N0RTH's Project Thread

[N0RTHBIRD]

Hiya, I've decided to start a thread to show some of my work here. It's not all 3D so I thought "Other Creativity" was the best place to put it. Recently, I started opening up to sharing my artwork on an online portfolio. It's a little bare bones right now (I am kind of a snail when it comes to posting speed), so most of what you will see here are probably hosted over there alongside other platforms too eventually. But I still thought it would be fun to share video game related projects with the community here since a lot of my inspiration to work with 3D models came originally from lurking around Models Resource and messing around with rips.



I'm always open to comments and critique, so please let me know what you think? 



More in-depth project explanations are on the portfolio page here: Link Here

I'm also on Artstation and a couple other social media pages if you'd like to follow: Link Here

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First part of a Pokemon-themed motion graphic and personal merch project. These 3D models were rendered, printed and assembled into keychains. I also made tiny stickers out of my initial designs. Something I do a lot with my personal projects is divide them into having a digital vs physical or 2D vs 3D component. It's just fun to see an idea split into two distinct phases like that. Plus you can try your hand at picking up new skills along the way. This was my first time using an electronic cutter, and I'm pleased with how small it can cut! It even worked through the sheet plastic, after about ten rounds, haha.













IMGUR Mirror: Link Here

[Kold-Virus]

You're pretty dang good!~ I wish I had thiose modeling skills!

[N0RTHBIRD]

An Update!: Pokemon motion graphic's character (and environment) sheets. With these I was looking to shoot two birds with one stone, as these were both useful to draw for concept as well as being keyframes for the final. Each of the images on these sheets have a transparent version that will be included in the animation.






I also made a couple YouTube shorts/verticals for fun as a way to show the process behind these.





Going to start working on the 3D model/rig for the Ultraball next!

[Kold-Virus]

I stink at topology and uv mapping, what's your secret?

[N0RTHBIRD]

I stink at topology and uv mapping, what's your secret?

Oh, so I use Maya for 3D most of the time, and this might be a lazy solution, but there's an auto-remesh and auto-retopology tool that works pretty well, so long as your models aren't too complex. For the keychain models I used curves to generate geometry from vectors I imported to Maya, creating the base shape of the model, then used that combo of tools to fix up the result. A lot of the time you'll have to manually adjust the mesh after as it's not perfect (and the results can be really surprising)! There's a similar tool in ZBrush called ZRemesher as well for 3D sculpts. To smooth out the topology I use "average vertices" in Maya to keep polys uniform, plus smooth edges. Then, for UV mapping I use Maya's 3D Cut & Sew! You can directly select on the mesh where the UV should make its cuts and that saves me so much time.

I hope that helped clarify some things... This is also just what I did for this particular project. Usually I box-model everything and re-topo by hand, so I guess it's best to alter your methods to what works best for the situation! There are a lot of techniques out there.

[Kold-Virus]

You're pretty cool, North! Thanks so much!!

[N0RTHBIRD]

Quick Update: Finished pretty much all of the assets for the final animation sequence... I'm going to consider this 2/3rds of the way done. There is still a lot of animating and compositing to do of course. I've created new materials for the models I already have (from my keychains) and made a quick poster to see how'd they look all together. Then I made an Ultra Ball that actually functions, haha. It has a very simple ball rig, some squash/stretch and a button press. The rotation control can switch from a set rotation slider to a free rotation. 

I'll be working on the animation now, so hopefully next update I'll be able to share the finished video with you all. 

[Kold-Virus]

You are awesome!

[Kold-Virus]

Do you make character models too?

[N0RTHBIRD]

Do you make character models too?

Yes, I do! My favorite modeling projects to work on are creatures, as they're a lot of fun to sculpt and rig.

[Kold-Virus]

ZBrush or Blender? I'm trying to get started in Blender for sculpts but it's darn hard!

[N0RTHBIRD]

ZBrush or Blender? I'm trying to get started in Blender for sculpts but it's darn hard!

ZBrush. Blender's got a pretty nice suite of sculpting tools though.

[Kold-Virus]

Oh, I see! Would you recommend a tablet, or is a mouse good enough?

[N0RTHBIRD]

Oh, I see! Would you recommend a tablet, or is a mouse good enough?

For sculpting, I do recommend a tablet! You can still sculpt with a mouse, but I find it easier to control and draw things out with a tablet pen.

[Kold-Virus]

I need to find good tuts then because BOY it's tough.