Honda CRF 450R

This is a 3d rendering of a Honda CRF 450R that I made at my internship for a show outro.  I worked in 3d Studio Max 2011 and Vray.  I did not create the textures themselves.  That was done by another intern under my guidance.  For the most part I tried to be as accurate as possible under a time constraint of a couple weeks.

When I first started modeling this project the idea was to keep the detail on the outer areas.  Because the bike would be moving around in a scene with motion blur and dirt and smoke and so on.  So with that said the engine area didn't get the love it deserved but it was good enough for what it was intended for in the end.

I would say I'm very proud of this project.  It was definitely a challenge but it was very enjoyable at the same time.  I'll probably go back at a later date and finish the engine and render out a full on animation.  Soon enough I'll be able to post the final outro to the show.

Wireframe soon to come also. 

New scaffolding with logs on top

I just finished with a couple of the scaffolding's that I am making for the Panda Village scene.  I just noticed that I have to fix the textures on the logs and bamboo.  I forgot to add edge padding when I rendered them out in 3d - Coat.  Other than that I need to add some more rope around the bamboo pieces that are just hanging there.  Its all coming along.  Tomorrow I am going to be starting a post on Polycount and planning to place this into UDK.

Testing out the bamboo poles

 I replaced the majority of the blockout pieces for the scaffolding.  I still need to add random ropes to the scaffolding and the logs on top.  These are just flat passes without textures for right now.  More to come this weekend.

Cleaned up an old project

I just went back into a old project to clean it up and bring it up to date a bit.  I brought it into Photoshop and added some extra render passes (specular, ambient occlusion, shadow and reflection). By adding these passes on top of the regular render added more depth and realism to the piece.  I like this technique so much, I may end up going back into other pieces to add the render passes.

I may make an additional render of a camera pointing up toward the ceiling.  I also have plans of rendering out an animation or two to begin making a demo reel.

Starting work on a new side job!

I'm really excited about this new freelance opportunity making rings in 3d.  Pretty easy stuff.  The most challenging part is working with new and interesting shapes and designs and keeping them nice and clean.

Each Ring has its own metal material for variety.  This was done in 3d Studio Max and Vray.  I cleaned up some of the caustics that was shimmering on the background piece in Photoshop.

Added new scaffolding to the blockout

I worked on the scaffolding for the blockout today and finished a good percentage.  The bamboo setups were good for visual reference but they ended up not being practical in the long run.  Its easier to put ropes on the bamboo poles, have them connect and look good in the process by making scaffolding whole pieces.

The logs won't be a problem because they're just sitting on top.  I can place hanging ropes in between the logs to make them look as if they're apart of the roped wrapped around the logs.

Large Rocks

Here are the rocks that I have been working on as of late.  I still need to add a specular map to them for Unreal but they are coming out well already.

After that I am going to jump back on adding ropes to my bamboo poles.

Bamboo and logs, Oh my!

Here are some new screenshots of the textured versions of the bamboo and logs.  Logs and bamboo poles still need ropes to connect all the pieces together.  The individual bamboo for the forest area still need their leaves.  But I'll come back to that after I make some rocks.

I also added another blockout of scene itself.  Its still pretty rough.  I'm going to finish a majority of the assets before adding them into Unreal, otherwise its redundant.

I recently watched the Unreal Dev Kit - Intro dvd on unreal scene setup and it was great.  The biggest mistake I made working on the Estella Cloister scene was making the scene non - modular.  What that means is that I should of made pieces that I could of used over and over like a jigsaw puzzle.  Rather than trying to make "one" whole piece.  I think I may end up going back into that scene and cutting it up and putting into Unreal or Crytek (when it comes out in August) because Gamebryo didn't give the scene the justice it deserved. 

Its all about the things you learn along the way that can help you prevent the mistakes of the past.

Minor update

Just adding update of what I've worked on in my recent spare time.

 Here is an update of the sculpted wood.  Add some finer details.

This pic is of some bamboo that I'm making for the support beams before sculpt in 3d - Coat.

Found something cartoony to work on.

Last week I found this awesome concept art website called http://fuckyeahconceptart.tumblr.com/ .  I really like the setup they have going for it.  Its basically one long scrolling website of concept art.  Click on a pic and it will either send you to all of their uploaded work or their personal websites.

Along the way I found this French artist named Kevin Aymeric.  He has alot of great Japanese inspired artwork in his artist blog.  I really like the way he uses his color palettes to set a mood and his use of pastel colors.  His artist's blog can be viewed at http://aymrc.blogspot.com/.


One my favorites of his work so far is a work called Village Pandala .  I haven't done too many cartoony art pieces in some time, so I decided it would be fun to use Village Pandala as inspiration for my next major project.  For the most part I've blocked out the scene.  I'll render out a top down later.  It's bigger than it looks here.

I'm going to be making this in Maya, 3d Coat and in the Unreal Development Kit.  I've started sculpting a couple of logs to get a feel for how I'm going to give it even more of a stylized look.  Maybe a little bit of a Okami feel to it.  I may even make an animated camera in UDK and make it go towards a demo reel.  So far its been pretty fun, can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Working in Maya Again

I've decided to take a break from the Estella Cloister project and jump back into to working in Maya.  Right now I'm just modeling out random props and trying different techniques.  One of the more useful techniques that I found was how to sew polygon UVs, which will come in handy in the near future.

This piece here is based on the toy blueprints of the G.I. Joe's Sky Hawk vehicle.  I am still in the process of modeling rivets and other mechanical pieces.  I may even add the interior of the cockpit area.  All in all, its been a fun project to work on.

First update since the new year.

I'm finally getting the time to work on my portfolio piece on a regular basis.  I recently replaced the old trees with some I made in this tree program I found called Tree [d] by Frecle.  Not a bad program at all.  Very simple and easy to use.  I wish there were better exporting options out to 3d Studio Max.  I may even try to use it to make some bushes.

I also have had the time to finish up alot of texturing of windows, trims, pillars, terrain and sky.