An overdue update

So a fair bit to talk about recently.
Firstly, my old computer was on its last limbs so had to order a replacement, it runs fast and smooth great for 3D apps in general and especially speedy in mudbox thanks to the upgraded components.

If any geeks are concerned about the specs they are:

i5 3570k Processor 3.4GHz
16gb of DDR3 Memory
Nvidia Geforce 660Ti graphics card
1Tb Hard drive
(and to utilise the increased amount of memory, Windows 7 64bit)

Secondly, I have had the opportunity for some freelance work. It is unpaid and in the initial stages I'm just trying to prove myself and see if the client likes my work. I don't know how much I can discuss or show at the minute so won't say too much. However the general role of me at the minute is creating a 3D product visualisation and aiming for realism. This would be the first time I have gone for something super realistic so seems a challenge but not something far off what I can reach. I have produced work already but may only show it if I have permission.

Thirdly I am on the lookout for 3D jobs. I think my problem at the minute is lacking experience in the industry. I only have my degree to go on, nothing hands on inside a studio/company. So I am asking studios if they make take me on for work experience or as in intern. Or as a runner, whichever they see fit or whichever comes first.

Rifle model and weekly scheldue

Okay, so I have been really lacking in the posting lately. Not posted since august :/

So in the past couple of weeks I decided I needed to make myself a proper scheldue to stick to. It's not as strict as saying so much per day but simply gives me a certain amount of time per week. At the moment its 10 hours of 3D work, 1 hour of updating my blog, my website and my other sites like linked in and 2 hours of looking for jobs and sending prospective emails. This seems realistic on top of my normal job.

So yeh I think i mentioned i signed up to digital tutors and so far on this rifle project I've created this...

Its been really fun creating this. There are upsides and downsides to following this from a tutorial however. The upsides are that I have learnt a lot of new techniques for polygon modelling and making sure to keep quads etc. Some stuff i knew before but just couldn't work out certain problems. Another upside is this awesome gun model I've nearly finished on was creating from scratch by me.

The downsides are that this model is completely unoriginal and because i followed hours of tutorials I cannot claim much ownership to the work, however I am still quite proud of the process as a whole. Just need to get it finished. So yeh not really my model from scratch but still a nice looking model for my personal use. Not sure if this could be showreel'd or not.

Anyway I'm also thinking to make my showreel a more generalist approach I might need to do a bit of animation. Which should be okay, I will have to wait and see what else i have planned.