Season Greetings (So happy I have 7 days off!)

Happy holidays.

I'm still working on the character I posted last time.  I wasn't happy with my skill level  in rigging, a simple FK rig can get by, but ends up becoming a lot of work later on.  So I decided to learn a "little" more about rigging and weighting and it has paid off. 

So progress has been a bit slow due to learning new skills and time constraints (I still have a day job).

Rigging and weighting is a very tedious process so I got a bit tired and decided to change focus for a while.  So I made a new body mesh for another character I had slated to make.

Still far from done, but I have made quite a bit of progress. 

The heroin I made earlier used a body mesh that I created some time ago and I have learned a lot more about making better mesh design for animating purposes. The mesh that the witch uses has a few extra features "under the hood" that make certain morphs easier to do, Ill probably edit the heroin mesh (again) to include these improved design concepts.

Until next time~  

Progress Report (Current Project)

I've spent most of my free time yesterday and today retouching and replacing the head on the PC model.  The other head was ok but didn't have the manga'ish look I was trying for.  I like this head a lot better.

I still have a lot of work to do rigging her.  She has basic armature and weight painting done, but I want to make a bunch of corrective shape-keys and emote shape-keys.

I'll tell more about the game and may post more artwork later when I feel I have more to show.

Just a heads up for "heads up" sake (or in the unlikely event that someone regulars this blog) .

I'm still alive and still working toward making a game to release.

Unity announced not too long ago they will have native 2D support built into their 3D game engine.  This news made me pretty happy.

So I've changed my plans (again).  I realized that I may not have all the necessary skills for all the big ideas I have, so I have decided to work on smaller projects to hone my skills, learn what to do and not to do and gain user feedback.

I'm working on graphics for a plat-former while I'm waiting for Unity to release version 4.3.  Hopefully I'll have enough material to start putting a game together when they release it.

As for the game I'm now working on, I may post some screen shots later when I have more to show.  I have the main character modeled for the most part, I'm working on rigging her right now.  I have a few mock up resources that I made previously that I could probably use, but I still have a lot to make.  Things like background art, platforms, enemies and special effects still have yet to be made.  Sound and music are other things that I'll have to work on too.  I have some basic script knowledge now, but decided to work on it later when Unity 4.3 is out and I have enough resources to work with. 

Hopefully I'll stick with this lol.

Full Speed Ahead!

OK

Been awhile since my last post.... not that it really matters since I'm the only one that comes here.  So here is a list of things you missed if I'm mistaken and actually have a hardcore fan that came here.

1- New website:  zonedoutdragonstudio.com
I registered a domain name in the event I decide to go commercial, I'll keep the site more as a showcase when I have something to put there.  It's currently under construction.....  Won't put anything on it until I have something to show.  I'll use this blog for feedback and such


2- Logo: The "logo" I had in my head for the longest time has finally materialized into an actual image I can show.  I think I'll edit it later to make it look nicer, but I'll keep the dragon and the setting.  It's a perfect representation of how I work ^_^


3- Education status report: I've gotten quite a bit better in the filed of 3D modeling which will be my primary way of generating art in my games (since I cant draw worth crap).  I have decided to learn/use Unity for my games.  My original goal was to learn C++ and build from scratch using Direct X SDK.  This however would take a lot longer to learn, and would create problems if I wanted to port to a different platform.  I still have a lot to learn about music, but I'm not too worried about that.

That's all for now.