04/30/2006
Part three of the Delilah video tutorial series is uploaded. The video is about setting up orthographic image planes in 3DSMax. Simple, but hopefully useful. I get asked how to set up image planes frequently, so this one isn't specific just to this series. I'll be in the Netherlands for ten days in June, exploring around the country. Not sure the exact dates or what cities yet, but I'll post when I know, and hopefully some of my Dutch readers will be interested in hanging out.
04/24/2006
Part two of the Delilah video tutorial series is uploaded. For the first few days after part 1 was uploaded, it was using a new zip encryption. Only winzip 10 or 7zip will decompress that version. However now a new zip file is up for both 1 and 2 that use the old style compression. It's a little larger, but it seems many people who downloaded were unable to compress the first zip uploaded. I'm most likely going to turn the PDF's attached to each video into an HTML version for the tutorials section, as there is some information in them that should be able to be grasped without the need to download the entire zip file. I saw Bill Bailey live tonight, he's a british comedian who had me in stitches. Seriously one of the funniest stand-up comedians I've ever seen. Afterwards, myself and Arshlevon, along with his girlfriend and a concept artist from Neversoft, hit up this 50's diner and just gorged on amazing food. Sweet potato fries, garlic cheddar fries, omelets, bagels, and we all finished with a giant milkshake that we shared around. I hurt, I was so full. I've found out more about the class at Gnomon, looks like it is going to happen. I have to learn Maya for the class, but I'm already working on my syllabus. When I find out the information to pass along for anyone who wants to attend the class, I'll post it in the news section here. Also, three new panoramics have been added to my panoramic picture folder. I've added a link to that folder on my pictures page.
04/19/2006
Long overdue, but as promised, part one of the new low poly character tutorial is uploaded on the tutorials page. This series should be quite a large improvement in quality and presentation. Each zip file contains a PDF with all major commands used in the video. This way a viewer won't have to re-watch an entire video for one tool or workflow improvement contained inside. The videos are time lapsed, and I added audio after the fact, so I should sound less distracted, they should contain fewer pauses, and if I mess up with the audio, I've been re-recording. The PDF functions as a type of "crib sheet". In addition to the tutorials, I'm in talks with the Gnomon School here in LA about giving an entire course. The class is titled "Character Creation for Games" and will be held on Saturdays during the Summer semester.
04/10/2006
Minor update. On the 3d page, there are several links added in the description area some sections. Under the assets made for Imperator, there is a link to several high poly models that I created. The in game versions didn't turn out as well as the four primary assets displayed, but the high poly versions came out well. You can see the smooth shaded and wireframe un-smoothed version of each asset. Also I finally re-linked the GUN assets. In addition to the thumbnails leading to full sized images, in the description area there are links to collages of in game screen shots for each character.
04/09/2006
New video tutorial online as promised. This one was for my second entry into the dominance war. I partnered with a coworker at Neversoft. He did the concept and is in the process of texturing it. I did the model and UV's. It was a fun collaboration, since he'd never done anything in 3d before. I taught him how to use Bodypaint, so he could texture it at least semi logically. Next video up will be the concept for my general. I need to add audio, and compress to a good level. Also, I have a mirror, so when the bandwidth approaches the limit on this site, I'll switch the links over to the second site, it should work invisibly, and no downtime this month. Hurrah. Also, E3 is coming up, I'll be in attendance on Friday, along with the rest of Neversoft.
04/07/2006
Finally I have internet at my new place. I now bicycle five miles to work everyday, and it's a great way to wake up. I uploaded the art that I did for Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, even though it's about a year old. I haven't even begun to edit my footage for the general tutorials. I have them on my to-do list, which I've gotten down to just two items, but they are the two most involving. I hope to have it done in about two weeks. I went to a life drawing class last night that I think I will continue to attend. It is a themed class (www.thedrawingclub.com) where each week the model is in a different outfit. Last night's was "circus ring master" and there was circus music playing, great lighting, and Bob (the host of the event) was great to talk with. I'm looking forward to future classes.
04/06/2006
I've uploaded the models I did for Imperator, while at Mythic. I think they show some good examples of using normal/color/specular maps on a model. It was definately a learning process that's helped me in some of my current projects.
03/26/2006
General has been uploaded to 3d page. Photos have been all updated to a larger size, and using simpleviewer, a flash photo viewer. Zootrip is new, even though it's from 2004. I'll be editing the video tutorials from the General and uploading them soon. I'll most likely launch them the first week at bittorrents, and then host them, to try to offset bandwidth.
03/20/2006
It always depresses me when I go this long without an update. I have a semi good excuse, as I've been in Europe. Pictures are online here. I finished my general for the dominance war, and I'll be uploading her soon. I recorded the entire process, and on my to-do list is editing and uploading them all. I'm headed to GDC this year. I'll be wearing either my shirt or my hoodie with my logo on it most of the time. My logo being the green face to the upper left. I always like meeting new people, so introduce yourself if you see me there.
02/14/2006
I've been making progress on my Dominance War entry. These assets will be migrated to the 2d and 3d pages when it's finished but for now they are here (concept) here (finalized costume orthos) and here (model progress). Also, here is an animated gif as an example of how the tutorial will be formatted. The gun, and her head are captured from the viewport I was working in, but the body itself will be a timelapse from the front and back from a stationary camera. I also made a video tutorial of setting up image planes to model off of.
If anyone is attending the HGB in Leipzig, Germany, please email me. Likewise if you can put me in touch with someone who attends that university.
02/02/2006
The majority of the site is rotated over to the new site design. I think the 3d and tutorial pages are particularly improved as far as readability and user experience goes. I'm participating in the War of Dominance challenge. This is going to be the largest video game competition held on the web as far as talented participation. Just check out the sponsors list at the top. I donated my Neversoft duffel bag as a prize. It's a competition between CGchat which represents the side of good, versus Polycount, which represents the side of evil. I'll be repping the black and green (polycount). Even cooler, I'll be videoing the entire process, and putting out a new video tutorial series. This entry is going to be female, and utilize high poly both in max and in zbrush, as well as specular maps, rigging, and lighting. I'll be covering it all and the videos will go up after I get back from Europe. Speaking of, March 3rd I leave the shores of Los Angeles for Cologne, Germany, where I'm staying for five days, then it's off to Lyss, Switzerland, for five days, and then off to Edinburgh, Scotland for five days before returning home. If anyone lives in those cities and wants to hang out while I'm there, just let me know by email.
01/25/2006
I decided to take part in a mini challenge at CGchat. Made it a little speed challenge and did it all in about seven hours. I'm not totally happy with it, so I'm not putting it in my 3d page, but I figure I'll link to it here. Texture here.
01/24/2006
Minor update. As cool as I think the expanding menus are, I'm removing that functionality. The primary reason is that the text wasn't searchable, which I think is important. The secondary reason is that it was a bit cluttered looking, which was what I was implementing the feature to alleviate in the first place. I'll be removing the "click to expand" text on each title bar tonight as well.
01/24/2006
Finally an update. The reason for the long wait is the new site design. This is the treatment all pages in the site will receive, with usability increases all around. It's now laid out to fit 1024x768 resolution instead of the old 800x600. It's fully CSS compliant, and now has the nifty javascript expanding collapsing menus. My apologies for having to remove the video tutorials for the time being. I have used two hundred and thirty-eight of my two hundred and fifty gigabytes of bandwidth and it's only the twenty-fourth. I will be putting them back up for download February first. I'm excited about the new site design as I think it's a huge improvement over the old. I've been learning a lot of back end web design stuff that will come in handy in the future. One particularly new feature in the news besides the expanding menus, is that all 3d update entries will be accompanied by a thumbnail of said 3d art. All old 3d updates have been equipped with a thumbnail as well. I am working on making a tutorial thumbnail format as well. There is another tutorial in the works, covering brand recognition, web site design, and general marketing. It will be assuming the user is already working hard on the quality of the portfolio, or has a high quality portfolio already. The tutorial will be for helping in the personal representation of the portfolio for maximum exposure.
01/03/2006
First post of the new year! Neversoft gave us a ten day break, which was awesome. I hit West Virginia to see my mom's side of the family, Northern Virginia to see my dad's, and then back to Richmond to see my friends from high school and college. I've uploaded my Christmas pictures, (which can be found on the paw print drop down menu with the rest) but most of them will hold little interest to anyone but my immediate family. A few good sky shots and horse reference is scatter in the bunch, as well as some shots from walking to work in the mornings here in LA. I'm still working on my high poly project, I got some Zbrushing done on the pants, and I'll most likely be done with the high poly soon(ish) even though it's approaching a year since I started the concept. I don't feel too bad as I've accomplished a ton of other projects, a new job, a move across the US, and several tutorials, so it's been more of a back burner super side project, that I've finally moved to the front burner. I also managed to take some amazing panoramic images in Richmond. I love that city. It's where I was born, so I'm a bit biased however. This is from the river in the middle of downtown. One and two. Also, I took these with my cell phone camera. The first one is made of five images, and the second one is made of three, but it shows how nice the quality is. I've also added a mailing list submission form at the top of the page for anyone who wants an email when the website is updated.
12/19/2005
Fileplanet decided to stop offering free accounts. I have disliked using them anyway, so it was a perfect opportunity to upgrade hosting plans. Starting now, all tutorials will be hosted locally, no more fileplanet. I'm going to slowly be recompressing my older files because the first go round I didn't do so well. As I get them done I'm going to change the link from the tutorial page to point to the local files. The zbrush video is currently well compressed so it will be up as of now. My site will most likely be up and down as the nameserver propagates to the new IP. Also a minor update on my 3d page where I finally rendered the shadow legion with normal maps and specular maps applied. Much better render, even though the asset is horribly outdated. Also my current high poly project is ever nearing completion (this time for real, I will be done before January 1st). When it is done my next project is going to take several months of hardcore free time, expect a very large announcement towards the beginning of Spring.
12/04/2005
The Neversoft Christmas party was insanely awesome! They flew us all out to Los Vegas, where we partied hard. I had a blast and got to know everyone a lot better. I didn't end up gambling at all, but that didn't deter me. There was an Impressionist exhibit at the Belaggio which I checked out, had several interesting original pieces. The real reason for the update is that I finally uploaded the animations I did for Bloodrayne 2. Most didn't make it in the game. Scroll down to the Shadow Legion marked with *new* on my 3d page and check them out.
11/27/2005
This is getting ridiculous. Updates 4 all! I added a Naruto menu rotation, hitting refresh will eventually land the random choice on Naruto. The meat of the update, is my adding of my SDK's to the 3d page at the bottom, as well as a new tip jpeg available on my tutorial page, that shows how I arrange my layers and utilize masks in photoshop. Any questions on masks are most likely answered in my masks tutorial also available on my tutorial page. I've been contemplating creating a theoretical game course curriculum for practice, and for any teachers/persons wanting to learn in a structured manner on their own. I've thought about it before, but lately I've been moving it up the to-do list.
11/26/2005
I got inspired the other day after seeing some interesting Naruto fan art. I have been reading Uzumaki Naruto (a japanese manga) since I was in college three years ago. I was ecstatic when it got turned into an anime, and I would love to be involved with a Naruto title. I really enjoy the characters, Naruto especially, because I feel a bit like him in that I was always (still am?) trying to get others to recognize me. I decided to do a quick model and texture of him, and try to keep it as low as I could. I posted on my 3d page the results.
11/22/2005
BoBo the seal created a cute little Imp SDK a while back, and my good friend KillingPeople picked it up recently, dusted it off, and started texturing it. Little did he know it would create a cascade of imitators all anxious to put a skin on the little guy. Both KillingPeople and BoBo's website can be seen from my links page (which I'm in the process of adding more to) by mousing over the paw print above and clicking links. I got a zany idea for a skin and gave a half hearted start, but a few friends prodded me into finishing it. That and I hate leaving things half done. So my 3d page has been updated with a new skin. While Mr. Bondage Imp might be scary at first glance, he's just a smidge misunderstood.
11/8/2005
The full size images from GUN have had to come down. Activision wants full control over what's released to the public, and as such, has a heavy hand policy about releasing work in any regard. I was unaccustomed to the policy as I've worked for smaller developers so far, where the NDA is lifted the day the game ships. The art does belong to Activision, so it's completely within their right to have such a policy. If you really want to see the art, go buy the game! Eventually I'll get permission to put the full size images back up.
11/8/2005
Dang I'm on an update roll! GUN has shipped, that makes title number five for me, my third that I worked on full time. I was only at Neversoft for the final two months of art production so my contributions were limited, but you can find them on my 3d page here. I will be adding in game screenshots soon, so that you can see them posed and in game. Pick up your copy, it's coming out on the GC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 (at launch), PSP, and PC. I'm personally gonna be playing the Xbox version, which I prefer the most, but whatever console you get it on, get it! Also let me know what you think. I'll update where you can see the NPC's I made in game later this week.
11/7/2005
Yay, a regular update! First the reason for the update, which is a new tutorial, the one on Gradient Maps I've been promising, which is on the tutorials page. On another note, I'm researching fine art schools in Germany. If you know of any that focus on traditional art and technique and don't dive off the deep-end with the artsy-fartsy stuff, give me an email. On that same note, I'm currently trying to learn German on my own. I bought a few books, and some CD's to listen to while I'm on the computer. I had this past week off, and I spent the majority of it playing Painkiller Black, which is such an awesome game. I recomend it, especially now that it is only twenty dollars. The black edition comes with the expansion pack and the editor on one DVD.
11/3/2005
Quick update, the pawprint above is now a javascript pop up menu that has my pictures, links, email, and a shortcut to my sunrise page. I will be adding any miscellaneous links to the menu there to keep everything uncluttered. Also, this Saturday at noon, if you live in the Southern California area, a bunch of artists are going to be meeting at the tram station for the Getty. Parking is seven dollars per car, and there is a tram to take you up the mountain to the museum. We will be meeting there at noon and will wait for twenty to thirty minutes for people to show up.
10/27/2005
I'm back from Prague. I had such a blast hanging out with the European crew from Conceptart.org. I took a ton of pictures, and I decided to move the link for my pictures to the above menu. Too many people were confused thinking that the picture links were my only site content, so now I want the menu to be blaringly obvious. My prague pictures are up here. I might make a longer type up of my trip later, but for now I need sleep. Also I uploaded a few panoramic shots I don't have linked in any gallery, but here are the links. 1 2 3 4 5 These are in upwards of four megabytes in size, just as a warning.
10/16/2005
System Shock 2. If you haven't played it, get it and play it. It's old, but I'm playing it for the first time. I don't even care about the graphics I'm having such a good time playing it. I'm also working through Blackthorne, (old blizzard game) and Anachronox. I bought Painkiller Black, Farcry, Deus Ex, and Deus Ex: Invisible War. I'm on a bit of a gaming binge. I had my lectures at Carnegie Melon and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh on Friday. I think it went pretty well. I will upload the video when they give me a copy. I ended up not covering too much actual technique and instead talked about general theory of game art development. I stayed with some really talented and hardworking guys from the AI. We stayed up late each night playing Counterstrike: Source, and Day of Defeat. It reminded me of my college days when we would lan into the far hours of the night. I need to find a group here in LA that does that. Here is a picture I took right outside Carnegie Melon, and used some new software I found called Autostitch to put it together. Four days till I visit Prague!
10/07/2005
Well it's the weekend and I have the paper I was speaking of earlier completed. It can be found on the tutorials page. I'm expecting the paper to step on a few toes, but I think it's sound advice. The first two sections are speaking from experience, and the last portion is based on theory and observation. I do hope it serves as a motivator in at least some cases. I'm going to take the spots out of the above navigation menu text, because I continually see people visiting my site for the first time that can't figure out that it is a menu. The gradient map tutorial will hopefully be tomorrow. I upgraded my laptop's LCD screen last night and the improvement is drastic. I have an Asus z71v that I purchased about a month before moving from virginia. I've made mention before but I'll list the stats this time. Two gigs of DDR2 ram, a pentium-M 2.13 ghz, Nvidia 6600 go 128mb of ram, SATA 80 gb hard drive with 8mb of cache, 15.4" screen with 1680x1050 resolution, Wireless a/b/g, DVD R drive, two main batteries, and a secondary battery you can replace the DVD drive with for extra power on the road. It's a beefy machine and it screams with everying, from zbrush, to max, photoshop, to battlefield 2.
10/05/2005
Dang, far too long without an update. I've been hammering away at a high poly model that will be posted soon(ish). It's been taking up all my time lately because as soon as I'm done, Sunrise will be my full time personal project. It's undergoing a lot of changes, but here is the site I originally started for it. I will be using the unreal engine, and there will most likely be many unreal tutorials as I learn the engine. I'm in the middle of a paper I will upload this weekend. I really want to make a high poly video tutorial sometime soon as well. I am also planning on making a gradiant map tutorial sometimes very soon, hopefully over the weekend as well. October 14th is my dual lecture at AI of Philadelphia and Carnegie Melon. Then the 19th I fly out to Prague, Czech Republic for the European Conceptart.org workshop. I am taking my bicycle with me and will take millions, if not billions of pictures. I'm really having a blast and I feel so blessed during this time in my life. Game developement doesn't get much better than this, my team is pretty dag on awesome. Gun comes out November 8th so be sure to pick up your copy. I really don't want to have it be as long between now and my next update, I'm fairly positive there will be some type of content update this weekend, either the paper, the tutorial or both.
09/08/2005
This past weekend I went up to Lake Arrowhead with the Church I'm a member of here in LA. The Church is called Mosaic (www.mosaic.org) and we meet every week Sunday evening at the Mayan. The Mayan is a night club during the week, but we clean it up and use it on Sundays. There are screens that the lyrics to the songs we sing are projected onto. The bands that play are amazing, there is always a bassist, an electric guitar, a male and female vocalist and a drummer. The messages so far have been given by the associate pastor, but starting next week they will be given by the main pastor. The next series is titled "Beyond Ordinary". This was the theme of the camping trip at Arrowhead. We stayed at a retreat site called Alpine. The road up to the lake was gorgeous, twisting around mountains and providing an excellent view of LA lit up at night. The trip was for the artists of the church, and there were about 120 people there. We broke into our different disciplines: music, dance, film, fine arts, and acting. Each group came up with something to present at the end of the weekend, and ultimately would aid in the messages of the upcoming series at Mosaic. The fine arts team (where I was) painted two murals and several single canvases. I helped on one mural, as well as painted a single canvas. I only got about two-thirds of the way done before the final message, so I painted on the side of the stage while the service ran (a common practice at mosaic, to have an artist painting during the message). The level of talent at that retreat was unbelievable. I'd been on an artists retreat before while at SCAD, but we were all up and coming artists, not yet trained or experienced. Not so at Terra Nova (the name of the retreat). These were seasoned professionals, some with several years already under their collective belts. The music from one group was so amazing I couldn't believe they'd wrote it themselves. The end of their song met with a standing ovation, people were beating on the chairs and floors, cheering as loud as possible. I've been humming it since I got back. The original comedy sketches had me cracking up while I was trying to paint. The choreographed dance moves really made you want to join in. One cool part of the retreat is we had a thing called "journey through the arts" where you signed up to learn about an art form you'd never done before. I picked the hip hop dance, and learned a small portion of the choreography they did for the final. Tons of fun, and all the DDR I play payed off in helping me keep rhythm. I made a ton of good friends on the trip, and I know I'm gonna feel more connected at the Sunday evening services since I'll know more people now.
08/21/2005
Busy busy! I'm still having a blast at Neversoft. The Prague workshop is coming up, and I'm already booking tickets and arranging time off. It should be a good event. If you are going to be there as well, let me know so we can hang out. If not, look for pictures after I get back so you can live vicariously though other nerds! Now for the meat and potatoes of this post, a new tutorial! This one is on using masks in Photoshop, though most image editing programs have an equivalent, just expect to do some translating if you use it for them. Tutorial is on the tutorial page of course. I got to play through the majority of GUN today. I am having a blast. I think that anyone who picks up this game will enjoy it. I found myself tensing during the action bits, laughing at the jokes, and really getting into the characters. I can't say more yet, but honestly you should check out this game. I'd buy it even if I wasn't working on it.
08/08/2005
Man, Neversoft is an amazing company. I just finished my third day of work, but everything about the company exudes experience. That been-there-done-that nonchalance that just instills confidence. I finished my first character and within three minutes was looking at it on the PS2. The workstation they equipped me with is a dual xeon with a quadro video card and two gigs of ram, dual 21" monitors and a ps2 dev kit on my desk. I can make changes in max or photoshop and see them update instantaneously in the game, and I can even run around and play the game as my character. Their tools are top notch and enable me to spend my time on asset creation instead of fumbling with tech that hasn't been tested in a production environment. Speaking of the game itself, not only do I think the art looks really good, but I think the game is tons of fun. It's gonna do really well when it hits the shelves. It makes me sad I wasn't involved longer. But there is always GUN 2! I really feel like I've found a place to settle down for a good long while. I'll see if I'm still singing that tune in another year, but I have a feeling I will.
-- On another topic, I've heard of several teachers using my tutorials in their curriculum. I am very happy to hear this. Please take this as written permission to do the same for your own classes or personal studies. As long as proper credit is given to me as the author of the tutorials. Please if you attend a school that teaches game art, ask if they have it in the budget to bring in guest speakers. All I ask is my transportation paid for, and room and board while I'm there. I'm hoping to get involved with some local schools in LA, as the relationship with the Art Institute of D.C. provided me with ample oportunities to speak and practice my teaching skills in front of a classroom of students. The high poly tutorial is still in the works, but I don't know when it's gonna come. Video tutorials are a real hassle on my machine, but sometimes HTML ones can take a lot of time too. The last normal map tutorial probably logged about ten hours total to complete.
--Oh yeah, other cool things about Neversoft. Free drinks; Sobe, Diet Dr. Pepper (my personal favorate) Starbucks coffee, Redbull, Orange Juice, Root Beer, V8, etc etc. As much as I want, whenever I want, awesome! Neversoft pays for lunches too! I think I'm in heaven. Normally companies try to bribe their employees to overlook ridiculously long hours with a pizza here and there. This is not like that. I feel like Neversoft honestly cares about making the environment fun and productive for it's employees. Regardless of how far away the ship date is. It feels good to finally find a company that feels that way.
During the interview I was asked what I was looking for since I'd been jumping around so frequently, and my answer was that I wanted to know the rest of the development team was as good and competent at their job as I am at mine. So far I think that I just might have found a place like that.
08/01/2005
Movers came today and packed up all my stuff including my motorcycle. I have my bicycle, laptop, and a giant duffel bag of clothes I'm taking on the airplane with me. I spent the last two weeks relaxing, and the past week at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with my family. Pictures from my trip here! I had a blast spending time with them, especially since I probably won't see them again till Thanksgiving. I'm very excited about starting at Neversoft. I fly out Wednesday morning and start work on Thursday. I'm planning on attending Quakecon, so anyone else who will be there, email me and let me know so we can hang out. I'm still working on a second high poly model, and I'll be posting that as soon as I get it done. I replaced my desktop with a laptop, and it's rocking. I am so glad to be completely mobile now.
07/20/2005
I have finished the normal map tutorial which you can find on the tutorial page.
07/20/2005
Their are two reasons this update has taken so long. The first is that I wanted to have my normal map tutorial done before I made another update, and the second is that I have a new job. As many of you may know, Imperator has been postponed, which had nothing to do with my leaving. I had a blast at Mythic. I learned a ton, and frankly it's the best art team I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I'll miss those guys. I was approached by a friend at Neversoft, and the situation was too good to pass up. My last day at Mythic was Friday the 15th. (I almost cried going down the elevator *sniff*) I'll be moving to Los Angeles on August third, and will start work on the fourth. I don't know for sure what I'm working on yet, but it will most likely be GUN, Neversoft's newest IP. I'm very excited about the move, even though it means leaving the art team at Mythic, my friends at College life, and having to find a new Church in LA (please be praying for me). I also uploaded my art test for neversoft, which you can find on the 3d page. So to sum up, I've been busy. 8-)
06/24/2005
New paper up on the tutorial page. It's in the paper section, called Analytical Thinking. Here is a direct link. With this paper done, that leaves this weekend to hopefully finish my normal map workflow tutorial. I have a normal mapped model I just finished that has a color, normal, and RGB spec map that I'm going to use as an example. Either way the model itself will be posted this weekend, and hopefully the tutorial along with it. Thanks for all the words of encouragement relating to my last post. I checked and I actually have a bit more than four readers, it turns out I have around 500 hits a day, which is quite a bit for a site without daily updates. Makes me wonder what would happen if I started adding a daily comic or some such.
06/15/2005
Update of a different kind. I'm a Christian. Not just the kind of person who confesses to believe in God, tries to do good things, and goes to church. I believe I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who I believe is the son of God, came to earth as a man, lived perfectly, and then died for my sins, so that I could have a relationship with him, and spend eternity with him in Heaven after I die. Until just recently, I'd let my personal desires get in the way of that relationship, by pursuing things displeasing to God. I noticed the distinct lack of the comfort and guidance that he provides when I'm actively pursuing God's will. I wasn't communicating with him, I wasn't trying to glorify him in my words, actions, and thoughts. I had a wake up call just recently, that really made this apparent. I've asked for forgiveness that only Jesus can provide, and I am pursuing his will for my life, and it reminded me how fulfilling and wonderful living this way is, and can be. I of course, had to make a post on my personal corner of the interw3b, letting all four of my readers know exactly what's going on in my life. Feel free to email or IM me with any questions or thoughts about this post, as you would with any of my information about Game art or theory. On another note, I got asked to speak at both the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Melon Universities Entertainment Technology Center, which is a huge compliment, for which I feel blessed and very grateful.
05/29/2005
I finally got my copy of Bloodrayne 2 and played through it. It was very exciting to get to see all my characters on the screen in action and part of a finished product, and not just in 3dsmax. Severin has a ton of screen time. It's definitely one of the moments that I've been most proud, looking at all the stuff I helped contribute on the game. The blood storm effect was super awesome to do over and over. I didn't like how the combat turned out, so I just turned on God mode so I could get through the whole game and see everything. I did blood storm a lot. A lot a lot. That, and I would go into freeze time, target the enemy, and then start using blood hammer, and just unleash a whole volley of them from all directions, unfreeze time, and they would all collide, killing the enemy instantly. On another note, I went last night with my college ministry to have dinner, and then we went to a crisis pregnancy center to paint one of the rooms for them. One of the members of the group volunteers there, and they really needed the place repainted. I had a blast, making jokes, and getting to know those guys and girls better. It was also good to give up some of my time for others.
05/22/2005
E3 was AWESOME! Pictures are here, though I didn't take too many. Also my fourth title shipped, call Fate. It's made by Wild Tangent. I did two models for them by contract. you can check them out on my 3D page Scroll down till you see the bright yellow *new*. I had a blast and got to see a ton of friends, and meet some people for the first time. Astro Zombie, Jeffro, Rogue13, Fritz the cat, Gauss, Tagheuer (we were roommates), Soul, Cricket, Dane, Cancel, Expendable, Millah, Cluck, and Shine. Apologies if I missed anyone. The Imperator booth was pretty cool, and seemed to go over well. This E3 I had five games on display I worked on. Imperator online, Hellgate: London, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Fate, and Rise of Legends. The Mythic party was unbelievable, and I'll leave it at that.
05/04/2005
Ok, again too long without an update. First off, the imperator website has been given a facelift. At this time, all the guns in the shots were created by me. The normal maps are not being displayed in those shots, and they look 10x better with the normals. I gave my lecture at the art institute, it was a two part lecture, the first day I did modeling and uv mapping, and the second day I did texturing. You can see the final model here and you can download the max 7 model file here and the final psd here. They video 'ed the second lecture and when it is all edited I'll upload it here. E3 is coming up and I'm super excited. Mythic is showing off Imperator, and I'll probably be meeting up with the mod guys from dystopia. Also my 2D page has been updated with another sketchbook scan.
04/22/2005
The Complete trip pictures and text have been uploaded here. I didn't put up every picture that I took, so if you must see them all, check here. I'm working on a mod now, so I figure I will pimp them here. It's called Dystopia, and it's a cyberpunk mod. I'm working on one of the characters, fully normal mapped. I will post it when I'm finished on the various message boards and in my 3d gallery, so check back before E3.
04/20/2005
Well I'm back from my trip, and recovered from jet lag. I have the first batch of pictures up, here. These only cover the London leg of the trip. I will have the Paris/Strasbourg leg up later tonight. I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. As much as I want to go back right away, the massive black workshop in Prague will probably be the next time I get to. It's in September.
04/07/2005
Tomorrow at 10:10 my flight leaves for london. I got a PSP in preparation for the trip, with Need for Speed Underground. I will be updating this text file when I can while I'm over in moonland (Europe) so you can keep tabs on me (or stalk me). I am taking gobs of pictures, so be sure to check when I get back as I'll have another photo gallery up.
03/29/2005
I added pages from my sketchbook to the 2D page. Now that I sketch on a regular basis I will be uploading them there fairly frequently. I have also signed up for a dynamic figure drawing class and will be uploading scans of my work for that class as I finish it.
03/25/2005
Updated the 3d page with my Fleet model and texture. He is a custom player model I created for Quake 3. There are 4 other skins in the pack, made by various members of Polycount community. To make it easier to see what I have updated, I will have a yellow *new* next to the latest updates. (since I don't do them in chronological order) Imperator is coming along well, I've been doing mostly weapons and modules, which have been extremely fun. I'm doing a high poly version of all of them, in the range of 200-300 thousand poly's. April I am traveling to London, Paris, and Strasbourg, so if anyone who reads my site lives in those areas and wants to buy me some good food (I don't drink much) then give me an email. E3 is also coming up, and Imperator's advertising will be kicked into full swing, so check it out. Also the latest issue of Computer Gaming World has a two page spread on Imperator, and all of the weapons featured in the images were created by me.
03/17/2005
I'm tired of being surrounded by "bohemian/pseudo-intellectuals" that think they can rag on what I like because they determine it's too "mainstream". I accuse them back of altering their own likes and dislikes based on the opposite of what's hip and hot at the moment. They won't *let* themselves enjoy something if it has enjoyed commercial success. The more success, the more they hate it. The more obscure and original, despite any merit it may or may not contain, the more they convince themselves they like it. It's pretty obvious if you just look for it. They enjoy reveling in their "fringe" outlook, they are the "rebels" of society, and they are obviously cool because they like what only a select few like, that the public at large could *never* understand the way they can. Just like what you like, and make no appologies.
03/13/2005
Ok, I got back from GDC, it was fantastic. I stayed with Daz, and his apartment was very nice. He was great to put up with me and drive me around. 8-) I didn't get to go to very many lectures because I just had an expo pass, and I had to borrow a giga pass from one of the other Mythic Employees when I wanted to go to one. My favorate was the talk given by Epic on content creation for Unreal Engine 3. Pete Hayes is a Vehicle modeler for Epic and his part of the talk was my favorate. He outlined his process, and showed several never before seen shots of Unreal Engine 3 content. One of the vehicles he showed us took a whole month to model and used two 2048x2048 texture maps. I also got to sit in on the Unreal 3 demo where they actually played through a short demo in the engine. It was the most amazing imagery I have ever seen in a video game, hands down. Afterwards I talked with Pete for about an hour with how Epic had figured out who would be responsible for what in the pipeline. The Polycount get together was awesome, I met KillingPeople, Dabu, Scott Ruggels (again), Daz (again), TheGodZero, JDinges, Bree, and ToddDinosaur. I had two, TWO, glasses of wine, and it was a bit much, hahah. Daz took me to the Maxis party, where I met up with Scott D from Valve and talked a bit about the HL2 mod I am working on, Dystopia. Overall it was a great trip. I had a ton of people recognize me who I had never met, as that Poopinmymouth.com guy. It was very flattering. I can't wait for E3! Oh yeah, pictures from the event!
02/26/2005
Blah, too long since an update. First of all, new tutorial tip on tutorials page. Go there now. Second, I had a blast at the Seattle Games Conference. I went a day early and spoke at Digipen Institute of Technology. Abbott runs a a tight ship there, and what I saw looked promising. Lots of good work coming out of there, and it was a pleasure to talk with them... for 3 hours straight. 8-) At the conference itself, I sat on two panels. The first was on transferable skillsets, coming from film or illustration to games. The second was on Resume layout. For both panels I was easily the youngest and least experienced professional there, but they welcomed me as the only artist, and a good time was had by all. I think the crowd that showed up went away with some good information. One of the best things that came out of it, was that I sat on both panels with a member of Valve Softwares developement staff. He had some great stuff to say, and I enjoyed talking with him. We swapped cards and are going to hang out at GDC. GDC is coming up, and I will be attending. I will have on my sweatshirt, so look for me. I will be touring the EA studio while I'm out there, which I am looking forward to as well.
01/24/2005
Long promised, finally here. I finished my latest video tutorial on using zbrush 2 and max 7's render to texture feature. You can find it on the tutorials page. If you found it useful please email me and let me know. 8-)
01/18/2005
Ok, I am working on a model I AM going to port to Quake3. Here is the SDK thread if you want to skin it. Anyone making a nice quality skin will have theirs included in the pak. My progress on the skin is included in the thread.
01/12/2005
Ok, I am back from the MassiveBlack workshop in San Francisco. For the long version, click here! For the plain photo web gallery, click here!
01/02/2005
First post of the new year! I just got back from vacations, and I have pictures here. It was so awesome to go into BestBuy and line up all three games I worked on. Imperator is going along well, and I am really excited about it coming out. It should be a great game. I wish I could say more. Enjoy the pictures, and there is a new tutorial coming up. I am starting an email list for whenever I update the site. Lemme know if you want on the list by emailing me.
2005-2006 archive
2003-2004 archive
