Lava World

A recent pic in Vue Infinite. The blue nebula is for Niel's benefit as he loves them :)

Caves - Cross Section

Seen an illustration like this in a book, thought I'd model something similar. A combination of Max and Vue Infinite.

The figures used to populate the scene were freebies with 3D World Magazine.

Cheeky Monkey by Curtis Jobling

Now I know Curtis Jobling reads this Blog,and if he doesn't I want back my £5 a month that I pay him too :) Anyway Curtis really does write and illustrate great kids books,we picked up Cheeky Monkey his latest from Borders yesterday, now the plot was a bit beyond me but my 4 year old explained the complexities to me,still I loved the pictures. So if you've got kids or your looking for a present for a kid type in Curtis Jobling into http://www.amazon.co.uk and see what other wonderful books he's written and illustrated.

Mine Level

This is the mine level or some of it that I made for the budget PS2 game called Stealth Force - The War on Terror whilst at Atomic Planet Entertainment. You entered through a cave at ground level and fought your way down to where the bad guys were holding a scientist and some depleted uranium. These pics are grabs from the game editor. What the level plays like in the actual game I have yet to find out, I seen this game for £7.99 the other day but I don't have a PS2 otherwise I'd maybe buy it just out of curiosity.

The Bunker's generator seen in the middle pic was modelled by colleague Paul Robinson.

Florida Apartments

Built in Max and rendered in Vue Infinite.

The figures used to populate the scene were freebies with 3D World Magazine

The Space Sentinels - M.O. Maintenance Operator

This 1977 cartoon started life as a show called The Young Sentinels and was renamed halfway through the series to The Space Sentinels. A total of 13 Episodes were made each 20 minutes in length.
M.O. was Sentinel 1's maintenance operator, Sentinel 1 being the ship and the computer inside it. I loved this show as a kid,and especially M.O. voiced by Lou Scheimer who also provided voices for the animated Star Trek and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

I made the model in Max and these renders were made in Vue Infinite.

Check out the link to the shows opening credits.


http://www.retrojunk.com/details_tvshows/107-space-sentinels/

Prototype Engine

This was the start of some engines that were possibly going to be used on the HMS Camden Lock in Hyperdrive, the shape of these were more in keeping with the ships of 2001:A Space Odyssey, looking back I'm glad we stuck with the cylindrical ones that Andy Riley had put on his original concept illustration.

Guided Bomb

At the moment I'm in the process of modelling a 'Bunker Busting Bomb' for a U.S TV Documentary on Super Weapons, I've been provided with schematics and stills and once I've finished it I'll try and get permission to post the model pics up on the site. The model will be used along with others in CG sequences to help explain the way these weapons work.

Danger Mouse Car

Danger Mouse by 'Cosgrove Hall Animation' ran from 1981 - 1982, and there were 10 Series and 89 Episodes altogether. Danger Mouse was voiced by David Jason and his trusty assistant Penfold was voiced by Terry Scott.

His car was his main mode of transport when zooming to foil the plans of Baron Silas Greenback.

This Model was made by me in Max 7 and rendered in Vue 5. Texture work was done in Photoshop.

HMS Camden Lock montage

Here are some grabs of the HMS Camden Lock from the first 2 Episodes of Hyperdrive. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the guys at Qurios Entertainment have done a great job of putting this model I made into space, over 200 lights being used to pick out the details on the model. Building and texturing this ship was great fun and it wasn't bogged down by artistic differences with anyone else trying decide the shape or the colour or detailing. I was pretty much left to my own devices regarding those aspects once the basic shape was locked.
Thanks again to Michael for these grabs.

Low Poly Corridor 2

This Low Poly corridor was built in Max and I made the textures in Photoshop. The picture is rendered in Max.

Contagion

Made this Biohazard Container maybe 18 months ago, and again never got around to doing anything with it, so I put this picture together with it. The containers were made in Max,the arm is from Poser which I textured in Photoshop and Vue and the pic was rendered in Vue. The fly in the pic was a render of a much higher poly fly model which I mapped onto a much simpler shape.

Biohazard Ship and Pulse Cannon

A couple of older designs that I did in Max 3 a few years back.

MP3 Player

This is a model that got started a while back, I may get around to the headphones now that the player is finished. It not a real player as such, but is a hybrid of a few players and some artistic licence. The low poly books in the background were made for another project and just used to dress the scene.

Zombie Level

I did this a while back as a design for a level for a PS2 game, it was for a Zombie Game idea, the level was going to be set in an abandoned Underground Station in London.

One of the stations which is abandoned on the network but is still there, Wood Lane closed in 1947 but trains continued to pass through the low level platforms until 1948. The track through Platforms 1 & 2 was lifted in the 1950's and the bridge over Wood Lane and the western part of the walkway crossing over the station was demolished.

I planned for the characters to enter the station from ground level through a maintenance stairway and then get down onto the abandoned platform where they would have some access to the station but other areas would be caged off etc... The level and it accessories were built in Max but these pics are not renders they are screengrabs from an in game editor running in real time. I still have this level and plan eventually to do more work on it and light and take some renders in Max, and maybe even get a few Zombie's down there ! Like the real underground some would say :)

Below is a link to Disused Stations on the London Underground.

http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php

Damaged Building

This started with a photograph that I took, I first went over the picture removing the lights that are visible in the offices and then added a layer of grime running down the building, I also desaturated the colours, making it look less like a sunny day, the damage was added using pics off a Google search of things like 'building demolition' etc... they were lined up in Photoshop using the perspective tool and blended into the final image. The Lampost was added from another pic of the building taken from a slightly different angle and adjusted to match the perspective of the tower.

Blake's 7 - Teleport Bracelet 2

I started this Teleport Bracelet from Blake's 7 around the same time I was making the other items for the DVD menu's, but this got barely started and shoved onto a disc with other stuff, I found it recently and decided to finish it.

This was the Teleport Bracelet that was used by the crew of the Liberator in the first 3 series of Blake's 7. Although it appears to be black on the show it is kind of a burgundy colour, or at least has a sheen of that colour.

I remember Blue Peter making one of these many years ago using a section of a ribbed plastic Lemonade Bottle as the starting point, like most Blue Peter makes I probably started writing down the instructions then gave up. :)

Snow Scene

This picture is a combination of Max,Vue and Photoshop, I rendered foreground trees on a different layer so they could be blurred in Photoshop.The Snow was also added in Photoshop.

Hyperdrive Shuttle

Some frame grabs of the shuttle leaving the HMS Camden Lock in Hyperdrive. As you can see between the second and fourth picture, the shuttles side engines deploy.

This shuttle model had a detailed interior, this being the cockpit and rear corridor,two side rooms on the port and starboard sides,entrance area behind the main door, and a small set of rear view ports. These were modelled so that if the camera got close to the ship it would look visually more interesting.

Not wanting to be compared to 'Starbug' from Red Dwarf and keeping it in style with the Camden Lock, I went for a much more 2001 and Space 1999 approach to the shuttle.

Again Niel and the guys at Qurios have done an amazing job of bringing these CG models to life, from the exterior lighting to the engine FX !

Thanks to Michael for taking these grabs for me.

Desert Scenes

2 versions of the same scene that I made in Vue Infinite, both scenes altered in Photoshop.

Storeroom 2

Like the picture Storeroom that I posted on the 9th of Jan I've posted a textured and untextured version of this model, so you can see how simple the model is and how adding textures can bring the scene to life.

Hyperdrive Episode 2

Thought this weeks Episode was funnier than last weeks. Regarding the FX work,I thought Qurios did a great job again with the HMS Camden Lock model, there were some really nice shots of it during the race,and the shot of it against the purple nebula was cool. And this week we got to see the Camden Locks shuttlecraft that I designed and built for the show, great shot of it leaving the Camden Lock and some really nice shots of it on the planets surface, I loved the shot of the engines cooling down as the crew stand near by.

M10 Machine Gun

I built this during my time at Atomic Planet Entertainment for a PS2 game of the TV series Miami Vice.
381 Polygons and one 256x256 Texture.

Hall

Something done a few years back that I was always happy with even though it didn't take a great deal of time to make or render.
I got a lot of positive feedback at the time when I posted this on a few CG forums that I used to post on more regularly.

Blake's 7 - Teleport Bracelet

Like the Clip Gun mentioned on Jan 10th I made these for use in season 4 of the Blake's 7 DVD release. Check my earlier post for a bit more background on this project.

Tony Myhill Site Link

I've added a Link to Tony Myhill's site, Tony was my Boss when I worked for Odeon, I thought I knew a lot of nonsense about movies etc... well Tony knows more. Check out his website for his DVD reviews, he's a big fan of Ray Harryhausen, Animated Films, The Marx Brothers, Musicals and a fair few other classic movies. If people look at his site he might be motivated to update his reviews page with those reviews for other films that he's told me many times are sitting on his hard drive.

Low Poly Corridor

A SF Corridor section that I did for an animation.Built in Max 6.

Industrial Planet 2

I seem to have a lot of scenes that have been sitting on my PC for an age, here's another one that's undergone a revamp.

Pods

Just 2 different renders of the same scene with alternate textures. Depth of Field added in Photoshop.

Industrial Planet

Another old scene that I've been spending some time updating with new models and lighting.These are the first and last frame from an animation I've done with this scene.

Luxury Apartment

This is a scene I did a fair few months back,I've recently lit and re-rendered it.Most of the models I made for this scene are mid poly and the picture on the back wall near the piano is a photograph of Roseberry Topping by my friend Richard Dolan.

The Breverch Chair and Grand Piano used in this scene came from www.deespona.com

Office Complex

Another scene that I finally got around to finishing and rendering recently.

Like my Barn scene these little figures helped to populate the scene were freebies with 3D World Magazine

Hyperdrive Interviews

Over at the BBC's Hyperdrive site thay have a selection of behind the scenes interviews regarding the creation of the show, sadly non about the Visual FX yet though. Even worse is that all these clips require RealPlayer which I've heard some people say is like installing a virus on your machine, oh well here's the link for anyone who has RealPlayer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/hyperdrive/interviews/index.shtml

Fantasy Location

In 2004 I created this Low Poly location for a pitch for a Fantasy Game, sadly it didn't go much further than this one location,but it was a good exercise for me in building something that wasn't Sci-Fi.
The actual image was based on a pencil sketch by Paul Kidby of Ankh-Morpork from the Discworld novels made famous by Terry Pratchett.The location would probably have never been used in a game, it was more an example of how the city would look.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection

In 2004 I worked at Atomic Planet Entertainment on Mega Man Anniversary Collection for Playstation 2, Gamecube and Xbox.I modelled the Capcom Logo and some Metools, those little things with the hardhats on.These were used in the opening animation revealing that this was a Capcom game.I also modelled some tools for these characters,in the final animation that Jamie Smith handled we see the Metools revealing the Capcom Logo from a large chunk of rock that they chip away at, at a frantic pace with pickaxe's,hammers,drills etc...
I also did the menu for the actual game and various loading screens all in 2D.

Barn

A Low Polygon Barn model that I made a few years back in a scene with some of the other low poly models that I've made.

The little figure was a freebie with 3D World magazine.

Federation Trooper Gun

This is the other gun I made for use on the Blake's 7 DVD Menu's,but due to an issue with the rights it was never used.
Anyway this was the gun that Servelan's Federation Troops carried through all 4 series of the show,there was another version with a shoulder butt that was seen in the show too.

Another Shiny Pic

As another break from Sci-Fi and Hyperdrive I've posted another pic of something a bit more unusual.

Hyperdrive - HMS Camden Lock - Wallpaper

Just up at the BBC site are some wallpapers of the HMS Camden Lock in various sizes,the biggest being 1600-1200 pixels in size.Follow the Hyperdrive link down the side of the blog to visit the site.

Hyperdrive - HMS Camden Lock Concept Art

OK the first Episode of Hyperdrive has aired and I've finally gotten to see my CG Model of the HMS Camden Lock in action.And very nice it looked too I thought,hats off to the guys at Qurios for doing such a great job with the lighting and animation.Anyway what we have here is the original concept drawing by the shows writer Andy Riley of the Camden Lock.Andy is hardly Syd Mead or Ron Cobb but his simple sketch of what is essentially the BT Tower with engines was enough to spark mine and Niel's interest with the show.I made a prototype model first (which I hope to post on this blog soon) and Niel added some additional detail to the communications areas and did test animations to show the shows creators.The final model of the HMS Camden Lock is far removed from this concept detail wise but it retains the same basic layout as Andy humorous doodle.

Sig Sauer

The Sig Sauer Hangun was made by me for use in a Playstation 2 game called Stealth Force - The War on Terror. This 2278 Polygon Model was one of the guns held by the player,this being a first person shooter game this model is visible close up, hence the amount of detail.
It even holds up quite well in the render I've attached although you can see some segmented edges on part of it, if you know what you're looking for and understand about CG modelling in the first place !
Anyway not having a Playstaion 2 I've not actually played the game this was in, a game for which I also created a mine level complete with depleted uranium being used for nefarious activities, and some other bits and pieces which got scattered around some of the other levels. This game is around £9.99 but from what I've heard you can probably pick it up cheaper than that...mind you the price might tell you a whole lot about the game, don't expect Half Life 2 !

Ultra Guardians

Many moons ago now I was involved with a SF Project called Ultra Guardians, it was the creation of Cardiff based Neville Buchanan. The project originally was going to be called Omni Force but changed during production of the first pilot episode.I say first pilot episode because there were two.

The first combined a mixture of Stop Motion Animation and miniatures with CGI,it featured the voice talents of Victor Spinetti and Ian Ogilvy. This pilot helped find interest in the creation of a TV series.
Ultra Guardians was to be a 26 part childrens TV show with episodes running at 26 minutes in length. It was decided that the whole show was to be CGI, the animation etc... was being handled by a company in South Korea called 'Cyper Entertainment Inc'

The job I was asked to do was to help design ships and props for the show,I would mock up a ship using a combination of Studio Max and Vue d'Esprit and my grey renders would be sent across to South Korea were they would be built and animated in Maya. If you look at the picture attached you can see my grey model and some final grabs from the actual show. So Ultra Guardians went to a second pilot episode, and then due to reasons beyond a lot of peoples control the whole project went belly up. Designs had been started by myself and co-designer Pete Gough for the 2nd and 3rd episodes but sadly by this time the problems with the production had already begun.

Neville the creator of the show currently has Cyclone in early production,a show which also features futuristic craft and fantastic worlds.

Blake's 7 - Clip Gun

I was asked in what seems like an age ago now,probably the early months of 2003,by my friend Niel if I could build a replica of the Clip Gun which was used in Season 4 of the cult BBC TV series Blake's 7. Niel was doing the menu's for the DVD releases of this show and was doing graphics in CG for all 4 series.

Luckily there are some nice reference pics of the Clip Gun online and in magazines,and even better Niel was able to provide me with a blueprint of the gun.The gun was built in Studio Max 3. I also made one of the crew Teleport Bracelets and a Federation Blaster,I believe there was some rights issues with the latter so it was dropped.

The other job I did was to take a model that Niel already had of the spacehip 'Scorpio' and add a bit of extra detail and some new textures,the original of this model was built,so I hear,in an afternoon by Trevor 'Smiler' Storey,from what I recall he even had his feet on the desk whilst building it,talk about relaxing while you work.

The strange side of this story is that even now after all these years series 4 of Blake's 7 has yet to be released on DVD,it's down for April this year,3 years after I made the Clip Gun.

Mountain Miniatures

Now you may ask why on earth would I want a miniature of a mountain ? Maybe a little Everest to use as a paper weight perhaps,or a Fuji to keep the door ajar ? But upon closer inspection the miniatures in question turn out to be 25mm Role-playing figures and accessories,and the Mountain in question is their creator Ian Mountain.How he sculpts figures so small is beyond me,though I believe he makes them full size and then uses a shrink ray he told me he saw once on E-Bay.Anyway check out his site in the Links down the side of the page.

Storeroom

This is a Storeroom/Warehouse that I made sometime in 2004 , I've attached the untextured version of the CG Model as a before and after.The out of focus chain hanging in the foreground was added later in Photoshop.
Posted this to add a bit of variety to the pics I post.

Hyperdrive Response

I've only seen a handful of people on the net who've commented on BBC 2's Hyperdrive preview,I must say the response has been on the whole positive,and regarding feedback over what little we seen of the shows FX then it's been good,I've seen one comment saying that they are easily as good as the new Doctor Who's Visual FX.
I thought the preview was a tad disjointed,but mostly it was funny.And the HMS Camden Lock looked great on my 33 inch TV.I couldn't fault any of the shots that I seen and you even got to see my shuttle craft.
Looking forward to the show starting on Wednesday now even more.

Pod Vehicle

This vehicle was something that was used in the music video 'Discoland' it was by Flip & Fill ft. Karen Parry.The video is set in a bright futuristic metropolis.Qurios Entertainment who made the video needed some buildings and vehicles to help populate the world of Discoland. I'd made this previously, like a lot of things it was shoved onto a disc and forgotten about,when I was asked about contributing I remembered this little vehicle.It can be seen in the opening shot of the video,and in the background of many others,we never really get to see it too close up,but it did the job of helping the place look a bit busier.
I'll dig out some of the other bits and pieces I made one day and post them up for people to see.

Shiny Pic

Ok I thought I'd put up something less Sci-Fi and a little more shiny for a change.Hope you like it.

Me Circa 1969

I had a hard life as a kid,but my pipe help me relax at the end of the day.

Hyperdrive Preview

There's a 5 minute preview tonight at 9.55pm on BBC 2 of Hyperdrive.

I got to see the trailer on TV earlier,it's the first time I've seen any footage of the ship that I made,although I made the ships Niel and the guys at Qurios have been spending the last few months putting them on the screen,and from the clips I saw they've done a great job.

Quite nice to not be involved in the actual animation,lighting,technical side of things,it means that when I watch the show besides knowing what some of the ships look like already I'll be as in the dark as every other viewer as to what sort of shots they've been used in and how they help tell the story etc... Niel and the lads have made other ships for various alien vessels that I haven't seen so again that'll be a nice suprise.I think fans are going to respond well to the show and the design of the HMS Camden Lock,the shows writer Andy Riley actually set the ball rolling design wise with a small doodle of the ship,and although the end product sticks to his basic layout the rest of the ship was pretty much designed by me.Qurios have made small tweaks to help accomodate the ships practical lights,from which I gather there are many,seen in shadow the ship should look very interesting when illuminated by various running lights,beacons etc...

Me and Niel always said what would be great is if they actually make a model kit/replica of the HMS Camden Lock,that would be so cool seeing something built in the computer turned into a real object.And I'm sure my contacts at Forbidden Planet could get me and Niel one at discount...don't go who,you know who you are !!!

Hyperdrive

Here's a link to the BBC's Hyperdrive site, a new SF Comedy that I've made some of the Spaceships for,I made them for Niel Bushnell at Qurios Entertainment who have been handling the shows Visual Effects. I made 5 ships in all,the main ship I made is the HMS Camden Lock,the main ship of the show,I also made and designed it's shuttlecraft.Other ships include a British Inspection Vessel,a Danish spaceship and a large Cargo vessel.I'll put some pics of these ships up once the show has been aired and I have permission to do so.

Check the link at the side of the page.

Star Wolf Fighter

This CG Spaceship was made as a homage to the Star Wars,Battlestar Galactica designs that I loved in the 70's.I was told by a friend that it looked like a plastic model kit, so I made an Airfix style model box for one of my renders and a stand for the ship.

Recent Pic

I did this recently, a combination of 3D work and Photoshop.

This is a ship I made a while back,inspired by some of the SF paintings I liked as a child.
I always liked Space Wrecks,this is a low polygon model made to look more detailed by the use of a texture with a alpha channel to add all the nice girder work detail etc...

Introduction

Hi,I'll be using this Blog for posting examples of my Artwork,things that are old and also my newer work too.