Heli WIP

I started a project to help me work on my hard-surface modeling technique, as well as get more agile with the subdivision modeling toolset in Maya.  Here’s a start:
Image

The Dreamcatcher

It’s been a lonnng time, but here’s something recent to freshen this place up: a digital painting! Enjoy!


Click to view hi-res

Kez-Collab – WIP02

More basemesh work. Laying in the armor, pieces of the cloth, and what you’ll see of anatomy:

Kez-Collab – WIP01

I recently decided to undertake a personal project in the form of a character model to bulk up my 3D Character Portfolio.
To focus more on the 3D modeling and sculpting bit of the whole character creation process, I found an already existing concept to roll with.

A quick turnaround of the progress so far:

I’m calling it a detailed basemesh, something that will make ZBrushing this guy very easy since all the basic forms and more are there.

Here’s the original Concept Art Character Turnaround by Katherine “Kezrek” Laczin:
Concept Art Character Turnaround by Kezrek
Check out her awesome blog and full concept art portfolio here!

Watch out for more to come! Trying to speed through this one.

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iD Gaming Academy Harvard – UDK Reel

I recently had the opportunity to work as an instructor with teens attending the iD Gaming Academy at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  For two weeks I instructed students on using the Unreal Development Kit, and introduced them on what I use the program primarily for: level design and creating a visually compelling experience.  Most students completed two full level assignments and outputted products that truly surprised me in the amount of sophistication they presented.

This is a video reel of levels, maps, and spaces created by the students at the iD Gaming Academy Harvard chapter. Over two weeks, students learned the ins and outs of level editing and scene building in Epic’s Unreal Development Kit, as well as the general understanding of making a space look and feel awesome (visually compelling). Most of these students had never touched a 3D application before, let alone a level editor as in-depth and sophisticated as UDK.

The students’ pipeline for each project consisted of:

  • pitching a level idea which would be the beginnings of a 4 day long project
  • came to the table with a basic theme and vision
  • a top-down orthographic drawing of their map was required
  • greyboxed spaces in UDK to test for gameplay purposes and overall level flow
  • added weapons, power-ups, jump-pads and other navigation points as needed
  • set-dressed scenes and lit them to make them visually compelling
  • created camera flythroughs of their invented space using UnrealMatinee
  • processed in real-time using the DUMP Movie command to capture frames
  • compiled by the students in Adobe Premiere

The result is what you see here.

All of the assets used to create the scenes were default items made by Epic Games© that came with the UDK upon download.

The students did phenomenal work.  As someone who has been using UDK for two years now, I was floored by what they accomplished in a mere two weeks.  Again, great work!  If any of you are reading this, I hope that you continue to pursue your interest in level design and game creation.  Go, “Dream Team!” This is only the beginning!

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