Deko Tora update

So I've updated the illustration to give it more of a handdrawn look to the image. I really wasn't too satisfied with the clean straight lines as they looked way to straight and less hand drawn to me. Besides, it looks way different from the look of DenBus, and they are supposed to be a series.
I'm not completely 100% on this, but close....

DecoTora

Here is a work in progress of the second in the set of vehicles for the next series.
Its a cross between a semi you'd see on I-5, and a decorated truck you'd see on rural roads in Japan.
I swear you'd hardly believe it even if you'd seen one, but its like a carnival all lit up, its totally a subculture similar to American Choppers or Fast and Furious ricers.
I wanted something other than a side view of this truck, so with the help of 3d I was able to set up my perspective, and i'll be adding tons of things here and there to bring it over the top.

Bungie crunch

The past 2 weeks we went through what we called a baby crunch at Bungie, working 15 hr days for 2 wks.
But at home we were going through our own baby crunch getting ready for our daughter. Many trips to Babys R Us and a baby shower later, we now almost have the whole baby room set up, complete with a new coat of paint.

Which I'd like to say is my excuse for not getting any Enfu work done, but thats not true. Still pursuing completeing my vehicle set, I pulled out my archives of the preproduction sketches I had made for these vehicles.
I'm currently struggling to find out what will unify these pieces other than the content being vehicles, the color and paper. The DenBus illustration was a simply side view, and the next illustration is of a semi truck all pimped out all in the Japanese trucker subculture. I mocked up the composition in 3d and am working on an agreeable camera angle. I'd ideally like an angle which will show all the features of the truck I'd like to show, but also this angle will distrupt the unity within the pieces, so I'm kind of worried.
I'll post WIP pics on a later post.


The Bungie website has posted my profile finally.

http://www.bungie.net/Inside/MeetTheTeam.aspx?Person=Taya

Also the Qee that I had submitted didn't win anything. But all the artists got
reconized here:

http://www.qeester.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6900

Google!!

Ok,
So this isn't all too related to an Enfu product, but there is something really awesome that I stumbled upon tonight that I'd like to share.
Google.
I've been a big fan of Google since the search engine...but its waay more..way more.

I was introduced to Google Earth from a coworker, and we were all amazed at its capabilities. I was a fond user of Mapquest before...Mapquest is dead to me now. Never can go back. Then I used Google Earth to measure the distance of our occasional walks we took in the summer. Using its easy to use path tool I found we walked 3.3 miles. Google Earth is great...get it.

Then I started using Gmail. It was great...my hotmail account all but in a week became useless to me, except for IM. I now use Gmail.

(Then I quit Monolith and now am working at Bungie, which is part of Microsoft. )

My love for Google now makes me a borderline traitor. But I still love it.

I discovered 3 more things about Google that I am planning on integrating into my life. Really...into my life.

1. Picassa. I was looking for a good way to store and sort all my digital images....I looked into Flikr, but I didn't want to join no Yahoo. I joined Yahoo for the chat a while back and used like twice and never went back. I figured..hey if Yahoo has its picture sharing place, I bet Google has one too! A couple clicks later I found myself downloading Picassa. IT IS AWESOME. Get it. A very easy to understand interface, no hassle, it does it all for you, and it looks pretty.

2. Google Calender.
I only have Outlook at work, not at home, and use Gmail and MSN IM at home. Google Calender for me was a great little scheduler tool for me.

3......drum rollll.....

SKETCHUP!
http://sketchup.google.com

I make 3d environments for a living for crying out loud. But sketch up was still a very professional 3d application for the average joe. I wanted to test Google's track record in my book for creating yet another product which to the end user is easy to understand. So I didn't view the tutorials. I got as far as building the general shape of my condo complex and placing it in Google Earth!! WOW!!! I started watching the tutorials....WOW WOW WOW!
Of course SketchUp still has a long way to go depthwise in comparison to Max and Maya, but still using this product inspired me to gush about Google.

I never thought Google would impact my life this much. I thought it was merely a search engine....but now that I use it to plan trips, for my mail, for scheduling, and for my own little toy 3d modeling interface...(ALL FOR FREE), I can't help but write this blog entry.

DenBus WIP

So I haven't updated this blog...cause I've not been making much new stuff for Enfu.
BUT, I have created the draft for my first in a series of vehicle pics "DenBus". Its a combination of the Metro Bus we see here in Seattle, and a regular run of the mill commuter train in Japan, with a bit of the Shinkansen (bullet train) elements in it.
This is still a work in progress, and the red is a color I'm not going to stick with, but this is what I have so far.