-drop, drop it like it's hot->

[neuroballistic]

Thanks for your kind words...that's my dream anyway.

The chief did mention having some testers give our maps a test drive soon. We're in a sort of lull right now, only a hand full of ppl working on stuff atm. Hopefully we'll get some of our artists back and it'll pick back up soon. I'll let him know about testers right now. Thanks mang!

[Pfir8ich]

Np^^

Good teams should be supported!!! And your team is great...

[jdeegz]

seriously inspiring stuff mate.
id love to see some more ships from you
but at the same time, i am interested in exploring the world of those little do-dads like the doors keypad.
cheers

[neuroballistic]

MrHaRtUnG- Well, we really do appreciate everyone's support...and patience.

And if you (or anyone else) know of any good modelers that would like to work on the project with us, well, we can always use good modelers. Just Google "Digital Armada" and show us your work.

jdeegz-Thank you sir! I'd like to get back to modeling that drop ship someday. But we're trying to put together a CTF version of the game right now. So yeah, mostly doing characters, weapons, and props atm.


So, here are a couple lightning gun thumbnails I did yesterday. It's supposed to be a big-ass hip fired dealio. Not sure how fancy I'll get with the next phase, prolly just clean it up and ad a bit more detailing...then pass it off to a another modeler. Although, i'd love to make a mock-up, do a paint-over, and add texture. But time is really tight atm.

Used Sketchbook Pro

[Pfir8ich]

@neuroballistic: how old are you and how long did it take you to get so good? Tell me everything

[neuroballistic]

Let's just say not as good as I should be for my age.

If you really want to know how really good artists get to be so good? It starts out with raw talent, and year, after year, after year of honing their skills. I find it's a never ending process. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if I ever truly master this subset called concept art.

To be more specific about myself (in a nutshell)...I started drawing ever since I could hold a crayon, received a full scholarship out of high school to an art school, graduated, stopped doing anything remotely artistic after that and for the next 10 or so years, took an intro to Maya class at a local school a few years ago, fell in love with everything 3D, started picking up on the 2D stuff about a year ago...and spending as much of my free time as I possibly can playing catch-up.

And if you do the math...yeah, I'm an old fart.

Although, an old friend of mine, about 6 years ago, wanted so much to be an industrial designer. He couldn't draw to save his life. So he went to school, graduated, and is now one of the chief designers at Ideo.

[neuroballistic]

Here is the Major Sara Kelly suit I mentioned earlier on page #2...and the helmet that goes with it is there as well. Did this a while back but wasn't allowed to show it then. We're showing more of our stuff now just to get more modelers interested in joining us. Dmitry Gaborak is modeling it atm in his spare time.

The front side was done entirely in photoshop, and the back is a paint over of a render of the blocked out model Dmitry started in Zbrush.

[llex_paul]

nice one! i got to practice on mechanical parts, and this is a nice thread for inspiration!

[Pfir8ich]

Let's just say not as good as I should be for my age.

If you really want to know how really good artists get to be so good? It starts out with raw talent, and year, after year, after year of honing their skills. I find it's a never ending process. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if I ever truly master this subset called concept art.

To be more specific about myself (in a nutshell)...I started drawing ever since I could hold a crayon, received a full scholarship out of high school to an art school, graduated, stopped doing anything remotely artistic after that and for the next 10 or so years, took an intro to Maya class at a local school a few years ago, fell in love with everything 3D, started picking up on the 2D stuff about a year ago...and spending as much of my free time as I possibly can playing catch-up.

And if you do the math...yeah, I'm an old fart.

Although, an old friend of mine, about 6 years ago, wanted so much to be an industrial designer. He couldn't draw to save his life. So he went to school, graduated, and is now one of the chief designers at Ideo.

^^old fart xD

You are freaking awesome!

@Sara Kelly: The suit is to heavy dont you think so?^^ She is such a beautiful girl..the suit should be "look" like this:



more figure-hugging...

pls dont

[neuroballistic]

llex_paul - Thanks! I get so much inspiration from others on this site, it's good to hear I can inspire as well.

MrHaRtUnG- Did this initial sketch a few weeks ago of another possible character for the game. Cyborg chick, she looks neked in the sketch, but she will have some kind of skin tight exo-skeleton in the final...gotta keep it PG for the game, unfortunately.

And a concept sheet for the lighting gun. Didn't like the original concept much at all. Didn't really fit the look of the game.

[GunTrouver]

Some nice looking designs! Seems like you put a lot of work in it with all those details. This last weapon looks cool IMO. Keep it up!

[likozor]

i liked! ))

[Pfir8ich]

NICE NEW WORK!!!!

Your Cyborg chick has got some big niples ..grrrrrr...hot xD



The lightning gun is sick...it looks like a futuristic gatlinggun

The eclipse mod will be better than every other mod..
if there will be so much love in every "part" like in your concepts and models!!

[Incinerated]

Nice book man! very quake/unreal inspired 3d - loving it.
I'd like to see more of everything

[neuroballistic]

GunTrouver- Thank you! I try and make sure that my concepts are easy to read. Sometimes I feel like I go a bit overboard with the details though.

likozor- Right on mang!

MrHaRtUnG- Big nips, futuristic guns, and love...that about sums it up : P

Incinerated- Thanks! Definitely got a bit of inspiration from UT, been playing that game since the first release. Never got into Quake, but I do try and get that military look into my stuff, seems more natural and grounded. I get a lot of other inspiration from all the other good sci-fi stuff out there as well.

Here is a color version of the pump/filtration unit...I know, it looks like a vehicle. I imagined that they would be lowered from the pump station by long cables.

[neuroballistic]

Cleaner renders of the accel. pad and access console.

The layout may look a bit familiar...an homage you might say

[jdeegz]

god damn man!
this is EXACTLY the stuff i need to be getting my hands on.
any tips to a first timer on trying to get maya to bend to my will quickly?
i really enjoy the variations in color on each piece, it makes it more real than if everything had a matching scheme.

[neuroballistic]

jdeegz- Hey there! Well, as far as Maya goes, I've been told it's the hardest to learn...

To answer your question, spending as much time as you can learning the the tools Maya has to offer, and using the internet to find answers to the questions that will inevitably come up. Even books on Maya don't have all the answers. That's the hardest part for me, spending hours looking for the answers, or just figuring them out on your own.

More importantly, you should ask yourself what you want to use the 3D app. for before deciding which one to use. I learned Maya because I wanted to try and find a job as a modeler...and Gnomon offered an intro class using Maya. Now I'm leaning towards concept art as another possible career choice (at least that's the dream), and find that Sketchup is perfect for this...and way easier to learn. If you want to do creatures or characters (organic), then Zbrush or Mudbox is a must as well.

Hope that helps.

[tuchten]

Your 2D is nicely polished. But I would
advise more work on your anatomy and
faces.

[AestheticMachine]

i love your industrial designs, they're really lovely and make me want to work on some too do you have more zbrush work to share?
one of the classes i'm in now is learning how to work with the UT editor, so i hope you will release some models for us to play with!
an instructor at school that works at EA mentioned that they use a program superior to both Maya and 3dmax, but that it's so expensive to use that it's pretty much not used by anyone else. I wish I could recall the name but some research would probably dig it up.
don't be too hard on yourself even though i know it's harder said than done. i feel the same way often, and wish i had the guts to join CA way sooner to find the passion and inspiration i do now. i feel so far behind.. but at the same time it's the joy of learning, i think, and re-discovering that fire.

[Ian Barker]

Dude! These are amazing! Very inspiring to a newcomer to 3d such as myself.

[neuroballistic]

tuchten: You are absolutely right sir, been doing mostly hard edged mechanical sci-fi stuff in 2D and 3D for the past few years. My next concept will be a character, and I plan on doing more since I am trying to put a portfolio together. Amazing sketchbook btw!

AestheticMachine:Thanks, Wish I had your 2D skills! Haven't touched Zbrush in a while unfortunately, although I hope to more often, now that I plan on doing more organic/character stuff for my portfolio.

Sounds like they use a proprietary app, one that they coded themselves? Heard that quite a few of the big studios do.

Yeah, I try to tell myself that if my dream of making a career out of art never happens...that I should just be happy that I'm passionate about something.

Liffey:I inspire YOU!? Wow...not sure how to respond...but from looking through your sketchbook it's obvious that you're a very talented artist and will be owning 3D in no time.


Aight, so a couple updates. Was sick for a couple weeks with what felt like the flu, and then had throat infection after that, so was out of commission for a bit. Started to work on some stuff for a portfolio a few weeks ago. The scout vehicle ortho sheet is part 1 of a 2 part concept piece. I'll be starting on a color version of the vehicle later. The handguns are for the mod I'm still involved with. A couple of thumbnails I did today on break, and a chop job from other weapon concepts I've done. Just trying to figure out the overall shape at this point.

[jdeegz]

duh, amazing ><
going to draw right now....

[Ian Barker]

Thanks man, that comment made my day. Btw, congrats on the great portfolio showing yesterday.

[Kristo Novo]

crazy stuff going on here. keep us updated

[neuroballistic]

jdeegz:Thank you GO, GO, GO!

Liffey:Thanks, still buzzed from yesterday, was the last thing I expected...just need to calm my mind down enough to sit down and wok on my portfolio some more.

Kristo Novo:Sho'nuff! Admiring your perspective sketches.

[neuroballistic]

Took the female cyborg thumbnail to the next step. Will be doing a final model sheet next once the mod team decides which one to go with.

[neuroballistic]

A color illustration of the scout concept. Paintover of the mock-up model.

[Jasper_]

Man you've got some really nice stuff. It's great to see you working back and forth from 2d to 3d media. Love your vehicle concepts, keep it up.

[Pfir8ich]

grrr nice one ^^


1 question : could you make a short vid of shading some part of your vehicles..i just dont know how to make those really soft shapes in CS3 =/