2D/3D Art Homework #20: Look At This Graph

So, I really love Substance Designer.

After following along with the videos, I messed with some of the setting for the map (mostly in the base color area, though I did take the grunge and add it to the roughness as well so it would look like actual dents and pits) to make my own version of the helmet.

Here's the finished results:

Detail shots to show the roughness masking for the metal wear and the dirt.

Looking at the graph that I made...

This is the full graph. Most of them are merely blend nodes with both the helmet and the back piece to generate an output map. The areas that are a little bit different are...

Pictured here, the base color and roughness maps. Here, I used the Mask ID node and the metal edge wear node to mess with the color and the roughness, making different areas of the helmet different colors and masking the edge wear so that it is matte instead of specular, like the metal of the helmet. I did the same for the brown dirt and grime I put on the helmet as well.

(Also, there's something about making graphs in Substance Designer that makes me want to post this awful meme:

Enjoy! (: )

2D/3D Art Homework #19: Weapon Concepting with Maya

It's been an extremely hectic week with getting everything ready for the Capstone vertical slice presentation, but I managed to get some time to get at least one weapon design finalized before the presentation and spring break begins.

So here's one idea for Chao's weapon! He's a bruiser who uses blunt weapons, so some of the designs are pipes which he uses. This one incorporates the jiangshi talisman as a design element.

(The talisman symbols stand for "attack," "struggle," and "claw.")

This was fun and now that I have the modular pieces ready to go, it shouldn't be that difficult to get the rest later over the next few days. Cheers, and have a nice spring break!

Edit: Now that I'm back from spring break and GDC, here's all of the weapon concepts together!

2D/3D Art Homework #18: Vehicle Concepting with Maya

For this week we were tasked with something similar to last week, except our focus was on vehicles instead of environments. Amongst us in the Channeler group, we decided on three different vehicles for the three different districts. I chose that which would be associated with the manufacturing district: a kind of rail vehicle for the transport of all of the boxes and barrels of manufactured goods that were produced in that area.

I looked specifically into railroad handcars, thinking having the touch of spirits manually getting the goods from one place to another would be interesting. I also found designs for steam handcars, as well as other types of vehicles that were powered, so I got some designs with actual fuel being used as well.

I actually did not know that we were doing paint-overs until very, very late in this assignment. That is the reason for the quickness of them, though hopefully this gives an idea of how they would be colored.

2D/3D Art Homework #17: Environment Concepting with Maya

This week we were tasked with making several variations of an environment concept in 3D with Maya. I collaborated with my fellow Channeler artists and we split up the various environments in our game between us. I took on some of the more narrow alleyways and backstreets of Kowloon City.

I ended up making one set of geometry and went into attempting to make it look different based on various modular props we worked on and shared between us.

We've been talking about implementing distinct districts in Kowloon. Our major declensions are a food district, a residential district, and a manufacturing district.

This is the manufacturing district.

Severity was paramount here—there are no doors or windows that aren't functional. Because this is a backstreet, there aren't as many doors into the buildings, and the windows are high to provide light into the building, but not high enough that they are decorative or allow people to look inside. There is a lot of trash cans, piles of refuse, and barrels of liquid (which could be something being produced).

This is the residential district.

I went really heavy with the gates and bars in this one, to make it seem as though the area really is under curfew and lockdown after certain hours. Most doors have bars and gates in front of them, and there are some signs and garbage cans to show that these areas are used and lived in. The lanterns help illustrate this as well, providing light to help the spirits back to their homes.

This is the food district.

A street used to go towards some off-the-beaten-path restaurants, I illustrated this with signs to show that these are the fronts of places to eat. There are a few barrels (deliveries?) and some trash cans and lanterns as well to show that this is a street that is used, even though it is away from the main thoroughfares of Kowloon City.

And that's it for this week!

2D/3D Art Homework #16: Final for 3D Concepting

And... here they are! Working out the glow for the fire was the main challenge with this, as well as attempting to paint in gold that looked metallic but still kind of "soft" (as gold typically is). Hopefully the effort showed through!

I had fun with these, but I'm excited to start on a new project this week.

Capstone "The Channeler:" Final Character Designs

I'm actually pretty proud of how these turned out. After a few weeks of taking these designs against a razer, from the thumbnail stage to this finalized design, this is what the characters I did the art for looked like.

Forecast for next week

Next week, I will be working up three of the designs in Photoshop and ZBrush to a high level of polish. I'll be working on F, J, and L.