This is an idea that was racing through my head, no pun intended 🙂 ~ some type of mechanical cheetah on the run
Category Archives: News and Updates
Mini Cooper Rendering Challenge, UCN
This is a second version of my submission to our Uganda Cartoon Network Rendering Challenge. This was rendered using 3DS Max
Weekend Concept Drawing ~ UG Mini Bot
A quick weekend concept sketch I worked on in a restaurant ~ I was imagining some kind of African Robotics program creating a line of mini bots that float around, with weapon options.
Drawing Stages
Great Arnold Render Engine Tutorials
The more I work with the Arnold render engine, the more I love it for it’s ease of use and stability. These are the tutorials that I have found to be very helpful and which I highly recommend. I hope to create my own once I am done with the Nkoza and Nankya TV series
1. The Freelancer’s Guide to Arnold for Maya by MAXDEPTH
Whether you’re a freelancer starting a new job, or a seasoned artist who’s facility has decided to change their primary rendering engine, if you need to get up to speed fast on Arnold for Maya this is the tutorial for you! This video was created to be your quick start guide to rendering in Arnold, and I’m confident we’re going to get you rendering here on day one. In this video we cover everything from sample settings, Lights, shaders, rendering, optimization, and everything in between.
2. CGI Tutorial HD: “Arnold Maya Rendering – Basic Interior Sunlight” by – Jon Tojek
This is a VFX tutorial that demonstrates how to use Arnold and Maya to create sunlight illuminating an interior room. With the mtoa Arnold plug-in, he shows how to use the aiSkyDomeLight which reads in an HDR skyline image for simulating dusk sunset on a 3D model. Also covered here is Linear Color Workflow, aiStandard shader, and Arnold Ray Sampling.
3. Arnold for Maya Tutorial – Shaders by Solid Angle
This covers the Arnold Ai Standard, Ai Skin and Ai Hair shader settings and how to use them to render different materials. The tutorial also looks at glossy and transparent surfaces and sub-surface scattering.
African Character Study
This is a quick sketch I drew during my lunch break, away from rendering scenes for the Nkoza and Nankya TV series. I find it rather therapeutic to draw, helps me clear my mind, especially when software is refusing to work the way it should ~ pencils never disappoint 🙂
Concept Bot Digital Painting
A quick concept Bot, I created using Adobe Flash and Photoshop. Yes, I know, it sounds strange to hear that you can use Flash for concept art, but I have found it to be very flexible for my personal workflow. I am able to retain the vector lines and shapes at a high resolution, which I can export to any DPI and take to my other painting programs.
Here are some concept paintings steps, from Flash (Vector).
African Cyborg Concept painting
Here is something I painted in Sketchbook pro, while waiting for some 3D renders. I was imagining some kind of African warrior cyborg 🙂
Citroen Concept Render, Lighting & Texturing in Maya
Citroen Concept Texturing, Lighting and Rendering ~ I setup this composition in Maya ~ the lighting and texturing was also done in Maya. The Vehicle Model was provided by the 3D Artist Magazine Team.
Final Render
Below are some steps I took in the lighting and texturing process:
Border Defender Concept Design
This is my first concept design of 2014. Something I worked on for the new years day. I created this with Sketchbook Pro. It’s a simple idea for a project I hope to pitch this year to an interested party.
Sowl Studios Office Sign Concept
A concept for a sign to place outside my office (Yep, I am believing for that, and soon) ~ I created and rendered this in 3DS Max. I was inspired when I saw the photos of the opening of Tyler Perry’s Studio in Atlanta. So I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be awesome to dream of what mine would look like in reality… so I jumped into Max and created it with a vision of hanging it outside the office building.
Wireframe in 3DS Max
