Renders

Well the hand in for the modelling was uneventful and we have now seemlessly moved into the texturing part of the project.  Oh how I with I had modelled something a little more simple.  Well I don't really, but I am looking at a long unwrap.  I always feel that I need to get better at unwrapping my models.  I seem to rush the process and when it comes to texturing there is stretching and what not.  Not this time, oh no.  I will be an unwrapping god by then end of this week, which coincidently is when the model needs to be unwrapped.

Anyway, here are the render sheets that I created for the hand in to show off my character.

        

        

Loooop Hole

Well here we are drawing close to the end of the modelling section of the project.  It has been really really enjoyable and I am not in the slightest stressed.  I can't wait to get started on the texturing and even though I know it will be a bugger I am looking forward to learning rigging.

Today I have been working on the concept sheet design.  I have been bringing the images that I created for the concept and blueprints together onto one sheet to show of the design side of the project.  I am reasonably happy with the result, but I have been away from conceptual art for a while so am a little rusty.  I am happy enough though.  I still need to finish off the original concept design.

I have also been working on a stand for my character.  As we have to show our character off through renders and it is not textured it was suggested that a stand could help.  Dean never mentioned a poly count for the stand so there is a loop hole for indulge myself.  I have added a further 8000 polies but I think that it is worth it.

I have incorporated the housing for the soul containers.  The idea behind this character is that he harbours souls and uses them to sustain his immortality.................................................................
Something nice to think about

Polly Palava

Well yesterday was an interesting day.  I have reached a natural conclusion to the modelling and decided to sort out the smoothing groups.  This opened a massive can of worms.  Not ordinary garden worms but some mutated monster worms.  I collapsed all the symmetries and sorted all the smoothing groups out.  Feeling quite pleased with the result I suddenly noticed that my polly count had risen to 9222.  From where?  I had not even hit 8000 before I collapsed the symmetries but an increase of over 1000 pollies?  Apparently you don't get a true polly count whilst using symmetry.
Anyway, as this increase frustrated me I decided to revert to my primary save file that I started the day with and repeat the process but this time watching the polly count.  At the end this time the polly count was 8600.  Bizarre.
After a minor tantrum I decided that I was going to hit my self given polly limit of 8000 so began to remove unnecessary information.  I now have a 7986 polly count but don't know where the additional pollies came from.

Long Time No Post

Where have I been? Modelling........................................
I have been working through the more detailed parts of the model.  I am quite close the end of the modelling section of the project and I am pleased with the progress I have made.  I think that I am close to where I want the model to be.

I have been quite busy finishing off the main detail and resolving the issues that have been raised. 

The boots were an issue for me as I felt that the character was top heavey and didn't quite fit together.  I have bulked out the boots and defined the calf adding the support on the back.  They are now my favourite part of the character. I am really pleased with the shape and definition I have modelled.

I have changed the way I modelled the arm fins.  Instead of them being part of the arm I have created them as separate pieces.  This allows a smoother flow in the arm edges and a crisper finish to the fins themselves.

I have really enjoyed modelling the hands.  I have spent a long time adding the detail but am still not finished. I need to define the finger shape in the profile and add the armour plate on the back of the hands.  I am really pleased with the outcome so far and am glad that I have attempted to model the hands rather than using the Unreal set.

Finally we have the head.  I have deviated from the original design a little here.  I have added a mask over the eyes and developed the straps on the head to hold it all in place.  This design although it has been likened to an epileptics helmet, does solve the issues of space travel as my character can now have no fear of loosing his eyes ( like the scene in total recall).  I plan on adding lots of detail to the head where I have inset, using the texture and normal maps for depth.

Slow Progress

The New Year has brought a lull in my design achievements.  I am not sure if it is the vast quantities that I have eaten and drunk, or the inset of old age, but I find myself warming in front of the fire with the constant drivel that is British TV enticing me away from my work.  Maybe I have ground to a halt like the whole of Britain because of the snow.  It defiantly has nothing to do with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.  Oh no, I am not in the slightest addicted to that game.........................except between the hours of 9am and 2am, where I can be found shouting at some random 'SeargentPaiN_123' or 'Amonkey:)' who has just annihilated me only to professes that he is off to do his homework.


Well what have I achieved.  This ........................

"Not much" I hear you say.  But vitally important.  I wanted something that would not inhibit the movement of my character as he is a bounty hunter after all.  I am not pleased with the side view yet, but development will pre vale. I may need to develop the edges at the front to allow full arm movement but as this is my first character model and I am not completely sure of the Unreal Limits/Parameters I will have to wait until tomorrow when I see my tutors.  Anyway, let me know what you think as feedback is always greatly appreciated.  

Getting Back Into the Swing

Ok, so it has been over a week since I last posted but hey, there has been a lot of meat eaten in that time and a fair bit of chocolate too. I sat down today and tried to sort out some of the issuesmentioned by a class mate, that could improve my character. I have wanted to get the hands modelled as well so that I have all the basic detail completed. This took me a lot longer than I had first thought. I couldn't get started. Every time I began to model the basic shape I couldn't get going. In the end I looked at '3ds Max Modelling for Games' a book by Andrew Gahan. This was very helpful and after taking a couple of photographs of my hands for screen reference got the simple shape modelled out.

I then started to work on the shoulder pads. I know I want something to bulk out the arms and carry on the shape of the backpack but I am unsure what that is yet. I modelled these simple shapes over the shoulders in Max to see how it affected the feel of the model. I think that it works from the back, but needs to be different for the front. I don't want the shoulder pads to hinder the movement and I don't want suite to end up being too big.

I drew these few designs trying to work out in my head where I am going next with the design.