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Interviews with the winners of our first Asset Store Contest

December 27, 2012 in Games | 9 min. read
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This fall, the Asset Store ran its first asset contest in Korea. The contest sought out bipedal 3D model characters which fell into either the mid-poly (max. 20,000 tris) or low-poly (max. 2500 tris) categories. Aside from being included in the Asset Store, the winners also received a range of awesome prizes. We got in touch with the winners of the contest to find out a little more about them.

Perfect Knight Midpoly First Place by Wild Hearts

Please introduce yourself

My name is Hyung il, Kim. I have a great interest in Unity, so I am studying it hard. And, I am an ordinary 3D modeler. I am not actively creating models to upload and expose on the web, but in the past I won the ‘golden flower prize’ in 3D illustration part at CGLand.

What is the concept of your model?

I’ve referenced the ‘lich king’ in the ‘World of Warcraft’ when I built its initial concept. I liked it personally, and also I always thought that I would make it one day.The method of creation was I built a highpoly model and imported it into ZBrush to add more details on it. And I baked out the normal map after that to a lowpoly model which I made in 3Ds Max. And, I made a diffuse map out of the normal map.

What are the benefits of using the Asset Store for 3D artists?

3D artists ,of course, have a hardship about programming or coding, but I think visual scripting tools, and well-made scripts and plug-ins are really helpful for artists who don’t know much about programming.

Who is your favorite artist or art director. Why?

It can be little off the topic, but honestly I don’t much like the word ‘artist’. Because for me, artist sounds like a guy who tends to be really bully and living in just his/her world. I think a good game has to be built by everyone, so more true developers are needed.

What are some of your favorite games?

Recently, the most impressive game that I played was ‘Sina Mora,’ a shooting game. It is simple and not complicated, and has beautiful graphics.

What is your opinion of Unity from the 3D artist’s point of view?

It was really hard to develop games with few people even not so long ago. However, after Unity engine has published, easy game development is possible with Asset Store, and Unity became a medium which make my dreams come true.

Sergeant v1.0 Midpoly Second Place by Young jun, Lee

Please introduce yourself

Hi, my name is Young jun Lee. I’m 33 years old. I am a character modeler, helping to develop a FPS simulator for the purpose of training special forces in the army using UDK at AR vision. I am trying to do more personal work with other creative concepts because my official work is mostly related to the military. I started 3D when I was 24 using Maya as an animator although I have changed my position to modeler because my sense of timing as an animator was not so great. I think modeling is also a super attractive job as well and I do my best work in this role.

What is the concept of your model?

I planned to make a character in concept of ‘air force,’ but there was none of that element after I finished the model. Creation is always not easy. My creation process was the 3D artist’s ordinary way like base mesh making using 3Ds Max, sculpting with zBrush, topology with 3Dcoat, and mapping with Photoshop.

What are the benefits of using the Asset Store for 3D artists?

The Asset Store is a resource that helps indie developer’s realize their dreams because there are so assets available that are created by many artists and programmers. Also, my model data could be sold and used in a published game, and it will probably change their minds when they work on something rather than just create and stack in their computers.

Who is your favorite artist or art director. Why?

My favorite artist is Seung min, Kim at CGNI. His models’ feelings and facial expressions of the figures are really natural. I can feel he is experienced and has lots of knowhow and sensibility as an artist through his final pieces which are so well-made, even though they are all different concepts.

What are some of your favorite games?

I really like ‘Heavy rain,’ by Quantio Dream. Really detailed models, well expressed facial expressions, and a movie-like story... It is a perfect game! Also, my goal is to become an artist who can express a variety of emotions on my character modelings as well as Heavy Rain. What is your opinion of Unity from the 3D artist’s point of view?

Unity is a tool which has similar interfaces as Maya and many helpful features that users can use in their work, even though a newer version or plugins are needed. It has a little lack of user manuals or feedback for bug reports compared to other really famous engines, but I have great expectation of Unity development in the future. In terms of the mobile game market, Unity’s role is really really big.

Monster Base Team Lowpoly 1st prize by Mibn

Please introduce yourself

My name is Hoon, Go, I’m 32 years old, and I have been working in the gaming industry for about 10 years. I started using 3D at my first job, and at that time there were not many tutorial books for 3D modeling, so I had to search around foreign web sites like ‘polycount’ to study. I usually do 3D creation activities in MaxKill web site, and I’ve spent the last 1~2 years studying drawing, so I couldn’t actively brush around at MaxKill. I’ve participated in the Dominance War 4 mini competition.

What is the concept of your model?

Concept: Monsters that can fit into any type of fantasy scene, and are a little bit of western style, and have a bit of my taste, and have many different proportions that show each monster’s characteristic.

    How to make:
  • Research Asset Store to see what people need, and start working on the concept.
  • Start sketching and draw illustration to pick right ones.
  • In modeling part, make naked version first for the version with equipment later on.
  • Do rigging and make animations depend on each character’s concept.
  • Put those into Unity and add scripts for that. If there aren’t any problems, it’s good to go!

What are the benefits of using the Asset Store for 3D artists?

I am expecting that I have a chance to earn money or build my reputation in isolation from being part of a project, and I can create richer pieces by downloading things really needed for the work but are hard to make myself, in the Asset Store.

Who is your favorite artist or art director. Why?

For 3D artist, I will pick a foreign 3D artist who is famously known as ‘Bobo the seal.’ I’ve gotten to know him through the game, Quake3 when I was searching around for reference models for my study, and what I saw from his pieces were perfectly optimized lowpoly models and surprisingly high quality hand painted texture maps. He is showing his unique and cool models through ‘Darksiders 2’ recently. In that time, I referenced his pieces a lot to study 3D, so he is still the best 3D artist for me among many other artists.

What is your favorite art style in games? Why?

I like very unique style graphics such as ‘Team Fortress 2’, ‘Batman’, ‘Border Lands 2’, ‘Alice: madness returns’, etc... which make their uniqueness and atmosphere come alive. Their kind of graphics immediately create fun even when play just gets started on the games.

What are some of your favorite games?

I like to play mild and light games that I can play alone. I’ve enjoyed ‘Batman: Arkham series’ and ‘Shoot many robot’, and ‘To the Moon’ lately.

What is your opinion of Unity from the 3D artist’s point of view?

In past days, artists had to show their pieces through still images or video files, but with Unity, audiences can actually experience the pieces through the Unity web player so I think it is really valuable engine for 3D artists.

Blade Girl NPC Lowpoly 2nd Prize by CrossRoad_kimys2848

Please introduce yourself

Hi, my name is Yung sup, Kim and I am a hillbilly who has just come up to Seoul from Busan this past February. I work under the names of ‘Galimgil (Fork road)’ or ‘Cross_Road’ online. I am a self-taught 3D artist. I love animation and the moment that I really got into 3D was when I started to get free 3D learning at ‘Busan Game Art Center’ supported by the city of Busan. Every animation I have made is on my blog and I am still making things.

What are the benefits of using the Asset Store for 3D artists?

It could be really helpful for improving the standard of living for artists. Honestly, no one gives outsourcing jobs to a freshman, and you would cry if you knew how much the freshmen get paid. It is really hard for hillbillies like me to be settled in Seoul because the one of reason is the high price. And, I have to get back to studying as soon as I get home from work, and it is really hard. The Asset Store both motivates me to study and helps me earn some money.

 What is the concept of your model?
  • Gathering references such as body shapes, and clothes, etc... Rake them all.
  • Pick a style among casual, half-realistic, and realistic, and pick the closest style from the referenced illustrations.
  • Finish modeling ASAP
  • Sketch on top of the model in Body painter
  • Keep doing it
  • To give feel of weight, take out some of tones using multiply and sponge tool, and paint darker as it goes to bottom.
  • Test render and rig and apply animations…And it’s done! :)
Who is your favorite artist or art director. Why?

The artist who I like is an illustrator who uses ID ‘Beltool.’ The colors come out really well and pretty. He drew many pieces which make me happy.

What are some of your favorite games?

A game I liked was the Last Odyssey. My favorite graphic style is hand painting style. However, to earn money and buy things, I have to learn zBrush and go for realistic nowadays.

What is your opinion of Unity from the 3D artist’s point of view?

It is a really open engine. It is really reliable in so many situations, and the best thing about it is its multiplatform support.

What an incredible year 2012 has been for both our publishers and users! 2013 will be just as exciting as we aim to provide more high-quality services and assets. Thanks for shopping in the Asset Store and see you in the New Year,

December 27, 2012 in Games | 9 min. read

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