4/28/14 Thorn base color, Skylander Redesign and Centiaq Prelims!

Hey everyone!

This week I was able to finished the basic color texture for Thorn!  I was able to bake a diffuse layer combining all of my textures and saving me a ton of time.  I am over joyed at the fact he looks like his 2D counterpart! With minimal color changes I'm able to now move into the detail phase and get some nice texturing work in!

As I stated last week I was going to post the prelims for the Centiaq genders.  So here they are, male and female!  The male, while still well built will have a bit rounder quality about them as most male opera singers happen to be large around the belly for better resonance.

And finally this week's Skylander!

This week was a redesign, and the lucky redesign is Wrecking Ball!  The way this process works is (as I am still new to a lot of their back stories) my friend reads off to me a back story excluding name, or physical description while only giving me his element and attack functions. And then in as little time as possible, form a concept.  This week I was able to brain storm a name, concept and add some basic colors in under an hour.

So this is RanSnack, a Magic element based frog food thief who uses his tongue for a majority of his attacks.  He stores his food in his magical handkerchief!  This came from the story of "Boiling a frog" based on his back story and just continued from there.  Like I said before hes a redesign of Wrecking Ball, a character I wasn't familiar with before.  After I was done concepting I referred to Wrecking Ball for color direction, and I'm quite pleased with the results.

Next week I'm planning on having a finished linework for the Centiaq along with an original Skylander design and most likely more pieces getting ready for color!

Until Next time!

-Jordan

4/21/14 Thorn UV complete, Elsa and Skylanders!

Hey everyone!

Thorn has officially been completely UV'd! And now onto the fun texturing!  Along with this I have a brand new Redesign for the character formally known as Elsa and finally something rather special; my first Skylanders design!

So first up Thorn!

Hes completely UV'd!  And I found I really prefer this number checker rather than the default checker that Maya comes equipped with.  While organic shapes tend to be difficult to UV I find it rather meditative!

Next up the character formally known as Elsa!

So as most of you have seen her before, this is nearly an entire redesign (Elsa is on the left).  There were a couple reasons behind the redesign: 1) Her name kept spawning "Frozen" conversations which was getting rather annoying. 2)  Her character just didn't grow and capture me like the others (Grant, Thorn, Pacifica). 3) she was just an all around awkward character to talk about, she just didn't fit in.

Her new name has yet to given as I am still deciding with my colleague, but in short her character is that of a Pirate captain who's been the victim of a mutiny and left by herself in an unknown land where she happens to run into Grant.  Shes striving to restore her honor and exact revenge on those who stole her ship.  Shes cunning, strong willed and most of all patient.

As for the design on the right, I'm currently looking into designing the Velodine to be a bit more (for lack of a better term) classic vampiry.

And finally for something completely different!

This week I had the opportunity to fall in love with a game I other wise thought was made up of generic fantasy toys... I was far from right.  I for the first time sat down and played Skylanders and it was love at first touch and being a huge collector of toys it just made sense.  I was charmed by the game and I immediately wanted in on this!  The fact that kids all over the world get to enjoy something so inspiring and so creatively shaping, I can't contain myself and I'm both jealous that I didn't have this as a kid and extraordinarily happy for this generation of kids.

So without further ado this is Skull Bash, my first Skylanders design

My colleague who's focusing on writing and game design actually wrote up his ability set already complete with the name of his stead!

Lines:

Summoning Portal Phrase: “Breach the apocalypse!”
Collecting Loot: “More treasure for the underworld.”
Randomly said: “Bonk and bash!”
Randomly said 2: “Ride on, Taxidermy!”
When defeating a hard enemy: “That’s using your head!”

Starting Abilities:
Charge!: Hold A. Charges forth on Taxidermy, hurting enemies that stand in the way.
Swipe Attack!: Pressing B, Skull Bash swings his mace on either side of him.

Upgrades:
Baton Toss: Throws the Mace, then teleports Skull Bash to it.
Tombstone Rumble: Taxidermy stomps his feet, shaking the earth and knocking enemies away.

Spec Upgrades:
Ragehorse: Engulfs Taxidermy in fire, dealing fire damage to those it strikes.
Fury Mace: Your mace deals more damage and swings faster!

Robert's email

haywrites@gmail.com 

I enjoyed this so much that I plan to attempt to do one new character each week.  These could be anything from a sketch to an image like this one above.

Next week is gonna be a blast!  Expect a base textured Thorn and a rough turn around for the Centiaq!

Until Next Time!

-Jordan

4/14/14 Thorn UV'ing

Hello everyone!

This week's post is gonna be a bit opposite from last week's!  Thorn update with no 2D being posted!  Shocking I know!

I took this week to just gesture sketch to loosen up again, jotting down new ideas on how to further Elsa and new directions for a few characters!  I've also begun work on Race turn arounds!  I'll be posting a male and female version for each race to the quality of my previous work in the Art section of this blog! So stay tuned!

Now for Thorn's progress!

 As you can see I've almost completed Thorn's body mesh UV, only torso and hand remaining.  I'm using a far better method of UV'ing than I have in the past so its taking a little bit more time to get it second nature.  But like all things, the pace is really starting to pick up and I'm over joyed by the results!

 I'm pretty proud of his facial mesh!  The large mesh on the right is the interior of mouth.

And of course I couldn't resist an image with all of his armor back on!

Next week this blog should see the prelims for the first race I'll be fabricating --The Centiaq!  And a roughly textured Thorn!

Until Next time!

- Jordan

4/7/14 Class Concepts

Hello everyone!

No 3D work this week!  A bit of 2D work though!

This week I focused on Class concepts for the RPG, and its really starting to shape the original ideas for Grant and the gang!

So first up is a Race that hasn't seen the light of day on this blog!  The Absolara! This race is based on the idea of fear and retribution.  They worship the sun out of fear and respect its power and in turn base their entire culture around it.  This race is solely female.  The Scythe created from solar power is their primary weapon as they are the reapers and harbingers of the Sun.

I had this idea that these creatures hide from the sun in their suits of armor that are solar powered, yet completely shrouded in darkness within the suit.  Their eyes glow from the constant exposure to solar power.  I feel it gives them the inhuman creature within visual.   Divine, cold, retribution.

 This class I have displayed here is the Sun Harvester.  This class absorbs light through their armor and then stored for other uses.  Here I have one of the abilities being shown,  Brilliant Flash.  A quick burn ability but fantastic for quick escapes or immobilizing the enemy.

Next up is the Carverkin Cannondolier.  Utilizing the Carverkin's great strength  They've attached a giant cannon to their arm.  While still very much the scrapper, the Carverkin is slowed down a bit but makes up for it in mid range combat, being able to fire many kinds of ammunition.

Next up is the Earth Shaper!  Essentially a Carverkin mixed with shamanism, the Earth Shaper must always be in contact with the elements through their great Pick Axe in order to utilize the elements.  They cover themselves in anything they can find in nature rather than crafted material.

And finally The Velodine Executioner.  Feared by all, the Executioner is an agile killer.  Wielding a glaive with both hands or possibly their tail, they can quickly cut down anyone who stands in their way.  Being light on their feet and gaining more balance through their tail,  no one is too powerful or large to be overcome by the Executioner.

Next week their will be a bit more 3D work finished as this week was mainly used for UV techniques!  More 2D work on class concepts to come as well!

Until Next time!

-Jordan