so my blog again has been very slow! everything is under control, i'm just getting my dissertation out of the way. On thursday, we had the the chance to meet someone within the industry recommending what was going to be best for our showreel. After leaving my idea of creating a soldier, it was recommended that i should do something that is a high interest of mine. So, i shall be going back to using a soldier character form with completed texture with a posture and moving camera angles. i shall also make some small environment work showing my normal mapping skills. this is a technique used to minmise data use projecting a flat texture underneath the texture giving the illusion of creases and cracks.

here just some more referencing of my most recent workings. Again my practical work is being set back as i am in the process of completing my dissertation. The picture seen is showing the teeth and tongue i have modeled for my head mesh. i aim to import the head mesh into z brush and make  a high detail normal map for my head. i still need to complete the hair nurbs. i will achieve this by photographing some hair sources and turning them ti tiff files. i will do this soon and show my workings.

easter is very close which gives me very little time and so little to do! my model options have changed yet again, and i aim to keep these choices as part of my final outcome. building my whole body has slown down and will not be completing this. i wish to generate a really strong  facial rig with little animation, mainly aiming for nice texturing and modeling. i want to bring environment back into my work as our main brief was environment design in year 2. i will take pictures of housing and complicated architecture.  all my research is a very simple task, i aim for the best quality, obviously! and will be mainly focousing on texturing myself for now. depending on time i will look into other ways of performing attractive work with strong rendering options, such as bump mapping. 

referencing below of final modeling work, which is of my own face, still pulling vertexes to find the right shaspe from the front of the face. i am very happy with how the geometry is coming together and will continue to work with this within z-brush and photoshop.  

going back to one of my face models, i have looked into tutorial support on the internet which has helped me look into other ways i can generate realistic styled hair. forming NURB planes around the scalp and then importing hair strokes as a tiff for example should work above are a few images of the process i have also set an occlusion to the smoothed version to see how shading might inflict the hair in the scene. i feel i may have to move the planes closer still to the model.

work is starting to become more processed, although as always, still unsure as to where i will further my work. i am happy with the time i have left, and will shortly once finished my guitar, start setting out what other form i will make, and what will work best in my showreel.

here just in the process of building another addition to my model proposal, which is the guitar as part of my mesh.

i am having a few problems at the moment as the server will not upload my turnaround so this will will be shortly uploaded.
I am also in the process of making a simple toon shaded background, for Mook, (Lewis). As part of the character setup i made for him as seen further down in my blog.

work has been consistant although aswell as working on my 'guitarist', i am also working on my dissertation so no work has been uploaded in for a while. i am still working well on the main model proposal although struggling at the moment. yet i am confident that this will not be a problem. here is a simple tunraround on the working of my model.

just showing some progress images of my latest build. I am also going to concentrate on this one model, instead of deciding to keep going back and fourth and starting new models. I'll stick to one design and once complteted, will then move onto the next.

After working on my last short model, ive decided that i am ready to start working on my final mehses. they are photographs that i have taken which will be completed in low res and high res meshes. By doing this i can show a high poly count for film and still imagery in CGI, and low res for the gaming market. Here a the first images i have taken and are what i am going to work on in the next weekand so on.

I have then continued to insert edges on the head, tweaking and defining more points.

The mesh is not complete yet, i am still aiming to create hair and a photo realistic texture, although still have a lot to work on to acheive this level.

One the image is pulled out to the right distance i carefully pushed back vertexces towards the face, to define the features of the face, such as the cheeck and nose.

i found through a tutorial, (see ogre model below), that working to an acurate shaped plane is the best way to work from when starting the model. once this is done all the inner vertexes are pulled out to acheive shape to the mesh.

This was the last opportunity to decide if i wanted another change in my work. my final showreel is not a complete change although other things will be added. As i said below i wasnt happy with the amount of work i hoped to show. So im going to look at the human form, like a sort of still life approach to my work. A decision came to create either one or two still life images, much like photographs, in which the camera then enters rotating round each significant object that I have modelled myself.
The following Head mesh is part of an experiment that I may also include in my final showreel, showing off more of my modelling sklills.

the pictures below are front and side views of my face which i would like to bring into maya. thinking about what i want to acheive, i feel that completing a few models of human form could be sufficient. they contain alot of detail and have work all around me. My one concern is that texturing is a weak point in my work, so i will either leave it or find a way to work into this.

First Look At The Boy!!!

Here are some progress shots of the modelled boy that i've achevied today.

The past few weeks of modelling have been very slow for me, after completing one model i am looking into what needs to be done next! I fear that i wont have enough to show as a final showreel if i continue to make the models i have said im going to create, and nothing else. i have been given another project to work on from tim, who gave me the goat work. i have discussed a few things with tim, he is happy with the final model but feels that there are a few changes that need to be made. I am still working on the old warship and the soldier i said i was going to build, although on top of this i am really interested in building another couple of objects. I am not sure if the wacky races themed car is going to be built, as i belive that building the ship has the same sort of approach as the car. I am quite interested in building something fantasy orientated, as these characters/objects tend to have a high detailed finish. For now i am going to begin working on the second model tim has given me which is a young boy produced for the same scene as the goat.

The video shown was an experiment see how well fog works, at first i feel the smoke is much too thick, aslthough throughout the video it clears and i am happy with it. keeping in mind that niether the ocean nor the boat are completed just simple at this time.

Workings on my ocean shader as part of my project, within the week i will put more rendered video of this. All of the following images are part of a side project, the modelling of a goat. I was vwery pleased with the final outcome, although i am still waiting to discuss how tim feels about the finished product.

Close-up smoothed head mesh.

Side profile.

Perspective view.

Workings of Tim's goat

A New Year

Throughout Christmas I have been spending time working again, on some more side projects, as well as working on my modelling. Although i have experienced some major technical problems! I am still currently working on perfecting my ocean shader, which has taken over a week. The following images are a brief insight into what i have accomplished over the christmas break.

Another Side Project!!!

I have just discussed more work with another student, which i am really looking forward to getting into. i have been given a clay model which again needs to be brought into maya. This model is a goat, which is really good for me, giving me a wide range of different objects and characters. Again, i will show my workings and a build up of process.

As well as creating my animatic i am going through the process of creating a strong water shader which will be in my modelled ship scene. this is only a short clip, as i just wanted to see how it first looked, i can now work over this to make a stronger, better outcome.

The blog has not been updated recently. At this time i am managing my dissertaion, and sorting my own as well as other peoples projects. I have spoken to a few other people in the class that would like me to model some of their characters also. When i get these images i will post them onto my blog. I am also creating an animatic which will shortly be part of the blog.

Again i started by using the same process as the pistol, i started from the top down, i do this because i feel i can work on the important parts of the weapon first to move on to the less important parts (handle).

And here is the final picture, which has turned out well. i have stuck to my guidlines well, and am really grasping onto the techniques i need to have to model other/most drawings/pictures. I dont think i am going to use toon shader as it doesnt really span out my capabillities. If i do chose to use it, it will only be used in little of my models.

I am now going to make a few more weapons, in toon shader and then to go on, blocking out simple shapes in maya to make an animatic of my ideal final modelling reel.

this is the other rendered image i will introduce into the same image as below, to see if it works well in a toon shaded environment.

Here is the same pistol but with a more extended nozzle and wider body, much like a characterised version of the first modelled pistol. I am pleased with both of these models, and from this i have made an occluded version, as seen. i will bring the preset into the scene when i get the chance to, (when at university).

Using Toon shader is another possibilty, giving a great look to a cartoon style type. i could also look into ambient occlusion, to see how the shader reacts to it, see if it creates a better blend.

Another Change In Work

with my soldier we have also come to a better, more stronger desicion of giving the soldier a stylistic look to it. i feel this is going to give me a better range in my works, moving from realism to caracature type work.
So with the gun i have made, i could still use it as part of my work, but maybe give it a cartoon style look to it. to give something the cartoon look, we need to concentrate on the strongest freatures of both the character and the objects surrounding him. Much like, in this circumstance, his/ her weaponary.

Here is the gun i have been building over the last couple of days. i think it has worked out well, and have built it acurately.
I did have a few minor concerns with it, although i quickly moved from these after making a simple soloution. i made the top section of the gun first and then worked my way down, (inserting edge loops) where the pistol was built of different sections. E.g, the trigger, lower nozzle, and the handle.

I am aware that this is a very weak sketch, but it brings out a look i am hoping to go for. i want my vehicle to be very interesting for the young market. i feel that i have found something very strong in this 'design' for a wacky car! i will continue to make other sketches but may continue to progress with this. i think its very original and is a strong start for wehat im going for.

Whilst working at home i don't have the opportunity to work on a graphic tablet, only CG based work. So whilst away from the studio i am going to build parts of the models in which i feel are the simplest to make. I am going to firstly look into making the weaponary for the soldier, which i have already research from the Internet for.

Within this, i have come to a final agreement with the help of my tutor, as to what i am doing for my other main model. I am going to create a car, although one of my own imagination, I'm going to give it a cartoon style approach. With my own Wacky races type look to the model.

As i said before, i was going to draw some soldiers, to find the right colour palette and style of the character. instead of this i have had a classmate ask if he could make these for me. i am pleased with the final image, and like the colour on the characters body.

The other images i have just posted are related to my two strongest ideas. i have looked into these films, and they will help me to generate an animatic, blocking out the basic shape, and route the camera will take as it looks at the models.

Here some more strong research, i need to really start making some front and side drawings of the completed soldier, to beigin making my final model. along side this i need to put up some drawings of the ship and the third model i wish to make.