A true update!

On the account of much blogging failure, here I am with a true update!

beneath ye shall see of what i have studied from abstain within the first three weeks (seems so long ago now has to be said.) Just a simple still life scene much like the kind you would draw in ye old fine art lessons. All you see in the pictures was modelled, textured normal mapped etc by myself, which i think for three weeks work it isn’t to shabby at all : ) although I have to say I’m not particularly happy with lighting effects, as you can tell with every image I did try different angles etc so I think I’ll go back and re-do the lighting. Though with everything being taught at escape, I’m planning on re-doing the projects we’re set twice, once the same as before then the third time, a more personal touch from me. Meaning I probably will become a hermit pretty soon as I’m a tad behind! Currently we’re modelling, rigging and animating the old Pixar lamp which is turning out to be a really beneficial project (which today we get to animate it finally!) so ill have to make a render of the animation and see what you guys think.








































As promised from such a very long time ago, here is some work from the old third year uni days, of my very own creation – the Tribus! Creating a whole skeleton structure isn’t as easy as one might think. I did show these to everyone at escape which the feedback was extremely positive which is always welcoming! Though after showing these to the folks over at conceptarm.org, there still seems work to be done but just a few minor modifications but most of their feedback was positive also but shows I have a lot to learn still! The plan will be to start to model this beast in maya and zbrush sometime very soon, so looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into this!









































Asides from all this, everything is rather gravy I have to say, though a routine of sorts needs to be implemented, as well i do have a case of splatterbrain at points and do get distracted to easily sometimes so i need to do some work at least for an hour or so a day, every day!

The next update will be those reviews i promised! So until then peeps, ciao!

Ben

Failure

Ack I truly am a failure of a blogger I swear! Tomorrow before I head to escape I shall update properly! Just wanted to bump this up was all. See you guys...or whoever reads this tomorrow.

Yeah this posts a bit late...but change is'a coming!

Well it seems like I have passed into the demographic of “lazy blogger” of late, what being my last post a month or so ago I think? So I’m aiming to make this a rightly weighty post.

So the last month as been somewhat of a constructive in terms of creativity and progress and most importantly has been a very loud wakeup call of what my future career profession along with the yearning lifestyle will require in terms of determination and adeptness that will be demanded relevantly me. I mean my ultimate ambition will be at the helm of a game designer, I hope to be the one who’s able to just throw in this crazy amount of ideas and opinions and bring them together to create something truly something of my own along with a group of people who would share my passion and vision to what could truly be done with this embryonic entertainment medium. Ideally I would like to be involved in every minute aspect of whatever game it may be, to the art visual style to the way it reaches those shop shelves’ (or gets to your steam account or OnLive with the direction of distributing games these days are going.)Though these last few months, I have started to brainstorm whilst allowing my imagination come up with imaginable idea’s of what kind of games I would ideally like to develop etc. I’ve been fascinated the principles of what makes a game fun, innovative or simply what makes it function?

Although I have all these ideas of what I think may work or would be entertaining to play, but in reality could be a very different story. As I previously stated in my other post’s that I was taking part of a new course at Escape studios, I realised that much like most people in the industry currently, and for even the greats of the industry that they worked from the bottom up. Now this kind of method of getting to where you ideally crave to be at i knew was generally the most knowledgeable way of going somewhere in this beast of a industry but only after a month at escape I’ve realised the importance of starting this way. By that I mean by learning from those who are much more experienced in such fields, In simple words I’m saying that by continuingly learning, being open minded to anything that can assist me along with taking inspiration and advice from those creative’s that surround me, I’m sure I’ll be reaching that top. Of late I’ve read Steve inces writing for games which was a gainful read and just explains when writing for a game idea how to approach it best and what kind of style of writing suits what types of games, learning in its entirety everything to do with Maya (at escape), learning the unreal engine in my spare time among other programs, that if I were to keep up this level of study that I should reach that milestone in due course.

Speaking of escape, after attending the course for a month now, I can comfortably say that I’m enjoying it very much; everyone else attending is friendly and easy to get along with, the tutor Dan is a really nice guy and generally know the right way and wrong way to do things which I find is always important. Within this month already I already feel that I have learned a decent amount of the basics of Maya ( On Wednesday ill post up some render jpegs of the work I’ve done so far, personally for a month’s work, I’m pretty impressed with how far I’ve come! Looking forward to see what I’ll be capable of once I’ve finished) All I can say about the next few months for this course is bring it on! Truly can’t wait.

All career induced talk out of the way, I recently purchased the juggernaut of a ps3 and I have to admit that it is one impressive piece of hardware. One of the big pulls of buying a ps3 was the exclusives of the console generally appeal to me as to be said, such as I already have 3 of them: metal gear solid 4, heavenly sword and killzone 2. I have already completed heavenly sword and MGS4 with just killzone 2 left to finish. At another time (Most likely to be my next post) ill do a review of said games along with resident evil 5 which I’ve been itching to review for some time and also a full report of the ps3, as I realised that synopsis of my reasons for buying a ps3 was pretty piss poor so il give the full run down next time!

So I think that’ll do for today, ill post another update on Wednesday with work of recent and let y’all decide how far I’ve come. Till then, stay groovy : )

Exuberance

Just a quick update, Barclays finally got back to me in which there verdict to extend my loan to the necessary amount that i needed was successful! and my deposit is down and paid for the course, so its a matter of time until i start, Hurrah as they say.

Next update will be a real one, with purdy pictures and the like, promise!

Purpose

Well for sometime I’ve been meaning to have this blog page up and running in which for the last few months, I admit I have been somewhat lazy and avoidant of it for no apparent reason really. So as the title header indicates and suggests, this blog will serve a purpose of sorts, the main reason for this is to keep an online track of my own findings, progress and general opinions of what I’m getting up to, which will most likely entail subjects relating to Game design and everything that encompasses it.

In the next few weeks, ill be doing some major backtracking to show some work and talking about topics that generally hold some importance to myself or others.

So guess in this wee post, I should give an update of the current situation first before getting ahead of myself. In current standings, I have been lazy of my studies in art, which is a great shame though I fully intend to start getting back into the habit of doing something in the creative department daily, be it a wee drawing, learning new programs or simply reading something to see things in a different light.

As such I have been starting to learn illustrator slowly recently so I think it’s a good place to start on getting back into the groove. Self motivation and learning can only go so far I feel which is why in late march ill be attending a course at Escape studios based in London to learn all aspects of Maya. Now I could easily learn Maya at home by myself and save myself the change (a lot of change at that), but the real attraction to escape really is more I would be taught to the standard in which this forever evolving beast of a industry needs to stay happy, the right contacts and people are all in one convenient place who aid , assist and generally give the kind of advice people in my position need to know about their work etc and most importantly lend a hand on getting your foot in the door for interviews! Also the idea of possibly making new friends is something that excites me greatly.


Now in order to do actually do this course, im having to apply for a CDL (career development loan) to pay for it and just help me financially whilst studying there (which it last for 30 weeks, which I would have to travel up twice a week). Now I know this will lead to more debt than im already in, but it is a necessary one I feel if I intend to get into the industry. Currently waiting though for a specific code from escape studios while they renew the course with the learning and skills council, which is somewhat frustrating as I would prefer it to be sorted asap and just tell Barclays the code and let them have the final say, though it should be all ok anyway but, I am not a man of patience these days!

Well there is more to talk about..much more, but for now I think il give it a rest and do another post somepoint in the week, but for the moment, listening to Liverpool hopefully beat Chelsea will do me just fine.

Ben
www.benkinsellathomas.com ( site is up currently, just need to shift a gear or two and get my work up)