The Tasman Bridge

Every stage of this project took a lot longer than I was expecting. From learning about modifiers and their applications, to trying to pretend I know colour theory, this Blender model of the Tasman Bridge was incredibly fun and developed a respect for the professional 3D model creators. I started this project only just having finished my first Blender tutorial (the barrel in my previous devlog) and I was ready for the next step in complexity. My item of choice was a bridge as would have simple shapes and structures with repetition and the possibility for adding smaller details if desired. The bridge I decided to model is the Tasman Bridge located in Tasmania, Australia.

The first step was to find some reference photos. Google Maps was helpful in this part as I was able to get multiple angles of the bridge. Another image I found to be helpful is image 1 as seen below. this image helped me count and align the columns of the bridge since most photos of the bridge were from land and not perpendicular to the bridge.

Step two was modelling the bridge in Blender, so I put the reference into Blender and started making the columns and main arch. This took a bit of learning and is where I started using modifiers to speed up my progress (which ended up doing the opposite). When I was happy with how the main structure of the bridge looked, I moved onto the railings and light posts, again using modifiers to help.  However, it was at this point that I started spiralling into a cycle of modelling a feature, improving my skills, no longer being satisfied with my previous features, fixing all previously made features, and by the time I had fixed the last feature to be fixed, I have improving my skills and the cycle starts again. I learnt a lot about manipulating vertices, edges, and faces as well as using modifiers like mirror, array and curve.

Eventually, I created a model that I was happy with and all the features looked great. UV unwrapping was the next thing on my to-do list so I looked up a quick tutorial to prevent myself from falling into the cycle again. I fell into the cycle anyway. The tutorial was really helpful though and can be found here. 

Last but not least, texturing and colouring. I have done art and drawings my whole life but there is a reason that a lead pencil is my favoured art tool, colours are not my strong suit. I made 19 different textures for this bridge because I couldn't get the right colour scheme. Early in the modelling process, I had decided that I didn't want to have this bridge look like a boring grey bridge exactly like the real bridge, I wanted it to have some flair. It could be a warm orange like a sunset or a cool and mysterious purple and blue, but either way, I was struggling to find colours that matched what was in my head. I eventually gave in and found a random colour scheme generator. Here are some of the textures that I created for the project.

Bridge Columns:

Inner Railing:

Main Bridge Structure:

I am really proud of the rendered results and I already have heaps of ideas for the next project. here are the final renders.