Not too much has happened in terms of actually making progress on any project I have in my head, since last post. I have been putting together some random models to be used as props, but most of my time has been invested in learning texture painting and UV's.
I put this tree together a while back. It's kind of fucked it up in terms of poly count and takes a long time to render. I tried to make something that I could use in a CG scene as well as a sprite but went overboard in modelling all the curves on each leaf and it lags the view port like a 5 ton anchor even with all sub surf mods turned off.
It did serve its purpose as a practice project though. The leaves are actually texture painted and I did learn some tricks to cut down my render times as well as cutting seams and ways to hide them.
I still have some ways to go, but I feel like I'm making progress.
Anyway it's the end of the winter anime season. Although I didn't really follow a lot of them due to time constraints, I'll summarize what I thought of the ones I did follow.
Warning: may contain light spoilers for the winter 2015-16 anime season......
Boku Dake ga Inai Machi:
Fairly good supernatural crime drama. The art style and characters are really down to earth and set the tone nicely. The ending felt a little too fulfilling. But enjoyed it overall.
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar:
Now this is how you do an anime based on a sandbox MMO! The story is about a group of people that suddenly find themselves in a middle earth themed MMO world. They don't remember the original world they came from, other than some some terms and objects they vaguely recall.
This story has to be one of the most hardcore life/death portrayals I've seen to date, even SAO doesn't hold a candle to it. The battles draw you in with their gruesome “realism” as each monster fights to the end for their very life.
It's a little slow at times, but picks up later. I kind of like the slower pace as it really makes you feel the social vibe of a sandbox MMORPG.
The water colour backgrounds really help this story feel immersive too.
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo:
A comedy about a NEET that dies in a ridiculous way and gets reborn in a world that is structured like a sandbox MMORPG.
I won't go into details, but it's really funny and well worth the watch. Thankfully a 2nd season has been confirmed sometime in the future.
Musaigen no Phantom World:
A supernatural harem themed anime in a setting where phantoms actually exist. A group of students fight and seal phantoms as part of their job.
It was alright overall.
Saijaku no Bahamut:
Very similar in mecha design concept to Infinite Stratus. The prince (main protag) is surrounded by a harem, with a nice selection of arch types. He is your cookie cutter girly man protag.
Followed this one mainly because of character design and fan service. Didn't offer much of anything else -_-
And that is it for anime.
In other news, I have decided to use Blogger again as a mirror blog. I figured that I've grieved the past issue long enough, and staying with just one blog is cutting off potential posters that may prefer Googles streamlined interface. Not to mention, there is really very little extra work to keeping another blog going.
That's all for now.
