ISUther attempt to break in to CGI world
polycounter lvl 6
Hello,
My name is Tanel.
I am from Estonia and i am 34 in age.
My mother tongue is Estonian and i can speak: English, Estonian, Russian and Finnish.
I have worked in past as IT Support for many companies. (Example Nokia, Siemens, Atos, AGA).
I have decided to try to make change in my career path due the fact that IT Support salaries are going down all the time + lost interest due to details in IT Sector that make this type of job unpleasant + it does not make my eyes shine.
But when i see design 3D, 2D and video effects ooh boy those always bring smile on to my face and makes me want to do also something cool and beautiful.
But when i see design 3D, 2D and video effects ooh boy those always bring smile on to my face and makes me want to do also something cool and beautiful.
Years back when first Photoshop came out i did like to mess around there as i did like those cool effects that you were able to do to pictures.
Later i discovered Adobe After Effects that had way more interesting stuff in it. (flares and stuff like that) that was of course long time a go. Then one day i discovered Video Copilot site and later also add-on they have named as Element 3D.
This is how i discovered the 3D.
Started messing around in Cinema 4D and later discovered Houdini FX and from there looking at one tutorial i found out program named as zbrush. Then decided to learn it in order to be able to create my own models.
Regarding one project i had in mind in Houdini i needed a 3d model / sculpt and i did not want to import it as then it would not be my creation but some one else and for me it felt like cheating. So i started with Youtube tutorials and vimeo tutorials as it is for me only source (including this and some other forums).
At that point i all-ready created some animations based on tutorials i found on Youtube and Vimeo.
I did not follow all of them step by stem just took elements and created my won and added my own flavor.
At that point i all-ready created some animations based on tutorials i found on Youtube and Vimeo.
I did not follow all of them step by stem just took elements and created my won and added my own flavor.
At that point i all ready had used Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D and Houdini.
Worked with Houdini about 3 months.
Worked with Houdini about 3 months.
Here are some sample videos i have created (note many of them are bad quality or recorded with phone camera due the fact that was not able to use PC screen recorder as it was rendering).
This for example is my first Adobe After effects video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbp6ZHnIvKc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUuF1S5rh0MThis is created using Video Copilot Element 3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a64WsGDV9Xk This is created in Cinema 4D and also RedGiant Trapcode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOby6S2KOvkThose are created by using Houdini FX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN5QN3b8E7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A217OmB_YNQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeBRRo4Qpmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmzG45coAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckgTBTvOk98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGAXysPal70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj9BOyr9GM4&t=34sAnd now i am trying to learn sculpting in zBrsuh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4llht21JEaQ&t=206sBecause of the project that i have in my mind i need a high detailed model (a plant) but before creating that i need to learn to sculpt. And most of internet tutorials are based on creating character or beast so i decided to put my plant sculpt to pause and learn to sculpt and then continue.
So i searched from internet cool looking ref image and i found few and decided to sculpt based on the ref image.
So here i am sculpting the ogre.
The ogre i am creating is based on reference image i found on internet. So bare in mind that concept i did not create. I am just tying to sculpt based n the image.
So i searched from internet cool looking ref image and i found few and decided to sculpt based on the ref image.
So here i am sculpting the ogre.
The ogre i am creating is based on reference image i found on internet. So bare in mind that concept i did not create. I am just tying to sculpt based n the image.
As i do not have option for school (no money) my only option is to learn things on weekends and after the work looking at different tutorials on youtube and vimeo and ask questions in forums.
I am able to study sculpt and do that 3D stuff after the work.
My usual day starts like this:
07:50 i wake up
09:00 i am at work
17:30 i finish the work
18:30 i am at home
19:30 i am done eating and preparing the food and can start sculpt and study untill 00:30
Average week days i can invest 4 hours
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday i can study and try to create some thing good.
Usually on weekends i am able to study and sculpt 20 to 25 hours (depending will i go sleep on Friday).
Usually on weekends i am able to study and sculpt 20 to 25 hours (depending will i go sleep on Friday).
So average week i invest 40 hours.
With zBrush i have worked about 2 months. And with Houdini i started on 23 June 2016
Hoping that one day a CGI studio can see value in me.
I decided to post my sculpting result here on daily basis, i hope that you do not mind. Hope to get some constructive feedback. (my goal for the feature is to become a 3D sculptor and VFX artist or generalist) Everything related to design would be great as it would help me a lot to improve faster.
Best regards
Tanel
Best regards
Tanel
Replies
Worked with same sculpt yesterday after the work from 20:30 to 01:00
On this weekend + on Friday night evening was working in zbrush.
Worked with upper lip + upper fangs.
Had many issues that i had to solve.
1. Ogre side view was ok but i did not like front view and i still do not like it.
As it is based on ref images side view and front view when you look from side you do not see well how deep those dephs and highs on face surface go.
So you have to change and adjust looking at front view and same time side view.
I do not know any good way to see side view and front view same time. So adjusting the face in front view may mess up it in sive view. The bigger "details".
2. Other issue i had was many, many zbrush crashes and re-loading all the work again. As i am using 4gb ram system (i7) some some times it takes so much time.
3. For example i had 5 sub div levels and at one point i discovered that i have holes in my surface when viewing from specific angle
And when i tried to use "Close Hole" function zbrush crash due low ram.
So i had some times to del lower sub div levels. Enable dynamesh for sec to get rid of the holes. Disable dynamesh. But as dynamesh when there is more details needs more pollys to hold the detail (increases the system load) i used clone >> zremesh >> project all method to get details that i had on my higher level model to lower level model without the holes that i did get.
Anyway i got it fixed and now was working on upper lip, fangs and front and side view.
Here are some test renders.
Note! This ogre is not textured and is based on ref images that i found on internet.
Note! Concept of the ogre is not my created i am just practicing sculpting in hope to get my skill sufficient so that some CGI studio would take me in as Juntior artist.
I am shamed to say stuff that i did fix an sculpt etc took me over 30 hours.
It may be hard to see what i changed there but believe me there was a lot to do.
Take a look for example upper fang-s and upper lip.
I know i am slow but i believe speed comes in time.
As they say: Skill comes in time,beating and beating the craft..
I know u cant see that but it bugs me as hell when i know that something in the model is broken or not right.
Today after the work will add a bit more detail to the lips (nothing insane) and then going to make upper gum and also lip part look better.
Then going to fix lower jaw (minor changes)
May be less is more.. i don`t know have to test
Mixing elements and trying to get good result. Some of elements i found on web (free 3d assets).
Changing them and trying to get interesting new result.
Keep going! And you are right, skills come with time. Just keep grinding
I see only way is to grind. No grind is no result and no result is not success.
My dream is to become a CGI artist. No company wants a person who is not willing to put in time and effort to make it work.
I try my best so may be one day some company sees value in me.
Anyway here is my work today.
When others went out to party i decided to sculpt.
Discipline is important in order to archive my goals. Time is ticking
Note that concept is not mine. I am not trying to be atm concept artist..
My goal is learn zbrush better and feel like home when i use the sofware.
Original ogre idea came from those images:
http://2p.com/4266881_1/Featured-Gallery-Lifelike-3D-Arts-of-Orc-in-World-of-Warcraft-by-EdwardsLin.htm
Skull above and the chain thingy were separate 3D objects that i found on web (as obj files).
So i imported them and started to mix the together to get interesting result.
This in only a idea to create some kind of additional element on to the ogre nose ring and 50% of the elements i downloaded will be hidden.
I needed some good ideas for ring surface.
Aslo having idea atm to create rune-s on to the nose ring.
Will see how it turns out.
End result and goal for this is to take all the sculpt in to Houdini VFX and create effects on to the ogre. (Idea is like statue like element).
May be jaw rigging but not sure. Will see what comes from this.
Planing to do some camera close up shots.
But most of all important for me is to learn zbrush and different methods and same with Houdini.
I am sure that in production time to time they also use mix of elements to create something new.
Going to make it more barbaric and rough later as i will change the sculpt more will test how noise will work on it.
And yes i agree that atm it looks too clean .
Atm i need also to scale the chains on this.
Need to make one end of the chain smaller and every next link on the chain a little bit bigger this includes small chains and also all other parts.
So need to mask em, split em and scale em. As there are many elements it will take more time. After tomorrow work i will continue.
Can work with it every evening after my daily job about 3-4 hours and on weekends 20 + hours.
Some times after friday work i do not go to sleep before Saturday evening, and i try to sculpt straight like 15 hours or more and some times i find myself sleeping behind pc
Currently testing out different ideas to get good end result that will fit to the ogre and his style also.
I often imagine stuff in my head and i try to make those elements, but i never see or can imagine all parts/elements as one.
I see and imagine stuff in my head but all as separate parts. So what i can do is sculpt or try to find obj element that looks similar what i imagined in my head and start changing it to make it look something that i imagined. It may require also ditching most of the obj that i find on internet and take only small part of it. (Like on this case where i ditched a lot from models.)
Note! my Ogre was not imported as a 3d model. It was created from scratch based on ref images that i linked above.
Only skull on nose ring and that chain thingy was imported but they are also changed a lot by me in zbrush.
Often i see stuff in games and movies and pictures etc and then pops up idea in my head that what if i take this and that element and mix them would it be cool i am thinking in my head and then i try to create to see what comes out and often turns out something new and cool.
If you look at the original ogre and my ogre they have similar lines but are different.
I am also a big gamer and movie fan been this like 28 years so i have huge imagination. Atm in my head i have all ready 3 projects that i want to do so they are in queue
So when i get this ogre done i start with next idea that i have.
And maybe i get good material out of my hobby/ work and create my own show-reel so i can represent myself to studios and hope that one day some of them sees value in me and decides to hire me (junior position or similar)
I think it's ok for you to use reference. Maybe later, as you create more and more stuff, you won't need it as much. From what I've seen though, almost everyone uses some.
Yeah, I also have a queue for projects but sadly, I still don't have skill to make most of them atm
Will see how it turns out.
Here is what i have so far..
This will be part of nose ring.
Will see how it will turn out.
Not much but..
This is the ring idea..
Of course it is not done as main body of ring i am thin king to cover with scales.
Dragon scale or similar and tail and horns will be also changed a
http://magazine.artstation.com/2017/02/challenge-coming/
Planing to participate in one part at least.
Goal is not to win goal is to put myself ut there so that people can notice me more.
Ogre project will go on pause when that event starts but will continue afterwards.
Currently working on ogre nose ring and trying to figure out what concept and design goes well with the ogre.
Scale for my ogre nose ring.
As planing to cover nose ring surface with scales.
Did not want to use average scale that you can download as it is too average and boring.
Had to add more "dragonish" element.
This can also be used later for example as Shield for some warrior or something.
Adding cool textures and colors can make it look very cool i think.
But currently working with it as Dragon scale.
Trying one idea to create cool surface for Ogres nose ring.
Not happy with the result atm.
Have to change scales more.
This is work in progress
But now to sleep. Worked with this today from 21:00 til 01.42
almost 5 hours.
I know im slow but what can i do. Cant and i wont do something that is not satisfying to my eyes.
Will continue tomorrow.
Yes i agree that phone recording videos are unprofessional.
Trying to avoid that. My pc has only 6 gigs of ram. This means that rendering out video with audio etc takes some times many hours.
Houdini is way more heavy and when rendering out animation from there it takes some times one week.
Depending how heavy is the file.
Now have to fix some stuff on ogre.
I find a bit hard to get side view and front vie both same time right. Sad that there is no option in zbrush to see front and side same time. (Especially when pulling out the surface or pushing it in.)
Goal is to make Ogre look good in all angles.
Thinking that may be Maya and zbrush workflow will help.
As i noticed in Maya you actually an have front view and side view same time.
So may be it will help me in sculpting and over all goal when using maya and zbrush hand in hand.
Ofcourse that requiers me to start learning Maya as i have not been using that one at all.
But here are some test renders.
Based on Wei Wang 2D drawing
Got Latest Houdini (Amarok)
Why i wanted Model also is
1. it is required in most of CGI positions
2. I needed to to UV-s and zBrush uv-s are not often used production pipeline.
3. I do not like that zBrush does not have option like Maya and Houdini have (to see 2 angles same time), for example front view and perspective view etc.
So now what i did was create a main mesh in Houdini and now started to sculpt on that mesh in zbrush.
This is wip
http://i.imgur.com/D6Z8kN4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ExIK1Mk.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/c2S0Roo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jJo6rYN.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1Y102XL.jpg
Based on Wei Wang concept art.
I have only front face reference image.
So it is a challenge for me as sculpt has to look good from all angles and same time be very close and accurate to the ref image.
Here is what i have so far.
Today after work will continue working on bottom teeth. Have to create now bottom middle teeth and then right side fangs.
As fangs will be different on both sides i can mirror but need to change the fangs.
Then will move and work with upper teeth as currently there is no upper teeth.
Then will need to work more with lips, and also make jaw a bit fatter from some spots
Then will work on ears and eyes and eyebrows
After that is done need to fix torso and neck.
When all of that is done i think i have to do retopo and then uv-s and start to learn texturing
Below are some sample images of my orc (wip).
Based on Wei Wang concept art.
Have not uploaded all the videos but got all videos saved to my PC SSD
Everything is created by me from scrach
Using ofcourse ref images
And it is not done
None of the pictures is taken with the phone.
Videos yes i used phone because i wanted to add audio and my explanations easy way without having to render every time many hours.
Those videos are not something dead serious or i would ever use those to apply to some kind of job.
Those are more like video vlog or similar.
This topic here is more like to show the progress or "progress" i have to motivate some one else also not to give up on your dreams.
My dream is to become full job 3D artist.
You are living the dream i am trying to get there
Keep going.
I suggest you take a look at https://anatomy4sculptors.com/art/ and read the Bridgeman books too. Looks at the primary forms / Angle break / Volume from these ressources and learn them. It'll improve your stuff a lot. Anatomy is not just about which muscle goes where, it's about volume and how it all work together too.
You should take a look at Gio Nakpil classes too, he has a very good way of teaching volumes.
It's a long process but you seem motivated.
I will take a look at those also.
Been working with the orc.
Tryng to add mass now + changed some things (tho saved my own sculpted anatomy mesh).
Got via twitch channel from pixologic streams correct workflow for retopo and when it is needed and why and what cases and what are optional software's to use to do that. (way faster then getting help from forum some times) and often people are more nicer to you. Forums in other hand some times people are nice but also not so nice. They do not like me or my style or what ever and start mocking.
But anyhow atm working on retopo all quads and trying follow polyflow.
Sculpt in not symmetrical.
Was on holidays (4 weeks) and managed to invest 424 hours in to zbrush and learning 3D.
But now to basic schedule:
07:00 wake up
08:00 drive to work
09:00 work starts
17:30 work ends
17:30 to 18:30 drive to shop to buy food and drive home
18:30 to 19:30 train at basement gym
19:30 to 20 30 make food / eat and shower
20:30 to 01:30 study 3D and sculpt.
wake up and repeat + all weekends
Have not posted here ling time.
Been busy with tutorials and practice
Here are some progress pictures and where i am with my personal project at the moment:
Using UDIM-s (3 tiles atm)
Atm working with Epithermal map.