Bat, bat, come under my hat

After a bit of thought I 've had a change of plan for my second semester projects. Initially I was gonna try and re-visit some of the areas I overlooked in the last GDD (mainly the mechanics of the game and alot of actual gameplay). But after thinking about what it is that I actually want in my portfolio, I should really be working to progress my strengths so I am able to show off to employers what I am actually good at, rather than wasting time worrying about the things I am not so good at.
Ultimately I want to be involved in the concept stages of the design process, mainly providing character and environment designs that project a certain feel and mood. I want to further my exploration of this aspect by firstly producing a series of maybe 5-10 character designs which I will then select 3 or 4 from to model in 3D. These models may only be a bust of the character, but seeing as I currently know very little about 3D modelling, it should still prove quite a challenge. I am also considering rigging one or two of the models so that I can possible put a few of my animation skills to use.
For the other project, I'd like to work on some environment designs, perticularly thinking about the use of colour and texture and how it affects the atmosphere of the piece (relating back to my report). Along wiht this I'd like to work on several display pieces showing my processes and work flow, which more than anything would just look pretty cool in my portfolio.
As for the 3D modelling side of things, I'm slowly picking up a few more things now, and hopefully soon I can try my hand at modelling some detailed characters, rather than just piecing boxes and shapes together. Tutorials on the internet have so far proved very helpful to me, and I know some of you other guys may be new to this kind of thing so here are a few (hopefully) helpful links:
www.creativecow.net
www.tutorialized.com
www.lynda.com
www.creativecrash.com

Hairy Cube

I've just been playing with some of the textures and things on Maya which seemed pretty cool and interesting. I'm not really sure about how to correctly apply these just yet, so I just decided to make a hairy cube. Lovely.

Horrible 80's Vase

I've been having a dabble with Maya, I'm finding it alot harder than 3DS Max at the moment, but so far I've somehow produced some kind of disgusting 80's looking vase. Thought I'd post it up here anyway.

3D Models

I haven't posted on here in a while so now that I've made a little progress with some 3D work I thought I'd share what I produced. Its pretty basic and not as detailed as I'd like, but I still need to practice with mapping and all the complicated stuff so I can make something a little better.

This was just a simple idea intended to look something like an engineer's workshop, theres a bit of lighting also and some glass effects in the windows, even though you can't really tell because it has nothing to reflect. I'm happy with it for a first try anyway. Next I'd like to have a go at making something organic...

Badass lady thing.

I've been doing some more character designs and bits for my pitch document, and its gettin' there. I hadn't really explored and visual concepts for the player character if they were to choose an evil path. So here is a quick idea as a contrast to my previous, fairly good looking gladiator character.

I think I've over done the glowing lights a bit. oh well.

Oh yay I have followers :D