Recently finished a several-year-long D&D Campaign with some friends. Working on a surprise project for the DM which I'm not ready to post yet. In the mean time, I'm also working on a render of the party.
Currently testing a basic sculpt/pose block of the parties Goliath/Barbarian. In this exact moment of writing I realized he mostly wielded a Greatsword by the end of the campaign and this is an axe based pose... back to the drawing board.
Anyway, here's the blockout so far.
Not particularly concerned with anatomy in this case, just making it look relatively correct. Going to do basic posing and resculpt once it looks correct. Pose still feels a little stiff right now, but that's fine given that I'm not keeping it anyway.
In this second render, the metal ball from the first has an emission shader with a negative light value. I haven't found much of a use for this yet, but I would imagine one practical application would be similar to Blackout curtains in film lighting. You could use it to actively remove light from a scene. All you would have to do is remove it from the camera/reflection pass and you could really isolate your lighting to one specific location.
I'm in love with the original Thief Games. The moody atmosphere, the steampunk aesthetic, the level design, and that crispy art direction. Anyway, doing a modern take on the original The Dark Project menu as a form of practice.
Also I'd resize the images but the forum won't let me. RIP Firefox compatibility.
Last shot is Cycles Path Tracing. Today was blockout and lighting. Next step will be materials and then further refinement. There's a couple of rough areas, and opportunities for more details. That said, so far so good. Below is the reference used.
So far I've enjoyed trying this as a study! Not sure how I'll solve the issue of the wildly out-of-place graphics used for the Logo and menu text but we'll figure something out.
I still haven't quite decided how I want to work with the materials, or if I wanted to work on any higher-detailed assets. Does it destroy the integrity of the scene to really dig into mechanical design, or does it enhance it? How much can I change before I lose the original feeling? I like the faux-functional, kitbash nature of this original title screen.
I went through some old hard-drives today and found a bunch of reference photos I took while at aviation museums. So I'm thinking I could really dive deep here and go all out while remaking this menu. Still not sure.
In the mean time there was a more pressing issue to solve: The one thing I didn't like about this menu was how out of place the text felt. Given the lengths they went through to model this like a section of the world, it's a shame that the text isn't more incorporated. I understand why of course, but since mine doesn't need to be functional, I'm taking a different approach.
(eevee render, WIP)
Both menus use a "painted glass" approach (although I copied the scanlines from the original image, which I'm now regretting). Behind each plane is a light, similar to how a Neon Sign would be used IRL. I'm then using the text mix between translucency and a rough, black paint shader. The scanline layer is used as an additional translucency check. This way it should look like a backlit sign, rather than simply rendered text.
There's obviously a dirt pass that needs to go in here to really sell the painted glass effect, but I think it should work.
Made some minor changes since the above image. Currently there's a green light behind the Menu pane. I've changes this to a white light, and the translucency to green. Improved the effect considerably.
I've recently taken a small dive into how light works in blender, and attempting to replicate physically accurate lights for a more dramatic look. I've always found blenders lighting to be flat and shallow. Part of that is of course how Filmic color management works, and the need for post processing, but in general I think much of it has to do with how I was balancing lighting in my scenes. So here's a couple of the attempts I made at testing different kinds of "realistic" lighting scenarios in blender.
This was mostly achieved by replicating real light intensities, adjusting for exposure/gamma, and using blackbody information to mimic the kind of light that real lights cast.
Dead simple scene thrown together with some default materials I use for proportions. Three light sources with different intensities and shapes. Mostly taken from the opening to Portal 2 test chambers.
The semi-finished version of the DND character I was working on above, re-lit. I think this (as well as some other tests I won't be uploading) really solidifies just how far you can push blenders lights before they get out of control. I'm going to need to re-think how I lit my old scenes and maybe re-visit them to see if I can't get better results by changing my lighting techniques.
Both of these images are un-edited "in camera" renders straight from cycles.
Had an idea for a new project. I always bamboozle myself with how much work goes into rendering a full scene.
I'm thinking the story here is that she's some sort of undercity resident. The mask is equal parts anti-surveillance and fashion. She's resting against the sign, waiting for someone, while sunlight streams in through the grates separating her from the City Proper overhead.
In no particular order, the next steps are:
Undersuit, texture painting, smaller particles and details (stones, dust, etc).
No idea when I'm going to have a chance to work on this next, but it's been interesting figuring out the pipeline to make this project work so far.
lovely. were that a screen behind, i'd gray it out and make it look bland dead and linty, like when daylight glare washes a monitor surface, breaking the illusory dancing light behind it.
I really liked that. I remember jamming to game soundtracks on my dirty CRT as a kid. Tried to replicate a bit of that feel. Not much progress since last time and the composition needs to be adjusted to account for the lack of light from the screen (also I may have overdone it), but it's a cool look.
In other news, I'm giving the pwnishers render challenge a try this month, so work on the Cyberpunk scene has stalled. Instead I'm working on another Cyberpunk inspired scene, although this one takes greater inspiration from Bebop and Star Wars.
Currently in the character design phase for the main animation in the scene. The headpiece takes inspiration from traditional Asian Conical Hats, other aspects of the design being inspired by Techwear. I'm trying to avoid cheap orientalism while still paying respect to the culture. It's a weird balancing act.
Long time no post. Took a deep dive on learning the Halo 3 Modding Tools for MCC this spring, made a map, which was always a dream of mine. Learned a ton about how the Halo engine works and a potential process for creating my own game spaces. Got another (non halo) project in the works that I might post about below. First, the map:
(Textures and materials already existed, I only made the geometry. Credit for those goes to the original artists)
Got a little project that I'm working on with a friend. Very early days and had to take a break as the rest of life took over, but got some very early rough shots here:
Otherwise it's been a while since I've done any serious 3d work. Made a simple Lime Skin shader today for fun, rendered in blender cycles.
First day on a new project. Taking what I learned from working on the Halo map to building a relatively small blender scene. Not looking forward to not having a material library to work with, but if I can't have their materials I can at least take the tricks they used to make their material library so good.
Replies
Recently finished a several-year-long D&D Campaign with some friends. Working on a surprise project for the DM which I'm not ready to post yet. In the mean time, I'm also working on a render of the party.
Currently testing a basic sculpt/pose block of the parties Goliath/Barbarian. In this exact moment of writing I realized he mostly wielded a Greatsword by the end of the campaign and this is an axe based pose... back to the drawing board.
Anyway, here's the blockout so far.
Not particularly concerned with anatomy in this case, just making it look relatively correct. Going to do basic posing and resculpt once it looks correct. Pose still feels a little stiff right now, but that's fine given that I'm not keeping it anyway.
Basic render to test out light nodes in blender.
In this second render, the metal ball from the first has an emission shader with a negative light value. I haven't found much of a use for this yet, but I would imagine one practical application would be similar to Blackout curtains in film lighting. You could use it to actively remove light from a scene. All you would have to do is remove it from the camera/reflection pass and you could really isolate your lighting to one specific location.
I'm in love with the original Thief Games. The moody atmosphere, the steampunk aesthetic, the level design, and that crispy art direction. Anyway, doing a modern take on the original The Dark Project menu as a form of practice.
Also I'd resize the images but the forum won't let me. RIP Firefox compatibility.
Last shot is Cycles Path Tracing. Today was blockout and lighting. Next step will be materials and then further refinement. There's a couple of rough areas, and opportunities for more details. That said, so far so good. Below is the reference used.
So far I've enjoyed trying this as a study! Not sure how I'll solve the issue of the wildly out-of-place graphics used for the Logo and menu text but we'll figure something out.
I still haven't quite decided how I want to work with the materials, or if I wanted to work on any higher-detailed assets. Does it destroy the integrity of the scene to really dig into mechanical design, or does it enhance it? How much can I change before I lose the original feeling? I like the faux-functional, kitbash nature of this original title screen.
I went through some old hard-drives today and found a bunch of reference photos I took while at aviation museums. So I'm thinking I could really dive deep here and go all out while remaking this menu. Still not sure.
In the mean time there was a more pressing issue to solve: The one thing I didn't like about this menu was how out of place the text felt. Given the lengths they went through to model this like a section of the world, it's a shame that the text isn't more incorporated. I understand why of course, but since mine doesn't need to be functional, I'm taking a different approach.
(eevee render, WIP)
Both menus use a "painted glass" approach (although I copied the scanlines from the original image, which I'm now regretting). Behind each plane is a light, similar to how a Neon Sign would be used IRL. I'm then using the text mix between translucency and a rough, black paint shader. The scanline layer is used as an additional translucency check. This way it should look like a backlit sign, rather than simply rendered text.
There's obviously a dirt pass that needs to go in here to really sell the painted glass effect, but I think it should work.
Made some minor changes since the above image. Currently there's a green light behind the Menu pane. I've changes this to a white light, and the translucency to green. Improved the effect considerably.
I've recently taken a small dive into how light works in blender, and attempting to replicate physically accurate lights for a more dramatic look. I've always found blenders lighting to be flat and shallow. Part of that is of course how Filmic color management works, and the need for post processing, but in general I think much of it has to do with how I was balancing lighting in my scenes. So here's a couple of the attempts I made at testing different kinds of "realistic" lighting scenarios in blender.
This was mostly achieved by replicating real light intensities, adjusting for exposure/gamma, and using blackbody information to mimic the kind of light that real lights cast.
Dead simple scene thrown together with some default materials I use for proportions. Three light sources with different intensities and shapes. Mostly taken from the opening to Portal 2 test chambers.
The semi-finished version of the DND character I was working on above, re-lit. I think this (as well as some other tests I won't be uploading) really solidifies just how far you can push blenders lights before they get out of control. I'm going to need to re-think how I lit my old scenes and maybe re-visit them to see if I can't get better results by changing my lighting techniques.
Both of these images are un-edited "in camera" renders straight from cycles.
Had an idea for a new project. I always bamboozle myself with how much work goes into rendering a full scene.
I'm thinking the story here is that she's some sort of undercity resident. The mask is equal parts anti-surveillance and fashion. She's resting against the sign, waiting for someone, while sunlight streams in through the grates separating her from the City Proper overhead.
In no particular order, the next steps are:
Undersuit, texture painting, smaller particles and details (stones, dust, etc).
No idea when I'm going to have a chance to work on this next, but it's been interesting figuring out the pipeline to make this project work so far.
lovely. were that a screen behind, i'd gray it out and make it look bland dead and linty, like when daylight glare washes a monitor surface, breaking the illusory dancing light behind it.
I really liked that. I remember jamming to game soundtracks on my dirty CRT as a kid. Tried to replicate a bit of that feel. Not much progress since last time and the composition needs to be adjusted to account for the lack of light from the screen (also I may have overdone it), but it's a cool look.
In other news, I'm giving the pwnishers render challenge a try this month, so work on the Cyberpunk scene has stalled. Instead I'm working on another Cyberpunk inspired scene, although this one takes greater inspiration from Bebop and Star Wars.
Currently in the character design phase for the main animation in the scene. The headpiece takes inspiration from traditional Asian Conical Hats, other aspects of the design being inspired by Techwear. I'm trying to avoid cheap orientalism while still paying respect to the culture. It's a weird balancing act.
Been hard at work this month working on this scene for the Render Challenge. (
And by this month I mean the last four days or so.)