GDC

Well I suppose I ought to use this free moment to finally post another blog here. I have been using my time lately to explore new technology and broaden my skills for my demo reel. I've developed a couple of concepts I'm working on fleshing out for my reel and also for my own gratification. I'm nearly finshed with my heart breaker animation and it will be nice to have that finalized and move on to my other projects which I've started doodling concepts for. I'm still shooting the occasional model who wants a portfolio put together but I've tried to cut back on that a little to put more energy into my career. I attended the Game Developer's Conference a couple weeks ago and had a great time networking and seeing old friends from Perpetual. I'd love to get back into the game industry so I'll be working on some video game art for my reel as soon as I've finished up my final composite on the heart breaker. I've come to the realization from attending GDC that I need to teach myself Mudbox if I want to bring a lot more to the table of a game company. I have enough experience creating particles and dynamics for games but it seems that most game companies only hire one or two effects artists at the most or in some cases there isn't even any one specific person doing it. If I am able to build up my modeling skills and speed then I think I'll have a better chance of being seen as a valuable person to hire without question. I've been looking forward to playing with normal mapping anyway but I've just had too much fun with Mental Ray and my lighting simulations to spare the time to break into Z brush or Mudbox. So much to learn and I want to know it all. :P I'm actually considering starting a lighting with Mental Ray blog as I've stumbled across a couple other people who've done that and I've learned a great deal from their trials and explanations. Or maybe I'll just make it a generic 3D blog about stuff I've learned about this whole wacky process of making digital artwork.