A New Project

Well, "new". The idea is a gothic castle, complete with graveyard, courtyard, dungeon, and Silent Hill-esque twisted areas where everything is bizarrely distorted. It is likely far too grand to take on, but I have at least taken some initiative and made up a rudimentary reference document and found a fair bit of reference photographs. So, at least I have SOME direction.

Unfortunately, my computer still hates Unreal 3, which means that if I want to build a level, it's gotta be done in Maya-only. Fortunately, I should have some help in this project. It is not solely mine, but a collaboration between a friend and I. Hopefully something will come of it and we'll have some stellar display pieces for our portfolios. In the meantime, I've been building assets. I'm focusing on being a bit more complex this time too, as I've noticed some of my stuff can be pretty plain. Stay tuned.

Carbonmade Portfolio Site

I decided to supplement this blog with an additional portfolio website, so I can keep my best and most recent work organized, and thus won't feel the need to have something new every time I post here.

You can find it at: Corey Hallberg's Portfolio

If you want, you can also visit my Deviantart account, though it is largely redundant (and wasn't used for a few years until recently. It can be found here: http://thalzon.deviantart.com/

And remember that character head I posted, like, in August? The big-nosed guy? I finally bothered to texture the head a little. Though the lighting is pretty bad here... Well, enjoy.



Better pictures forthcoming when I can learn how to properly use lights. :\

The Long Wait

Yeah, I haven't updated in forever. Sue me. But before you do, I have something to show for my absence!

BALLHEAD.

He is a creature with a ball for a head. And a face on that ball. Based off a monster doodle I did, and made in a day (technically -- his hands were made earlier and separately). Modelled, rigged, bound, weighted, all that stuff. Took around 6-8 hours. The total poly count is somewhere around 5000-6000. Those tiny hands are quite detailed. Unnecessarily so, actually, since the fingers don't flex. But that neck sure does.

I'm thinking of perhaps making a variation where the ballhead is replaced by a giant cartoon hand, much like those sticky-hand vending machine toys.

Anyway, I've been thinking of starting a different blog. This one's archiving and picture display format is a little too restrictive for what I need. I'll probably be posting a link to a new blog within a few days here. In the meantime, enjoy Ballhead.

He's already enjoying you.

Quick Model - Toolau

After having no internet and no personal computer for a week (moving -- it was all packed), I sat down this afternoon and impulsively started a new model I knew would be quick, easy, and fun. The end result is this doll character named Toolau.
A bit of history about him: Toolau is a character from an old online role-play. He was created by the user "Horn", and was a magical voodoo doll whose origins are never fully explained. He follows around a euro-medieval ninja with the unenviable name of Chyaltze. Toolau is basically your typical wise-cracking sidekick, and becomes the object of affection for another bizarre character early-on. Nobody in the story really finds him unusual or odd, which begs the question: just how many magical talking dolls are walking around?

Took all of 3 hours to make. Despite the simplicity, he pretty much looks exactly as he should. I will likely end up rigging this one since his rig will be similarly simple (no fingers to manage!) and fun to play around with.

Just a Drawing

Whoa, an update two days in a row! Just felt like posting a picture I did a few days ago. This is a character named Normandie Sardigna, from the same story as the axe-wielding guy sitting down I posted previously. Enjoy.

Character - Ivan

Perhaps it's time I detailed a little more about my fantasy game idea...

It's one I've been reworking for some time. It's a fantasy/sci-fi turn-based RPG (whoa originality!) with Dmitri (the previous character I worked on) leading an excursion to find a legendary creature. This particular creature's properties are such that it's both magical and technological, two opposed forces. There's way more to it than that, of course, but in the beginning Dmitri leads a party of four to hunt for it.

This guy, Ivan... is not one of those four. :P

He's a down-on-his-luck shepherd living in the highlands of the world's largest nation, and like his jutted jaw and sharp features would indicate, he's a gruff, large guy. He's also got a Scottish accent.

Though it is but a distant twinkle in my eye, I do enjoy modeling these characters. Ivan's profile was very different from what I'm used to. His bottom-heavy head shape and ears that stick out make for an interesting silhouette. I imagine modeling his top-heavy, almost apelike body will be a fun challenge, as well.

Back to Work

Finally, I have decided to pull myself out of this apathetic (also pathetic) slump to continue work on the Dmitri model. Or rather, the textures, starting with the eyes and hair and other small touches.

Finally, he's got actual eyes instead of two vacant black dots. It's amazing what an iris and some fake shine can do to make a character seem more alive. The hair is another matter, however. I believe I mentioned how slapdash the UV map for it was before, so I've really just been layering a ton of different things on it to try to make it look good and hide seams. It's worked, for the most part, and I think I can say I'm satisfied with it now.

Other things I did were, obviously, that "stubble" on the chin, and added a bit of noise to the skin. The latter is hardly noticeable, though. The former... looks okay, I suppose. I can already see the comments from my friends: "It looks like dirt." Which is true enough, I suppose, but it'll do for the time being.

I'm beginning to doubt I'll have the will to rig this one. Rigging is a pain for me and I'll avoid doing it if I can, even if it would be nice to have this guy fully poseable. I guess we'll see.

Oh, and one more treat...


















AAAAAAAAAGH!!!