For the 100th Anniversary of the Pan-American Exposition, the SUNY-UB Media Studies Department got a grant to create a 3D tribute to the event. Using film footage, old photographs, written descriptions, and paintings; our team modeled several key buildings at the expo. In Alias Wavefront Maya, I rotoscoped what photos we had of the Temple of Music, and attempted to wing it by eye.

After my modeling part was done, the texture maps were applied by someone else. I never got to see the final piece in person, but an image of it is displayed online. More information about the project can be found at http://www.artn.com/UB_PanAm.

In this project, I proceeded to reconstruct virtual space within reality. The subjects in the images are scenes from everyday life that deal with spatial relationships. This is to stay within the concept of spatial definition. To reconstruct the illusion of space lost through this conversion, two different approaches were taken. The first approach involved printing out the virtual scenes and displaying elements on different panels, similar to a diorama. The second approach involved using stereoscopic imaging. Stereoscopes are paired images of the same scenes, with a 2.5 inch offset. By combining the two images together visually, an illusion of 3D is created. Special glasses are needed to view these pictures. In 3D modeling, the greatest desire is to reconstruct our own world into the virtual. In doing this project, I am hoping to achieve the opposite effect.