This is one of what would be many ruined 'bell shrines' that lie in the 'Valley of Bells.' Once a holy site to the Wind god, it is now a sanctuary of Tengu-esque raven demons. The Wind god has long since left the land and the valley is quiet and still. Travelers are warned that when crossing the valley that any bells heard is a horrible omen of danger to come as it means the raven demons who sit perched on top of the shrines are swooping down to claim you as their next meal; the gusts of their wings stirring the otherwise still bells.







Some sample textures...





A sketch of the raven demons...




Hope ya dig.

I am loving it for the most part, especially the way you've broken the work down into its sections, textures are gr8! The bamboo / vines part is the only bit I don't like, they seem far to neon / bright in my opinion.
Do you plan to colour that concept because its looking very meaty! I'd go for larger wings if possible.

Looks top notch. The bright green doesn't really bother me, it kind of seems to fit with the style. I like all the little added details, like the bricks in the ground and the slanted cross.

A couple crits... It looks like there's a seam running down the roof in the top pic, right where the white hotspot is. Also, the moss stops abruptly at the top of the roof instead of creeping up onto the sphere a bit. I think it would look more natural if the sphere had some moss at the base of it.

Lastly, and this is getting kind of technical, I can't see this being a real bell tower. First, there's no entrance for anyone to actually go in and ring the bells, and secondly, if part of the tower hadn't caved in you wouldn't be able to hear the bells because they'd be so muffled by the tower wall. Usually, bell towers are more open at the top so that the sound of the bells isn't obstructed.

Nick! awesome job. You making that character too? To place him in there with the scene would be fabtastic.

You're doing a real good job with textures too and being effecient with them. You have excellent use of repeatition. while getting the most mileage out of geometry.

If you ever consider, it would look pretty cool if you rendered a night and day version of the same scene. further showing how far you can take a scene.

The concept character is a really excellent job!
As for texture work, most are looking great but the bamboo looks far too cartoonish in comparison to the rest of the textures, and rather too bright.
Really nice composition.

good stuff.. i really like the distribution of detail the model. sketch is very nice aswell!

Two things i notice right away. the bamboo is overall way too razor straight. if you took even one or two, and gave them the slightest curve, it could really help the natural look, as well as make them taper towards the top slightly like real bamboo. second is that on the leaf planes. one thing i find works really well, is to do 2 exact versions, one lighter one darker, and map them to the top and bottom planes accordingly, it can make the volume much more realistic.

other than that man, looks awesome. cant wait to see the character.

Thanks folks.

Showster- They are bright, but I have a tendency to make things rather hypercolor so it's no suprise to me. That and I've been playing Otogi 2 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Fatassasin- The seam you see is actially one of the depressions in the texture shown in the bottom left of the texture pic. Also, this isn't a tower, it's really only supposed to be about 8 feet high or so. The concept was that the valley used to have high winds so that's what rang them. However, eastern themed (as this is attempting to convey) bell gardens and shrines are a more muted affair then the likes of the bellowing monstrosities that hunchbacks ring. So few barely audible clangs is the desired effect I suppose, almost like an oversized wind chime.

Swamp- Thanks man, but no, I'm not making the character, just sketched him to flesh out the background story a bit more for when I turned it in. Would be cool though.

Poop- Too stright indeed, was a little too low-poly minded perhaps. Also, so far as I know, in MAYA faces are not double sided ( so far as I know) so I can't do that yet.

Is this actually an art test for a company, or another of your projects? I find it hard to believe you're still looking for work...great stuff.

Thanks Funka, that's quite flattering but yeah, it's for a company as I am still on the job hunt. This one seems swell though, might turn out.

Awsome work man, you're one of the few people i know that actually put a very disticnt style into enviro work and thier textures like this. I would know its yours because of those little squigly lines you put into your rock textures.

hmmmm ... I have a feeling you and I may be up for the same job, nitzmoff. I also have a feeling that, after seeing your test, I'm not going to get it [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Very nice work, man.

I decided to wait until I heard one way or another on the gig to post mine, but I expect to know soon.

Hey I like that Well Scene has a Eastern Flavor or The Far east feel to it. Thats some good stuff there. Maybe have a Raven Demon Perched on top would add to it?

Hey! I know this one!!! I seen it on folks COmputers here?!?!? You are... ? Whoa.. Small World.

Scott

Nice and organic, and just spooky enough to work with the story, but also pretty. I like this a lot.

[ QUOTE ]
Hey! I know this one!!! I seen it on folks COmputers here?!?!? You are... ? Whoa.. Small World.

Scott

[/ QUOTE ]

Hah - I knew it. Did you get the job, Nitz?