Hmm, This Isn't A Car!

So yes, I kind of changed my mind about my next project. I know having car modelling skills would be beneficial, but I don't want my portfolio to be a one hit wonder, if you know what I mean? Rather than having multiple pieces of various things but only one of each, I'd like to have more of one. So I decided to start another environment modelling project. This time, I was working from pictures; it's of my old house in Kenya!

As you can see from the picture, the house is not small! I intend on modelling the house to be near enough exact, both inside and out. However, I cannot find the pictures of the other side of the house nor the ones from the inside, so a lot of the modelling will be done from memory.

This is what I have got so far.

The inside walls have been done as well for all three floors; the basement, ground and first floors.

I have yet to include the doors (exterior and interior) and stairs. I plan on modelling my own stairs as the in-built tool for stairs does not give me the desired effect. All of the walls have the same thickness; 10 cm. I used a simple method to create them - extrusion. The windows have been the most annoying part of the project so far as I could not simply leave an open space like I did with my previous house project. As seen in the reference picture, the windows have a curve at the top. I modelled a separate object in that shape and used the boolean tool to subtract the window shape from the main house walls. This created an annoying result in the fact that I had many holes to close up.

For each window, there was a gap between the walls. These gaps had to be bridged up which took a fair amount of time. This led to me thinking that I hadn't progressed much as nothing visually changed for a day or two! The next step is to finish adding the windows - I still have the basement ones to do - and then add the doors and finish up the roof.

Ah, the roof. That was created using a plugin that generates roof tiles with adjustable parameters. The flat, slightly angles portions of the roof were easy to do, but the section with the inverted "V" above the centre of the house is posing difficult. I intend on modelling the whole compound and house I lived in, from the trees to the drive and the garden to the furniture. It will take a while, but it also allows me to hone my environment modelling skills as this project has everything. I will be modelling grass and trees and other various shrubbery and a lot of different furniture items and aesthetics. I thoroughly look forward to it!

Where Have I Been?

It's been over a month since I lasted posted an entry and the reason for that is I have been working incredibly hard on getting projects done. I really want a job in the modelling industry, be it in games or VFX. So I have worked on and completed two environment scenes in the last month.

Mountain House
This one is my favourite of the two. I love the lighting (I know, it sounds big-headed, but I am just really pleased with the way the lighting has turned out) and the trees. The trees aren't even modelled; they are images on a plane with an alpha map over the top to make the background of the image transparent. It is an incredibly efficient way of displaying trees in the background rather than modelling them. Of course, for up close trees, I would model them to capture the details.

A various array of techniques were used to model this scene, from box modelling for the main building to proxies for the grass. I used a free Max Script for the boulders; it's called Rock Generator and you can manipulate the different values within the window to change the shape and detail of the rocks/boulders.

I did do post processing in Photoshop; this included some colour correction to generally darken the image and I added the mountain range in the background. I also added some small lens flares to the lights in the scene to add some more realism.

This project was incredibly fun to do and I can't wait to do more like it!

For other images please visit the project page on my Behance.


Futuristic Corridor
This is another environment scene, where I was going for a futuristic feel. Again, box modelling was used to model most of the objects in the scene; some used smoothing and others didn't. There is a rather nifty tool within 3DS Max called "Swift Loop" which is used to add a loop of edges onto an object. So I can apply a turbosmooth modifier to an object, which rounds out the corners, essentially. This isn't ideal for something like a door frame, so I can use the swift loop tool with the turbosmooth showing and add a loop of edges to the corners to straighten them out again, but keeping the general smoothness of the whole object. This technique leads you away from chamfering complicated objects, which can result in weird and annoying outcomes.

To create the hose on the floor, the main pipe and the three smaller pipes, I used the Loft object. It's such a nice and quick way of creating long, cylindrical objects. I simply created a spline; in this case I used a line - and laid out the positions of the vertices (so if I wanted a bend in the pipe/hose) and then created a small circle spline off to the side. Using the loft object, with the line selected, I click the circle spline and a 3D mesh appears on top of the line with the same circumference and diameter of the circle. I can then adjust some settings to alter the appearance of the pipe as I see fit.

Again, a little bit of post processing was done in Photoshop to correct some colours and combine the beauty and alpha passes to create the final image above.

I had fun doing this project as I thoroughly enjoy interior and environmental modelling. To see better quality images, visit the project page on my Behance.


That's all for now! I'm currently working on a new project; a car. I'm not overly fond of car modelling but I feel that if I have it in my skill set, it will prove an advantage later on.

Fantasy Hammer: Second Phase

Blimey, it's been nearly a month since my last post and to be honest, it's been the same time since I've done any work on my hammer (or any work, for that matter). It's fair to say I've been very busy over the Christmas and New Year period, helping around the house with meals, decorations, etc, and with family coming up from Wales as well. Then at the end of the year I got a part time job as a Business Machines Associate at Staples; I've just been very busy. Late nights don't help either, mind, combined with being ill over the last few days.

Anyway, I finally got back into the modelling mood and cracked on with the hammer for an hour or so. The unit under the main hammer head has its form along with the main structure for the handle.

Clearly, it is still far from finished, but I will soon be taking it into ZBrush to add the finer details. The colours here are definitely not final, they are the ones chosen when I created the objects in 3DS Max.

So over the next few days I will be finishing this hammer so I can move onto other projects.

Fantasy Hammer: First Phase

The first phase of my new project was to create the silhouette. This means drawing out a black-filled shape of what I want the hammer to look like. This doesn't include any details, as it is the most basic shape, blocked out. This is then followed by making a copy of the silhouette, sizing it up and creating a sketch over the top that includes finer details. This was all done in Photoshop.

It is always a good idea to have a "story" behind the object you create. For example, what will this hammer be used for? Who will use it? What are the purposes of certain details? So for this hammer, it is designed to be sued by a demi-god or god in a fantasy game/film. No ordinary character can use it; somewhat similar to Thor's hammer! The circular/oval shaped object at the top of the hammer is a gem. The lighter grey area under that is where crystals can be placed to change the type of beam created from the top gem when the hammer is slammed on the floor, etc. The whole hammer is made out of metal, emphasising it can only be used by a god because of the sheer strength needed to lift it. The handle itself is grooved with a nice design, with a solid base at the bottom with a small accompanying gem., merely for decoration.

The basic story and background is completed enough so that I could start modelling. I modelled the head of the hammer first in 3DS Max, which completed the first phase of the project. The next step is to work on modelling the handle and preparing the mesh to export it into ZBrush.

Scam & Apologies

I apologise for the lack of posts these past few weeks. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I was doing some freelance work. However, as it turns out, said work was a scam. I should have gone with my gut instincts when I was first contacted about doing some work.

A few months ago, I signed up to Freelancer - a site for freelancers to "bid" on projects they like, so they can do the work for it and get paid. I was sceptical at first, but thought why not. I put a bid in (bids don't cost anything; depending on your account type, you have a certain number of bids per month) for a simple project regarding file conversions, from one type to another. However, the employer contacted me about a different project that was not advertised on the site; it was character modelling/sculpting, which is what I love doing.

So I had to do a 24 hour test, which was to model a toad based on Bufo, like my previous post detailed. I did this, sent him the files as he sent the payment in the form of an eCheque on PayPal. It would take 3-5 working days to clear. I was pleased - I'd be getting roughly £80 for the work I had done. He asked to send through details of the next character, to which I agreed. It was to model a peacock in the style of Kevin from the film Up, but had to be white and not rainbow coloured. When I was working on the peacock, the payment for the toad cancelled as it failed to clear the sender's bank. I was annoyed, and told the employer (Mark) that it had cancelled. He sent it again and, like before, would take 3-5 working days to clear. This is when I started to become more and more suspicious.

I won't bore you with details of sending files and creating the models...but after I sent him the final files for the peacock, the second attempted payment for the first model failed to clear the sender's bank again. I suggested to Mark we use Western Union and I would go down to my local one to collect the money. He agreed and said he would send me the details, such as the MTCN number and security question/answer. The message after really annoyed me and made me realise that I was being conned. He said the peacock file I sent him was too big and came through distorted on "their" machine (I put their in quotes as he was supposedly the project leader for a children's animation). It made me think, if it opens fine on my computer - which is built mainly for gaming - it should be perfectly fine on an animation studio's computer. So he therefore aborted the peacock, but appreciated the work I did. I took this as he implied I would not get paid for the work I did. He then had the cheek to ask if he could send through the next character details for me to work on, to which my response was that I can't commit my time to work on things for him when I can't guarantee I will be paid. I felt that I had wasted my time. And with him being in Australia, the time difference made the whole process that much longer. I was supposed be getting £280 for that model...

Mark actually never replied to that message. Nor did he send through any Western Union details. At this point I was 100% certain he just used me and no doubt passing my work off as his own and getting the money for it. I have an idea as to what I'm going to do if I see my models in an animation. And I will seek legal advice if it happens.

Freelancing can be very good and will bring in a decent amount of money. But with freelancing comes a whole bunch of risks and unfortunately, those risks were a reality for me. I am owed £360, which I won't be seeing. For me, I will much prefer working in a studio with other people. This leads onto my next point and on a different topic.

From now on, I won't be working on characters. Even though it is my favourite type of modelling/sculpting, I have literally no chance of getting a job in that field...yet. I did some research and found that roughly 1 in 20 companies offer entry level 3D character artists. Obviously, characters are a huge part of any game/animated film, so ideally companies want people with experience in the industry rather than employing entry level people. The more common and slightly easier way to get into the industry is to do environment modelling. This includes environment stuff like trees, rocks and perhaps buildings and other various models like weapons and other assets. That is what I'm doing now; I am currently working on a hammer, much like one Thor has. I'll write another post detailing my progress in that project.

Sorry for such a long post! Until next time.

A Slight Detour

Over the last couple of days, I haven't been working on my centaur/human mesh. The reason being that I was contacted by an Australian man about doing some modelling work. The company he works for are linked to major animation companies in the US, and they were starting up an animation for children.

I was asked to complete a 24 hour test to model a character based on Bufo from the film Epic. This is what I did!

The guy will finish the clothes off, however. I'm still learning how to sculpt clothes, ya see. But I really like how the body of the frog turned out!

This was my first bit of freelance work, and I'm proud to say there is more to come.

The Centaur Begins

Judging by the title, my next project is indeed a centaur. In my previous post I mentioned that I would be doing a dagger, but I came to the conclusion I much prefer sculpting creatures/humans and wish to perfect my skills in that area first before moving onto things such as game assets.

So, to begin the centaur I started creating a basic human body structure using Zspheres. It's a great way to block out the form and structure of a human/creature. I am using a book on creating realistic game characters to help me create the human part of the centaur.

So, from the picture above, the general anatomically form was created with the spheres, laying out the most obvious joints such as the knees and elbows. Although, at the time of the picture, it was looking rather manly; therefore the waste was thinned along with the arms, but the hips scaled up to give off the female form.

I didn't want to spend too long manipulating the spheres, as this isn't the final stage. Like the accompanying DVD stated, the spheres are like apprentices. They are there to start you off and get the basics done, before moving onto the proper sculpting of the refined form and details.

Moving the shoulders into their proper place, lowering the arm pits and "inflating" the bottom were done when the adaptive skin was made.

The head was shaped more at a higher subdivision level. There is still a long way to go yet, but the basic form of the human part of the centaur is coming along rather nicely. I know, obviously, the legs won't be needed for the centaur, but I thought while making the human section, I would create a base mesh that I can use for later projects which will save a lot of time.