Sketchbook: Saidin311

[Saidin311]

I guess I'll put one up?

I have no problem with comments and crits, I need them to improve! Although stuff I put in here I might be looking for C&C to help on the next project. I don't always have the motivation to take one thing and tweak it over and over. But I need help to learn! I might also ramble a bit just cause I think sounding off on my own art can help me improve that much more.

Anyways, I bought the eat3d tutorial posted around here not too long ago. It was well worth the money for the information. But I followed the tutorial and learned quite a bit.

If I did this over I'd change the unwrap a little bit. I cut the seam too close to the outer edges of the cut out faces, I'd bring those in a bit.

And I'm still very unclear on how to make a proper spec. I think I got a lot of things right this time around, but the final spec result isn't quite what I was looking for. I'd probably also change a bit of the concrete base references I was using.

Here we go anyways.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test7-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test6-1.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test5-1.jpg

And something I'm doing for fun. Gonna up some polys on this and take it into mudbox for a little dressing up before I unwrap and texture.

[Cody]

How much is this eat3d tutorial and where do ya buy it? That japanese archway thing looks promising.

[Vassago]

The Eat3d tutorial is $50 for the downloadable version. Great result on that btw, Saidin. Good stuff /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Saidin311]

More concrete stuffs. I'm just trying to further work with mudbox and max and general high poly workflow. I made this in about half the time that I did the pillar. So while I don't think its terribly original (borrowed the idea from Geezus) I think I achieved a little faster and better result.
C&C always welcome.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/render1.jpg

edit: The black background was kinda throwing off the shadows so I just did another quick render with a grey background.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/render3.jpg

[Cody]

Nice bro, looks Beast-a-saurus Rex. I'd say make the parts where it is chipped away lighter than the reg texture. Also, some more variation in color, maybe a sticker or something? See some wires?

[Saidin311]

I guess I'll just use this as a WiP type thread to track some of the progress on my work. I can't really tell if I'm even following the rules of the sketchbook with this.

Anyways, I'm working on a new environment based on the Shambles in York, England. It's an old medieval street converted to a market. I haven't decided whether I'm going to modernize this or keep it purely medival (for deco things like electrics as opposed to hay carts).

I did the first building as a test to see how modular I could make everything, the screenshot after is me laying out the building pieces for modular construction. The point being that each of these pieces can be put together in various combinations to break up the system.

I'm also going to create standard timber planks for timbering up the frames. Half the buildings in the shambles are brick, but the other half are half-timber. From there I'll probably do 3-4 window types that can be scaled to fit the various size windows and then things like signposts, brick trim, awnings, lamps and flower pots will be made.

Definitely looking for C&C as this progresses. I might move this to the pimp forum when I get a little further along for that purpose.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test1.jpg

[Saidin311]

Well, I'm resurrecting this sketchbook thing. Which is funny, cause what I was working on 6 months ago is nothing to what I'm doing now. After doing the Mod-Facade challenge I scrapped the medieval street. Which I might one day come back to now that I know how to make things more modular, and more importantly work with the textures.


I don't have much for the Pimping section, but I felt compelled to post some things I've been messing with.

First up is my current portfolio piece inspired by a concept art on the Dead Space website.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test_render-1.jpg
It's based on this:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/concept_tram_hall_brighter_small.jpg

I'm not too sure what I'm going to do to add some smaller details on the wall sections. I can't tell if it needs any. So if any eyes want to comment please feel free! :)

Also, some other things I've been working on.

A Chaos Axe from a concept by Mythic (WAR).
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/Axe_FNL_sketch.jpg

A dwarven cannon from the WAR site. I just got frustrated with the dragon head part. I'm not the greatest with organic mudbox sculpting yet. And I didn't like the look of it at all.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/cannon_temp.jpg


Some mudbox testing. I posted the bridge in the speed model thread a couple weeks back.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/doodle.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/arch.jpg


So Yeah. Thats that. I hope I'm learning something haha.

[Saidin311]

Updating my current work. Just filling in the high poly stuff, its not divided much yet. Just checking sizes and blocking in stuff.

I think I'm going to call the 2 different wall sections done. That leaves the inside corner piece, outside corner piece, tiled flooring and an overhead section to complete before I can add the details. (edit the blue mesh ceiling is temp)

Some of the details I have planned are pipes, overhead lights, wall lights, the tram direction sign, other wall-signage.

I think I'm going to go in a direction like Shep did with his bath house and try to go with "passes". The high poly to low poly. Then a lighting pass, some specular pass, colour pass, damage pass, then finally add the props.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test_2.jpg

[Saidin311]

Have to put some details on the corner section. But I'm moving to the low polys for now. I can easily make those small changes once I have everything set up and in the engine.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do about the floor. The concept is essentially a 1 way tiling texture with a different texture going off in the hallways. Because of time budgets I might just stick with a simple 'metal tiles' tileable. And use some decals to add in the "tram this way" type flooring. I'll hop into the game and see what they did for some of these areas. Get some more inspiration.

This is just the final pieces I have and I'm going to start the lows/normal baking.
There's 10 modular sections here. 2 wall sections, the vent detail is seperate so I guess it's modular. 2 Roofing sections, 2 pillar sections, upper trim detail and an inside and outside corner.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test_3.jpg

I think once I get these baked down and stuck into UE3 I'll take this to the P&P section for some feedback.

[pixelmitherer]

This is cool stuff Saidin. Liking your work.
How are you finding UE3 to work with?

[pixelmitherer]

Really impressive work. Looking forward to updates.

[Saidin311]

Thanks for the kind words Pixel, I really like working in UE3 but I seem to always be battling scale and units and grid and such when exporting things. Every time I think I grasp modularity I get thrown a simple twist that my seemingly logical brain can't wrap around.

Some things I can't figure out are what to do about seams between wall panels. If I want a nice tileable flat wall section I always have to have some divider to keep the seam hidden. And that throws my whole grid off.

I sprained my wrist pretty badly in December and it really killed my motivation to work on this thing. I baked down some components and tried to get them in the engine, but I didn't like the scale and things weren't lining up around corners and such.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/test_4.jpg


So now that it's at least comfortable using the computer again I'm getting back into some sub-d stuff. Working off a Gears of War fountain concept I saw online. I don't have the game (for my pc) so I can't compare my model to theirs in the engine. PLUS my mudbox trial expired and zbrush confuses me. So I will model this high poly and either leave it there, or just put in weather/wear and stone work in the diffuse and filter the normal.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Saidin311/progress1-1.jpg