Self Portriat

So it seems everyone wants to be a character artist in the games industry, i think i can understand why, there is a lot of scope with it and learning the human form is an on going process that's difficult but can also be very rewarding once learnt. So it makes sense to have a self portrait project in the course, if you go into an interview with this in your portfolio then they can clearly see if you model looks like you or not. I've made a start and it's more fun/interesting than i thought, it's hard work and I'm not looking forward to making my face, which is why i haven't started with that yet, but I'm hoping to get a decent end result.



As you can probable tell from the intro a character artist isn't something I'm thinking of going too far into, i do want basic understanding of it and the ability to make good looking models, but as of the moment i don't plan to make it my main focus. What i would really like to get into is environment design, which is something I've been thinking for a while now.
Here's an environment project we started earlier on, i haven't finished the textures yet, i need some decent bushes, grass, tree etc references, and that floor has been put down just to give an idea. But this project is the first really environment one i have done and I'm pretay happy with the outcome so far and looking forward to doing some others, maybe even do one for my self portrait when I've done that.

That 'WOW' Factor

So first the apologies that I haven't been posting on here lately, I've been wanting for a while now but because it's 'work' I've been putting too much pressure on it and too worried that what I write has to be A* standard work. So I've now just decided to start writing, so you may have bear with me.

Something I've been wanting to write about is this picture above, now first off I haven't done this, my brother recently moved into a new house, and as we were moving things in i noticed this picture on the wall, and at first glance just though that's not right. I said this to my family and at first they did not agree with me, but I kept looking at it trying to figure out why it wasn't right. There are a number of reasons, and all the mistakes have been made with the first lines that were put on the page as It's the perspective that's out. Through the first archway the horizon line is too high, and certain lines do not meet at a single point as they should. I've done a quick annotated diagram of a couple of things so it's clearer. What is good about this picture is it has been very well painted, and you can tell the painter had a good understanding of light and colour, and this often gives so much of a 'WOW' factor that most people don't realise the obvious mistake. which is something I don't do so much now, and I understand why Chris uses certain pictures in earlier lectures that make people go, wow that's took some skill, but even if they are brilliant at techniques in Photoshop, basic understanding is a necessity.

Black line - Horizon Line.
Red Lines - These lines should all meet up to craet the single point perspective.
Green Line - the roof line inside the room needs to be a lot lower, the lowest green line is where it should be about.

But what made me feel good about this was I suddenly realised that all the work from the first year was really paying off now, and my skills as an artist were becoming basic skills that I use on a daily basis. Now I'm not saying I'm done and all the images I do are perfect, but it's a great feeling knowing that the course is really paying off and I'm gaining all this knowledge.

I can say that this term I have not been working to the standard or amount I really should be, but since this I've felt more motivation to get on with work, and an important lesson I learnt from last year was not to just do the work and project for the sake of doing it and getting this grade, but to do work that will help you, teach you, and your able to learn from.

Results

So...... it seems like yesterday was the day we got our results, and i PASSED!!! Woooooooooo i did it, i can now happily talk about the second year now without living in fear!

I would like to post up my exact results but as of yet I'm not too sure what all the numbers means, I'm sure they'll get figured out soon enough, but the important thing is I've passed which is awesome, so guess I'll have more things in here over the year come.

I Haven't Just Been Sitting All Day

Well not much has been going on here for while, but I've been busy, honest. I thought I'd just post a couple of things I've been working on to show i haven't just been sitting all day, no seriously i haven't...

So the hospital project we were given is coming to a close now, and about time too has been going on for a fair while now. The guy who'd gave it us seem pretty impressed by what I'd done, well after all he did pay me so must be something. And I'm happy with what I've made myself, especially as this was the first really go I'd had at structures/levels. due to the size of what was being made i feel not much detail in specific area's were achieved, just a fairly generic plan (although was highly complected to make some of those rooms), but i do plan to make the interior of my own house, where I'll be able to make it look more 'real world' just by adding certain details such as scratches and chips in paint, worn away wood and the like.







Was also working on a project for a mini comp on game artisans, was task to make a gateway to the afterlife, of which i came up with a couple of idea's but this one seemed slightly simpler to make. My idea was/is a room, where four light beams would enter through the ceiling into the pedestal in the center (light beam possible coming from distant obelisks, fairly metroid based). Then when you placed your hands onto the smaller pedestal you would be sent to the afterlife. Not sure if I'll get round to finishing this, can always come back to it another day.


Since the course stopped i haven't really done much drawing/digital paints, and i need to start practicing again, this is one i attempted the other day, didn't turn out brilliant but hoping to get into the swing of things again.

This one below is for the 2d mini comp on game artisans, ideas a tree house and I've gone for the town in the tree tops, i want to get far in this, hopefully finished, might end up changing whats in the scene or change the view all together, should be fun though.

Week Twenty-Four - Been A Blast

So that’s it, first year done with, moving onto the second year soon, oh how scary this is all becoming! I am really looking forward to the second year, this past year has been a blast, I’ve learnt so many things, and not just technical skills, but also mentally such as how to learn and approach things, understanding theory’s and then actually putting them into practice, it’s all been so valuable and I’m extremely happy I chose this course, as I know there are many course out there that don’t allow you to grow and prosper, so for this I have the teachers to thank, and also everyone else on the course as I’ve found you learn a lot from just being in the labs and talking to people.

I think next year I’m actually looking more forward to the 2D visual side of the course, which is not what I thought when I started the course, in fact before I started I didn’t think there’d be much drawing involved and we’d be sitting in front of a screen all day (although I do do that a lot). Hopefully there will be more outings as they always seem to end up with the best results, as well as being a lot more fun. I know it’s difficult with all health and safety form the uni heads, but if we get to go out further than just Leicester that would be great and very beneficial so I think these are things that should be pushed.

There was a mention of maybe looking at more film side, as the two are very closely linked yet. And from the start of the year I have said I’d love to get into the film side at some point. Im not completely sure at the moment now but that’s mainly because I don’t know much about the film industry, and I know the modelling is different, so if that’s something we could get a chance to look at I’d love that.

I plan to keep my self busy over the summer with modelling, got a few little projects in mind, but I also need to remember to keep drawing so I don’t loose what I’ve learnt this year, as I know next year it’s going to be straight back into it and having to step up a gear, still should be good though!

Week Twenty-three - The Land Of Level Design

So no specified task for this week then, is this a trap maybe to see who does work even when not told, or did Mr P really have so much fun at GDC he didn’t write a task, who knows, but I’ll talk about something or other I suppose.

Well the one thing on my mind at the moment is the hospital project. Alex Jevremovic has given us (the first years) the task of creating the inertia of Coventry hospital, and oh how fun it has been. As I said in my previous post I’d like to start to explore the land of level design, so when this came up it seemed like an opportunity just waiting, and so I volunteered myself to help create the actually environment of the hospital. At first I though it couldn’t really be that difficult, few walls here and a floor to run along, and in essence that’s what it should have been, but obviously this is the first time any of use had attempted something like this, talk about being thrown in the deep end.

So I’ve sort of ended up becoming in charge of the structure (we all hate it when people call us leaders now, ahh the pressure!) but this as I said is something I want to do so I don’t mind really. The original plan was to make the entire inside of the hospital, but due to far few less numbers than we had started with, Alex has said he doesn’t mind just the second floor being done, so that’s a relief.

It’s coming along nicely now, not actually too much more to do on it, and most the assets are completed I believe, and so now I can’t wait to see it all combined into one scene, it should look good and be something we can be proud of, not to mention the shiny penny at the end.

Overall veiw of structure!

A look down one of many corridors!

A corridor done by the man called Si, complete with windows!

Week Twenty-two - Out Of Sync

This weeks task was suppose to be about something interesting at GDC, but not being completely up to date on my blog I’ve kind of missed it. I had a quick look back at what had happened, not a lot caught my eye and there’s a fair bit of ‘old’ news now. However in a few weeks time E3 will be on again.

E3 use to be the big gaming event of the year where thousands attended to see all of the gaming companies latest’s toys. But in the past year or so E3 has been toned down, only four or five thousand will be attending, who will be invited people only, and it’s not the big conference of the year. But there still should be some exciting things going on.

Nintendo's Booth

I always wanted to go to E3, not just to play the latest games, but see what was going on, it always looked like such a great place to be, an environment where everyone was from the same culture bringing a great atmosphere to the place. This is something that will be harder to attend now as it is invite only, but still would be very cool to go.

E for All is suppose to be the ‘replacement’ for E3, being a much more consumer driven event, with companies attending from a wider range, although still situated around gaming. This event is open to anyone who applies, but being in LA it isn’t the easiest place to get to, but still would be great to go to.

I feel like I should write about something that’s going on then. From what I hear the big N are planning on making some sort of announcement, now when these rumours occur it’s always a big let down to what it actually is. A lot of people think there’s going to be a new DS design, and apparently the current Wii bundle is set to change. A bundle though could be anything from the Wii coming with a different or extra game, maybe another remote or something, it indeed could possible a Wii with more space and or capabilities. Either way it’s reminded me of something I was thinking about the other day, how out of sync this generation is. The PS3 has only recently come out, compared to the xbox 360 which came out a long time ago, and then the Wii somewhere in the middle. So I’m slightly confused to how the next generation is going to work. I know it’s a bit earlier to be talking about that at the moment, but the PS3 should have a fair bit of life in it, where as Microsoft will want to get out another consol much sooner. And then Nintendo could make the Wii last a long time, and if the past is anything to go by the next consol will be an upgraded version, so no idea on the time scales of them. Maybe they don’t need to be in sync now, maybe the next few generations will be a lot different to the standard format, but ultimately competition drives this industry, so there has to be some sort of marker.