Publishing for HTML5 | The Creative Way. Game Engines & Tools

So, there has been a great fuzz about HTML5 and some of it’s capabilities lately. Intrigued by the idea that they can’t be wrong about it, I dug into it as of what it can offer to me as an artist and as a game developer wannabe . More and more software developers move to HTML5 as a deployment platform and what HTML5 means to graphics at least, basicaly has to do with it’s Canvas element which “allows for dynamic, scriptable rendering of 2D shapes” as well as WebGL which “is a context of the Canvas HTML element that provides a 3D computer graphics...

Unity 3D – Billiard Game Template

I’ve made a billiard game template in Unity3D that can be used as a base for your own game. This is my first item to be selling at my website and if all goes well, more will come.I am selling this in my website , because here is possible to have a lower price instead of the official Asset Store which takes a 30% split. A great amount of hours were spend in creating the ball physics behaviour as realistic as possible especially since the game project features backspin trick shots. Included are everything you see and hear in the playable demo with clean commented code and the source PSDs...

iPad | A small Guide + apps for Creatives

So I got myself an iPad (16G, Wifi only) afterall having found it at about 360E. The 3G version didn't apeal to me since I believe that nowdays there Wifi almost everywhere and I don't plan go hiking but even if I did I would stay away from technology in such an activity. 16G seemed few but I couldn't afford 80E more at the moment for such luxury, and a luxury it is indeed.Let me not speak about buying an iPad 2 which apart from the two processors, nothing else draw my attention for paying it's higher price. Maybe if there was pressure sensitivity but there is sadly none. ...

Best Creative Online Applications

In the last years online application have made a long way. Once not so powerful, now they almost compete with desktop software but most importantly one can access them from anywhere and any PC they go. I find online applications very useful and more than just a show-off, of what can be done in a web browser with the help of Flash, Silverlight, Java and now HTML5. Sketch & Draw SumoPaint SumoPaint is a full fledged online application with everything you would expect from an image editing and painting software. Stamp, smudge, levels, curves, layers and all are there. It’s brush...

The Cintiq Alternative

Following my previous post on Tablet PCs which are in fact alternatives to a Cintiq, I though of sharing some interesting findings I’ve had lately. To start of, there are two models of Cintiq by Wacom. The Cintiq 12WX and the 21UX at 1000 and 2000 Euros respectively. No doubt, those products are of exceptional quality and everyone loves them including me although I’ve had the chance to use a 21UX just for a while. Worth of note is that once there was a Cintiq 15x model that is now discontinued. You can still find this model at ebay for as low as 250 Euro. So that’s the...

Tablet PCs for Digital Artists

Who would not want to have a portable sketching and drawing medium plus the digital bonus you have on your computer. Being able to draw on the go is great and also being able to draw-where-you-watch like on paper is also great. Pen tablets like Intuos can’t do either. Wacom’s Cintiq is too expensive for me to afford plus it’s not portable at all, so I start looking for alternatives and here is what I’ve found so far. Most Tabet PCs now support pressure, usually at 256 pressure points. This is done through a technology called digitizer. The most commonly used and...

The Best Game Engines for Indie Game Developers

People very often want to make a game either for fun or to sell it later. Very often small teams are made and begin the discussion about their new game. It has happened to me before many times and where I utterly disagreed with others, was in the subject of choosing a game engine. Most offen, the programmer or programmers of the team decide they make their own game engine. I personaly believe that the people in any game project should consider their goals. Is the goal to actually make a game? Because if it IS to make a game, then there is no reason for them to reinvent the wheel.  There are...

Digital Nature

There will always be a need for a CG natural tree, a fantastic landscape, a colorful sky or sea e.t.c. If the use of real footage or stock photos is not an option, there exist software specialized in creating digital nature for you. Most of them offer great freedom over the creation and that’s exactly the point for any artist. Following are the best options in my opinion. Vue Vue is probably the most complete and well know software used around the world, capable of outstanding results. It can create entire and unique scenes and it’s integration capability with major software is...

Good Realtime Renderers

Many people out there want a fast result of their architectural scenes without the need to render for hours. Some even don’t know how to use vray, mental ray and other complex rendering engines, or even the softwares supporting them such as 3D Max, Softimage, Maya, Cinema4D e.t.c. Even people using those software, want a fast previz of their scene to showcase to their customers for approval or even for final in case of  strict deadlines. The following programs can do just that, but of course none can expect a highly photorealistic result, allthough the output quality is good enough...

Making of “Sensou”

Before I begin, I knew I wanted to create a stylized 3D illustration. Like any artistic project, the first thing to do is gather references and inspiration on the subject at hand. Google for me is allways the best choice for this task. I find that I like getting reference not only from real photos, but rather from other artwork as well. Some of the references I liked were the following: . . Gathering references doesn’t mean copying what you see but rather getting inspired, especialy if you are not after a photorealistic project, which I was not. After that essential part of gathering...