I’ve been working on a character for class and a polycount competition called The Escape.

Here are my submissions for the competition. If you want to see my process for this character check out my thread on polycount here.

There’s still a butt load of work to be done for my class assignment. We are creating five animations for the character and the goal is to get them working in the unity game engine.

Click on the images for a full sized view.

A new project i’m working on with my friend and programmer Ray Ray (he will accept this name in time).

Sound Doll is the working title of a game idea Ray Ray and I will be making together throughout the year. The idea of the game is an iPhone app that uses measured audio such as frequency, volume and stereo field parameters to trigger an animation rig in real time. The user will be able to load in their own music to trigger the rig in exciting and unpredictable ways. There will also be the ability for the user to plug in an audio source, such as a microphone and trigger the rig themselves.

I was inspired by this video and I imagine the game will look a lot like this but a lot less controlled!

FREQUENCY
40Hz – 200Hz – Feet
200Hz – 500Hz – Hips
500Hz – 800Hz – Knees
800Hz – 1kHz – Torso
1kHz – 5kHz – Arms
5kHz – 10kHz – Head

Within each section for example the arms, there are the shoulders, elbows, hands and individual fingers. The animation within these more detailed facets will be randomized by the program to
ensure maximum inconsistency with dance moves. A threshold will be placed on each joint so that once a joint has moved, it cannot move again for a certain amount of time. This will ensure the dance is defined and moves are broken up and easier to identify.

VOLUME
Most tracks are mastered at 0dB which would make the volume parameter irrelevant for most commercial tracks. However, for the microphone input this would be relevant. To reach a compromise there will be a threshold between – 3dB and 0db in which the data will be randomized. Below that threshold the volume parameter will be active and will trigger the size of the animation. Eg. The quieter the sound. The smaller the movement will be. The louder the sound. The larger the movement will be.

STEREO FIELD
This will control which side of the body moves. If there is more audio information in the left channel then the left side of the body will be moving more than the right side and vice versa. Most music has a balanced stereo field but when there is a drum roll or a guitar is off to a side it will be seen in the animation and will be a good feature to make the game more interesting. In the case of mono tracks this information will not work causing both sides of the rig to be triggered equally.

It’s going to be a fun project to work on. Almost at the test build stage now. I’ll post the results of the test build and some videos that i’m sure will be very interesting.

P.S. For the audio fans, the binaural recording is finished and will be released soon but for you guys I thought i’d do a sneaky early release for you on my site so keep an eye out

Well here it is! Our game level is complete. Have a look…

There is so much more detail that is left out of this video so we are working on getting an .exe file that you can install on your computers so you can get in there and play the level yourselves.

My role in the level is as follows

- Planning – Concepting, Document Write Ups, Schedule planning and delegating tasks.

- Modelling – Water Tower, Space Ship House Parts, Battle Arena, Modular Cable System, Chair, Ventilation Fan, Ladders, Metal Coil, Taps.

- Textures – Textures for all of the above

- Fly Through Video Comping

- Audio – In Game & Fly Through (not including game of thrones theme )

Writing it out it doesn’t seem like much but it was the cause of a few late nights. All up I am really pleased with my team and how it has turned out. We’ve managed to make a really pretty level and I’ve learn’t a lot along the way. Especially in hand painting textures. Hope you like it. Now on to the next one!

Click on the images below to see full size.

Hey there!

We’re almost at the end of our game environment assignment and things are coming along very nicely. Here are some of the assets I have made for the level. I’ll be adding a fly through video to this post soon so you can see the whole thing!

You can click on the images below to see it full size

I’m currently working with five other 3D art students on a game environment. We’ve spent the past week concepting and i’m really excited to see how this will all turn out. Here’s the story behind our concept…

“Two generations ago, a group of refugees crash land on a barren planet ruled by a race of massive bird-like creatures. Sheltering in the ruins of an abandoned tanker ship, the refugees set up makeshift homes made from their own space ships.

Almost two centuries have passed and  these self proclaimed “Space Vikings” have mastered the art of survival and no longer fear the massive birds that walk their planet. Now the Vikings are more focused on entertainment and self glory, rather than worrying about the sharp talons and deadly fury of the birds that once ruled the planet.”

This concept was painted by Princy Suarez, you can see more of this work here.

We’ve now started to model the assets so i’ll keep updating with our progress. So make sure you keep checking back!

For now here is my space ship design. All the space ships are able to be taken apart. With these pieces we will build make shift houses for the space vikings. Pretty much everything in this level will be made from scrap metal.

Here’s Rhett’s space ship model. Looks badass.

This is a concept by Glenn of what a space ship house could look like. All made from the parts of space ships.

All in all it looks like this is going to be a great project. Will keep you posted

On a side note, I am currently mixing the binaural track I recorded last weekend and it’s sounding pretty rad. My deadline for it is in two weeks so you can expect to hear it then!

Here’s a skybox i’m working on. All the textures and animations are in place, just have to work on the shaders to make things stand out more and look awesome. Needs some emissive and render clouds methinks

The idea is that it’s a desert planet that was settled by a future human race. Coca Cola is still popular and not everything is real. Or still working properly…