Showreel

Business Cards!

Not quite cropped properly in the images but they fit correctly on the actual cards. In any case, here we go.

Front




Different back variations

Week 16 Update

I found out how to animate in zbrush, at least very basically. However, I found that since all of my characters are very heavily clothed, It's very impracticle and nearly impossible to animate them slightly with the method I discovered.

Engine however is mostly bare, and as such it was fairly painless to do with him. Reavers model is slightly too complex to animate using the method I found ( which is to merely blend between different poses, like a big blend shape).

However, It would be possible to do with gale and tesla. Sadly, for some reason I get VERY strange graphical artifacting in zbrush on certain pieces of their clothing when I do. The culprits are pieces of cloth that have had an alpha map or texture applied (eg: Gale's top which has a sort of ribbed alpha map on it). Because the mesh is so dense, whenever you try to move it with the rest of the mesh to animate with, for some reason the faces collapse in on themselves. This also happens with Tesla's cloak and tabard. I've tried to troubleshoot the problem and look for ways around it, but sadly nothing has come up at all.

In any case, this is the breathing animation for Engine. It's not meant to show off my animation skills, because its not a great animation; its merely to try and bring another dimension of believability to the character. I would have loved to have spent more time and effort into the animation, but sadly zbrush just isn't built for animating, and I had to make do with what it could offer.

Reaver is also finished, and I'm pretty happy with the results. He's a lot scarier than my other villains, which is what I was aiming for. I managed to model the whole body also, so im very hapy with that.

Reaver - Full body - Flat shader



Reaver - Full Body - HD Shader



Reaver - Close up - Flat shader



Reaver - Close up - HD Shader

Week 15 Update

Here's reaver in his current "bust" form. I think I have the time to get his entire body modelled, so I'm going to have a go at that. The only thing I'm worried about is trying to animate in zbrush; I've been doing a lot of research and there doesnt seem to be very many ways to do it, at least that I'm aware of. I saw a few videos online of people doing animations, but they dont really go through the process. I guess I'll just have to keep looking really. If it's not possible then I guess I can't do it, but I'd really like to have it done.

I met with Gordon and he was really happy with my progress too; he seems to think that my characters are coming along very well and that my hard surface modelling is looking quite good too.

Week 14 Update

I met with Gregor, and he read over my dissertation. He gave me some really helpful feedback, and I'm going to try and jump back into writing for a while so I can better my thesis. It's a bit hard since I haven't written in it for a good 9 weeks or so, but I should be able to get back into the swing of things fairly easily.

I also got some nice feedback concerning my models. I'm going to try and make them move a little in zbrush on their plynths, just so it gives a little extra life to them. It'll give that extra dimension of interest. So hopefully I'll have that ready for next time we meet. I'm not too sure how im going to do it but im sure at least some basic animation is possible.

I've also started modelling my Derelict character, named Reaver. A conman and a thief, he's only concerned about his own hide! I'm not sure how much of the character i'll be able to get finished, so I'm going to aim to have a nice bust done. If I have the time then I'll model his full torso and maybe his lower body too. Here's a low poly progress shot

Update - Gale Illustration

Week 13 Update

I'm also doing a small illustration of Gale for the Honours project.

All my characters (Hero and her two villains) have been designed and modelled. Just a few tweeks here and there and everything will be mostly finished. If I have the time, then I might try and model another character that I have designs for (a faceless, desposable villain, like that of a stormtrooper).

UPDATE:

I've decided against doing a disposable villain, and instead I am currently looking at The Derelict archetype, one who has little empathy and cares only about themselves; a bit of a loner. I feel this kind of character could complement Gale well.