Dozens of hours, many computer crashes, and too many coffees went into this project. Although we were told that building a 3D model and creating tours required a lot of work, we didn’t anticipate how our journey with 3D modeling would be.
From the start, we both shared our weaknesses and expectations for our group. There was a certain apprehension about how neither of us was familiar with Voyager and Metashape, but we felt confident in each other. We began anxiously taking pictures of the doll, but she did not cooperate. She was leaning on her back and kept moving around. We kept dusting her off due to the foam we kept manipulating until we finally got her to stand still for three consecutive tours of pictures.
The work was naturally divided between the two of us: a decision that guided us throughout our journey. Whenever one is unable to do something, the other will take over. This balance got us through all the challenges we came across. Moreover, whenever neither of us could find a solution, Kelly and Costas, our tutors, were always able to help us. Despite having lectures, manuals, and videos about the different steps of our process, the reality is more complicated. Problems arise, and they are not always textbook-like. For example, the first attempt to texturize the doll delivered a shadow version of our doll. All black with no details. None of us, the tutors included, knew what happened. We quickly realized how we simply followed the steps without putting any thought into the process. This major issue marked the processing step. Overall, the processing took a lot of time. Attention was given to the smallest details, and a lot of back-and-forth between several steps helped us achieve the final result.
On the other hand, building the narrative was challenging in some ways. Unlike other objects and their narrative, ours felt niche and quite narrow. Literature and proper reading material were hard to find - sometimes, we would find blog articles fully written by AI. Nonetheless, we were able to write our tours and learn more about our topics at the same time.
Due to the few tutorials we had, Voyager made it easier to find your way around. In contrast, it felt like a never-ending process. There was always something to add, especially from the different feedback. Nonetheless, our balance and communication helped us properly divide the work. The project became more like what we had imagined at the beginning, and the results felt rewarding. There is some pride in achieving such an assignment when none of the students were familiar with either of the programs.