Issue of the Day: Discovering an new way to model environments.
The other day, I discovered that the way I normally create environments is quite limiting, to say the least. After going through some Gnomonology tutorials, I’m developing a new way to approach my environmental modeling. What better way to put a use to these new tricks and techniques than to do a complete environment.
As some of you may know, I’m currently revamping a level from Jet Set Radio Future in an effort to coax some unknowing employer into hiring me. And being that I have had and always will have a massive crush on the Rapid 99 girls, the choice of levels was obvious.
Now… JSRF levels are freaking massive. So I’ve narrowed the part that I will be bringing into the 21st Century is the Dragon Tower Courtyard area. It’s hard to get screenshots for this game, so you’ll get a better idea when I find some good ones myself. Either way, here’s a highpoly of the main archway and stairs. It’s a Maya render, but I hope to get the game models on par with this level of detail.
Anyway… I’ve blabbed enough. time to get back to work. (These assets aren’t goign to make themselves).
Maya
10 hours maybe
Next environment chosen. Following the advice and footsteps of an environmental artist buddy, I will do a next-gen rendition of a level from one of my favorite games. He did a God of War 2 level when he was in school and got picked up to work on God of War 3. I’ll be doing something from Jet Set Radio Future.
I’ll have 10 weeks to work once the project starts.
I am super excited.
Issue of the Day: Forgetting to delete construction history
I’ll make this semi-short because it’s late and I have class in the morning. I am really happy with how this model turned out. This is the first character that I’ve done that isn’t in T-pose, and it was worth it. I had to take my time and pace myself through this project as I needed to learn a lot of steps in order to bring it to completion. Now that I know how to rig, pose, and animate these characters, I no longer feel limited. It’s really liberating…. satisfying, even.
Hmm… for those that don’t know, this character was created to be on par with the characters in Soul Calibur V. I don’t I hit that mark. But I made strides in my character art. And I’m okay with that. In addition, this character was inspired by Sweetie Belle (an MLP character). It was a lot of fun trying to bring elements of the show into this character. I may do it again (can’t have just 1 Cutie Mark Crusader, can we?). Uhhh… I’ve got more to say, but I’m tired. That, and I’m sure no one has read this much.
I dont even know how long this took since the last update… maybe 15 hours of rigging and weight painting.
Maya -> Marmoset toolbag -> CS5
hmm… The last shot is my favorite, I think.
Captivated by more of the work of William Bouguereau, I have chosen my next sculpt. This piece, titled “The Grape Picker”, has somewhat nostalgic relevance to me. It was the first piece I ever recognized by the artist. Once I found it, I had no choice but attempt to sketch the piece myself. Perhaps this time around, I’ll be able to do the original piece a fraction of justice.
Faces are my weakest elements in my models (probably a good reason why I enjoy doing environments so much). But I’d like to change that with a good classical study.
Of course, I can’t even begin this until I complete texturing on my other character…. or can I?
muah hah hah haaa!
Issue of the Day: Containing my love for Marmoset Toolbag
So… Here’s an update of this character that has taken WAY too long to complete. I recently started texturing her. I’m probably 50-60% complete. The color and spec maps of the cloth materials (dress, corset, sleeves) are pretty much done, although I just noticed some things needing tweaks. I’m still working on the color and spec for skin, eyes, hair, leather and some armor pieces. The hair is still the placeholder hair from my original block in. I’m trying to figure out how Soul Calibur hair gets the look it has before tackling that. It will probably be the last thing I texture.
The next stage will be to setup a rig so that I can animate her. This character will be the first that will have an idle animation during the turntable. That was one of the major goals of this project. This marks the end of static T-posed portfolio characters.
Photoshop -> Marmoset Toolbag
Probably 10 hours or so texturing
Issue of the Day: Baking maps instead of cupcakes
Getting back into work mode has been a serious issue these past couple weeks. It didn’t help that the modeling portion of the project was about finished and I needed to low-poly, UV, and bake BEFORE I could start having fun. However I got it mostly done. I typically dont like to take Maya screenies for updates, but meh. Tonight, it’ll have to do.
I had to make some compromises with the rose details. They came out kind of nice, but lack a silhouette. Trying to create a low poly of the rose that worked in UV space was close to nightmarish. When I saw how the baking went with the rose accents, I decided they were enough (AND it keeps my polycount down).
There are a couple ares I need to fix of course. These are 1st-bakes with normals and AO created with xNormal. It looks garrish using a basic Maya blinn shader, but I was more interested in being able to check for problems.
Meh, that’s enough for now.
Zbrush -> Maya -> xNormal
I have no completed art to post. I promise I’ve been doing things, but it’s nothing worth showing to the world, lol.
For class, I’m making rigs for things. I’m trying to make a really powerful rig that I can use for most of my characters without much rebuilding.
The Soul Calibur/MLP Crossover character is coming along. I just completed UVs this evening and will be diving into textures tomorrow. I’m really excited about this stage as I will be combining textures and shaders to make a worthy fighting game character.
A friend and I are starting a portfolio collaboration piece. After GDC, he found his calling and wants to model cars for games. As a challenge, he decided to concept his own car for use on a road course. I will be providing the road course. And to spice things up, I’m going to create this course so the seasons change as the car turns down the road. It’s an interesting challenge for both of us. I have never created an environment on that scale nor have I messed around with weather. This project is going to take a while to complete, as we both are still in the concept phase. However, you guy will all see the project come to life once we start breathing life into it.
On the business end of things, I’ve been polishing the old resume in order to start applying for jobs. You know, gathering recommendations, references, and all that stuff.
See? I really have been busy. Still kinda sucks I’ve got nothing to show for it.
Maybe I’ll do another painting or something.
Sorry about not getting to meetup with you guys at GDC. I wasnt able to stay as long as I wanted due to some dental and health complications. I hope you all got some good feedback and had a great time regardless.
Nothing to post. Im still nursing myself back to health
