Bret McNee » Bret http://bretmcnee.com 3D Character and Texture Artist Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:45:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Started a New Model http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/new-model/ http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/new-model/#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:39:47 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2759 Just letting you guys know I have not been idle. After several trial and error pieces I started a new model that I think will make it to the end.

My portfolio is taking longer to overhaul than expected due to my heavy work schedule and all the overtime I am doing, but I am still working when I have time! I will also work on the Voodoo Queen again in due time.

Anyways, that is all for now. Please check me out on Deviant art for more frequent WIP updates.

Bret

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/new-model/feed/ 0 Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two/ http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two/#comments Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:00:06 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2718

I am pleased to announce that I am an environment artist / texture artist on Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. My studio, Junction Point, is owned and operated by life time achievement winner and legendary game creator, Warren Spector.

When I am able to show my work, I will do so here. Until then, please enjoy this official trailer!

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two/feed/ 0 Lantern Low Poly Environment http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/lantern/ http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/lantern/#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:11:42 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2731 The goal for this piece was pretty simple. I wanted to create a simple fantasy scene and give myself a few restrictions. A tree model, rock model, lantern and a few bushes. I created this scene to be low poly and to use as few as I could to get the desired look. Everything was hand painted from scratch using no photo reference. All texture sizes are 1024×1024. I have posted a few of the textures below. There is no concept, the design of this piece is my own. Enjoy!







]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2012/04/lantern/feed/ 0 Working on a New Reel http://bretmcnee.com/2012/02/new-reel/ http://bretmcnee.com/2012/02/new-reel/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:36:25 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2715 Hey guys,

I know it has been quite some time since I posted. I have been very busy getting my life settled here in Austin. Work is great and really enjoyable… I doubt I will be posting much, but when I have something to say I will be from time to time.

I wanted to let people know that I am currently working on a new demo reel. I plan to have it finished by April. Around that time I will be doing some portfolio updates as well.

That is all for now. Please check back soon and if you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email! Thanks.

Bret

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2012/02/new-reel/feed/ 0 Update – Bret has a job! http://bretmcnee.com/2011/12/job/ http://bretmcnee.com/2011/12/job/#comments Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:18:31 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2700 Hello there,

I know it has been forever since I posted… I am sorry about that. I know at one point I had a decent amount of viewers, but I have been so neglectful of my site, I really am not so sure any more! Well, this post is for the people who may check in every now and then. So an update about me… Long over due:

My girlfriend moved to Idaho to live with me and my family for a few months. While there we both started looking for work. After searching for quite some time, I landed an interview with a company based out of Austin Texas. The company is a smaller studio, but they were interested in my character work. They asked me to come to Austin for an interview. While this was going on, my girlfriend had an art test with a company called Certain Affinity, also in Austin. So the two of us were hopeful…

After a few days, the company Taylor did the test for decided to go a different route. So she applied to Vigil Games. A few days later they hired her on the spot! Now Taylor is working as an environment artist for Vigil on a Warhammer title. So COOL! We moved to Austin together and I decided to take my chances and look for work here. I started speaking with Junction Point Studios here in Austin about a month after we moved. They needed a texture artist for their project. After an interview process they hired me! So I am now a junior texture artist at DISNEY! That is right… Junction Point is owned and operated 100% by the Walt Disney corp! I am so pleased to call myself a Disney artist.

I just finished my first week there and I had a blast. I am learning so much and people in the studio are really great. Nice people, fun project, lots to learn! I am living the dream right now and I am so happy to be in the industry.

Because of moving and getting a job… Some of my personal work has been on hold. The Voodoo Woman may not be finished for some time… I honestly don’t know when I will get to her. I want to, but another side project has taken priority. I have been working on a game with some friends in my freetime. It will be finished early early 2012. So I will update on that as I go. We already have the engine in place and all the code working, now all we need are art assets. It will be pretty damn cool.

Anyways this post is starting to turn into a little ranty… So I will call it a night here. Thank you to the people who supported me. Much <3. Please follow my Deviant Art for updates, and I will try and post them here when I can… I will do better! :D

Bret

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2011/12/job/feed/ 2 Voodoo Queen – Work in Progress http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/voodoo-queen/ http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/voodoo-queen/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:14:46 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2640

On top of my full time job at Disney, I have taken on full time freelance work as well. I am currently working on a game in my spare time right now and between this and my full time day job I no longer have time to finish this model. I plan to revisit her as soon as my time allows. Until then, I wanted to let viewers know this model is on hold.

This is my most current work in progress. The Voodoo Queen. My goal is to have this model game resolution and rendered real time in the Unreal Engine. My goal is to be under 17,000 triangles for this model with one 2048 texture sheet. I am unsure where the concept is from or who it is by, I apologize.

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/voodoo-queen/feed/ 0 The Toad Warrior http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/the-toad-warrior/ http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/the-toad-warrior/#comments Sat, 10 Sep 2011 07:32:22 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2367
Presentation shot rendered in Softimage.


Concept by The Great Oharu.


The maps: Normal, Spec, Color.


The ZBrush sculpt.


Presentation shot rendered in Softimage.

Software used:
Softimage 2011 for base mesh modeling.
Zbrush 4 for high resolution sculpture.
TopoGun for retoplogy.
Headus UVLayout for UV Mapping.
Maya 2011 for light map generation.
XNormals for normal map generation.
Photoshop 4 for texturing diffuse and specular.
Softimage 2011 for lighting and rendering.

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/the-toad-warrior/feed/ 0 Dead Man Zand – The 5th Horseman http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/dead-man-zand-horseman/ http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/dead-man-zand-horseman/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:14:52 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2499
Dead Man Zand – First Official Teaser – Indie DB

Link to an interview that has a rendered image of a WIP of this model: Link.

I joined up with Mountainwheel Games not too long ago and began work on this model right away. The project “Dead Man Zand” is an adventure puzzle game, but not much more than that has been announced. You can read more about the project here. The work has been fairly low poly and stylized cartoony. It has been a fun project to work on. You can also see more on the IndieDB site here: http://www.indiedb.com/games/dead-man-zand


Real time render in Marmoset Game Engine.


Concept in the middle with a painted ZBrush sculpt on the left and the blank ZBrush sculpt on the right.


A comparison of the different stages of the model process: The ZBrush sculpt, the game resolution model and finally the game resolution model in a game engine with normal maps and a light map displayed.


The maps: Color and Spec.

Software used:
Softimage 2011 for base mesh modeling.
Zbrush 4 for high resolution sculpture.
TopoGun for retoplogy.
Headus UVLayout for UV Mapping.
Maya 2012 for light map generation.
Maya 2012 for normal map generation.
Photoshop 4 for texturing diffuse and specular.
Marmoset Game Engine for real-time lighting and rendering.

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/dead-man-zand-horseman/feed/ 0 Speed Sculpts http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/speed-sculpts/ http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/speed-sculpts/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:52:55 +0000 Bret http://bretmcnee.com/?p=2550 This section here is for my various Speed Sculpts. Some of my friends and I have a “lunch crunch” or speed sculpting group on Facebook. Each day we take turns picking a topic, and then each one of us picks a character from that topic to sculpt. We only have one hour to finish our sculpts from start to finish. This includes painting in ZBrush as well. Sometimes I start with a basemesh, sometimes ZSpheres. I will indicate below in the picture description which I used. I also would like to add a disclaimer. All these are not my own ideas. Each character was picked from existing characters. I did these for fun and practice, not to be used for anything commercial. Thank you.


Kratos, topic: God of War. Sculpted from a basemesh.


Draenei, topic: World of Warcraft. Sculpted from a basemesh.


Rango, topic: the movie Rango. Sculpted from four ZSpheres.


Hellboy, topic: Hellboy. Sculpted from a basemesh.


Sirius Black, topic: Harry Potter. Sculpted from a basemesh.


Moria Orc, topic: Lord of the Rings. Sculpted from a basemesh. (Teeth and rings modeled earlier before sculpt).


Greedo, topic: Star Wars. Sculpted from a ZSphere. 45 mins.


Mervyn Pumpkinhead, topic: The Sandman comics. Sculpted from 2 ZSpheres and modeled the hat after. 45 mins.


Captain Crunch, topic: Cereal Mascots. Sculpted from 4 ZSpheres. 30 mins.

]]> http://bretmcnee.com/2011/09/speed-sculpts/feed/ 0