What I have been up to..

I haven't updated this blog in a while due to me being busy during the semester but now I have some time to work on a few personal projects and a few updates on this blog.

So, I've completed another semester with with mostly A's. I got a C in character development but I expected that since I have never been a good writer, but I definitely tried my best. All in all I am satisfied with what I got. At the end of the semester my program has an events where the students can showcase some of there work and a have a few guest speakers that work in the game development industry. Towards the end the program chair and faculty handed out 14 awards to the best students in different courses. I was surprised I received one of those awards but definitely proud of myself. That moment showed me that I was heading in the right direction to my career. A few of the awards were also given to some of the most improved or dedicated students.

Now that I have some free time away from school. I am currently starting fresh with Maya. I haven't used that program since I took 3D Animation, so all of my modeling is done in 3ds Max. I now understand why so many artist work with Maya. Modeling in Maya seems easier and more flexible. Max is also a great program that is based heavily on modeling, but I feel like as far as organic modeling goes, Maya is better. Maya has better tools to work with curves and more "shortcuts" into achieving the some complex shapes that Max would take more time and skill to make. Besides Max and Maya are pretty standard in Animation, Game Design and Visual Effects.

I have also been looking more into what schools I would like to attend once I graduate. I'm glad that I have taken a drawing class, because most of the schools require a portfolio, so I already have a few pieces I can hand in.

I will be talking more on schools and I will also post some more of my work very soon.

Battling Robots

In graphic design, I was assigned to recolor two robots using a certain Theme, Good vs. Evil, Liberal vs. Conservative, and one of my choice (I chose Mac vs. PC), we were not allowed to add any shapes or lines, but we could use gradients and other effects. Of course I went the extra mile and added a background to help bring the theme out. So here it is.

Graphic Designs

So it's been a while since I last blogged on here. I've had a busy semester but I have finally gotten past midterm, so everything from now until December will only get either more challenging or easier.

So below is one of the first assignments  I did for Graphic Design, I had to create a box art of a game of my choice. So I've decided to do Halo 4, which wasn't released at the time. This honestly wasn't that much of a challenge since I've had a lot of experience with Photoshop prior to this class, but I got a little stuck at times. In short I got a case and disc template online, luckily the template already came with the logos and licensing so It looks legit, I grabbed some Halo psd's and got a Halo Font and played around with the fx, blending, and filters to see what worked, I some did lighting and color color correction, then I merged everything to one nice cover :).  Instead of just doing the box art, I also redid the disc and added a background and reflecting table effect. So here it is folks.

College Choices and Starting my Portfolio

I've recently been checking out some 4 year colleges to go to once I've graduated. Right now I'm between Full Sail University and Ringling College of Art and Design. Both school has its pros and cons, so its been tough figuring out which one is the best to go to. I want to study Computer Animation so I can get more into modeling. I could go for game art but Computer Animation will allow me to have the option of being in both the gaming and entertainment industry.

 So I have two options, I can get my bachelors degree from Full Sail in about 2.5 years, and maybe shorter since my general ed courses will transfer. I know full sail has a pretty good animation program, many of my current teachers went or are currently go there, and from what they tell me, they really push you. I like that, I really like a challenge because it pushes me be much better, and the class schedule is similar to the hours in the real world, so that's a plus. The downside is that the school does cost a lot of money, even with financial aid and scholarships I'll still have to take out a massive amount of loans and it will be forever to pay back. I know many people complain about how the school is a scam and they cost an arm and leg to go there, but honestly that's how all the art schools are. I've checked many other schools and see that they all cost just as much if not more. I believe it is a good school, and seems like i can get so so much from they're courses.

Ringling College is a traditional 4 year college, but its one of the best schools for Computer Animation, the curriculum looks great and many big companies come there every year to hire graduates students. Its a huge opportunity and if i do good enough it will help me get my foot in the door to my career.  One this is that I don't know much about that school so I may need to check out the school more if I plan on spending 4 years there. It seems worth the time and I would get a chance to get as much as I possibly can there.

So to get in Ringling I'll need to apply and submit a portfolio to be there for fall 2013. There's an event called National Portfilio Day where many colleges tour the country and students can show and get a critique on their portfolios before they submitt them. Its a good thing my classes will have us working on our portfilios this semester.

So I'll have an update mid semester and maybe plan a trip down to Florida to check out the schools. So until next time!                                                                    

Start of a new semester

So, I am currently in my last few semesters and I decided to take classes on the artistic side of game design. They revolve around digital and traditional art, creating concept art, maps, backgrounds, and even custom textures.

I started 4 new classes this semester which are, art for games which focuses on concept art for video games. Graphic design tools, which focuses on creating logos, textures, video game box covers, and user interfaces. Drawing 1 which any artist from traditional to 3d should take. We will be covering many basic forms of drawing, from shading and lighting, contours, tone and value, still life, as well as working with graphite, charcoal, and oil pastels. The last class is character development. That class isn't until tomorrow so I'm not too sure what the class is exactly about but my guess is developing characters and strong backgrounds. I'm sure that includes designing the characters appearance based off of their story line. Many of my school mates loved that class so much that they have stared a club for it so I am really eager to start tomorrow.

So I'm really excited about this semester. I've always been good at 3D Modeling but my art as far as concepts and design could use some work. So I am confident that my work will GREATLY improve, and I will be pushing my self to do my very best. I always do.

I will be posting my progress and work from now until December from these classes, and make improvements along the way. So here is to an exciting semester!!!! :D

A few useful websites to check out in cyber world!

I've learned many things in  my first day of my new classes. A few useful tools and links to check out that I know will be a great benefit to the fellow cg artist.

Lynda.com is a great student resource site, that shows lessons on a variety of programs. I wish I knew about this site before learning about some of these programs on my own, maybe I would have a better understanding of them. I have been using Photoshop before I even wanted to do cg art, which was many many years ago, and I have learned things I've never discovered in the first 30 minutes of the lesson. Unfortunately If you are not a student you have to pay for it, but it does seem like a great price for the well rounded lessons they give you. You can even purchase the entire lesson on DVD with the resources included. Very great site to learn from.

There a few great online storage systems, which are great for transferring files from one computer to the next. Some of them include Dropbox, Sky Drive, and Google Drive.

For the Concept Artist out there, I have followed a fantastic concept artist by the name of Feng Zhu. I found out about him through YouTube when I was looking for some great concept art tutorials about a year ago. He has a design school but he has been generous enough to give a vast amount of lessons and tutorials on being the best concept artist you can be. Even if you are not a concept artist it great for anyone who would like to work in the gaming industry. His website is fengzhudesign.com, and you can type in FZD School on YouTube to get to his channel full of great videos. Check him out!

So, these are a few places that are a great benefit to me, I always try to look for different tools, programs, and lessons to learn from. You can only learn so much from school, most of your skills come from research and practice so its good to look up tutorials and tools any chance you get. It will help you get better and even develop your own style and creations.

So until next time!!!

Other versions of the Enchanted Rose

These are some other versions of the rose I have made using some effects I experimented with. These roses were made before the finished photo in the last post. May favorite would have to be the third rose with the darker edges.