Togo Progress

Very busy lately, but I managed to put some more time into Togo. Currently I'm in the additive process with this character. Now that I have a good base texture, I'm working out the SSS shader, hair and cloth. I'll eventually return to the skin texture and add more dirt to this. The chest area, specifically the nipples, need some more work.

You can see that I've added a beard to the character. This was always something that I toyed with. I was inspired by pictures of Charles Manson. After all, Togo eventually becomes a serial killer.

This also serves to bring more attention to face and mouth.

I'll hit the eyes next. I'll have to spend a good deal of time getting that right. Currently most of this is temp, and I'm sure it will all change during this last 10% of the project. I'm looking forward to playing around with this until it looks right.

Togo: Texture Progress

I've been jumping back and forth between Mad Mario and this character Togo ( you can view the WIP thread here: http://www.3dnation.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=933&st=0&sk=t&sd=a)

I've been wanting to finish this character lately because he's completely different from Mario. Highly detailed, larger texture size. Plus I've been working on him for almost a year now. I'm trying to kick myself in the butt to finish a bunch of Zbrush work to submit to the Pixologic Turntable contest.



I've literally textured this character 6 times now. Each time it gets a little closer to what I envision. Right now this is the base human flesh layer of skin. From here I will make it 10% froggy. Since he's a mutant mix between human and frog, and all frogs are poisonous, I thought it would be interesting if this hurt him. Constantly in pain from a poison in his own skin. Like he can never adapt to it. And it slowly drives him crazy.

Texture wise I want the viewer to feel that pain with being disgusted. Your first feeling should be, "Ouch, he must be in excruciating pain!"

I'm not in that phase yet with this image, but hopefully you'll see some progression this week.

Sneak Preview- "Mad Mario" Character Renders

New renders of Mario for my "Mad Mario" project. This will be a short animation or 3D comic that will explore what makes a character a dark hero. I'm trying to keep a consistent illustrated look to the visual design. I am looking at Norman Rockwell paintings for form, lighting, and texturing reference.

This is a 9,000 tri polygonal model created in 3DS Max 2010. I will most likely take this into Zbrush for proportional changes and sculpting subtle details for a high resolution normal map.

More word on the project later.

At Toys R Us-Times Square, New York City

I took this picture at the Toys R Us in Times Square a couple weeks ago.

Sometimes you work on something so much that you forget what it is you're making. Deadlines, extra work hours, and lack of weekends is all that you think about. "Circus Star" was like that. I was new at the studio, and I started working on this during the last third of development. There was a huge amount of props to be created, but yet, everything was finished.

I'm proud of this game. It's the first game I've worked on to be published, and I've grown a fond attachment to it's quirkiness. But what seeing this at Time Square reminded me of, is that anyone in the United States can buy and experience something that I've worked on. So often I forget about that. It's amazing to me. If you wanted to, you could go to a Gamestop, and buy a game I've worked on. I'm proud of that.

When the work keeps coming and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, I stop and think about all those families that bought this game. That is what makes working on games entirely worth it. That, and the fact that it's sitting on the self next to a copy of "Ghostbusters!"

Learning Curves

Work has slowed down in one area, and has increased in another. Currently I'm teaching two classes on Monday and Wednesdays, with a help lab for both of them on Tuesday nights. I've been trying hard to restructure my delivery of the information so the students learn better. Overall the students seem to follow me better.

The 12 principles of animation are the most important aspect of learning the art. It doesn't matter what medium you use, if you don't have a solid grasp of the principles, you'll never be a good animator. I try to convey this to my students. Along with this, I want to create some examples of how the principles help. A simple animation before and after the principle is applied. Squash & Stretch, Anticipation, and arcs are easy to demonstrate. However, timing (both physical & theatrical) and character appeal are more difficult to show without being in front of them. I need to do a little more brain storming before I figure this out.

At the studio, we are in between projects. The art department is not yet in full get in development of our next title. There's a air of discovery and growing improvement to our pipeline; at least this is how I feel. I have been given the task of creating the main player characters for this game, to which I feel humbled. I did not think I would be given the chance the model any main characters for several years. It feels great to be doing what I am best at. At the same time, I feel a huge responsibility to the project and the company. I am the first artist touching the game, and so what I do will set the bar for the rest of development. I have many more days of working on these characters, but I am challenging myself to make these the best characters I've made.

A New Day, A New Plan

At the moment I'm a little all over the place. I decided to finally...FINALLY, sit down and create a website that I've been thinking about for over a year. Not knowing anything about web, I feel restrained about the creative process. What I want and what I can do is limited. It comes down to time and knowledge. I would be putting more time into the creation of a fancy website then my actual trade, and the trade skill is paramount right now.

Regardless, the site is up. Bare bones, but running. I have a bunch of images to workout for the background/banners.

Working on this makes me realize that I need a better design for my logo. It has to read better. Some people see the jellyfish, others don't. I want to design it so you know what it is the moment you see it. It feels like poor design right now.

I need to fire off some new renders of recent work. Period. A large portion of my flat book is out dated.

A new demo reel will follow of all this. I'm delighted and terrified at this.

In the meantime I'm getting ready for all this by getting back into Twitter, CGSociety, and creating this blog. I'm hoping that if anything it'll give me other outlets for communicating my thoughts and ideas.

It's time to get rolling....