Back to the Search Engine

Today I am back at the Search Engine facility at the National Railway Museum in York. While most of my research has been on my 3D Computer Technologies modual for the V2 Green Arrow I decided to come here to find out more about other locomotives and the infamous "Beeching Axe"

To start off I have done some more photography of the "Green Arrow" for my 3D work. These new photos will allow me to do the detail work I need for my Model. These are a few of the photos i have taken:

While researching the locomotive I realised that I dont have enough material on the Railway in general. So now I will be looking through any Journals, Books and Original Material (e.g. Microfilms, Eyewitness Accounts) to build up a detailed history of the British Railway.

My research today should take me a long way to finishing my Prezi. I am hoping to have the Railway Research finished by the 15th then my remaining Compositing and Lighting research on the 17th. The Railway subjects i will be studying are listed as follows:

LNER A4 Pacific Locomotives
LNER A3 Locomotives
Rocket
Tank Engines
Walschaerts Gear
Doctor Richard Beeching

Once the Railway research is complete then I can finish off Lighting and Compositing Research, these are the subjects i have to finish researching:

CGI Lighting
HDRi
Panoramics
Colour Grading
Chroma Keying
2D and 3D Particle Systems
Radiosity

I am hoping that this will be my last research trip to York but I will probably have to return for my final project later in March/April time.

Will be updating this blog next week

Photographic and Experimental Research

Since the last post I have been researching the topic of Steam Trains. To start off I researched into the kinds of locomotives there are and what they were all used for. Steam Locomotives have been in use from the 19th centuary onwards. The initial steam engines were used for other mechanical purpouses like powering factories, machinary, etc. Until 1829 when Robert Stephenson & Co created the first prototype steam locomotive for transport, Rocket.

The first locomotives tended to be not very efficient and very coal hungry, they were also no bigger than a modern day car until later developments allowed for the first Tank Engines to be built.

Also I have been researching into High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) for use with 3D Models.HDRi itself is a mixture of photos shot at different exposures which make the image lighter or dark depending on the Shutter Speed. When each exposure is combined together as one image this creates a HDR image which has a much broader contrast and lightness compared to standard photos. This method can be used with 3D models if they need placing into an actual set. Using a Light Probe (Gazing Ball) like the one below:

The image can be converted and used in a 3D package to simulate the same lighting conditions and also for reflections. Here is a model sphere fitted with reflections and using HDRi to mimic the lighting conditions of the Background:











New post will be on here soon