Grey Progress

12 Dr Sketchy Marathon 01.21.12

2012-02-03T10:31:00.001-08:00

12 Dr Sketchy Marathon 01.21.12, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

Another year, another Dr. Sketchy marathon.

Halloween

2011-12-28T16:13:00.001-08:00

Halloween, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

CGS challenge for lighting. I often use these challenges as class demos. This is one I created to show students how to texture and light scenes in Maya 2011.

DED2_11.23.11

2011-11-24T03:52:00.001-08:00

DED2_11.23.11, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

Why are traditional mediums so much more fun for me these days?

DED 10.14.11

2011-11-01T00:24:00.001-07:00

DED 10.14.11, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

Happy Halloween!!

DED 09.23.11

2011-09-23T13:29:00.001-07:00

DED 09.23.11, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

Planning on making a painting of this one soon.

Pinup / Queen of hearts

2011-09-05T18:22:00.001-07:00

Pinup, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

My first stencil!! The next one will be cut out of paper vs. 3m plastic. Plastic is just wayyy too much!

Line and Pixel

2011-06-11T14:01:00.001-07:00

DED.06.09.11, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

Line and Pixel will be having a show soon. More details to come.

Faces and Names @ King's Cafe 03.12.11

2011-05-16T09:33:00.001-07:00

Faces and Names @ King's Cafe 03.12.11, a photo by greyother on Flickr.

Been a long time since I posted last.

Here are pics from my art show. It was a small crowd but it was good to see so many good friends in one place.

These pics were taken by Jamon Simen and Christi Mendoza.

Also . . . here is a cat in a suit.

Faces and Names

2011-02-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

My upcoming show. Come check it out if you are in the area.

DED_01.14.11

2011-01-14T19:58:00.001-08:00

DED_01.14.11
Originally uploaded by greyother

Another class demo. Not a very good one but fun anyways.

DED_12_09_10

2010-12-12T20:14:00.001-08:00

DED_12_09_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

Haven't blogged in forever. Here is another sketchy scribbles entry.
http://sketchyscribbles.blogspot.com/

Head from sphere

2010-08-11T21:16:00.001-07:00

Head from sphere
Originally uploaded by greyother

Another term . . . another class demo.

I should really push myself to see how fast I can make some decent heads. I always enjoy this particular demo and I should be much faster at it by now. This head took a little over one hour. Far too long . . .

Painting series finished

2010-07-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

My final painting of Kato from:
http://www.steampunkcouture.com/

Acrylic on cardboard.

CGS challenge

2010-07-10T15:54:00.001-07:00

CGS challenge

2010-07-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a WIP render for the current CGS lighting challenge.

Mad Scientist Challenge.

None of the modeling is done by me. This is purely for getting better at lighting, texturing and rendering.

DED_06_15_10

2010-06-17T22:34:00.001-07:00

DED_06_15_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

Captain Lou Albano.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Albano

No school like the old school.

"one of the most important figures when it comes to the growth and popularity of pro wrestling in the Northeast."

A.K.A. Super Mario, Cyndi Lauper's Dad, That guy with the rubber bands in his face.

More WIP

2010-06-02T17:08:00.001-07:00

Finished painting.
Class demo on making a wireframe render in 3dsmax 2010.

Painting WIP

2010-05-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the newest painting I am working on. Kato from http://www.steampunkcouture.com again. Acrylics are so much harder than painting in photoshop. A nice change though . . . I want to keep my traditional skills alive.

In addition - here is a render from a class demo on posing characters.
Rendered in Maya 2010 with Mental Ray. Character from Rigging101.com

DED_05_15_10

2010-05-23T23:17:00.001-07:00

DED_05_15_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

Kato - from
www.steampunkcouture.com/
Acrylic on cardboard. With some touchup in photoshop.

More acrylics to come.

Conceptart.org TAD (The Art Dept) Monthly Free Online Class 05.08.10 pt 2

2010-05-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Conceptart.org TAD (The Art Dept) Monthly Free Online Class 05.08.10 pt 1

2010-05-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

DED_04_28_10

2010-04-29T07:59:00.001-07:00

DED_04_28_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

New blog I am participating in called "Line and Pixel".

http://lineandpixel.blogspot.com/

DED_03_30_10

2010-03-31T05:11:00.001-07:00

DED_03_30_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

"The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" was really good. Nobody does the devil like Tom Waits.

DED_03_23_10

2010-03-24T21:59:00.001-07:00

DED_03_23_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

Her legs are too long and there are many many problems with this. Still -- good to paint 3 in a row with an over arching theme.

DED_03_17_10

2010-03-13T07:23:00.003-08:00

DED_03_13_10

2010-03-13T07:23:00.001-08:00

Muttley_DED_03_04_10

2010-03-04T02:01:00.001-08:00

Muttley_DED_03_04_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

Sometimes everybody just wants to draw cartoons.

Houdini Render

2010-02-25T01:56:00.001-08:00

Houdini Render
Originally uploaded by greyother

I can break things in Houdini! (sort of)

DED_02_22_10

2010-02-22T05:15:00.001-08:00

Alchemy Session_DED_01_30_10

2010-01-30T05:06:00.001-08:00

Alchemy Session_DED_01_30_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

I heart Alchemy

For Sketchy Scribbles

Photoshop painting doodle

2010-01-07T20:04:00.001-08:00

DED_SAL2_01_07_10
Originally uploaded by greyother

Pretty cool you can blog straight from flickr with one button.

Sketchy Marathon

2010-01-04T15:59:00.001-08:00

I have never drawn for so many hours in my life than I have at Dr. Sketchy's marathon. It was 26 hours straight and was really intense. Thanks goes out to Bob and the rest of the people who make Dr. Sketchy's possible.

Here are some samples from the marathon. I even brought in my Cintiq to use at the end. Regretted not bringing it in sooner but it isn't exactly portable and I am still a little shy about my digital painting.

Dr. Sketchy's LA
Nucleus gallery where the marathon was held.

More WIP

2009-12-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

I really shouldn't post this head again until it is done, but it is driving me crazy trying to nail the likeness.

This is sculpted from z spheres and will need to be re-topologized once I am done.

Zbrush 3.5 R3 was just released and it is pretty impressive.

Bust

2009-11-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

Trying to get a photoreal likeness can be very hard in 3d. Here is some progress but I am not quite there yet.
The closeup has the reference projected back on to the model.

Created with Zbrush 3.5

Backdrifter Flyer

2009-11-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

My first band flyer. Does the lens flare work? Haha.

Made with Photoshop and Maya 2009

Dojo pinup

2009-11-14T16:41:00.001-08:00

TAKEN DOWN AT REQUEST OF MODEL.

I plan on developing this into a zbrush model.
Photo reference: Jesse Walker.

Random links:

Hiding edge loops in zbrush
3d Fractals?!?

Links and bookmarks and resources, oh shi . . .

2009-10-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some links and resources I want to share:

Software:
This stuff is free or at least very cheap and useful.

Software for low poly 3d modeling / subD modeling (free demo)
SILO
http://www.nevercenter.com/silo/

Software for low poly 3d modeling (free)
WINGS 3d
http://www.wings3d.com/

Software for retopologizing (free demo)
TOPOGUN
http://www.topogun.com/

Software for UV unwrapping (free)
ROADKILL
http://www.pullin-shapes.co.uk/page8.htm

Software for generating normal maps (free)
XNORMAL
http://www.xnormal.net/1.aspx

Bookmarks and Links:

http://delicious.com/
http://delicious.com/greyother

Maya normal maps

2009-10-13T22:56:00.001-07:00

Here is a screen shot from maya.
The low res mesh is only 170 faces and the high res sculpt is several hundred thousand. The render in the lower right corner is of the mesh on the left. One can see the UV map and normal map used to render the detail from the sculpt.

I used Topogun ( http://www.topogun.com/) to retopologize a zbrush model and then generated the normal map in Maya. I find Maya's normal map generation to be slightly easier to use than Max although I prefer Zbrush's zmapper overall. It is nice to be able to create normal maps in Maya easily however.

If one does not have access to Max or Maya or Zbrush to make normal maps, Xnormal is a great option as well.
http://www.xnormal.net/1.aspx

Compositing

2009-09-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

So I am still trying to get better at compositing. Nice thing about teaching is that I can try out techniques as in class demos.

The assignment was to take the zbrush character the students had been working on and render it as a statue into a background plate with HDR lighting. They made their own custom probes and background plates. Here are two renders from the demo. The model is by Joseph Huggins.

Oh hey look, another Houdini newb

2009-09-17T03:19:00.000-07:00

This is how I feel trying to learn Houdini. It took far longer than it should have to render this. Hey, at least NOW I know where the shadow sample settngs are! :-/

The character is a prebuilt rig and this was rendered using one area light, and one environment light / IBL with Houdini 10 Apprentice.

Sloth

2009-08-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

Another Deadly Sin.

Sketchy Scribbles

2009-08-14T23:03:00.001-07:00

Still transcribing CGcon notes, but I only have a couple of more artists to go.

In the meantime I thought I would plug a sketch blog that I contribute to:

Sketchy Scribbles

This round's theme is: 7 Deadly Sins for 7 Deadly Days

I firmly believe CG artists can learn a lot by developing other, possibly more traditional skillsets. One should draw as often as time will allow.

Some days I wish I was a robot

2009-08-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Part duex of the CGcon notes:

Jeff Miller (Zbrush)
http://redrepublik.cgsociety.org/gallery/665298

Start with z-spheres, retopo later if you need to
z-spheres (preview mesh "A" -> make polymesh3d when you want to convert from z-sphere to poly)
Reuses basemesh created from zspheres for many different characters, posing them differently using the transpose tool
For facial modeling he uses clay tube brush + some gravity on the brush for wrinkles
Uses claty tubes for putting in muscle -> smooth them out (clay smooth)
Use clay for filling in volume
When masking it is sometimes better to do it at lowest subD level to make it as precise as possible
Use falloff brush from zbrushcentral vs pinch brush (pinches topology = bad)
To create stylized hair use falloff + masking + flatten brush
Always step down to lowest subD level before saving! This insures better stability in file.
Subtool master has a one button click to step all the way down or up subD
The more tools you have in your zbrush tool palette the slower zbrush runs
You can separate / group you character according to UV shells (polygroup -> UVgroup split)
Don't just add detail around your entire character uniformly, add detail intelligently and in the right places
Typically spends a week on a character
Mask -> Create UVs (Makes UVmapping + Mask info)
Recommends modeling smaller scale / minor objects in package separate from zbrush
Cavity Masking stuff:
Masking -> Mask by cavity
Use cavity mask checkbox in brush menu drop down to activate cavity masking on brush stroke!
You can create a custom cavity mask in zmapper
Zmapper is only part of zbrush to utilize gpu (vs cpu + ram)
cavity maps can be good for making spec maps (simulates AO)
to make spec map: desaturate diffuse -> multiply cavity map -> add noise (dodge and burn)
Paint color with cavity mask: turn off Zadd and turn on RGB (RGB typically 1-50)
This way you can paint darker areas (dirt map) into recesses. Invert cavity mask to paint highlights. Use cavity masking checked on in brush stroke menu -> use dot spray -> use noisy alpha -> paint noisy grime across recessed detail (dirt in scales for armor)
Make scale alphas -> drag rect stroke to place scales (not projection master) -> cavity masking to paint in grime / emphasize depth
Armored hero here:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthr...06&page=1&pp=15
To export painted color as file use texture menu color-> texture button
Make sure to flip texture file vertically. Zbrush will alwys flip a file vertically the wrong way by default. You can use the texture menu drop down and flip V before exporting to fix this problem.
To prevent problems when creating normal maps in max make sure to load the right export preset when in Zmapper
Suggests using xnormal because it is topology independent. One could use the decimation master plugin on a sculpt to decimate hi rez sculpt for use in xnormal. Likes generating normal maps with xnormal over zmapper overall.
Lights character in max with omni light as rimlight (?!?)
Suggests plugging in HDR file in skylight for better bounce light / gradient
Tip: use blue specularity map for skin because it complements warm skin tones well.
Use same color spec for metal (blue metal -> blue spec map)
*****
General Tips (Thanks Daniel!)
Use append rather than bridge in maya because bridge is still "broken"
there is no "connect" in maya but you can use triangulate -> quadrangulate
Maya 2009 now has LSCM unwrapping and UV color feedback (!!!)
Environment artists now start with GIANT texture sheet and then overlay model Uvs as they create the models (working macro to micro).
http://www.gionakpil.com/galleryDIGITAL.htm
Check vimeo channels for zbrush work

*****

Zack Petroc
http://www.zackpetroc.com/
every freelance artist is in business for himself and therefore is an independent studio unto themselves
story / character more important than any CG / effect
influenced by Matthew Barney
(note: Cremaster really is excellent / bizarre http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0056030/ )
influenced by Gregory Crewdson for storytelling ability
ultimately story drives EVERYTHING
Production designer in control of "visual look"
Art director has ultimate say in color / tone of shot
sets based on production design notes
Recommends paying a cheaper artist to create animatable mesh (retopo) over higher paid sculptor although this can often be the same artist
Worked at GM at car design facility (avg time to learn how to sculpt 5 years)
Stressed how good topology / animatable topology still very important to modeling.
Suggests these books:
George Bridgman's "Constructive Anatomy" and Fritz Schider's "An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists"
Rhino + cutting paths = cool sculpting pipeline
Suggested artists make assets with royalties attached whenever possible
worry less about what projects you get to work on but who you could be working with
Freelance = starting your own studio (same thing)
Use zbrush to explore / prototype easily with z spheres -> final digital maquette -> (retopo if necessary)
Alternatively box model in 3d package of choice and import into zbrush for starting point
Suggests learning anatomy through knowing insertion points and muscle groups
Use lazy mouse plus pinch brush (low intensity) to add detail / define edges. Note: ctrl + 1 will repeat stroke. Also note neither previous zbrush artist advocated pinch but rather the custom falloff brushes found on zbrush central.com
Use geometry -> crease to define open edgeloop edge before sudD
Create open edgeloop (separate geomety in zbrush!! / cut mesh along edge loop) like this: shift + F (turn on wireframe) -> perspective off -> lasso select on -> step to low subD -> lasso mask part of object along edge loop -> masking menu / hide PT -> geometry menu / edge loop (this separates visible into polygroup. Use ctrl + shift to toggle between polygroups. ctrl + shift + lmb on edge to hide edge ring (!!!) from here you can delete hidden or crease along hidden edge loop.

*****
Ian Joyner (Blur Studio / Iron Man)
http://kingmob.cgsociety.org/gallery/
designs in zbrush and photoshop
re-initializing zbrush will clear ztools. More ztools = zbrush runs slower
Make / utilize library of basemeshes for general shape
human basemesh should have fingers and extruded earsockets and eyesockets
when importing obj into zbrush make sure to have a primitive like the star or zsphere tool selected (otherwise point count won't match)
zbrush 4 will correct issues with the perspective view
use custom "muscle pinch" brush
clay used over standard brush most of time
morph brush good for painting back to stored morph target to try out different ideas
instead of always changing brush size just "zoom camera" (scale)
set perspective view to 120 for real world perspective
saves out layers as objs often
Makes a basic character in a day
Uses dot stroke at lower levels and freehand stoke at upper levels
post online often to get more freelance work
When using transpose rotate, alt LMB on dots to rotate around that dote
When using move brush hold down alt to insure move is along surfaces normal
Use clay brush to fill in between subtools
Recommends using polygroups because you can sculpt easily across polygroups vs subtools
When reprojecting new topo it is recommended you copy the original tool by using tool -> clone
This way a copy of original is kept. You can always clear out all unused custom ztools by re-initializing zbrush.

*****

Josh Robinson (Asylum Studios / Terminator 4)

Houdini used for rigging Terminator
Stressed one does not need to know how to draw in order to model in 3d
Highend hard surface modeling often means "kit bashing" older (high detail) models one massive high detail model
Terminator 4 pickup ship was a mashup of older ILM parts (?!?)
Swears by clay brush over standard brush.
Uses mask with flatten brush to create hard edges
Creates hard edge mask and then flatten -> inverts mask and then flattens again on other side
Alternatively you can make an alpha and/or mask and use geometry menu -> deform -> inflate

CGcon notes

2009-08-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

I really need to post to this blog more.

Recently went to CGcon, and then Cirque Beserk and then Nova Scotia for a wedding. On top of this I have switched campuses / started a new job and have been trying to work through some personal issues.

Regardless, here are some CGcon notes. I will post more as I transcribe them:

Andrew Jones
http://www.androidjones.com/

Art as a journey
Warns there are too many aspiring concept artists but not enough job positions to go around
In order to succeed as an artist you must first find a need / niche
Helped found conceptart.org
Warned of falling into one of the 4 major archetypes (child, victim, saboteur, prostitute)
Advocates painting outdoors (celestial events / sunset / sunrise)
No reward without some risk
"Phaedroid" performance

Daniel Williams (Zbrush)
http://www.pointpusher.com/
(toolbar for maya available for download)

modeling head:
subtool master will allow mirroring of subtools
use flatten with low intensity to flatten parts like foreheads / temples
Uses falloff brushes from zbrushcentral vs the pinch brush
Always work low to high
use move at low levels to change primary form and pose
check profile / shape of nose
always be checking in multiple angles as well as ortho
check 3/4 view as well as front and top for general shape of head
To retopo in maya:
import sculpt -> make live -> create poly (make strips) -> triangulate -> quadrangulate -> add edge loops and tweak verts where necessary
new verts will snap to live mesh
check normals on strips of polys occasionally
build an animation ready mesh strip by strip / patch modeling
Merge strips / patches
For making posed head / posed blendshapes use maya's non linear deformers and clusters
after using deformers re export back to zbrush for further sculpting
note: zGo or zbrush 4 should make import and export of blendshapes / morph targets easier
Paint / smooth cluster weights for fine control
It's okay to model with deformers in maya (pt count should not change for import/export however)
Ask questions about your character through every step of the process
Section character into subtools or polygroups or both
Each subtool isolated can use up to 100% of cpus resources
Sectioning character into polygroups can be better than subtools because one can sculpt across polygroups a lot easier
Xnormal is better than Zmapper because it is topology independent
How do you know when to move forward from base mesh in max/maya and just sculpt in zbrush vs starting with bad topo, sculpting, and then just making a new game mesh over the sculpt (retopo)??
- If you already know the specs of the character beforehand then start with a base mesh in max or maya
- If you don't know really know where you are going and plan on exploring more at the beginning stages in 3d, then start sculpting the form in zbrush and just retopo later.

Jeff Miller (Zbrush)
http://redrepublik.cgsociety.org/gallery/665298

Start with z-spheres, retopo later if you need to
z-spheres (preview mesh "A" -> make polymesh3d when you want to convert from z-sphere to poly)
Reuses basemesh created from zspheres for many different characters, posing them differently using the transpose tool
For facial modeling he uses clay tube brush + some gravity on the brush for wrinkles
Uses claty tubes for putting in muscle -> smooth them out (clay smooth)
Use clay for filling in volume
When masking it is sometimes better to do it at lowest subD level to make it as precise as possible
Use falloff brush from zbrushcentral vs pinch brush (pinches topology = bad)
To create stylized hair use falloff + masking + flatten brush
Always step down to lowest subD level before saving! This insures better stability in file.
The more tools you have in your zbrush tool palette the slower zbrush runs
You can separate / group you character according to UV shells (polygroup -> UVgroup split)
Don't just add detail around your entire character uniformly, add detail intelligently and in the right places
Typically spends a week on a character

Dr. Sketchy's

2009-07-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

Went to Dr. Sketchy's for the first time in LA last night. It was really invigorating and good to get out of my comfort zone and drawing again.

http://www.drsketchy.com/

Diceroll

2009-06-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Lucky ?

2009-06-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a still from a credits sequence I am working on. Maya 08 + Mray.

3d dice against a photo background. What I can't understand is why one would want or need 3d dice for their credit sequence (?) Maybe some impossible camera moves? FX? It is a mystery . . .

Another head

2009-06-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

More heads

2009-05-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

This was made in mudbox 2009 with the starting head in an hour or two with no reference.

Really enjoying sculpting heads in 3d. It is the face people are drawn to and really heads are fast and fun to draw or sculpt. I just never imagined I would be able to sculpt heads in a reasonable amount of time. Trying to get a realistic head modeled in zbrush and mudbox out of spheres is fun and challenging.

Portraits have always been fun for me.

Sketch Heads

2009-05-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

I really need to post my work more often but life has been busy and once again the end of the term approaches.

Lately, I have been trying to get faster with zbrush. Here are a couple of free form sketched heads made from a poly sphere (no poles) and with no reference. I forgot how difficult it is to pull such detail as lips and ears from a sphere.

Next I need to get serious and actually try sculpting something from reference. Doesn't every modeler eventually try to sculpt there favorite celebrity at some point? Or would just a simple portrait of friends or family be good practice? hmmm . . . Forgot how much fun modeling can be!

Fruit Plate

2009-04-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not dead. I am just rendering fruit.

This is an example of one of Jeremy Birn's challenges. Jeremy was one of my old teachers at AAU.
Here is the site where one can download and participate in these challenges.

Today, Westwood had a game art competition between the two campuses where I teach. It was invigorating to see students under the wire produce work against their peers. I would love to have more campus competitions like this one, but talk about an exhausting event to get through!! The coordinators of the event seemed just as drained as the students afterwards.

Also wanted to plug a sketch-blog that some old friends of mine started. It is a great way to force myself to paint more and stay in contact with old friends.

Term's over. Time for an update.

2009-03-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

Been pretty busy with the end of the term but I wanted to find the time to update this blog. Looks like I will be working at two campuses for this upcoming term, so things will get even busier. This term, I had a lot of students turn in some pretty good work. There is a LONG way to go with most of it, but it's nice to see the level of progress being made.

A few weeks back Westwood hosted a Game Legends event in Anaheim. Here is a website with a short clip.

I was late getting there but it started late so apparently I didn't miss much. Below I am pasting the notes I scribbled in my sketchbook:

Westwood Game Art Legends

Q and A / Talking Points

- Help insure the games success by creating buzz about game’s development. This buzz will aid in marketing and create hype for release.
- Games are expensive to make / have high risk factor and the failure rate is high.
- There is no secondary market for games and their shelf life can be very short.
- Experiment with gameplay on multiplatform environments. I-phone SDK is popular. Flash games and web based games are more casual and versatile.
- Focus on ENTERTAINMENT. Fun is always most marketable trait.
- There must be good synergy between creative side and promotional / advertising side of studio.
- Engaging gameplay is NECESSARY but story CAN be secondary. One reason story takes a backseat to gameplay is because gamers don’t usually write very well (LOL)
- Create interesting gameplay by joining SMALL teams of creators making online games (Kongregate.com – in search of “the awesome”)
- Be prepared with design document for game but think about novel approaches. One designer was hired because he brought in board games / dice and PAPER models over the typical boring design doc.
- POKER is the perfect game. It is portable, multiplayer and has “emergent gameplay”. Emergent gameplay is the creative use of a game in ways unexpected by the game designer's original intent. It commonly appears as complex behaviors that emerge from the interaction of simple game mechanisms.
- Website is new calling card for work. Far more important than interview and should be first glimpse of demo reel work. Website should draw audience to artist’s work.
- To make addictive gameplay one must invent a NEED within the game. Simple and elegant gameplay can be most addictive.
- Attend conferences like GDC and DICE
- Perfect employee should be able to learn on the job as well as teach.
- Flash also makes a perfect platform for quickly prototyping games. Multiple iterations of game for testing is key to development.
- Because of rampant game piracy, the model for gaming in Japan is a “pay as you go / pay to play” model. By contrast, games in Europe and the US have a longer shelf life. More games are trying the pay as you play model in order to allow players to BUY power ups or equipment online which would not otherwise be found in the game.
- UNITY technology / games for import / multiplatform.

Chester the cheetos eating . . . goldfish.

2009-01-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Today was only the second day I have ever taught Photoshop and I really love it. I have been teaching mid-high end 3d classes so long I forgot how much fun it was to just play around in photoshop. Tonight I had the class create a hybrid animal / frankenpet inspired by a Worth1000.com challenge. Here is "Chester", whom I created as a class demo from two random flickr pics. My apologies to the original photographers.

Steampunk challenge extended one week.

2009-01-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

It has been extended a week!! Though I am nowhere near completion. At least this gives me hope.

Here is a mockup with the 3d I have made composited in. The photos aren't mine and are really just serving as reference for a background I wish to model.

steampunk progress

2009-01-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

It doesn't look like I am going to get this steampunk challenge done in time for the deadline of Jan 12th.

Here is the progress I have so far but really it is just a start. It is my hope I will at least finish it for my demo reel. (Sigh) . . . A new term is starting up and really I just wish I could hit the pause button on my life. Personal issues are making it hard to concentrate on school or anything else for that matter.

Links and pics

2008-12-29T16:14:00.000-08:00

Wanted to plug my friend Joel Davis's article:
Better Programmer Art
(or how to fake it as a game artist)

REALLY good tips on game art here for artist's and programmers alike.

Also wanted to mention Alchemy since it is my new favorite drawing program. This program is great for making loose concept sketches as well as abstract doodles as well as good old illustration.
Here are some examples of what I mean from their forum

Modeling done

2008-12-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

Haven't unwrapped the UVs yet. Playing around with image based lighting and the skylight in 3dstudio max. Messed around with it in post (photoshop)

Update.

2008-12-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

Minor update. The modeling is almost done.

End of term

2008-12-11T01:38:00.001-08:00

The steampunk challenge had to take a back seat to finishing out the term and studying for my Max certification. Here is a character I am finishing for a class demo on character modeling. A friend of mine designed / illustrated the character.

Steampunk Myths and Legends Challenge

2008-11-23T18:11:00.001-08:00

I have tried entering a few of these contests and never seem to finish. Here's hoping this one will be different.

This is a rough mockup of my steampunk rendition of the "Pygmalion" story.

Not sure if this is the one I want to go with but it might work. I hope to have a few other mockups posted soon.

I am also considering doing these:

steampunk Jimi Hendrix
steampunk Mad Hatter
steampunk John Henry

The following ideas seem to be being done by a lot of people:

lochness monster
trojan horse
medusa
wizard of oz (?)

Autodesk 2009 event notes

2008-11-14T16:53:00.001-08:00

Here are the notes for Motionbuilder 2009

Autodesk 2009 Launch Event
Carlsbad CA
Nov 13th Sheraton Hotel
(Autodesk recommends DELL laptops M6400 and M4400)

Motionbuilder 2009
- Improved asset transport through the .fbx file format
- Ragdoll physics can be combined with rigid dynamics (characters falling and breaking walls for example)
New ragdoll -> approximation -> activate collision with rigid body (wall) -> physics solver (gravity)
- Characters can interact with each other through constraints (each character can push/pull the other - double solve)
- Imports cameras via FBX and allows you to setup shots in the story(board) tab. This is great for previz and supports transitions (crossfade etc) between shots.
- Quicktime 7 or greater supports FBX and allows you to jump to different cameras/shots using a hotkey. QT will also show other FBX info such as:
1. FBX file info / stats
2. show skeleton / rig
3. show lights etc etc
Being able to jump to different shots in the QT file quickly is great for previz / camera setup
- Character definition tab allows for creation of “control rig” using Fullbody IK / Human IK.
- Can create new effectors which control rig can “reach” towards (or reach towards the average of multiple effectors)
- Expert mode for relative transform
- FBX plugin exists for XSI but soon full integration will exist
- Motionbuilder interpolation now used in Maya 2009 animation layers

Westwood Designfest This Saturday!

2008-11-14T03:08:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, November 15, 2008, from 11am to 4pm, the School of Design, its faculty and its students will be holding their student artshow. Please join us in this event, showcasing artwork from students in Game Art, Graphic Design, Interior Design, C.A.D., Animation, and Visual Communications.

Henna

2008-10-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

A WIP which I really need to just finish. The character design / reference is not mine. Not sure quite how to tackle the hair. You can see the proportions are a bit off.

I need to work on my demo

2008-10-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

So I made this for a 3d emoticon thread instead.
:rolleyes:

Still no reference

2008-09-25T22:16:00.001-07:00

Continuing in the "modeling in the dark" method. That is to say . . . I am modeling completely without reference.
This is dumb and stupid and I don't recommend it to anyone. It is a helluva lot of fun though.

Now he is looking vaguely alien.

I'm gonna go find some character sheets now . . .

:-/

No reference and see what happens?

2008-09-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I got distracted and wanted to see how fast I could make an eye in Silo 2. Next thing I knew I had moved on to the mouth loops and made the cheek.

A few hours later I had this monstrosity. Never did anything but extrude edges, cut edges and merge verts ... and I purposely avoided reference of any kind.

You're never supposed to model without reference but I figure if I can sketch human proportions out of my head on to paper, why not try it in 3d?

Suffice to say, I still suck. Getting better at learning modeling topology is worth the practice though.

The top animated GIF is a head I modeled in an early version of Mudbox. Note that it is just a subdivided cube which I sculpted into a head as I pushed up the subdivision.

The new Mudbox 2009 preview is pretty nuts!!

Too much cool new stuff

2008-07-31T03:36:00.000-07:00

Debevec has some amazing new work

http://gl.ict.usc.edu/Research/RHL/

Gnomon gallery event with work by Meats Meiers in a hologram format. I have been waiting to see the day one could easily and accurately present their work holographically.

http://www.rabbitholes.com/Gallery/art_one.html
http://www.rabbitholes.com/gallery_videos/DivX_3_Versions/FB_SmallInvader.avi

Lastly, if anyone has missed this wii hack, it is revolutionary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H1zrLZwPjQ

Maya shortcut cube

2008-07-03T00:07:00.000-07:00

It looks like Westwood is getting Maya 8 terms after I started asking for it. Though I am not exactly holding my breath this time either.

Learned some new shortcuts from my students this week. That was a switch!

Windows OS
ctrl + shift + esc = brings up task manager and highlights process

Photoshop
ctrl + alt + 0 = print size (100% magnification)
ctrl + h = hides rulers and selections

The maya 2008 DVD came with a cardboard CUBE of shortcuts! WTF! guess they are getting creative with study aids.

2008-06-26T11:12:00.001-07:00

Took a break from modeling the "android masquerade" project and am trying out modeling my dad's Jaguar XJS. Here is a screenshot of the progress:

This is done in 3d studio Max 2008. Still feeling out the pros and cons of both packages but I am starting to see why Max has always had a better rep for modeling over Maya. I feel with the 2008 iterations this has changed.

Max is heading towards architecture. Maya is heading for games and Houdini is the new standard for VFX. 'nuff said!

Feather shadow

2008-05-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Fixed the feather shadow and mask shader. It should not take almost 45 min to fix some minor shader problems. Blerg.

Rose lapel

2008-05-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

3d progress on Android Masquerade

2008-05-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

These were created in Maya and these latest renders were examples of "in-line compositing" . . . meaning I rendered and composited the images within Maya's renderlayers options. The metal pic is me playing around with the chrome spec material over-ride. The glowing eyes were me playing around with having an additional render layer which was screened on top of the already multiplied occlusion. These took between 2-3 minutes to render on my Dual P4 Xeon.

Android Masquerade

2008-05-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the current projects I am working on.

First the Concept Art:

New Blog

2008-05-23T14:12:00.001-07:00

Allthough I have other blogs (Myspace and Livejournal), I realize I don't have a blog dedicated to my artwork. This blog will serve as a continuous update of the work I am doing on my portfolio and just for fun. It may also contain daily sketches and various other updates. I will try and keep the personal stuff to a minimum and just focus on the work.

Enjoy!