In case you haven't played it yet, Mass Effect 1 is now R49, and Mass Effect 2 is now R99. There's also Baldur's Gate 2 (and its expansion pack), called the greatest RPG of all time by many people despite its being a decade old, which is now available for download at GOG for about 10USD (~R70). (The original game doesn't run on Windows Vista/7, but the GOG re-release does!)
3D-coat has also released an educational licence for their software. It's a voxel sculpting program with some of the best retopology tools I've ever seen. It's also a great 3D painting tool, and is used by some of the folks who're working on their Dominance War (pre) entries. It also supports Ptex, if you're into that kind of thing. ;)
All we need is a mail to them from the school. *nudge nudge, wink wink*
Lastly, Kyle Nelson, an Open Window student who has until recently been working at Luma Arcade, has recently put up new work on his portfolio site. I have no words.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Holiday win
So you've got almost two and a half months of holiday, which means plenty of time for improving your skills. Here are a handful of great competitions that are going on at the moment that are worth entering:
For the Eat3D competitions, first prize is ZBrush4, second prize is a medium Intuos4, third prize is a year's Eat3D subscription, an honourable mention gets you a 1-month subscription... and just by entering the competition and finishing your piece, you get a 1-month stream of one of the Eat3D DVDs! Damn cool deal.
For the Mudbox competition, you get a 3-month trial version of Mudbox to use for the competition (although as students you qualify to get Mudbox for free anyway). Prizes include money, a Cintiq, and other cool stuff.
The Dominance War V Preliminary doesn't have any prizes (it's just a preliminary after all, just for fun), but given how much recognition Dominance War has internationally, getting placed in any of the competitions is very prestigious, and earns you a lot of respect as a game artist. The proper Dominance War only starts in January next year, and its prizes are yet to be announced.
Lastly, if ever you've made something cool and just want to show some other South Africans, post it on Pixofile. It's pretty quiet around there, but there are a bunch of members from all over, including TOW, GDC, TUT, CPUT, FOD and some other SA design schools. They're all nice people too. ;)
Happy holidays!
- Dominance War V Preliminary
- Warrior Mudbox sculpt/paint
- Eat3D - Head sculpt
- Eat3D - Next-gen small scene
For the Eat3D competitions, first prize is ZBrush4, second prize is a medium Intuos4, third prize is a year's Eat3D subscription, an honourable mention gets you a 1-month subscription... and just by entering the competition and finishing your piece, you get a 1-month stream of one of the Eat3D DVDs! Damn cool deal.
For the Mudbox competition, you get a 3-month trial version of Mudbox to use for the competition (although as students you qualify to get Mudbox for free anyway). Prizes include money, a Cintiq, and other cool stuff.
The Dominance War V Preliminary doesn't have any prizes (it's just a preliminary after all, just for fun), but given how much recognition Dominance War has internationally, getting placed in any of the competitions is very prestigious, and earns you a lot of respect as a game artist. The proper Dominance War only starts in January next year, and its prizes are yet to be announced.
Lastly, if ever you've made something cool and just want to show some other South Africans, post it on Pixofile. It's pretty quiet around there, but there are a bunch of members from all over, including TOW, GDC, TUT, CPUT, FOD and some other SA design schools. They're all nice people too. ;)
Happy holidays!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Message to the Motion Design students
(From Marinda; contact her at [mail |at| marindabotha |dot| co {dot} uk])
Dear Motion Design 2 students
I need to inform you of the deadline to hand in any work from this year.
Second years, if you have any work from this year that you would like Diek and I to remark/ look at again (because you feel you have worked on and improved it) you are welcome to hand it in to me, on a DVD, or send me a Vimeo/Youtube link to it. Please see the deadline below.
THIS Thursday 11 November - 12 midday to 1pm ONLY I will be sitting on the couch opposite The Cube, at the Video Department, eagerly anticipating getting my paws on your DVDs. I will only be there for the hour. Your marks need to be in by the next Monday, so I wont be accepting any work after Thursday 11 Nov. This is only if you want Diek and I to look at any of the work you did through the year, again.
Third years, I need a DVD of all your work from Module 1- 3 (and 4 if you want to, though not compulsory) that will serve as a Portfolio of your work and progress throughout the year. This DVD will make up 50% of your final mark so it’s very important. I know you are doing an Exhibition and that you have a choice to incorporate work from Motion Design 2 into it, if you want. You are free to do so if you wish, but I need to have a DVD of all your work and you will be marked on that. I will not give you a mark for the Exhibition; I will give a mark for the DVD. (I will of course come and support you/ see the exhibition).
I need to get these marks to you before the week of the exhibition. The deadline for the hand in is as follows:
Thursday 18 Nov 2-3pm and Friday 2-3pm. On both occasions I will be sitting on the couch opposite The Cube, at the Video Department, eagerly anticipating getting my paws on your DVDs. Please make sure you hand in your work to me on either of these occasions. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you don’t hand in work (or get someone else to hand in your work to me, on your behalf), you went get a mark. Please hand in your work in time x
If there is a valid reason for missing either session, let me know ASAP.
Good luck with the final stretch of this year. You guys have been super and a joy to know. Xx
If anyone is still unsure how the marking works, please have a look below:
Second year marks:
1) Module 1 = 20%
2) Module 2 = 20%
3) Module 3 = 20%
4) Module 4 = 20%
5) Final 20% is made up by taking the average % from Module 1-4
Third year marks:
1) Module 1 = 20%
2) Module 2 = 20%
3) Average % of Module 1+2 = Marks 1-3 will make up 50%
4) 4)Portfolio = 50%
Dear Motion Design 2 students
I need to inform you of the deadline to hand in any work from this year.
Second years, if you have any work from this year that you would like Diek and I to remark/ look at again (because you feel you have worked on and improved it) you are welcome to hand it in to me, on a DVD, or send me a Vimeo/Youtube link to it. Please see the deadline below.
THIS Thursday 11 November - 12 midday to 1pm ONLY I will be sitting on the couch opposite The Cube, at the Video Department, eagerly anticipating getting my paws on your DVDs. I will only be there for the hour. Your marks need to be in by the next Monday, so I wont be accepting any work after Thursday 11 Nov. This is only if you want Diek and I to look at any of the work you did through the year, again.
Third years, I need a DVD of all your work from Module 1- 3 (and 4 if you want to, though not compulsory) that will serve as a Portfolio of your work and progress throughout the year. This DVD will make up 50% of your final mark so it’s very important. I know you are doing an Exhibition and that you have a choice to incorporate work from Motion Design 2 into it, if you want. You are free to do so if you wish, but I need to have a DVD of all your work and you will be marked on that. I will not give you a mark for the Exhibition; I will give a mark for the DVD. (I will of course come and support you/ see the exhibition).
I need to get these marks to you before the week of the exhibition. The deadline for the hand in is as follows:
Thursday 18 Nov 2-3pm and Friday 2-3pm. On both occasions I will be sitting on the couch opposite The Cube, at the Video Department, eagerly anticipating getting my paws on your DVDs. Please make sure you hand in your work to me on either of these occasions. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you don’t hand in work (or get someone else to hand in your work to me, on your behalf), you went get a mark. Please hand in your work in time x
If there is a valid reason for missing either session, let me know ASAP.
Good luck with the final stretch of this year. You guys have been super and a joy to know. Xx
If anyone is still unsure how the marking works, please have a look below:
Second year marks:
1) Module 1 = 20%
2) Module 2 = 20%
3) Module 3 = 20%
4) Module 4 = 20%
5) Final 20% is made up by taking the average % from Module 1-4
Third year marks:
1) Module 1 = 20%
2) Module 2 = 20%
3) Average % of Module 1+2 = Marks 1-3 will make up 50%
4) 4)Portfolio = 50%
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Sheepy fixes!
(From Karl)
I've noticed some issues with the sheep. Here are some fixes:
1. When rendering out the beauty pass for the sheep with final gathering turned on, it screws up around the nose.
The fix:
Under Visibility -> Rendering, untick all the boxes under Final Gathering for the wool.
It's reacting with the FG in some weird way and this should fix it.
2. The wool is not rendering out in the AMB_occ pass. To fix this:
Duplicate the point cloud. Assign the new point cloud any standard material. In the Beauty pass, create a partition that hides the new point cloud. In the Ambient Occlusion pass, create a partition that hides the original.
The wool uses a volumetric shader that AO does not pick up. NOTE: Simply adding a material override will NOT work, XSI does not override it for some screwed up reason. You have to duplicate it and assign it yourself.
Hope this fixes the issues anyone might be having! Anyone can call me or mail me if they have any other problems.
griever158@gmail.com
076 110 2026
I've noticed some issues with the sheep. Here are some fixes:
1. When rendering out the beauty pass for the sheep with final gathering turned on, it screws up around the nose.
The fix:
Under Visibility -> Rendering, untick all the boxes under Final Gathering for the wool.
It's reacting with the FG in some weird way and this should fix it.
2. The wool is not rendering out in the AMB_occ pass. To fix this:
Duplicate the point cloud. Assign the new point cloud any standard material. In the Beauty pass, create a partition that hides the new point cloud. In the Ambient Occlusion pass, create a partition that hides the original.
The wool uses a volumetric shader that AO does not pick up. NOTE: Simply adding a material override will NOT work, XSI does not override it for some screwed up reason. You have to duplicate it and assign it yourself.
Hope this fixes the issues anyone might be having! Anyone can call me or mail me if they have any other problems.
griever158@gmail.com
076 110 2026
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