Weird Fascination with the Flat

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 6:42 AM

OK, I'm kinda odd. I know that. I have this weird fascination. This fascination has only grown over the last few months that I have been concentrating on creating textures for our models here. I love to look at flat texture art. Yeah, yeah, I know they are created for the main purpose of wrapping them around models. But, I find the strange depth within flatness to be an especially alluring experience for me. So, I thought I would pull out all the textures I've completed and post 'em up. I hope you enjoy looking at them a tiny percentage as much as I obsess over making them. Here they are, roughly in the order I did them.






































Stay free.

~shs~

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Related Posts
Artmerce Evolution
Polyglog 0.1

Tuesday Morning Polyhacker -- Mar. 28

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 1:22 AM

Net & Web not Ball & Chain
A surprising and wonderful but not completely unexpected thing has been happening over the past few weeks. Some of the folks who have contributed a large amount of work to the open source libraries have started up their own projects. Check out Nibbuls' new Genesis RTS and Terry's long talked-about collaborative map-building project. This is as it should be and bodes well for the growth and ongoing health of our steadily expanding network of like-minded artists. It'll be great to see where their passions take them and I will definitely be contributing where I can.

~---~

Round Up
I was deep in texture land again this week. Tightened up a few I have been working on for a while, and worked on my first model from Nibbuls' aforementioned new game.











I should be doing a clean run-through on all the WIP packs in the next week or two. Stay tuned.

~---~

Thousander Club Update
I did it! I passed the 100 mark. Now I just have to do it 9 more times. On a good note, I think I may have finally gotten into the new rhythm and gotten over the end of winter colds. Now if the rains will just stop I could get back on my skateboard and arrive to work happy and free of tension. Also, the loose network of Thousander Club participants may have just grown again -- more on that next week.

GBGames' hours (3/27) -- 59.5
GBGames' game ideas (3/27)-- 172
I'll do it on monday's hours (3/20) -- 133
Scott's 1000 hours (3/26) -- 104
1000 models -- 132
1000 downloads -- 806 (Um, I think that is 120 this week, that can't be right.)

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

Screenie Heaven 3

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 6:42 AM

As I've said before, getting screenshots of your game with our art in it makes my day. Here's a couple for today, again from the Daggerfall workshop. Our axe from the recently minted Armory pack and, if you look closely, a sign we did in the background.







If you are working on something with our stuff, then send some screenshots, yo.

Stay free

~shs~

Related Posts
Screenie Heaven 2
Screenie Heaven 1

Tuesday Morning Polyhacker -- Mar. 21

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 6:01 AM

Winter's Last Bite
It looks like Winter wanted to get in its last licks this week. I was fighting off something last week, Nibbuls was (and is still) knocked flat by something really nasty, my wife and oldest son were sick the whole week, and my coworkers were dropping like flies. I mostly kept the baddies at bay by sleeping it off, but ultimately, between no late nights and having to pick up the slack at home and work from the sickies, that meant little time was left to devote to the projects here. Meh, it happens.

~---~

Polished Off
I finished up another single model a couple weeks ago and finally got around to posting it. Enjoy!



Download the files

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Thousander Club Update
This was the third week of my shift over to a more sane early-riser schedule. Considering that I was fighting off a cold all week it went very well. I managed to wake up before 6:30 each weekday, most without the assistance of an alarm. I got hardly any work done, though.

GBGames' hours (3/20) -- 53
GBGames' game ideas (3/20)-- 156
I'll do it on monday's hours (3/20) -- 133
Scott's 1000 hours (3/19) -- 97
1000 models -- 132
1000 downloads -- 683 (that's almost 60 in the past week for those of you keeping score at home)

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

Let the Tapering Begin

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 6:41 AM

There is a period that is part of the training regimen of some elite Olympic athletes. In the weeks approaching the big event competition they cut back on the amount of intense training they are doing so that they peak at just the right moment. It is a delicate balance between building up enough reserves for the competition without losing their edge. I imagine by most normal people's standards this run-up period is probably far more intense than we can ever hope for, but it's all about relative effort.

This period is often known as tapering. The reason I bring it up is that the big event is getting close for me. The baby is due in less than two months. Having been through it twice before I know how difficult it will be, even for me the daddy who has not gone through the physical part of the birth. The first baby ended up being manageable -- I needed to completely shift my priorities in life but we were all able to find a balance. The second one, though, well.... it kicked my butt. There has been no balance, no true rest, for the past three years. I'm still working from behind. So, I know it's going to be rough again this time. And I will need to start cutting back on my own intense art effort. So, I say, let the tapering begin.

~---~

So, in lieu of any significant new content for the space, I have decided for today to trot out.... er, I mean share with you some old abandoned projects of my own. These all served as some great learning steps for me, but I think that most of these will never be completed, at least not for a good long while. Enjoy.

A lizard man created for a long-dead indigame project:




Another one based on a loose concept sketch from the same project:






One of the first things that I did as part of this coop, before I started my Gilman project:


And lastly a subsurfaced head:



If you'd like to see more of my work you can cruise over to my year-old portfolio site. Be warned, though, that there are lots of drawings of nekkid people. Thanks to Naomi and Emily for texturing most of my models and making me look good as always.

Stay free.

~shs~

Monday Morning Polyhacker -- Mar. 13

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:55 AM

Let's just get straight into showcasing the new work. Again this week, most of what there is to show is texturing, but I will introduce you to some new projects next week.







~---~

Feed Me!
At the suggestion of more than one person, I am slowly coming up to speed on the ins and outs of the technical aspects of running this page. This week I added in a feed and some of those cute little chicklets with links for subscribing to our feed over there in the sidebar. So, for all you junkies, which I myself am quickly becoming, enjoy!

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Thousander Club Update
This was the second week of my shift over to a more sane early-riser schedule. All in all it has been pretty successful and I have been able to get some work done in the morning before leaving the house, which is great because my early morning work is usually more productive than my late night work. This week, I will begin folding in a more regular exerecise pattern to the mix. Almost to 100.

GBGames' hours (3/13) -- 49
GBGames' game ideas (3/13)-- 142
I'll do it on monday's hours (3/10) -- 120
Scott's 1000 hours (3/13) -- 92
1000 models -- 132
1000 downloads -- 635

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

This Family Album is Killer

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 6:16 AM

Swords, ray guns and sub-machine guns, oh my! What FPS or RPG can do without a wide array of destructive devices? As with our other projects, everything is open content -- you are free to use them as long as you give proper credit. As promised for the past few weeks, here is our latest work-in-progress pack. Khaine and Nibbuls have done a great job on creating these models and we hope a lot of you will use 'em to death, especially the whiffle bat.



The 2 mb file can be downloaded from the following location:

http://www.bowzizzer.com/armory/armory_current.zip

Have a blast, gang!

Stay free.

~shs~

Related Posts
The Family Keeps Getting Bigger
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Monday Morning Polyhacker -- Mar. 6

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 11:13 AM

Old Friends
Recently an old friend stopped by. She is a multi-talented artist who had done a bunch of texture work with my models early last year and volunteered to fit some texturing into her busy schedule. I feel like a beer commercial when I say this, but it's great to get a chance to hang out with an old friend and do some great work together.

First up, she dredged up the textures for the "Ye Olde Tavern" models I already put in.















I'll update the pack in a couple of weeks.

More exciting, though, she cranked out a couple of new ones for the Gilman project.





Here's a couple of new screenshots from my work-in-progress.





~---~

Locking Down Gilman Street
As we are approaching my self-imposed deadline of Aug 12 for having this, our first complete pack, done, textured, exported and ready to go, I have decided to say that modeling is complete on this project. Anything new that feels like it should have fit into it will go into some other pack. On to texturing. Stay tuned.

~---~

Thousander Club Update
Last week I wrote about how my body didn't so much like the way I was pushing it and pushed back. Last week was a recovery week and a chance to start shifting my schedule from a hunched-over-my-computer-at-3am schedule to a get-up-early-and-exercise-and-do-some-productive-work schedule. I managed to fit 10 hours into the bits and pieces of my life and this is with considerably more sleep than I normally get. No new models this week -- it was pretty much all texturing. Everyone is progressing on their goals -- this stuff is really starting to add up. I'm shooting for the 100 mark this week.

GBGames' hours (3/6) -- 24.50
GBGames' game ideas (3/6)-- 126
I'll do it on monday's hours (3/2) -- 112
Scott's 1000 hours (3/6) -- 85
1000 models -- 129
1000 downloads -- 571

~---~

Stay free

~shs~

Polyglog 0.1 -- A Trial Run

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 4:51 AM

Over the past couple of years I have typed out a number of tutorials. I am finding, though, that I am reaching the limits of my expertise and have a hard time coming up with things that I can speak to with authority. So, I am going to be trying out something new, which I am calling a polyglog, short for low poly worklog (don't ask me where the first "g" comes from, I just like that it sounds like "polyglot"). Think of it as an over-the-shoulder viewing of me at work. I'll try to write down what I was thinking as I was going along creating something so that you can see how I work. I am planning to take you through the creation of a complete model from beginning to end, but first I want to do a trial run just to see how one of these could turn out. I would very much like your feedback on this so that I can make the future series as useful as possible.

I'll start out with a disclaimer. Warning. This is not a tutorial. I am not suggesting that this is the right way to do things. In fact, I think that the way I work can be excessively laborious. Proceed at your own risk.

Polyglog 0.1 -- Texturing Some Metal

Khaine made this nice shovel model.


I turned it into this.


My general method for building up a texture is this:
1. Base color
2. Base texture
3. Lighting and shadow
4. Grime and wear

For starters, here's where I ended up on the texture for the upper face of the shovel. I'll stick to just this section.


I start out by creating a new layer set and making a layer mask around the edge of the uvmap template.


I lay down a base color -- in this case it is actually the base color for the wood handle. The template layer which is red lines on a white background is set to multiply.


I add a new layer in the set for the metal base color. The texture is some rubber stamped-up version of a piece of a photo I had. I may have even done a pattern fill with it, which is why it looks a bit regular and repetitive.


I lightened it up with a levels layer.


Next I added another, more scratchy layer, also from some random source material.


I added a levels adjustment layer in order to accentuate the bumpiness of the scrtaches.


Then I set the image layer to overlay and 12% opacity. It's subtle, but it breaks up the regularity of the original base.


Some fine tuning of the levels.


Next I added a new layer and filled it with a clouds filter and then scaled it down a little.


Set it to overlay.


And then reduced the opacity to 50%. Now the base is done. Much better than just simple flat steel blue gray color.


Now I start on the lighting, trying to make the direction of it as general as possible, mostly just to accentuate the shape of the item -- kind of a simplified faky-fake normal map. I added a new layer. Then, I filled it with a centerline gradient that goes from black in the center to transparent.


Then I set the layer to overlay and opacity of 50%. I use overlay a lot because it reacts with the underlying layers in a dynamic way. It slightly darkens the areas that are light, but really deepens the areas in the midtones and darks.


Next I created an oblong selection and used it to mask off part of the layer. This will be the raised area where the handle inserts into the bowl.


To further mark off this shape, I create a new layer and, using that previous oblong selection, I straight up draw a fat black line around the edge. Then I mess it up with an eraser brush that I like.


Set the opacity to 30% and it gives a nice edge.


Then I duplicated and flipped the layer for the other side. For some reason I needed to set the opacity to 25% for it to look right.


Now I wanted to hit the highlight around the edges. Edges always catch the most specular highlights. I created a new layer and then drew straight white lines around the edge of the area demarcated by the template. Then I messed it up with the eraser, dropping out entire sections and then I blurred it.


I set the layer to overlay and 73% opacity.


Here I started a new layer and again drew a white line, but with a thinner brush and did not blur it. Again, I messed it up with the eraser.


I kept this layer normal, but reduced the opacity to 39%.


Now for some softer light areas. On a new layer I added a regular gradient that went from white to transparent.


Set it to overlay and opacity of 42%. You can really see here how the overlay setting makes the light areas ligher but keeps the darker areas of the underlying bumpiness intact.


Next, I duplicated and flipped the layer.


Then I moved onto the highlight for the raised area. I added a new layer and filled it with a centerline gradient set to go from white to transparent.


And then adjusted the layer to overlay and 61% opacity.


I copied the layer, erased out some areas and then set the opacity to 28%. This is just a addendum to the previous layer for a more gradual effect.


This is the hotter part of the highlight -- a new layer with a white line and some erasing and set to overlay and 56% opacity. That's it for the lighting. Now to add some grime and wear.


First I wanted to accentuate the area where the two shapes meet -- the bowl of the shovel and the raised area where the handle inserts. I did this because this interface of shapes is where corrosion is most likely and where water may collect if it is left outside. I added a black to transparent gradient on a new layer and erased it out with a big chunky eraser.


Then I set it to overlay and opacity of 73%. I love how some blue pops out along the edge of the highlight.


Now for some real grime. I did a little bit of algorithmic painting on a new layer. This is the process of experimenting with a series of filter steps. Um, I probably did something like add clouds and find edges with some level adjustment. It looks pretty computer generated, but building up a few of these layers will make it feel more naturalistic.


Overlay and 11% and magic -- water damage from too many mornings in the dew.


I continue the building process here. This is a new layer with a clouds filter.


And set to overlay and 34% opacity. This serves to break up the regularity of the previous grime layer.


Now I want scrapes and scratches from years of digging. Again I use the process of algorithmic painting on a new layer. This is probably add noise and wind or motion blur, I forget. I think I messed with it manually a bit too.


Then I added a levels layer to pull out the dark lines a bit more.


Then I set the layer to overlay and 19% opacity. The scrapes feel a little bit more even than I wanted, but I decided to stick with it. That's it, done!



I hope this helps you see how I work. If you get one or two tips out of this, then it was worth my time. Please leave me feedback so that I can make the upcoming series as useful as possible.

Stay free.

~shs~