Something completely different!

I am so ashamed as to how long it's been since my last post!

I have been keeping busy at my job. I fortunately received the opportunity to be a Lead Artist at my studio in December. I really like the organization and troubleshooting aspect of the role. Figuring out what the problem is, who to talk to about it, and help get the artist what they need to finish their task; whether it be a review or a technical problem I might know how to fix. I also like making sure that the files stay clean and organized!

On the other side of things, I have been playing games and working on personal 3D stuff!

I was getting into The Witcher (1) and reading the book "The Witcher: The Last Wish". Such a great world to read about. And I really like Geralt. He is pretty much to the point, sly without being cocky, and very interesting to try and figure out. I have played 98% of The Witcher 2, so I am very familiar with the world, but I can't bring myself to finish it off until The Witcher 3 comes out! I don't want the game to end, unless I have something else to continue with. haha!

Here is some 3D work I have been noodling on!

Zbrush

dDo

UDK

I took a tiny break over the weekend to play Final Fantasy XIV. I must say, they've made a believer out of me. They really improved upon FFXI! I used play XI, so I had that as my comparison, and I also play Guild Wars 2, with was another frame of reference for me for a current generation MMO. I really really enjoy the mechanics and aesthetics of the game! Holy crap is it pretty. The lighting, the architecture, the whole environment!!! The lighting is incredible!! Bounce light, environment lighting, weather influenced lighting, ambience, color!!! I am pretty sure I will be taking alot screenshots from the game. Here is one!

I especially got really inspired by how metal looks in the game. It reflects so beautifully! I want to try recreating that metal shader.

This is me currently! Lvl 22 Thaumaturge!

That is it for my update! I think in the coming month(s), I will be focusing on lighting, shader/textures, and possibly delving into DOTA item creations. Also i will be attending GDC in San Francisco! So I will adding that to my future updates when it comes around.

Have a great day!

Small update

Finally got the floor to have reflections. I actually had it kinda right last time I tried making it, but the reflections weren't bright enough to be seen. Big facepalm.

I followed this tutorial (Thank you Chris Holden!):

THEN, I multiplied the reflection texture by a constant of 20 and got this:

Small victory. I'll take it! Next I plan to add some volumetric lighting. :) 

Weeks of craziness..

(week 3-5 of school)

I have been so busy that I haven't had time to make a blog post. I feel guilty about my time right now! But as a personal thing, I really want to reflect on what happened.

I finished my Drawing for Games texture/silhouette assignment. Instead of the render shading that I wanted to do, I ended up just putting flat shades onto my drawings to fill the minimum requirement of the assignment. I spent alot of time on the line drawing by re-drawing & redesigning all of my chosen concepts on paper with pencil, inking them on paper, then fixing up the lineart in photoshop.

I also spent alot of time on my 3D assignment instead of Drawing for Games, because there was a modeling crit due for my still life scene.

The still life project is over now. Overall the project was challenging, frustrating at times, fun, and a work in progress...still. I didn't pass the assignment due to bad tessellation, texturing, and lighting. I modeled just fine, just my end result did not reflect the beauty my high poly models had. I have a lot to go with texturing and high to low poly baking.

I've also come to realize that I tend to start strong in a project, then crash somewhere near the end. I should really be crashing at the beginning, if anywhere. I need to work on my timing and texturing.

Here are some pictures from the still life project "Vanitas":

And the final product:

Project had to be under 7k polygons, a total of 4096 pixels for texture, a skull, a peeled citrus, a vessel, and a cloth with recognizable folds.

I will continue to make my still life look better, but for now we are on to our next project: Realistic Environment. We had to choose an existing game so that we have a definite style we are emulating, so I choose Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Just starting it now, so progress pictures on that some time later. I am also starting concept drawings for my fantastic environment, which will (for now) be based on Bioshock.

I have some older pictures of what happened with my 1st 3D assignment, "Modular Kit Construction" and the "What happened here?" concept art.

For my modular kit, I also need to work on that when I have time (2nd priority to my Still Life, because I actually passed the modular assignment) so that it can eventually become a portfolio piece. My concept art was ok. Not my favorite, but a good first try on doing something was not really a matte painting, but kinda was.

Cruise pool deck, Modular Kit 

 What happened here?! Location + Disaster =

Abandoned coast of Hawaii, 10 years after a nuclear war.

Hawaii being rediscovered after 100 years.

What have I learned?

Work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger;
more than ever hour after our work is never over.