Wednesday, March 24, 2010

100th post


Who knew? This is actually my 100th post! I am half way through my schooling and I have made 100 notations about my journey. I am very pleased that no only have I stuck with it and have gotten good grades, but I have enjoyed it! I definately would like to thank all of my family and friends who have been very supportive this past year and a half, and know that you will be there for the next 18 months as well.


So ...


This term is already proving to be as slow as I feared it would be. To keep sharp on my modeling skills, I purchased a tutorial on building a gothic church. I am really enoying working with interiors. If I cannot get into a game company, then I would like to get into something that lets me model interiors. So anyway, this tutorial is very poorly written. It gives you step one, then goes to step 4 and you need to figure out steps 2 and 3. As my wife has pointed out, this is actually then a very good tutorial as it is making me look things up and try things out. I spent 12 hours getting up to one point only to have to start completely over.


Well ... here is what I have so far ...


And here is to the next 18 months!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Yah-HOO!











The end of the term has come and gone, and I got 3 A's! In Intro to Physical science I had been at a B for the entire term, but brought myself up to an A- by getting a high A on my final exam. I also received solid A's in both my Human Relations class as well as my Intermediate 3D class. For my 3D class, this is what my professor had to say:

Hello David, It was a pleasure to have you in class this term. You seem to have a real knack for texturing and lighting...this might be your strength. The character is a good piece but the anatomy is too stylized. You might consider modeling and more proportional character for advanced 3-D. This would make for a better portfolio piece. Do keep this one as part of your portfolio but it would be difficult to add and a rig until you gain enough skill.

And here is what my final looked like.

He said it was "stylized", but in the class he also said that he wanted soemthing "cartoony". I think I would have tried to go more realistic had he not said that. Anyway, for a first attempt at making a character, I am happy with it. But as he said, I am doing great with lighting and textures (see the video below), and I really enjoy that aspect - making the virtual seem real. I am enjoying this so much, that I really won'tcare if I get into the game industry ... just as long as I can get a job modeling.

Anyhoo ... I am off for a week and half, and then back to the grind. I will continue to model and will post new things as I ge tthem done.

On one final note, I would also like to thank Professor Clever for all of his assistance over the past few terms. There have been nights that he and I have been up until the wee hours chatting about this and that, and he has pointed me in the right direction when I was lost. I know that I have not been happy with him at times and that I have complained about things that he had said, but ... any teacher that will spend that much time with me at those hours is a saint in my book. I seriously wish I had more teachers like him.