Ryan Messenger Futureworks

During the modelling process Quixel Suite 2.0 was recently released, I decided to gain some experience with the texturing software DDO by using my high poly R8 revolver cylinder model. i began by adding smart materials and adjusting them to what i liked, then added any extra details to any layers by using the paint onto model feature.

While working on the model i found some areas that I was not happy with most notably the chamber sizes.  This set me back in the modelling process as I felt I needed to fix these issues. Once I altered my models i returned to DDO to try and learn more about the program with my revised model.

The first weapon i decided to model was the R8 Revolver. After collecting reference images i broke the model down into its different sections. I decided to model the chamber of the revolver first as it is a key part of the weapon. When testing ways to model I found modelling onto a curved surface was difficult as pinching was easily caused. I found the best way to model the chamber was to model one section on a plane then to use a bend modifier on the duplicated plane.

Then kept making adjustments to the plane until I was happy it matched my references. I found that the model slightly warps when the bend modifier is added changing the way the parts of the object is shaded. therefore this process took allot of trial and error.

When choosing the weapons to model I wanted to have others input. As the choices may be different than if I was to pick ones myself. I started by making a list of multiple weapons split into 5 types: - Assault Rifle - Rifle - Pistol - Submachine gun - Other

The Subject matter I have chosen to work with is 3D Modelling, I will focus on prop modelling with the subject matter of weaponry, with a focus on the creation of high polly assets and the process of getting them game ready. This will include baking the high poly model onto a low poly alongside the texturing process. The models will be of high quality and feature the ability to remove parts and see limited internal workings with moveable parts, this will require extra models of attachments for the desired weapons as well as extra details on the main weapon for areas to move without problem, Eg. Ejection port and magazine entry. The texturing will be done with the Physically-Based Rendering (PBR) workflow, and I would also like to experiment with other software such as Quixel which is currently being used within industry practice. Weapons will consist of existing weaponry that I may modify slightly.  

When i finish the project i will have :

·        3+ high and Low poly (50k tri) weapons

·        4+ high and low poly (attachments 15k tri) (Magazine, sights, grips)

·        High and low poly bullets for each modelled weapon

·        Display sheets showing each model

·        Turntables showcasing the weapons and attachments

Milestone 1 (2 weeks)

-        Decide on weapons and attachments that would be modelled

-        Collect primary research of others choices of weapons

-        Research chosen weapons workings

 Milestone 2 (6 weeks)

-        Decide upon first weapon

-        High poly model of chosen weapon

-        Low poly duplicate

-        UV map low poly model

 Milestone 3 (6 weeks)

-        Decide upon second weapon

-        High poly model of chosen weapon

-        Low poly duplicate

-        UV map low poly model

 Milestone 4 (6 weeks)

-        High poly model of final weapon

-        Low poly duplicate

-        UV map low poly model

 Milestone 5 (Throughout – 5 dedicated weeks)

-        Decide upon attachments for chosen weapons

-        High poly models of each chosen attachment

-        Low poly duplicates

  Milestone 6 (4 weeks)

-        Explode both high and low poly sets of weapons

-        Bake Normal maps

-        Texture models using PBR workflow within Quixel

-        Research display sheets

-        Render Images of models within engine and Marmoset Toolbag

-        Create display sheets for both high and low poly completed weapons

Although i am new to 3d compared with many of my peers, I have found a passion for it and would love to have my future job be a 3d artist, preferably specialising in characters and weapons.  the main problem being how to i reach this goal, which is what i will be looking into through this blog.

3D artists role within the games industry is to create the assets that the game is made up of, this includes characters, scenery and props each requires modelling, uv mapping, texturing and in some cases rigging. often with parameters they much follow in order for the process to go smoothly, this can mean a limited poly count or typology and rigging  that the animators can easily work with or even just to keep to a certain art style. many 3D artists specialise focusing on their strengths allowing them to become better at a certain type of modelling  this could include Polygonal modelling to create weapons or digital sculpting to create characters this is mainly done in large companies where there are many employees whereas working for a smaller company may require a larger range of knowledge as they will not have as many employees to do different jobs. For 3d artists the industry is not the only route they can take as many prefer to work freelance, although the work is not as stable they can decide what they want to take on so that they don't have to continuously do the same work, so provides more variety, this also enables then to work at times that best suit them. Freelance artists will need to find work either through advertising, mainly done on the internet by using portfolios or by word of mouth.

 3D artists require knowledge of various programs, these can change depending on company.

-Photo manipulation software - the most common would be Photoshop, this will be used when texturing models. although many companies will be using dedicated texturing programs including Substance Designer and Quixcel.

- 3D software -3DS max and Maya are some of the more commonly known software, however other programs such as ZBrush and Mudbox are more suited for digital sculpting.

- Game engines - although the 3d artist does not need to fully know the engines a basic knowledge would prove useful with the larger engines such as Unreal, unity and cryengine.

As well as knowing software 3D artists must have a skillet that allows them to complete the work either solo or within a team.

- Low and High Poly modelling - Ability to optimise models - Modelling Techniques (Sculpting as example) -  uv mapping / Texturing - Creating Normal maps - PBR (Physically Based Rendering) - Replicate Styles - Work from briefs - Time management with multiple projects (Prioritise)   - Problem Solving - Communication - Able to learn new software easily - Technical life knowledge to create believable designs - Self motivation

For an artist portfolios are essential to get any kind of work as they show employers your skill sets and will give them an easy way to see what you are capable of. showing more than your own personal style can help as developers can see you will be able to adapt.   A  Portfolio should show strengths, so should only contain best work. it should be short, no more than 10 images so that the viewer can quickly see what you can do (Quality over Quantity). The Presentation of the portfolio needs to be professional to give the best viewing experience. When going to an interview tailoring the portfolio to that company/game/job will work best as it will be what they are looking for, where as if it is a generic portfolio (online for example) keep it varied so you can attract the attention of many different employers. Even when tailoring the portfolio it is best to keep with personal designs rather than using fan art, although using tailoring the style for the job is recommended. when using a online portfolio it is beneficial to show the process and reasoning's for design choices as this is fondly looked on by employers. Depending on content the portfolio may be necessary to contain more than just images as scenes may require demo reels (1 minute) or models may be better suited for a turntable. Accept any critique and advice given about the portfolio and work and use it to improve.

 Networking is about meeting people to create new contacts within the industry  to create a reputation this can then help with future employment as they can contact you or recommend you for a job. this can be done online or in person, with the in person being preferable. networking will also let you keep up to date with the goings on within the industry knowing about new technology.

Within the industry it is important to network at all stages of your career. as it will allow you to add to your reputation and make new contacts within the industry that will allow you to have more options within your career. There are many events each year in which you can meet professionals within the industry to name a few:

- Game Jams - Comic con - Developer Meet ups - Game Conventions ( E3, PAX, Rezzed, Euro Gamer) - Software Events

When going to the events it is best to research who will be attending the event so you can prepare appropriately. this may require researching companies and staff members so it is clear who you are interested in and what type of portfolios you need to prepare. When taking a portfolio, carrying a portfolio case around is impractical it is best to have a digital offline one loaded onto an tablet device (iPad), if multiple companies will we there it may be best to take the time to create multiple specialised portfolios. The professionals met at the events will not have the means to remember everyone they talk to, therefore it is best to take business cards in which you can hand out to any interested parties. Once the event is over it may be best to contact anyone who was interested to remind them after a few days. if nothing is heard back wait another week to contact them again. when contacting it is best to email as they can get to it when they have time whereas calling stops them from their current project.

Although not the preferred method, online networking is becoming more popular with the rise of online social networking sites.  It is important to create an online portfolio that is easily accessible so that employers may find and be able to look at. although there are many sites for portfolio hosting it is best to create your own website as you can fully customise it to compliment your work, as well as the portfolio the site should contain details and contact information. To gain attention posts should be made to other large hosting sites like Deviantart and Polycount. Another way to gain attention is through online competitions with as well as gaining popularity some will be judged by industry professionals, so could help get noticed.

Key designers that have influenced me are Josh Singh and Yaron Levi. both are fairly different from each other but are still two 3d artists who have inspired me. Josh Singh specialises in sculpting characters and has been in the industry for over 10 years during which he has worked for both large and small companies with some of the better known being, Blizzard as Senior character artist for just over a year, and has currently been working at Riot Games for the past 4 years as senior character artist working on both character creation and character re-launches.   His software of choice is ZBrush in which he sculpts. his style is very animated and smooth although containing allot of detail

Yaron Levi also known as LoneWolf specialises in High Poly weapons and is currently a freelance artist having worked for infinity ward, Crytek and Meteor Entertainment to name a few his software of choice is 3DS Max and has a High realism style. he began his career by modding and creating custom weapons.

As with any business salaries can vary between skill, company and location meaning salaries will increase as the individual gains more experience. average jr salaries are £18,495 whereas lead designers average is £34,871 which is a difference of £16,376 showing that a lead can earn almost double the salary of a jr 3d artist. The UK median is £24,777 at £11 an hour whereas the US average is £36,940 ($57,664).

Brief - Create a low polly (2000 tris) Well with a texture (1024 x 1024)

In the TED talk I chose to look at, Daphne Bavelier gives a presentation about "Your brain on video games". Within this she discusses how games can have positive effects on the brain. Unlike most things we hear about video games she shows how they do have positive effects but only when applied in the right way. By this she doesn't mean fully educational games, through the talk she uses a "action game" first person shooter to show how the effects can be positive. She does some tests with the audience that show them the difference between them and people who commonly play action games.

(image of a test to see how well people could focus on multiple moving objects)

Although the effects may not be improving your English and maths, there are effects that will help throughout life depending on the game type, with the first person shooter action games she says the main benefits are:

- eyesight

- multitasking

- focus

(Image showing difference between eyesight of action gamer's vs non action gamer's)

She says how each of these can help in life's everyday tasks, a good one being driving mainly in fog, as she says that they are able to pick out smaller details within clutter and can see different levels of grey easier than others. Daphne then says how this could be used to create games that people will want to play that can then help re-train the brain to help patients.

In My opinion I do believe that games can be used to have positive effects but certain games can only help certain aspects of the brain. If they manage to create games that are fun and can have huge positive impacts on people then it will be a huge step forward. From this they could then make games to improve many aspects of the brain meaning that people could easily train the brain to improve their health, at their job or just something they would like to get better with. this would mean people's lives could get allot easier. 

Bibliography :

Bavelier, Daphne. www.ted.com  retrieved 5.10.2014 from www.ted.com

Starting at Futureworks i already had some plans of the direction i wanted to take in the industry. My first year only strengthened the idea i had of becoming a 3D artist. When arriving at Futureworks i had little knowledge of how to create 3D art, not knowing the programs and methods. Although i am behind people in the class regarding this aspect of the work, i believe i can catch up if i put in enough time to learn the programs and techniques. 

Games as a Social Medium

  Throughout history games have been played socially with most games requiring more than one player, and sometimes teams, this then makes games a way to socialize. While looking at the social aspects of games  I will be focusing on the competitive side of games and how people find games to be more exciting if they have a competitive element to them.  Either because they enjoy the challenge or they want to prove they are the best either through sport or games. Within the modern gaming community people have become famous just because they are good at a certain popular game including hearthstone (BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC, 2014), StarCraft II (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010) and League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009) which usually have the largest amount of viewers for the game overall on the streaming site Twitch.tv (Twitch Interactive , 2011).

Historically games and sports have usually been competitive. Some of the earliest games have been thought to be multiple players. Showing that the competitive element has always been in games. The royal game of ur, also known as the game of twenty squares is one of the oldest games that have been found, the game is believed to have had two players competing against each other.

Image of The Royal Game of UR, from  (Lucky Dogs Games)

Go is a game that is believed to have originally existed around 3000 years ago. it is a game where2 players will try to gain control of the board. It is played through many different skill levels. The game is played casually between friends and competitively at large tournaments.  (Pinckard)

      Image from (BBC)

The Olympic Games is something that almost everyone has heard of. It began over 2700 years ago in Olympia, Greece (BBC) (olympic.org). This had athletes competing against each other in honor of Zeus.  The winning athletes would become famous.  This is what inspired the modern Olympic games where there are many different levels of competition. Countries vs countries, sports vs sports, teams vs teams and the individual athletes vs each other, many more rivalries could be found within the games.

  With the games being such a huge event it draws many people together for the love of the event, a sport or a certain athlete

  Olympics logo . image from (www.sailing.org)

  Modern digital games almost all have a competitive element. Single player story games can even be made competitive with leader boards and achievements. Today many friends are made through gaming, sometimes just because they are at similar levels on a leader board so a friendly rivalry will start leading to them becoming friends. This shows the social impact with games today. With it being so easy to look at people’s online scores and achievements people can learn allot about someone without even knowing who they are.

Leader boards are a large part of the competitive element within games. Games can even be created with a leader board being the main focus.  But they can also bring a competitive element to almost anything. This is shown in most modern games where a single game many leader boards could be created (kills, deaths, assists, shots fired, damage dealt, distance travelled etc.)  Leader boards can then be sorted into many different categories for a single statistic by using the players or other statistics, this is usually done within games where players can see the same leader board in different ways, by either seeing just their personal stats, friends, country, and world. This can then be sorted again by time frame with all the leader boards being are then able to be sorted between daily, weekly, monthly, yearly etc.

Because of leader boards being such a large part of games people at the top of leader boards on popular games often become famous between the players. This have become even more appropriate with e-sports and streaming.

    Twitch.tv (Twitch Interactive , 2011) “is the world's leading video platform and community for gamers with more than 45 million visitors per month” (Twitch Interactive , 2011)  the site allows anyone the ability to stream live game footage, voice, and webcam.  The site allows people to watch their favourite on-line celebrities, games and the events that the games may hold.

    Twitch Logo (Twitch Interactive , 2011)

The site has made games more popular, but has had a bigger impact on the gaming community. With people becoming famous in the gaming world for their personality people have also become famous for their skill. this is often the case with the more popular games on twitch, examples of these include League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009), Hearthstone (BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC, 2014) and StarCraft II (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010). League of legends is usually the most viewed game on twitch with their most popular streamers being some of the best players, usually within the top 2 tiers (challenger, Diamond) of the league of legends ranking system / leader board.

League of legends logo (Riot Games, 2009)

  League of legends has been called one of the most competitive multilayer games (Sacco, 2013)

The game of league of legends also hosts its own streams. In these they have championships where the top league of legends teams will compete against other top teams in their region, the teams are ones that have reached the top of the team 5v5 ranking system within league of legends before they have a chance to compete in the championships. The players in the teams are often the top players of the solo leader board meaning that allot of hem stream. This means that the community often has a favourite team just because of one of the players, as they enjoy that player’s stream. Another bonus of this is that it means players can easily talk to the championship players after the game thanks to twitch. The championships have a huge social impact on people with friends meeting for the first time in person (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEKwJRH9qBM) and everyone discussing the game on twitch. 

The games competitive scene then goes further than just the country’s top teams competing, as riot hold many other tournaments that get all other playing regions involved. The twitch streaming plays a part in one of the events. The event is called All Star, in this each region can vote for their favourite players to make a team to compete against other regions all-star teams.

League of legends world championship – image from (Watson, 2013)

 Along with all the positive social aspects that this has added to the game it has also increased the negatives. With people seeing good players most the time they then react aggressively when faced with new players that have not figured out all the game. A large problem with this as well is that it ends up forcing a “meta”  (the community created rules of play) meaning that if anyone does something that the professional players don’t then they tend to get harassed by other players saying that they are ruining the game. Yet metas change over time because of people trying new things only to find out they may work better thanks to changes within the game (Pistallion, 2013).  

  While competitive play is mainly recognized with multilayer games it is also apparent in many single player games. This is mainly done through leader boards as well (With time trials and achievements playing a large part of this). These leader boards have friends competing against each other so they can be the best out of the people they know.  This is apparent with allot of short games that provide a challenge or with small parts of a larger game.  Good examples of these are the arcade game super hexagon (Cavanagh, 2012) and portal 2 (Valve Corporation, 2011). These games provide the player with a challenge, although very different games with very different challenges the games can offer a similar challenge for friends as they try to be top of the leader board. both games have a form of time trial leader board, Super hexagon – longest time survived, portal 2 – shortest time completed this means that there are an infinite amount of possible times meaning that while people may be first out of friends they may be way down the line worldwide, giving players something to always strive for and showing that the games can be very competitive for a single player experience.

  Works Cited

BBC. (n.d.). Ancient Greeks: The Olympic Games. Retrieved april 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/the_olympic_games/

Blizzard Entertainment. (2010, july). StarCraft 2. Blizzard Entertainment.

BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC. (2014, January 23). Hearthstone heroes of warcraft. BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Cavanagh, T. (2012, August). Super Hexagon.

Lucky Dogs Games. (n.d.). The Game of ur. Retrieved 4 2, 2014, from http://www.luckydog.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/games/ur/

olympic.org. (n.d.). olympic.org. Retrieved april 2014, from http://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games

Pinckard, W. (n.d.). Retrieved april 2, 2014, from Go and the `Three Games': http://www.kiseido.com/three.htm

Pistallion. (2013, febuary 10). The History of the League of Legends Meta Game. Retrieved april 2014, from leagueoflegends.com: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3112440

Riot Games. (2009, July 14). League of Legends. Riot Games.

Sacco, D. (2013, december 23). Top 50 competitive multiplayer games. Retrieved april 2014, from http://www.leetgamesblog.com/best-competitive-multiplayer-games

Twitch Interactive . (2011, june 6). Retrieved from Twitch: www.Twitch.tv

Valve Corporation. (2011, april 19). Portal 2. Valve Corporation.

Human - Mage - Neutral 

Will work on this more before hand in as i am not happy with the lower section.

For this task we where given 4 ink blot's. we had to transform each ink blot into a human silhouette. we then where given two random professions, we then had to draw over a chosen ink blot to create an image that would represent that profession, the two images had to be opposite genders.

the professions that i got where Boxer and Swordsman.

myself as a game character sketch.