My first week back

So the course has changed quite a bit. Not only because I am now a second year student but also because the course was moved to a whole new building with new lecturers to boot. With a syntec tablet suit, new life drawing, modelling rooms and labs. There is a lot more room to work in.

For game production our first project is to create a scene of trash. We were then given tutorials on projection mapping and how to efficiently use it. Which was something I continuously wanted to be shown the year previously but was never given the opportunity to. We also began trying to use the cloth modifier to create bin bags. On top of that I was able to quickly get back into using 3ds Max, so overall game production seems to be going well.

For my first weeks visual design project I had to draw at abbey park. On top of creating traditional thumbnails we also had to create digital ones. Moving into colour was quite a big step for me as I'm not very clued up on picking the right tones.
So I began with my traditional sketches.

I then moved on to digitizing my sketches.

For my final I wanted to experiment with turning a grey scale into colour. So I picked the top grey scale thumbnail to try and colour and refine.

There are still extra details I need to add to it. It also probably needs more contrast. But I have a lot of fun experimenting with layers and creating my own brushed with this piece so I still find it successful even though it may not be visually pleasing. I may go back and do a second final for the project based on another thumbnail. But for now I need to move on.

Another look back

So after a very long summer, and disappointing results I've had to reflect quite a bit on my first year. I always knew that my game production was the weakest subject but I was a little surprised by my similar marking in visual design as that's where I felt I was stronger.  I think it comes to my summer slump where I wasn't trying as hard and completing work just to complete it and not putting my whole effort into it.

One such example could be my weapon project.

The aim was to create a post apocalyptic weapon from scrap that we find. With the help of some friends I used an umbrella, old parts of circuits, a broken drill and a snowball maker. I didn't do many designs for the weapon and simply assembled all the objects together. This then made it difficult to model in 3d as I had mainly taped things together and due to the lack of much colour other than orange it wasn't overall very impressive. 

So some of my 3rd term work didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. Yet generally I think I progressed a lot in my first year. I'm specifically proud of my 3 hour museum final. I know I wouldn't have been able to draw the same thing to the same standard. I've improved a lot on my contrast which is something I struggle with a lot. I'm also proud of my two point perspective final and my 3d building project.

These 3 pieces of work I would never have been able to accomplish without the course, or at least as quickly as I did. I want to continue to keep accomplishing things on the course that I otherwise wouldn't be able to, and strive to do even better this year. In order to do that I want to improve my 3d skills. Learning about projection mapping will help me create better textures for my models. And I also want to learn how to use Z brush to create my high poly models.

For my visual design I want to try to get better at photoshop as it is something I struggle with.Digital painting will become a big part of the year so i need to become comfortable using it efficiently.

Over the summer I tried to stay productive and do work but it didn't end well. I was quite unproductive so I'm going to make sure I stay productive and complete all my projects on time and not rush them.So stay posted to see how things go.