Main Part Done on Shield

So I've kept working on my shield, even though today is the last day to submit the entry for the art challenge. There is obviously no way that I'm going to get done in time, but I will continue to work on this piece since I think it can make a great portfolio piece.

Here is the render of what I have so far:

I looked at some images from League of Legends, specifically the shield of Leona in her different skins with her many interesting shapes that make up her shields. I think I may use the gems in the bottom part and use them on the middle part.

I also decided to add a little "ring" around the end of the shield, and I also need to start thinking of what handle and will go on the back. I think that I'm almost done with the model, so I will start asking around my cohort for some critique and see what they say. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

The Gnomon Workshop January Art Challenge

So a few days ago a classmate told me about this site called The Gnomon Workshop and about the month art challenges that they run. Unfortunately for me, I found about this months challenge too late specially since the theme is really interesting...

A shield, thats what we had to create a 3D model of along with any texture maps that we need. There is no tri-count limit, and we don't have to bake the model down to a low res model. The only constraint, is that it has to be in the same visual style or fit into the world of a game like: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Oblivion, etc. But I've been thinking about it, and I think that I'm going to do this challenge anyways even if I don't submit it to the site. I think that pushing myself to doing something on the side will really let me see how much my skills have improved.

So to start, tonight while I was in my hard surface modeling class I started to look at reference image of games like League of Legends and Tera, since these are two games that I've come to love. Here is a very simple front view of a concept image for the shield I want to make that I drew using Sketchbook Pro and Photoshop.

I still don't know what going to be on the middle of the shield, but I will keep working on it and I'm sure something cool will pop into my brain. I will post progress on my model as I mode forward, thanks for reading!

Splat Patterns

So for today, I had to create a few different splat patterns that the engineers could use in out game. They have been using only one for the longest time, and it was really noticeable that they were all the same. Here they are:

I found a lot of reference images from google and I think they turned out really well. Granted this wasn't a hard task, I'm still happy that I'm getting comfortable to work in 2D. Thanks for reading!

Hard Surface Modeling Class

So its the start of a new and my last semester as a graduate student at the University of Utah. I can't belief that its been 1 1/2 years since I started the MGS program, and I'm kind of sad that its coming to a close.

Anyways, there isn't much left for us to do besides polishing our thesis games and having them published before the end of the semester. So I decided to enroll in one class that would benefit me and help me with my goal of becoming a 3D environmental artist. There is a new class being offered this semester by a really talented professor and I'm excited to see what we will do in that class.

So today was the first day of class, but because we got a really big snow storm the professor wasn't able to make it. So the TA's for the class showed the people that have never used Maya so of the basics, while they gave an assignment to everyone else to do a speed model of Portal's companion cube. Here is the render of my speed model with a quick AO bake on it:

Its not the first time that this assignment has been given to me, but it is the first time that I was able to finish it. I think some of the pieces are suppose to be thicker, but the overall idea of the model is there. I think that I will attempt to do it one more time, and get it textured properly. Thanks for reading!

Hay Stack & Collectable

Today we had a meeting to discuss the state of the project and it was mentioned that I should take out the windows on the barn and just have it so that you can look into the barn. This will take a day or two, since I will have to modify the mesh of the model to cut out the holes for the windows. but I think I will keep the frames that I have right now.

While I was at the meeting, it was discussed that we need some kind of collectible that will be put around the map and have the patients find them. It will give them an incentive to walk around the map and explore parts of the map that they would otherwise probably ignore. So I made a coin while I was at the meeting, here is a render:

While I was at the meeting, I also made another model that we can place around the farm, a hay bale. I arranged them to look better. Here is a render of the final prop:

I will make more models for the environment and post renders as I go along. That's all for now, thanks for reading!