CGSociety´s Game character creation review..

freakmean16

Hey guys, Im new in this forum, well not that new, never posted anything here though...Well heres my shot, I want to enter the CGS game char creation course with Jon Rush and Im look for all the feedback I can, so If you know someone who have taken this course, or youre one of em, please let me know how is it, I´d really appreciate this...

Thanks....

Moosey_G

I don't think you're going to find feedback easily about this specific course, what are you looking for exactly?

freakmean16

How is the course, the things Ill learn, is it good, bad, awesome, not so good, its difficult, well whatever, and some other courses, material, related to game modeling tecniques...

MoP

Jon Rush is a polycounter, maybe he can tell you himself!

Although I guess he might be a bit biased...

bounchfx

I JUST finished it. It was completely worth it. Learned a ton and I'm a lot more confident making characters now.

You should have a good grasp on modeling already to get started (basically don't go into this never having used 3D before). I would say this is an intermediate level course.

but check out the class page, it answers a lot of your questions:
http://workshops.cgsociety.org/courses/000145/


and yeah, he's floating around here somewhere.

Jon Rush

It's been a fun course. Now is a good time to hop in on it, as a lot of new videos and techniques are coming down the pipe. A lot of tips and tricks to make the entire process a bit more streamlined...

You'd be getting:

600+ minutes of narrated video
40+ images/diagrams
40+ pages of text

Not to mention, I critique everyone's work at least once a day for the entire 8 weeks.

I hope to see you there. The course is also being offered in mid October.

freakmean16

Hey, thats some good feedback here, thanks to all of you guys for the quick replys, Jon Ill try to join, really, Im just doing some arrangements so Ill be there, hey Jon another question, youre going full 3DS Max here, or we´re able to work in another app, Topogun, Blender, etc...????Thanks in advance man....

bounchfx

for the last class we used 3D Max / ZBrush / Topogun / Photoshop / XNormal.

I'm sure you could use maya but then you wouldn't benefit from all the 3d max tips.

disanski

Man .. just do it I did it 1 year ago and I learned so much. Also Jon is the best teacher I ever had .... he will be in the class forum more than you and will be as helpful as you can imagine +1. The best investment I have ever made
Jon nice to see you on the forum again nice new photo heh

Jon Rush

Hi guys,

Glad to read that you all had so much fun in the course

freakmean16 - That's a good question. The original content for the course was done with 3D Studio Max in mind.

I've had a number of students using different modeling packages... XSI, Modo, Maya, Max, etc... they've all enjoyed the course, and had no problems despite the software difference. One of my goals for the course going forward is to make it non-app specific in regards to modeling programs. The class shader is actually being phased out in this course run, and I'm going to be introducing a stand-alone viewer such as Marmoset Toolbag.

The only thing you'd need Max for in this course would be the normals and AO bakes (granted, that's being phased out as well, and will be demonstrated in XNormal -free program as well). I make a pretty detailed explanation of how to get through those parts, so it still shouldn't be a problem for someone using another application. That doesn't come around until week 6 or so, so at that time you could just download the 30 day trial of Max and have plenty of time for making those bakes.

Modeling principles should transfer over to other applications pretty easily...

I teach Topogun in this course, and students receive a 20% discount if they wish to purchase a license.

freakmean16

Thats cool, Im really into it, getting the most out of anything we can use is the main goal I think, so in whatever app we work is good for me, I really want to learn the tips for a good baking in Xnormal, I really like this app, but never got the results I see around, also Marmoset, those 2 are my choice for real time previews.......cool, just cool.....

Ahh Topogun, amazing app, I dont know why, but my betatester license still works, so everything is telling me go on, get that course....

Man im very very excited, finally a game modeling course, thats awesome...really, thanks for the feedback Jon and all of you guys, Im definetly in.....

Ahh

Jon Rush

Great! I hope to see you there!

Tom Ellis

Hey Jon, I've got a couple questions about the course if you've got a minute! It looks great and I think I could really benefit from a character specific course.

1. Is it open to International students? I'm based in the UK.

2. Is there much in the way of anatomy covered on the course? This is an area I've particularly struggled with during my attempts at characters and seeing it covered in a pro production workflow would be very helpful.

3. Do you have any links to examples of work created by previous students?

4. And finally, do you know when registration will open up for the October course?

Many thanks

Jon Rush

Hi creationtwentytwo,

Thanks for your interest in the course - I'll go ahead and run down your list of questions:

1) Yup! I get students from all over the world... Bulgaria, Italy, Brazil, UK, Canada, Netherlands, etc...

2) Indirectly. There are no lessons specific to human anatomy. However, most people end up making buff He-man type dudes, so when critiquing the Zsculpts, anatomy comes up quite a bit in the paintovers.

3) Yes! There have been a number of great pieces made in the course, here are a few. Please see attached images...

4) The October course will probably open for registration in mid September. Ads generally run for one month before the class start date.


Registration is still open for the August 2nd course as well.

Hope to see you there!

Tom Ellis

Nice one Jon thanks for the reply.

I'm not gonna make the August course as I want to ensure I've got at least a few days where work is quiet to really dedicate some time to it so I get the best from it.

Some of the example work looks great too!

Jon Rush

Np - hope to see you sometime down the road

SpeCter

Is it possible to use Mudbox instead of Zbrush or use the 3Point Shader instead of Marmoset/Ben Clowards shader?
And how often are these courses(i mean when the current one is finished, when will the next one start)?I can´t take part this time but i want to take part next time if i can.

Jon Rush

Hi SpeCter,

Of course you can use whatever programs you'd like. However, I use the majority of the programs I teach because I feel they are the best.

If you change up the course so much on your end, I won't be able to assist you with software related questions as effectively.

You might be best off looking for a workshop that's more attuned to your needs. However, if you feel like using alternate programs and trying new things, feel free to stop by.

SpeCter

I would use Zbrush, it would not be the first time i did,so if you can explain things for zbrush i can do that in mudbox(if possible).
I prefer mudbox over zbrush because I own Mudbox.I don´t want t be restricted by the 30 day trial of Zbrush if I can use Mudbox for an unlimited time, but if the 30 day trial is enough i would use Zbrush too.
And using the 3Point Shader gives me more freedom then ben clowards and Marmoset is not free anymore(i have the old version though).

Anbd i would love to try new things, i´m always eager to learn

Jon Rush

Hi SpeCter,

That all sounds good to me. The 3 point shader should be fine...

For the 30 day zBrush trial, you'll need that program for more than 30 days, as it's used for most of the course content. If they made a 6 week trial version, you'd be good! :P

SpeCter

Hehe, i thought so, thats why i asked for using Mudbox