Level Designer, Environment Artists, Computer Animation Ringling Alumni, Traveler, Fighter, Blogger and Russian Butt Model

Thesis Update #04

September 04, 2008
Category: Thesis

Ringling College of Art and Design Animation Thesis.

I am a senior and this is an ongoing update that will continue from August 2008 till May 2009, which is my graduation date. Even though I found my passion in level design and 2d/3d environment art and have no desire in pursuing animation work. I wanted to document me working through my animation thesis. I'm looking forward to seeing how this will turn out.

If you just arrived at this page, start from the beginning:

ANIMATION THESIS ARCHIVES

It’s been 2 weeks of school and we are deep into modeling. First day of school we had to come in with something to show. So we pretty much went from 0-60 in 3 seconds flat.

In one week, next Thursday, September 11 2008 we have our first faculty critique. That should be a lot of fun.

Some story changes are beginning to happen, but those are minor. I believe that my story is pretty strong and after almost 8 months of having it on my mind I am still excited about it. That's always a good sign.

Here is my latest modeling work. Character changed dramatically from what I had before.

Character Variations:

Original character #1, did have the body appeal that my teacher and me wanted. So I duplicated the character three more times and used Lattice Deformer to play around with different shapes and sizes. We ended up choosing number 3, as the winner.

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Silhouettes:
I always pay attention to silhouettes of the character. You can do the same by pressing 7 in maya if you don't have any lights. Everything will turn black so you can see what shapes are working and which are not. I highly recommend using this all the time. From modeling to animation.

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Chosen Character:

As of right now this is my character so far. He will change between now and next critique. I can't even imagine what will change. But I always talk about not being attached to your work emotionally. This is the time. You character in a production pipeline will go through so many iterations that you may not recognize him or her if you compare it to the beginning.

Character Low Poly to Smoothed with Wires:

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More silhouettes. Use this as often as possible. Characters, Props and Environments.

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Space Ship:

I am having the most fun with the space station. I don't have to tell you what I love doing. Based on my website I'm sure you can tell that I love environments. Characters are just not that fun for me. Environments are my passion.

Space Station:

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Thats it for now guys. Stay tune for more, more and more. Its only about to get more hectic.

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Sarge Matt Level Designer

World of Level Design

September 04, 2008 Category: Thesis

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September 04, 2008
Category: Thesis