Video interview on CGchannel

Here's the video interview I did a while back for CGchannel.com in conjunction with the Gnomon DVD.
Watch my bald head blab about movie design :-P

Thanks to Matt McCorkell of CGchannel.com for putting it together.

Happy 30th Empire!

It's been 30 years since the Empire Stuck back against our rebel friends on the ice fields of Hoth, so in celebration, here's my tribute in the form of 'Entrenched' from Star Wars Visionaries from Darkhorse comics. Done all in markers and marker inks, old school style, for the old school king of all sci-fi films, The Empire Strikes Back!  See the rest of the story in the full comic. Also here is a drawing I did back in '82-83 in crayon and water color. If you look closely in the bottom corner you can see a little red 'OK'..... that's a stamp from George Lucas that he stamped on there while I was working on EP3. ;)

-cheers!
-Alx

'69 Stang

This is a drawing I did for a T-shirt for a friend of his dad's beautiful 1969 Mustang,

High Resolution Tank W.I.P. #2

Close up of the turret sensor pod

Top down view, here you can see the air-brakes and the offset barrel and hatch details

low angle on the barrel and the large blank spot below...

here's the rear view, still lacking the hatch and light details

nice low angle on the front 3/4

rear/ top view, again the air-brakes in their down position

Here's some more details on the high resolution tank model in Modo. Still plenty left to do, like the rear hatch, more barrel details and lots of small details like tie downs, bolts, cables and suspension parts. Also with this project I'll be doing an environment to place to the tank in a scene. All that still needs to be figured out along with all the texturing of the tank. I post some sketches of those ideas soon. For now enjoy these test renders of the gray shaded model.
thanks

the mean front end, still awaiting all the small stuff and below, the top of the turret

-Alx

Tank Subdivision Model (Work In Progress)

The front suspension arm complete with panel lines and intakes

The rear tires showing the segmented tread sections, these will be applied to the exterior later as a detail. The Drive bar for the hub-less system is in place. The center of the wheels will be open with the suspension system mounted on top of the drive bar when I'm through.

Here's the front tire with a temp tread pattern applied. I'll be making a custom texture for the tires and sidewall lettering.

Here you can see the more detailed barrel and turret in the background. I'll show more of those in the next post.

Here's some images of the Convoy tank model in progress. I've gone through most of the vehicle and added enough detail to sub divide the model now. The back half still needs to be detailed more and the rear hatch needs to be added. The barrel and turret are subdivided but need another level of detail yet. Keep checking back for further updates. If you have any questions please leave a comment or check out the DVD videos of this tank design being drawn at The Gnomon Workshops.
thanks
-Alx

Tank proxy model

Here you can see the mean 'muscle car' expression in the front end design. Going back to what I talked about in the DVDs on the aesthetic reason for this as well as the real-world function.

In this angle you can see how the turret is neatly, and safely, tucked behind the shoulders...

Here's the proxy model of the Tank. Basically it's a low resolution poly model to block in the basic shapes. I found I only had to do a few minor adjustments from the drawing, so I can say the 2D orthos turned out pretty close so far! This will serve a base to build the higher detail model which will be a subdivided model in the end. It's best to make any major alterations at this point before adding all the extra details. I've already moved onto the high res model at this point, but I'll update on that in more detail. More to come.
Enjoy!

Happy Easter 2010!

Here's a link to a talk by Denton Bible Church's Tom Nelson on

"Was Easter Really Necessary? or Is Christ the Only Way?"

Gnomon Tank 3D start!

OK, so I'm going to try and build the Convoy Gaurd tank from my Gnomon DVDs in 3D using Luxology's MODO. Since I did the whole design in 2D, I want to go through the process building the 3D to show that I was thinking in 3D while I was designing it. Sure there will be a few areas I'll need to do some rethinking on but that's all part of the process too.

I'll start with the orthographics I made that are on the supplemental materials on the DVD. Thankfully they line up pretty well, so I don't have to do any resizing.

Next up I'll block in the wheels and major shapes. I'm going to approach this by building a proxy model, or low poly count model, just to get the basic layout down. Then once I finish that, I'll start detailing the proxy geom to full sub-divided high resolution model, but I'll get to that later.

thanks

-Alx

Alex Jaeger

Alex Jaeger’s futuristic mecha tank tutorial series!

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Gnomon Dvd articles

From CGchannel.com:

"Really a lot of your job when working on productions involves interpreting a script and making something cool which will not only make the director happy but also make you proud to say I did that when it gets up on the big screen." This dvd series (or download, it really depends on your preference) will take you through the thought process of one of the leading art directors in the industry. Alex Jaeger’s fingerprint can be seen in just about every majorly cool sci-fi movie for the past 15 years. Including Star Trek: First Contact, Wild Wild West, Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Special Edition, Star Wars: Episode 2, Star Wars: Episode 3, Transformers, Mission Impossible 3, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, J.J. Abram’s Star Trek. So check out the dvd its definitely worth your time and it should help you improve that aching mech portfolio.

Matt McCorkell /CGchannel

Also stay tuned for a video interview on CGchannel!

Quotes from Industry professionals:

"Nobody knows how to start and finish a design like Alex Jaeger. From raw concept to final film frames, Alex makes it sing every step of the way."

Ben Proctor / Concept Designer, Lead Robot Designer for Transformers

"Alex's unmatched credit list give him a unique insight to

every step of the Concept Design production pipeline. In
these DVDs Alex shares his techniques and workflow with
a vehicle design job from thumbnailing and rough ideation
to final refined design."

Ryan Church / Senior Concept Designer

“Through hard work and dedication, Alex has gained an amazing amount of achievements in his professional career. His designs and art direction have brought life to some of the most iconic films in Hollywood. It is individuals like Alex who continue to forge the unknown roads ahead and define the industry we all call Entertainment. He is truly an inspiration for me.”

Feng Zhu

Founder, FZD School of Design

Founder, Feng Zhu Design