I think the course requires you to rig and animate this little guy at some point, so you will probably see him popping back up in the not too distant future.
31/05/2012
Final deep sea diver.
This deep sea diver has been fully modelled and texture now and is more or less completed for the mean time. I think there is little tweaks I can make here and there with the texturing, but overall I have learnt some new things during this little coursework project and I'm pretty happy with the result.
I think the course requires you to rig and animate this little guy at some point, so you will probably see him popping back up in the not too distant future.
I think the course requires you to rig and animate this little guy at some point, so you will probably see him popping back up in the not too distant future.
03/05/2012
Deep sea diver project.
My coursework requires me to create a deep sea diver from a concept provided. Here's where I am up to so far; I have just finished the modelling stage in about 5 or 6 hours. Next up is the mesh optimisation (The diver is currently a hefty 2900 polys!) and texturing stages. More updates on this to come!
23/04/2012
Sea creature coursework.
One of the projects in the Train2Game: Art and Animation course has you creating a sea creature design, all the way from concept to a finished game-ready model in all of its lovely, characterful glory.
Long story short, I have decided to make a kind of mermaid, except instead of the bottom half being some kind of fish tail, I have gone with a seahorse tail. This is all accompanied by brown, silky seaweed hair and aquamarine-coloured anemone growth on the creature's torso and wrapping around her left arm. This is a little rough in the concepts, but I will have plenty of anemone photo reference when modelling and texturing.
Check out the planning and concepts I have so far. Actual modelling of my creation will be a little further in to the future, when it is required for the coursework.
Long story short, I have decided to make a kind of mermaid, except instead of the bottom half being some kind of fish tail, I have gone with a seahorse tail. This is all accompanied by brown, silky seaweed hair and aquamarine-coloured anemone growth on the creature's torso and wrapping around her left arm. This is a little rough in the concepts, but I will have plenty of anemone photo reference when modelling and texturing.
Check out the planning and concepts I have so far. Actual modelling of my creation will be a little further in to the future, when it is required for the coursework.
14/04/2012
Finding yourself.
I have been learning 3d art for about one year and three months now, getting to grips with the basics and trying out all different sorts of modelling.
One important part of an artists journey is finding what they are good at, deciding whether to specialise in one area, in which case, what the specific area of art that is. Quite early on in my studies I thought that I was pretty set on wanting to pursue character art (up until quite recently actually), having always drawn characters growing up, but that changed when I was sat thinking about a week ago.
I was thinking what games I really love to play. A real mixture, some first-person (Portal, Battlefield), others third (Super Mario, Uncharted) or not even character controlled at all. Although I do really love a good character, it occurred to me that it is in fact the environments that I actually spent the majority of my time admiring.
As I have matured as a gamer, it is less a case of who the character you play as that draws me in, but being amazed by the wide variety of stunning environments to explore; from the scary confines of Resident Evil games, to the beautiful and colourful open worlds like in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.
So, from this day forward I will be continuing my studies of 3d art, with the majority of my focus on becoming a great video game environment artist. This is me putting all my eggs into one specialised basket. So. I will see you in the industry in the future as an environment artist hopefully!
One important part of an artists journey is finding what they are good at, deciding whether to specialise in one area, in which case, what the specific area of art that is. Quite early on in my studies I thought that I was pretty set on wanting to pursue character art (up until quite recently actually), having always drawn characters growing up, but that changed when I was sat thinking about a week ago.
I was thinking what games I really love to play. A real mixture, some first-person (Portal, Battlefield), others third (Super Mario, Uncharted) or not even character controlled at all. Although I do really love a good character, it occurred to me that it is in fact the environments that I actually spent the majority of my time admiring.
As I have matured as a gamer, it is less a case of who the character you play as that draws me in, but being amazed by the wide variety of stunning environments to explore; from the scary confines of Resident Evil games, to the beautiful and colourful open worlds like in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.
So, from this day forward I will be continuing my studies of 3d art, with the majority of my focus on becoming a great video game environment artist. This is me putting all my eggs into one specialised basket. So. I will see you in the industry in the future as an environment artist hopefully!
04/04/2012
An interview with Train2Game Radio.
A little while back I was interviewed for Train2Game Radio, speaking about things like what got me into gaming, how I'm finding the Train2Game Art and Animation course and other similar topics. It's kind of hard listening to your own voice, but for others interested in having a listen, here is the interview in all its glory.
Click here to listen!
Click here to listen!
23/03/2012
A day at Criterion Games?... Not this time!
To get straight to the point, I was unsuccessful in my application for the open day at Criterion Games. I know that places were very limited and competition was extremely fierce, so this has far from doused my drive to get better at 3d art work, if anything, it has only made it stronger. I will continue to improve and one day I will earn my invitation to other great opportunities like this in the future!
22/03/2012
Female torso sculpt.
My second go at sculpting in Zbrush, this time of a female torso. There are some anatomical errors for sure, which I will iron out as I study anatomy more in depth over time.
Update: I have applied very basic polypaint over of the female sculpt, adding a skin base colour, nipple tone and very subtle shading in different skin-type areas. I also re-adjusted the rib cage shape and reduced the tension of the neck ligaments a touch.
Update: I have applied very basic polypaint over of the female sculpt, adding a skin base colour, nipple tone and very subtle shading in different skin-type areas. I also re-adjusted the rib cage shape and reduced the tension of the neck ligaments a touch.
21/03/2012
My first Zbrush attempt...
I have spent some of my time off from work by kick-starting my studying of Zbrush. So far I had only read about the UI layout, some basic brush functionalities and simple import/export procedures, so diving into creating my first piece was a little bit like having a boxing match in the dark; something bad is sure to happen. After a little while spent testing out some brush and stroke types on a simple sphere, I went straight ahead and set up a simple Zsphere foundation, with the aim of finishing up with a male torso sculpt. This was the result of an hour(ish) work:
The course I study doesn't currently teach Zbrush or Mudbox, so it is absolutely essential to begin teaching myself how to use sculpting programs like these. This is bread and butter knowledge that someone wanting to enter the games industry (Eventually as a character artist) should possess, so expect much more Zbrush work from me in the future.
The course I study doesn't currently teach Zbrush or Mudbox, so it is absolutely essential to begin teaching myself how to use sculpting programs like these. This is bread and butter knowledge that someone wanting to enter the games industry (Eventually as a character artist) should possess, so expect much more Zbrush work from me in the future.
10/03/2012
A day at Criterion Games?
Criterion Games in Guildford, creators of the Burnout racing series, are opening their doors (sort of) in an open day on 12th April 2012 aimed at final year A-level and first year university students, who are passionate about having a career in the games industry. There are only 30 places available (A mixture of art, programming, design roles etc), so I would of thought the amount of unsuccessful applications heavily outweighs the number of invited applicants. A select few from the open day will also picked for a full work placement at Criterion Games! (Registration for the open day closed on Friday 9th March).
To be in with a chance of being picked for the open day at Criterion you had to send a ZIP file of your CV with a few examples of your work, alongside answering four questions:
- Why do you want a work experience placement at Criterion Games?
- What would be the top 3 learnings that you hope to take away from a work experience placement at Criterion Games?
- How would this work placement opportunity help towards achieving your career goals?
- Tell us a little bit about yourself and why we should choose you above anyone else for this great opportunity?
For me a chance to go to any games studio would be a great experience, but to be able to visit one of the UK's most acclaimed would be amazing, so naturally, I applied. I would take so much from the day to increase my knowledge of the games industry and how it works and also to help me take my work to that next level.
The chances are that I will be unsuccessful (à la Blitz Games open day), but if they can spot someone from a crowd that has bags full of passion for the games industry, an infinite drive to work and learn until they can be the best they possibly can be and see a glimmer of potential from what I have learnt and work I have produced in one short year, then I might just stand a chance, right? You will find out shortly what the outcome of this is...
To be in with a chance of being picked for the open day at Criterion you had to send a ZIP file of your CV with a few examples of your work, alongside answering four questions:
- Why do you want a work experience placement at Criterion Games?
- What would be the top 3 learnings that you hope to take away from a work experience placement at Criterion Games?
- How would this work placement opportunity help towards achieving your career goals?
- Tell us a little bit about yourself and why we should choose you above anyone else for this great opportunity?
For me a chance to go to any games studio would be a great experience, but to be able to visit one of the UK's most acclaimed would be amazing, so naturally, I applied. I would take so much from the day to increase my knowledge of the games industry and how it works and also to help me take my work to that next level.
The chances are that I will be unsuccessful (à la Blitz Games open day), but if they can spot someone from a crowd that has bags full of passion for the games industry, an infinite drive to work and learn until they can be the best they possibly can be and see a glimmer of potential from what I have learnt and work I have produced in one short year, then I might just stand a chance, right? You will find out shortly what the outcome of this is...
05/03/2012
The 'Double Fine Adventure'
Double Fine Productions (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Brutal Legend) have been running a fund-raising project through Kickstarter, a website where you pitch a creative idea to the public, set a donations target and see if people are willing to back the project by helping to fund it.
Tim Schafer's team were looking for $400,00 to make a classic 'point and click' adventure game, but the target was smashed and is currently sitting at $2,394,261 with 8 days left to pledge.
You can pledge any amount you want, but by pledging at least $15 you are entitled to the finished game in all of its awesome glory (DRM free on PC, Mac, and Linux, or via Steam for PC and Mac), exclusive access to the Beta on Steam, access to the video series, and access the private discussion community; there are other pledging reward tiers too ($30, $60, $100 and so on).
I pledged $15 towards the project, as there needs to be more awesome, innovative adventure games and less boring, monotonous, money-fuelled games that seem to saturate the market today (I'm looking at you Call of Duty!).
Get on board today if you like the look of the project and be a part of the games creation, pretty cool! CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE ADVENTURE
UPDATE: Funding has now closed. Double Fine Productions received $3,336,371 in total from contributors.
Tim Schafer's team were looking for $400,00 to make a classic 'point and click' adventure game, but the target was smashed and is currently sitting at $2,394,261 with 8 days left to pledge.
You can pledge any amount you want, but by pledging at least $15 you are entitled to the finished game in all of its awesome glory (DRM free on PC, Mac, and Linux, or via Steam for PC and Mac), exclusive access to the Beta on Steam, access to the video series, and access the private discussion community; there are other pledging reward tiers too ($30, $60, $100 and so on).
I pledged $15 towards the project, as there needs to be more awesome, innovative adventure games and less boring, monotonous, money-fuelled games that seem to saturate the market today (I'm looking at you Call of Duty!).
Get on board today if you like the look of the project and be a part of the games creation, pretty cool! CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE ADVENTURE
UPDATE: Funding has now closed. Double Fine Productions received $3,336,371 in total from contributors.
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