Project Review X-Men 2: PART IV 3D Logo "BOX" X-2 Concepts

First pass was an easy box with type objects placed on each side. I re-used the brushed materials from X-Men 1 logo work.

 This idea took two type ideas, a brushed flat face with a heavy bevel in a case warm metal extrusion. I then turned the "2" and scaled it to fit into the side of the "X".

I really liked this idea, I booleaned out the two from the side of the big "X". It has some legibility issue, but it was a fun solve none the less.

This was a simple look but a complex model, as I did this before I knew Quad Subdivision modeling which would have been a better asset, but the image still read well and carried the same materials from the prior posters.

 This file took the type from the first design and deleted the box object and did a bit of scale to fit of the two parts to match up. Dark Cast metal inside with bu rushed faces.

Roman Numerals were next on the plate, but the X and the II read 'twelve' instead of X-3.

 A second type box with the Roman Numeral two.

Project Review

X-Men 2: PART IV

3D Logo "BOX" X-2 Concepts

Client: 20th Century Fox Via BLT and Associates.
Art Director: Zack Ris
Date: Spring 2001

I had well over 200 logos I did for X-Men 2 from a decade back now, when I was an in-house 3D  Designer over at BLT and Associates, and I have part IV up today that will focus on a sub-segment of ideas that I did for Partner "L", Rick Lynch in having the X, and 2 intersect to create a "box" logo.

It was a heavy metal box as the original doorway was , some parte were flat machined, some cast metal, but all ideas would be used for a teaser posters, and AV trailer ideas we were pitching for the project.

As a 3D Designer, the number of ways to combine two type objects in 3D, are almost endless, so I had a good amount of time exploring in 3D, which most clients do not make time or budget for, and that is the exact time when you make your creative discoveries. BLT always had time to explore, they pushed the design limits on almost everything that I did for them.

I will be posting more solves for X-Men 2 in the weeks that come.

You can view PART I here and PART II here, and PART III here, or you can search the blog using X-Men to see my X-Men 3, and First Class stuff as well.

Cheers, THOM

Personal Project My 6th Term Transportation Design Four Project 'Sunset' Fall 1990 Part 1- The Fifth Scale Clay Model

 A 3/4 shot of the nose up front on this design from my 6th Term ID Transportaion Design Class from Art Center in the 90's. I themed it with aquatic shapes[ Waves shells, Hydrodynamic Shapes etc.]

 A higher angle 3/4 rear shot of the clay model in progress at Art Center in the 90's.

 A side shot I took back then of the profile of the car[ 4 door ] with hub-less wheels and all wheel steering. The lower body articulates for bounce front and rear similar to my 3rd term Bubble Car.

Here it was in the project room, I sat next to Chip Foose who was two terms ahead, though our 6th term class got space in there with the 7th and 8th termers. I found with these pics from his Pre-Prowler Model I will post in the future.

Personal Project

My 6th Term Transportation Design Four Project
'Sunset' Fall 1990
Part 1- The Fifth Scale Clay Model

This is my first post covering my personal school project from back during my Art Center days in Transportation Design my Sixth Term in the Fall of 1990.

This was the second clay model I built, and the first one I painted, since the 5th term Transportation Class taught by Harry Bradly, did not allow us to paint the clay. This class was sponsored by Sunset Magazine, as almost all upper level courses were[ Toyota-CALTY,  Alfa Romeo etc.], so some connection was made in the design requirements.

My design theme I picked used shapes reminiscent of waves and basic aquatic life, and I wanted to theme this design based on swooping aqua shapes as seen on the California Coastline near Big Sur regularly a feature in Sunset.

Also the brand new hub-less wheel technology was just emerging at the time from Italy, so I put hub-less wheels on all four corners as well as part of the concept. 'Big-n-Littles' as all Hot Rodders like were cast in plastic from wood bucks I turned on the Lathes provided in the shop.[ I was a Pro woodworker prior to my return to ACCD so this was Boilerplate].

As I have discussed in prior postings, three dimensional thinking is the ability for an artist or designer to see in his mind an object or design in dimensional space FIRST in the head before sketching. To think 3D, is to see 3D, so to speak, and all of us have a disconnect when we draw and 'fake' it to look better, and this is where ACCD fixed that.

As an ID** major[**Industrial Design], that faking will not fly since we build out actual three dimensional models to show the design complete, and any fake will show in reality and needs addressing. 

Over time the 3D Designer gets better and better in the accuracy in which we sketch, model and design. This is a natural process that gets better every year in fact, and as I continue in 3D to this day, I still see learning each year in my ability to see in 3D first in my head then on screen.

I have many follow up posts including the fully painted model as well that I will be posting in weeks to come.

Enjoy the post.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review The Phantom 2040 PART CXIII [113th] More Background Color Key Art Direction

 Here is a main establishing shot painted by Jesse M. Santos while under my Art Direction for the Series The Phantom 2040.

 I designed the brownstone , and had Jesse do a worms eye angle up on the home for the key layout artwork done for The Phantom 2040.

 

 A Color Background Layout for Animation done for The Phantom 2040's main character Kit Walker, this was his dorm room.

 

 Here is the layout that I did for the shot. I also even did freelance over the weekends on the project ant this background was faxed over so all I had was this copy[ a re-post]

 

 The tip of the Mile High Maximum Inc in Metropia Painted by Jesse M. Santos as well.

 Here is the design sketch I did that was the basis for the variation colored above.

An interior of Security at Maximum Inc. due to the green colors this was inside the headquarters. 

I am still looking for the layout to this one, and I'm sure I saw it over the years...

Project Review
The Phantom 2040
PART CXIII [113th]

More Background Color Key Art Direction

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

For my Tuesday 2D post this week, I have scanned a few more of the photos I recently found showing the painted background layouts that I Art Directed for the TV Animated Adventures of The Phantom 2040 back in the middle of the nineties.

Today is my 113th post for Phantom.

I designed a majority of the locations for the series based in , and around the city of Metropia which had a Ghost Jungle hidden underneath the huge futuristic city where the Phantoms Lair resided. 

The city had many layers similar to what was seen in Demolition Man, with the lower ground levels being where the poorer folks lived, while Maximum Inc. rose to a one mile height above the city, and these layouts above show four more locations along with my re-posted sketches for the various sites.

I had a good team of painters in house, as well as a great team in the South of France who seem to be able to paint right from birth, so a few color keys and they matched the palette wonderfully!

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group for that....  here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review:The Adjustment Bureau 2009: 3D Conceptual Illustrations

 The first pass at the Mobius strip inside Matt Damons head, and on this first pass I aligned it close to the 2D sketch.

 Here is a shot showing the basic set up and distortion to the strip when viewed from the side. Whenever you match 2D to 3D exactly since 2D is always a fake, and usually discounts real perspective rules, I need to bent the 3D world to conform back to the 2D.

 The final delivery for the Mobius Strip was this much more even and symmetrical version that was used.

 I built the model flat and used a twist modifier to create the base object.

 This screen grab show the camera and simple scene with the Final Render Rectangular Box Light to the side for the reflection.

 The final render I delivered to Cimarron of the tile wall in little metal plates.

 

  A Polygon view of the tiles wall shot, basic built with chamfer cylinders

Project Review

The Adjustment Bureau 2009

3D Conceptual Illustrations

Client:Universal Picture via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: Joseph Stamper.
Project Date: November-December 2009

This was my first project for The Cimarron Group in Hollywood California post my departure as a full time employee for six years from 2003 to back in October of 2009. 

I was originally hired to establish a small 3D Department to deliver "The Goods" to the various departments at Cimarron covering, Theatrical Print, Theatrical AV, Home Entertainment, DVD and Blue Ray Packaging etc, and the Corporate Advertising Division, with clients like Universal Studios Hollywood, Mitsubishi, Lotus Automotive Group, Coke, and Countrywide, etc., and the work I did for these divisions back then helped establish what I do for my clients to this day, so I was able to secure a bit more work after I left.

This project was a fun one,and I got to work with the very talented Joseph Stamper, a great Art Director again on this one, with a few fun concepts to be done in 3D for the posters he designed and presented.

The first 3D Illustration I built was the Mobius Strip that needed to wind around inside the photo of Matt Damons head so they could superimpose some footage from the film on the stairway in his head. I refined and delivered this first design above. It required a rework, so I simplified it down and delivered the final for presentation.

Next, I also did a quick take on following the look of some of the trailers with the flipping tiles look so I did a sheet that could be used on a one sheet with photography so I rendered out a few shots at 5000 pixels wide for that use as well. 

A quick one day gig, and fun.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review:The Phantom 2040-PART CXII [112th] Character Design Adjustment Overlays

Rebecca Madison the head of the evil Maximum Inc. had many bodyguard B.I.O.T's here is one design I did.

Sean One lived in space and was about 12 feet tall,and this was one of his alternate outfits, like a tight speedo with a bit of a wrap over the shoulder. The little sketch to the side of his knee is how he floats in the show .

 A Tracker character with some modifications done to the head, hat, belt, gun, and shoe details. All sketch overlays are 8.5 x 14 xerox with tracing OL's.

A enforcer with a RIOT shield from the show.

Project Review
The Phantom 2040
PART CXII [112th]

Character Design Adjustment Overlays

Client: Hearst Animation Productions.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date Spring 1993.

For my Thursday 2D post this week, I have some more character design overlays that I did while at Hearst Animation in Studio City California, back in the 90's working on the TV animated series, The Phantom twenty forty.

When I was hired on, the team had started some added characters but without an Art Director or theme for the series it required adjustments to the details to fit into the Art Nouveau look I was to get established.

I made sure that the belts and shoes would wrap around the person or B.I.O.T.[ Biological Robots] to mirror the Ghostwood vines constantly poking into the city[ like the Phantom himself!].

If you are a FAN of The Phantom 2040, and on FACEBOOK, there is a group for that....  here.

There is a TAG on the list to the RIGHT for other Phantom 2o4o entry's, but you can click this as well.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review Game of Thrones Season 2 PART II 3D Crown Illustrations 2012

 Here is the front shot here render of the 3D Crown I built out for Game of Thrones Season Two last year.

 This is a render of the smoothed mesh I built out all sub-division with a Turbo-Smooth applied.

 Here is the base model with all subdivision removed to show the simple base model I created.

 An angle similar to what finished with Richards Crown that I did here for the finish.

 

 The low resolution base mesh.[ Note the band details are not modeled into the band]

 Here is the smoothed model ready to render with the sub division added back in.

 Here is another angle showing the reflection on the band , as I used the map for the bump channel, as well as the specular and glossiness channels.

Here is the 3D band details that I modeled out in 3D as well, and created a Z-Depth map to use as my bump specular and glossiness channels.

Project Review

Game of Thrones Season 2 PART II

3D Crown Illustrations 2012

Client: HBO via Cold Open.
Art Director(s): Coby Gewertz, Jeff Barnett, Melchior Lamy.
Project Date: January 2012.

I created the main crown[ King Richards ] for the advertising for the Season two of Game of Thrones in my prior post on Game of Thrones here, so today I am posting the second crown model I was asked to build out for the presentations for the show.

I was contacted by Cold Open to also build out the boy kings crown, which was also based on antlers, but with a much thinner rack with a lot more points, along with some engraving in the base rim that I created custom Z-Depth bump maps for. It took just under a day to build and render this out for them.

 I also rendered this second crown model out in Final Render using the dirt shader, to add just enough aging to make it match the look and feel from this great series, though the gold is a bit brighter for this crown.

I have been working on the third season for Game of Thrones recently again,and anxiously await the new season along with all us fans.

I will have posts for that work, once the posters show up and the season begins.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review Conceptual Design: Un-Named Teaser Trailer Spaceship Conceptual Designs PART II

Here is the first concept design I did for the version B round, which was more of a saucer shape like the typical flying saucer for the project.

I built 3D rough blocking models to mass the object and get a grid pattern to work over due to budget and time constraints.

Here the original sketch is still taped to the 3D Perspective Grid underneath the velum.

This second version of the round "B" design was one of my favorites. I added a lot more surface details and cabin level details. 

The 3D Base massing object I quickly built to use as the underlay.

Here is a shot of the design with the  3D perspective grid object I built out still taped underneath it.

Here is a quick massing of a group of the fighters[ just the blocking models] as they all linked together to create a nano-cloth surface.

 Project Review

Conceptual Design:
Un-Named Teaser Trailer
Spaceship Conceptual Designs PART II

 

Client: Rock!T[ Now Method Studios]
Art Direction: Seven Viola.
Project Date: July 2011.

Today I am posting for my regular Tuesday 2D post, part two showcasing my design project from just over a year ago in the Summer of 2011 that I did for Steven Viola at Method Studios as well.

For this round of spaceships I only did the little ones, so there were no big mother ships for this round.

As before, I could do this faster with my 3D perspective grid blocking done in 3D, though I presented the finals as sketches , the base was concepted in 3D first to speed things up and lower the cost substantially for my client.


Today I have posted my second design B, I will be posting the final 2D sketches for design C, as well as showing the 3D versions of A that I took a bit farther before I completed the project last Summer.

You can review PART I here showing off Design A in two versions.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review Snow White and The Huntsman 2012 PART II 3D Type for Standee 3D Printing

 The main delivered look for the stereo-lithography, or 3D Printing for the standee for Snow White and the Huntsman.

 A close up of the middle of the logo in gold as finished for Snow White.

 

 A simple shot on white was originally the test image I did to match the 2D finish.

 Here is the polygon view showing both the low resolution base mesh I hand built, along with the subdivided mesh with endless smoothing [ depending  on your machine that is].

 An angle on the details showing the small flange around each letter.

 Here is another angle showing the higher[ sub-division poly model] and low poly base witha bit of draft designed into it to pull from the mold.

Project Review

Snow White and The Huntsman 2012
PART II

3D Type for Standee 3D Printing

Client: Universal Pictures via Midnight Oil Creative/LAgraphico
Art Direction: myself.
Project Date: May 2012.

I regularly build out 3D assets for my clients to use in various posters or Motion Graphics work, but this project was a bit different as I was hired to help with a Stereolithography 3D print project for the Premiere of Show White and the Huntsman released this Summer in theaters, and now o On Demand.

I have built out hundreds of 3D logos with a hand built Single-Point-Bevels type look that is very popular still, but for this project my Industrial Design hat was put on as I needed to help create a "Buck" for the vacuum forming of the 3D type to be built as a huge standee.

The first and most important thing I addressed is the flange. The flange is the lip that would be needed all around each letter so it could be glued to the base-plate with more surface that was flat, so I designed to scale this feature in my STL[ stereolithography / 3D Printing] model.

I also had to add some draft to the file so it could be pulled off the buck-mold, and I was trained in mold-making at Art Center, so I was able to access that training for this quick half day gig.

Cheers, THOM