Thesis Presentation

I gave a presentation this week on everything I've been doing for my thesis. The whole thing is on Google Docs. Check it out.

Demo Reel's New Look!

It was suggested that I make a new reel focusing on the four characters I modelled for my thesis and the ZBrush work I have done. This is the result. It is also sporting a much cooler design than previous incarnations.

Lunch Break Character Reel from Noah Bench on Vimeo.

Train Lighting WIP

This one of the sets for the other project I'm doing as part of my thesis. Its about a hobo who steals things from people on a train.

The texturing still has a ways to go but you can spot some of it on the seats.

Office Shot 03-01

Our big Motion Blur Test in the office. This shot required that we reduce our resolution to 720p.

Shot 03-01 from Group of Six on Vimeo.

Office Shot 03-10

This shot was particularly difficult to figure out and get to render properly. Because the effect in the window is done in the render, the shot had to be rendered twice with different shaders for those objects behind the glass. Then in After Effects a mask reveals only the part of the window effect layer we want to see.

Then the occlusion is multiplied, color burned, and overlaid. A low opacity blue solid finishes out the layering.

Shot 03-10 from Group of Six on Vimeo.

Character Illustration

Here's some stuff from character illustration. He's on fire. Colors aren't final.



The design changed a bit after this initial concept. He's now based in look on my friend Jamie.

Gene Kelly WIP 2

Needs textures and a few more details in the face.

Gene Kelly WIP

This quarter I'm doing an independent Study in Zbrush. I'll be doing two sculpts. One photorealistic bust of a celebrity and one full body sculpt of a fictitious creature.

To start with Mr Kelly, I scoured the internet for pictures of the star. After I found a front and side view I liked, I pulled them into Photoshop and started planning out my edge loops as you can see to the right.

I've started doing this with all the faces I make. When I start modeling, I can move faster and I'm not just making it up as I go along. Of course I never get it quite right in the drawing so I tweak the position of some loops as I go.

After that I take the images into Maya and use them as reference for blocking out a rough head mesh. This head just blocks out the basic likeness, neglecting details and asymmetries that will come out in the final sculpt.

I also block in shapes for the rest of the model (eyes, shirt, hat, etc.). Right now he's missing hair and eyebrows, but I'll come back to that.

Once the models were where I wanted, I imported them into Modo and used their awesome UV unwrapping tools to help layout the UVs. I brought them back into Maya just for a few small adjustments to the UVs and then finally importing them into Zbrush.


As I work in Zbrush, I find myself using just a handful of brushes. The Clay Tubes brush is great for adding or subtracting volume from the form. I find the Standard brush is better for making specific bumps or creases like in the folds of fabric or wrinkles in skin. Of course I also use the Move and Smooth brushes liberally. I've also been using several alphas I found online to sculpt pores and finer wrinkles. While it needs a lot of work, here's the sculpt so far:



Sculpting is so much fun. I wish I could just drop everything and work on this, but I have to keep pluggin away at my thesis. Hey. The sooner I finish my thesis, the sooner I can concentrate on this stuff right?