Gorilla Tank

In-Class demo from this week. Painting up the final 'gorilla robot' in a clean version more like a Bradley tank also did a quick digital camo variant but maybe i will post that later. Probably a bit overkill from an illustration/focal point standpoint but the main purpose is just to showcase the model/design in an environment.... will get to some more fun illustrated stuff soon.

You can view the development and work in progress on the model for this in my ZBC sketchbook:
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?149695-Ben-Mauro-Sketchbook/page11

In class demo from this week. Most of the demo's so far have been showing how to use ZBrush to create detailed finished art over a slightly longer period of time but this week i just wanted to demonstrate how we can quickly block out some basic forms/design then do a paintover using photos/painting to get a finished production illustration in a few hours.
 

So here was that really blurry guy way in the background on the first illustration next to the soldier fleshed out a little more, some sort of smaller carryall type bot..... i call him the CHIMP. Might go and do a more refined 3D/Keyshot version of this guy after i refined the design more in ZBrush working everything out to the same level as the Gorilla or higher. We'll see how everything works out over the next few weeks.

A robot sketch i did earlier this year during Khang Le's demo in AUS, not related to the more realistic gorrila tank robot i did in class but thought i would share instead of letting it collect dust on my HD.

Organic Mechanics

MAKOTO KOBAYASHI inspired robot done for fun, this guy was blocked out from a few months ago.... just got around to doing a paintover. Painted a different version first but felt this angle was a little more dynamic so this version looks a bit chopped up with the details from the other painting, ah well. Fun playing with these really organic forms for something 'mechanical', tried to keep everything a similar aesthetic, but maybe only the ammo canisters in that universe remain familiar (like something you would find on a phalanx or mini gun) to give it some reference point? In hindsight it might look better with some cool organic podform on the back of the gun that they use instead of an ammo tank..... might that further at a later date. The gun has organic sculpted ports that its fingers lock into instead of a traditional handle looking form. Played around with it having canisters attached to the shoulder ports and with some aerials and antenna off the back but thought it looked best really striped back and simple. Thanks for looking. :)

Quick renders of some of the other views of the simple sculpt that i painted over, might take it further later if i get time.

2 years later..... finally getting around to possibly making some 3D prints of this guy. Here was some early tests of a possible stand, still some artifacts here and there where it connect with the stand but i will clean all that up when i decide on a base and send it off to the printers. Also need to make sure its not too front heavy so it doesn't fall forward, i think as it is currently i might need to lengthen the bottom a bit more.

ZBrush 4R5 Beta Testing

Was lucky enough to help out a little in the 4R5 beta test, i was involved right at the end so i literally had two evenings to test out some of the new features then another evening to design something. Some exciting stuff in the latest update, really looking forward to exploring everything in more detail when i get more free time.

Here was the design i came up with on my Sunday evening, some sort of synthetic muscle robot character. I liked how some of the new tools allow you to create these skeletal hollow forms easily so i was just scratching the surface with this concept. The model was super rough but got the point across for the concept i had, only the upper torso/head area was modeled and used in the rendering then the rest was painted/illustrated. I was starting to build the full body in more detail now that i have a bit more time but i got hit with some more deadlines so i have to put it on hold for a bit or maybe just move onto something else that i have more time to develop. Am wrapping up a few other things then can hopefully get back to experimenting with the new features over the holidays.

And a quick and dirty process gif showing the paintover process, users on ZBC were asking about the initial modeling process so the first 3 images in the gif are just showing the simple dynamesh block-out front on, then model broken up with panel loops then pushing the panels around with the new auto-masking features to get the look i was after.

Demo 2012

Brief overview of some of the demos/process covered at the event in Singapore last weekend. I have posted more in my FB gallery with greater explanation as it seemed like an easier way to show all the images. Thanks to all that came out to the event!

Quick process .gif i made for the workshop, thought i would share that as well. Just compiling layers in PS and painting over everything till i get the look and level of detail i am after.

Robot Warmups

Some sort of robot thing.....with 3 lens flares! :D

Testing out some new techniques and pushing the level of detail a bit more than what i am used to building in 3D, i would usually do most of that in 2D but just trying to find a reasonable balance to save time. Will have some more experiments to share later this week. Stay tuned....

 

And a quick body sketch, might build it in 3D at a later date.

Testing taking elements of the above design into 3D within a set 3hr time limit. More of a technical exercise, less about the design.

 And the quick concept sculpt i painted over for the above image.

 Also forgot to post the DRONE work here from earlier this year.... So here was the final design that Long Ouyang and i worked on, with Mike Nash doing the 3D design of this guy. A little bit of BTS here: 

Mini Update

Here are a few speed paintings and some things for fun. I have been trying to wrap my head around creating logical technology and machinery lately, i will post any breakthroughs as they occur. New website is up!

The IceQueen a.k.a. Big Mama
Collaboration with Daniel Simon and John Park

The last image is something i worked on over the summer for Daniel Simon's' book 'Cosmic Motors' which will be out next month. You can check out more of his work, and find out more about the book here http://www.danielsimon.net/index.html 0_0. You can also see more of John's work here http://jparked.blogspot.com/. It was an amazing experience to be able to contribute to the book and work with such a talented designer, it still hasn't really sunk in yet.

Also, changed the blog around a bit, the title was starting to feel a bit pretentious. Sorry for the delays between posts, there is just so much amazing work out there it gets a little intimidating. i want to make sure and (hopefully) contribute something worthwhile each time.

Thanks again for all the comments, i really appreciate it.