ARCHIVED WORK

For current work please see the Featured section

2024-

Website Design (V4)

Although much of the underlying design and layout has remained the same, the appearance of my website has been drastically overhauled.

This new appearance leans away from the indicative nature of previous designs in favour of something more characterful and clearly identifiable.

The site's main pages have been reformatted based on recommendations from reviewers. They now show a larger number of projects whilst reducing the amount of text forced on the viewer, making the site less overwhelming.


Matching CVs, Cards, and clothing is significantly easier to print/manufacture due to the lighter and brighter colour scheme.

  Corel Suite  

Business Card (V4)

Inspired by 1980s and 1990s branding, I created a new set of business cards and promotional items for GradEx 25. The designs prioritised uniqueness and had near-instant recognisability.

Previous bleed issues were addressed, allowing for smoother production.

Previous NFC features were removed, because they caused confusion with some recruiters (due to hardware limitations on certain iPhones).

  Corel Suite  

2023-

Customizable Vending Pack

An efficient, customizable set of vending machine assets I created for Unreal Engine 5.0. It makes use of Construction Scripts, LODs, packed textures, and optimised materials.

  UE 5.0      Blender      Corel Suite  

Business Card (V2)

These cards were created primarily to be given out during the Degree Exhibition at Hertfordshire University.

They were based on the logos and designs I created for my website in order to retain consistency throughout my branding. However, due to printing restrictions, the outer border was extended to the minimum of 0.4mm. 

They feature an NFC sticker that allows people to tap their phones against the card to be directed instantly to this website. They also feature a QR code and web address for phones which are not NFC enabled.

  Corel Suite  

Website Design (V3+)

An overhaul of my website, inspired by the design of UE4 visual scripting nodes.

This new branding was notably more legible than previous designs whilst also being more indicative of my specialisation.

Site load times were dramatically increased compared to previous versions, largely from limiting file sizes and reducing the use of GIFs.

Printing certain pages of the site, including my CV, was somewhat problematic due to the dark colour scheme employed. This was not a significant issue, as printing physical copies was a rare and unlikely occurrence.

The site underwent iterative changes up until the end of this stylisation. 

This included changing titles from 'Realtime Technical Artist' to 'Technical Art Generalist', better representing my abilities and previous experience. It also included the separation of works into "featured" or "archived" sections.

  Corel Suite       Adobe Suite  

Hertfordshire University

Whilst working on Ultor I also freelanced on Hellion’s Order, where I created a Material compatible with Unreal Engine 5's Level Sequencer, which provided controllable and highly adjustable transitions between two texture sets.

Featuring procedurally generated origins for said transition.

I also provided advice, debugging, and changelists to enable their chain simulation to function optimally during their renders.


 UE 5.0    Corel Suite 

KULAROS - Update to UE5

Kularos was originally created using Unreal Engine version 4.26, but due to the significant updates with the release of version 5.0, I decided to update the project to the newest available version of Unreal Engine.

This would highlight the possible quality and performance improvements of updating to the newer engine, whilst also bringing to light any systems or processes developed for the older pipeline which may no longer be viable.

  UE 5.0       UE 4.6  

2022-

Hertfordshire University
New College Stamford

2D Artwork

Contains life drawing, viewer discretion is therefore advised.

Collation of some of the 2D artwork produced for both University and College assignments, this includes both digital and traditional work. 


 Corel Suite     Adobe Suite 

UHAnimation 2nd Year - Error Compilation


Continuing this new tradition, I created a compilation of the errors which I faced over my second year at Hertfordshire University, using recreations, screenshots, and recordings.

Similarly to last year, the video was shown at the 2022 UHAnimation Exposé, this time hosted in person.

   DaVinci Resolve  

Hertfordshire University

This was a short project, focused on demonstrating my understanding of how to design, develop, and implement an in-depth and unique game mechanic using visual scripting in Unreal Engine 4.26.


 UE 4.6     DaVinci Resolve 

2021-

Hertfordshire University

Live Brief - Stellar Entertainment 

This brief required me to make use of Unreal Engine for the first time. Tasking me with creating a set of real-time effects (realistic or stylised). 

I decided to create impressionable snow, a capture of which can be seen on the left. This would later be presented alongside 2 other effects, rain and fire, using a vehicle as the player character.

 

 UE 4.6     Corel Suite     DaVinci Resolve 


UHAnimation 1st Year - Error Compilation


After running into such a large number and variety of software-related errors, I thought it would be quite funny to compile them all into a short video.

This would later be shown at the 2021 UHAnimation Exposé, hosted on YouTube.

   DaVinci Resolve  

Hertfordshire University

During this assignment, I was exposed to industry practices and pipelines for games Technical Art. 

This assignment helped me to enhance my technical skills, aiding me in exploring and creating a variety of technical content. 

The final product of which, was a Runner-style mechanic showcased in an environment using solely procedural materials, with additional Niagara effects as well as simple UI elements.


 UE 4.6     Corel Suite     DaVinci Resolve 

Hertfordshire University

To better my understanding of the game's design process, this brief tasked me with constructing a "Grey Box", a prototype of a hypothetical game. 

This prototype is a fully functional team-based multiplayer, using Steam, with gameplay mechanics and a layout based on traditional arena style shooters such as Unreal Tournament.

 

 UE 4.6     DaVinci Resolve 

2020-

IR Photogrammetry

A model of my head that I created based photogramatory and low-resolution IR scans using a Kinect V2. It is my hope to later return to this model and add suitable subsurface, as well as motion capture data from the Kinect.


  Kinect Studio       Blender  

Hertfordshire University

Computer Graphics Practices

3D module containing multiple assignments each assisting in the initial understanding of a variety of software including Houdini, 3Delight, Maya, Bender, and Lumberyard.


 Maya     Blender     Corel Suite     Adobe Suite 

Hertfordshire University

VFX Brief

Unedited footage was supplied by Hertfordshire University.

This University assignment had me using Nuke to composite prerendered CG footage into supplied footage of an environment.

It helped me learn the basic principles of compositing, colour space, scene comparison techniques, camera tracking, and how to manipulate HDR footage.

   Nuke  

Hertfordshire University

Stop Motion Brief

Stop Motion project, produced as part of the Creativity, Concept and Story module for Hertfordshire University.

  Adobe Suite  

SpeedTree testing and larger-scale rendering

Testing out SpeedTree, randomisation, and larger-scale rendering using multiple computers simultaneously.

Rendering across multiple computers with vastly different specifications did not seem to offer meaningful improvement, as although it reduced render times it dramatically increased instability.

  Blender  

Stamford Civic Society
New College Stamford

Working directly for the Stamford Civic Society, I and Abbigale Anderson-Critchell created the Stamford Historic Sites app. The app aims to aid visitors to Stamford in learning about the historic buildings in the area. 

This project was based on a live brief and initial work that was created during our final year at New College Stamford.


 Corel Suite     Adobe Suite 

Physics and Procedural Materials

Physics and render testing at different frame rates and weighting to learn more about system restrictions and reactions when rendering elements that are controlled via physics

Higher frame rates generally seem to produce cleaner looking physics simulations.

  Blender  

Loading Animations

By rendering cross-sections of animated 3D geometry, I created a selection of seamlessly looping 2D animations. 

Designed for use as loading animations.

  Blender  

New College Stamford

Unity Destruction and Weapon System

This project consisted of modeling, texturing, and rigging the weapon, getting it functional in Unity, then setting up a destruction system. The destruction system  "breaks" an object by simply switching it with a matching pre-broken model that falls apart after physics are enabled on its components.

  Unity 2019       Blender  

Website Design (V2)

The second version of my website, this time, was built using Unity. It was designed with the idea that the website itself could act as a portfolio piece.

Its main flaws were its long load time, complete non-functionality on almost all mobile devices, and poor support on Chromium-based browsers.


These flaws made it unreliable for a portfolio website, so I had to create a more traditional site. Despite the dwindling HTML support built into engines, I hope to revive the concept in the future.

  Unity 2019       Adobe Suite  

2019-

Building as UWP

This was one of the first Materials I created using Substance Designer. It was based on a tutorial created by Allegorithmic that can be found HERE.

After getting it imported and set up in Unity, I decided that it would be a suitable file to test the performance and quality impact of using UWP over a traditional executable, mainly due to its moderate performance impact as an executable.

Making this the first Substance Designer material that I set up in Unity and the first project that I compiled for UWP.

  Unity 2019       Substance Suite  

Business Card (V1)

also called a "Leaving Card"

A small-scale and short-run production of "leaving cards" or Business cards. These were designed to be given to interviewers at University to set me apart from other candidates.

I had them printed on circuit boards with simply a QR code and URL. Sadly due to printing restrictions, the choice of font including leading and spacing was limited.

  Corel Suite  

Billy Gray - Realtime Technical Artist
New College Stamford

Website Design (V1)

My original website design was created as part of the Progression Project at New College Stamford. It was significantly more "retro" featuring animated banners, animated thumbnails, and 80s styling throughout.

I have since updated my website a number of times and optimised it significantly over my original design.

  Blender  

Mocap Testing

During summer break I wanted to test out how accurate point-based mocap was using limited equipment and solely Blender.

The result was much higher quality than I expected, and with additional points would be suitable as a base for refined animations.

  Blender  

Street Scene

This was a short personal project aimed at transplanting the knowledge I learned from my 3ds Max project into Blender.

Focusing on reusability and creating a "Kit Bashed" style environment with simulations, animations, texture and procedural based materials.

  Blender  

New College Stamford

Level 3 Major Project

For this project, I used 3ds Max to create a bunker scene. This was my first ever use of 3ds Max, I chose to use it as it was recommended by my college lecturers as more industry and university appropriate.

The project not only helped me to learn about 3ds Max but also more about UVs, rendering, virtual cameras, and animation.

  3DS MAX 2019  

Smoke FX

Smoke effects I created using Blender. They are significantly more advanced and realistic than my previous attempts, whilst also taking considerably less time to create.

  Blender  

Looping Animations

A variety of looping animations, which aided me in learning about animation in 3D software.

  Blender  

Lighting and Glass Render Experimentation

My first delve into IQR, Procedural Materials, and lighting through Emission, using Blender.

  Blender  

Ship Interior Render

Having just finished the exterior ship "concept art" I wanted to create an interior animation. Advancing my lighting, animation, and rendering knowledge.

This was also the first time I used Blender's simulation system to create smoke. 

  Blender  

2018-

New College Stamford

"Concept Art" Ship Render

A short project, where I decided to attempt to design and render a sci-fi ship in Blender.

I also used Autodesk Flow Design during the initial design process to see if my design would be theoretically structurally sound.

  Blender  

2017-

GCSE Graphics

Making use of Fuse and Adobe Photoshop CS5 to create graphics reminiscent of Portal 2, as part of a GCSE Graphic Products breif.

   Fuse       Adobe CS4       Corel 12  

2016-

GCSE Graphics & Architecture 

Using SketchUp 2015, I created a selection of building designs as part of Graphics and Architecture.

   SketchUp 2015  

Unity 5

My first look into Unity3D, and my first use of a 3D games engine. Making an incredibly simple level and program installer (which was later burned onto a disc).

   Unity 5  

The Archive is still being updated

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