ZBRUSH RETOPOLOGY WORKFLOW TUTORIAL

2009 GAME ART PORTFOLIO: FROM CONCEPT TO COMPLETION: PROGRESS REPORT #1

Hello all game artists! Today I have decided to start showing my progress on creating my new portfolio for 2009. I really should have had this finished by now. Many distractions, including writing this blog, have factored into the delay in finally completing an actual decent, well thought-out update to my portfolio. I figured one way to motivate me a bit more would be to post my progress on The Gamer Report (to show you I also try to practice what I preach) and show updates along the way for you to see what it is that I do. Or at least, what I want to do for a living.

Trying to get a job in the game industry as a game artist is very competitive so updating your portfolio, as much as possible, is really the only way to stay above other artists. The more you work on it, the better it gets and the better your chances of getting hired over someone who is still shopping their student demo reel. Once again, I’m taking my own advice, especially after I found out some crazy news on Friday April 17. Read on…

I recently found out that I may be a Canadian citizen (applying for proof of certificate as I type this) which means, all the Canadian studios that turned me down because I didn’t qualify for a work visa in 2007 and 2008, I can now re-apply to these studios if I do end up getting proof of citizenship through a new law that was passed. Canada is where I want to be right now anyway so this is major news in my life. Trust me, I’ll be announcing to the world that I am a Canadian citizen if my application is approved. I’ll keep you informed, but it’s pretty interesting being one of the “Lost Canadians”.

So without further ado, here are a few screenshots of what I am working on in order to start applying to game studios again. It’s basically a simple street corner scene I started a while ago. The main focus is going to be the building on the corner which is a small pub/bar called Cyle’s. In honor of my nephew I lost last year in a car accident. Let’s just say he loved to cook, loved his beer, and well… my fiance and I have always wanted to open up a restaurant/bar/lounge someday and it just made sense when I started modeling this. We couldn’t think of anything better to call a neighborhood hangout other than Cyle’s. It’s my special tribute to him because well… this is what I do.
As of now, the scene is only about 20,000 Polys and I haven’t decided if I am going to add more. I seem to get burnt out sometimes with scenes like this because sometimes my ideas are too big, I end up not completing what I started. I have taken some things out of the scene to reduce my workload but I’m not kidding myself, this is going to take a lot of work to finish. As you can see, most of my UV’s (I know.. yuck!) are done. I have to rearrange some objects on the UV space and match up other objects to make sure the resolution is similar in size still but for the most part, the grueling UV work is complete. Just a few adjustments left and I can start exporting to other programs.

I really want to move onto texturing already because I know that’s one of my weaknesses and I need practice. But I think I’ve decided to take a majority of the scene into ZBrush first to generate some professional looking normal maps. Especially the street and sidewalk with all the cracks and rubble I want to add. I’ve watched a few ZBrush tutorials recently so I am hoping my ZBrush skills will shine with this new scene. I won’t get into too much detail with this first post but I will definitely be updating this and try to explain what it is I have done to get it to look the way it does.

By the way, I am primarily using Maya 2009, ZBrush 3.1 and Photoshop CS4 in order to complete this project. I had plans to add this scene into the Unreal Engine but we’ll see what happens. I haven’t done that before so this is all a new experiment for me. Glad to take you along for the ride. I hope to learn some new things and share with you what I’ve learned. I have a feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of problem solving once I get deeper into the shader creation, lighting and maximizing my color, normal, spec and diffuse maps.

Until then, happy modeling.

ZBRUSH: WHEN GAME ART BECOMES FINE ART

Pixologic ZBrush has no doubt revolutionized high poly modeling. For the game industry and film industry, ZBrush is becoming the must have 3D sculpting tool. I have spent a lot of time in ZBrush but have yet to reach my potential. The artists featured over at Pixologic’s Turntable page are some of the best artists I have ever seen. They have featured some of their ZBrush work all in 3D, so you can get a full 360 degree view of their extremely detailed models. Make sure to bookmark this one as it is very inspiring.

See more at Pixologic…

GAME CAREER SPOTLIGHT: INTERVIEW WITH GAME ARTIST JC CAPPELLETTI

Game schools are only as good as the quality of its instructors. Fortunately for me, my time at VanArts was a positive one thanks to its qualified instructors alone. The program was successful for me because of people like JC Cappelletti. From the first time I walked in for Maya instruction not understanding why this dude was teaching the lesson so fast, to graduation day as I shook his hand after graduating with honors.. excuse me, honours. JC was always there to teach us however much we were willing to learn. I tried to soak up everything I could, whether it be in Maya, Photoshop or other Adobe multimedia programs. However, there are two courses that I will always remember and that’s his instruction on sculpting with clay and sculpting in ZBrush.

In sculpting, it was very inspiring as a game student to see what used to be a glob of what looked like Silly Putty (Super Sculpey) turned into a sculpture of Batman, or a sculpture of an elderly man or if he got bored enough, a sculpture of one of our ugly faces. The skills and techniques he taught us in that class transferred over into his instruction in ZBrush. Sculpting with your hands first made it easier to learn how to sculpt digitally on a computer. Personally, I thought it was genius to do it this way and we happened to be the first class to get a program set up like this, leaving the students in the game art program ahead of us, quite jealous.

So have you ever met a person who possesses such an amazing talent you just sit in awe as you watch them create their art? Well for me, that person is JC and lucky for us, he gave The Gamer Report an inside look into his adventurous path into the game industry. Even though he has been involved in the game industry and in game education for years, I believe his path has only just begun.

First off I’d like to establish who you are and what your background is in the game industry.

I began about 11 years ago with Graphic Design interning for a book publisher. I created layouts primarily using Photoshop and Illustrator. Over the next few years, my work ranged from Video Editing to Freelance Graphic Design to Sign Production.

I reached a point where I was severely bored with work. Sculpting has always been what I do best, so I naturally had an eagerness to translate those skills to the booming 3D market. When I was able, I enrolled at VanArts (Vancouver Institute of Media Arts) to better my skills and shift careers.

I graduated from the Game Art and Design course at VanArts in February, 2004. Later that year, I pitched a game concept I had to an investor and got the funding to build a Proof of Concept. I formed Veda Games, and began pre-production with a team of 8 artists and animators. The studio was opened in India, because of the investor’s choice to save overhead costs. I worked on some of the models and directed all the artwork for the project.

I pitched my POC at the 2005 GDC meetings in San Francisco. It was much harder to get a game published than I heard it had been a few years earlier. The idea was well received, but since we were a new studio, the publishers wanted to see a Playable Demo before they would consider any deals. Over the next six months, my investor raised funds while I worked more on the script and concept art direction. In Summer of 2005, I interviewed many and hired about 20 more artists. We then expanded our studio in India to work on the Playable Demo. Due to many unfortunate circumstances, the investor pulled the funds and closed the studio before the project was complete.

Shortly after returning from India in early 2006, I began teaching at VanArts. During that time, I was the Game Art Program Coordinator, and teaching the Sculpture in Clay, Character Modeling, and Photoshop courses. In April 2008, I became the Production Manager at Offload Studios, where we provide full-color 3D prints (Rapid Prototypes), primarily for the Video Game industry. I absolutely love making cool toys all day.

Where did you go to school and how did it help you get to where you are today?

I went to VanArts for Game Art and Design. It was a very new program back then, in fact it was the first course anywhere in Vancouver. It gave me some very good training in 3D fundamentals, but I still have to continually educate myself to keep up with new software as it is released. Going back to school was the best thing I could do for my career. The best thing I got was direct contacts to industry professionals. Almost every job I have gotten since then has been directly linked to someone I met while going to school there.

Please explain what Offload Studios is all about and where it fits in the game industry.

Offload Studios provides high-end 3D printing from digital media files to the Game and Film Industries. Some want to have Fine Art sculptures created for their desks and lobbies, or prototypes of characters to aid in their production process. Our main focus is with games that want to turn User-created Content into actual 3D printed collectibles. Because every 3D file that is printed is created by a different person, each of the products generated is completely unique and personalized. Each product is printed in full color from the texture files as well. This technology has been around for a few years, but this application to the game industry is fairly new.

What does your job entail at Offload Studios, what skills do you need to do your job and what’s the best part about working there?

I do a lot of everything here. I was first brought in to do Character Modeling, but as we expanded, I began to fill a more full role with OLS. Now I focus mostly on the production of the 3D products, or Tactuals as we like to call them. It’s a very fitting word actually, meaning a touchable object. I am constantly developing the production process we use to get the highest possible quality 3D prints. Most recently I had to solve the problem of getting LED lights into an IronMan Fine Art print.

I take files that are submitted to us for print, Zbrush, Max, Maya mostly, and prepare the file for printing. A lot of these details can be found on the Offload Studios FAQ. It details all the considerations and checklists that need to be done in order to have a successful print. Successful meaning that it will print without errors in geometry and not fall apart when the print is finished. A common misconception is that these 3D printers are like a Replicator machine from Star Trek, where you just input data and out pops a finished product like a vending machine. I’d like to dispel any idea of that crap. The product is far from finished when the printer is done printing. I can’t get into any details about what we do with post production here because it is a trade secret, and I am under a strict NDA.

I can’t pick any part of this job I like best. I finally feel like I am doing what I’m meant to. I am a very hands-on person. I’ve always loved sculpting and creating things with my hands. I consider myself a maker of wonderful things now, and I love every bit of it.

How long have you been sculpting and what inspired you to take this as a career path?

I was exposed to clay sculpture and mold making from an early age by my father. As a child, I was also heavily influence by the work of Ray Harryhausen, and the creatures in films like Star Wars, and Legend. The Incredibles is currently my favorite film. I noticed I had a very strong ability to sculpt when I was in high school, but did not pursue a career in it, with the false information that an artist must starve. In High School, for some reason I never imagined there was a way to approach the video game industry as a career choice. The only related schooling back then, before even 3D games were standard, was a very generic “Graphic Design” program at an Art School.

What words of advice would you give to an aspiring artist trying to make it in the game industry?

Try to create something that inspires you. It can be derived from something popular, but the best is to create something that is both interesting and original. Esthetics are very important. Also, avoid stereotypical ideas. Something pleasing to the eyes for both genders. Doing lots of visual research on something that is based in an old-world culture is quite popular with the studios these days. Mostly it depends on the studio. If you have a particular studio in mind, the best thing to do is research that studio and know what projects they are working on or have done recently. Then base your demo reel on a related subject matter. This is mostly important to Modelers. Animators just need to be good actors first, then learn the tools second.

Check out JC’s ZBrush Workflow Tutorial I posted a few days ago…

TOP ANIMATION AND VISUAL EFFECTS TOOLS OF 2008

In order to get a job in the game industry, you must know a few, ok ok, a lot of software programs. The more programs you learn, the more well rounded you are as a potential game artist. I have been trained to use Maya, Photoshop, ZBrush and just a bit of Blender. Unfortunately, there are many game studios that also would like to see applicants who know other programs as well since not everyone likes using the same programs. 3Ds Max, Softimage and the Unreal Game Editor help to round off the most popular. So what are the top tools being used right now in the game industry? The folks at Animation Magazine have a list of the top 10 animation and visual effects tools used in 2008. Go check ’em out!

Read more at Animation Magazine…

PIXOLOGIC: AN EPIC INTERVIEW

Game Art Students- Take advantage of this in depth interview with EPIC games artists. I know I am. Epic Games was very generous in a recent interview with Pixologic which gives us an inside look at the ZBrush workflow some of their top notch artists used to create the world of Gears. One of the Environment Artists I have been seeing around the Polycount forums is Kevin Johnstone. If you have not seen this guys work before, it is very impressive and I wish I was at his level of expertise. You can see some of his work here in this interview as Epic was extremely generous in sharing many ZBrush screenshots for this interview. But if you get a chance, try to find some of his other work on Polycount.com. He may have some work up on CG Society too I can’t remember. Definitely worth your time if you want to be an Environment Artist like me.

For Character Artists, look no further than Chris Perna’s and Kevin Lanning’s gallery. All your favorite Gears of War characters in crazy high definition detail. Some of the screenshots make my heart skip a beat when I look at them, they’re so bad ass.

Read more at Pixologic…