Construction

Frag Fest, Spring 2010

FragFest, (A 24 hour competition in the Digital Animation & Game Design program) had the theme "Goblinoid," and categories for level design and 3D modeling.  I was on a team with Wesley Mayle and Luke Garnsey to create a level and I also submitted the 3D assets that I created as an individual 3D modeling entry.

This year went a lot better than last semester.  I was just "in the headspace" more, or something.  Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly (more or less.)  I had a blast working with Wesley and Luke, and it was really sweet to get to see my work running real time in the Unity engine. (We were allowed to use either Unity or Unreal III.)

Our level design team (click here to see our team's progress blog) didn't get placed in the top 3, however, I came in 1st place in the 3D modeling category with the assets I created for our map.

So, here's what I spent most of my time working on:

Basic Character

This is a basic character mesh I created using Softimage and simple box modeling.

Here is my final product:

Here is the concept that I was working from (Provided by my professor):

Nikodemus - Development

Nikodemus is an ancient goblinoid who was once a considered a great warrior among his people. However, he left those days behind him long ago and now works at his local library. Grizzled, irascible, and rather hairy, Nikodemus is the terror of all who do not return their books before the due-date. Preferring solitude, this crotchety old goblinoid spends most of his free time pouring through dusty tomes into all hours of the night.

Personal Assessment

My name is Tyler "Zane" Devon and my email is: zanedevon@gmail.com.

I am an artist seeking to merge storytelling and eye-catching design to create high quality, compelling graphics.

I specialize in:
• 3D modeling
• Character Design
• Texture painting

I am proficient with the following software:
• Softimage (Previously XSI)
• Roadkill
• Crazy Bump
• XNormal
• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• InDesign
• Bridge
• Flash
• Acrobat
• ZBrush
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Visual Studio
• Windows Movie Maker
• iMovie
• Macintosh OS
• Windows OS

I have a basic understanding of the following software:
• After Effects
• Premier
• Final Cut
• Dreamweaver
• Fireworks
• 3DS Max
• Maya

Relevant classes that I have completed:
• Animation I   (3DS Max)
• Animation III   (Softimage)
• Intro to XSI   (Softimage)
• Digital Sculpting   (ZBrush)
• Programming I   (C++, C#, XNA)
• Multimedia I   (Flash)
• Digital Imaging   (Photoshop)
• 3D Visualization   (Analog)
• Drawing I   (Analog)

Other work and education experience includes:
• Alumni of Compass Film Academy (2006)
• Intern at Grey Matter Group (2007-2009)
• Employee at Grey Matter Group (2010-present)

Ten of my best pieces:

Endings and Frontiers

So, my plans for a big post with all the final pieces of my work form last semester kind of fell through.  At least, in a timely way.   It may be kind of late, but here's my final ZBrush project: (Admittedly I've been pretty busy celebrating Christmas with my relatives.)




And here is a time-lapse of me working on it:




Also, breaking up with my girlfriend on New Year's day kind of really sucked too.  It's hard to believe that it's only been three days already.  I've been such a roller-coaster of emotions... I'm just starting to go numb.  But my heart still jumps into my throat every time the phone rings, or I that I got an email.  Then it falls rather quickly down into the vicinity of my toes.  If I was ever to write a song about it, this would be one of the lines: "I can't kill time fast enough to get away from you."
However, even though it sucks, I've been handling it a lot better than I thought I would.  Excepting for lots of sighs and relatively short spats of depression, I've actually been able to live a rather normal life.  Actually, it's felt good because for some reason the grief makes self-control really easy.  Most of my usual struggles have all but disappeared.
I'm trying really hard to just get over it and move on as fast as possible.  I don't want to be depressed and lonely; it doesn't do me or my family any favors.  I've been spending rather massive amounts of time in prayer, trying to get as close to God as I can, and in turn, heal as quickly as possible (to say nothing of keeping up my spirits.)  To be completely honest, I almost wish the pain wouldn't go away so that I could stay this close to God all the time.  However, it's still really hard to just trust him to rule my life.  I was so sure that she was the girl for me that I never seriously considered what would happen if we broke up.
It's almost funny, looking back.  There are so, so, so many red flags.  Heck, the "song that I inspired her to write was entitled "Nothing New."  I don't know what I was thinking to ask her out, honestly.  I guess simply that I'd follow God wherever he led me.  He did lead me to her, I have no doubt of that.  I don't regret the relationship, really.  It just hurt a ton and took so much of me.  I spent nearly 1/10 of my life trying to to win her heart.

Well, aren't I remissy today?

When I'm not feeling down, I'm pretty excited.  I can't wait for who or what God has in store for me out there.  I know he knows what he's doing, and I trust him.  I just have to learn to accept that I can't know the future, that this relationship wasn't a waste, and that God does in fact have a very, very, very specific plan for me.

I feel like I'm a frontier again.

As I said on Facebook the other day.  "This year can only get better."  I'm looking forward to it.

Learning VFX

Yeah, I know it's been a while since I last posted.  I haven't forgotten, I've just been crazy busy working on ZBrush homework.  Oddly enough, I don't even plan on posting that work just yet since I'd like to do some more work to it before I make it public.

Today I'm showing you my first visual effects project.  This project was... different.  It wasn't hard, once I understood what I was trying to do, but it was so unlike anything I've done before that I had trouble getting into it.
Enough rambling about naught.  The objective was to get a 3D object into some live video footage.  Thankfully I didn't have to shoot the footage or do the tracking on it.  Most of what I had to do involved  matching lighting and tweaking colors to make the digital footage match the live footage.  Here's what I got:



Overall, I found this project to be gratifying.  It's really great to see something I've done pull together like this and actually see it in an actual environment.

Here's a sneak-peek at my next ZBrush project.  I've been trying my hand at designing a character from the ground up (the right way).  Here are some quick silhouettes.

A Taste of ZBrush

Here is a pair of time-lapse videos of me working in ZBrush on my next project. I have so creatively named her "Centaur Girl." (Though, I may tone the name back a bit for the final turn in.)

It's kind of funny, actually, because since yesterday morning when I created these I've totally reworked everything you'll see. Maybe I'll get to uploading those later. For now, here's a taste of ZBrush.

Speck of an Animation

So, I finally got around to getting Speck animated. It's quick, rough, but it's an animation.

Though I found this project rather frustrating when it came to the rigging and animation, it has been enormously satisfying to actually see Speck come to life.

On another note... My life has been incredibly busy recently, and yet somehow I haven't been finishing a ton of projects or anything. Unfortunately. I feel like I have a time leech attached to me somewhere and I can't figure out where.

Hopefully I'll find myself becoming more productive very soon, so keep checking back.

Without further ado, here is an animated Speck!

Well, not quite... Here's my beauty shot.

And here (because I spent like 2 weeks rigging him) is a pic of Speck's wireframe and the custom rig I created for him.

O.K. Now we get to the animation. Enjoy!

Wolf Bust

Another week goes by, and another project is due.

... and several more are added to the queue. In fact, I've got so much going on this week I don't even have time to write about it just yet.

But if a picture is worth a thousand words, then I can give you a couple thousand words without a problem. Here is my latest ZBrush project:

(Click to enlarge)

Meet Speck

That's pretty much it.  Meet Speck:

Endings and Beginnings

The last week has been pretty rough, though is seems to have concluded rather well. I'm approximating that I spent 40+ hours on my "game model" project. I'm going to be in shock that I'm done for... quite some time. I feel like I've been released from prison.

Anyhoo. All in all I'm pretty happy with what I got considering the time I put into it. Obviously, being a perfectionist I always have things that I'd like to improve, but really they're all pretty minor things.

Here are the modelsheets of the three variants: (Click to enlarge)

And here is a turnaround video:


So, that's the ending. Now for the beginning! I'm actually getting kind of excited about this coming project in my Animation III class. It's an animation project (meaning the focus of the project is on the actual animation of a character, not the modeling, texturing or lighting.) So yeah. It will be fun, I hope. I haven't had a project yet where I was able to put much time into the animation side of things, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do.
Also, I like the idea of departing from the realism side of 3D to something a little more cartoony. I'd like to prove that I can do both.

Enough talk. Meet my new freind, Speck. (Click to enlarge)

Elixir Logo Design

Here's a first look at a project I've been working on for a while now. The logo was designed for Elixir Post Production, a film company that does, well, post production. Imagine that.

The project actually started out as website design work, and the logo somehow the logo ended up in the mix too. The website portion of the design should be finished in the next couple weeks, so check back for more from Elixir.

This is the "official version." Obviously, since it's shiny.

And here we have the pure black version that could be printed.

The Prosperity Gospel

This video really says more than I can, so watch it.

Eidolon Concept

Okay, it took me longer than I thought. I'm not even done yet, really. I simply don't have more time to play around with the design and need to start modeling.

The assignment is to create a game model (2,500 polys max) for a game of our choice. We also have to create 3 variations or animations of our model. Oh, the project was also limited to buildings and vehicles; no characters. Being a one time Halo geek, I decided to design a Covenant walker. It's approximately twice the height of an Elite, and could be piloted by Elites, Brutes, Marines, and of course Master Chief.

If I have time I plan to rig the model and write a little backstory. It should make a nice portfolio piece, since I don't have any vehicles (good ones) or any low poly models (with the exception of all my props.)

Anyhoo, here's the design:

ZBrush Props

'Ya know, I don't know.  Yeah, that's right.

I'm going to break my regular blogging pattern and post an update.  Scary, I know.  Hopefully it won't be such a rarity in the future.  I didn't really intend to get locked into the whole 'blogging once a week' thing (and I guess I didn't really) but only meant that to be the bare minimum.
Yeah.  Wow.  I ramble about the most random things.  I guess everyone doesn't need to know (or care) about my blog posting psychology.  I guess it's one of those lonely computer geek things.  Anyway, I'm going to cut this thought off and get to the meat of the matter.

Ok, so maybe the meat of the matter has already been picked clean by the Aegypiinae.  "At what am I looking?" you may ask.  (By the way, you may not ask, "What am I looking at?"  That is grammatically incorrect and I will smack you with silence if you do.)  Well, to answer your properly phrased question, you are looking at my first ZBrush sculpture!

It was fun to play around with, and I'm pretty please with the results.  However, I'm suffer no dillusions and realize that it really isn't all that great.  For one thing the proportions are lacking rather badly (though, considering the time I spent on it I'm ok with that.)  So yeah, that's that.  You're looking at about 2-3 hours of doodling with ZBrush.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a vase.  Yeah, I know it's awesome.  It's also what I whipped up at the beginning of class so that I had something to turn in for my review.  It was also the time that I discovered the Macintosh ZBrush files aren't compatible with Windows ZBrush. (I couldn't turn in my skull!!!  Urgh.)  Anyway.  It's a pot.  I had a lot of fun with the radial brush as you can probably tell.

Here are my final two props.  You did know that I was making "props," right?  My teacher gave us a list of different categories of stuff we could do and each had their own point value.  All of our props had to add up to 10 points.  Anyway.  I made these last two because everything else on the list looked really boring (Who would want to sculpt a sock, honestly?)  If you don't recognize them, they're the helm and cuirass of the Uruk-Hai from Lord of the Rings.  Predictable, I know.  I guess it was fresh in my mind from doing the Mighty Muggs.  Or maybe it's because I can see eight books related to Lord of the Rings from where I'm sitting right now. (That isn't counting the trilogy itself.)  Yeah, I'm a geek.

So, that's what I've been up to... last night.  And I guess some of it is from last week, too.  That's all for now.

Stay tuned, I hope to be posting some concept art for a new project in the next day or two.

Double Stuffed Blog

Things have been crazy, crazy busy for the last two weeks.  Gosh.  Where do I even begin?  Well, I guess the beginning would probably be a good place...

So, to kick this off I'll start with Monday last week.  All in all, it was a mostly uneventful day filled with homework and other such fun stuff.  However, that evening I started up a Theology Study group at my church.  It's a year-long study that we're spending going through Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology.  So far it's been a really great experience, and I think I'll learn a lot.

Let's see.... What next?  Well, obviously, there are the every day classes which are pretty unremarkable.  However, I suddenly found myself with the free time and inspiration to put together the poster for my girlfriend's Jr. Recital.  I don't think I've ever had quite so much fun working on graphic design stuff.  Here 'tis:

As far as class projects go, I was assigned to create five 'props'.  Low poly,  scene filler type stuff.  The props were split into two sections; three due the first week and two on the second (next Tuesday).  I ended up staying up until 3:30 on Monday, to finish my props in time, and then my teacher gave us an extension on it in class the next day.  I was kind of frustrated.  Oh well.  It gave me the opportunity to tweak them a bit and render out some better pics.  Now they're ALL ready to go, and pretty spiffy.  (Though, as a note, I was assigned to create the fence and trashcan.  Those weren't my idea.)  Here are some pics:

So, that's a large part of what I've been working on for the last two weeks.  Though, as a matter of fact, I've also been assigned to create props for my ZBrush class, so expect to see those up soon.  As far as class work goes, that pretty much sums everything up.

School isn't everything though, and I've also been working on a website and logo for a friend of mine (in all the fractional bits of extra time).  I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a handle on all my homework and stuff so I have some extra time to do more 'fun' work.

I'm also really looking into how I can break into freelancing and actually earn some money, since my finances are running rather... low.  Quite low.  So.  I really have no idea how I'll be able to do this on top of everything else, but somehow, no doubt, I'll figure it out.

That concludes this week! (And last week).  I think I'll have time to post on time next week, so please check back soon.

Goodbye Earth, goodbye Earth.

Goodbye Earth,

Goodbye Earth.

The stars are spiraling overhead,

Somewhere, there, my dreams have fled.

I hear them whispering my name,

"Goodnight Zane, goodnight Zane."

Goodbye Earth,

Goodbye Earth.

I seek to catch my dreams again,

To hold them here within my brain.

So once I've found them; gripped them tight.

From beneath my hat they will not soon take flight.

Goodbye Earth,

Goodbye Earth.

It's time I dream my dreams.

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.