Week 1 - Shape language + Syd Mead study

This week we were exploring some basic shape language as well as some value studies. We also get the opportunity to study Syd Mead! I studied him heavily back in High school for my IB extended essay. His use of color has always influenced me and his futuristic shapes are also ahead of their time

I started off by doing this set of value studies.



I followed by continuing the shape studies we started in class. This was refreshing because I don't always draw out shapes in my work and it's good to practice.



I then did a study of two posed mannequins (found the reference on google). I've always struggled with anatomy and linework (because mostly I just paint in a shape and edit + I work straight with color). This study proved that I really need to study more anatomy and get more confident with my linework.

For the study, I estimated the rough size of the mannequins using straight lines. I then did a basic block using blue for the male and orange for the female. I then did a rough sketch followed by a more refined "linework".



Lastly, I did this study of one of Syd Mead's US Steel illustrations. I absolutely love the color in this piece.



I focused on the emergency vehicle. I think I got the basic shape down but there's still room to improve my translation skills.

First Week assignment - Beveled Cube + Unreal Master Material

I imported the FBX mannequin from Unreal into Maya to set up my scale. I am using centimeters with the grid being set up in subdivisions of 1, every 10cm.

Following this, I set up the cube with a 100x100x100cm scale and zeroed it. I then beveled the edges and exported it as an FBX.

Inside Unreal, I created a simple Master_Material after watching a few videos.

I was pretty happy with the results but also wanted to see how far I could push it. I also wanted to figure out how to use Emissive Color. I wanted to be able to use some of the stock textures that come in the starter content for fun but to also be able to edit them to some extent. I also realized that the cube I made would need to be UV'd in order for me to be able to use the Unreal textures.

So I watched some more videos and sort of bootlegged a 'master master' material together that allowed me to swap out Textures and mix them with black/white while changing color. I also learned a bit about Emissive Colors and managed to get it working with a blue output after some more videos. Lastly, I also included a normal map changer that would allow me to have some control there.

Here is how the UI was set up using grouping. There are toggles for on/off and some other selection options. This first material was made using the hex tile material, which I then also created a temporary emissive map out of.

And here is a simply wood material using the starter content maps. I could edit the color and intensity (mix with black/white) of the texture map to sort of create my own variance.

Through this set-up and Material instancing, I was easily able to customize blocks fast and efficiently. Apart from selecting or toggling things, I only had to type a F and color it to blue in Photoshop to get the Emissive map. I hope later on I can learn how to generate these things in Engine.

And here is my creation! I was inspired by this image I saw while reading through a Polycount post.



The link is here:
https://polycount.com/discussion/195835/unity-scene-trying-to-improve-my-lighting-rendering-skills


So here's my own take on the idea:



Interior shot (Bevels turned out nice, texture isn't warping too much so my UV's were ok)

And finally, a night time scene under the stars:

I had a lot of fun with this. I was extremely pleased with what I've learned and managed to do. I haven't really worked in Unreal this much before (I've only ever really done some basic stuff) but it feels incredibly good to be doing it again!

2D Art First Post

2D Art First Post