RFX Design: DESIGN • ENERGY • MOTION: Thesis Concept Art

6/26/11

Thesis Concept Art

No, I'm not dead... although I felt like it at some point during the past few weeks. I have actually been hard at work creating concept artwork for my thesis project. Due to some unforeseen circumstances (i.e. getting married and moving) I was unable to present my proposal at a midpoint review last semester. As such, I'm one semester behind and am actually not able to take any more classes until I complete the review. So, in order to be prepared for it all, I dug in my heels and whipped out some artwork. I don't know what the committee will think of it, but I can say that, honestly, I did my best.

This title was just for my presentation. I wanted to do something that showed the art style I was looking toward doing.

This was just a mockup of the city of Diaspar. I won't be creating it, but I thought it would add a nice touch as a 1:1,000,000,000 scale model.

I changed the name of the main character from Alvin to Alex, mainly because I didn't want any associations with a particular singing rodent. His costume is meant to feel unnatural, hence the cool, mechanical colors.

The robot went through a number of iterations, but after looking at a bunch of science fiction illustrations and movies, I decided that simpler is better. The rigging will take some effort, but this one could turn out to be a very interesting piece to work on.

Taking a cue from Battlestar Galactica, I named the spaceship "The Kobol." It's meant to be a flying cathedral with lots of symbolism to its structure. I still need to figure out things like the landing skids and other such things, though.

In addition to the exterior, I plan on completing the interior living quarters of the ship. The plan and elevation view of the interior gives some idea to how it functions.

Clicking on the photos will actually give you a full-resolution version of each image, which will show the details much better. I actually should know soon when I will be presenting for my midpoint review. Until then, I have a presentation to run through. Wish me luck!

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What is this all about?

I was only nine years old when my brother brought the game Myst into our house. I remember vividly delving into it's surreal world and being mesmerized by the groundbreaking visuals that it held. It was at that moment that a seed of fascination had been planted inside me which continued to grow and grow and grow.

It has been many years since that day when I was introduced to the world of 3D computer animation, but I have had an increasingly strong desire to learn more and more about it. I remember the first computer animation I created as a teenager using Strata Studio Pro: a simple car driving around a corner and into a garage with the door closing behind it. The modeling was crude, there were no textures, the animation itself did not look realistic at all, the resulting movie took up a significant portion of our hard drive space, and the rendering time tied up the family computer for over a day. Despite all those things, I realized that there was something in my future involving this new developing medium.

My interest in 3D computer animation grew exponentially over the years and I have never been able to get enough of it. I am continually fascinated by the challenging visuals that are continually being achieved in the entertainment industry. I'm the type of person who will buy the special edition of the movie just so I can see all of the "Making Of" featurettes. I think I enjoy them more than the movie sometimes. Although I had this strong interest in 3D computer animation, I chose to do my undergraduate work in industrial design. I have no regrets about my decision to pursue that path, however, because I learned a great deal about proper proportions, composition, form, color theory, and how people's perception of things can be influenced by visual cues. I recognize that many of these principles translate very easily into visual entertainment.

I graduated from Brigham Young University in 2007 and was hired by Pride Mobility Products in Scranton, Pennsylvania. While there I was responsible for designing various mobility products such as powered wheelchairs, scooters, and other accessories. Oddly enough, however, I found my duties in the design team being focused more towards tasks that were closely related to what a technical director or render wrangler would do. I was often chosen to do the renderings for the products we designed because I understood how to program shaders and how to create HDR studio lighting setups. In addition, during our regular meetings, I found myself doodling little cartoon characters that I had dreamed up or dreaming up ways of how our products could transform into robots, etc. Eventually the itch returned and I realized that my ultimate goals and professional desired wouldn't be fully satisfied in my current career path.

In the spring of 2009 I decided that I wanted to pursue 3D computer modeling and animation as a profession and applied for the MFA program at Academy of Art University. I recently moved to Provo, Utah, and am currently taking classes online while I pursue some other personal goals. I am eager to collaborate on projects and am excited to get involved with the other graduate students. Feel free to check out my web site www.rfxdesign.com and give me any critiques on my work. I'm always looking for a chance to improve my knowledge and skills.

6/26/11

Thesis Concept Art

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What is this all about?

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