Alan Jaynes
17.Mar.2004
California Polytechnic State University
CSC 471 - Winter 2004
Alan
Jaynes
17.Mar.2004
California Polytechnic State University
CSC 471 -
Winter 2004
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Searching aimlessly for a Final Project topic four days after our proposals were due, it came to me. I should model an engine! And have a camera that travels through all the moving parts! And swooping and diving! And a full mockup engine with all the belts and hoses and spark plugs and wiring! Yeah, this is going to be great!
Luckily, at that point, my roommates doused me with water and slapped me until I came to my senses, but I still decided that an engine would be a great final project.
As noted above, I was already four days late submitting a proposal, so the exact specifications of my project went something like this (actually, pretty much verbatim):
prof.-
what
about modeling an engine block with moving cylinders?? i was also thinking of
some cool effect where you can control the camera and go "inside" the machine,
but i dunno how much work is involved in any part of that.
lemme know.
alan
She let me know that it was possible, and that I should get to work. This highly technical proposal, in its wondrous clarity, left me completely open to pursue any aspects I wanted (which is code for I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing). However, the general guidelines for my project were as follows:
1) Model the crankshaft / piston motion
2) Draw a basic case with cylinders to house the moving parts
3) Have fun!
OK, OK, so it wasn't exactly an extensive plan, I know. But look how well it turned out in spite of it all. Hurray for the design process.