Week Summary

On Monday, I did not have any university sessions but I decided to go into the library to do some research. I feel this week will be more of a research week searching YouTube videos on hard surface modelling and considering different types of art styles for my character. While I was in the library I got a collection of books to look through whilst there, some books more useful than others. Whilst looking at some of the books found during my time at the library I took some photos of different artists that I could look at for this project. The artists that I picked showed some of their work which I liked, from the style used and themes. It may be good to experiment with different styles within the 2D element of this project. 

Also on Monday night I did start to do some quick silhouettes designs for my robot character. Instead of using Photoshop for the silhouettes I used sketchbook Pro. I decided to use sketchbook Pro because of the symmetry tool inside the programme I thought this may be useful at first to quickly jot down some ideas as to get the ideas flowing as I have not been feeling as motivated recently. 

On Tuesday, in the morning I had my anatomy session. In this session we looked at adding a hard-wax base to our big scale model, most of the session consisted of this as others were catching up on different areas of their model which gave our tutor other priorities. The session was slow paced but it was good to finally get a base on the model as it weights the model nicely and now it can stand on its accord.

Also on Tuesday, I had to give my presentation of my project idea which consisted of two slides. I spoke about what I wanted to do during this project what my end result will be, also to add that it will be based off my dissertation theme. My tutors seem to like the robot idea especially presenting my piece using UI elements through menu designs, as it does give this piece a more in game feel. I was told to do more research on the robot story and what dystopian world it belongs to. After the pitch I decided to do some research on this. I like the idea based off a ‘Mad Max’ themed as this film is within a dystopian world and there are various shortages on supplies etc… I thought with this idea it relates well with the robot not being well-defined in appearance, it gives a clear representation of a ruined robot not a well put together one, one that has been affected by its environment and must use what is around it to survive, such as crafting a weapon to its body or patching up its armour plates. I also like the idea of a steampunk theme within the design I will try to imitate this in the model as it relates well with Mad Max and Dishonored games from my dissertation theme. The robot will be a companion robot which helps its group (humans) to survive such as gathering loot or fighting in a battle. It will have its own personality and I hope to put this across in its design.

On Wednesday, I did not have any sessions to attend at university but my focus was to complete the silhouettes designs for my robot. I continued to use sketchbook Pro for this as I found I got good results using it. I do feel more motivated now that I feel I’ve got more of an idea to go off. From the silhouettes I will choose the one I prefer the most and I will get others to look also, from there I will create some more detailed designs adding in what the character face may look like or the armour etc… I plan to get this done by the end of the week or Monday. Next week I plan to start the 3D stage after I feel confident enough with the hard surface parts of modelling. I will continue to watch more YouTube videos on this from there I will start to do some practice pieces. 

On Thursday I decided to go into University to work. While I was there I continued with YouTube hard surface modelling videos looking at different methods on how to produce some hard surface meshes. When it comes to the hard surface modelling I know that there are different techniques on how to do it, I will experiment whilst doing my project. I have seen that using the clipping brushes are popular to gain that hard edge and using high polish brushes. Working with good retopology is also key for gaining a high surface mesh. I believe whilst doing this Zbrush model I will learn throughout the project, I think if I just jump into the 3D side sooner rather than later it will be easier for me to get more motivated and give me a clearer perspective on where the project will take me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cawgyCmLbDw - Retopolpgizing techniques.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxMEfphMz3k - Use of Z Modeler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTcNThhjSL8 - Hard surface design with Booleans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY2xZwwoMeI - Top tips in ZBrush (Summit)

On Friday, I went into University again to work and continue to do more research on my project watching videos on robot creation in Zbrush and how other artist start their first initial stage. I also was looking at more images on robots from films to games and peoples work on sites such as Art station. I decided also what silhouettes I will work from. From this I will now work on getting some quick detailed sketches completed. Also on Friday in the afternoon I had a group careers meeting with the university’s employment and business team member. In the meeting we spoke about our plans after graduation and where we would like to go with our degree, and what the best way to present ourselves with CVs and information on networking, events are good for this. I have booked tickets for an event in London in March called ‘Vertex’. This event consists of watching workshops on 3D modelling such as Maya to Zbrush, it has a industry fair, you have a chance to talk and ask questions to industry people and freelancers within films, games and television. Personally, I think this event will be very beneficial as I will have the opportunity to meet people within the industry and to ask for some advice I do plan to give out some business cards during the event. Also on Friday when I got home my Zbrush book on character and creature design arrived, I have had a quick look at this book so far and it looks like it will really help me with my model giving me useful tips and processes.

http://www.vertexconf.com/ - Vertex 2018 event

The silhouettes outlined here are the designs that stand out the most to me and have been picked out from others I have asked. I know when it comes to the modeling stage there will be changes to the design, but by having a rough idea of what I want to achieve with my final piece these are the first steps to get there. I will add to these to form details which I will then go on to model.

This is the Zbrush book I bought. I know that there is a copy of this in the library but I wanted to have my own copy which would be good to always have with me when I leave university. This book will help me throughout my project. 

Week Summary

This is the first week where things are starting to get back to normal with sessions and lectures and so on. We had our briefing for our last final project the end of last week. Since then I have been thinking if what my next project could be, I already had an idea before the briefing and have decided to stick with that idea. 

For my next project I have decided to base the theme around my dissertation, which was themed around a dystopian world such as the game Fallout 4. I would like to do some initial designs on a sci-fi robot which is affected by its environment. The robot will not be pristine in its appearance, it would have more of an incomplete design such as damage to certain areas broken pieces or even missing limb which is patched up using other objects such as a hook for a hand etc… If I was to describe how the robot would relate to in its image, it would roughly represent similar characteristics to the robot ‘Chappie’.

To create this robot, I aim to produce a number of silhouettes which I hope to capture a design that I am looking for. From there I will do more detailed designs similar to how I’d done my previous character model. I would like to model the high poly character using Zbrush, and using the skills and knowledge learnt from my previous project I would like to put these skills to use. To help me create this Zbrush model I aim to buy a book on character design in Zbrush and the art of Chappie book to help me with the initial design process. To texture this model, I am yet to decide if I would like to use the poly paint feature in Zbrush or use Substance painter, at this moment of time it depends on how much time I have. Adding to this project when the model is completed I would like to produce some nice high-quality renders and add them into Photoshop and create a UI menu. I picture the robot in the centre of the page, and on both sides, I will have some designs such as icons which shows stats of the robot, its name and a small description of the character and its inventory. I will research more UI designs to gain some knowledge and to expand further on what I would like. If I have time I would like to add a title screen also using a rendered shot of the robot with a title. I think doing an UI piece with my completed model will give this project more of an in-game representation. I have wanted to experiment with UI design for quite a while now, I have thought of going into UI after I finish my university degree. It would be good to have some actual evidence of this in my portfolio.

On Monday there were no sessions. I decided to think about the two-slide pitch that needs to be presented next week.

On Tuesday I had my anatomy session. I have not been to a session or two for a while due to the focus on hand in. I was not the only one that has not attended the sessions recently to which the session was a catch-up session. In the session the focus was on the lower leg muscles. It felt good to get back into this side project and to see results, the wax model is looking a lot fuller with its added muscles it is coming on nicely I look forward to expanding this model soon. In the afternoon I went into the new media lab for the first time. The room is definitely a lot bigger and I look forward to working in this room, I aim to work in the new media lab often as its good to see what other students are working on and to gather new ideas from each other. 

On Wednesday I was not in university as I had a hospital appointment. 

On Thursday we were given our grades. I was happy with my outcome and feedback. I look forward to starting my next project. Also on Thursday I finished my pitch which is now ready to show next Tuesday.

On Friday I went to the meeting to hear more information on the Disney trip. I have decided that I will not be attending as I feel that it is too close to hand in and it seems that there are not many year three students attending or interested. Still it is a nice idea and I would like to go but because of the circumstances I feel it’s not the right time. Also on Friday I created some mood boards to help with ideas for the robot character. Yet I feel I am not as motivated as I should be, hopefully in the next few days it will be easier to get some ideas to come to mind which will help me produce more work.

Final Evaluation

Since starting my 3rd year last September/October my main focus has been my main project which was a project of our choosing. As my specialisms is in character development I wanted to continue this and create a Roman Sci-fi sculpture piece. I chose the theme of sci-fi because it is a theme that I enjoy, I like the visuals that go into sci-fi design. It is also a popular theme through most medias especially in films and games, This theme would look good in my portfolio. At first I was going to focus the model on a dystopian era through a human character which themed well with my dissertation subject. I decided to change the theme of my idea as I may do a dystopian character for my final major project at the end of the course instead and I like the idea of forming roman (ancient) with new such sci-fi. I thought it would cool as I have not seen many designs like this before. I knew I wanted to do a roman theme character but at first wasn't sure on what type and era of roman history. By doing research on types of gladiators the Murmillo gladiators caught my attention the most. I thought I could implement the sci-fi element well in the helmet design. Throughout my university degree so far I have stuck to concept art as a safe place and haven't really branched out of my comfort zone, this is why I wanted to do a Zbrush model of a character and I have always wanted to gain more knowledge of the programme and produce a high detailed character. It is beneficial if I develop 3D skills also.

The other focus of this term was to write my 5000 word dissertation. At first the thought of the dissertation worried me, I'm not the strongest at academic writing due to my dyslexia but I have not let this hold me back. To be honest, at the start the though of writing it was daunting and analysing the relevant resources, but once it was all organised and had the guidance on how to structure the report it became clearer to me and I found to actually enjoy writing about how narrative is framed within the environments of Fallout 4 and Dishonored 1/2 and comparing the two to the film Stalker by 'Andrei Tarkovsky which hold similarities within its environment and events to my chosen games. I believe by using the support given such as attending tutorials, lectures and seeing my specialist tutor I have gain the knowledge and developed a better understanding of writing a piece like this which I'm pleased about. 

Throughout the term there have been other projects such as tasks each week from my concept piece sessions and my anatomy sessions which I have to produce a wax model of the human anatomy showing muscles and all. Within the anatomy sessions it has been great to physically create a model piece by hand. I have learnt a lot already and hope to continue this project soon and to get back on track. By studying the anatomy of the human body this will help me improve my anatomy drawing. This will help in my next project. By doing the weekly tasks in my concept art sessions I have seen improvement in my photo bashing techniques. In first year I attempted to do a photo bash once for the first project and its did not come out too bad for a first attempt, but since doing them on a more regular basis I can see a definite improvement since my first attempt in first year and my second attempt a few months ago. It has been rewarding to be given tasks such as the environment pieces to develop which also had to be completed in a short time period. By doing this I have learnt new skills in Photoshop through its elements, I did not understand areas such as the layer masks. With this I will continue to enhance these skills to develop stronger pieces of work in the future. 

Overall by producing my roman sci- fi character in ZBrush, I have learnt so much already and still have so much more to learn. By doing this project it has given me the confidence to carry on these skills and to develop another model in the near future. Not all was successful, there where times when the model would not go to plan such as the posing method of the model due to not understanding the fundamentals of posing on a high poly model. With help from tutors I overcame these problems, though not perfect it worked. I was still able to pose my model but not to the ability I would of liked. This is something I will remember in my next model piece. Overall I think the model was still a success and for my first attempt at a character piece it came out better than I hoped. I believe the theme flows well within my model which has had good feedback from other in how detailed my model is. 

Throughout doing these projects I have notice the lack of digital artwork produced especially in my main character project. I would of liked to of developed higher quality drawings for my character piece but found that it became difficult due to the time spent on the 3D aspect of this project. I am glad that I had the concept sessions each week as this gave me something different to focus on even if it was for a day or two. In my next project I would like to go back and improve my drawing skills as I feel I have lacked in my ability slightly. Overall I feel this has been a successful few months and learnt a lot from it all from developing a 3d model to writing a 5000 word academic piece, I look forward to my next project. 

  

Week Summary

This is the first week back from the Christmas break, and its hand in week this Friday.

Christmas term

During the actual Christmas break my focus was on completing my dissertation. I also did download a Key shot 7 trial just to play around with the rendering programme. As it was a trial only I could not get fully rendered shots without having watermarks over the images, this is understandable as it is only a trial version. I wanted to try Key shot as it was mentioned on the Z brush website and they seem to connect. I would like to gain some knowledge on how to use such rendering software in the near future as it would be nice to use a better quality render. I did import my model into Marmoset which I have used in past projects, I thought I could maybe produce some renders but my poly paint texture did not appear on the model. I did give it ago to research this but was not to lucky. I will have to learn this method in my next project maybe. While I was in Key shot with my model imported I did experiment with some of the materials within the programme.  I added a marble like texture to my model by using the marble image that I had preciously shown before. This did work quite well, I then edited the settings as well to give the model different effects. I did manage to get some renders from the programme, I then when into Photoshop and edited them and adding a light effect to one.

This is the image used to texture the model, I wanted to use this material to try different effects and styles for my model. Even though my poly paint texture is the original I still thought it would be beneficial to explore.

The material gives the model a realistic element within its details. This gives a different perspective to the model by changing the texture.

This render was edited in more depth with a added lighting effect from Photoshop, I think it works quite well.

This is the same render as the one above but with the watermarks showing, I could not get the best of quality unfortunately with these renders.

With my dissertation it did take sometime to get fully into it because of my difficulties with writing. By seeing my specialist tutor and going to tutorials I have noticed a difference in my academic writing.Throughout the research report I learnt about how narrative is framed within such media as games, films etc...learning the elements and its structures. Also I have done my researcher differently this time, as I used some physical copies of books and used the library a lot more this term. I could highlight in the books I bought and make notes, this helped so much. I usually always use online resources which I find is sometimes overwhelming without being able to correctly highlight the information I need.

Back at university


On Monday, there where no sessions only signing in for this term. During this time I finished my bibliography for my dissertation.

On Tuesday,  I did have a anatomy session but unfortunately I did not attend as I wanted to focus on my hand in preparation. During Christmas one of my aims for the project was too do a concept piece of my finalised character in full colour showing what the character would of looked like in reality instead of in sculpture form. I did not managed to do this during the Christmas break due to being dedicated to my dissertation. I still wanted to do this piece even though I would not be able to fully polish the painting to my liking due to the time. I spend most of Tuesday producing the painting. It was also a practice piece for me as well, as I have stated before I would like to gain knowledge of painting without relying on line work. There are few pieces that I have done which don't use line due to lack of confidence. The painting is a paint over of a rendered piece, I would have liked to of spend more time on it and posing the character in full shot would of been nice, so overall I went with a close up shot and worked with that. I added colours that I though represented the roman era using such colours as reds and browns. The attempt at not relying on line shows as I think some areas seems a little muddy, which may not form the details well. Overall I don't think it is a bad attempt and it is something I will work on.

On Wednesday, I did go in to see my specialist tutor who I see a hour a week. I went over my research report with them, there was some small minor changes I needed to make, more to do with the layout and presention more than anything which I was pleased about. They seemed pleased with my report. Once getting home I changed what was needed and added in the details I missed before. By doing this it seems my dissertation is finished.

On Thursday I did have a concept art session but no task was given as it is hand in week. I did ask my tutor about how to present the tasks within the specialism/tasks folder for hand in on Friday. I did not stay long as I wanted to finalise everything for Friday.