The Lost Key

For the last year I have been hard at work at my current job. I'm constantly around kids and while it may be fun at times, it is extremely exhausting! I do try and get some creativity out now and then but it has been difficult. I've found a joy in reading a chapter or two of a book before bed. While I have always been a reader, I have found myself reading more in the past year than ever before. A quick trip to the library after work has been quite the joy! Though I have mostly been into superhero/villain novels such as Victious. I haven't been completely still when it comes to creating. There has been a new short story page added to my blog!  I had a necklace and broach 3D printed from Persona 5 when I found that I couldn't easily craft it from scratch. I sculpted a cat and then adopted a cat not long after! I would say I wasn't too far off the mark with it's proportions as my cat VooDoo would show. Then there were a few sketches. I am still h...

I've decided to update a few images in the 2D section. I've done a lot the past year and never thought to post it. Much of what I do is for my personal fun but then I look back at it and realize I should show that I'm producing more each day. I've been very active with quite a few projects that I don't know where to start and what to do each day. The curse of wanting to make a little of everything! I will be at RTX 2016! I am very excited for many reasons. I'm mainly hoping to meet a few people that I've worked with for the past year and a half. I also understand if they are busy with their own work and also play. I know I'll be running around like a hyper child! I'm also looking forward to possibly seeing the Game Grumps, Chilled Chaos, and various Rooster Teeth members wandering around. The internet has never felt so real! For now, I'm still working on Leet World animations. I created a new business card since my old one was just a basic la...

My friend and I have been challenging each other to a daily drawing. Fifteen minutes to draw from a reference picture. Why just fifteen minutes? We both have busy lives and it is hard to come by extra time. Little by little we become better. I've filled a few sketchbooks and I see a lot of improvement! I'm still animating for The Leet World. We hit a road block and I had free time so I asked if I could help overcome it. We worked together and have a new system in place for the animators when it comes to blocking out a scene. Teamwork is a wonderful thing! The team is still going strong even with one of our members working at Rooster Teeth full time(So proud!). I see that I didn't post the newest public video of Leet World that I've worked on. A few fans have even made a few of my animations into gifs. I didn't know how happy that would make me. Which was extremely happy! So here it is:

It's been a while since I updated, but at least now I have some news. I've been working! Sort of. I have just finished a summer game related job and made some money. Now I'm diving right back into my main focus. I wasn't quite sure when the right time was to come out and say that I have been working on this project so I waited. Then finally a trailer was released. (A while ago, sorry) Yes, my ego overflows each time I see my name light up. I am proud of myself and my co-workers on what we've done so far. The teamwork I've experienced with these individuals is off the scales! I'm excited to be back at my desk animating after two weeks of being out of town working on other things in order to get The Leet World season 3 out to the waiting fans. Stay smooth! ~Sam

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! For gifts, I decided to draw my friend's characters. My friend Emily had a character from 2007 that she loved at the time. So I decided to give her a blast from the past. Then my friend Regine has a male character she recreates in every game we play. After a while we decided that if he had a personality, that it would be overly emotional and dramatic. So I present: Miaka and Escaton

I really had the urge to draw my character from Star Wars the Old Republic.

It's been a while since I sat down and actually drew something. Even though this isn't perfect, it was a fun quick sketch and it allowed me to study color and try out a few new techniques.

I haven't had much time but I was able to retopo the base to our little project. There are some things to address such as her hands. We haven't decided if we want to make them human, claws, or talons. The same goes with her facial features and ears. Is she going to have a human face or be part animal? That's why she sort of has a floating detached face.

After finishing my capstone and I am eager to start looking at something new, and so a friend and I have decided to tackle the manananggal. A Philippine creature that can look human but can detach it's upper body from the lower. We're both planning on creating one with something that ties them together. My friend is still learning the basics so I suggested we just work on the upper part of the bodies. Pretty neat since the creature has a separate lower part that we can create later once she gets the hang of it. Progress so far: Manananggal Zbrush Video

It was a long semester in which I basically worked only on this project. I did everything seen including animation, characters, lighting, editing, environment, effects, etc. I spread myself pretty thin on this but with the amount of time I had I will say that I am proud. Watch the video here: Capstone Final

I've almost finished my capstone. It hasn't turned into the success that I had hoped for. It gave me the chance to know what my limits are on long projects and how to overcome them. A schedule is key for me as well as having a bit of wiggle room so I can take a day to just sit back and refuel myself. The main issue is that I would continuously work long hours at my computer with no end time. Week after week I spent around 60 hours staring at a screen. I had the candle lit at both ends as the saying goes. I'll upload the finished product soon, but for now I'll leave this update as well as a 5 hour Zbrush break I did last week. The plan is to make her mother nature. Her legs will turn into tree trunks with vines and various leafs as decoration and clothing. Water veins, rocks, vines, tree parts, and bearing fruit as a sign of fertility. It will be a while before I get back to this. Until then, stay creative!

Currently I've been working on my capstone. This is my final class project. I actually qualify to have my bachelor's degree and was approved but I decided that I want to finish this class before actually receiving it. I've created three characters and am in the process of doing rough animations. I've created a schedule for myself on how and when this should be completed. After this month the most difficult parts should be finished(animations, character models, rigging, unwrapping, texturing). All that would be left is lighting, rendering and assembling it all in adobe premiere. This is the video sample for a pitch I made at the beginning of the semester. I had worked ahead so progress would flow faster. All animations in this presentation were done and modified in one day's time . This was done to show that I can make an animation at least a minute long. Capstone Pitch Here are a few images of the characters. Character textures are subject to change.

Expression Test This video shows an expression test I did with a retopoed figure.  I mainly wanted to try out the morpher in 3Ds max and see how well it could go from one emotion to the next.

Here she is, the next Generation Zelly.  I wish I had more time to work on her but other projects demand my attention.  Onto the next!

Zelly's mobile version is done for now.  I rigged and animated her with the time I could afford.  I will also have a high poly version of her soon.

A quadruped I modeled a few months ago but forgot to post.  Also made in Zbrush.

The story for Zelly is that she is living in her own dimension which allows her to walk in the living world without being seen.  She can interact with objects but no matter what she does, she will not be noticed.  Zelly finds that by putting on clothes and objects which have a strong event tied to it, that she'll gain more of a presence as well as a tie to our world.  The Grim Reaper notices her around the dead while she is picking items and clothes off corpses.  A hunger grows in him that wants to take her unique life force.  He is unable to touch her until she is completely in the living realm so he starts to help her gather items.  In the process we start to wonder if his intentions are truly bad. First some quick sketches were made for Zelly's possible outfit A hair style was decided on, a possible logo made and three outfits were selected for her to pose in.  A name for the story was also decided upon.  Infinitesimal meaning alw...

I decided to try an entire person this time.  I liked how it turned out but I would also like to re-color her as well as fix a few things.  At the moment I have to move onto new projects but this could be something to go back to later on.

For a long time I've been wanting to get my hands on Zbrush.  I would open it up but close it again until I could find the time to actually try it out.  Well after having a Zbrush class for a month, I think I'm doing pretty well.  The 360 turn around is my first attempt at polypaint and a male bust.  The girl is my first attempt at a bust, and the bird...well it was something random to try out.  I later got rid of the eye thing.