Gustavo Rodriguez Digital Portfolio
After my experience with the CNC project and my tests with the Amherst SNBX Project I decided to create a scene with a slight height inclination of ten feet higher than the rest of the objects. The scene has a slope from the church towards the street where the viewer is located. Made in 2016
Since my transition from 2D to 3D I felt that I had not the skill to use 3D characters. I thought of superimposing 2D characters in a 3D space. I have mostly been inspired by the early cartoon tests of the 1940’s involving the real world and cartoons and the biggest example of the technique the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Made in 2016
This Simulation was done with a rigid body system, keyed keyframes and particles to create the effects of the impact. Made in 2016.
The Other Night is short animation of the dream of a TV viewer past Midnight. His dreams goes through his fears, thoughts and randomness of dreams. This animation uses a lot of previously made animation for other shorts. Made in 2016
This was my last work related to the Mistic Project where In this time I applied some hills to make the place more fitting to where it would actually look like along with trees. I might revisit Mistic one day when I can apply so geography to the models. Made in 2016
After the machining process was done. I noticed that during the routing process that one of the edges is missing it was probably a misalignment of the piece on the table. I sanded it because it was really sharp. I then stained the piece and left it dry for two days. I then proceeded to add finish to it, I applied 3-4 coats to the top specially on the tight corners and holes but I tried not to make it pool there. I also applied some coats on the sides and bottom just to make it seamless. For the critique I decided to place it on a pedestal so the viewer can see it from every side. I also decided to place a brown cloth under it to help with the contrast due to the pedestal being white. Below are the pictures after the finish was placed.
For the final project that involves a CNC machine I stared first with the idea of an interactive puzzle based off one of my classmates that she in the pass has done work that it welcomes the viewer to participate. I tried designing one and I didn’t liked it is not really my style.
My roommate is a landscape architecture so I see a lot of elevation plans in my room, I decided to try to create a fictional landscape first with some futuristic ideas. It turned out good but it didn’t felt natural because it was a landscape that I made up. I then went to the USGS and looked up maps of different areas of the country. I decided to do a local area so people could relate more as my last project was a disaster for not able to relate to everyone. I took maps of the Amherst area and placed them as planes in the software. I then stared tracing all the elevation points within the boundary box that I created. I decided to take some liberties; everything goes up I didn’t made areas that go down which is not natural but instead I extrude them out upwards creating some slopes but it was something that was created naturally during the process. I followed a scale according to the height of the hills on the map. The maximum height on the map is 450 feet while the lowest is 100 feet. So every 50 feet is a grid point making the height of the point go according to the real world (technically only in the z axis) but also making it small as the maximum height doesn’t surpass 1 inch. I also was planning to make buildings but they would be so small that recreating them in the CNC machine could be difficult next to impossible because of the scale and how close most of them (like houses) the drill would probably destroy each one while creating the next one. Below are images of the project in the software Rhino.
The 3D printing process took almost a week, due to the biggest printing machine had trouble with the extruder according to the operator in charge of the machines the extruder starts to melt again what it printed created a misshaped base. To avoid this the model was made smaller so it now measures 4 inches by 3×3.
On the right side you can see a comparison of the original sculpture made out of clay in which is a pretty flat yet curved sculpture. The reason while the 3D printed version differs greatly on some details if because I wasn’t trying to replicate it completely. I was trying to experiment and be able to see something I’ve been Imagining for quite a while finally as a 3D figure that I could physically turn and observe.
As you can see both have the same concept or at least the main figure is. The biggest difference of course is seen in the 3D printed model where the gears and that bend is happening. The bend is necessary as without it the gear would look like a hat. And without the gears this 3D model would have no purpose.
The cogs as you can see on your right were downloaded from an on-line depository. The were more detailed as the main purpose of the cog was to be actually used in some sort of mechanism, instead it lies restfully on the temple of the model. Other gears were added to provide more candy for the eye.
The sculpture is a quick representation of the invasion of the Caribbean in 1493 by the Spanish conquistadors. The figure in panic represents an Arawakan or to be specific from the Taino group being struck by a gear. The gear represents the Spanish conquistadors and that with their technology, syphilis and weapons were able to enslave the population and use them to drain the islands of their gold and precious metals. In which contemporary representations of the work preformed by the slaves are done on a cogged turntable where the were forced to push to control the flow of the rivers to allow the Tainos to collect the gold for the Spaniards.
When presenting the assignment I felt a sense of bemusement. Some of the audience saw it as an industrial revolution or the thought of technology. And when explained most of the audience didn’t understood and that escalated to the insinuation of me appropriating other people’s culture when In fact I’m expressing my own which I found extremely offensive.
The fact that most of the audience didn’t understood or quickly went to cliché accusations, means that some audience doesn’t know more than the surface of western culture or at least just concentrated on just one period or types of people. It is not just knowledge of the western culture in overall but also history of the US or the Americas. As the land who suffered the specific narrative I am bringing it is now part of the U.S. (Florida, Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico and the Insular United States Virgin Islands) I expected to have the knowledge of the events or at least an idea as is part of the History but It might be my fault to think that, I should’ve made something more generic or save it to display it to an audience (possibly in the south) that can understand or at least get a glimpse of it.
In overall I am greatly satisfied with this 
assignment and I feel that I did a great job. As I always heard that art should bring a conversation and I did in fact brought one to the table that for me was tense and difficult conversation but at the end I was able to send the message where it was then discussed and brought back to me as feedback.
The only thing I would’ve done differently is to make it bigger, paint the eye differently and that’s about it.   
For this project I first google searched art work that was made by the process of 3D printing. I decided to recreate a sculpture that made years ago and to modify it to the way I first Imagined it. I was unable to fulfill my goal of the sculpture before because I didn’t have the skill to create an item like that mixing the medium.
First I created the base of the sculpture, I made a square base with enough space to build on top. I created the edge of the base to be tapering off ending with a thin junction giving it a sense of modernism and detail. I then plopped down a rectangle that would fir proportionally to the base. I created the main structure using extrusion and edit points so I edited each point of the object to conform to an organic form instead of the (perfect) man shaped shapes that are nonexistent in the real world.  I then added a sturctural suport on the side, and another on a semi-circle bend 90 degrees giving a lot of support, and after that I replicated the same cupport but placed it in a way that it may look like an ear. I then joined all the objects together and I modified them giving the tools bend and twist. After that I added gears found online made by an engineer. I added the gears one on the person’s temple and a couple on the sides for decoration. The twist that the sculpture has plus the gears were placed in a way as if the gear came flying and struck the “man” on the forehead but just the split second in between not the before nor the after of the struck.
Measuring 9 inches tall the model was sent to the library for printing.
Part 2 (Final process, critique.
For exercise we were required to use three tools on rhino plus a new one we haven’t used before.
The model stared as a line that I then used the extrusion tool to create the first level then I copy-pasted it to create the second level. I used the gumball to shrink it proportionally. I then joined the two together then I repeated the process until I reached the desired height. I used the twist tool to try to make it look like the Walt Disney Concert hall, or at least the architectural traits like the modernism style mixed with the futuristic hope of the designers using organic forms that are against the usual box shaped building. I also used the tool bend on a different axis making the base tremble giving it a slick and ferocious style. The tool I used that I have never used before was pipe. I drew a snake-shaped line across the model and then I used the pipe command. I gave it enough thickness as if it is a tunnel for people to come in into the building. I really enjoyed this exercise and I was focusing on creating a model that that liked so I could work with it in the future if my path takes me to a more 3D printed art.