Hybrid Object

Creation of a Hybrid Object: Innovative Fusion of Design and Practicality

Project completed as part of ESRA (Rennes, Brittany)

Why this name?

As part of our courses, this project was a required module that included several steps*. The title was: creation of a hybrid object. And no ! It’s not a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). A hybrid object is an object composed of several elements of different natures. This object could then be useful or used as a decorative object.

* If you wish to have a little reminder of these different steps, don’t hesitate to check out our other project: 3D MOUSE.

Why this shape?

The shape of the selected hybrid object was carefully thought out in advance. The piece of furniture was a good choice for creating this hybrid object with a focus on practicality and design.

For years, craftsmen have been striving to create bold, luxurious, and design-oriented furniture. After various inspirational searches on the internet, the idea of creating a piece of furniture with several chair backs was quite catchy; however, it’s not the one that caught our attention.

This idea evolved and gradually transformed into the combination of a sofa and a dresser. The final result may seem quite cheap, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see this type of object appear in a luxurious hotel. Wouldn’t it ?

What about its design ?

The creation of this project could begin after the research sketching stage. The use of the Adobe suite (Photoshop After Effect), ZBrush software (Pixologic), and the 3D modeling animation software, Maya (Autodesk) was recommended to obtain this final result.

Each element had to be meticulously designed so that each piece could fit together and be placed in its proper position, as if it were IKEA furniture. The choice and creation of materials were very important. The furniture had to stand out from its competitors to attract attention. Its decorations had to be elaborate to break any cheap effect. The use of ZBrush software was welcome; it allowed for admirably shaping the moldings.

For the cushion covering, as well as for the upper part of the furniture, padded velvet was the most suitable. It allows one to sit on it and rest their arms without feeling any discomfort, while also resembling 18th-century furniture. The edge of the velvet upholstery was embellished with gold-tipped rounded studs.

Our mother, Brigitte Heurtault de Lammerville, was also a great source of inspiration, as she participated in antique chair restoration courses. One of our uncles, Emmanuel Heurtault de Lammerville, also taught us a lot through his passion for antique furniture. A big thank you to them for their influence during the realization of this project.

The wood composing the entire piece of furniture was created based on lacquered wood. It had to give the impression of being waxed and new. The subtle addition of marble along the entire length of the front legs further enhances this idea of luxury.

Any problems ?

Unfortunately, in the context of creating a 3D studio scene, many elements affect the rendering time; It was then over 15 minutes per frame, which prevented us from creating a turn over (rotating around) in order to produce an animated video of this project.

Fortunately, various advanced techniques were taught to us in class by competent professors. These techniques allow us to drastically reduce this calculation time to 34 seconds. This rendering time is very important, as it determines the next steps of a production.

The final result ?

It’s important to know that for a film, the illusion of movement is created by the sequence of numerous images. In Europe, we use a format called PAL, which runs at 25 frames per second. This means you need 25 images to create one second of video, and therefore 1500 images to create 1 minute. You multiply this number by the calculation time required by your equipment to create a single image, and you roughly know the time a complete render will take.

If you want to go into more detail, know that a single frame of an animated film is often composed of several rendered images, called render passes. These different passes can be, for example: luminescence, reflection, translucency, … They are then placed on top of each other as layers and modified in a video editing software.

The realization of this module was very instructive: it combined creativity, technique, and design. It inspires and allows one to surpass oneself to accomplish it.