Beginning of New Project Concept

So GDC is over and I've got to get back into the process of working on projects for 545. I'm behind schedule already so I'm going to have to really crank something out however with how much I reworked the past two projects I'm not so worried.

I'm still going to be following the line of work where I'll be working with old things I've done.  For this project I'll be taking parts of some concepts I've done for a previous class I've taken.  These are the concepts I did for APCG 117 concept design and story boarding.

I learned from GDC that my work has potential but I need a little more character put into my projects and I could do that by making a more complicated project with more little details.  Also I was told I should work on human characters to show more accurate proportions.  So my thought is to extrapolate off these concepts and possibly combine them by creating tools or armor of some sort for the character to use.  I also wanted to create a character that might be usable in a scene with my other two creatures.  I haven't done the concept drawing for it yet but I'll get on that ASAP.

I seem to be having computer issues though, so that may slow me down.  I'm trying to get that done as fast as I can but I'm hoping it wont stop me for too much longer.

Croc done... for now...

OK.... I'm going to have to declare the project done.  For the moment.  Its about 2 weeks after when I was supposed to have it done but I've got to get other things done and finished.  There are polish details that I've been having trouble with.  I've been going back and forth with how to texture and paint the head and while I've got something... it doesn't seem quite right.  Also, per suggestion I've tried tiling my UVs so I can increase the resolution for the head.  However whenever I try to do this it bogs down my computer so much with attribute transfers and the like that I end up having to shut down mudbox.  SO, for now, I'm going to call it good where it is because I can get some workable renders out of it, and I'll come back to it later in the semester if I have time.  Definitly after the semester if I don't get to it by then.  I'm also trying to get things done for GDC so my focus is scattered.

Croc Getting Close to Done

So I had a little set back last week with all that was going on.  I got sick and didn't get much done in the way of sculpting and texturing.  However I've come back and pushed on through and gotten most of what needs to be done done.  I lost a little bit of work before doing this post due to a mudbox crash however it isn't much and can be made back up very quickly.  Here is an update on the sculpting itself.  I left the color out cause its a little easier to see, considering I've done some sculpting in response to the way I was painting.

 And the painting I've done.

I've brought things in maya for some test rendering because I've also done an eye texture that doesn't show up here.  The eye texture needs a lot more work though and have some tweaking around to do with bump values but that shouldn't prove to be much of an issue.  One things I'm not liking is they colors show up in renders.  Its bothering me a bit so I may have to tweak colors in side of photoshop to get them the way I want.  More all around photos to come as I get more done.  Otherwise its time for bed.

Croc Sculpt tests

I've finished a most or all the base mesh fixes I needed to.  This includes some UVing, tweaks to the ridges and some geometry in the eye.  I've also added some geometry for a second lid that crocodiles have so they can see underwater.

I've now gone into mudbox to play with texturing and mostly played with stencils to see out things might look.  There are something I do and do like.  I'll have to continue with some playing but its become clear that the stencils will be better used for setting up a template to follow so I can go in a refine what I do and don't like.  Another thing that has become clear is how much work I have to go.... lots.

Crocodile progress and looking forward.

I've been working on geometry on my Crocodile and have changed a few things, added a few things and still have some stuff to finish up.  First off as you can see from the picture below there are a lot rectangular faces and no loops around the mouth.  

I've gone in and evened out the geometry for better results while sculpting and added the loops for the mouth for better deformations.  I've also added some geometry in the mouth and ridges along the back along the tail.  After talking to Frank I was convinced that I should add geometry for those larger ridges (not on the tail) as opposed to sculpting them in.  Next I'll have to mirror what I've done, fix the UV's create eye geometry and then I'll continue on to the laborious task of texturing and sculpting.  I'm thinking this is going to be one of the tougher texture jobs I'll have to do...

Cat Finished

Alright... I got all the problems worked out for renders and now the main issue is the amount of time it takes to get the renders done.  I've got this basic one finished and I've been batch rendering for a demo real since Sunday.  Now I'm going to continue with the Crocodile.

Done... Almost...

From my last post I've changed my direction of fur to armor plated skin, kinda like that of a rhinoceros.  I would have posted earlier but I got sucked into getting the new direction fleshed out.  I may decided to revisit the idea of some fur in the future but right now, based on my schedule and what Frank has said, I need to focus on the feasibly attainable things I am already familiar with.

As of right now this project is supposed to be finished.  I've been doing some heavy texturing and sculpting and gotten it pretty much finished for where I want it in regards to color and specularity and surface details.  After talking with Frank I changed some things with geometry structure, particularly in the head. I've also created different eye geometry and a texture for a more realistic looking eye.  However I'm having issues with rendering in Maya and getting results to come out the same as in Mudbox.  

As shown in the last image the bumping is turning out pixilated and blocky.  I am researching and going over better mudbox to maya work flow tutorials to work out those issues.  It seems like I'm going to have to run over a little bit on time.  Probably just for the weekend though as I'm mainly going to be focusing on rendering and maybe a little bit of polish and tweaking that I see fit.  As soon as thats done, hopefully by Tuesday, I'll be moving on to my next project, the crocodile.  

Overall in terms of working hours, I haven't been keeping close track of how much work I've put in so far.  Partially because I have started and stopped working on the project in between classes and doing other class work.  I can say I've put in a few late nights in the labs and at home which if I estimate those late nights by themselves would probably be 24 hours of work.  Other times between classes I would probably estimate between 16 and 18 hours.  Meaning I'm running between 40 and 42 hours of work so far.  assuming my estimates are correct of course...