In the first year of university I was able to learn a range
of different skills and build on what I already knew. From perspective and composition in visual
design to whole new skills like modelling and unwrapping as well as texturing
in 3DS max. Whilst I didn’t always feel like I progressed as fast as I wanted,
looking back it’s easier to see how far I came in the first year. Looking
back with some distance now, I can say I’m proud of how my rendering techniques
and my confidence to tackle complex subjects has grown and improved.
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| The first and last sketches of year one at University |
At the end of the first year I discussed how I’d obtained
the skills I now have, speaking about them as if they were separate entities in
different parts of the course. During that year the different aspects of the work
still seemed very much like separate lessons and areas that could be set aside
to work on others; a visual design
project meant a very different thing to me than a Game Production or ‘3D’ project
done in Max.
Now as the first term of my second year at University draws
to a close I can see how those skills come into practice; my work has seen me
bringing the two together and concentrating not only on reconciling the two
fields into one project workflow but also how I can use one to improve on the
other. Over the course of this new term with the help of my first year tutors
as well as some new tutors who started teaching as the course expanded it’s
intake I’ve learnt how to use 3D models in my drawings as well as how to paint
textures from scratch and use programs such as Photoshop to aid me as I create geometry
for complicated objects.
By far the technique that’s helped me the most is learning
how to effectively paint over a render from 3DS max; it’s increased the amount
of work I can produce and also the accuracy of the work as things like
perspective and scale can be calculated by the program allowing me to produce a
more accurate concept or painting and allowed me to produce different effects;
from a Haynes manual style diagram to realistic paintings with ease and
accuracy.
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| The Render |
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| The Technical paintover |
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| In Context Paintover |
It’s fulfilling to see how I can put the skills learnt in
the first year to good use creating my projects and the increased creative
freedom we’ve had in our projects; designing a building for a Blitz setting, a
futuristic All-terrain vehicle or creating a self-portrait for a Mortal Engines
(Philip Reeves) setting have all let me explore what I enjoy and what I feel
comfortable creating as well as forcing me to push those boundaries, find excitement
in areas I never thought I’d be interested (The vehicle project saw me get to
grips with an area I’d always preferred to avoid but also produce what I think
of as my most beloved project so far) and create things I never thought I’d be
able to dream up.
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| Self Portrait Project: Refined Concepts |
In conclusion the first term of the second year has really
brought together the learning of the first year. It’s given me practical
applications to technical skills and allowed me to experiment and blend together
those skills giving me opportunities to build on them and create things that
couldn’t have been created with those skills on their own as separate entities.
