Timberwolf's Blog

Well Im finally done!

2010-05-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

With college that is, hehe not with the ever ongoing endeavors of being an artist :). So over these past few months I have been working on making the site more user friendly and today I got lightbox up and running on it. So check out the now more user friendly Timberwolf Designs aka robtlak.net and let me know what you think. It's more stripped down then it was before but I think for the better.

Next week will be graduation ceremonies to make it all the more official but making some more work to show the following day for career day will be taking up my time between now and then when not being with the visiting family. As will also job hunting as I have been doing. So I hope that all is well with everyone and keep an eye on the blog as well as the site for any and all new content as always!

Still alive and kicking

2010-03-13T00:49:00.000-08:00

Well as far as being a final semester college student can be ;). Sorry for the lack of updates on my end so much work and so many amazing things have been happening up here that my blogging has become very rare. But this one is a big one for I have, dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnn!!!! purchased my own domain! so now the official website is robtlake.net the old site will still be up but will make sure to make it redirect others to the official one. As far as projects have been going I promise that once spring break comes up I will have so much to show you all! As for me back to the grind stone.

Behold!

2010-01-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well took some time but the new website changes are more or less complete. Still going over some tweaks here and there to getting it looking great but I feel that its worth posting up for everyone to check out and let me know what they think about it! So please any thoughts or suggestions are always welcome as they have always been :).

Timberwolf Designs

Expect something different

2010-01-04T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well after thinking and thinking and looking up sites and also looking around my work area here I think I might finally have a solid concept/idea for my website. As it has been right now its just been me testing out things and seeing if I could get them to work. Needless to say its a sloppy design right now but I have high hopes for this one that is in the works. I don't want to spoil anything for you all but I know that once you see it you will surly know that it goes along with who I am and my personality. So stay tuned all and I will try and find some way to get blogger implemented into the design as well but heh I might need to buy my own domain for that so that will still be on the back burner for a while.

(small note) for those who don't mind getting their hands dirty and helping me out some seeing as how my html skills are still not as up to par as many of you out there are I will be making a test server for this site. So anyone interested in stress testing this thing and letting me know whats broken or just a bit odd let me know because any and all help and input would be greatly appreciated.

Unreal Aztec Level Progress!

2009-12-14T02:46:00.000-08:00

Oh so long so long since I have give you all a post. I do apologise for that. So we have been slaving day and night up here to get the level this far and from the shots below you can see its now really paying off. Still not complete yet but its way more refined and full then it has been and Im always glad to see how far this has come. We should have a baked out version of the map soon for you all to try out because we will be needing beta map testers soon. So Enjoy the screens and stay tuned all!

Perspective shot from Red Base, notice the red light tone? Pretty sweet no?

Perspective shot from blue base, more of an aqua feeling for them wouldn't you say?

Nice shot from the red teams flag looking out onto the map

Side halls of the map, hey look some of my Warrior statues standing guard as always

Shot of the underground cavern from red base side, look at all that gold texturing goodness!

Still working out ideas for down here but we have begun to knock over some pillars and what not

I feel that the aqua look for blue side really treats the cavern well.

As always keep on eye out on more updates to come all and remember this is a group project for this level. hehe there is no way I could have done this much on my own up to this point with classes ontop of everything. The other two masterminds behind this project are Gary Kullar and Chris Edwards. Without them we probably wouldn't have gotten this far on it.

Small Website update

2009-11-21T03:58:00.001-08:00

Yeah i know its been a while since I have updated it and added things to it but hey been busy busy hehe. Added work shots to the unreal current work tab, added work shots to the Advanced Texturing current work tab, added finished breakdown shot to recent maya work tab, changed out images in front page and updated resume. Also fixed some small text problems, border problems, and coding that needed to be cleaned up. This site although still a work in progress is getting quite full which is nice to see! Looking forward to getting my own domain and bigger space in the near future and seeing what I can come up with for a site design. So check it out!

SPACE!!!!!!!

2009-11-18T20:02:00.000-08:00

Little to over dramatic on the title? hehe well good. So have some space updates for you sorry no unreal this week that will be enxt week. These are the two ships I have been working on in my advanced texturing and lighting class and my modo class. The first 5 will be of the Adv class.

So for this little fighter the renders you see have an AO pass on them to bring out the lighting and shading for ya, and to make it look damn good heh. Was a challenge for me never had the chance to make a modle like this before let alone in high res and having to refrence a single piece of concept art because no others of this ship were drawn. I think it turned out pretty well and for the rest of the semester comes reducing the tri count of it down from its current 54,328 count right now to I believe he said 1,200? going to see if I can get him to bump it to 2,500 or 3k lol. Then comes the texturing and lighting of it.

Ah Modo my only weakness hehe. Well this class has been a challenge in itself really. This program name Modo currently in 401 has been an amazing tool to use so far. Im surprised at how many different interfaces from all of the known 3d apps that have come out are mapped into it thus making the learning curve for it not to bad. Right now as you can see theres still some texturing to be done but on a good note the uv's are layed out so just plane straight up texturing and lighting till the end. Also I threw in my little fighters from my other class as a squad, there will be more squads in the final shot/animation. So the hull of the ship has normal mapped plates as you can see also has subtle reflection working on it and a specular map. All and all its coming along nicely but need to crunch down on it these next 4 weeks.

So there ya go all, as always would love some feedback andyhting you like about it or dont any suggestions at all just leave them here. As always stay tuned for any and all further developments from me over here!

and part 2

2009-10-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

So here is the unreal stuff for you all. Sorry for the delays in this had some youtube troubles when uploading the videos. Anyways I hope you enjoy and if you see and broken areas such as checkerboards on the walls or terrain that has holes in it no worries thoughs are all under construction. As before if the blog cuts some of the video off just click on it to see it in full.

2 parts

2009-10-29T01:30:00.000-07:00

So been dead as far as posting has gone for the past few weeks. Sorry aboutt hat all but I have been busy busy and well if you know anything about how the academys internet is in their housing then you know it can be very dodgy at times, even just all out break down. But thats not what this post is about. No this post is about a massive image and video dump for you all. This first post will be on my modo work and maya work for advanced texturing and lighting class. The next post will all be about unreal.

So Ill start off with the modo pics and video. Now we have already reached the mid term point so all modeling for this ship is done and in these shots all thats layed on is a base texture and 18 lights for the engines and antenas.

This ship weighed in at 216,008 polygons and is made of 62 individual pieces. All I can say is thank goodness for modos ability to duplicat and orient objects all at once without putting much effort into it heh because some areas would have take a while with maya. And heres the ship video via youtube . If it for some reason cuts some of the video off in the blog as always just click on the video to see it through youtube.

Now Onto maya work! So like with modo in my maya class aka advanced texturing and lighting we just ahd our midterm which was to do a simple totem poll or any other simple standing statue like object. I chose to do an aztec warrior statue mostly because our unreal level calls for some and also because I didnt want to do just a totem poll XD. So for this process we had to make a low rez model then import it into ZBrush. Once there we had to sub divide it up to level 5 or 6 and then start sculpting and carving the details onto the model. Once done we would export it out as an object file into maya and using the high res model we would project a normal map from it to go onto the low res model. Whew that was a mouth full. Needless to say the results turned out geat.

as you can see it has the 3 images to give it its overall finish the normals map which is used to fake bumps and crevises, the color map which is the well color of it heh, and the spec map which produces the shine effect on surfaces. Below is the ZBrush sculpt

Now as for finals in this class we have now 7 weeks to do a high poly model of our choice which we will then have a low poly of and which will be lit and textured with the same 3 maps as with the statue. Heres what I currently have for my final its following this concept design.

Right now she is sitting at 17,634 tris or 8850 polygons which ever you like heh. Budgte on high res is unlimited but seeing as all thats left right now is the bottom and a few small parts Im thinking the end wil be around 22k give or take. Low poly of this model will be 1,200 so this will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Well I'll post up part 2 of this work dump tomorrow as well as update you all with other things and the web site. Bye for now and for all of you animators and modelers out there, especially the ones I am friends/co workers with I hope that everything is going well for you all and that your using each day to make something or do something amazing.

Cheers

Unreal

2009-09-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hey all sorry for this being a late post just wanting to post up some progress shots of our unreal level up here for you all to see. Also some video. As you can see the level is working and running within unreal. Everything has had collision mapped to it and lighting added to it but the bots still dont have waypoints yet lol. So if you play our level now they will just guard the flag and their base. So once we get everything working for us texture and model wise I can start working on the waypoints. Also any hanging braziers or standing ones just have to imagine them with fire for the time being. Still working out the kinks on how to make my own fire and fog effect emmiters.

Now I do aplolgize if the videos are low quality. Using Fraps to get shots of video and am trying to find a good video compressor because of how much memory fraps can take up with a short clip. Which is also the reason as to why this is going up at 3:00 am here as opposed to earlier heh. So once I can get that matter fixed Ill have some better quality stuff video wise up here for you all so you not having to click out to my youtube page every time heh. Also all of the textures in the images and videos are not final or complete so if you see a lot of the same tiled texture thats because we just have some base stuff down to add filler. Enjoy!

Full Swing

2009-09-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

Well finally got to go to all of my classes for the week and I can honestly say I am excited for my 3 computer classes. So expect much maya and modo work up on here and as well as my website. Also for toughs who follow me give Danielle some big props and wishes for she has started her first day at work! So this is to you Dani, I hope you had a great day at work today and that many more follow! I hope everyone is having a great night and a good weekend and Ill be posting up some of my current work today on here as well as on my web site. Take care all!

The big 24!

2009-09-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well it is 12:14 am on September 8th as I am writing this I am now 24 years of age, w00t! Wait w00t? ugh Im getting old XD. An how you may ask am I celebrating my day of birth right now? Well with filling out job applications of course heh. Beyond that and going to class for today probably not going to do much of anything but just kick it at home and maybe have a beer or two. Hehe but will try and find something to do at least for a little bit.

In site news I fixed a few minor things, thanks again Dani for the css code to put in for the links and images. Nothing major today but will be sure to keep you all updated on it as more and more keeps on developing! Have a good night and a great week everyone, till next time.

Pops neck

2009-09-07T02:11:00.000-07:00

Well took me hours over here but I managed to upload a lot to the web site. heres the additions and some still need to be fixed, you will notice the main fix needed when you click on portfolio

-Added an organized pop up menu for better portfolio viewing
-Added Resume will open up in Reader
-Following buttons have work to show in them
-Recent work both the maya and zbrush button has work
-Past work currently only the maya button has work displayed with still lots more to be added
-Fixed a weird clipping problem on the side bar that runs the length of the page
-Added blog button to direct you to here hehe

Some notes that I have learned from this is that the pop up menus are a pain heh but worth it and that I think I need to find a faster way to get my work put up on the site because I have way to much and doing it all one at a time is time consuming. So stay tuned all for more changes and improvements to come because believe you and me i would love to make some coll stuff with this site heh.

Click below to check out the site!

Trashed

2009-08-29T02:23:00.000-07:00

The site link I posted you all the other night, yeah forget about that one. More or less what it came down to was it wasn't really working for me in what I wanted to really do. So all day today I have been relearning my coding skills and have made this A built from scratch web site and not one that was a template that was provided by my sister heh. So this is, and will be, the main web site for now. Like I said been having to relearn some things and learn new things all together so it's still needing some work obviously.

If it's not one thing it's another

2009-08-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

Well for toughs who may or may not know around the beginning of the summer break my XPS 1730 laptop from dell crapped out on me. Now surly you would think a fine company like Dell would get right to the solution of the problem and fix it right up, especially since the laptop itself is on their top of the line selection of computers. Sadly though they keep on missing the actual source of the problem and now I have had to make the hard decision and fork out some cash for a new laptop which I am using right now to post up this message. Sufficient to say them having to come and go from here and messing with the XPS and having to be on the phones with them day in and out productivity has been non existent, sorry all but I have been trying to get them to fix the laptop for a while now and everything had to be put on hold because of how much I had spent on it.

But...... I do not leave you all empty handed tonight. No in fact I do have something for you all to check out. Now mind you it's still being made and refined but for the most part it works heh. So here it is My Web Site! Enjoy and again sorry for the lack of work posts, I can promise you all that when Im back up in San Francisco starting next week that there will be never ending activity on here again. Also if you don't see an update on here in a while its more then likely up on the web site.

I know, heh I know

2009-08-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, sorry about that folks. There have been many things happening around here these past months that have been taking my free time to do a lot a work that I was wanting to. So things have been going slowly around here in that area.

In terms of good news I will say that there will be a big change coming to the blog here soon. Don't want to say what the surprise is or anything so you will just have to wait on that heh. Also on the 5th my online classes are over and done with so will be nice to be done with school related work for a month before going back to it again. In unreal tournament news its been going a bit slow, seems like for all of us because of how much we use our machines and stress test everything it was that time of year where videocards were failing us and other components were blowing out. So needless to say we are trying to get everything fixed and back on track.

So for anyone keeping an eye on this blog I do apologize for the lack of updates and that between now and hopefully till the end of the last college year up here in San Francisco more and more updates and work will be shown on here. I hope everyone else out there is having a good summer and not overworking themselves.

Not dead

2009-06-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

just been busy heh. Sorry I havnt posted in close to 3 weeks now. Have been getting things all nice and settled around here and have been working with my group on our most recent project which is an Unreal Tournament 3 level. We have got 5 guys, including myself, on the project and everything is slowly, but surly, comming together! Also have been thinking of doing a side project along side of this one so more details to come when I figure out what I will be making. Also next week online classes start so heh will be having things to keep me busy around here this summer thats for sure. Anyways sorry for being MIA all and i'll be sure to post some progress up asap!

Tank, Drones, and FOX

2009-05-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the bit a lateness on this post. Have been trying to get some things squared away down here at home. I will save you the details on account that your all here to see the work and not whats going on in my life right? Heh well without further delay here you all go!

The ZBrush Update

2009-05-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

As for Fox here still some touch ups to be done with the armor segments and some more texture painting. Also still posing the left are and fingers but other then that she is done! Has been an interesting undertaking I must say and I have learned a lot from doing this character model.

The Tank Update

2009-05-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well the tank and drones are pretty darn close to being done with textures. Just mostly adding shadows some more dirt and grime to it and changing some saturation values around but yeah almost there. Besides some places on the drone the most I am having to do for the tank right now is just the back end of it.

Update 2 of 2

2009-04-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well Fox here is coming along very nicely. As far as texturing for the body is concerned it looks like how I want it to, the armored parts are still going to need some air brushing effects added to them but their almost there. Also I still need to add the NRG glow effect to the last two wings and clean up some more line work other wise she is close to being done just need to pose her and get some feed back from the instructor and everything should be groovy.

Now as for the surprise. This is something iv been working on for the past few days but have been wanting to do for a long while now and that is making a logo that represents myself. Now although this might seem like a final copy of it it probably won't depending on the type of feedback I get from it or just the general thought of wanting to change something with it heh. So without further delay here ya go!

Update 1 of 2

2009-04-27T12:27:00.001-07:00

Been hard at work over here that Im making back to back posts of my work. This one will have my tank and drone updates while the other will have my Organic modeling 2 work as well as a surprise! So the tank is coming along quite well. Still a few areas that I need to address and fix up but for the most part yeah its going great. Wish I could say the same about the drone. Although small and not going to be much of a main focus in game Im having a hard time getting the metals to read collrectly. Just some more trial and error I suppose hehe.

Texturing Progress

2009-04-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

Been a bit slow going at first with these two but its starting to pick up which is good because I wouldn't want to hand in something thats unfinished now. So here ya go and as always comments are welcome!

Slow night

2009-04-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Will be working on projects tonight and for the rest of the 3 weeks left up here. Now I say slow night as the title in that Im trying not to burn myself out to fast so going to take it a bit easy tonight. If I make anything substantial in terms of work progress tonight I'll post it up. Other wise probably just this little note and will show work progress through out the rest of the week as usual.

Another Link Added

2009-04-17T02:08:00.000-07:00

This one goes out to a person i have been following on a site called
Red vs Blue
for some time now. Some of the work she has done and is currently doing inspires me a lot when I think about what I do with some of my projects. So give her some love and check her work out! Can find it on the side links here or right here

ZBrush Model Fox Update

2009-04-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Well have been getting a lot of details done with Fox. Shes forming quite nicely. My instructor told me what I need to still fix up but other then that he feels it is really capturing the Zone of the Enders Orbital frame style. heres some shots for you all, enjoy! As always any type of feedback is always appreciated.

Fox

2009-04-16T01:16:00.000-07:00

Well she's coming along, little bit slowly but surly. Ran into a few issues that I don't know how to go about, still new to ZBrush so Im getting help when and where I can heh. So besides the small set backs shes looking great! Will post up some more current shots later today!

Texture Maps

2009-04-15T02:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Im on a roll with the posting on here! Hehe. Heres the UV layouts for the Hammerhead and the Drones. Hammerhead will be a 1024 X 1024 and the Drones will be a 256 X 256. Will have AO passes on them as well as specual and deffuse maps to give them that nice reflective feeling when seen in game!

ZBrushed Model. Code named Fox

2009-04-14T00:20:00.000-07:00

I present to you my fellow bloggers the ZBrush Model of Fox. Just only imported her into ZBrush from Maya, havnt gone into details just yet. But will be from now on because she ready for it! She will Have a weapon soon. Not ready to show it yet but it will be a shotgun!

Twitter

2009-04-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

Now for all of you twitteres out there, I think thats a word now in days right? Hehe anyways if you have it and use it a lot like I do you can find me on it here
my twitter. In other news watching a Vin Diesel movie in the background is hazardous to your work XD. But as far as ZBrushed work being put up tonight I don't see it happening now. Not because I don't have something to show but because I don't feel that its ready enough to be shown off just yet. Would Like to put some more work into it then just only have a base pass for you all. Yes yes I know the geek in me wants things to be up to par before presenting something to you all which is silly I know but I got 4 weeks left give or take on this and I don't want to disappoint!

ZBrush

2009-04-13T00:21:00.000-07:00

Now I am still new to this program, as far as how long I'v been using it. I like the look and feel of it. Getting to use my Wacom Tablet and everything to make stuff free hand is always fun ^_^. Right now I have a model in the works for it. I'll probably post up shots before heading to bed tonight, thats if i don't pass out at the laptop doing work tonight hehe. It's one of my more ambitious projects to date for the fact that Im trying to make an organic looking mech. So lots of mechanical parts that are needing to look like they have an organic feel to them but still remian mechanical. Hopefully this one will turn out to be something else!

Ambient Occlusion

2009-04-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

So today I finished UVing my models and gave them an AO bake texture. I think they turned out pretty sweet!

Now what is an AO bake? Well AO or Ambient Occlusion can be
simply put as giving shadow and grain to your models so you dont have
to rely on a light source or have to worry about the model looking
like it has no feel to it. Kind of like applying a primer to a model
before painting it I guess would be another way to look at it hehe

almost there

2009-04-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

sorry, got a bit behind schedule with my UVing. Right now Im very very close to being done and AO baking the tank. So should have stuff up here very soon.

Bit of a slow post on the schools part

2009-04-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry for any delays on my end. Seems the net in our entire building is slower then a 56k modem, again. So expect a massive update tonight full of Pictures and info and all of that other fun stuff! Also for anyone following me on here I give you This Link! It's the website of an up and coming artist who is in my field of study as well as a dear and close friend. Her name is Danielle Olson and don't forget that name either folks because I see a bright future for this one! So if you have some time head on over to her site and check out her work and blog, you wont be disappointed!

So much Maya

2009-04-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

well I am at a, what I feel, pretty good place with my current organic 2 class model. I'll throw up some shots tonight or tomorrow after class, depending on how much more interesting it looks by either time XD. Feel like I'v been sucked into Maya for the past 4 or 5 days now. haha guess thats good practice for the job world!

And to show that i mean it

2009-04-07T22:53:00.001-07:00

Here are some shots of my current projects im working on

First blog post ever

2009-04-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

Wow first one ever, heh. Never been much for blogs but I felt why not get with the times! Well heres hoping this is the start of many, many more things to come internet wise, such as a webs site heh. I'll also try my best to post everything and anything I have done or whats on my mind here.