Alien Plant

Using reference images that I found I modeled an alien plant. The model includes outer leaves, vines, vine leaves, an attack vine, and pollen stalks. I decided to take the approach of having a tropical plant that attacks its prey if it feels threatened, and spawns more plants as pieces of the plant hit the soil after being damaged.

Alien Plant

Here is the animation for the growth and attack of the plant.

Alien_Plant_Attack from Nicholas Callow on Vimeo.

Here are some screenshots of my plants' defense animation. I will post the video on Vimeo, as soon as my weekly upload space becomes available.

Before defense

"Condensed" Defense

Modeling Plants

Today during class we learned how to model plants using polygon primitives, the CV curve tool, and Object Attributes. Our task was to finish at least two fully modeled plant pots containing: plant leaves and vines.

The first step I took in completing the project was to look at reference images for plant pots. I chose pictures that popped out to me and that I found unique/interesting. Referencing is the most important part of the process, because if you are creating by using pictures in your head, they will be wrong. After I collected the pictures of my planter pots, I began modeling.

Planter Pot Reference

I used the techniques that we were taught during our first project to model two planter pots of my choice. I decided to go with a pot similar to the red one in the lower right, and a pot similar to the one just above that. Once the models were complete, it was time to begin referencing for my leaves of the plants I would place inside of the pots. I spent some time researching the types of leaves that I would be able to model inside of the scene. I went for a longer leaf with subtle details, so they could contrast from the vines I would later add to the pots.

Plant Leaves Reference

After I found all of my reference that I needed to create my leaves I began to model the leaves. I started out with a cylinder primitive, and lowered the divisions down to 6. Next, I created a curved path using the CV Curve Tool in the side view in order to create a curved leaf. Then I extruded the top face of the cylinder along the CV Curve. Adding 15 divisions smoothed the polygons on along the curve enabling for easy modeling. I also added a .3 within the object attributes. Then I extruded the sides of the object to give it a leaf like shape.

Once I got the leaves the way I liked, I deleted the history along with the CV curve used to create the original. Then I just duplicated and adjusted using Maya's tools to create variations in the leaves. The vines were created the same way with a few variations in the steps. I only extruded once, and applied a twist along with a taper.

Here are my two finished pieces for this project.

Modeling Assignment: Planters

I was tasked with creating three planter pots for this modeling assignment after watching a tutorial from Digital-Tutors. The tutorial explains the basics of Autodesk Maya, and this is all that we needed in order to complete the assignment. Each planter pot had to be based on a primitive shape created in Maya (Sphere, Cube, & Cylinder). We had to show that we understood what the tutorials were explaining to us in order to prepare for further class/home work. I believe that I understood the basics of creating objects in Autodesk Maya.

However, I did run into some problems that I knew I had issues with prior to taking on this assignment. When I begin to create a lot of edge loops I often times confuse myself. I begin to move points around and then I end up running into geometry issues. Often times the best way to fix the problems I run into is to delete chunks or start over. This time I ran into an issue when creating a cube based planter pot. I created half of it with a lot of edge loops, and when I tried to duplicate and connect the two halves I got stuck. I really would like to fix what I did wrong, so I kept it within my file for later use.

Overall I think that this assignment has helped me maintain a good workflow. First I go out and research about the project I am working on, collecting reference images as I go. Once I have a solid foundation of reference I jump into the program I will be using. I refer back to my images to create something of my own double checking from different angles/further & closer to see if I have very noticeable mistakes. Through the whole process I make sure to study my time, and make sure that I am not taking too much time on small details.

It is best to get the basic shape first and know you have that, before jumping into any type of detail work!

Here are my 3 planter pots.

Photoshop Illustration

Once I got out of high school I gravitated towards becoming an Illustrator, but then I stumbled across Game Design. I thought I would take a shot at becoming a designer, but then I found out that Illustration had a place in Game Design! At that time I knew that I wanted to do something that would work off of my strengths (Which is in drawing). Researching a bit more I found the title Concept Artist and began following it. I would like to learn as much as I can about Photoshop, so I can begin piecing together Illustrations in short amounts of time. I would like to become as proficient as possible in illustration and concepting as I can.

Mao Lin Liao

http://www.khitandigital.nl/

My jaw dropped when I came across this 3D artist on CGHUB, and I just had to post this piece. I think they did an incredible job capturing the essence and likeness of a person. All of their artwork on CGHUB and their website is amazing. The artist's name is Mao Lin Liao and he is currently a freelance digital sculptor. He has worked on games and film including: Around the world in 80 days, Legends of the Underground, Age of Wonders 2, and Killzone 3. He mentions that he has been working in the field of Gaming, Post production, and Film for over 10 years. I would be interesting in learning his techniques on how to create such a believable character in Zbrush and Maya. I would also like to learn how to render and light the character in the most efficient method.

Samar Vijay

http://www.samar-3d.com/

This was an awesome piece created by Samar Vijay. I really like the lighting that he has achieved, as well as how similar it looks to Christian Bale from the Machinist. He is currently working full time and freelance and he is located in Rajasthan, India. He seems to have worked on a lot of film/games related to comic book characters. Most recently he has posts of his model of bane from the Dark Knight Rises. I would like to learn his modeling techniques within Zbrush. Also, how to properly show the anatomy of a human using sculpting techniques.

Rodrigue Pralier

http://www.rodriguepralier.com/

Here is a 3D model that an artist named Rodrigue Pralier did for Mass Effect 3. I did not know that they had cool looking, and possibly scary creatures in this game.  He has worked on the games Army of Two, Army of Two:40th day, Heroes of Might and Magic V, and much more. He has worked with 3D character modeling & texturing, 3D background modeling & texturing, 2D and 3D Illustrations, and 2D character concepts. His skill set includes Zbrush, 3ds Max, Unreal, Photoshop, and Unfold 3d. I would really be interested in learning his workflow of creating a concept and creating it in a 3d space. I would also like to learn how he textures his 3d models, because I like the type of style he portrays.

Gregory Callahan

http://gcallahan.com/

Another 3D Artist that I found while jumping around on CGHUB. Gregory Callahan is amazing, I love the comic book feel of all of his characters, and he captures emotions within his characters. He currently is working freelance,and has worked on collectible toys, action figures, various video games, and illustrations. Most of his works seems to be Zbrush oriented, and then they are converted into collectible toys and action figures. I would love to learn the method of creating a 3D model using Zbrush, Maya and 3ds Max and then creating an action figure or toy out of your sculpt.

Mark Skelton

http://3dsicko.blogspot.com/

I found this 3D Artist when surfing around CGHub, his squid really drew my attention. I thought to myself, "This seems like something I may think of while concepting." I have been drawing a lot of sea creatures recently, and most of them have sharp teeth or spines. Mark Skelton has worked on various games and movies which include: World of Warcraft, Warcraft 3, Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne, Warcraft 3: Reign of  Chaos, Diablo II, and much more. His 3D work is amazing, and I love the creepiness he has to each of his creature sculpts. I would like to learn about creating nasty and disgusting creatures using Zbrush. I would also like to learn how he textures his creatures to give them that slimy and disgusting feel.

Great work Mark, and I hope to see more from you in the future.

Game Design III

Hello,

This blog will be dedicated to displaying my progression through the Game Design III class at IADT. I have dedicated pages to the following subjects: 3D Artists that I have researched, Project Progression, & Discussion. On the discussion page I will talk about software or hardware that I have taken an interest in learning about. This will branch out and hopefully lead to more in depth observations in the process.

Enjoy the blog, and always if you have any questions or projects you would like to see me take on, please feel free to email me at ncallow.design@gmail.com.