Week Two

First of all, I have to think of some more interesting titles for these updates. It's going to get boring really fast... actually, I think it already is boring. I just don't want to get to the 16th week of this semester and call it: Week 16. Boring!

Okay. Now that I've ranted about that, I can get on with the update.

Where to begin? A lot has happened this week. I guess I can kick things off with my first finished homework assignment! (First one of interest, anyway.) I had to pick a character (any character) and create textures for a Mighty Muggs based on that character. Of course I went with Lord of the Rings and picked an Uruk-Hai. Because they're cool. Also, I thought that the shape of their helmets would work well with the shape of the Mighty Muggs.

My "beauty shot":

Other than my Mighty Muggs turn in, most of my school work has been pretty hum-drum so far. However, this week Ferris hosted "Frag Fest," which happens the second week of every Semester. The Frag Fest is a 24 hour game design competition, which (this time) was focused on 3D modeling.

This semester was the first time that I've attended/competed, even though I'm a sophomore. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to go this time either, since it landed (rather inconveniently) on the evening of my birthday. However, I ended up going and teaming up with Wesley Mayle and Steve Reister.

The theme for this Frag Fest was "Alternate History." So, we had to model something that was somehow related to a short story that we wrote about a way that history could have been different. We thought it would be cool to go with the idea that dinosaurs didn't go extinct, and the Native American Indians used them to combat the European explorers.

We broke it down into three main parts: a utah raptor (that was used as a mount), a Mayan warrior, and a ruined temple. Steve modeled and textured the raptor, while I created the Mayan warrior, and Wesley did the scene/lighting. Toward the end we did things up a little, since I enjoy creating textures I painted the stone texture for the ruins while Wesley unwrapped everything in the scene and set up the materials.

All in all, the finished project turned out pretty well. Though the lighting and composition could have been a lot better. Also, I think a stronger initial concept could have made ours stand out a bit more. As it was, we took 5th place among 7 teams.

Personally, I'm really unhappy with how my character looked at the end of the night. I felt like I simply didn't have the time to refine him until I was happy. I think he looked really wooden and unlife-like. However, I still like the design and idea, and hope to return to him an do a better job. Anyhow, enough of my rambling. Here are some photos/renders:

Applied Technology Center, Lab 172:

And next door in Lab 174:

Also, durning the competition there was a Super Smash Brothers Brawl tourney going on in the auditorium:

The concept I did for the Mayan Warrior:

Some renders of what I worked on for my team's entry:

Our final product:

So, that was Frag Fest. Like I said, it was also my birthday... but obviously, I did't celebrate it on Friday night. That got postponed until the next evening, when I went out and got dinner with my family at Applebee's. The point being: I love mozzarella sticks.

That aside, I also spent considerable time this weekend installing Windows XP and Boot Camp on my iMac. I think I've finally got it running properly, though I'm still missing the two most crucial software packages (being Softimage and ZBrush.) With any luck I'll have both of those by this Saturday.

That concludes my weekly update. I hope you all have a great week! See you next time.