Project '7Dayprojects'

So I've decided to start this blog due to the lack of motivation and creative thinking myself and my brother have lost after finishing University. I feel my traditional skills as an artist has been lost in the world of 3d, so I've decided that by improving my skills as a traditional artist will also improve my skills as a 3d artist and keep my creative imagination running. 

The key idea to this blog is to help keep your brain motivated by completing small art projects in 7 Days. Each week a short brief will be selected and it is up to you however you want to portray your idea wether it be a drawing, painting (traditional/digital), sculpture, 3d model etc etc etc. This process will help keep you in practice of the pressures and deadlines we will all hopefully have in our future careers as designers. This practice will also  push you to research and help you socialise with other artists with different art backgrounds to help critique each others work. This will help every individual to become a better artist and learn a lot more about the different styles and techniques that other people use. I don't want people to feel threatened by putting up work that they think others may not like. This is all for fun and the idea is to make you a better artist.

You may think ' how will this motivate me?' well for some it may not, but hopefully the idea that there is a little bit of competition and pressure will push people to join in. Im starting this as a small blog but i hope it can grow into something big. People can use the blog to keep track of  their work and be able to use the blog as part of their own portfolio.
You may not like a certain project one week but you will not always be faced with projects you enjoy in the real world but its about making the best out of a situation.


So it is now up to you wether you join in or not but if you are doing nothing else WHY NOT ?


If you are interested in joining please go on the blog and simply follow the simple instructions.

http://7dayprojects.blogspot.co.uk

Hope to see your work 

DMC

MY FIRST SHOWREEL (2013)

Sorry Ive not been updating my transformer progress but i was taking a break with it as i was working on a showreel. When i finish my transformer i will work this into my showreel. I need to do a lot more research putting it together as it is very technical at the moment. I will be re visiting it now that i have finished my showreel. Any way i am happy to say look at my first showreel ever and let me know what you think.

If this vernon isn't high quality enough please feel free to watch on vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/78870086

DMC

Step By Step

Im now just working my way through the body with more detail which i will bring together to make my final piece. Im now trying to find way to add more of the car parts to the arm instead of just the panel itself. I will look into different ways to cut it up.
The engine is also not a part for part copy as it wont be fully seen when transformed and it is enough to give the overall image.

DMC

Quick animation block out test

I wanted to get a rough idea of how the car will transform which will help me model the rest of the car and how technical to make it. This animation will change A LOT but it give a general idea of whats happening. It only shows half of the body as i started with one side and thought i could just mirror over the animation but struggled. It also doesnt have the blocked out objects like the arm pipes and so on but hopefully you can see where i am going with this. Please feel free to leave any comments.

DMC

Some progress

so i thought instead of concepting on paper it would be better to just take apart my model in maya and work from there. This way i dont need to worry about proportions. So using this method i have came up with a blocked out model of the transformer. I will go into more detail once i figure out how it will transform and also when i have  worked it out. Im happy with the design and looking forward to take it further.

DMC

TRANSFORMING MY PROJECTS

Sorry i've been not updated in a while. I've been just plodding on with my new project and forgot to update the blog plus all the work to save up pennies for me to hopefully move to london and find a job is getting in the way too.

Anyway I've always loved transformers and always wanted to take a bash at it myself but always felt scared as it looked pretty damn technical. But now i have a car modelled i feel it is time to try and use as much of the knowledge i have gained through university to help get the final result i want. I am wanting to make the car transform while on a Real live plate which will go really well for applying for VFX jobs (I Hope). Anyway I started off with some concept which i feel is helping me t improve my 2d skills as well. As staring at a computer and spending copious amounts of time with Maya can definitely kill brain cells and drawing ability. Anyway here is a concept i conjured up which will probably change a million times. let me know what you think.

DMC

Finished images for now

So after i got the light the way i wanted and added my personal plate i rendered out different passes and took them into photoshop to layer up. I also added in a background so the car wasn't floating in space. I added some lens flare as well to spice it up. I am finished just now with my Audi but when it comes to my show reel i will go in and add in ambient occlusion and depth passes to get more out of the car itself. Here is one more saturated and once with minimal colour. Thoughts ?

Audi R8 Texturing (render test)

so this is a big jump from the previous models but oh well. I've been using image based lighting with final gather to help get the reflections on the car. Using the car paint phenomenon shader aswell makes it so simple to get a great look. I was struggling to get the scene light as it was still quite dark even though my IBL was pretty light. So i added in some lights to help light up some of the details such as the tyre tread. Anyway this is my first render and i am really happy with it especially the head lights. I just need to play about with the scene lights more and mess about with it in comp. Any comments welcome.

DMC

nearly finished (Audi)

So im nearly to an end with the modelling of my audi. I have put in some quick colour matches to give a better sense and to show the design of the car. I have also started modelling the engine which will be viewed from the rear window. Its not on the tutorial so i used my initiative to add it in myself. So i just need to finish the engine/car boot area and add in window wipers and fuel port and audi signs to car and also some number plates. I'm still in two minds wether to do interior but i will see when i finish the rest of it. Im looking forward to texture the car and get it looking as real as possible.

DMC

Audi(Day5)

Some wing mirror,grill and head light action, 0h and door handles.

DMC

Audi(Day4)

i thought i would mirror it across so you can get a good idea of how it is looking. I really like the markings of the doors and panels in the last photo.

DMC

Audi (Day 3)

Just some more updates been busy the last couple of days so only able to do a couple of hours tonight. But slow progress is still progress i guess.

DMC

Audi r8 Day2

just an update of the modelling process its getting there slowly but surely. I sure wish i didnt need to work. Takes so much time of you for practicing maya. Any way heres pic.

DMC

Audi R8

So ive been a bit all over the place with half finished ideas and models but ill be in this one to the finish. I found a tutorial to show how to model a car on digital tutors. I'll be doing this in my spare time when i'm not working to save pennies for moving to london. I'm giving myself a 2 weeks max to complete this. Well the modelling stage anyway. I want this to be perfect as well as it will probably be the first thing that goes onto my showreel. So heres where i am up to so far hopefully will have a good load done after i finish work tonight too.

DMC

Zbrush concept ( Hard Surface )

Thought i would give some hard surface sculpting a bash and came up with this concept. Been looking at tutorials to change this all into seperate objects and have them overlapping to give it that nice touch. There is room for improvement in this concept so will keep at it.

DMC

the keeper textures

I dont know why i havent put this up yet but through my course in University i helped out with textures on the film 'The keeper' which is a lovely film created by Nuria Valdeon. My task was to texture the interior of the building to help match the 2d style. Here is a picture of one of the finished rooms which has been beautifully lit by scott yorke. any comments are welcome.

Little Girl WIP

So i've been on and off modelling the girl i drew before. Ive not been as steady on it as i've been trying to find a job since i finished University and struggling at it. Ive managed to get myself some part time work in a bar which will keep me going for now. Ive been jumping in and out of maya and zbrush to get the main shape of the girl but once i get the full body shape i will jump into z brush for final adjustments as i will have the topology from the model in maya. I still have to figure how i'm wanting to do the hair and what program to use for it and the same with the dress. I also need some adjustments to the trainers for the straps. Any advice would be great.

Just some more concept art i did in photoshop. Ive been doing a lot more sketching in my sketchbook but unfortunately not got access to a scanner just now but will upload them when i do. Heres a little girl concept that is a WIP still do to do a quick turnaround of her so can model her. Ill update you with more of this project when i finish it.

Finally loaded the Final

So here is my film from the degree show. The character was modelled for our previous project Aero-sault by myself but due to inner complications we could not complete this project. So i decided to recycle this character and start from scratch. Everything apart from the character was made in a time scale of 5 weeks before my hand in. The time scale was very ambitious but I managed to get their i the end with help from some fellow class mates. Watching it over i see lots of problems but overall im happy with the end results with the conditions the film was made under. I only wish i had started this idea at the start of the year which could of gave me an extra 6 months to work on it but hey ho you life is all about suprises and deadlines. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to give me feedback negative and positive please. The link below will guide you to the film.

https://vimeo.com/69545287

Concept

So im trying to regularly update my blog as much as possible and practice my drawing skills. I ve been watching a tutorial online which starts off with a black silhouette then you paint on top of it. Im slowly getting it but i feel it will take a while to get anywhere near the stuff this guy is pulling out. Anyway this is a quite sketch i did today as i have an hour before work. I'm still experimenting of trying to find what brushes give me better results. I also need to work on putting more effort into details which i feel will improve my future drawings massively. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

2D

Ive been focusing on 3d a lot recently and it has taken effect on my traditional drawing skills. So ive decided now to start drawing more often which help extracting information into 3d aswell. So keep an eye out in future for more concept sketches. These took about an hour and im progressing i hope to in a couple of weeks start to see a difference once ive had more practice. My idea is to practice my speed in jotting down designs.

Some more experimental sculpting and finding my way

Just been messing around again with Z brush till i get more familiar with it. Im happy with my progress though. I'm just looking into more the anatomy of the face as such which will take me a while to get but ill get there. I call this Red Indian as i felt like sculpting something with face paint on it. Any comments please feel free :)

Taking tiny steps in ZBrush

So i decided to try out zbrush as all the magazines and tutorials i go through have endless articles on them and i fancied the look of some of the unique features that the program has to offer. One of the main features i particularly like is the fiber mesh which just helps add that much more realism in sculpts for producing hair, fur and so on. So after doing a 6 hour tutorial from digital tutors on the program this was my first result from it. Having some practice in mudbox has helped me with the whole basis of sculpting which i feel helped me keep a good standard of work. This is screen shots of it rendered very basic. Its created from z spheres and i like the overall result. I plan to improve my anatomy skills and make them more visible in my future sculpts. I have not took much detail into topology but i will take this step also in future sculpt. Any advice and comments would be much appreciated.

Mudbox messing

Hi thought i would keep you all up to date with what i've been up to recently. I've had a bit of spare time recently so i thought i would play about in mudbox and just see where it takes me. Both of these characters were modelled and textured in mudbox and they both took 3 hours to do. I'm trying to get used to working fast to improve my efficiency. Im pretty happy with the outcomes and may go back to them at some point to increase detail or may just use them to show my progression as 3d artist.

The first one had no really thought to it i was just playing around and decided for him to have a hole in his head and a metal mask on. I would like to go back and detail the brain alot more but may do some reading up on mudbox about using different objects due to the lack of resolution i had for it as i just used the same mesh. I had fun with the blood adds a really nice grim look to it.

The second one i did was a monkey/ape and as i enjoyed using the stencils and paint brushes to do blood in the last one i decided to give my ape a twist. Dont worry no animals were harmed in the making of this. I wasnt to sure how to acheive the fur effect as i tried stencils but they still appeared very flat. So i experimented with the amplify tool to get more depth from the fur. If i find out a much better and realistic way of doing the fur i shall come back to this hopefully. Anyway feel free to leave any feedback and advice. Thanks in advance.

DMC

Wee monsters (SAM)

Ive not put any posts up yet about wee monsters so thought i may aswell now. For the wee monsters group i have been modelling and texturing. I was asked to model the boy Sam and also asked to texture. Here are some pictures of Sam finished. I also managed to make him pull some after the talented Nikki quickly rigged him. Let me know what yous think.

shock

happy

Wink

 DMC