Personal Work - Character Art

High Poly Unreal

Unreal

The last stage was to take it into unreal and present it as a final piece. Similar to how it may be portrayed within a game environment. This was an interesting task as I hadn't had any prior experience with unreal. I really liked the setup of the editor and I think I could come to enjoy this more than unity. However the view editor camera control does feel rather clunky but the precise transform control the program gives you more than makes up for it. The material editor is rather nice and is basically an in-built version of shader-forge from unity. I player around with the lights and set up a really basic scene as I didn't really have the time nor the memory space to produce any larger a unity file. I would like to come back to this program and experiment some more with this specially with the much stronger graphical opportunities that seem to be present within this editor program.

In hindsight I can really see that I had ample opportunity to improve much more on this model and I feel I could have provided a much more precise model. I think I should come back to this mask even if just as practice to try and create a more suitable environment and to explore texturing more. 

High Poly Model Quixel

Once the UV's were dealt with the next step was to generate the maps that will be baked onto the mask. The normal, ambient and other similar maps. Using x-Normal I generated a set of these for each model part. I had to redo this step a few times as I didn't realize I had to uncheck the ignore colour map option on each new setup. A minor error but one that cost me a bunch of time.

After the maps were created it was a matter of taking them into quixel and bringing all the maps together on a model. This software seems a bit fragile with a lot of crashes and the like. But bar this it is a very, very impressive piece of software. The functionality present is great and the ability to learn the program is great. It was nice to be able to experiment with different materials prior to settling on a final thing.

High Poly Asset Low Poly

Creating the low poly was actually rather difficult. More so than expected. It took me a while to create the correct types of low poly "cage" for each branch and mushroom. After some hard work I managed to create the low poly to be around 13k with a lot of this being extra edge loops to try retain as much detail to the branches as possible. I had a problem with the UV's however and the best way to set them up. I need to work hard to rectify this before the hand-in. Furthermore I have forgone the creation of the leaves as per recommendation of the tutor in favor of producing the major parts of the asset first and hopefully produce the leaves later if time can be found.

After gaining some help from fellow classmates I managed to gain a new perspective on the development of UV maps. The main point to bear in mind in the process of creating the UV's is the placement of the seams. Once this location is established the rest of the texture map can be built around it. This means you can basically plan out how the texture will map out rather than just trying to sew things together which is basically what I was initially doing. This second method is much moe successful and something I should pay alot more attention too.

High Poly Asset Zbrush

 Using zbrush was a rather interesting process for me to use. It has taken a while to get to grips with this program with problems related to the both the interface and the tools within the program. The movement/camera controls were a massive change from programs such as maya. Yet the more time I spent within this program the easier it got. To the point where the interface begins to actually feel smoother, its defiantly an interface designed to work with a tablet and this is something I can really appreciate.

Now enough about the program. The first thing I started implementing to the project in zbrush was to start experimenting with z-spheres. These spheres are a very good way to produce framework to base further modelling on top of. And considering the shape of the branches I have to produce they work superbly.

Once the base mesh is ready I simply have to change it to a poly 3d mesh and append it to the model. Then the use of alpha textures to get some nice bark/wood textures added onto the model and then some surface texture the mask itself. It was at this point I noticed some small changes had to be made around the mask itself. The brows needed a larger jut to them and some disks along the temples were needed.

Personal Work - Landscape Practice

A landscape illustration I am currently in the process of finishing. I've learnt that keeping an images colour hues closer together can create a much more harmonized and realistic image. As colours interact they change how they appear. And learning this is something I hope to achieve. In terms of this image so far i think the landscape composition works but something needs to be changed with the ships. I shall come back to this and try push it further with the results posted when they are had.

Game Arts - High Poly Asset

Project Overview

The final outcome of this project is to create a high poly asset based on a real object or realistic concept with the aim of having a near identical replication of the chosen reference. Using both Autodesk Maya 2016 and Zbrush to achieve this goal.

Choosing the Reference 

Choosing the correct object to replicate was a matter that took me a while to decide. I noticed many of my peers decided to model a high poly weapon, namely a gun, and whilst this was an interesting concept that could of led to me creating a popular video game gun such as Half Life 2's gravity gun in the end I felt that a weapon might be too generic. As a modeler I feel rather lack luster and wanted to try push my skills as far as one could. Therefore after much searching I settled on a fantasy half mask. With its organic shapes I felt this would be the challenge I need to improve my modelling skills. Reference image shown below.

Modelling - The Face

During class we had been shown Maya 2016's modelling toolkit. Specifically the Quad Draw function. I felt this to be a very strong tool and one I enjoyed using a lot. But for creating the mask it felt much too 2D and was a struggle to create the depth I wanted to begin the modelling process. Therefore I felt the best path to take was one of extruding with a concentration on edge flow. The image below shows my starting point, keeping the eye socket closed to begin with allowed me to concentrate on the topology for the time being.

From here I just kept extruding and bulking the face out a bit at a time using the front view as my main reference point but referring to the side views as needed. Eventually I managed to get the general shape correct yet I felt the edge flow to be a bit messy and the face feeling very rough.

Modelling - Smoothing

Before continuing with the model the topology needed to be cleaned and sorted in a nicer fashion. It wasn't too off but enough that problems could arise in the future if not cleaned now, at a point in time where it would be easier. The first step of doing this involved using the sculpting tools within Maya itself utilizing the grab and smooth functions to move the edge flow into better positions. Yet this wasn't enough. The next step was to take the model in Zbrush and remesh it using the inbuilt function within the program. This led to a much nicer edge flow

Modelling - The Ear

I was advised to duplicate the ear of the Zbrush example and to use that as my starting point to retain good edge flow. Once this was done it was just a matter of moving vertices back and forth until they were in the correct area. Since the mask has an elven kind of ear the points at the top had to be pulled right back.

Modelling - Mirroring

The next step was a simple one of mirroring and connecting the two halves together to create a combined mesh to finish the facial section of the mask of.

After that smoothing was the natural next step as a means to check how the edges are flowing and to check for any issues with the mesh. Luckily there were none.

Modelling - The Branches

The branches above the mask are the next section to be tackled and an area i'm a tad confused with. At the moment i'm just modelling it maya but on a separate layer so if it turns out Zbrush is a more effective tool for this I can just swap to it. 

Personal Work - Landscape Practise

A small 40 minute practice into landscapes and colours. It was fun using the blues and oranges together and I feel they work nicely together. I think this image needs a more obvious focal point though. Perhaps just infront of the current character as at the moment there is a small resting area in the sea but i think a stronger view point anchor is needed. 

Personal Work - Kindred Fanart

Some fan art of a character called Kindred from the game League of Legends. This was an interesting drawing to create due to the characters shapes and textures. Trying to create a feeling of fur and getting it to flow correctly was hard. I think I achieved in some areas and not in others but I feel progression was indeed made.

Games Production - Further Concepts

Environments

One if the first stages of designing any game is creating the world in which the game will take place in. This is important for a number of reasons. It allows world limitations to be set. The style and feel of the world. The mood of areas such as which areas would feel safe and which feel dangerous. 

Water Room

This was a concept for one of the puzzles rooms with a focus on water. By diverting the water around you could get things to move and thus unlock the puzzle. The room was supposed to feel vast but still enclosed with light zones acting as safe spots. Overall i'm happy with this piece as it was done in only 2-3 hours. Yet I feel that I need to break away from using the same camera angle and try more dynamic concepts.

Pressure Plate Room

A room concept for the first area where the player has to pick up and place a rock on the pressure plate to activate the door. I decided to try experimenting with colour schemes and this one went very blue/green. The colours themselves are interesting but I feel this scene would need a lot more development. But as a concept it serves its purpose.

Door Concept Sheet

Just a door concept sheet showing how the door would appear closed and open using forcefields/crystals instead of conventional doorways.

Game Production - Concept

Although my set role is that of the game designer I still feel that I can contribute to the group in terms of artwork as well. In an effort to put across some ideas and general atmosphere to the team members and to help the concept artist in their development of the games look and palette.

I decided to try create a quick and rough concept of the entrance area of our level to try play around with scale, colours, environment and similar things. The end result was better than i thought would occur for such a short timeframe. I decided to try my hand at a bit of photo manipulation with the rocks as well as some more use of colour dodge. In the end this led to some nice lighting and I hope for the concept artist to take this further or if not I will try and develop some further ideas.

Summer Project

The summer project assigned to us was to design and create a cyborg character. My first thought when approaching this topic was the over use of chrome metal and sleek robotics that has been synonymous with the cyborg image. I decided that I wanted to go for a different image and go for a more rusty/road warriors look. I suppose the recent movie Mad Max Fury Road would be more similar to what I have in mind. Taking a more scrapyard rustic approach to the robotic parts.

Initial Designs
The first step was to create a set of silhouettes to try and establish an interesting outline. Using this to act as a visual anchor points for the viewers eyes. Furthermore it helps the design sense of the character in question, being able to see the generic feel of each outline. The designs I managed to come up with all had their own qualities. With the far left feeling very punky and the one next to it seemingly more like a soldier or mercenary. I did establish that I perhaps I felt it would benefit the design to lean away from giant appendages as I didn't like how the fist or shield felt in this outline.

Defined Shapes
I then took the initial designs and tried to push a few of them a bit further, rendering out some aspects of them. Trying to find a feel for each cyborg character and working out if it was worth taking that particular design any further forward.

Material Study

Concept Art

Concept Sheet

Personal Work - Dragon tamer art

Personal Work -

Personal Work - Pose Practice

Personal Work - Sakurai

A piece I made as a gift for another artist on an art site, It is my version of her original character Sakurai. It was a good experiment for colours and basic character design and I enjoyed it. I feel like I spent a bit too long on it but I feel like i'm progressing.

Character art I used as reference

Steps

Final

Personal Work - Forest Elf

I wanted to try my hand at some more character art and also use the time to try learn anatomy and colours some more. This was an interesting piece to work on and I feel I have learnt some stuff from doing it which is the main thing. I am tempted to try develop her character further and maybe design some settings and/or environments for her. But we shall see.

Spring Project - Boss Code

The boss code was a rather hard endeavor in hindsight. There were many aspects needed to make it work correctly and to actually have a flow to it.

Codes Needed:

• Health
• State Control
• Attack Control
• Types of Attacks

The health code was just an adaptation of the players health script. Calling the boss mesh instead. This was the easiest part of the boss scripts and only required a few adjustments to make it work as planned.

Boss Health Script

The creation of a basic state machine for controlling the state the boss was to be in was also not too hard. I just created 3 parameters Idle, Attack and Die. The die one hasn't been used at the moment due to the boss death being called in the health script but the code has been left for future optimization. The use of a basic trigger function to check for player entry allows me to prevent the boss from attacking before the player reaches him.

Boss States Scripts

The attack control script takes the current health value from the boss health script and changes the routines it uses based on the different health thresholds the boss reaches. The script containing all the attack creations are referenced here. It also taps into to change the amount of attacks based on health as well.

Attack Scripts

The final sets of scripts are the different types of projectiles. These being the normal missles, homing missiles and mines. Each act differently.

Burst Fire

The burst fire  creates a certain amount of missiles then waits for a time and then repeats this act. The missiles created are rather simple. Traveling forwards and exploding after a lifetime and on collision with anything.

Homing Missiles

The homing missile is just an edited normal one with parts of the shark movement attached to it to make it follow the player and blow up after its lifetime runs out.

Mines

The mines scripts have two ways of exploding. On trigger and on collision. Trigger makes it flash red and then explode whilst collision makes it explode instantly.