Category: Notes

A celebration to a lovely 2014

I must say that the last past months has passed very fast, and I have not updated the website with anything juicy or interesting for a while, so id like to apologize and explain why:

  • I have been working super, and incredibly hard, all jobs has been intense, but with amazing perks that enhanced learning and productivity skills, all projects with great and amazing opportunities that enabled me to learn to be faster and accurate.
  • Most, if not all of the work I have been doing, is all Non disclosure Agreed. So I even do I have done some exciting work, I can’t show until a later future! There is a project that I would like to show rather soon with some permission as it finalized back in the second week of September.

At my time off I have been doing my own teaching with Unreal 4 and PBR with unity and marmoset sky box. It has been all very exciting stuff, but at the same time, its nothing to really show other than simply understanding what it is all about. Perhaps I could write a tutorial about it?

Lately I have been also a bit involved with an app on my phone. Id like to share a new button on my website, a button to my Pinterest account. I shall create it, bind it and share it on my website for everyone to share and view. I must say its an amazing tool to quickly put together visual information to a tutorial, environment, research or idea, while at the same time be organized to what ever you are looking for, can be there.

Some of my boards include topology tips, anatomy references, texturing techniques and resources as ps brushes and textures.

I have been using Pinterest for a very little time, but when ever I shall find an interesting article that can be shared, I shall share it here.

A sample of boards at my account

A sample of boards at my account, it may be limited at the moment, but I am looking forward to keep adding

 

I am going to have a few days off in the next 10 days or so (thank god its xmas) because I am pretty itchy to make some thoughtful art to show.

As I mentioned earlier, I am very interested in PRB, and I’d like to explore it while using Unreal 4, so in the next few days id like to show some progress shots of a personal project that I am doing of an environment. Its an illustrated piece by an Australian artist, but recreated in Unreal 4. Currently I have only done some blocking and have put some ideas together, so its too soon to show anything. But its certainly in my interest to show a demo reel about this environment with some WIP shots. I have made sure that the piece is very minimal with a low list of assets. So should be done right away.

To give away a little a little treat, id l couple of works I have done in the past weeks for a very old project that I worked back in 2007. I thought the original art was not up to my new standards. So I have re imagined them and remade them. Here I present you Orpy and Lyde. A couple of creatures for Glow.

Before I do however, id like to wish you all a lovely merry Xmas and a fantastic new year!

A flaming sea horse

A flaming sea horse

A hermit crab

A hermit crab

 

 

Published on: 21 December 2014
Posted by: Paco Casares

New Brushes, and Links to Video Tutorials

I have played with Zbrush for the last couple of days. I thought that the idea of being constrained of just making things for a purpose failed at learning new possibilities with Zbrush, so I have dedicated today and yesterday in experimenting.

newInterface

A mix between the known ZBrush UI and custom introduced brushes from both MAH and ORB.

I watched carefully ORB’s tutorial several times to learn to produce some of his brushes, and while I was observing in his video, I have also fallen in love with his interface.

After a bit of looking around, I also found that pointpusher uses a similar interface layout.
I followed this tutorial and made my own interface by looking screenshots. Now I can spend less time looking for buttons and playing with the menus.

(more…)

Published on: 19 February 2013
Posted by: Paco Casares

Notes on creating a Demo Reel

I haven’t considered creating a demo reel until our teacher, Kate (Portfolio Curation) has shown some good and bad examples of what makes a great demo reel, and what makes it a bad demo reel.

Notes on making a Demo Reel

  • Should be 1 to 4 minutes long. Never more than 5 minutes. Its better if the demo reel is short, but sweet and interesting, than 5 minute long reel and its long and dragging.
  • Only show the strongest work. If you show anything that looks week, blunt, unbrushed, unfinished, unpolished: Its a gap of opportunity for the industry people to judge and tear your work apart. Any signs of weaknesses and people will put you down in a spotlight and rip you apart (and then laugh at you)
  • Show clearly what you are doing: Animation? Modelling? Environment? Character? Show it! There is no rounders in the industry. Your demo reel should be about your specialisation, and should show clearly within the first 10 seconds of your show reel.
  • Your Demo Reel should be able to stand it self with no music or sound. It should clearly show the message and be entertaining and/or interesting with out it. Must make sense without audio.
  • Show Variation: Showing the same thing over and over, or things that have already been done or seen shows a lack of creativity and imagination. If you have an ogre character, what is it going to have that stands out from every other ogre? or a dragon? or a fairy? do something that is fresh and different.
  • Make different Demo Show Reel’s if you have different fields you want to show. For example, if you are both good in Modeling and Animation, make two separate Reels so if employees are targeting anything in specific, they can aim your Demo Reel.
  • Clicked and being Clicked. What does it take to be notice? Look at the thumbnail, how does it read? Learn from you tube links why Videos look interesting and what other videos look uninteresting. What makes you want to click their video? Design your Demo Show Reel to a thumbnail point of view.
  • Wireframe and textures. You need to show your work. If you are going to have a Demo Show Reel that shows beautiful talented work, some people may want to know the grids and lines underneath of you work. How did you make it? sometimes showing how you made the work, while showing the work, gives more meaning to your future employee to hire  you.
  • Tittle, Proffesion and Contact Details in the beginning and end of the Reel to show who you are.
  • Last, but most important:  WOW Factor. It has to be so good that people just want to look at it, all the way thru it. It has to be so good that everyone wants to hire you. When someone looks at your Demo Reel and they say “wow” from both the professional and the regular casual person. You have done something right! Of course, it takes more than just making people say wow… What would it take for your work to say wow?

I am going to collect some good examples and bad examples of Video Reels (as part of my exercise) and also, to show you guys.

Demo Reel Examples
Good examples:
James Englehardt – 3D Environment

Animation Demo Reel – Art of Dae

James Benson – Animation Reel

 Ray Chase – Animation Reel

Erica Pinto – Character Animation

 

Published on: 25 July 2012
Posted by: Paco Casares