Calendar February 6, 2013 23:57

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Bottom Part of Shield Redone

So after I showed my model to a few people, they really liked it, but someone gave me the idea to remove the bottom "crest" on shield to make a different shapes. Here is a render of the new model with an AO bake on it:


The back is the same, so I didn't bother to put another render of the back. I'm really glad that I asked for critique on my work, since I think my model looks much better now. Also, I had another classmate tell me that I should add some buckle to the strap to make it look like its adjustable. I will work on that, but I don't think I will post a render for such a small bit. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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Calendar February 4, 2013 20:09

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First Pass on 3D Model Done

So after I finished the handle and the strap, I decided to put it together and see how it looks specially with the AO bake I did for this post.



I'm really happy with the way it turned out, but I feel like there needs to be different shapes on the model. I'm going to ask some of my class mates and teachers for a critique and see what I can improve on this model before I move on the UV layout. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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Calendar February 3, 2013 23:50

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Handles for Shield Done

This is a really small update, I just wanted to post a render of the handle and strap that I made for the shield.


I made these seperate from the model, now I can take them into the other file and merge them into the other file and make render. I will try to work on the main shield a little more over the next few days. Thanks for reading!

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Calendar January 31, 2013 20:41

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Main Part Done on Shield

So I've kept working on my shield, even though today is the last day to submit the entry for the art challenge. There is obviously no way that I'm going to get done in time, but I will continue to work on this piece since I think it can make a great portfolio piece.

Here is the render of what I have so far:


I looked at some images from League of Legends, specifically the shield of Leona in her different skins with her many interesting shapes that make up her shields. I think I may use the gems in the bottom part and use them on the middle part.

I also decided to add a little "ring" around the end of the shield, and I also need to start thinking of what handle and will go on the back. I think that I'm almost done with the model, so I will start asking around my cohort for some critique and see what they say. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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Calendar January 24, 2013 23:00

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The Gnomon Workshop January Art Challenge

So a few days ago a classmate told me about this site called The Gnomon Workshop and about the month art challenges that they run. Unfortunately for me, I found about this months challenge too late specially since the theme is really interesting...

A shield, thats what we had to create a 3D model of along with any texture maps that we need. There is no tri-count limit, and we don't have to bake the model down to a low res model. The only constraint, is that it has to be in the same visual style or fit into the world of a game like: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Oblivion, etc. But I've been thinking about it, and I think that I'm going to do this challenge anyways even if I don't submit it to the site. I think that pushing myself to doing something on the side will really let me see how much my skills have improved.

So to start, tonight while I was in my hard surface modeling class I started to look at reference image of games like League of Legends and Tera, since these are two games that I've come to love. Here is a very simple front view of a concept image for the shield I want to make that I drew using Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop.


I still don't know what going to be on the middle of the shield, but I will keep working on it and I'm sure something cool will pop into my brain. I will post progress on my model as I mode forward, thanks for reading!

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Calendar January 22, 2013 14:24

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Splat Patterns

So for today, I had to create a few different splat patterns that the engineers could use in out game. They have been using only one for the longest time, and it was really noticeable that they were all the same. Here they are:


I found a lot of reference images from google and I think they turned out really well. Granted this wasn't a hard task, I'm still happy that I'm getting comfortable to work in 2D. Thanks for reading!

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Calendar January 10, 2013 23:30

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Hard Surface Modeling Class

So its the start of a new and my last semester as a graduate student at the University of Utah. I can't belief that its been 1 1/2 years since I started the MGS program, and I'm kind of sad that its coming to a close.

Anyways, there isn't much left for us to do besides polishing our thesis games and having them published before the end of the semester. So I decided to enroll in one class that would benefit me and help me with my goal of becoming a 3D environmental artist. There is a new class being offered this semester by a really talented professor and I'm excited to see what we will do in that class.

So today was the first day of class, but because we got a really big snow storm the professor wasn't able to make it. So the TA's for the class showed the people that have never used Maya so of the basics, while they gave an assignment to everyone else to do a speed model of Portal's companion cube. Here is the render of my speed model with a quick AO bake on it:


Its not the first time that this assignment has been given to me, but it is the first time that I was able to finish it. I think some of the pieces are suppose to be thicker, but the overall idea of the model is there. I think that I will attempt to do it one more time, and get it textured properly. Thanks for reading!

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Calendar January 2, 2013 20:00

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Hay Stack & Collectable

Today we had a meeting to discuss the state of the project and it was mentioned that I should take out the windows on the barn and just have it so that you can look into the barn. This will take a day or two, since I will have to modify the mesh of the model to cut out the holes for the windows. but I think I will keep the frames that I have right now.

While I was at the meeting, it was discussed that we need some kind of collectible that will be put around the map and have the patients find them. It will give them an incentive to walk around the map and explore parts of the map that they would otherwise probably ignore. So I made a coin while I was at the meeting, here is a render:


While I was at the meeting, I also made another model that we can place around the farm, a hay bale. I arranged them to look better. Here is a render of the final prop:


I will make more models for the environment and post renders as I go along. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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Calendar December 27, 2012 04:00

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Barn Finished

After I finished the model a few days ago, I've been working on the texture and because of the holidays I feel a few days behind. But here is a render of the model as it stand right now:


All the textures in the model are tiled. I just emailed the model to my team, and I'm waiting to hear back from them on what they think. Right now, Im thinking that I might go back and update the texture on the window glass, but that will have to wait for a little.

Thanks for reading, thats all for now.

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Calendar December 22, 2012 21:30

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Barn Redone

So I finished a barn model not too long ago for my internship project, but the thing is that we actually need to have the inside available from the outside since at first I thought that the inside of the barn was going to be loaded separately if the patient wants to go in and do the 10 meter test. But I was wrong, they want everything to be in one map without it having to load separate screens or rooms.

So here is a screen shoot of the model:


At first, I didn't really know how I was going to make the inside of the barn, but after playing a  few hours of Assassins Creed 3, and seeing how they build their barn house models I had an idea of how I wanted it to look. I looked up so reference images like the ones below and started to experiment.

Overall, I like the way my model turned out. Now all I have to do is texture it, which I hope won't take me too long but since Christmas is Tuesday I may fall behind a bit. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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Calendar December 14, 2012 01:19

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End of the Semester

So today was my final presentation in my level design class, and I'm now officially done with class. With the exception of making sure this blog is up-to-date on everything I did in my class, there really isn't much more for me to do. So starting on Saturday, I will focus entirely on my Internship that I've sort of neglected for the last week since I was really busy trying to get my Art final to a stage that I would be proud to show my work to everyone else.

For our thesis project, we have it a level where its playable but there is still much work to be done. Which is why I'm grateful that we still have a whole semester for polish before we have to publish the game. I think we will have to do some changes to the way the game works because right now its not very interesting to play, but thats a topic better left for another day.

I have been thinking about it for the last few days, and I'm sure that I can pump out at least 5 models a week. The models wouldn't be textured, but they would be good enough that the engineers will be able to use them in Unity. I will work really hard to get everything done before our deadline on January 15th.

Other than that, I'm going to rewrite my resume since I've showed it to a few people and they have given me a lot of advice on how to make shorter (it was 2 pages before) and more interesting. I'm trying to find an internship at a studio where I would be able to do some 3d environmental art.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

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Calendar December 12, 2012 00:00

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Game Arts Final

Screenshot from Unity.
I'm happy to say that I'm done with my final project for my Game Arts class, and it turned out a lot better than what I hoped.

At first, I was trying to shoot for something realistic but then I realized that it wouldn't look as interesting. I decided to go for something like Okami with a toon shader, but a bit more realistic. To achieve the look I wanted, I decided to hand paint as many of the textures that I was going to use as possible.

I had some help with the lighting, shadows, and a particle effect that's inside of the tea house. But other than that, I the whole thing together myself. I did use a few of the assets that come with unity, but I will try to replace them in the next few weeks so that it has a consistent look all across.

If anyone is interested in playing my level, I have made Unity builds for Windows and Mac that can be downloaded here. If anyone has any autosuggestion on what I should change to improve the quality of this environment, please contact me and I'll be happy to take any and all critique.

Thanks for reading!

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Calendar December 9, 2012 16:01

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Hand Painted Textures

   
So since realistic textures aren't going to fit with the new art style that I want, I've been trying to hand paint as many of my textures as I can. I probably won't be able to hand paint all my textures, but here are four textures that I will be using throughout my scene. The textures at the top from left to right are: dark wood/bark, tatami mat, light wood, and rice paper.

I'm really new at digital painting, but I'm proud of the way they turned out. I have much more work to do, because the textures don't tile very well. Hopefully I'll be able to use them without the seams being too noticeable. Thanks for reading!

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Calendar December 6, 2012 15:38

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Progress on my Japanese Garden

So there is a week left until my art project for Game Art 3 is due, and I've been trying to work on it as much as possible over the last few days. During that time, I've also made a few changes to the project. So I don't know if I mentioned before that I was going for a realistic look, but after some consideration, I've come to realize that if I try to make it realistic, I may fail in the process. So I've decided to go for a look similar to that of Okami and I'm trying to hand paint as many of my textures as I can. I'm also going to use the toon shader in Unity and try to make it look almost like calligraphy.

So to populate the scene, I'm going to build a sakura tree since its very iconic of the culture. So here are a couple of pictures on my progress on the tree.

The tree branch at the top I'm going to apply to a plain and make a low poly tree. Since working on the painting of the geisha, I've come to love hand painting, but I haven't had much time to keep practicing. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the tree today and post a render. Thanks for reading!

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Calendar December 4, 2012 19:13

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Low Poly Car

I've been working on a low-poly car for a few days now, since the ones that are in the game at the moment have a really high tri-count. Here is a render from Maya of the new low poly car.


I made a total of 4 textures for the cars to make it look like there is more variety of cars on the streets. Since its almost the end of the semester, I don't really know what else I'll be able to get into the game before the open house on Thursday. Anyways, thanks for reading!

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