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.

Week 12 Update

Engine is coming along very well.



I still need to model his hard surface details. I've really been putting a lot of time and effort into these models, so hopefully it shows in the final showreel.

Week 11 1/2 update

I have begun developing my third character, Engine, a brutal gladiator-like character who is a complete physical challenge for Gale. The idea is that he holds the Gladiator archetype, someone who is at his best whilst fighting, and see's himself as a living weapon.

I've taken this quite literally, and I really want to get the idea that this guy can do some serious damage across through his design whilst evoking his archetype.



UPDATE: another turnaround

Week 11 Update

Tesla is coming along very well! I think I've really built up confidence in Zbrush and gotten used to the work flow and jumping between packages. I've pretty much worked on him non stop as of late, and I think the results are quite nice. Although I can see areas that I can improve, I feel it's a good step forward. I'm particularly happy with his face, as that seemed to be where Gale suffered since hers wasnt very developed or detailed. Tesla seems to have a very intimidating and intelligent facial structure, which complements his character well. This is no accident of course, this was considered during design stages. Alan Rickman's facial features were used as a guide, but not a true reference.



I still need to sort out his pose slightly and ammend a few features, and then include his tabard and cape. All is looking well though. I believe I may be able to compelte another character in time, so that could be great for my showreel and project.

Week 10 UPDATE

Gale is finished, and I'm now working on shots of Von Tesla. He's got a lot of hard surface modelling needing done on him, and I'm focusing on making his face seem a bit more realistic than Gales, which I feel could be improved upon.

Gale low poly


Gale High Poly w/ accessories

Flat Shader


Metal Shader


Tesla Progress


I've been meeting with Gregor and Gordon, and mainly just focusing on mainly sculpting now, giving progress reports on what I'm doing and what needs to be done. I'm developed Teslas base mesh from the one I made earlier in the semester, and am building most of the hard surfaced pieces within maya and taking them into zbrush to sculpt upon. With hope, I may have enough time to create more than one other character. This would really help my study and my showcase I believe.

Dare To Be Digital Character Design - Moles

Update - MORE MOLES

Week 9

Getting close to finishing my sculpt of Gale, and hopefully starting Tesla soon. I think at this rate I may be able to finish quick enough to do a third, maybe even forth character. Here are some progress stills of Gale in Zbrush. I still need to add her javelin and other accessories.

Week 8 Update

Ive been spending a lot of time trying to get Gale's model finished as soon as possible so that I can continue on designing and modelling Von Tesla, and any other villains that can be designed based around the compliance of their archetypes. In any case, here are the newimages. Critique would be greatly appreciated before I go on modelling. Im not so happy with her pose, I feel it could be weighted a lot better, so i'm going to revisit that when I can.

WEEK 7 UPDATE

I think I've finished a LOT of my research and dissertation type up of the most part.... it's sitting at about 8k words now and I'm too afraid to add any more. As such, i'm trying my best to pump out character designs and focus on creating my hero.

The archetypes of my story are predator and prey, and each are going to complement one another visually as well as archetypally (is that a word?). Abigail, the prey character, symbolises the polar opposite of the predator, von tesla, who represents the ambition of career, industry, and dependance upon other people. Abigail is a loner, who tends to shun industry and holds roots within shamanistic beliefs and alchemy.

In any case, design has started on abigal, and her zbrush model is underway.

WEEK 6 UPDATE

Lately i've been doing a lot of zbrush practicing. I've been meeting with my technical supervisor, Gordon Brown, every Friday to discuss zBrush and learn new techniques that can help me in the creation of my characters. We were talking about how a character with both hard surfaces and organic modelling can make a nice contrast, and that this is something that would visualise and transfer very well into zbrush.

The biggest problem I can see my having when creating these characters is trying to make their clothing. Since folds can be drawn so easily at random, its very easy to get carried away and because theyre so organic it can be hard to create the illusion of cloth upon a model. I've been researching different folds and looking into how cloth should interact with a model properly; I feel that this is very important toward the project as it will really help make my final models stronger. Designing my characters with strong attention to methodologies is one thing, but creating the illusion of realism in a 3D character is something completely different altogether.

I made Gandalf the Grey on zbrush in university to practice long flowing cloth, i'll try and get a picture up as soon as I can.

WEEK 5 UPDATE

I'm still meeting with Gordon Brown on Fridays to talk about Zbrush, and learn about techniques in sculpting. It seems i'm going to have to do a lot of jumping between packages, and since its a process I am as of yet unfamiliar with, I really need to get some practice before I start sculpting my final characters. I've been doing some practice on a Jedi-like character, trying to get nice detailing from both hard surfaces and flowing cloth, to try and give my model a nice appeal.



The feedback was very constructive - there's a lot of small details I didn't realise that were so wrong, and rectifying them would make the model look so much better. My hard surface work was looking fairly pleasant, but in regards to cloth I need to learn a lot about how cloth folds and sits on a person. When you sculpt, you don't create something, you want to create the illusion of something. Artistic freedom wins again!

Gordon told me a lot about cloth and how to create the illusion of it sitting well. Cloth usually always has a tension point, and always obeys gravity. If nothing is holding on to it, it will hang completely vertically, unless influenced by wind or environment. For example, on the Jedi's waist, the cloth follows the contours of his body - this would not happen in reality, as the fabric would just hang.

I was also taught that painting or creating cloth without reference can just lead to bas sculpting; since cloth is so dynamic and organic, it's really good practice just to look at yourself or find reference for when you sculpt. It can make your sculpts look so much better.

In any case, I am still practicing sculpting before I go onto designing my characters, and also looking into other areas of research, whilst typing parts of my dissertation.

WEEK 4 UPDATE

Long time no speak, blog! Recently, and again, I've been focusing much more on the written side of my project. I hope im not offputting my actual honours project by doing this, but I feel it's justified since my project is quite research heavy in the sense that I'm trying to pay attention to both archetypes and storytelling in character relationships, AND heavy use of character design. As such, I've kept my head in the books and been typing away since I last updated.

I've developed the base mesh for my project, and from that made a little sculpt of Harvey Dent, or Two Face, from Batman as a bit of more practice before doing my actual characters. Hopefully I'll get this writing and research out the way and start doing my own characters soon.






Male Base Mesh, which I'm using for tesla and I used to make Harvey Dent



Gale Base Mesh

WEEK 3 UPDATE

Another update. Although I have a lot of my actual concept work done for my honours project from last semester, I really need to dig into the books and research before I begin designing. This is why I'm looking into typing parts of my dissertation before I actually go ahead and design my characters.

Why?

I feel my honours project is quite research heavy. Not only am I looking into the contextual elements that make good characters and villains, but I'm scouring for what makes a good character design too. I really feel I need to get more comfortable in these domains and have a wealth of knowledge in them before I go ahead and finalise my characters altogether. That way I can rest comfortably knowing that I've not rushed ahead trying to design characters, and instead thought carefully of the process in which they have been created and their relationships between one another.

Therefore, not a lot of artwork done recently, I'm still mainly writing. I'm practicing with Zbrush and meeting with Gordon and Gregor, keeping them up to date. I'm also toying with the idea of hopefully creating more than two character designs if I have the time, as I feel that this would bode me well especially when giving people questionairres and asking for feedback - having a wider array of villains or "rogue gallery" will allow my research to be fairer by allowing people to gauge which kind of villain they prefer.

WEEK 2 UPDATE

My honours project is officially underway, and I guess my social life on hold for the next little while! I'm still developing two strong character designs and high detailed sculpts in zBrush, and I plan to get started on the characters as soon as I can; I'd really like to get more research done for my dissertation first. I was talking to Gregor and he said that throughout researching I should just plug in any relevant quotes or material so that I can compile it at a later date and don't have to go looking for it again. This slowly turned into me actually typing parts of my dissertation, from case studies to analysis and back and forth. However getting a head start on this is as good as anything really. I know it'll just overwhelm me if i leave it way too late.

I should be looking into finding out how I want to display my models, and as such i've done a bit of looking. The character artists from the Sony game Uncharted 2 presented their sculpts beautifully, decamating the mesh (which basically means reducing the poly count drastically whilst still preserving detail) and taking it into maya or max so they can render it with mental ray. The results are breathtaking.

In any case, i'll keep on writing and designing. Another update to come soon!

Week 1 Update and Honours Project Details

Title: A Study In Villainy

Question: What considerations in terms of context and design are required to create a successful antagonist for the contemporary audience?

Abstract:

Ever since the human race conceived the art of storytelling, we forever immortalised the concept of an antagonist; a villain, a hurdle, a plot device, whose malice would bring a hero’s subsistence to fruition; a never-ending tale illustrating the importance of virtue over vice. However, in today’s contemporary story telling mediums an antagonist has great scope; they no longer need to be as two dimensional as a serpent tempting a naive woman to eat a forbidden piece of fruit. The best villains in literature, movies and games are arguably the most complex and compelling; there is more sustenance to their existence rather than posing a stereotypical peril. A villain has the promise to be more than merely just a lesson in morality to impede us against doing ill; in what ways can we deviate from virtue over vice, and how can a villain’s success as a character affect the quality of a story?

Character’s success can be determined by a multitude of factors. Researching story, relationships, design and audience are all very important, but to what extent can we use these and deviate from them, and what are the underlying determining methodologies behind creating a strong character? This project proposal and subsequent dissertation aim to identify key factors that should be considered in the conceptualisation of a villain, and how an effective, strong antagonist can be produced for a contemporary audience.

Details:

As part of my honours project, I will be creating character designs and high quality zBrush models of these designs. The conceptual stage will be derived from research appropriate to my dissertation, whilst the origin and profile of the characters will be justified through choices appropriate to my research in order to strengthen them characteristically.

Tesla revisited