Fifty Shades of Grey – Saucy 3D Visuals

I’ve discovered a HUGE bonus to being a 3D Visualiser: I don’t have to limit myself to professional commissions when it comes to taking a fictional space and making it look real.  I can also indulge in personal projects.

And that’s exactly what I did this week.

What happens when you have a 3D Visualiser, who has a little bit of free time and is also a massive fan of the Fifty Shades of Grey novel?  Who is anxiously awaiting the release of the official Fifty Shades of Grey trailer?  Who jumps on every news article circulating when the words ‘Grey’, ‘Jamie’, ‘red’ and ‘cuffs’ are mentioned in the same sentence?

The answer is simple.

The 3D Visualiser (me), decides to create a 3D model of the infamous ‘playroom’, or as Anastasia referred to it, the ‘red room of pain’.  This was going to be completely different from any other 3D Visual project I had ever undertaken.

Was I up to the job?

Could I satisfy everyone’s interpretations or expectations of how that room was supposed to look?

There was only one way to find out.

I was determined to take the words describing the ‘red room of pain’ off the page and breathe life into them.  How many people have the ability to take a fictional space and make it look very, very real?

I HAD to do this!

Ok, it’s not gonna end up on my professional portfolio and I probably won’t start a discussion with a fellow 3D Visualiser about how frustrating it is to create a 3D model of a flogger, or how I prefer the visual look of studded paddles to plain wooden ones in a 3D Visual but hey, it’s practical experience nonetheless!

I closed my curtains, switched off my phone and dipped my toes into a world that was completely alien to me (well, to a certain extent, we’ve all tried the pink furry handcuff thing…haven’t we?).

Even though this was a personal project, I still needed to follow my usual processes when creating 3D models: I needed a floor plan.

To keep things simple, I used the descriptions from the first Fifty Shades of Grey book, when Anastasia clapped eyes on the ‘red room of pain’ for the very first time.  I should thank EL James because whilst she didn’t write the descriptions knowing that a 3D Visualiser would later use them to create  photo-realistic images of that very room, they were detailed enough to give me a great starting point.

Here’s my floor plan of the ‘red room of pain’.

After I created the floor plan and worked out the furniture arrangement it was time to start the actual construction of the 3D model.

I rolled up my sleeves, did a few stretches and swiftly poured myself a glass of wine when I realised that to ensure accuracy, a little bit of  ‘Googling’ was required.

Tough job, right?

I Googled everything.  Steel cages, floggers, the dimensions of handcuffs,  riding crops, shackles, whips… you name it, I Googled it.

Using ‘Google Images’ was probably a bad idea: I saw all manner of saucy, x-rated and (sometimes) eye-watering imagery when conducting this all important ‘research’.  By the time I concluded this part of the process I resembled a flustered, hot ‘n’ bothered menopausal woman.

As I continued to refer to the descriptions in the book and built my 3D model accordingly, Christian Grey’s ‘playroom’ started to take shape very quickly.

I was excited.  But that was probably down to the heavy combination of wine, reading the Fifty Shades descriptions, creating 3D floggers and the sexy RnB music that was now playing in the background.

I may have gotten slightly carried away.

I definitely didn’t light any candles.  Pur-lease.

Ok, maybe two.

So, I’m guessing that you’d like to see my versions of the red room of pain, right?  Ok, let’s do this!

And finally, here’s a little treat if you’ve been craving a little more visual stimulus now that the official trailer has been released 😉

Is this how you imagined Christian’s playroom?  Don’t be shy, feel free to leave a comment.  Let’s get a conversation going!!