Computer Animation Arts

Hey guys, I just wanted to share some official work in progress screenshots from Dovetail Fishing. I've been working on the Character, Rod and Reel. But I'll share some Environment stuff too :) The game is coming along really nicely. I really can't wait for people to play it! :) 

  Hello again, Wednesday now. I'll maintain the same format. Today, I'll be showing some work from another 3D artist I admire - Carlos Ortega Elizalde or 'Stroggtank' as he is known on the interwebs. In all honesty, I don't really have that many 3D artists whom I follow. Andrew Hickinbottom and Carlos are the two main guys. Mostly I'm more inspired and I enjoy 2D art a lot more. Which as a 3D artist makes a whole heap of sense, as what you produce often comes from 2D imagery.           I try to link each section together, so in this case; I recommend reading a great tutorial written by Carlos Ortega detailing the process of one of his pinups. Go here . I was struggling to think what Animation to suggest today. I don't know too many. Brain Divided was a great one though !   Tune wise, one of my favorite music producers recently released a new album.  Feed Me - Calamari Tue...

Hey guys, today is my first Author in Residence day - unfortunately I don't have the time to post all day, so I'll do a 'summary' post and include everything in one in the evenings (today I posted in the morning as I prepared this post on Sunday evening :) ). A quick introduction for those who don't know me. My name is Jon Stewart, I am a graduate from CG Arts (Three years ago now!) and I graduated with a first class degree. I am currently working for Rail Simulator as a Third Party Downloadable content artist, and I create downloadable asset packs for people to populate their train lines with. That's pretty much it about me, feel free to visit my portfolio at www.jonstewart.co.uk.  My plan is to introduce you guys to my interests. Namely artists I like and things that inspire me. My main interest is Pin-Up art, but don't worry, that doesn't mean it's going to be posts of breasts. Here we go then! My first supplement...

CGAA Alumni Jon Stewart makes a 'blink-and-you've-missed-it' appearance at the beginning of this 'Making Of' video in support of the launch of the latest addition to the Train Simulator scenarios - the Pacific Surfliner.  I'm sure it won't be long until Jon is doing his very own piece-to-camera...

Congratulations to CGAA alumni Jon Stewart who has just got a job at  www.railsimulator.com   creating downloadable content packs for TS:2014 .  I asked Jon for a few 'warts and all' words of wisdom for the CGAA community in light of his success: "It's taken me three years to break into the Video game industry. Granted, I had a lazy first year after graduating. Three years is a bit of a long time, and probably above the average. I would advise taking a year, following your degree, for portfolio building. Your university portfolio is rarely quite 'there' yet with regard to getting jobs. Upon graduating, pick where you want to be, find people's portfolios that have been hired there recently, and aim for their level.  On top of this, networking is key. Whether it be face to face, or on forums and social networking (or combine them - for video game artists, the Polycount forum is a great resource). Try to cater your portfolio to what you want ...

I'm assuming this is a peak at a Maya 2014 tool (I hope so). My only problem with Maya of recent years is that they never seem to put any attention into the modelling tools. I would hope that this years revision will get some much needed love. The new split polygon tool they put in wasn't very good, and the old one is still as buggy as it has always been. Furthermore, moving common tools from the context menu (shift and right click being the main one) to different locations in Maya 2013 was extremely alienating. Developing a fast, efficient work flow using habitual flicks of your wrist/mouse to hit things at a speed, like split polygon tool, and then moving them from being a flick left to a flick right (for example) is not pleasant and an unprofessional thing to do with a piece of software where efficiency and speed is key. I know it slowed my workflow down quite dramatically for the first couple of days whilst I would keep selecting a completely different tool to what I ...

I'll bite with this one. First thing that came to mind for me was 'Stop Staring - Facial modelling and Animation done right' The title explains it all really. Perfect for head modelling and rigging/ animation. Fantastic book, definitely a must have for character artists and animators, and is a valuable resource for the course!  Amazon - Stop Staring (Third Edition)

Spectacular Science - the UCA / UoK collaboration, which saw CGAA graduates create original animations in response to Dr Peter Klappa's bioscientific scenarios - is featured in the latest edition of   3D Artist magazine .  Well done once again to Tom Beg , Simon Holland , Pol Winandy (& Jon Stewart!), and Sebastian Schauman - and if you haven't yet had a chance to see the resulting animations or want to revisit Tom's snake-hipped basidia, go here.