BlizzardFest update

So only a few hours left till the deadline eek!! I found out pretty late that for the 3D competition entry you have to submit texture maps and wireframes.... Oh.. So there went my Monday evening (and most of my Tuesday morning) but I now know how to project high res detail to low poly stuff in Zbrush and have fallen for the topology brush tool!! So this might be the last update before I dive into photoshop for the final stretch

I have enjoyed this project so much! And learnt tonnes! When Glen Keane visited a short while ago he said something I really related to. He told the audience you make the most progress when you take on something that you have no idea how to accomplish! It's not the easiest way to live but I do love it as a mantra.

So in a few weeks I will be starting the Moments of Consequence project and now armed with the tools I have just learned during this project I can't wait to start!!

Enjoy the last batch of progress pics!

 All textured and scratched! the polypainting was much easier than I was expecting... well compared to the sculpting.

 A little closer look, I really liked how the helmet turned out!

Finally posed! took waaay longer than i thought it was going to! and its not nearly as dramatic as i was hoping but still on to the next stage!

Here is the texture page! up till 7:00 am projecting all the high res meshes back onto new low poly objects, Z brush was very intuitive during this process but now I know how to make this a lot easier for future projects!

Not a submission page just a combination of a few test renders :) 

Advanced Games Design

One of my favorite assignments for this module!
In pairs of 2 we had to design and build a boardgame in an afternoon to be played after lunch!
Quite a task but the whole year group banded together and we came up with 3 very fun game concepts.
My team built a turn based evolving narrative game based around crunch in the game industry.  Each player is in charge of at least 1 department and have to ensure that they keep their productivity in the green.  As the game progresses it becomes harder and harder not to mess up as each department succumbs to lack of sleep etc.  One player takes the role of producer and instead of contributing to a department directly can instead save a failing department (with a few lucky dice rolls).  This was a vital position but wound up not being very fun to play for the first few turns... will need some tweaking in the future.
At the end of turn 6 the team ships their product regardless of the quality of each departments contribution.
The game still needs some balancing but the few games we tried were very fun!
During playtesting our team wound up shipping a game that excelled in Art, Animation and Writing but dropped significantly in PR! leaving us with a good product that no one ever found :p
The next play through with the year group went much better with all departments doing pretty well.  The producer was able to save the Programming department around mid game! which was lucky!  Hoping to develop this game further some day when I have free time....

BlizzardFest Update

OK i'm quite happy with the sculpt at the moment.  I'm still new to Zbrush but I have learnt so much diving into this project and it is such a great piece of software!
With the deadline as close as it is I think I have to just bite the bullet and move onto texturing... so here goes :)

BlizzardFest Update

  Hats off to the guys who developed the original Terran Marine! this was not easy!

Yay all ready to send to Zbrush.... never tried doing it with such a high poly export...

It worked! now to try smoothing and sculpting but first sleep!

Ok back to BlizzardFest stuff!

I've had a little trouble getting Zbrush to do the kinda hard surface modeling I wanted so I have returned to old faithful 3DSMax.  I've had so much fun putting this guy together but have to admit starting on the torso was a little demoralizing its a surprisingly complicated shape!  Still I am very happy with the look so far! Also had quite a bit of fun animating my Shield! which can pack up and deploy now.... (kinda a waste of time for a static image but I couldn't resist)

Still I have finished the low poly model for my Sentinel character and successfully imported it into Zbrush yay! next up is to start smoothing sculpting posing and texturing! which i'm hoping to do entirely in Zbrush but we will see.

Masterclass with Glen Keane (Legendary Disney Animator) tomorrow!! actually going to go to bed on time to make sure I get the most out of his presentation!

Encounters Interactive Cinema Project!

Got a screen capture and video for some of the work I did on our most recent project ICPirates for the Bristol Encounters film festival.  We had to produce an interactive cinema experience in about 6 days!  The project was pretty intense and we were bug fixing right up to the last minute before showing off the project.
I worked on the UI and the pirate pistol duel for the finale!  The UI was pretty simple but we were using BrassMonkey as our input system (which allows audience members to use their phones as controllers).  This took some getting used to as we had never used BrassMonkey before.  I am happy to say though that we all pulled together and produced a great product for the day.
There is a chance that we will add some further development and polish to this project for an upcoming festival soon so I will keep you all posted :)

YouTube Link to the PistolDuel

UI Display pushed to Phone Controller

Image on Cinema Screen

BlizzardFest Update

Yaaaawn! totally worth the late night : Here's the concept sheet for my BlizzardFest Submission - will hopefully start on the 3D blocking out tomorrow.

Here is the final look - I have a few shield concepts though, guess I will have to pick one, I'm leaning towards the top right design but maybe I will get some feedback from some of my fellow team mates on the 3D total forum.

Good Night everyone...off to school in 6 hours :)

BlizzardFest Entry

I've decided to try out for the BlizzardFest Chellenge! Im Submitting for the 3D section yay!

OK the idea is a seriously heavy marine sent into battle in front of the main force to soak up damage and repel surprise attacks.  The armor would be modeled quite closely on the far right image but the right side (Not shielded) would be left lighter allowing more flexibility allowing the units to attack with a whip like weapon around their shields once they are engaged in close quarter combat.

Gonna be a few late nights ahead but I hope to have it blocked out in a couple of days

btw - none of the above images are mine working on a rough character sheet now :)

Learning Zbrush!

The final render for my Zbrush Intro course! Really enjoyed the program, I think its gonna become a staple in my work at the NFTS.

check out the turntable at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4J2NxARys

Learning Zbrush

I'm back!
After a nice, mostly relaxing, holiday I am just about ready to head back to school!  I'm actually quite excited to get back to the long hours and tight deadlines! We are starting back with a week or so long games jam in preparation for the Bristol Encounters Festival but more on that later.
I have just today finished the Digital Tutors quick start to Zbrush Vol 1-5 and am very happy with the result!!

first few minutes getting to grips with the interface

a weird gecko/chameleon thing I made while trying out Z painting 

First try at sculpting mountain like geometry from a primitive

Sculpting a rocky terrain

Adding a metal base

First play with ZSpheres!! such a good way of blocking out!

fleshing out the basic form

final sculpt

adding a bit of texturing

taking a look at hard surface modeling

trying out the polish brush I used in Mudbox... works much much better

all the assets in one place

wow trying to position the hose was not easy

UV unwrapping too!

posing the character! also tried out a little morph targeting for facial expressions

final look.  Grass was built in Zbrush with the hair modifier and then sculpted!