An interesting proposal!

So, I have a theme for my major project. More later though.

For the moment, a mini contest has come up on a forum that has got my interest.

Basically, the challenge is to model a Disney or Square:Enix character in the style of Kingdom Hearts. I'm going with a Baloo/Mowgli combo.





You can check out the original thread here. I'll post my work as I progress. :)

Engine Choice.

So I think i'm going with Unreal Tournament 3 as my engine choice.

It allows me to explore everything that is needed for current/next gen games. Oh, I also already own it, so there's a plus. :)

The UT3 Editor looks really intuitive, and given I have some knowledge of the previous editors, I think I should be in good stead with it.

I also think I have a theme for my models but more on that later. :)

Ups and Downs

I think it's a good idea that I lay out the key areas that I need to explore as well as outlining my strengths and weaknesses in each. At some point in the future, i'll redo this post and see how I have progressed.

Concept Art.

I try. I'm better than some, worse than most. I feel I get my ideas across enough to be developed at later stages. I need to improve the following:

• Anatomy. I still draw wonky legs.
• Colour Theory. I'd like to paint directly in colour rather than paint initial values in greyscale.
• Mechanical Drawing. My strength is definitely in the organic.

Modeling.

I'm most comfortable in this stage. I can use lots of different types of software and have a good knowledge of modeling thoery, both high and low poly. I just need to do more of it.

Textures/Mapping.

Eech. Creating textures, normal maps etc is a real stickler for me. It's where the whole process becomes a grind. I understand the hows and whats, I just get stuck in a rut at this point.

In order to improve, i'm going to take the time to find what I like in texturing and attack it from these points.

Rigging.

Clueless for the most part. Again I understand the concepts but I have never really taken the time to UNDERSTAND how to effectively rig models for animation. I think it's one of those areas that can get very complicated, very quickly, if you don't have a good plan of action.

Animation.

This I understand. Recently i've been exploring traditional animation. I'm not saying that I am a master animator, but i have a good understanding of weight & timing and look forward to this part of the process.



So yeah, those are the main areas I'm going to be tackling and how I stand with them. There's also the task of getting the models into a game engine for use and show. This is different for each engine though and will be put off until the model is done. This stops me getting ahead of myself.

First things first, I need a direction, some sort of theme for my models that will allow me to showcase my capabilities.

Watch this space.

It's now 2009.

So, 2009 is upon us. A time for fresh starts, broken promises and watching Bill & Ted on the tele.

It's also a good time for me to start taking this blog seriously (I think I created it over 2 years ago!).

Anyway, for a long time i've been in love with the idea of working as an artist in the games industry but have next to NOTHING to show for it. This is mainly due to me not taking it seriously, or perhaps being into the idea of being a games artist, rather than becoming a games artist.

During this time, I've studied things loads and learnt HOW to create models without actually doing anything. The last time I created anything worthwhile, was in Uni (pre-2005) so yeah, I need to get my arse in gear!

I'm going to post my progress here and blog things that I fins interesting. I've forgotten how to be a geek. No-one should forget that.

Watch this space for awesome (I hope) things.