In this term, I have been looking and improving on my past work and creating new artwork. For the assessment, I have created an interactive portfolio in flash, a pdf print portfolio, a show reel of my 3D work and supporting documents.
I am pleased with my work this term because I feel that my artistic skills have grown. In 3D, I made a new environment, two new characters and, in my opinion, improved on the character and environment from last term.
I feel that my 3D modelling skills have improved, and I feel more confident with making more complex shapes and characters. However, one of my goals for next year is to create interesting hairstyles, as I struggled with creating complex hair for my “Lady Danger” character. I also feel that my topology has improved since last term. In order to improve my topology, I looked at a few models from professional artists, on websites like pig-brain.com.
Furthermore, I feel more confident with using Maya after this term, as I got to experiment with many of its features. For example, as I was working with a bigger environment, I had to carefully consider the lighting. Therefore, I had to learn about the different kinds of lighting in Maya and choosing/placing them was an iterative process.
Another part of Maya that I began to look at was controlling the camera for my show reel. I plotted out some basic and very rough storyboards to help the process. I quite enjoyed thinking about the different shots and moving the camera around the stage. It makes me excited for the kinds of art I can create next year.
I also learned more about texturing. Last term, my character model had a contour line with flat, painted textures. However, in this term, I changed all of my textures to have a paper-like quality to them. Then, I created a ramp shader (this can sometimes be known as cel shading) and over layed it onto my painted texture. This was done by using a “layered texture” in the hyper shade. I was very pleased with how the textures in my models turned out. At the start of the year, I really wanted my models to have an artistic feel to term, as realism in games don’t interest me too much. I wanted my characters and environments to look like paintings by artists such as Kevin Dart and Ashley Wood. I feel like I have achieved my goal. However, I would like my 3D models next year to be even more artistic and experimental.
Looking at my learning agreement, I wrote that I would like to focus more on my “Lady Danger” character model more than my “Nocturnelle” model. However, I seemed to work on both models equally, but I did not render them. I chose not to render them because I wanted more time to focus on my interactive portfolio. Also, I explained that I wanted to do some 2D work. I originally wanted this to be concept art of my characters, but I decided to do 2D work in the form of paintings in one of my environments. I wanted to do this so I could explore some different styles.
I produced some extra final work that I did not originally plan to do, but felt it was necessary to strengthen this unit. Firstly, I created a show reel displaying my 3D work. In my final year, it is an assessment requirement to create show reels for the end of year exhibition. Therefore, I thought it would be necessary to learn the programme used to make them (Adobe After Effects). I wanted to keep my show reel separate from my interactive portfolio, as it is only a video version of my work and including it in the portfolio would be unnecessary. I used storyboards to help plan the show reel.
I also made a print portfolio. I thought this would be a good idea to prepare this, in order to have a portfolio that can be printed, shown at interviews, to employers, printed into a book etc. To replace the videos in this portfolio, I added different view point images of each of the 3D models.
I believe my critical studies work has also aided my studio practise. Our task was to create and essay poster and do a presentation while working in groups. I chose the topic of “The Videogame Industry & Women: How are women portrayed in digital games?” One of my conclusions was that it is vital for the games industry to start including a variety of different female characters in games. Therefore, for my game concept, I tried to make my three female characters that I modelled all look very different, yet still fit with my game’s aesthetics.
Overall, I am pleased with my work, and I feel that I am learning new skills and becoming increasingly confident with different types of software.
Next year, I wish to evolve further as a game artist by making 3D models of characters and animating them. I feel that this is the next logical step for me and I have always had an interest in animation. While making my videos and show reel, I really enjoyed thinking about camera shots and movements I used when filming my environments. I also feel that I benefited from my quick experimentation with Zbrush, so I would like to become comfortable with this software, and use it to my advantage.
I am pleased with my work this term because I feel that my artistic skills have grown. In 3D, I made a new environment, two new characters and, in my opinion, improved on the character and environment from last term.
I feel that my 3D modelling skills have improved, and I feel more confident with making more complex shapes and characters. However, one of my goals for next year is to create interesting hairstyles, as I struggled with creating complex hair for my “Lady Danger” character. I also feel that my topology has improved since last term. In order to improve my topology, I looked at a few models from professional artists, on websites like pig-brain.com.
Furthermore, I feel more confident with using Maya after this term, as I got to experiment with many of its features. For example, as I was working with a bigger environment, I had to carefully consider the lighting. Therefore, I had to learn about the different kinds of lighting in Maya and choosing/placing them was an iterative process.
Another part of Maya that I began to look at was controlling the camera for my show reel. I plotted out some basic and very rough storyboards to help the process. I quite enjoyed thinking about the different shots and moving the camera around the stage. It makes me excited for the kinds of art I can create next year.
I also learned more about texturing. Last term, my character model had a contour line with flat, painted textures. However, in this term, I changed all of my textures to have a paper-like quality to them. Then, I created a ramp shader (this can sometimes be known as cel shading) and over layed it onto my painted texture. This was done by using a “layered texture” in the hyper shade. I was very pleased with how the textures in my models turned out. At the start of the year, I really wanted my models to have an artistic feel to term, as realism in games don’t interest me too much. I wanted my characters and environments to look like paintings by artists such as Kevin Dart and Ashley Wood. I feel like I have achieved my goal. However, I would like my 3D models next year to be even more artistic and experimental.
Looking at my learning agreement, I wrote that I would like to focus more on my “Lady Danger” character model more than my “Nocturnelle” model. However, I seemed to work on both models equally, but I did not render them. I chose not to render them because I wanted more time to focus on my interactive portfolio. Also, I explained that I wanted to do some 2D work. I originally wanted this to be concept art of my characters, but I decided to do 2D work in the form of paintings in one of my environments. I wanted to do this so I could explore some different styles.
I produced some extra final work that I did not originally plan to do, but felt it was necessary to strengthen this unit. Firstly, I created a show reel displaying my 3D work. In my final year, it is an assessment requirement to create show reels for the end of year exhibition. Therefore, I thought it would be necessary to learn the programme used to make them (Adobe After Effects). I wanted to keep my show reel separate from my interactive portfolio, as it is only a video version of my work and including it in the portfolio would be unnecessary. I used storyboards to help plan the show reel.
I also made a print portfolio. I thought this would be a good idea to prepare this, in order to have a portfolio that can be printed, shown at interviews, to employers, printed into a book etc. To replace the videos in this portfolio, I added different view point images of each of the 3D models.
I believe my critical studies work has also aided my studio practise. Our task was to create and essay poster and do a presentation while working in groups. I chose the topic of “The Videogame Industry & Women: How are women portrayed in digital games?” One of my conclusions was that it is vital for the games industry to start including a variety of different female characters in games. Therefore, for my game concept, I tried to make my three female characters that I modelled all look very different, yet still fit with my game’s aesthetics.
Overall, I am pleased with my work, and I feel that I am learning new skills and becoming increasingly confident with different types of software.
Next year, I wish to evolve further as a game artist by making 3D models of characters and animating them. I feel that this is the next logical step for me and I have always had an interest in animation. While making my videos and show reel, I really enjoyed thinking about camera shots and movements I used when filming my environments. I also feel that I benefited from my quick experimentation with Zbrush, so I would like to become comfortable with this software, and use it to my advantage.
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