Robin Silcock

I am a Second Year Games Art and Design student at Norwich University of the Arts. I am looking to graduate as a 3D Artist with applicable skills in Maya, Mudbox, ZBrush and Photoshop. This blog documents my learning curves, and the curve-balls which form my journey.

Myself in 3 words? Honest, Busy and Dedicated.

www.robinsilcock.com

When navigating my blog;

• Works in Progress - This section is a constantly running account of all my current projects - personal and for university. It will contain reference images and website links and sometimes less than coherent posts, so be prepared!
• Finished Pieces - This is where you will find my more polished artwork.
• Labels - I have tried to label every post, so that finding exactly what you want is easier for readers.
  
  Looking for help with Maya? Check out the posts tagged "Maya How-To's"
  
  

  

  My Latest Creation in Maya
  To watch my latest Turntable;
  

  http://youtu.be/xkMyyqdZopg

  
  

Brains Eden 48 Hour Game Jam Competition 2013

Our Brains Eden team was made up of;

- Stina Sheehy; GUI Designer and Graphic Artist
http://stinasheehy.carbonmade.com/

- Robin Silcock; Producer (of sorts), 3D Modeler and Texture Artist
http://www.robinsilcock.com

- Jess Magnus; 3D Modeler and Sound
http://jmagnusportfolio.blogspot.co.uk/

- Steven Taarland; Unity Coder, Scene Coder and Game Designer
http://staarlandgames.co.uk/home/

- Martin Scott; Unity Coder, GUI Coder and Designer

Game Icon

Below are some screens which Stina made for the game (the logo above is also her work);

To explain the game a little further, here are some 'help screens' we put into the game - so that when a player was playing the game, pop-up instructions wouldn't hinder gameplay.

The game is meant to speed up (as in more mountains, and a faster moving bloon) over time, but the code never quite worked properly. I have a feeling that it took too long for it to speed up so that it was so gradual it was hard to notice. Similarly, the lever meant to accelerate the bloon was too subtle.

In the demo we submitted the mountain goats didn't in fact reduce your health, it was only by hitting the mountains themselves that you lost health. Though by having your vision blocked by the goats, you were more likely to hit the mountains so unintentionally, they did cause a loss in health!

The last UI glitch (shall we call it) was that between plays of the game, the counter for the number of people saved did not re-set. I explained this on the day as representing the overall and combined effort of players at the Jam to save the stranded people.

We had originally wanted this black screen to appear when you pressed play, but we sadly ran out of time. It would have served as a little re-cap of what the UI meant to the players.

If we had had time (a term I am bound to use a lot more in this blog post) we wanted the first play through of the game to feature in-game instructions. Much like that seen in Bee Leader (examples below - screenshots from my own iPad)

And now some shots of the modeled 'hanging signs' we planned to have swing down onto screen, or appear hung from some clouds (also shown below) to give the player guidance in-game.

We also included this 'Concept' screen which explains a little of our thinking behind the design of the game;

And now onto some screenshots!

The starting screen has a  floating green balloon (bloon) on the screen, and the play button sways to encourage the player to click it.

A typical view in game - here you can see the balloon 'cock-pit' the UI symbols in the top left and the trusty handle for using your fuel and speeding up your journey. The yellow parachute on display is holding fuel.

Here you can see near the gas bottle a goat with a parachute (a little amount of imagination needed). If you hit a mountain goat, it will enter your bloon basket and you have to proceed to shake the phone/tablet to get him out!

 Here's a shot of the invasive mountain goat! And then some general shots of the game;

Creative Careers - Do what you want to do...Right Now!

After watching this video on why creatives should never 'turn off', I decided to take the man at his word and do exactly that!

I'd like to think it holds a resemblance - this was a 15 min speed-sketch from a still of the video (hence the strange mouth expression).

Re-Play, Re-Live.

What kind of personal connections can we share with a Video Game? I mean, of course there are the fond memories of playing Crash Team Racing with your siblings, and the hours devoted to Tetris - but these are peripheral to the actual game content.

The excellent article by Chris Donlan on Eurogamer details his Grandfather's personal link with L.A. Noire as he himself had been a police detective in L.A. at the time the game was set. They spent time exploring the city together, and Donlan Sr. compared the game's portrayal of 1940s Los Angeles to his own recollection of the city, with the text's climax - the discovery of the Richfield Tower - showing how a video game can preserve history in a living, interactive and unique way.

I am fascinated by the potential video games have for virtual preservation. In the future, museums will not just feature curated artifacts, but virtual exhibitions also. Why try to describe the feeling of living in Tudor England, if you can let someone explore it for themselves through a game instead? My own personal link with video games came about in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - sadly, it was not because I could relate to being an Assassin - it was the setting, Rome. This was my first experience of playing a game set in a place I had visited in real life; around every corner I would find a landmark I had visited, a view I recognised. Because of these recollections, my experience of the game was not typical at all, I would often pause in the middle of a chase sequence to admire the doorways of a nearby bank, or spend lengthy sessions exploring the expanse of the city. Having visited the Colosseum the previous year, it was strange being able to climb its walls and view it from every angle, at a time when it was inhabited by beggars and vagrants. I was able to re live my memories of Rome through the game, much like a photo album from a favourite holiday evokes memories of your trip, walking the streets of Rome in Assassins Creed brought back my own recollections of my visit.

The future potential for such reconstruction could mean that you could visit places your budget, age or imagination would previously limit you from. Combine these reconstructive games with even more immersive hardware, and the fondly assembled photo album could become an online journal of your virtual travels. Where would you want to virtually visit?

Prezi

Modeling a Nissan Silvia S13

I have set myself a modeling task - to model my first car - and not just any old car. My brother (Oliver Silcock) is planning on competing in the British Drift Championship this year, and has been toying with decal-design ideas for his car. And so that he can quickly see how the design would work in real life - I am going to produce his car in 3D.

Let me just say that I am not probably doing this the proper way, but I thought that as per usual I could use this task as a personal exploration; of more of the tools in Maya, more methods of modeling, and more 'Dos and Don'ts' to learn!

These are some 'action shots' of the car I am attempting to model at some varied angles - and here's a cheeky plug of his YouTube Channel; MasheadOlly

Here are some screenshots of my progress;

 I began by importing the respective blueprints into the view-ports in Maya.

I then started by tracing the lines in the side view of the car, thinking I could simply extrude outward the shape and have a half-decent model (how naive).

I then looked at the following Youtube clip - which encouraged me to model the car by manipulating primitive planes.

The next two screenshots are of my current progress using this method. I am however looking into other methods as used in the Modo/Bugatti Veyron Tutorial in the Magazine; 3D Art Essentials (Published in 2012 by 'Future' Media with Passion ISBN: 1-858704-51-0

Live Project - Website Illustration Design

Here are some quick reference images and details of a task I have been set, to design some illustrations for a software development website. They want a re-brand which highlights their bespoke approach to software solutions, and their unique small-team expertise and appeal. They are aiming their website at the average Joe which will be looking for simple ideas and solutions - not walk-throughs of how 'the magic happens' as I like to put it.

Here's a website who's design and illustration caught the clients eye;

Here are some source images (and respective URLs) from the web I am working from for my illustration ideas;

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/595630/595630,1309430160,2/stock-vector-vector-tree-illustration-80181358.jpg

http://parentingforparents.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/lightbulb.jpg

http://www.lazulisolutions.com/Images/root_system_01d.gif

PlantationHouse - Evolved

Robin has become Behanced

I now have a fully-fledged Behance Profile! Please come and visit to see my work and give me feedback, and Happy New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

NUCA Christmas Card Competition

Here are the step-by-step images to show how I made my Christmas Card design. I have not yet annotated each individual screen-shot. The first two images are my reference images:

These are the shapes that I started to model with;

http://www.wallcoo.net/holiday/christmas_baubles_03/wallpapers/1680x1050/Red_christmas_bauble_hanging_on_tree_002003.jpg

Bauble

http://depositphotos.com/2384354/stock-photo-Pine-branch.html

pine branch

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/denisnata/denisnata1111/denisnata111100274/11328746-red-bauble-on-green-christmas-firtree-on-abstract-blue-background.jpg