Week 14 - Statue Concepts

As I already knew we would be making a statue this term, I made a podium in the fountain of my battle arena. On this podium I wanted a  statue that would fit the image. I decided on a regal looking dwarf as the placement looks quite important anyway.

I had a style in mind and the words regal, Celtic, Dwarven and warrior. I looked online to find some ideas and found some statues with interesting patterns. I also knew I wanted a weapon incorporated in the statue so looked at some good designs.

I began by doing some pencil sketches. I really like the face design and think it can be interesting to model.

I wanted to get an anatomy reference picture but it was almost impossible to find any decent ones for dwarf proportions.

Although this isn't exactly the proportions I had in mind for my character, I used it a base, though I couldn't find any which I liked facing forward.

Using images I found online and cropping them, I patched together an idea for my character.

I then went over and sketched my version to use for my model.

I then searched for a 3D model with it's wireframe showing to help me actually model though this. I can't just make a taller male's body and shrink it as the proportions are different but this picture is also different to what I had planned so I'm not sure how this will turn out.

Week 09 - Axe Prop

Today I decided to work on some of my props for my battle arena.

 I started sketching an axe and a sword, as I had included weapons in my mindmap. I knew I wanted some sort of Celtic design/pattern on it so I tried some out. Next I made a quick model in Maya. I left it relatively simple to keep the triangle count as low as possible as most of the detail could just be added on with a texture.

 I rendered the model in Maya and saved the picture. I then opened it in Photoshop, copied it twice and edited the levels to make it clearer to see.

I wanted to think about what sort of designs I could use without having to sketch it out each time or texture it and found painting over the model in Photoshop to be very quick and helpful. I thought of what both a wood and metal axe would look or leather parts on the metal. I like how all of these look though I feel I could add more Celtic style patterns in the metal to make them all look like they are part of the same scene.

I will definitely use this again, probably for sketching the patterns on the fountain or column.

Week 03 - Arena Render Mindmap

We were asked to make a basic, rough version of  our battle arena in Maya to then annotate with images of what is going to go where. I really enjoyed experimenting and got carried away by adding a lot of bricks and ruined walls.

I decided to stop where I was so I could step back and take a better look at what I was doing. Looking at this now I would like to make the ceiling part a little taller and also make the waterfall much higher so it is towering over the ruins.

Obviously I didn't add every detail just yet so I made a mind map with the images from my previous mood-board. Having images to relate to the currently simple model helped clear my thoughts and put a bit of order to this idea as it is still all coming together.

Week 02 - Arena Mindmap

Before starting the battle arena, we made a mood-board of images to help inspire us. I added so annotations to pick out what I like about each image and how I would like to use it.

I decided to go with a Celtic/Dwarven style of ruins, more like a battle area then arena. I like intricate carvings in wood and stone and think that would add a lot interesting detail to the final model. Not all of them will work well together so I will have to experiment when I start making the arena. I'm looking forward to creating my own ruins by piecing together all of these ideas.