This week I worked in Unity. We have been testing PlayMaker plugin. Below is a video capture of a basic movement, using Animations, to an gameObject, wait and then move to the other gameObject. The goal was to get mover to determine if it has reached the spot and let the state continue along the line.
Category: Directed Graduate Studio
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #11
This week, I have been working on more shapes of the head for my 3d digital art course and my thesis. This character will be fully sculpted so I am trying to find a shape I like. As of now, I am leanings towards the second head. (longer skull, and droopy chin) I do like the fourth one day as well but I believe it is too close to Picard from Star Trek. Nevertheless, I will find the shape and go along with it to finish the project.
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #10
First WIP Character:
I have been working on the shape of the face and head. The current issue is the random zBrush crashing. I hope to resolve this issue by the end of the week and hopefully find a design that I want to push forwards for the final sculpt.
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #9
Links to Final Proposal References:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/GyokN
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XB1drY
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?195454-quot-Is-this-some-kind-of-bust-quot-my-zbrushworks/page11&p=1216106#post1216106
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?195454-quot-Is-this-some-kind-of-bust-quot-my-zbrush-works&p=1150220&infinite=1#post1150220
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/wOGK9
https://abduzeedo.com/splendid-digital-sculptures-james-w-cain
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?175208-Dishonored-The-Character-Art-(new-images-pg-3-5-6)/page5
https://www.deviantart.com/corderostorm/art/Dishonored-Assassin-Daud-fan-art-625870298
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?175208-Dishonored-The-Character-Art-(new-images-pg-3-5-6)
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/L0VDK
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/gW4ZE
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0Zx5w
Some tutorials:
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #8
This week I have been focusing on finishing up my substance kit. Currently, I am finalizing the color maps but I have been running into constant issues. For example, I work on a certain shape setup then turn on another and it does not work or a switch does not turn off. Trying to debug this rat’s nest is horrible but I am making way. I am planning on tomorrow as the final day to work in substance designer. The rest will be in Unity using the kit.
Here are the current graph and in editor 3d/texture:
After finishing this project, I will move onto working on the character as I am going to create a proposal presentation. I am going to focus more on the sculpt and what references I will follow. Other information I will be deciding: back story, style, time period, and final render for the sculpt. I am also hoping I find some time to do a few more sketches to help my direction.
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #7
This week I focused on completing my substance designer project. After a week of working on it, I realized that designing the concept for the “kit” should have been my first task. Designing on the fly with a node base system…….makes a mess.
I tried using other graphs which helped clean stuff up a bit but I ended up using one main graph so I can expose more parameters. Maybe with more time, I can figure out a way to reference other graphs’ parameters.
After this weekend’s grind, I am at the final stretch. With the project due date being extended, I can put more time into coloring and give it a polish pass. A major issue I am having is with the height depth. Everything looks flat even after the tessellation. I might have to go in the beginning of the graph where I declared the basic shapes, and create a basic bevel to give it some dynamics.
Here are some screenshots from unity – displaying the kit:
My other projects/journey, I have not had the chance to drop the lipsync plugin into Unity. The instructions seem intense so I will dive into that this week. I have a feeling I will have to import a character with a facial rig (using blendshapes) to make sure it works in my Unity project. I think if I can get it imported Unity and working (or seem like it is working), I need to get it interacting with the kinect. From there, I should be in a good place to start sculpting the character. Although…..
I am worrying a little at this point. It is already HALF WAY through the semester!
I have to start shifting my time into the semester paper. I have an idea about the paper. Something along the lines of color and the affects on humans but I am not sure. I need to create an outline or proposal first.
Blog Entry – Research and Project Updates – 2019 #6
3d digital art
This sprint was to start getting in the customization in Substance Designer. For some reason, I feel I am over complicating the design layout. Creating shapes is not the issue but rather the connection of customization in Unity. I am at a point where I need direction to either make preset panels or keep what I am doing right now and make it real time customizable panels. I believe that later is what the professor wants. Here are some WIP screenshots:
Direct Studio/Thesis Project
My focus on the project was to get a rigged character in from Adobe Mixamo. I ended up customizing the character and merging two different toons. Right now, it is in the scene and has a idle animation on it. I discover a huge design problem that I need to keep in mind. Aspect Ratio of the frame…. I could not find a decent 16:9 look. The ratio is too wide for a traditional looking portrait I envision. Good news, I have an idea where I would crop in using a different ratio like 4:5 and then build the physical frame to crop and hide the screen. This should be the best and fastest fix for the issue. Here are some screenshots with different aspect ratios.
Human-Computer Interaction
This sprint I focused on writing projects for my portfolio website. I used a few past projects – The Take House on the Hill, Floating Pyramid, and Simon Says…Photo-resistor. The formatting for the 3d art is close to what I already have but I might update some old posts and remove older art from 2012 that does not reflect my current skills.
Floating Pyramid
Floating pyramid
Description
Floating pyramid is an acrylic pyramid filled with magnetic fluid and water that is attached to a stand. The pyramid’s rotation can be manipulated 360 degrees by the user. Within the pyramid contains magnetic fluid called ‘ferrofluid’ and water (or some type of liquid that allows the ferrofluid flow freely). To control the ferrofluid, there are 6 electro-magnets that the viewer can stick on the pyramid. The power of the magnets can be individually controlled using 6 potentiometers.
Everyone is an artist and the goal of the piece is to allow the viewer to create their own unique art piece by using the pyramid and the use of the shadows created by the fluid.
Inspirational Images/Components used in my Design
https://i2.wp.com/ae01.alicdn.com/kf/UT8b72EXWJbXXagOFbXQ/Free-Shipping-Ferrofluid-A-Bottle-Magnetic-Liquid-Neodymium-Magnet-Office-Toys-Science-Decompression-Novelty-Creative-Toys.jpg https://images.vat19.com/covers/large/ferrofluid-in-a-bottle-display.jpg https://sc02.alicdn.com/kf/HTB15ukkLXXXXXXWaXXXq6xXFXXXY/china-supplier-new-style-wholesale-acrylic-plexiglass.jpg_350x350.jpg
Sketch
Components Needed
- Ferrofluid
- Acrylic container aka the pyramid
- Spotlight
- Potentiometers
- Electro-Magnets
- Arduino board
- Metal/Plastic structural pieces
Simon Says…PhotoResistor
Simon Says … Photo-resistor
Hardware Components Used
- 1 Photo-resistor
- 1 RGB LED
- 1 Yellow LED
- 4 330 Ω Resistors
- 2 10k Resistors
- 1 Switch
- 10 Wires
- Arduino Uno Board
- 1 Breadboard
- 5 volt power
Concept
Description:
Simon says…Photo-resistor is an interactive game using a photo-resistor as the main input for the experience. As the user presses the button, the game begins. The RGB turns white and begins the blue blinking a randomized sequence. The number of blinks is the required number of times the user needs to flash a light towards the photo-resistor to win the game. During the “input” phase, the RGB led light blinks RED and GREEN indicating the time left. If the player fails to complete the sequence, the RGB LED will turn RED indicating they failed. If the player completes the sequence, the RGB LED will turn GREEN indicating they have won. After the complete phase, either win or lose, the game will reset and idle until the button is pushed to start again.
As this piece resembles a game, the emotional response would be excitement, panic, and joy. The personal value of the piece was the challenge of coding and using a photo-resistor. As it was the first time I would have worked with one, I ran into some issues with calibration. Ultimately, I believe this piece was sacksful. It allowed me to push myself and try something different that was out of my comfort-zone.
The Taken House on the Hill
The Taken House on the Hill
Software
- Adobe Photoshop
- Autodesk Maya
- Blender
- Pixologic zBrush
- Allegorithmic Substance Painter
- Unity Engine
Concept
Description:
The Taken House on the Hill is a game ready art piece involving a tiny house on a hill with a dead tree. All of which is contained within a glass bottle on display surrounded by darkness. The art piece contains 17,316 faces, and every texture is 2048 x 2048.
I decided the style of the art piece early on as I wanted to experiment and shy away from realistic modeling. The goal of the style was to mimic the style of Tim Burton, Gothic, and LucasArt games. Using this stylized resulted in creating a story that is not written. The viewer might feel there is more to the piece in which they might explore and create their own story around the piece.