Week 12 - Portfolio Piece 1, Draft

Week 12 is here and so if the first draft of my Security Embassy Office scene. I call it a 'draft' because I would like to receive feedback or suggestions from my peers and assessor regarding any final additions/adjustments that can be made. There are some things I am looking to already improve; such as more custom textures, more variety of props (such as a desk fan, books etc) and maybe some minor adjustments to the lighting/cinematography.

For now, here is a visual representation of the scene:
Can you tell what has happened? The building belongs to a government agency I have previously invented and is called the Union State Intelligence Embassy. Union State being a district of Urbania, a city I have created for the same personal project. Of course, this has been infiltrated by some form of spy from a rival agency seeking intelligence, and the agent here has been kidnapped. Where is he now? Who knows. 
The desktop on the PC has been created by myself, however the world map is an image I found here: http://www.chatt.hdsb.ca/~tsangarakisk/

EDIT: After a brief tweak with the brightness, contrast and saturation in Photoshop...

Here is a construction render of the scene with edged faces. As you can see, I exceeded my estimated tri count of 10,000, however I am very pleased with the results of the extra detail.

...and here is a render of just the lighting on it's own.

Week 11 - Workflow Update

This week I continued progress on my embassy office, however slightly behind on schedule as I have been a lot busier this week than usual. Nevertheless, I managed to texture the pc unit, of which is actually a replica of my own. The below screenshots show how the scene looks currently with the textured PC and newly added filing cabinet. As I should have a lot more time in the following week to catch up, I should be back on schedule with a first draft render of the whole scene (textured), with appropriate lighting and materials. Then, after feedback from my peers and self-reflection, I can continue to add final details as I begin work on my second piece after Christmas.

EDIT:

I have played around further with my emissive channel settings and the glossiness of the PC for a more accurate appeal to the brightness and reflectivity of the PC and monitor.

http://blog.jenshellmeier.de/wp-content/uploads/medion_akoya_md8838.jpg

Week 10 Drill - Cartoon Drawings

Here are 2 drawings I did in week 10's class drill. Although the second one is actually unfinished, I decided to attempt to complete the hand and arm which was originally behind the child's head. This ended up quite incorrect, however at a first glance it is hardly noticeable. I belive both could be improved with time and practice just like all of my drawings.

Week 3 - Tileable Textures

Brick

Organic

Leaf Alpha

Metal

NEW Christmas Workflow Schedule

After planning my last schedule, I realised that I completely underestimated the amount of work I had given myself, many due to me overlooking many important details on my portfolio pieces which alone, take up a large proportion of time individually. Hopefully this plan is a winner. Note: I have chosen to focus purely on the Security Embassy piece until christmas, as I believe I will work much faster working one step at a time.

Week 10 - Texture PC Monitors and make them emissive.
               - Add windows and blinds and test lighting.
               - Test corridor lights and more scene materials.
               - Improve look of existing and add new props (e.g. desk).

Week 11 - Texture more props (e.g. PC unit with emissive light(s))
               - Texture walls, door and floor.
               - Model props onto filing cabinet/shelves.
               - Update any more changes to desk or personally unsatisfactory assets.

Week 12 - Texture filing cabinet, shelves and props.
               - Correct and apply appropriate lighting with newly added textures and colour/layout of scene.
               - Tweak material settings where appropriate.
               - Produce a good looking first draft (awaiting feedback and final touches).

Boeing 757-200 - Idea + References

Despite having many previous ideas I have have reconsidered, my 3rd final portfolio piece is going to be a high-poly model of a Boeing 757-200. It is the exterior only, however I may model the cockpit if I get time. Also, I am thinking of making a lower-poly version afterwards, of which I can put into UDK as a static mesh. Here are some references below.

Week 10 - Workflow Update

 Current progress (above)

Here is my current progress on the Embassy Office scene. As you can see, I have been experimenting with lighting and materials much further and have changed the layout of assets. The PC monitors are also now textured with an emissive channel and mental ray material, however the desktop image will hopefully be changed to a custom logo I will be making of the secret agency it belongs to. 

The layout could change again as I'm not 100% sure I am happy with it yet, not to mention the end result of the lighting will be different too. Below is a screenshot of the wireframe and tested materials. The scene is currently 7794 tris (under my 10,000 tri estimate).

Here is an earlier screenshot, showing the older desk and placement with the new windows. I am not yet sure which desk I will be using (even a new one) or where it will be for definate. This will depend many several factors but mainly the lighting.

I have currently stopped work on the Subway Train temporarily, as I wish to complete this scene first.