Candy Treasure Chest

SopheeJay

Hi everyone Excuse me as I'm new to this platform and I'm still finding my way around, but thought I'd share some of my work for a start! I'm a current second year university game art student in the UK and this piece was the first 3D project I created during my first year. 

Brief: Create a low poly, hand painted chest with additional props within a 2k tri limit and 1x2048.tga texture budget in 4 weeks
Modeled in 3ds Max
Textured in Photoshop
Presented in Marmoset

I really enjoyed this project and I was pleased with how quickly and easily I picked up the newly introduced programs, techniques and workflows. I hadn't previously touched any 3D programs, modelling, texturing or presentation software before this project, but after reviewing university recourses and with assistance from my tutors, I managed to complete it within the deadline and achieved a B grade!

(can't seem to use the Sketchfab feature so here's the link if you'd like to check it out:
  https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/candy-treasure-chest-592e4f6fb38944aaaaeba40c94815e11 )

Model in 3ds Max

Initial rough design

All thoughts, critique and advice are welcome!   
I'm more than welcoming to new faces, chats and exchanges so I'll leave my social links below!

Portfolio: https://sopheejay.artstation.com/
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/sopheejay
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophee.jay.art/?hl=en
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/sophietopham

Crazy_pixel

That is really great for your first 3d project. Well done and keep it up!

SopheeJay

@Crazy_pixel Thank you I appreciate it!

DavidCruz

Really neat 1st design i really like the candy theme designs lately, feel like they are heavenly inspired by the wreck it Ralph movie series(sugar rush world).

Anywho this is a reference design i feel your design could have used more of, though this is still a 1st design its best to learn the more appealing approaches to "stylized" works which i feel would have benefited greatly from introducing into your 3D rendition of the concept.
This example luckily i found a super simple chest to explain what i mean, which might have made this stand out way more.(The wood in this example could have also used more exaggerations in the wood indentations.) Here is a good looking wood example i was thinking of

Good luck on the next one.

SopheeJay

@DavidCruz Thank you! I did actually use Wreck it Ralph as inspiration Everyone else on my course was creating typical pirate style chests, so I wanted to try something different! 

I couldn't agree more. I was using real life reference for the textures, especially the wood, and so I can agree they ended up a tad more realistic than planned. The example you linked was definitely what I had in mind when designing, and I'm aiming to improve on my stylised hand painted texturing, because it's an area I'd love to go into.

But again, thank you, I really appreciate the feedback! 

KW_Arts

Wow this is so impressive for a first attempt! I remember my first model and it was not as inspirational as this I can tell you that much! I commend you for starting with stylised game art as well as it can be challenging to conceptualise to begin with.

As for feedback, obviously you were not able to add the stretched gum (or whatever that is) which does happen sometime to everyone because of time restraints but it is a shame because details like that can really help add context and character to the prop. For example, perhaps you could have had the candy cane damaged with shards of it over the chest? Or perhaps it could have been broken in half and the head of it was on the floor?

Also, make sure to practice lighting and framing for the final renders! Dramatic lighting can really help support and frame the prop using hue and contrast. Its super important when emphasising a design 😊

Hope this helped!

SopheeJay

@KW_Arts Thank you so much for the feedback, it's really appreciated! 

I completely forgot to mention that! I planned to add the gum, and to possibly animate it to stretch with the opening of the chest, however we hadn't been taught about alphas at this point, and yes, my time constraint also affected this.
I'll probably go back and add this, as well as a simple animation and adjust the lighting, sometime in the future 

Thanks again! 

SopheeJay

Revisited this piece recently so thought I'd post an update here!


The whole project is viewable here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/GaOVxN