LasVegas ConExpo map & VR

This week from March 7-11, the CONEXPO-CON/AGG show is being held at the LasVegas Convention Center. I was asked to create a 3D map for convention visitors. The finished product was a large scale file that could be reproduced large enough to use for signage at the entrance to the show. Along the way, it underwent many changes and iterations depending on the purpose. The challenge was to balance aesthetics with clarity, so ultimately it was simplified from the earlier designs.The 3D model I built was based on floorplans and images captured from Google Earth, which proved to be invaluable:

And here's an an earlier version, which was to include lots of construction equipment rendered at various angles.

Another part of the assignment was to create a 360-degree environment that could be viewed using a Google Cardboard (or similar) viewer. If you aren't familiar with Google Cardboard, it's a simple inexpensive virtual reality (VR) platform developed by Google for use with a head mount for a smartphone. While it isn't as totally immersive as more costly VR headsets like the Oculus Rift, it does give a pretty convincing feeling of being in an environment.

When first given the assignment, I'd never done anything like this before, and online solutions for creating content for Google Cardboard were slim. It took some trial & error, but I finally hit on a way to render out the 3D environment and the client was pleased with the result. If you have access to a Google Cardboard viewer, you can click on the above image to see it in action. Once I had a workflow, creating another environment for Dipstick Studio, my ideation sketching business, was easy:

This is the second year I've done an assignment for the ConExpo show. The previous work can be seen here. Thanks to all the great folks at Slack & Co. for bring me in on this fun job!

Conexpo-Con/AGG ads

Here's a 3D job that kept me busy for most of the past month. From what I gather, they're promoting a construction equipment convention that's going to be held in Las Vegas in March 2014. (Note: I DIDN'T do the video on their home page.) The images needed to be rendered big enough to output them for trade show booth displays, so the final file sizes were pretty much a bear to work with. I started with prebuilt 3D models which were purchased from Turbosquid , a 3D model site. I then used a cloth simulator in a 3D program which is a good start, but requires a lot of post rendering Photoshop work. The "cloth" is in fact a 3D plane that is dropped over the model (actually an invisible low-polygon-count "proxy" version, to get geeky for a moment) and frozen when it looks about right. Getting a proper feel to the fabric takes a good bit of fiddling with the cloth/gravity settings and trial-and-error.

Oh, and in the process, I also learned what "stanchions" are (those velvet rope barrier thingies).

Thanks to Joshua Schober for the excellent art direction.

All-American Horror book cover

Here's a recent job that involved designing and illustrating the cover for a soon-to-be-published American horror anthology edited by Mort Castle and published by Wicker Park Press. It's a little different from the more whimsical style I usually work in,  so I was looking forward to taking a crack at it.

The assignment was to do something appropriately creepy but work in the Americana aspect somehow. I came up with up a few sketches, and though I kind of liked the idea of doing a needlepoint sampler with the suggestion of a skull and some macabre folk-art images, it was decided that we should go with something iconic and stark, so we settled on a weathervane topped with a ghostly raven.

It took a couple tries to get the silhouette looking OK, though the skeleton isn't quite accurate, but I was more concerned with an impression than getting the anatomy right and with enough fog, I could cover up the fact that I'm no ornithologist.

It was a fun project and I look forward to the year 2020 and volume two.

MacUser UK featured artist

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Many thanks to Art Editor Camille Neilsen for spotting my work and to Kirsty Fortune for editing the copy. Here's a low resolution version (The actual magazine is a bit larger). In the U.S., one of the larger chain bookstores, if there are any left, may carry it. And of course subscriptions are available online.

Skybox on Sheffield 3D rendering

SheffieldAv

This was a quick turnaround job for "Skybox on Sheffield", a recently renovated space across from Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field baseball park. The client wanted a simplified 3D rendering of their space for their website and promotional materials.

It used to be the houses across the street from Wrigley had simple rooftops from which owners and their friends could view the game. No more. These spaces have been converted to luxurious facilities offering a first class viewing experience. The third floor has a club level with bar and plasma screen TVs and the outdoor levels have stadium seating with a grill concession and several bar areas. At my first visit there, I was impressed by the design, and the sight lines from the seats give the illusion of actually being inside the ballpark.