Feeling slightly better about 3d [maybe

Just posting a few things I've done recently. The 3d is still laaame but I wanted to redo some of the early projects.

















I really needed to get better at both modelling and texturing...Even though they're simple things, I think I at least improved a little on building geometry that wasn't completely messed up on the inside. With my first house, I had no idea what I was doing. In the new one, even though it's smaller and less complex I can count the mistakes which I didn't know how to fix, the only problem I couldn't fix with the geometry was when you get two edges next to each other?? I couldn't figure out how to weld them into one edge, so the rim around the roof is technically wrong, I guess. There's also parts of the unwrapping I did wrong. But in my first model I did ages ago, there were loads of these types of problems which were pretty unfixable by the end of it, so it was pretty much untexturable. Making a rocking horse was pretty simple, my first one just looks terribly embarrassing now, I might delete it from facebook over the summer.

For the texturing contest...Got some help from Del to see it as a flat image, so I could see the shading on the texture more clearly...I don't like how Max shades things, its way too dark? So this is just a diffuse map. I did do some research into normal maps, but all the sites told me I needed a bunch of new software, some of which wouldn't install because I needed yet more software and plugins I couldn't find. Is there an idiots' guide to this somewhere?
Well anyway, i really liked this female model! I wanted to make a preppy-looking character rather than something grimdark. I'm really into salmon red and turquoise recently. The dress pattern is loosely based on this disaster of a 1980's swimsuit I saw in a vintage shop. Ah, I really messed up on the hair! But by the time it was all unwrapped it was too late to change it...Everything is planar, so in future I really need to do things seperately rather than trying to economise too much, I had something different in mind for boots but because I didn't unwrap them right, I had to improvise a little in the end...Anyway, I really enjoyed this project! Painting the textures is kind of really tedious and precise, where loads of little adjustments need to be made, but it's fun to see the end result.

Oh, and some 2d junk...






















Gahh doing shitty sketches is much more fun than fully rendered digital painting. I might start doing those posemaniacs sketches again...Neeed to find a life drawing class I can go to over summer, or some kind of art class. I want to do this course so bad 'cos its a really good college, but I think I'm away for it...

First impressions, fanart, etc

So I'm playing Tomb Raider Underworld as slowly as possible, so I can make a short game last. From looking at the promotional renders I was kind of apprehensive of what they'd done with the character, but I've liked everything Crystal Dynamics has done with Lara so far and it turns out I wasn't disappointed. The ps3 model is more natural-looking facially than ps2 versions, they've definitely gone for realism in that respect. It was hard to get used to. She no longer has an impossible body shape, and actually looks powerful in form and movements. In the first part of the game you get to wear an amazing wetsuit, its a conventional suit from the waist up but has no legs to it, like a swimsuit. She looks so cool swimming around wearing it with the equipment belt over the top, I was so impressed considering all the previous dodgy fashion mistakes of the earlier games, where the only considerations were to show either as much skin as possible or cling to it as much as possible, and it made for some pretty terrible designs that looked more like a tacky cosplay of Lara rather than what a Countess would wear [even though the official bio was different at the time].

In TR: Legend one of the most fun parts of the game were the unlockables. Concept Art and alternate outfits were the most interesting for me along with the Director's Commentary in Anniversary. Legend had a bunch of colour variations and novel things like an Amanda skin and gothic Lara. Highly entertaining, and the choice was probably more appealing to females because they were mostly quite demure, with the exception of *that* dress which was great fun to run around in. One thing I'm kind of disappointed about in Underworld is that a lot of these are gone, there's less than half as many unlockables and no alternative outfits, woe. The in-game ones are slightly plain in a bad way. I love simple design but its hard to pull off, and I was looking forward to seeing some optional extravagant things. It just strikes me as a wasted opportunity to design interesting clothing! Even though its Underworld and the tone is different from Legend, I think a lot of people miss it. However, lucky 360 owners get to download and prance around in a Marie Saint Pierre jacket! Why doesn't Playstation store get this kind of thing? So much woe.

Here's something I drew today. This kind of body shape...Is really hard! So excuse my anatomy. Must practise.

There is a swimsuit already in the game, but its basically a recoloured wetsuit with the sleeves cut off. I thought it'd be kind of cool to have a 1930's style bathing suit, I've always liked the simple elegance of that period and it keeps coming back. In the level, Lara wears no shoes which is pretty amusing considering you have to climb sharp, pointy rocks and kick vases for treasure. But I thought it looked cool in the game. The belt is still there because I think its more challenging to integrate it with other clothing, and also the game's physics/animations wouldn't allow it to be removed, as far as I can imagine...I've always wanted to get into modding TR, but have so far only dabbled with 2d. Well, I want to do some more of these, it was great fun.