This week I delved further into digitally painting in Photoshop using 3D models I made in Maya. I was inspired by the artist John Berkey to create a space environment which used the Radii composition technique. I created a spaceship, space station, and planets that I then textured and stylized in Photoshop. I think my 3D art transferred over well and am very satisfied at my second attempt at digital painting.
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| Space Trace Radii |
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| Maya Render of My Scene |
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| John Berkey Reference Art |
This week I got to create a wooden chest that will be sculpted further in ZBrush using Maya. I used multiple references and gave my chest leather straps, metal rings on the sides, and my initials on an insignia on the front. I am going to go for a Redwood texture pattern for the wood, a stylized Nordic pattern for the metal and a detailed leather for the straps. I believe it will turn out great even if it will be the first time I have ever opened ZBrush.
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| Wood Chest Smoothed |
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| Wood Chest Proxy |
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| Wireframe For ZBrush |
This week I learned about color balance and lighting in a scene. I used three point lighting to create a scene of basic shapes. Each shape has a different material that reacts differently to the light. My favorite parts are the more reflective, metallic shapes. I used a scene I made in Unreal 5 as reference to digitally paint my scene in Photoshop.
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| My Digital Painting |
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| Unreal Scene |
This week was a challenge for me as I learned about simple and complex animation blueprints in Unreal 5. I created and learned about 7 different blueprints and I animated my project using iterations of 4 of them. I am really pleased with how my project came out and it was worth the struggle to see the end result.
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| Blueprint Screenshots |
I learned this week the aspects of shadows and light levels. The alien suit was based on a light source above the character. Also, the helmet on my alien's suit let me try to test reflective spots and different refractive layers. I had no previous experience truly delving into coloring and shading an object based on a imaginary light source in a scene so while this was challenging, I am proud of the results. The helmet on my alien's suit let me try to test reflective spots and different refractive layers.
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| Shadow Suit |
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| Character Layers |
I created a abstract scene in Maya using primitive shapes along with some more complex designs that will be brought into Unreal to be rendered and animated. I decided to go with somewhat of a space theme which included planets with rings, wormholes, and a central object that has other objects orbiting around it. I plan on having the objects on the rings to rotate and the objects above and below the central object to collapse and rotate towards the center object. I will enjoy implementing my ideas in Unreal soon.
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| Scene Hierarchy |
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| Abstract Scene |
This week I learned how to properly use the hierarchy and parenting system in Maya. I also animated my crane object and experimented with the parenting of pieces of a model to animate them in order of functionality. Then I was able to creatively light my crane object in Unreal Engine 5. I decided to use multiple colors for my lights to experiment with the look of my scene. I am still getting used to Unreal and the material setup process in the program but this week I learned a lot about it.
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| Crane Hierarchy |
Crane Animation
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| Unreal Engine Lumen Screenshots |
I was tasked to redesign an established character and I decided to go with the Pokemon Whismur. The theme of my drawings was "mechanized", so I created different iterations of Whismur as different vehicle types and two different types of cyborg. I had a lot of fun trying to come up with different ways to alter one of my favorite Pokemon. I still tried to keep his distinguishing features intact such as his ears and their eyes with variations between each new design.
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| Silhouette Mechanized Whismur |
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| Thumbnail Mechanized Whismur |
During this module I was handed a basic robot mesh to develop and edit to make it my own. I added some divots that gave it more of a mechanical look as well as altered his body to appear more like an evil robot. Since he is an evil robot he needed to have a sci-fi laser gun to further embolden the look I was going for.
This week I learned some more advanced modeling tools and techniques in Maya. This included bevel, fencing, and creasing objects to change their topology. I also learned the basics of topology and how using a cube that was transformed into a sphere might be more beneficial for making a character. Next I learned how to panel an object into pieces to model the pieces separately and create a more mechanical look to my work. Finally I experimented with NURBS curves for the first time and while it is different and requires more critical thinking than poly-modeling, I am fascinated about using NURBS in the future.
These 3 creatures were created in Adobe Photoshop and were based on three basic shapes. They were a circle, square, and triangle. This was my first ever formal attempt at drawing for an assignment and I could see the progression I gained in this simple task from my circular character to the triangular one. I tried making each character different and am proud of my results. Using a drawing tablet for the first time had a slight learning curve but now I am better acquainted with the software and tools for digital drawing.
