Windows Live Messenger Woes

For f***'s sake Microsoft, fix the damn program already! I was amazed by the amount of hits I got with "can't sign in MSN", 260 million to be exact. After hours of searching, I finally viewed the log file generated using MSN, and pinpointed my problem : MSN was disconnecting itself everytime.

Messenger:Zone_Contact_Platform_Errors Contacts store failure, forcing Logoff

Armed with specific information on what's wrong, I searched yet again, and hit the jackpot.

This solution works for the problem where MSN does not return any error message after failing to sign in, and simply leads you back to the login screen. Go HERE to read about it.

For other MSN problems, try MSN Errors, salvation might just be around the corner.

Cheers, and have a Happy New Year.

The Knight - Marmoset Engine

Finally, I've got my model to work properly in Marmoset Engine, a part of a game engine that let's artists see their work in a real-time game environment. There's no compositing involved here, so this is what to expect when your model gets brought into a game.  The toolbag was launched during Dominance War 4, but I never bothered giving it a go at that time. Anyone can try it out, 'cause it's free. Get it from this thread. A tutorial's included, but feel free to ask me if you have problems importing your models into it if you're a Maya user.

The Knight - Construction Shot

Screengrabs from ZBrush and xNormal.

The Knight - Beauty Shot 2

I swear these are the last renders unless someone requests for more. I'll be skinning him (technical term) for use in Unreal Tournament 3 as a playable character.

EDIT : Shucks, I forgot about the construction shot.

The Knight - Beauty Shot

Beauty shot. Will render close-ups later. Ugh i'm so eager to format my pc, it's been ages since the last one and it's really showing. I'm even considering Windows 7, but I guess i'll gather more info before I make the jump.

The Knight - Presentation Shot

Front and back shots of the Knight. Will give him another pose soon.

The Knight - Preview

It's almost complete. Just need to make some minor changes to the textures, pose him around abit, render and do post-work.

Comments & suggestions now will help a lot. :D

The Knight - Texturing WIP

Still working on the textures for his equipment, so it looks rather flat at the moment. Didn't waste time setting up lights and rendering in Maya so I brought the models into xNormal for a quick preview of how the textures will look like in-game. More updates in the days to come.

P.S : Anyone willing to rig this guy up for me? I hate rigging.

War, Anyone?

Game developer Vigil has been working on a Warhammer 40k MMO for a looong time now, and all they gave us was a piece of concept art with an orc ship in it.

Now, they're feeling generous.

You know you want to.

Warhammer 40k MMO @ Kotaku.com

The Importance Of Reference

An article on the importance of reference by Laurens Corijn. Mostly related to automobile design but still worth reading.

The Importance Of Reference by Laurens Corijn

Kuantan, Here I Come!

The title might make me sound enthusiatic about it, but i'm not the least happy about it. I'll be there for my sister's 2nd wedding reception on Saturday, and should be back on Sunday.

As for work, a model got approved by the director/client last night at 10.30pm. Now it's time for the rigger/animator to have fun. :D

Where Art Thou, Updates?

Sooo sorry I can't provide any updates for the time being, I'm currently working on a TVC so there won't be any progress on the Knight for another week.

Red Faction : Guerrilla belongs to THQ

The Knight - WIP 16

Trying a military green on the rubbery parts, and a tertiary grey for the armor.  Also added some paint stripes. On the other hand, the UT3 test was only half successful, it's such a sensitive engine where a slight mistake in the import workflow could mess the whole thing up at the end. The rigging was done in Max, so the weights weren't exactly well done. Will do more tests and do this again soon.

 

Unreal Tournament 3 belongs to Epic Games.

The Knight - WIP 15

Texturing for the knight is almost done, gonna get some feedback and make some changes. Will finish up the weapons a little later, I'm excited about playing this model in UT3.

The Knight - WIP 14

Sorry for the long delay, been modelling the low polys and testing the bakes. Now the normal maps are done and applied on the low polys for viewing in Maya. 9869 tris were used.

The Knight - WIP 13

Shield's done. Might need to add more bolts though. Entering lowpoly modelling mode soon.

The Knight - Test Render

Acquired a previously elusive renderer today, and decided to play around with it a bit. Snecx suggested that I do a test render of the Knight, so here it is. 

These are actually screenshots from a realtime viewport, after a minimum of 30 seconds.

The Knight - WIP 12

Made some grenades for the guy, not sure where to place them though, so tell me what you think. Shield is under construction.

The Knight - WIP 11

The Knight's halberd is complete, moving on to the shield.

The Knight - New Weapons Concept

Feel like turning him into a melee specialist rather than an all-rounder. Maybe we'll see some ranged weaponry on his shield. The halberd design is rather simple at the moment, but i'll explore more shapes in 3D.

The Knight - WIP 10

Omg 10th WIP. Almost done with the arm cannon thingy, it'll no longer hold the melee (pronounced /ˈmɛleɪ, ˈmeɪleɪ/, from the French mêlée, pronounced: [mɛːle]) weapon which will now be attached to the shield.

The Knight - WIP 9

You must be wondering, how many frickin' WIPs am I gonna post up?

The answer : OVER NINE THOUSAND!!! (Sorry, lame personal joke.)

The paddings for the 'fleshy' parts such as the abdomen and thighs are done now, I modelled them manually for more control over how they'll look. Also added details here and there, trying to maintain a balanced design overall. I guess it's time to create his equipment.

Armament :

1x Arm Cannon + Detachable Blade

1x Bigass Shield

?x Grenades

The Knight - WIP 8

Hookay, here's today's update. I remodelled the upper arm musculature (it's not a sculpted piece anymore), enlarged the thighs and made armor for the hands. There's still a lotta details to put in there, so feel free to comment and give suggestions.

The Knight - WIP 7

Sorry for the large image, just HAD to post something. I've spent some time fixing proportions and the pose, as well as adding minor details all over the body. Things that I would most likely change/add for the next update :

- Upper arm musculature (Paddings and linings and such)

- Increase thigh size

- Extra equipment around the belt (Grenades, tools)

- Armoured gloves

*Comments and suggestions are welcome.

The Knight - WIP 6

 Made changes to the pose and proportions for tonight.

The Knight - WIP 5

Nothing better to do at 2.32 am.

The Knight - WIP 4

CHECK OUT THOSE SHOES ! Coolest shyt ever.

The Knight - WIP 3

Done for the day. Hoping for another productive one tomorrow.

The Knight - WIP 2 Turnaround

Video embed epic fail, so here's the link.

The Knight WIP Modelling Turnaround

The Knight - WIP 1

Thanks to some encouragement from Snecx, I will resume working on the Knight project. Currently modelling the highpoly and doing most of the hard surfaces in Maya before moving on to ZBrush. 

B2 Super Battle Droid - Construction Shot

Random. Nothing better to do at 2 am.

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas & Lucasarts

B2 Super Battle Droid - Rigged

Ok that just renewed my hatred towards rigging. That's why I ain't no animator. Anyways, gonna call it done and make sheets for it if there are no other problems.

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas & Lucasarts

B2 Super Battle Droid - Textured

Here's a preview of what has been done so far... Gonna rig it up and pose it soon.

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas & Lucasarts

B2 Super Battle Droid with Twinlaser Cannon

Done with the twinlaser cannon, modelled after a toy version of the SBD. Moving on to the arm cannon that was used in Republic Commando.

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas & Lucasfilm

B2 Super Battle Droid- High poly, plain

Sorry again for the lack of updates, the Knight has been put on hold for... this. The B2 Super Battle Droid from the Clone Wars, an intimidating droid which costs a lot more than the standard battle droids. No weapons at the moment.

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas & Lucasfilm

The Knight - Concept

Gonna jump into 3D quickly without a back view, gotta finish it up before i run out of steam.

The Pretty Ladies of PC Fair II 2009

Went to the mid year war zone... just to get shots of the girls.

Avira girls were very popular

1st pair of Avira girls strutting their stuff

Mmmm.

Go Play Play Corner. I went away.

MMORPG cosplayers

CiB Net Station and their cosplayers

Goth girls!

Girls of *insert company name here* who asked if i speak mandarin. Haha.

2nd pair of Avira girls

Avira girls as one!

Again!

P.S : Do not use these photos for any purpose without my permission, thanks.

The Knight - Weapon Concept

Weapon concept for the Knight's right arm. Shooty with a detachable choppy piece.

The Knight - Doodles 2

Weeeeeee I actually painted something! No lines! I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. Despite my poor art background, I pushed myself to draw this without lines. Not liking the baldy head at the moment, and will most likely use the head design I first came up with.

The Knight - Doodles 1

Ah... something to keep me occupied. Figured I should make a series of chess-pieces inspired mecha/suits for fun. After the Pawn comes the Knight, which I intend to turn into a armored suit instead of a pilotable mecha.

Users of these suits are naturally of nobility and have undergone cybernetic enhancements. Thinking of arming them with an arm-gun+pressure spike for versatility in combat, and a shield which serves more than one purpose. The suits will also be outfitted with anti-grav units for mobility.