OLD - Second Year at AIE

Continuing my look back at how much I learned at AIE (knowledge gained measured by the amount I cringe looking at my old work), here is what I produced in:

Second Year

First Nuke Challenge

Intro to Post-Processing Challenge.  An afternoon that began with provided render-layers, and ended with a fully comped image.  Also when I first discovered RGB maps - a love affair begins

This challenge was so useful as an intro to Nuke that I've included it here as a zip - which contains all the render passes provided by AIE and the Nuke script I used, the last of which I have resisted the urge to change from its original, limited state, save to label everything for ease of understanding.

Download the Fishman Nuke-Comp Challenge

Second Nuke Challenge

Robot in a Day

A fun filled day starting with a rigged model, and ending with a fully textured/lit/rendered/comped shot.  Also a fun challenge in post-processing.

First Group Assignment

Fluffy

Model created for the very first short film I ever directly that, sadly, has now been lost in the cloud :(

By me: original concept (for a scary AND cute monster), facial topology, facial skinning, eye-rigging, animating, Mental Ray shaders and Nuke Post-Processing.

SketchFab Modelling Challenge

Challenge: to speed model a Minion.  Also my first introduction to Arnold Renderer.

(Models by others: fan, hair, original body mesh)

SketchFab Link

Also was a chance for me to sneakily use the dress I'd be remodelling and shading, which (with more work in Mari on textures and much more work in Maya in Arnold) would finally become:

For use in our End of Year Group Project.  Which I'll get to in the next post.

OLD - First Year at AIE

Part of me can't believe its been two whole years, and the rest of me can't believe it's been ONLY two years.  During my short time at AIE I learned more about being a working digital artist than I did during my previous five years of uni, combined.  For that AIE will always have my thanks.

Looking back over my work I can't believe how much I've learned, to the point that I cringe to even look at my old work.  But I'm posting it here anyway to show just how much AIE taught me in such a short time.

First Year

First Group Project

Environment - Arthur's Tent.  A group effort to make an entire environment a few weeks after being introduced to Maya.  Stressful, but very rewarding (especially when we discovered bump-maps).

Second Group Project

Environment - Post-Apocalyptic Station.  Also my first introduction to texturing in Photoshop.

Speed Modelling Challenge

Character - Pokémon in two hours.  Based on a creature concept by Tristian Blake.

Major Character Assignment

Ksthhra, take one.  My first go at Mentral Ray shaders, Nuke Post Processing, oh and making a character from sculpt to rigged-final.  Also, the 'take one' is important, as he'll be making a reappearance later.

End of Year Client Project

Future Industries SciFi Level.  My first go at many things, primarily Unity for assembling assets, and Directing a group.  Also made the majority of the modelling and texturing, and utilizing Matthew Cohn's amazing Shader Forge animated Shaders, and made the final flythrough video (below).

The Video Flythrough

And now onto second year....