Blender 3D · RISD CGI 3D · 2024–25
Fish For The Pterosaur
Constraint-based 3D experiments from my first weeks learning CGI — a pterosaur, a seagull, and a simple rig pushed into strange behavior.
Role
Modeling · Rigging · Animation
Year
2024–25
Software
Blender
Course
RISD · CGI 3D (FAV-5118)
The Idea
Learning by experiment
An experimental 3D piece from my first weeks learning CGI, exploring a pterosaur (and a seagull) through a simple rig and deliberate physical constraints. “Steve and a Seagull play Slow Twister” is an early V1 experiment that pushes a basic rig into a strange, almost absurd outcome, while “Fish For The Pterosaur” is the realized version of the concept.
V1 → final
An absurd early experiment shaped into something intentional
Rig
Learning rigging by watching it misbehave
Experimentation and even failure are part of the 3D pipeline, not detours from it.
The Film
Watch the films
Course
FAV-5118 · Computer-Generated Imagery 3D
Made for RISD’s Computer-Generated Imagery 3D studio, taught in Blender. The course covers lighting, modeling, and animation grounded in core 3D principles; after lectures on navigating the interface, each student produces a short animation with focused, individual instructor time.
Reflection
Reflection
These came out of my very first classes learning CGI in Blender, so I leaned into playing with constraints in a simple rig rather than chasing polish. The V1 experiment, “Steve and a Seagull play Slow Twister,” turned out genuinely strange, but watching a basic rig behave in unexpected ways taught me more about how rigging and motion actually work than a clean result would have. Working toward “Fish For The Pterosaur” let me take those accidents and shape them into something more intentional — an early lesson that experimentation is part of the pipeline, not a detour from it.