project isn't yet complete. Actually it is less than 1/4 of the way through, and I haven't worked on it for close to two years. I was hoping to get motivated to continue it once I put it out here for others to see. I wanted to pace the rate at which I post pics because once they get up to date, I'll only be able to post my current progress.

Yea absolutely, don't rush anything. Just saying I'm looking forward to watching your progress =)

 

[adamaley]

  Subscribed. Looking forward to more 3d modeling. 

Thanks RSVRMAN. I may have to model a couple of Kaiser 10s in here for you.

 

[adamaley]

Here are some more pics of the sculpture and the wall. You get a glimpse of the light fixture as well as the ceiling, which was probably the most painstaking thing to model. The only real image is the top center one as reference.
 
         
 
 
I've added both some closeup images and some nonrendered captures from within 3DsMAX. The final images below are closeups of the model of the light fixture, and the lights inside them.
 
  

 

[adamaley]

Up next is what I will call the media cabinet from this point on, even though in real-life it never served that purpose. It was definitely the most time consuming item to model, but I feel it came out great. I show the reference image first, then the 3D render, and then some wireframes, Close scrutiny will show that I got some of the proportions wrong. However, this is not a science, it is an art. Ignore the overexposed lighting to the right, it's there just to provide highlights and test the reflectivity of the media cabinet.
 
    
 
The image below shows a closeup render of the chair showing the final iteration of the leather material, which I was finally happy with. The media cabinet is seen in the background in all its splendor, waiting patiently to be laden with audio equipment. The second image is a color corrected one.
 
  
 
 
More to come...............

 

[NLNH]

What software is used to do the render ? 

 

[vwinter]

Up next is what I will call the media cabinet from this point on, even though in real-life it never served that purpose. It was definitely the most time consuming item to model, but I feel it came out great. I show the reference image first, then the 3D render, and then some wireframes, Close scrutiny will show that I got some of the proportions wrong. However, this is not a science, it is an art. Ignore the overexposed lighting to the right, it's there just to provide highlights and test the reflectivity of the media cabinet.

The image below shows a closeup render of the chair showing the final iteration of the leather material, which I was finally happy with. The media cabinet is seen in the background in all its splendor, waiting patiently to be laden with audio equipment. The second image is a color corrected one.


  



More to come...............

It's looking great. Oddly enough, I think the leather in the non-color corrected one looks more realistic because I wouldn't expect that level of specularity from that sort of leather.

What software is used to do the render ? :blink:

For some reason, and it's most probably not, but it kind of reminds me of Maxwell from when I messed around with it.