3D Foundations Week 4 Presentation

This was the final week of 3DF. It was an eye opening experience. The preparation that goes into a single model can be very demanding. I found the whole UV process fun but very challenging. In my presentation I tried to compose a murder mystery mood and scene. In doing so, I begin to get more comfortable with Maya's interface. I started to use the short cut key a lot more also. Over all it was a successful month for me. The only thing that I need to still work on is my time management. It's not a major issue but having a full time job does make this journey more challenging. I will correct my past mistakes in my next class.

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Presentation

3D Foundations Week 3 Clean Up

I hate cleaning but it has to be done. This week we are  focusing on model clean up. We have been introduced to the many pitfalls of a modeler. Overlapping vertices, N-gons, and 4 sided faces will all pay us a visit and how to eliminate and fix them will be key to being a great modeler. I must admit, this has been the most elusive problem for me because I 'm still having problems fixing some issues. This week's exercise helped a lot in identifying those specific issues and I was getting more comfortable in dealing with them.



The models I chose were more challenging than the week before. Not sure which were my best, but I'm leaning toward the camera because it took the most time and I was more comfortable modeling at that point. I just need to work on getting my curves smoother and stop being so faithful to the references. I must learn that it's ok to stray from the original as long as the form is still recognizable. My workflow has gotten better but due to getting sick, my schedule was upset so I found myself trying to catch up.



All in all, it was a productive week and I am looking forward to the final week of texturing. I'm hoping this will go smoothly because from what I have read from this week's readings, is this is the area that will get you noticed and hired.

Industry Influence

There has always been someone that makes us feel like we are further away from greatness. That person for me has been concept designer Ian Joyner. Every since I first saw Marvel Alliance, it has been my inspiration to attain that level of creativity and talent. Ian Joyner has had a notable and an impressive resume with work on Power Rangers (2017), Suicide Squad (2016), Amazing Spiderman (2012) and Avengers (2012). He is an example, to me, of having a well-rounded background with unlimited talent.
I have been an avid fan of his for 10 years and have bought his tutorials from Gnomon Schools. Those have given me the much-needed education and inspiration I still use to this day. What I find so fascinating about him is his versatile skill set. He has made sure he is knowledgeable in many areas of the entertainment industry such as puppet design, computer generated characters for movies, and video game cinematics. Joyner use of character design, sculpting and modeling are something I feel I should have in my arsenal as well. I plan to take advantage of every piece of advice he can offer along with the education and practice I will receive from Full Sail University.

The images below show the talent and attention to detail that he shows for the video game Marvel's Ultimate Alliance and A Gentleman's Duel. The textures and color are vividly deep and beautiful. The block outs and modeling are flawless.



All images courtesy of Blur Studios

3D Foundations Week 2 Components

I thought last week was informative and this week was even more challenging. I was introduced to the world of components. Particularly, the extrude tool which has quickly become my most worn out hot-key. The second step to successful modeling has been my secondary forms. That meant breaking things down in whole parts and then modeling. This was accompanied by the saying "Model how it is." This was a more time-consuming process than I anticipated and I definitely will plan out my time better next week.



I wanted to challenge myself a little more, so I choose some models that would push me a little further.They did their job and I'm a better modeler for it. I'm starting to become more familiar with Maya's tools and getting a better understanding of shapes. I want to start focusing on a quicker workflow. At times, I found myself spending too much time in a certain area and began to work longer than I thought I should have been.



I look forward to the asset approval for this week to see if I am on the right track. Judging from the progression from the first week, I really need to focus on my weaknesses and spend some more time in the lab.

3D Foundations Week 1 Blocking

Done with the first week of 3D Foundations. It was quite the experience and I have learned a lot about Maya. I was a little intimidated by it at first because I wanted to dive right in and do something cool. That was not the case, we had videos to watch describing the process we were using this week and I must have watched those things like 10 times just to comprehend what was going on. I still feel a little unsure but access to the lab, in Google hangouts, has helped me out tremendously along with the lectures.



The models I chose were fairly simple and something just to get my feet wet. I had a great time trying to figure out the shapes and put them together in a sensible way. This week's practice helped out a lot also because it reinforced what we were doing for the week. I also got introduced to references and the benefits they have in modeling something correctly. I never knew it but blocking is a critical stage for me getting the form correct and it will definitely be a part of my workflow from now on. Going into next week I will feel a little bit more confident.

New Beginnings

It was a very eventful week. Getting started with modeling was something I have looked forward to since I started at Fullsail. Getting my Launch Box was cool but there was so much to set up. I'm sure glad that it came with tons of instructions and support. Needless to say, I finally got everything situated after two days. I am now up and running and ready to start modeling.

   

Looking forward to this first challenge of blocking out using references. Other times I have attempted to try 3d modeling I often jumped right in with little to no prep work. This is different because I am approaching it with a systematic approach. I feel confident with the instructor and feel this is the right course of action for me. Hope it doesn't get too difficult in the future!

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Intro

Hello world. This is my first blog post ever. Hope to send out some great blogs and make this very entertaining.