Visual Perception

Exhausted

2011-11-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

Down in Arizona visiting my alma mater. I have literally been talking out loud since 11am this morning, and just now stopped. Student presentation, followup questions, five hours of portfolio reviews, and a mingling dinner. This is far, far more words than one introvert ever plans for in a day!

The experience has been fantastic, though. I absolutely love seeing that twinkle in the students' eyes, that feverish desire to be a part of an industry that pays you to do what you love. I definitely remember being in those same seats in the auditorium, thinking to myself as I watched other professionals relate their stories, "I want their job." Now that I'm on the other side, I couldn't be happier to give back and return the favor of inspiration.

Totally drained. Need some sleep, and more reviews start at 9 tomorrow, followed by more brain picking. Having a wonderful time.

Of Metal and Bone

2011-03-16T14:04:00.002-04:00

With the aforementioned fervor I spoke of, I dug this model out of the bin and started in on it again. It had been a year since I touched it. I find it funny that I can sequentially trace my work back by simply looking at how I've improved since I began detailing on this model. I'm so much better now that I find myself re-doing pieces just to get them up to speed with the rest of my new work.

Still slugging away a piece at a time. I feel like I'm going slowly, and I tend to get an hour or two at night to work, sometimes more when I get my second wind. That said, I knew going into this that I wanted to go for hyper detail, and there is certainly a lot going on here. Having a great deal of fun though, and that's what matters most:

Full Steam Ahead

2011-02-04T00:25:00.000-05:00

I'm not exactly sure what it was born out of, but I suddenly have a great deal of inspiration that needs to be channeled. The only problem is that I have far too many personal goals to channel it into. I know, right? What a terrible situation to be in.

First, there's that juggernaut model that I started and made some real progress on. Then there's the Archangel Michael concept that I started, and was really enjoying. He needs to get done, and then I want to model him (and his face). Then there's the game story that I suddenly picked up again, realizing that I'm not going to live with regret 20 years from now, wondering why I never submitted the idea to a studio. You know, a studio known for story-driven content, deep character relationships, and genre blending. A studio like the one I just started working for. And then there's the next game project I'm working on, and helping to define the visual identity of the franchise, something that I've never had the chance to do and couldn't be more excited to be doing. And then I want to continue learning Z-Brush. And continue advancing my career.

On top of all this, there's being a father, a husband, making new friends, sticking to my new workout routine, and playing sports. I need to start planning all of this out...

Back Online

2011-01-25T23:56:00.000-05:00

Website all fixed. Thanks to my sis-in-law for helping me get everything linked back up after GoDaddy nuked my settings.

It's been a crazy last few months, and Edmonton is proving to be an adventure.

I Can't Help Myself...

2010-03-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I caved in and decided to do another WAR-themed creature. A monstrosity such as the juggernaut is too hard to pass up:

A twisted combination of meat and metal, he should give me plenty to do over the next few months. I'm really excited to cram in as much detail as possible on this fella, though I don't want to go overboard. With so many thick slabs of metal, it's probably going to be a good idea to tackle some of the mess in Photoshop, rather than trying to do it all in Z-Brush. If I was aiming for a hi-res model only, sure, but I want to see how detailed I can get this monster to look if I set a realistic limit of around 10k polys.

So far, so good.

Up and At Them!

2010-02-19T15:41:00.001-05:00

Finally finished up the head, which feels like as much of a relief as it does an accomplishment. You can find it in the "Artwork" section. There are 100 more things that I'd like to do with it, but I need to move on. I can't simply nibble at it anymore.

Now I need to figure out what I want to do next. Part of me wants to start in on an inorganic suit of armor, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I've been really enjoying organic shapes in Z-Brush. However, I suppose that there are characters and creatures out there that consist of a lovely combination of both organic and inorganic surfaces. Some well-known IPs even feature it extensively.

Oh Warhammer, I should hate you by now, but I still hear your siren call...

...And On We Go

2010-01-20T02:02:00.001-05:00

Got a new computer that can actually run Z-Brush worth a damn, so I've dusted this piece off and picked it back up. Now that I have the power (and as a result, the patience) for it, I've been able to sculpt out so many of the details that I simply could not do with my old computer. Actually finishing this guy is once again a reality.

Making St. Michael

2009-11-23T02:09:00.000-05:00

St. Michael has always been my favorite saint. He's the immortal badass, Right Hand of God. As awesome as he is supposed to be, I've often felt underwhelmed when looking at a lot of the paintings depicting him. He's typically bordering on the androgynous, very lightly armored, and not what I would picture when thinking of an angel that tossed Lucifer from Heaven. More importantly, you don't see very many recent paintings of this saint. I've always wondered what he might look like through more modern eyes.

The Armor Checklist!
-It can look badass, but needs to remain elegant
-It needs to look elegant without being feminine
-The armor should look somewhat intimidating, but not scary or evil
-The filigree and designs should be intricate without being overly busy
-The overall visual should be a more modern look, but not overly angular or robotic

The Symbolism Checklist!
- Visages of a human, lion, ox, and eagle (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)
- The Eucharist housed in his chestplate
- Some sort of military rank indicator ("and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host")
- A thurible with burning incense (symbolizes the prayers of the faithful that Michael carries to Heaven)
- Some sort of scale (weighing of souls)

I was originally going to make his armor a gleaming ivory white, with black pants and under armor. Just for kicks, I had fooled around with the color, and found that black armor looked pretty badass (big surprise). However, St. Michael is supposed to be the Champion of Light; I wasn't sure if I could get away with suiting him up in black. Even so, I wasn't completely sold on white, so I looked at some more reference paintings. Much to my surprise, I found that around the 1400-1500s, St. Michael is pictured with black, gleaming armor in multiple paintings of that time period. I like the contrast that it creates between the dark armor and his light skin tone and wings, so I'm gonna give it a shot. In addition to the contrast, this also opens him up to some killer specular and gloss maps that white cannot match.

So off we go. Let's see where this work in progress takes me...

Kickin' It Old-School

2009-11-15T14:48:00.002-05:00

I went digging through some files on my old computer today when I found this video. It's an animation short that I did for one of my computer animation classes back in college. The requirements were that the video run 20 seconds, and that the character we made had to talk for at least 8 seconds.

The reason I posted this was because I had recently been talking to my wife about being passionate about our respective crafts. When I was in college, I was downright obsessed with getting a job on the game industry. I wanted a position so badly that I could taste it. I knew in full the reality of the siutation: I was competing not only against other aspiring artists for a job, but also artists that already had more experience than me. I can't begin to count the hours that I spent doing everything that I could to learn about and practice computer art. When I was making this video, I spent days on end trying to create what I saw in my head. When I wasn't in class or working at the deli, I was in the commons making this animation. When I was finally ready to render everything out, I stayed at school until 4 a.m., stuffing Little Caesar's pizza in my mouth and drinking a soda to stay awake, waiting for all of the frames to finish.

I could have easily made a clip that was the bare minimum and called it a day. Hell, I could have done what all but three in my class did and just not turn anything in on account of not having it finished. But the commitment that I had to myself and to this video and the obsession with artistic creation, that's what made me push forward. It's reflecting on that passion that made me post about this today. Passion for my craft is what has helped bless me with the life that I have today, and it's that same passion that keeps me happy from 9 to 5. Things can get rough at work sometimes, but it's those times when I need to watch this video again, and simply remember.

Christopher Aerostat: Simulation

Oh, High Poly...

2009-11-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

Still slogging away at this bastard whenever I have a moment. I feel the grip of diminishing returns coming over me, but I just want to get to the point where I can be happy with him. It's a battle I can't win!

Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

2009-11-10T13:44:00.000-05:00

Days like these are when it's so damn hard not to post something on public forums. Misinformation, mischaracterization, and a whole lot of snarky comments from the public are upsetting to read. What I have to remember is that there's no time for feeling down about what other people have to say. If there's something that I love about my job, it's proving negative people and their expectations wrong.

Right now is a chance to do just that.

Interesting Times

2009-11-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

Still getting this all set up. It's a shame that I'm not done yet, as today is one of those days when I would really like to talk a lot.
The next few days are probably going to be a mixture of ugliness with a side of confusion. Be it blind optimism or informed intuition, I'm actually looking forward to the future of this company. I think we're in a position to make some good things happen.