New website.

Well this project is over, but in the meantime I would like to introduce my new website:

www.jamesstone.co.uk

Please visit it for more work from James Stone.

Update

Not a huge update since the last post, I've finished blocking in the main parts now. This project has been neglected slightly as I have been focusing on the others. However my aim is to spend the upcoming weeks devoting more time to this and finishing him off. Expect more updates soon. For fun I decided to check the models proportions with Di Vinci's divine proportions and the model matched up surprisingly well. I'll post some comparison pics in my next post...

Modeling

Since the presentation I've been modeling my character. I changed from the original character to a human male commando. Although I still find my original character idea appealing and have every intention of modeling him in the future for now I feel that it is better for me to create a human character. As far as showreels go for modeling it is always advised to have a human character to show that you have a grasp of human anatomy. I feel that this new model will be more challenging and incoorperate more features.

Above is what I have modelled so far. Below is a link to a thread at the university forums, on it is a more detailed work in progress. Showing steps and techniques of how I achieved the above result.

http://www.3d-tvu.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=182&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I have a long way to go with this model but I'm pleased with the results so far. Next step is to model the boots finish the body and head and then work on accessories.

Presentation

Presented my idea to the class the other day. Everything went fine and the idea has the go ahead, last week the presentations took a while out of my time so I'm running a bit behind on everything. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll have my final posed drawing done and can start on the modeling.

Sketch

Just did this pencil sketch, taking the same idea a bit further. I'm going to let this idea sit for a while and maybe work on his clothes. I feel very confident with the idea that I have and am most likely to pursue it. If I have any other better ideas I'll draw them out, but for now I'm most likely to stick with this guy.

So next up will be a full body shot, suit and all, I may even through in a violing case :)

Alien Gangster

Last night before I went to sleep I had this idea of an alien wearing a suit and since then I couldn't get it out of my head. I want him to look like an old American gangster but obviously Alien. Well I'm going to do some more sketches, but this is my favorite one so far....

Proposal

Context and Concept

For this project my plan is to design, model, texture, pose and render a 3D model ready for rigging and animating. The aim is to make a unique, realistic character that is highly detailed and to a similar technical specification as you would find in high quality films.

Studying anatomy and forms from real life I aim to create a character that although imaginary in concept is believable, having firm groundings in animal/human structure. Researching these techniques/methods and creating the character will lead to a final model that I will use in a character design and modeling show reel upon graduation.

Theory for Research

The research I plan to undertake will be technical as well as artistic.

Artistically I will research anatomy, character design and traditional art skills. Technically I will look into workflow and pipelines for designing characters for industry standard work, all done using the latest techniques and software.

The practical research I gather will be from several sources; I will study books on anatomical reference, art and character design. I will also look at examples of successful and not so successful characters. There are a vast range of DVD titles to study from; ‘Gnomon Workshop’ has many available on several aspects of character building, from 2D concept to 3D modeling and rendering. The internet will also be an area for research as most of the latest techniques are published online before being put to print.

During the whole process I will also be running a public web log that will enable me to obtain feedback from peers and professionals. The address is below:

http://filmcharacter.blogspot.com/

The written research I will undertake will look into the role of realism in art throughout the centuries, focusing on the French School movement in the mid-19^th century up to the current day. I will begin by analyzing major realists such as Gustave Courbet and then progressing through time into the current search for realism through 3D graphics. This will not only let me learn from the past but allow me to take those lessons and apply them to my character.