Week Four; Sci-Fi Crate

    Week Four marks the start of our first proper modelling project where we were given free reign over texture and somewhat modelling! With our knowledge so far of 3DS Max we had to Model, Unwrap and Texture a “Sci-Fi Crate”. The modelling I found relatively simple, following through the video tutorial with relative ease. This part of the project didn't prove much of a problem, however I did find unwrapping quite difficult and complex at first, not really knowing how to fix the common problems, add and delete seams, etc. After about a day I got the unwrap finished and packed into the UVW Template as tight and economical as I could.

My UVW Unwrap 

    Now we come to texturing. To be honest, I quite enjoyed texturing and learning about what looks good and what doesn't. We had pretty much free reign on what we could and couldn't do for texture, except it had to be in realistic style. When I think of Sci-Fi, I think of matte blacks, greys and blue glowing holograms. 

Diffuse Map

    Therefore I tried to make the texture of the crate match that of my vision, trying to create materials that looked like matte plastic and the panes in the crate to look like glass to house the holograms. For this I had to do a bit of researching on Specular and Gloss maps, but after a few tests with them, found that they were actually quite simple to use and to plug into the material editor. 

Specular Map

Gloss Map

    I did try to make the clasps and hinges out of a chrome material so it'd show as reflective when rendered but I ended up making the plane underneath the crate reflective instead, and spend a long time trying to figure out how to apply it to the elements (Clasp and Hinge) to no avail. 

    I am pleased with the way it turned out, but next time I'd want to spend a bit more time texturing and getting that matte plastic feel of the box instead of a metalic feel.

Final Renders of Sci-Fi Crate

   

Week Three; Cubee Man

    Week 3 quickly rolls around and we started a “Cubee Man” project, where essentially we design a super hero character fit to translate onto a cube man. My initial ideas were based around masks - as most super heroes have masks – therefore I started to look at Mexican wrestling masks and try take some influence off some of their design and combine them with some well renowned super hero designs. After a few initial sketches and playing around on photoshop to get my final product.

    I decided I was not happy with my final product due to my over-use of dark colours and lack of detail and started a fresh. The next iteration I tried to move onto more animal based textures and forms, rather than getting influence off someone else’s designs. So after a few iterations I came up with my current design, which I have dubbed "Eagle Beak", since sadly "Hawk Eye" was taken.

My texture map for the redesigned "Eagle Beak" Cubee Man

    This design originated from the pictures and sketches I produced when a Sparrowhawk landed in my garden after successfully hunting a pigeon, quite a rare sight for the town of Ipswich! 

    The visual design task for this week was looking at buildings and objects in two point perspective, so I went around Leicester, mostly towards the town area looking at the buildings and drawing them from a two point perspective. Sadly I was hindered on the final part of the week and had to spend the rest of the week on crutches/in bed and unable to get out and sketch, so I’ll upload my sketches from the first week and extras that I’ve been saving up to supplement.

Life drawing; 2 min pose

Thumbnail Sketches from life - One point perspective

Thumbnail Sketches - One point perspective

Thumbnail sketches from life - One point perspective

Quick life sketches of movement and pose

Quick life sketches of passers-by

Thumbnail studies from life

Thumbnail studies from life

Studies from own photos

Study from own photo

Life Drawing - Standing overlapping poses; 5 mins each

Life Drawing Sketch -Standing pose; 5 mins

That concludes the majority of this week, I’ll join you next week with another update!

Week Two; Character Design - Silhouette

Hello again, here is my reflection on week two! At the end of the week, on Friday, we were given a lecture on Character Design, and how to do, and not to do it, therefore for this post I’ll be speaking my mind on character design.

So first off, we were directed towards Blizzards’ DOTA 2 Character Design guide (http://media.steampowered.com/apps/dota2/workshop/Dota2CharacterArtGuide.pdf), which took me through all the key aspects of a character, silhouette, value, colouring and pose. To start off I’m going to be talking a bit about the silhouette of a character.

Below are the silhouettes of three very famous characters, needless to introduce. 

Mickey, Bugs, Bart Silhouette
Source: http://www.spellbrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/character-designs.gif

What strikes me as important are the unique attributes and poses each of these silhouettes has, making them recognisable. For instance, we have Bug’s ears and comically large feet and pose, Mickey’s famously stylised ears with big outstretching but helpful hands which imply that this character is friendly and helpful. Last of all we have Bart, his lounging pose against his skateboard tells the viewer what this characters traits are; a teenage boy, folded arms give almost defensive body language so we may extrude that he is expecting trouble, which tells us something about his personality, along with his prop of the skateboard which adds recognisability to the character.

This individuality is also carried out by the DOTA 2 silhouettes, which are all posed differently with different forms and unique props (swords, shields, etc.).

DOTA 2 Silhouettes
Source: http://media.steampowered.com/apps/dota2/workshop/Dota2CharacterArtGuide.pdf

As a conclusion, when silhouetting for a character, one must give a unique pose and props with a recognisable and clear outline of form. When searching for the design of a new character it is important to try different poses, body proportions (to indicate power, weakness, masculinity or femininity), props and forms, as to find the best most recognisable character with good design.

A good example of variety and clarity
Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_WL518062YcGFjGGUoWgReKlgpCfaOyxdJRrfQumiFodo4CuCxZtqAlgixoGiQYq3bF1R_IArCVsYj9r0pN4qvEXnZCEtsbiM8uEzJ4Dp79fvBP8WOrUF-voFPcqIYHW15Y34IhV-IOY/s1600/character_silhouettes_demo.jpg

The Beginning; Week One

So, here we are at the end of Week One! I have to say in retrospect it was awesome being thrown straight into the subject, I’m beginning to immerse myself more and more into the 3D Environmental aspect of this course, and finding myself appreciating the beauty and craftsmanship of established 3D artists more as I’m learning the programmes.

Different materials rendered on spheres in Photoshop - In Class "Stretch Goal"
Rendered by me

Most of my time this week has been spent exploring the city of Leicester and finding the most interesting areas for potential inspiration in my art work; however the task at hand – thumbnail sketches in single point perspective – which gravitated me towards exploring about a mile radius of the river Soar, using water colour and pencil as a media in recording my discoveries.

As for the Games Production module of my course, I, like many others, after being introduced to the bare bones of the program 3DS Max, decided to use some free time to get some hands on experience with the tool and trying to probe the limits of my understanding. After some tribulation, I did succeed in creating a stylised sword, taking inspiration from Cloud’s “Buster Sword” (Final Fantasy 7) as it proved an easier shape and style for me to do some exploratory work with. The challenge was creating a low poly weapon with definitive silhouette without using “Ngons”, however I am happy with the outcome of my first self-made mesh.

My Self Directed Study end result, Low-Poly mesh of Sword with inspiration from "The Buster Sword" - Final Fantasy 7
Next thing is to texture, screenshot provided by myself

A zoomed in screenshot of the detail on the hilt
screenshot provided by myself

As for what I’ve been doing when I haven’t been drawing or wandering around the city of Leicester, I’ve been looking at various blogs of 3D Environment artists (mostly of current and former DMU students and how their work has improved has been amazing to watch) and the Autodesk tutorials of how to use 3DS Max.

About Me

Hello! 

Let me introduce myself, my name is Danyal Fairburn, I’m an 18 year old first year student studying Games Art Design at De Montfort University. So, the immediate question might be “why Games Art?” well, I’ll share a bit more information with you about my background.

We’ll start at the beginning. My interest in Video Games started brewing about the age of 5, where I received my first handheld console (the GameBoy Colour). Since then my interest has only grown. Throughout Secondary School and Sixth Form however, I, like many others, had to wean myself off of games and channel my enthusiasm into something more productive – The Arts. So, for my A levels I elected to study Art, by far my favourite subject, along with English and Biology (the anatomy of the human body was probably my most profound interest in the subject). Therefore, we end up with the final product; Games Art Design.

So there is the concentrated story of how I ended up studying Games Art, now, let me tell you a bit more about myself as a person. To tell the truth, I’m interested in quite a wide variety of things so it’s difficult where to start, but I’d say I’m most passionate about my Music, Art and Sport. Music is too much to go in to for now, but sporting wise I love playing Hockey and Cricket, but to be honest I’d play or watch anything that involves winning or losing. As for Art, it’d be too difficult to pin down what movement or which artist inspires me the most, but as for sheer appreciation, the works of J M W Turner and John Constable I find incredible. Their landscape paintings are awe-inspiring, and something that I aspire to achieve.

That about sums up this brief overview of myself, I hope you enjoy the rest of my blog and my personal journey!