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.