Mazda RX-8 Model
I made this model to practice working with multiple smoothing groups (sometimes sharing) and creating an accurate model. It's not optimized for a game, but for this project that wasn't the goal. Made in 2004.


Mazda MX-5 Model and UT 2003 Specular Effect
If you've worked with the UT 2003 engine and looked at the specular effect that comes with it, then you know the example is rather lame. It uses a cube map to multiply the "highlight" onto the diffuse texture. But the example UT comes with employs a cube map which uses the same texture for all six sides. The result is awkward, with 6 strong highlights positioned around the object. So for an outdoor daylight map, a shiny object would usually appear to reflect 2-3 equally-strong light sources at any given time, and would look pretty odd. In early 2003, I decided to find a better solution, as the effect had so much potential. The result is seen on this Miata model, on which I worked later that year. Notice that the highlight moves around the car as one would expect. The effect works rather nicely on the leather seats, giving them a realistic sheen. In fact, the Shader for the seats uses only a solid color texture; I would have used a Constant Color, but the engine wouldn't support it inside a Shader. Also notice that the effect utilizes any specular mask incorporated into the Shader material (check out the body panels, trunk, hood). The model is reasonably efficient at 5500 polys. It's higher than absolutely necessary, but I added some subtle details specifically to show off the highlight effect, rather than applying highlight directly to the diffuse texture.


Sketches for Book
These images are sketches derived from ideas for illustrations for a children's book that my dad is writing. The only model I didn't make is the International Space Station model, which I obtained from NASA. Made in 2001.


Robotech VF-1 Transformation
The only thing better than cool-looking planes...cool-looking planes that turn into robots. I took this on as a project to practice modeling, though it wouldn't be until a few years later that I would discover how much easier "professional" software would have made this. I made this with a program called Strata3D, which did not have very comprehensive modeling tools, and everything is planar mapped (using several textures) because, well, that's all the software could do. Made in 2001.