Art of the M Cubed

New Site UP!

2008-06-22T23:00:00.002-03:00

Hey guys. Finally got my own domain name! I spent some time making the new site. It looks like the old one, but the backend is completely different. It has a built in blog, and a more easily updated gallery and video player. Hope y'all digs. Please visit the new site here, and don't forget to update your bookmarks!

www.m-cub3d.com

Scissor Sisters WIP 02

2008-06-09T21:39:00.003-03:00

Hey all. Still working on trying to get a good pose for this one. The first one there you saw before, and didn't change much on, but I also came up with another that I like. I like the standing pose either way, it's just the other girl I'm trying to get down. Once I pick a pose I like, I'll work my butt off trying to get the anatomy right.

Once I get the pose figured out, I'll be doing some concept designs, one of which I started a while ago, and then I'll merge the two.

Any help anyone can give on getting the anatomy right, by all means, offer it.

Let me know which one you like!

Scissor Sisters WIP 01

2008-06-05T15:11:00.003-03:00

Hey all. Starting working on some Scissor Sisters stuff, which is my big modeling project for the summer that I've set for myself. It's going to be a posed model of two realistic female warriors from a large story idea that has been floating around in my head for years.

This here is what I came up with for the pose for them. It's just the pose, it's not actually what the characters look like, since there is nothing really there. The body types are going to be the same though, and hopefully I can actually make their faces and bodies as close to the same as possible, since they are supposed to be twins.

Have a look. I'm looking for constructive criticism on the anatomy and posing here. This is the first draft, and may not even be the final pose.

Thanks!

Hmmm

2008-05-28T17:08:00.004-03:00

Seems the NSCC server is down. You'll notice a few missing images and that the rest of my site is down. Guess I should get around to moving my site to my own web domain soon. Now that I'm almost done of capstone I may do that soon. Hope it's fixed soon. ( I changed the font color to a grey so you guys can read it while the images are missing :)

Prop 3 - Skateboard

2008-05-28T17:01:00.002-03:00

Just finished my last prop, and thus my last model for the capstone project. This one was the skateboard. It isn't modeled after any one skateboard from Back to the Future, but I did design the bottom decal with that theme in mind.

908 polys
1X1024 texture map

I still have some other little things to finish up for Capstone. Need to finish my normal mapping research. I redid the UV map for the Hydral, and I'll be doing a quick high res version to make the normal map from tonight probably. Will only spend a couple hours on it, and then will just try a few ways to actually make the normal map. You'll probably see how that comes out tomorrow, as I'll post my results.

After all that, and some residual forms, Capstone is done! After taking a few days to rest up, catch up on some video games, and figuring out my work schedule, I'll be picking up my Scissor Sisters project again. Expects posts on that in the future.

Prop 2 - Guitar

2008-05-27T20:01:00.007-03:00

Just finished my Guitar prop here. It's a replica of the one Marty plays near the end of Back to the Future, keeping with my theme again. It's a Custom Made Bigsby ES-355.

1363 Polygons (Way high for a prop, but I did put in all the little pieces with geometry as opposed to just in the texture like I could have. I wanted it to be as accurate as possible, but I kept the poly count as low as possible.)
1X1024 Texture Map

Normal Mapping Artifacts Explained

2008-05-24T12:35:00.002-03:00

Hey guys. Some of you I already showed how to do normal mapping, but I was struggling to figure out why I was getting little artifacts. Well I finally figured it out. It's all in the UV map.

I've been watching a video tutorial from digital tutors that covers the whole maya to zbrush to maya pipeline, and they mentioned how important a clean UV map is. So I went back to my hydral and looked at the UV map with a little trick they used in the tutorial. They used a checker pattern to give a visual representation of the uv on the 3D model, and low and behold, there were my artifacts. Have a look:

On the left is the model with the normal map, and on the right is the corresponding UV map distortion.

I am now cleaning the uv map, and will be trying Zbrush again. The normal map won't be very detailed, as I'm just trying to get the process down right now. I'm also going to try another program I found, called Xnormal, and see how that works.

Prop 1 - Clock

2008-05-21T21:08:00.004-03:00

Made a clock today. Yup. Sure did. And here it is. The first of three props for my capstone project that go along with the Delorean. Clock makes sense, it was a time travel movie.

593 polygons ( Might be a little high for a prop but I went nuts on the details.)
1x1024 color map
1x1024 specular map
1x1024 transparency map ( for the glass front )

Delorean WIP Final

2008-05-20T20:59:00.008-03:00

It's done! Finished all the texture maps I needed to make. Here are some final renders for your viewing pleasure, and a composite I did for a little fun. Enjoy!

Final Specs:
2490 Tri's
1x2048 Color Texture Map
1x2048 Bump Map
1x2048 Transparency Map
1x2048 Specular Map
Maya 2008
12 hours - est.

Delorean WIP 2

2008-05-19T14:18:00.003-03:00

Hello again. Thought you'd like to see how the delorean is doing. Just finished the color part of the texture. I still have a bump map, specular map, and transparency map to do, but they shouldn't take me very long.

Delorean WIP 1

2008-05-05T22:55:00.003-03:00

Hey everyone. Speaking of works in progress. Here is the low poly Delorean I have been working on for this summer's Capstone project. It's only a piece of the project, but I'll talk more about that later.

I finished modeling him yesterday, and just finished some final tweaks and did a couple test renders. I squeezed him into 2490 polygons, which is under my 2500 limit I set for myself. I'm pretty sure this is at least close to industry standard as far as counts go, but if you have a better idea let me know.

Texturing is next for him, and I hope it goes well. Of course I have to UV map first, which is always fun.

As always, comments are welcome.

Blog Updated

2008-05-05T22:51:00.004-03:00

Hey everyone. I know it's been a while. As you can see I'm in the middle of incorporating my blog into my website. I'm not a coding genius so I couldn't figure out a really easy way to actually make a blog in my website, so I'm just going to make my blog look like my website, and so far it's going rather well. Still a couple things to match up, but it's almost done. I'll also be moving my website at some point.

But now that I have my blog here, I can put more updates of the stuff I'm working on. I figure I can update my blog pretty much everyday if I want to, and update my actual website about every 2 weeks to a month. This way I can put up works in progress and such, to see what you guys think.

Anywho, let me know if there is anything not working in this new setup. I noticed it's a little slow myself, but that just might be because some of the images are hosted on the school server along with my website. Won't be that way forever.

Theodore Project

2007-08-19T17:22:00.000-03:00

He's Done! This is the character project I gave myself to do over the summer, and I'm quite pleased with it. I challenged myself on a few things, like modeling and texturing polygon hair, and a few other texture aspects, like the awsome sweater. I designed, modeled, and textured this character.

3D Animation

2007-08-17T16:11:00.000-03:00

Here you can view videos of various animations I have done. Some are done with characters I have rigged myself, which I will make note of in the description. Please click on the thumbnail to view the video post.

Newer

Older

Final Group Projects

3D Modeling

2007-08-17T16:08:00.000-03:00

Here you can view screen caps and renders of various characters and other objects I have modeled. You can also see on some of the models, textures I have done for them, either in Maya, or photoshop. Please click the thumbnail to view a larger version.

Newest

Older

Hydral Concept

2007-08-16T20:46:00.001-03:00

This is a creature idea I came up with, and will be using it for a modeling project soon.

Theodore Model Sheet Front

2007-08-16T20:44:00.000-03:00

This is the front reference sheet I used to model Theodore's body.

Theodore Model Sheet Side

2007-08-16T20:42:00.001-03:00

This is the side reference sheet I used to model the body of Theodore.

Design

2007-08-16T20:30:00.000-03:00

Here you can view more finished pieces of my design work, like concept art, and polished drawings, as well as the reference pieces I use for 3D modeling. Please click on a thumbnail to see the full view.

Pose Study 02

2007-08-16T20:12:00.001-03:00

Some more pose studies.

Post study 01

2007-08-16T20:10:00.000-03:00

Just some pose studies I did from reference photos online.

Natsuko

2007-08-16T20:09:00.001-03:00

Yet another old story design. This one I did like, but ended up not using it because the style was a bit cartoony. I kept the clothing design the same though.

Scissor Sister

2007-08-16T20:07:00.000-03:00

This is another design I did for that old story idea I have, this one however I decided not to use. But I still like how it came out.

Theodore Update

2007-06-03T20:06:00.000-03:00

Hello everyone. I have not been around much lately, submition wise anyway. I've been workin on my buddy Theo here for the past few weeks, off and on in my spare time, so I have no idea of the hours it took me to model the head here.

I think it came out rather well, and I love the style it's in. Built completely from scratch from reference images, used Maya 8.

Still a couple things I'm kinda picky about, but I figured it was time to move on.

Modeling Project #1 'Theodore'

2007-05-10T16:16:00.000-03:00

I've decided to give myself a few projects this summer, of making some 3D Character Models. I wanted to challenge myself, so I'm going to shoot for four. One stylized character, one detailed old man, one realistic female, and one creature. I'm also going to be trying some new programs like Zbrush, so we'll see how it goes.

This is the first of the four, 'Theodore." I love the old Disney Feature Films, and loved the style they were done in. One of my Favorites, even though it's not that old, is Atlantis. So I took a lot of the style of this character from the movie. You can even see some sketches I did while watching it. I also took some elements from Cybersix, an old tv show, and various artists I found online. Tell me what you think, as he's done very rough right now, and will be cleaned up into a final model sheet soon enough, so I can start modeling him.

3D Final - "Knights Out"

2007-04-23T00:10:00.000-03:00

As promised, here is the 3D final in all of it's glory, with full sound thanks to Steve Roe, and his musical talents. Enjoy.

3D Final - My Scenes

2007-04-19T09:42:00.000-03:00

Well we finally did it. We finished our 3D final, the last project for my two years at the Digital Animation program at NSCC Truro. The following videos are the specific scenes that I animated. I particularly like scene 7, and the last part of scene 12. The full project will be uploaded later, with full sound.

Scene 4 Part 1

Scene 7

Scene 12 Part 1

Scene 12 Part 2

Scene 12 Part 3

He's Down!

2007-04-12T21:33:00.000-03:00

This is our second challenge we did. It was completed a while ago, but I'm just getting around to posting it here. I had a lot of fun with this one. In case you can't guess, we used a simpsons clip.

Cafe Sketches

2007-04-11T19:48:00.000-03:00

For our last day of life drawing we went out to a local Cafe and sat and draw. I just drew a bunch of people at the cafe, and I was quite pleased with how they turned out. They were quick sketches, and I did them in ballpoint pen.

All bets are off

2007-04-07T17:47:00.000-03:00

This is a rather simple Casino game floor that I modeled and textured for an assignment in our business class. It is part of a made up online game proposal my group came up with. I'm rather happy with how it came out, and I had a lot of fun with the lighting effects in it.

Here comes the knight!

2007-03-08T18:12:00.000-04:00

This is the knight character I designed, modeled, and rigged for our main project in computer animation. He is actually supposed to be a bungling idiot, but I decided to put him in a more dramatic pose just to show him off. Thanks for looking!

Thermageddon

2007-03-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

This is a short clip that Lee Dewolfe and I worked on in our computer animation class. A producer by the name of Richard Zurawski came to our class with the project in mind. It's some footage for a pitch he is doing for a documentry on global warming. This clip shows how the gulf stream would change as the ice in Greenland melts, and then that would trigger an ice age in the northern hemisphere. This is supposed to happen to 50-100 years people!

Master Sword!

2007-02-20T23:04:00.001-04:00

'nuff said

CHip Update

2007-02-04T20:50:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest version of Chip, the model I was making for my independent film. I have not had much time to work on it at all. I'm still planning on doing it, but for now it's on hold. The reason I somewhat finished him is to use him as a piece of a portfolio I am submiting to a game design course, hopefully for next year. Wish me Luck!

MLT

2007-01-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

This is our first montly challenge for Computer Animation class this semester. We found out that the 10-second club is done forever, or so it seems, so we found our own 10 second clip to use and chose this one here. I'm quite pleased with it, and I quite like the lip sync I did. Enjoy!

Give me a hand!... yeah I know that's bad...

2007-01-26T14:27:00.000-04:00

A quick three hour hand done in maya with subdivision surfaces. It was an assignment the first year class had to do that we had never done last year, so I gave a shot and was really pleased with the results.

Transform!

2007-01-19T09:47:00.000-04:00

This is just a funny little clip I made for our composition project where you had to take a real photograph and use it in combination with simple 3D animation. Everything was basically up to us as to what we wanted to do, so I did this. I'm not sure why, but when I put the video on YouTube the audio got put out of sync, so just bare with me.

Chip Model Progress

2007-01-10T13:07:00.000-04:00

This is the 3D model of Chip, a character in a film I am making in my spare time. He is about half done now, and will be finished soon.

Monk

2006-12-06T19:33:00.000-04:00

This is the Computer animation final for this year at my school. One more semester to go before graduation. I'm quite happy with the way this went. There were two components for this, the character animation and the lip sync. Due to diffictulties I had to split them into two files, but I put them both in the same video in post production to make up for it. Everything was modelled, rigged, and animated by myself. Special thanks to my classmates for their help.

3D Midterm

2006-12-05T23:05:00.000-04:00

I actually forgot to post this up before I posted my final, so I changed the date of the post to make the proper order. Today is acutally 12/13/06.

So yeah this was just a lip sync and head animation assignment, using a generic head and blendshapes that our instructor provided. The clip is from the movie V for Vendetta. Enjoy.

Ascension Lost

2006-12-04T20:21:00.000-04:00

This is the trailer that I mentioned earlier that a group of friends and I were working on for our summer workterm period last year. It's a teaser trailer for a series we created and made all the material for a pitch, which is what our workterm was based on. I will post more details about the idea for the show at a later date.

3D walks

2006-11-28T16:33:00.000-04:00

The following 3D animated walks were done using the generi rig found in the book 3D Animation with Maya 6 by Patricia Beckman and Phil Young. They were an assignment for my Computer animation class, and I'm quite happy with the motions. The one with the cane is my favorite.

Animation Camp

2006-11-28T16:30:00.000-04:00

Over the summer I voluntered to teach at the animation summer camp held at the college for kids of all ages. I was put in charge of the pencil test section and helped kids make classical animations. When they were busy and didn't have any questions I worked on this old man shaking his fist, and then his pants fall down. I did make a version with sound, but it has been lost somewhere.

The camp was a lot of fun, and I hope to be teaching in it again this comming summer.

Workterm

2006-11-28T16:23:00.000-04:00

Instead of being placed at a company for my school workterm, since none were available, a group of friends and I decided to get together over the summer and work on a pitch idea that would count toward the credit.

It was going to be an animated sci fi television series with the main part being flash animation, and anything shown in space would be 3D animation. I was in charge of all the modeling, texturing, animation and special effects of the 3D parts, and here are the 3 scenes that were made for the trailer. The finished trailer will be up in a week or so.

Scorpion Fighter

2006-11-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

This is the still render of my 3D final of last year. This time I focused more on my modeling skills than the texturing or the environment. Featured in this render is my own mechanical creation, the Scorpion fighter. In the backgroun is another fighter landing through the atmosphere in the distance.

Lifeform Hostile

2006-11-28T15:21:00.000-04:00

This is the 2d animation final from last year that I did. We were required to have scenes of both classical animation with paper and with flash.

Surreal Still

2006-11-28T15:05:00.000-04:00

This is the still rendering of my 3D animation Midterm of last year. It's a surreal piece, and I had a lot of fun with it.

Experimental Final

2006-11-28T14:55:00.000-04:00

This is the experimental final that was done last year for one of my classes. It was done with paper cutouts and composited in premier.

Tefic

2006-08-16T20:05:00.000-03:00

This is a character design I did for an old story idea I still have floating around in my brain.

Robot Design

2006-08-16T18:46:00.000-03:00

This is a random robot design I came up with. I really like the chest concept on this one.

Sketchbook

2006-08-16T18:19:00.000-03:00

Here you can see some random drawings and early designs of mine. You can even see some of the studies, and life drawings of done to help myself with anatomy. Please click on a thumbnail to enlarge.