Halloween

It's time for Halloween, which means it's time for something creepy or scary. Some form of monster, ghost or maybe something completely different.

I started off this task by doing some simple sketches. These were very quick, and strange.

I then decided to practice a certain paint over technique. I had a few things around the house to make a quick Halloween costume, so I decided to get an image of myself and get started.

I did this for a while and got the head and weapon done, however I got what I wanted out of it and decided that it wasn't really something to carry on with, I thought I could come up with something much more imaginative or fun.

I started thinking of certain types of ghosts, and one thing since we were given the brief that kept coming back to mind was the Pokemon Gengar, it is a ghost and I really like the design. I had a sketch of my own ghost idea, so I decided to create a creature with a likeness to Gengar, however with my own design aspects to it.

 

I create the model in Maya and sorted out the lighting and rendering, trying out a few different views.

First thing I did for the paint over was make a bright purple overlay, just for fun.

I then started working on the proper paint over, I used a much more dulled purple and did some work on the eyes, then added a flame and background. I tried many things with the eyes, such as overlay and luminosity layers to make them stand out, however I found nothing was working the way I wanted. I ended up putting a bright red dot in his eye matching it's shape, this was much more simple and I think more effective.

I then had some help with changing some of the colour and saturation of the image to get a it more contrast, to to help show off the ligthing a bit more. I then fiddle around with this to get my own result.

I think the lighting could have been better in this image to show of the face a bit more, however it was creepy how I wanted. The topology was rough in places, partly because I didn't know of the "Keep Faces Together" tick box in Maya at the time, wondering why all faces were extruding individually.

SciFi Ship Last Week

Carrying on from what I did in the first week, I started to add some smaller details to the ship.

I added some cannons on the top and bottom of the ship, of course this is because it would have to be used in combat, the cannons would also be used for sending out energy waves to move objects and a variety of other things.

I added detail on the bottom of the ship, such as a bit more shape and separation for the small cargo hold, and the landing thrusters.

On the back I put on two more panels, to help the engine by spreading energy over the ship, part of the key to flying in space. I also exttruded in under where the wings fold up to represent the channels where energy flows along.

After having a model I was happy with I laid out the UVs and took a snapshot for texture creation in Photoshop.

For the textures I wanted to go for a warn and stylized look, organizing the colours how they were in the concept art and seeing if they worked.

I created some worn writing for the side of the ship.

I made the main parts of the ship the debris would pass look scratched or warn, at first I though this looked quite cool and nice. I added some texture overlay in places to give some parts more detail.

However as I went through the various texture sheets and as I started to add the same effect to everything else to keep it consistent, it got over the top. I added the writing I created for the ship into the texture, however this did not really match the rest of it.

I realize that if this ship was in a game in would be very inefficient, using 5 texture sheets for the one model, and that it would have been a better idea to lay out the UVs and paint the texture in a way that only uses one sheet, without too much hassle.

Some parts of the textures, such as the wings, I did not think were too bad, however once I got the textures on the ship I found they did not really work. There are other methods that would have worked better for creating them and given a more professional result, however I am glad I have this method a try, I have learnt that you need a lot more care and a set consistent style that workd for the world and object.

My model I was happy with, mostly, the topology around the wing got messy, with use of triangles I could have cleaned this up. However if I want them to be able to fold up in a game, they should have been separate combined objects.

I tried a few different renders, I tried to add green lights but had trouble with it.

Overall, aside from some topology and the textures. I am happy with the final product and what I learned from doing it. I was also happy with the concept behind it.

I later made a brighter render so that the textures and shape are easier to see.

SciFiShip - 1st Week

 

On this I had many ideas in my mind, from past ideas and seeing things in the lecture, as well as looking around at the shapes of different objects around my house. I decided to start simple by sketching out some different ideas very roughly, capturing the basic shape, I would then choose my favourite shape/concept and take it forward.

After I made the initial sketches I sat down and did some research, looking at different ships and thinking of fundamental points in the concept and design of the ship, as well as the world it fits in. I made a list of questions to help me think the concept through.

I took my favourite design and did some blueprint drawings of it from the top, side and front. I also pencilled in some of the ship's layout and worked out the scale of each section compared to the average person. The ship I designed is a 4 or 5 person shuttle.

I then decided to do some sketches from a mock-up 3D model I built in order to add some smaller details, such as adding parts to the outside of the ship, for example guns or shield generators. I also did a base colour drawing in order to start working out colour relationships.

I finally did some lighting test using the metal ray renderer and sky-dome lighting.