Trash

Again with the tutorials, and this time i got one that helped me show how to render and present my 3d work a bit more professionally for the sakes of portfolios and what not. With it being internet tutorials im learning all this from and some of my work getting better from it and some just failing im starting to believe tutorials arent the law of the land and that some out there are genuinely good and help you and others are just shit in all honesty. But for the most part this one was actually good. So i used it to present my bin, and im happy with the result, so more where this came from i guess.

Mesh Baking Failure

OK so as part of second year stuff ive started learning a few extra things in max, one of them being mesh baking. Mesh baking is where u can 'bake' the detail of a high poly object onto a low poly object so it creates the illusion of that low poly object having better detail and a higher tri count than it actually does have. So i got my hands on a rather useful tutorial on how to do this, and first off to do this you need a low poly model of what you want the detail baked onto and the high poly model containing all the detail. This in fact i learned is the longest part, mesh baking itself takes next to no time, modelling the to things is what takes all the time in this. So after all this i had my 2 models, and you can see the diference between the high and the loe quite clearly.



So from here i started following the tutorial up to rendering the normal map which is where it all went wrong, and this pissed me off cus i dont know where ive went wrong. All the normals where either bearly visible or extremely pixelated and in the wrong place. I guess experience at this is defenitely what is needed to make this work and look good




So after all this yeah im back to the drawing board, hopefully Ill be back on here soon with a (finally) successfully done and working baked pair of binoculars

2D & 3D

Again even more stuff up for better quality images. But ive got some 2D up this time. See unlike last year ive started to enjoy/ get half decent (i think) at digital painting. Last year i was completely useless at it to the point where i just didnt even try to do it. But this year ive decided to stick to it no matter what and ive ended up getting some half decent things out of it finally. My 3D is still slowly improving althought im still not happy with what im getting with characters, my head really doesnt look like me, and with me having thoughts about goin into chareacter modelling i need to improve. Time to get some more character and head modelling done me thinks.

Just 3D

Before the presentation just some renders of my finished environment and vehicle, finally finished texturing them so here they are. My character and some 2D are still to come.

Time Management

Time management....So, to start this one off i found it a shock that i have 40 hours unaccounted for a week, which as said by people is like a full working week, so in terms of time management i have a lot of room to talk about. But where does all that time go? because its not like its 40 hours i cant physically remember or account for, there hours are still there, its just whats being done with them. This have made me think that it isnt about using up every hour of everyday, but rather just about knowing what is going on with that time and what your doing with it

So with that in mind i though it'd be best to explain what i do with my time in terms of work. Me, like a few other people are blessed (or rather cursed) with having dodgy sleeping patterns due to multiple reasons. I would use what precious hours of daylight months like November and December had to do the necessary things like food shopping and sleeping, then during the night when all was quiet i would crack on with work. For pretty much all of the first term this was in fact my working pattern. But was this really for the best, I mean doing the tasks like food shopping during the day when you can get away with distractions and doing work at night when all is quiet so distractions are a bit more rare seems to be for the best? In heinsight i think it actually wasnt, and this needs fixing. Working at such a time might provide no distractions but working in the place i do might provide temptation, my room contains the internet, TV, games consoles which means work can still be slowed down. I thought it was at first, i mean it was my preffered working environment, your room at 4am has no distractions, your phone sure isnt going to ring with any phone calls or texts because everyone is asleep, and everyone else snoozing means going out and socializing isnt on the table either. But Ive come to realize that you cant really plan every minute of the day, unexpected things happen, phone calls, people unexpectedly popping round to your flat, even friends and family going into hospital so there are moments when it all goes out the window. Which comes to the fact it doesnt matter what time of day it is, weather its night or day, weather its your fault or not, you can still end up wasting time.

This is why time management is so important, because after you have your events that are unexpected the rest of the time is yours to control, and it needs to be looked after., and it needs to be looked after for that one key word...deadlines. The clues kind of in the name, you have to manage your time so you can get things done on time! So Ive been looking into what time management is and how to do it. To be honest it mainly just about organization, something as simple as knowing what you've got to do with your time and getting it done, not sitting around your workspace going ermmmm soooo whats next? Sort it out, write a list, Ive started keeping post it notes everywhere so when i sit down i have something in my face telling me whats next and when it has to be done for.

So when is your best time to work? I looked into this and i read that...... In terms of time management, you are at your most efficient the day before you start your annual leave. Your time management and efficiency on this day is probably awesome. If you really want to, you can be that well-organized every day. In my opinion that's because you are making sure it gets done ( but not at the cost of quality of course) so u can finish off and go enjoy yourself, nights out, watching a film etc etc. But i do think this can work if you put it down into simple forms. Everyone is a fan of some kind of TV series for example, if the new episode is out, make sure you get the days work done before you allow yourself to watch it, that way you'll enjoy it more and feel satisfied because its like the treat you get for keeping on top of your work. So in this simple for, i think it could be right.

But still looking at things like having certains times while working to have your 'own' time such as films, you have to remember it has to be balanced. All play and no work has bad effects, and vice versa. I mean there is only a certain amount of hours in the day, but there is things you can do to get more time out of it. less nights out for example, just even one night out less a week. Like its not the end all but it does helps. When work needs to be done socialising is one hell of a distraction, but it doesnt mean you have to spend your time at uni being boring and sad. Instead of saying “no” learn to say “later”. You'll enjoy it more without that black cloud hanging over your head of an upcoming review

Some more looking into time research i found the Chinese adage of the longest journey starting with a single step has a couple of meanings: First, you launch the project! Second, by starting, you may realize that there are some things you have not planned for in your process. Details of an assignment are not always evident until you begin the assignment. Personally i find this quite true, more so when it comes to 3D. Even if you know the project is to make a character you still find find issues in terms of making it...How do i make it? where do i start? Again this is organisation, but more so just developing and knowing your own work ethics is the best way to fix this. Personally i strip model heads, so if i need to make one i know that im going to start by doing the eyes, blending that into a cheeks, then into a mouth etc etc so from day one i know where to take it. I think that just having your own work ethics and knowing what they are can get you to work more efficiently, and more importantly, get the work started. Because i think thats quite an important part too, actually getting the work started and getting on with it. I find it best to not sit around wondering how to make it look like how i want it and rather just starting it,make a cylinder, start to divide it, make a box, anything to get the work flowing so the ideas can come with it. But this can something border no planning which can also have it downsides, so again, more time management issues for me. To be fixed.

So in conclusion i do feel last term my time was far from managed and with the seriousness of how important actually managing your time is i think im going to keep it all in mind and make sure that next term is goin to be a whole different story

2nd to 3d

I remember people saying that second years is just a buffer between 2nd year and 3rd, much like a film, the only reason its there is to prepare you for the 3rd one. But i was thinking in order to prepare you for 3rd year there is actually quite a lot to do. For example if you have recently aspired to be something like a next gen character artist then its going to have to show in your portfolio, which means your 3rd year fmp will probably be along the lines of character designing. But in order to be good at a character artist you need to get certain skills up to scratch, character modelling, texturing, zbrush if you want next gen, rigging, topology and so on. and if you plan on doin this for a 3rd year fmp that means u have the space of second year to not only learn it all but to get good at it, and that to me sounds like a lot of work.

This has got me a tad worried about how much work is actually involved in 2nd year as all this practice has to get done in such a short space so you can utilise it and be ready to put it into practice in your 3rd year. Because lets face it, if you want to be something like a character artist and dont know the basics about topology and alpha maps by your 3rd year your a bit fucked. This kinda gives me the idea of stress much? its made me realise how serious and how much work this course is if you truely are driving towards being good in the industry. Which considering the second year is the year where there is a slump at work, i mean with all this in mind shouldnt it be the other way round? with second year being the year out of the 3 where you work the most so you can be prepared for the final hurdle? im finding this worrying. So ill keep this one short and sweet and all im saying is second term a lot more has to be done...beacuse if you want to be good at this second year is important isnt it?

Beethoven vs. solid snake

So in the blue corner we have Beethoven, and in the red corner we have solid snake. Why am i putting these two together? because in the video games industry Beethoven (or at least his musical style) is still kicking arse.

See i found a youtube video that recently made me realise that me along with the majority of the gaming community unknowingly loves Beethoven (or at least his musical style). If you dont believe me then hear me out. Like most other gamers i frequently fall in love with game soundtracks and love listening to game OST's, and i think everyone else does too. I mean how many people dont know how to hum the tetris theme tune? good, or sometimes catchy soundtracks stick and are enjoyed. But its recently hit me that the best and most memorable soundtracks come from classical orchestras. This also applies to film aswell.

This has hit me as quite a wierd dilemma because video games as we know are always pushing the boundaries to find the newest technology and keep the ball rolling forward. But if a game or film is in need of a cracking soundtrack they dont really go to the newest music scene. You dont hear any x factor winners or black eyed peas in video games, they always take a step back to classical orchestral sounds. This combination of the new and the old i do quite like. Most good soundtracks were created with classical orchestras. So an industry always looking into the future and pushing ahead is still relying on a thousand year old medium to give them the good stuff and i find this rather wierd.

I mean look at Star Wars, done by John Williams and the London symphony orchestra. The Call of Duty games still relies on a good old bugle and even Metal Gear Solid, one of the best gaming soundtracks of all time uses Harry Gregson-Williams and the eminence symphony orchestra. And that orchestra was etsablished over 50 years ago, its like gamings grandad doing the soundtracks and yet its still pushing boundaries in the industry. So next time you hear your favourite soundtrack just think that its probably a 500 year old orchestra kicking arse with it.

Ill leave u with the link i was on about earlier to show u what i mean, just watching this video will be able to sum up and explain everything im trying to better than i can, and its pretty awesome too.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfKA4b5SFq4