Sketchbook: Sean VanGorder

Sean VanGorder · Apr 2011

So I've put off ever creating a sketchbook due to the fact that every time I create something I KNOW I can do better. But I guess that's the point of the these threads, to see the progression of one's work over time. I'll start posting random pieces in here, whether they be finished or a wip, a quick doodle or a polished piece.

Here's a few things a did in the past 2 weeks. Some of these were for a freelance gig and were slightly rushed, but I'm still moderately happy with how they came out.

I've been trying to nail down a solid technique for sculpting stone and rocks. I think I've gotten to the point where they don't look shitty anymore(literally), but it could still use some work. I need to work on getting stronger forms and deeper crevices before I'm completely satisfied with my methods.

I'll be posting more work soon.

Jeremy Tabor · Apr 2011

Free your mind... embrace The Suck.

No, but good job, you masochist. More art plz.

Daven · Apr 2011

Can you teach me how to paint?

Sean VanGorder · May 2011

Kind of a speed model. Testing out new key bindings and what not. Edges are too sharp in some spots, but oh well.

Daven · May 2011

That's my girl

Sean VanGorder · May 2011

I'm copying my blog post here, cause I'm a lazy bastard.

Words cant describe how excited I am for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, the next installment in one of my favorite game series. So to stifle some of this excitement until the November release date, I decided to work on a little Skyrim inspired scene for my portfolio. I hope this scene will show off what I know about the Unreal engine, and hopefully Ill learn a lot more in the process.

After a few days work, this is where the scene currently stands.

Pretty much everything in the scene is still temporary, as Im trying to get an overall sense of scale and composition. I spent the past weekend working on the trees, and as the post title insinuates, it was quite a pain. Since this is going into my portfolio, I was dead set on not using Speedtree to auto generate trees for my scene. So between this being my first time modeling trees from scratch, and learning how to get custom foliage to light correctly in Unreal, I pretty much threw myself into the deep end with this.

The trick to getting custom foliage to work correctly in Unreal is to assign explicit normals the the alpha planes. This evens out the lighting across the mesh and gets rid of the planar look of the foliage. This took me a few days and a lot of research to figure out, and caused a lot of frustration along the way. The results are totally worth it though. Im considering writing up a short tutorial on how to apply explicit normals in 3ds Max and export them via FBX to Unreal, since there doesnt seem to be much information on it at the moment.

I still need to tweak the textures and create variations of the trees, but Im pretty happy with how they initially turned out. I still need to finish up the water shader and improve the mountains, and then I can start adding smaller props to fill out the environment.

Sean VanGorder · Aug 2011

Kot_Leopold · Aug 2011

Truly incredible work. Keep it up!

Jeremy Tabor · Aug 2011

WHO IS THIS SEAN VANGORDER PERSON?

Daven · Aug 2011

STRANGER DANGER!

Sean VanGorder · Aug 2011

Found an old tiling brick texture I did and re-rendered it in Marmoset.

Sean VanGorder · Aug 2011

Gotta call it finished for the time being. Stupid school work.

Sean VanGorder · Sep 2011

Relatively quick model for school

Moshbeast · Nov 2011

this is some really amazing work...how long have you been doing 3d models, textures and been working with udk? also could you post the diffuse, specular and normal map for the tileable texture?

Zeldrak · Nov 2011

truly awesome work dude, i'll be keeping my eye on these, I might learn a lot from you.

Sean VanGorder · Dec 2011

I've been practicing some zbrush lately, working on different techniques for stone.

Some tests on a tiling stone pattern

And this was more of just me doodling with no goal. I guess it's a stylized rocky surface?

Sean VanGorder · Feb 2012

Here's my two latest projects.

UPDATED RENDER

Sean VanGorder · Feb 2012

Doodled a bit in zbrush today, thought it looked kinda cool.

Darkleopard · Feb 2012

They look great. Any chance of seeing the texture maps for some of thsse?

Callesw · Feb 2012

that greenish hallway looks really cool. Great atmosphere!

Sean VanGorder · Feb 2012

Gave Rocky a quick texture

Sculpt

Blaisoid · Feb 2012

http://seanvangorder.com/images/izmojuki2_render.png
this looks great.
glass looks a bit like steel though.

Sean VanGorder · Apr 2012

A modular piece for an environment I'm working on. Nothing too special, but I'm really pleased that I got some decent looking normals and lightmap specular inside UDK.

Daven · Apr 2012

You working from any concepts or are you just spit-balling? Looks dunk-a-licious.

Eoq · Apr 2012

I'm a fan! *pun intended*

Sketchbook: Sean VanGorder

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