Sunday 30 December 2012

WSC Gantry Concept

Hi all!

Here's a quick (and for me that's about 20 minutes!) render of a from-scratch concept for the WSC lighting gantry, looking at basic shapes and trying to get a feel for functional layout.

Enjoy!


Journeyman Project Tribute: Animation Overview

Hello!

This was my first go at using camstudio; please excuse the fact that the sync drifts between the video and the sound (I'm still not sure why this is the case!).  Anyway I hope this proves to be interesting!

Topics covered are basic animation in the hallway and a quick look at some of the Cycles material setups.

Enjoy!


Friday 28 December 2012

Huge thanks!

Good morning all!

Since this blog was started back in March last year, there have been over 20,000 views!  I am both humbled and honoured by this; the project started as my own dream of making a modern version of Journeyman and I have been fortunate along the way to have people join the team who share that dream.

The dream wouldn't be anything without the encouragement of the fans though, and it is a real boost to have so much interest generated by people who love Journeyman.  On average there are 40 or 50 hits on the blog per day, and the recently started video updates have boosted those figures even higher.

The last few days have seen a flurry of activity and I attribute that in large part to the efforts of our new community liason, Ioannis "John" Kypraios, who has been beavering away on the official blog and Twitter feed - please check them out and follow at the following links:

https://twitter.com/JourneymanTribu

 http://journeymantribu.wordpress.com/

Don't forget to tell as many people as you can about these blogs too; fan projects are run "by the fans, for the fans" so the more people know about it and keep up to date with progress the better!

I was asked a while ago if I could put a progress meter up on the site; unfortunately not.  This is a fan project and not a 9-5 job so there are no timetables in place; we all work as hard as we can when we can but sometimes life gets in the way.  The technology is always changing which means that we can do things better.  I also don't want to be in the position where we announce a release date early on and people are then expecting that to be the case; taking inspiration from other projects I've been involved in over the years, "it'll be done when it's done" :)

I will continue working hard on the project as always, endeavouring to produce the best version that I can.  With the help of the talented guys and gals on the team I'm sure we will present you with a very polished version that you can enjoy :)  I am incredibly thankful that you're all along for the ride too.

All for now,

Andy

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Video Update: Prehistoric

Hello!

After some really nice feedback on the video updates, I decided to keep going.  They won't be every day, but just on new/updated aspects that I think you might find interesting.

With that in mind, here's a short update on today's work on the prehistoric area; very basic work here but should show you the way it's going.  Enjoy!


Monday 24 December 2012

Global Transporter: Collage

Hello,

Ok closing down the lab for now ;)  Just before midnight though (I don't want to disturb Santa when he comes around) I thought I'd add the following three work-in-progress shots of the model as it stands at the last save.  Enjoy!




Video Update: Transporter

Hello!

Here's a video update on the Global Transporter; I'm really enjoying doing these video updates and giving you some insight into the design process.  I hope you're enjoying it too!

Enjoy and a very merry Christmas to all :)


Transporter

Hi all,

Ok I've been doing some work on the Transporter; trying to get some textures worked out (not going overboard on this one; it's functional rather than aesthetically pleasing) and developing the model a little more.  Work very much in progress on this; got another concept in the works that is early days but am excited about it :)

Enjoy!


Saturday 22 December 2012

Special Pre-Christmas Project Update

Hello!

Here's a special video update from me.  A couple of points:

1) Please excuse the handheld shaking - this was a spur of the moment thing; I didn't have time to set up my camera or a tripod.
2) Please excuse the "erm" factor; this was completely unprepared and my first "live" video - I'm sure the quality will improve as we go along!

Let me know if you prefer the image updates or the new video updates; I'm happy to do either, whichever you feel is of the most benefit.

With that all in mind, enjoy!


Render Help Needed

Hi all!

At this time I'm rendering a few "walking" videos out for an in-house test of the game engine.  This means that I'm rendering the videos at 30fps, 1920x1080 resolution.  The disadvantage of this is that it is taking a very long time to render the videos out; made worse by the fact that Renderfarm.fi appears to be non-functional and has been for a while.

I'd like to put the call out; anyone who is able to install Blender 2.65a (the current version) and who is happy to set up or already has a Dropbox account, please get in touch with me by emailing AndrewCurry2 at g mail dot com.  There won't be any fancy user interface or renderfarms; literally exchanging emails and Blender files.  To keep things manageable I will delegate render batches of 10 frames per time, resulting files to be put into the designated Dropbox folder.

The faster we can render these, the faster the project moves forward.

I've always been a fan of audience participation hehe ;)  Please get in touch if you can help.

Best wishes and thanks for reading,

Andy

TSA Hallway: Scanner Test

Hello!

As a result of a sleepless night I thought I'd post this animation I was working on earlier.  It is a low-resolution render of walking down the TSA Hallway with the scanners running.  Enjoy!


Monday 17 December 2012

Welcome to the TSA...

Hello!

Here's a quirky little shot I wanted to share with you...not exactly groundbreaking but I knew the model as a whole was working when I saw this and it instantly took me back to the original (time travel not involved!).

Lots more progress has been made on the Hallway model but rather than showing you the same things I wanted to share this.  Enjoy!


Sunday 16 December 2012

TSA Hallway: Current WIP shot

Hello!

Here's the current work-in-progress shot of the TSA Hallway.  I've been putting a lot of time into this area, reworking the meshes and doing a lot of texture work.  After spending most of the day on the left-hand side, some very quick mirrors in Blender let me see the whole effect.

Once the mirrors have been applied, it'll be a case of editing the meshes with photo textures to make sure they're not exact mirror images; I want the whole thing to feel organic, and that effect will be spoiled if you see the same texture on your left and right.

Without further ado though, please enjoy the below shot :)  As I watched it render, part of me wanted to reach out and touch the rock.  That's how I want the final game to be; I want you to feel as though you're there.  That sort of realism takes time; a lot of time.  I'd like to take the opportunity for being so patient; I know you want to play it as much as I do.



TSA Hallway: WIP 360 Degree version

Hello!

Here is a 360 degree interactive version of the current WIP TSA Hallway.

Enjoy!


From the archive: 2006

Hello all!

Here's a trip down memory lane for me.  Back in 2006 I was doing all of my modelling work with Bryce and had a crack at making Pegasus using this - result below.  After many hours of painstaking work I ended up with this version - glad to see my modelling skills have moved on since then!

Anyway I'm just putting this out there for nostalgia reasons.  I was really proud of this model at the time but it doesn't even compare to the current Pegasus.

Long live the dream!


Saturday 15 December 2012

TSA Hallway: Cycles Rework Shot #002

Good evening!

A late post here; been going great guns on the texturing and optimisation.  I thought I'd post up this render to show off the work so far - enjoy!


TSA Hallway: Cycles Rework

Hello!

Here's a work-in-progress shot of the retexture and optimisation of the original TSA Hallway.  Work has gone into the rock texture as well as optimising the meshes and removing all non-seen faces/vertices etc.

In truth this should have been done as the modelling went along but I wasn't disciplined enough at the start of the project to consider this, but now that the scene as a whole is pushing 2 million vertices (hallway, TSA command room & upper floor plus Pegasus and Pegasus chamber) I think that some improvements are warranted!

Anyway I'm going to keep busy with the work, but in the meantime, enjoy!


Friday 14 December 2012

Pegasus: Two Videos

Hello!

I'm on a major Pegasus workflow at the moment!  Here's two videos to show off current progress; one is a five second looped flyover of Pegasus as it stands at the moment.  The other is an animatic of the Pegasus opening sequence.

Enjoy!



Pegasus: Up Close

Hello!

Here's a test render of Pegasus in Cycles and the new textures, lit with just the emitting objects in the scene.  Next step is to start work on the Pegasus interior, keeping it close to what was seen in JMP as opposed to PP.


TSA Hallway

Hello :)

Here's an updated shot of the TSA entry hallway looking back at the main door.  I've been putting a lot of work into the rock texture, trying to give it a surface without making it look too jagged or rough.

Enjoy!


Tuesday 11 December 2012

Pegasus: Cycles Overview

Evening all!

Here's an overview shot of Pegasus taken from near the back wall.  Work still in progress although I've got a lot done to the textures of the tubes this evening; metalwork is coming together nicely.

Enjoy!


Monday 10 December 2012

Pegasus Texturing

Good evening!

Just a quick post before heading for bed...burning the candle at both ends here.  Might have to find a modern-day equivalent for that phrase...burning the...erm...bulb at both ends?

Yeah still needs some work.  As does Pegasus!  But more progress has been made - check out the shots below.  Enjoy!



Sunday 9 December 2012

TSA Scanner Hallway: Texture Work

Good morning all!

Here's some shots of the work going on in the scanner hallway.  A huge rework for the rock texture and a render showing the supports etc without the main scanner rings.

I hope you like them!



Saturday 8 December 2012

More Pegasus Cycles Images



Pegasus: Cycles Texture Work

Hello!

Title is self explanatory for this one; reworking Pegasus for the Cycles render engine and getting into some photo mapping for textures and bump maps.  Still early days but great progress being made thanks to this fantastic renderer!  Enjoy!!


Scanner: Phone Wallpaper

Hi,

Just a quick note; I rendered out a phone wallpaper (res 720x1280) - feel free to download and enjoy!


Scanners: Cycles Rework

Good morning all :)

I've been doing a fair bit of experimentation using Cycles, the new Blender render engine.  It allows for a far faster workflow as you can see in real-time how the environment and materials are looking.

With this in mind, here's a work-in-progress rework of the TSA Scanners.  Enjoy!


Sunday 2 December 2012

Hello!

After a large PC upgrade recently I've been messing around with Cycles and re-visiting some of the existing environs that I'd started work on.  With that in mind...enjoy!


Andy