personal review on the second

the end of the second year done !! i thought this year went very fast an at times very slow and grueling it was allot more eventful than my first year i think the level of work has jumped to a much higher level was surprising how quality of work has changed from the building bins in 4 weeks in the first year to building a full playable level in a group. 

this year brought alot of new challenges like learning how to use game engines and working in a group to build a full level when before i had only worked on assets. but that brought a very steep learning curve and has gave me alot better understanding to the game industry and working techniques to building an actual game when i first joined the course i wanted to be a concept artist because that was the only think i had done 2d art work and i enjoyed it but joining the course has opened up a new world of possibilities and working on a level i thourghley enjoyed making bits and slowing putting them together and keep working on it untill you have something quite cool and enjoyable to walk through and see you creation but i still fancy my self a more visual based person but i think it better to aspire to be a jack of all trades then master of none

this year i think has gone responsible well a couple hicups but there always are especially with my 3d work but this year i had several thinks i wanted to develop in all areas.

the main thing i wanted to get better at this year was character art and get a better understanding of current gen methods to build characters and i think  i manged to accomplish that to a certain degree as always with this course and art in general  you can always excel an nothing is perfect but i have noticed improvements in my design work  i really wanted my speed paints develop allot so i started doing half an hour warm ups because i felt my final paintings were to a good level but i had to put allot of time in that could be better unlisted and speed and efficiency is one of he most important things in the games industry.

i felt visual design as always was my most successful element of the year because its what comes easiest to me but as well as developing more speed at drawing i still need to become faster this year vd has been good but i don't think i have been as imagintive with the projects as could of been i think i need to focus on pushing things as far they can go and still be grounded to realty which is a hard balance.

critical studies i always find difficult but this year being more used to how the course works i think i found it easier to to stay ontop of  and beginning to develop my writing abit more to me rather than just filling in the task from the first thing that comes up on Google.

but overall i have enjoyed my second year and am ready to sleep again after my deadlines are over.
for my final year i aspire to be alot better in all areas and to get alot closer to he idusrty standard then level of work than i am now and to further develop my style of art work  

life changing or career building?

life changing or career building ? i think both are very important to be a good game artist you need have a vast technical skill and knowledge but the main think is to be able to problem solve with something your stuck on to be able to research and figure things out which is the only way you can learn to do is through practice and curiosity but the industry is always changing and evolving that's why you need to be able to adapt what iv witnessed so far is allot of the skills for new software's are interchangeable already before iv not to even manged to concur current gen "360 , ps3 gen" fully before a new generation and big leap in graphics is on the horizon as i start my second year in November they'll be here and the industry will change and evolve even more, but how much will the skills you need change in order to be successful ? im not sure there will be a huge difference especially not in the foundation skill blocks you will still need to be very technical skilled but creative people will be needed you will have to no what looks right and design interesting environments, characters, vehicles, everything. 

for our university work i  think we should strive to be as new as possible as high gen as we are able because its only going forward the main concern i think  is at the moment most character artist build in 3ds max an zbrush a character and then retapoligse where as now after Cameron guest lecture he showed us  for next gen the tri count is hugely different and massively built in 3d software's rather than sculpting software's for accuracy, one of his main points was that if you know how to sculpt and have those foundation skills you will find it ten times easier so in the other respect maybe we should just concentrate on current demand and keep developing things on and on until were ready to move onto next gen.

highly trained graduates , or creative individuals?  they both have huge merits but personally i think a highly trained graduate should have the edge because you know theve worked hard to get there degree depending on the grade. the projects your set on your degree shouldn't  be your portfolio or tasks that you just accomplish they should try be as creative as possible but i think its massively important still be creative and build a portfolio outside of your degree pursuing the area you wont to be in as-well as doing that in your degree so i think they can both be right in there own merits, but getting a degree helps allot to keep you on schedule and consistently working. 

education is needed for this because task's need to be set and marked and criticed by people who know what there talking about as-well as pushing students to work harder but as you get further and further into education it gets more of own back and less imput because you shouldn't need as much help anymore and to be more original as person and skill but i think that makes education fur filling because it allows you to build yourself till you don't need it anymore.

creativity, talent myth and craft

creativity by talent i find interesting ive had this discussion a few times whether artist talent is something your born with or something you develop through personal experience i don't think that you are born with talent just general interest to a certain style of art that draws you or area in life as artist graffiti art may interest you and through practice hard work and development is where you build talent build something worth looking at the would interest someone else and they might take something interesting from that and work on it until maybe there really good intricut line drawing. i find it hard to think whether i was ever good art from birth or if  interested me and i just went with it my brother loved art and drawing and being creative when we were younger also but now he couldn't draw to save his life but he was always better than me but as i worked hard and tried to develop my art he got interested in different thinks but if he started practicing for 2 years and i stopped i think it would be an interesting experiment to see who would come out on top measured by doing the same study both before and after. on the other side i think maybe 10 % or 20 % could be just naturals more creative in there fields  because everybody learns differently i think its more to do with what inspires you that's shapes your creativity.
creativity i think can only be enhanced by technology because it opens up a massive world of new mediums like digital painting and 3d art animation it lets your take your imagition even further from massive final piece painting to 3d sculpt to usable moving character but i do see how the little pressing of buttons and building an unwrapping and technical things in 3ds art could be a hindered because they could stop you from showing your best idea because its to technical for you to overcome but i don't think that's something to worry about hugely just another a barrier to further your designs and hence your creativity.
artist, programmers  writers, art directors, are all highly creative roles  because they all create things for the example writing is a massively creative job thinking up the story-lines writhing something people have to be scared or laugh and characters and thinks that they might say developing another characters brain almost a personality.

creativity looks like that catches your eye draws you in taking something simple like Victorian age for example and twisting an adding changing thinks about the world distorting but still believable that for me is something creative and i found that lion head were making really creative games especially but as they went on i thought they started to take that creative spark away and commercialize it i find everything through a game creativity from top to bottom especially the more traditionally art the concepts and graphic just because it so obviously  creative .

 as artist we show our creativity to be showing something people can see designs finished products and just being noticed by others for what you can do  traditional an no traditional ways ide say ide lean more to say i was skillful through practice rather than talent but i think these words all have very similar meanings  and labels that all boils down to practice .
i no what i need to do develop what im doing and allot more more research more practice more more more ..........................................................................

generalist to specialist

art director is the person who makes sure the game all fits in together and keep the overall theme of the game without makes thinks look mismatched so that game is a believable world the art director will check all the other artist work an all the work that the artist do goes through the director for feedback and critt will also be in charge of all the different artist that work on the game and the the specialist which is what im trying to work towards at the moment as well as been a jack of all trades working hard one to get into the industry with witch for me is character design as a 3d artist and or concept artist but they'd also have to look over the vehicle artist, characters , environments , weapon an vfx artist.
game artist on a hole create everything you see in the games witch make up the game world and the animators create and define there movement .

producer is responsible for managing the development process and keep everybody in harmony and also managing the deadline an keeping everybody on track.as well as the external producer works on keeping the game on track with the original concepts.
publishers is in between the merchant and an manged the process for the funds to develop the game and set milestones of where they need to be at and at the sales end it will cover the marketing and selling of the game  but alot of the task can be contracted out to other company's like advisement, the publishers are the ones who keep the majority of the earnings for the said game an have to pay game developers who also get royalties from the game .
game designers are the people who come up with the idea of the game and what it consist of an how it plays through and decide what they want in there game for example whether its goin to be a first or 3rd person shooter or horror or action and have to research and develop the ideas for the game which to me sounds like a very interesting job especially the initial idea for a game i think kick starting a game coming up with the idea would be a very cool job an being able to watch your idea develop into a full game sounds really good . which also has lots of different areas like map builder who for example in our queens project would be the udk mad who would place all the assets and build the map with what the 3d artist had built, as well as illustrators ,graphic designers, level editors and script writer who write the story line for the game and character bio
programmers are technical developers and are in charge of writing the code that actual make the game work with several different disciplines including programming the a.i gamplay, graphics , action scripting, platform designer and more
audio the people who design the sounds for the game and the sound effects and even sometimes watch over the voice recordings.

interaction design

interaction design i think is very interesting market and i think has only just begone to be tapped into with wii and xboxs kinect there still so much that is yet to be improved on so far i think the wii could bring a hole new level to gaming in general at the moment its only real used for family entertainment and younger genretion wii sport games a such but i think the capabilities could be used for alot more not just serious gaming for example use for the army simulators it essence like an arcade game when you hold the gun as the controller but the environment of the game projected around you training soilders pilots for real time warfare but i think one of the biggest obsticules would be movement in the game the game would you have to be in an empty room to move around without hitting anything you wouldn't even have to have a controller already kinect 2 has been developed to take in alot more depth an individual  fingers movement so the flick of your finger could fire a weopon it wont be long before its even more in depth. the wii and kinect have opened up a massive market for improvement and space to reinvent gaming. so far the consoles can sense where your are and allow you thinks run jump do activates as an avatar i think it will be really interesting when you as player can feel the game for example a console where you put a helmet on an gloves and run and jump an  get shot at feel vibrations or pressure on your gloves as you play. 3d technology has been rising as well and has become alot more exsesable at the cinemar 3d games, seeing a film around you and popping out at you i don't think it will be long before both are merged together 3d goggles with interactive movements. i think the rise of the wii has brought a big new market for games i think the only downfall to interactive games is that when alot of people play video games they lie to sit at home and chill out and play them not run around in your living room like a gym alot prefer sitting on a sofa twiddling there thumbs me included an getting emersed in the story line but with the market it brings alot more active to people to buying  games which is proaply a good think for people in general and the gaming industry on a hole . 

sound for games 

the sound for games is one of the most important elements in a game because without the sound the games seems boring sound adds atmosphere ,tension , sadness , realism and really sucks you into a game in general also masivly helps show genre like horror or comedy by quirky music or a noise that makes you jump. and what reminds you of  a game is the games soundtrack and brings back memories of when you were playing the game in boss battles or scoring a big goal or screaming like a girl in a horror game the sounds wile be what reminds you of it . from my research ive found that a big majority of the most famous composers ive found and from games i rember the soundtracks from are Japanese i think  that's because alot of our most played games are Japanese company's like for example one of the most famous games Pokemon huge part of alot of children life but i still rember playing the game and the music popping up when your about to go into battle and if i hear it today i instanly know where its from  pokemon sounds were done by junichi masuda who always worked on smash bros brawl which arguably one of my Favorite games .another massive name koji konda  for game sound who worked on mario brothers which of course is a huge name and has some very recognizable sounds but for me propaly the game sounds that most recognizable would be halo whenever i would play halo an the opening mission of the third game the sound would always start to get me pumped for the game and i think also for advertisement purposes realy bring out the game is the sound. and makes you rember it allot more. i think music moved forward into alot more depth in games when ps2 came out because when ps1 games were out and retro games the majority of game used retro soundtracks and more like sound effects then actual acoustic songs and games started to high full bands like for metal gear solid 2.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoZhXA10EEI

 Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards composition good times is it the most influential recording made in 20th century ? i think its really hard to say that one recording can be the most influential because there so many in 20th century to compete  but it did go triple platinum and shot to NO.1 which shows it must have been a massive influence but im not sure if it can be classes the most but my opinion i think its to hard to say one is the most influential 

mortal engines

mortal engines self portrait : reading the book i got a sense that the people on the earth not on the floating cities would be quite interesting people who would gather an scavenge metal a scrap from fallen ships and left cities also the maybe some the scavenge crews that are sent out after one another cities destroyed each other. so first of i started mood boarding an found some great reference from movies that i enjoyed that i think have steam punk elements like the road and book of eli both of which are the world after its ended type films like mortal engines  i chose to get images of steam punk characters who were really dirty an scratched damaged which wanted  i want to convey in my character an aged version of myself .

i then moved on throwing down some thumbnails quick silhouette to get down the shapes i wanted i did a few variation i quite liked the idea of having a scarf round the neck an some sort dust mask to cover the face but i thought since it was a self portrait properly be better if i showed the face more .

i liked the idea of a big bag to make my character more interesting and bring a better silhouette to the side view . it then moved onto my final turnarounds which i think came out ok an will be good to mold around for my 3d model.

game engines

game engines are the interface on which we build games an interactive show reel of the collective artist work. they are how we play games its a very competitive market and always being developed by big company trying to get the best and most realistic they can out of the game industry.

the biggest leading game engines at the moment are unreal game engine that has been used in several big games and company names like like bio ware ,gears of war, lost planet dishonored, borderlands, and its main composition in the game engines is cry engine


udk :what ive noticed about some of the titles  that udk release all seam not unrealistic but alot of imaginering from the titles realstic games that out of this world like mass effect and gears of war.
not necessarily all the there games because there are games set in our universe ,but for me it just seems that they are very good at doing imation games 
http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase/bulletstorm/. 
udk does seem to have some good lighting systems that look realstic but you do have to set them up witch could be trickey for a beginer. what looked realy cool that could be of alot of use in udk was the being able to texture paint in an enviroment  and making your own brushes like blood or foliage cud be a massive help in making a , game really stand out espialy in udk there's pinpoint reflections an shadows on something like water could look good.

cry: where as cryengine as well as being good at imagtive games i think its very good at making things look very realstic at games like ghost sniper , far cry and immensely realistic game . an has also bein used to make simulation games for the milatary training . 
http://mycryengine.com/index.php?conid=69&id=8
also the lighting system is easy to build in engine and i think the lighting look realstic because its sharpness and colur that sets a mood over the hole scene and it does have full time day lighting that fades like real life seamlessly. another big thing that i noticed in cry is that the weather conditions look very realistic and allot easier to build an setup.

both: both engines are very good for lots of diffrent thinks and both can similar thing to each other  but i think cryengine has the edge on realism because of the weather conditions and lighting options and the games theve produced profesnials would have good reasoning for picking that game engine and udk has the edge on imagation games.

http://www.giantbomb.com/cryengine-3/92-2917/games/

practice fmp

FMP ideas

fmp ideas :  prohibition in america playing as moon shine sellers trying to go big time and make lots of money - or a game of lawless based on the original book and characters not the movie version but being able to things like ; make moonshine runs, run from cops , race , bar fights , shop

fmp idea 2:  A Game based on "of mice and men" from the original text 

fmp idea 3 : alskan zombie game main enemies being the animals in Alaska going mad and being able to hunt using the senses 

fmp idea 4 : Aztec man trying to survive from the invading new world america 

of mice and men

of mice and men is one of my favorite films from my high school years and left a very distinct impression on my mind , and i think it could be turned into a great game and very emotial great story line and set in a very interesting era the great depressing maybe its to early to release  a game of mice and men because its might still be fresh in peoples minds but i think it could make really interesting fmp.

spec: 360 and ps3 game level based game or free roaming ,third person , action drama game , brawling an game and occasional shooting game for 18 and above audience , my aim would be to create a realistic high Polly game and really make the character come to life in the modeling of them, to show there character through rigging pose and to create a realistic environment.for unreal game engine because it would better soot my style of modeling and if i chose to stylise it be easier in udk. 

main character : George Milton because hes the smarter more aggressive character and think he'd be better to play as because he could lead George around like a helper like in the game army of two and because he handy in a fight i think could be good combat system for him

spec: 1000 tris 

1x1024 difuse

1x1024 bump

1x1024 spec

npc: the second character would be big love able daft Lenny small clearly appropriately named, i think this character would be lead by Lenny like in the film having to be constantly watched to make sure he doesn't brake something.

spec: 1000 tris

 1x 1024 difuse

 1x 1024 bump

1x 1024 spec

vechile: for the vechile ide like to make one of the hay loading trucks or horse lead carts full of hay bails that the works have loaded up.

spec :3000 tris

1x1024 difuse

1x1024 bump

1x1024 spec

1 x 1024 ambient oclosion

enviroment: tyler ranch where they work in the film barn and feild with the cart in mane enviroment assent bein the bard where they sleep 

spec :3x difuse 512

3x bump 512

3x spec 512

props and scenary object : hay bails  trees picket fences 

spec :1x 512 diffuse map

1x bump map

1x spec map

Elements of game design ,level design 

level design as what i can tell takes a huge amount of planning 

 and researching is key of course to find something really interesting that fits the brief the easiest way to do it is to find something that already exists because imaging something and having to design the hole world around so that make sense is alot harder. when we have so many things our history has already not to mention our planet has a vast amount of amazing places natural and mad made some of the natural things in life could look fantastic in game an make an awesome level.

like the alpes one of the most amazing sights ive ever experienced being at the top of a massive snow covered mountain.  

for another form of example some of the amazing environment art in farcry 3 set of the Indian and Pacific Oceans the artwork looks amazing lots of beaches and foliage .so far what ive seen of the game look like the best parts of the levels and really helps the gamer feel like somewhere else i chose this reference because its a mass of realistic natural elements i think during environment design a strong scene would be a mix of both man made an organic  aranged in a way that lets the game play flow well.

ive noticed in allot of games depending on the type of game which i think is massively important to know when designing a level,  is that they use man made things like crates and little shacks for the players to hide behind and take cover an shoot back ,because its a first person shooter .as well looking aesthetically pleasing the environment designer when planning out a level will know what parts of the level are destruct able but just from the this image looks like some really cool environment work.

after the research has been done an all the concepting been done alot of the time they do mock ups of the level orthographically images design laying out where things need to be, then "white boxin " 

just really quick white boxes laying out the level in 3d so that you can get a better feel for your level because its all well an good looking at your level on paper actually scrolling through or walking through in a game engine get a real sense of the game and what the audience will see. in and out of every process there would be art director of some sort helping you push your work further all the time so hopefully u can get the results that you want in the end .

i think  environment design a well as being art is a very technical function skill that is a very high end subject that takes a huge amount of experience and deserves allot of respect. as high for me as architect just for different purposes and you would have to have a high understanding of what your producing an technical aspects of things like architecture layouts and how the level flow is , and where your trying to get to and achieve in that level or scene 

http://far-cry.ubi.com/fc-portal/en-US/home/index.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj8cbC2YnwU

http://jasonhalvorson.posterous.com/white-box-level-designing

war of the worlds

2005 movie

after finishing my concept i designed to watch the film and write a review of the war of the worlds  to see how my design might fit into the world me design being an organic blood harvesting tripod.

my opinion on the film may be abit bi est from being one of my favorite childhood films so im goin try to be open about the film, from the get go i enjoyed i think the way the characters were introduced instantly showed of there personalty which i think is important in this kind of film .the main character tom cruise instantly comes of as bit of wise ass but in charismatic way even threw some of the bad times in the film he still manged to be abit funny but as the films evolves i thing u get abit more of grasp of his personalty bit lazy bit realy does love his family and throw himself straight into danger without a second thought but i think maybe in the film they mad a little to smart an very level headed in his reactions to what was going on around him not just a panic craze for example when the tripods find him an the deluded stranger hes very good at sneaking about an he pulls out a mirror to distracted the alien and the way he new to grab grenede before the tripods took him .but i can see how this is a speilberg film an how it made the film alot more epic, apart from that i think tom cruise did a great job of acting an playing several diffrent emotion like a strong father who brakes down under presure an overcoming it an letting go. roby is obviusly anoyed  with his father about the divorce always acting abit of pratt almost an winding up his father by calling him by his first name but he also very carrying for his mother an sister ,but he has alot of fight in him always trying to join the fight an get revenge on the aliens after destroying some of there world . the daughter played by dakota fanning who i think did amazing job in the film is obviusly a mommy's girl an mabye abit spoilt with ensiety issuse but i think she did very well considering the situation i think dakota did a great job from a young age understanding the level of what what was goin on an being able to act around pretend dead bodies and death people blood an dust. i chose to write about the characters idivudly because i think its good to know an read characters and being able to show there traits an personalty through design work .

steven speilberg obviously a great director i realy enjoyed the way this film was shot making simple things look more epic with dynamic filming like 360 spins showing the chacter emotions an flying through house in an interesting way, which brings out the best thinks in the characters an i think his most creative scene was when the alein find them in the house an shooting the footage from intersting angles making the scene look allot more sneaky an more complex making it seem a few times that they were very close to being caugth.

normally when i watch films that are a while back an early twenty first century the cgi and special effects annoy me because i think my mind has bein ruined by awesome cgi like avater an transforms but i think the special effect were very good in this not just the cgi but the camera tricks an the way it was shot really pulled of i know its only done in 2005 but still think it was great obviously some good design work behind the scenes an aliens.

overall i would rate this film a 7 defiantly worth a watch 

war of the worlds project brief 

war of the worlds project our project is to design one of the war of the worlds tripods in own style so straight away i thought because of the last vehicle project i would go for something organic an i know i based my vehicle project on animals like bats so this time i wanted to designs something from organic plants so i went of an found some refence images that gave me a strong idea of shape and form.

  

 i really like the shapes but i wasn't a fan of the colour they looked to happy where as i wanted mine to be aggressive terrifying monster              

i think especially the head peice was strongly infulenced by plants but i dont think the face is good enough yet or scary enough i think it looks to generic so i went into more detail  but i try ed design the head after i designed  the humanoid foot soilder slash/pilot so they look like the same species#

i really think the humanoid helped push my design forward i think im ready for my orthographic images 

      an then i decide to do some quick sketches once i had my design nailed down did some little concepts  

finished my design that im happy with and ready to get my sculpting  on the go

Elements of game design part six : visual composition

William wu’s concept art on assains creed who I thought would be a great master to base my blog about visual composition because he seems to have an immense understanding of composition . the main thing that in these paintings he’s trying to convey is different weather . in the first painting called taking flight I thought was amazing not necessarily very hard composition or in depth in the in essence it’s a simple layout just a diagonal composition but if you silhouetted the character an the bird you would still have a very clear understanding of what was happening Connor the main character realizing his bird into flight but I think the little things in the image show what the artist was going for in the way that the trees bring the image forward an light bouncing of the inner side an behind the eagle reflecting Connor head to make it stand out .a quote from the art director “ the snow covers everything to is basic shapes. It makes it unique to compose a scene because all you see is silhouette, the plain surface. less is more on ac3 “I think the key words from that quote would be silhouette and less is more that’s the main reason I chose this artist because he doesn’t have to put in mass detail but has a clear composition and shape .

the second paint is one of the more classic painting of ac of Connor from a height looking down on a scene planning his attack the artist would have a good understanding of how the game plays an how strategically u need to be but the way the composition is awesome but what I think brings it to life is the backdrop an the minute simple details of the mist and the made made fires and the smoke coming up from the heat but again if u brake down the image very clear silhouette.

This image called white light , white heat which I think just from the title gives you instantly more knowledge into the image I think this painting show how much of a master concept artist William wu’s really is without having to go into to masses of detail it look very realistic an he dint even have to paint an of the faces because the speed thatches trying to convey and the white breath flowing out there faces showing lots of cold an exasperation from exercise an adrenaline and you can get all that just from the angle of the heat an how much witch I think is incredible also the mist covering people in the foreground of his chasers everything seems empty white but nothing is empty at the same time everything has information going through it almost looks like single point perspective going backwards from Connor foot.

In conclusion I think knowing your environments inspires your composition whether its big white trees making composition or damaged buildings going of into the distance. an knowing different reactions in the paint like speed blur and heat smoke fire mist 

planning an concepting 

planning and concepting in its simple is form is properly the only way to produce great image. 

reading through the essay on planning an concepting  is very clear what you should be doing an alot of these things ive already been doin but reading through make me laugh because in his rants i know ive done some of these things hes talking about, mabye not recently but for example just starting with a head design an throwing a boddy underneath it an asking a friend to look at it, an saying things like arms are too long, try giving it an awesome weapon ,even the the bits i have been doing doesn't add upto the depth that is shown an what i shud be doing.but before i even got into the final touches i should of organised my time. reading through the essay i realse how much knowledge some of these artist before he had even started his piece he know a huge amount about what he was looking for an what he would like to achive " a moment a very specific moment the moment before action the moment of instinct and decsion" he knew alot more about his piece what he wanted to achieve then i would near the end of my design sometimes this is something i really need to work on an i think that is a huge help to his image from reading that an then looking at his image i can instantly tell what he was going for an comes of. then he goes looking for inspiration which ive always know was key i always find it one of the best ways to motivate myself to produce an image seeing some work that is amazing makes you want to create something as well  reading on think it would be a good idea to write my ideas down straight away in titles an in question just from readings thing ideas pop into my head so from now on when im designing a concept write a breif if i wont have one and some of the things i would like to achieve in my image. iv been realizing for a while now thumnailing is key to design a good image especially the higher level art you want to produce the more effident it is that you need more planning.
realism is key not necessarily photo realism but giving the audience something they can relate lighting scenery realistic composition  atmosphere from reading the essay that's one of the things that shout out to me.
after this assignment ide hope ive learnt not to forget the most important part of concepting the planning and process that take you to your final image an not just going straight into the final image starting in the center of the page with the eye

I really enjoyed last year I struggled at times but I think nothing worth doing comes easy, In the first year I think with intensity of the course I improved a lot in what I can achieve opened up all my skills to a new world of designs etc. 3d painting digi concepting. Also one of the main thinks the first year gave me is everything I make or draw being more 3dimensial in drawings in sculpting in everything which I thing is key in drawing, but I think all these fundamentals I think I’ve learned need a lot of honeying.

wesly burt

last of us 

Year two aspirations made it to year two now I this year what I would really like to get better at and achieve is my concepting skills an my ability to really smash ideas an great concepts out espialy in my character art. to be able to throw down really interesting composition an characters and not just basic designs interesting ideas not just in the face but all over body and make my characters blend together on a whole also,this year ide like to try really define my style in original fashion an keep working on it,an be able to transfer my stylised characters into 3d ide like it be stylised realism prime reference for what kind of artwork I would like achieve someday is the level concept art from, the last of us being able to paint a highley realistic people an express there character through little thinks making them come to life like the way the girls legs are pushed out like a child neck craned with big smile clearly laughing­ an little appliance around like bags empty cans camp fire shows what kind of a game it is survival , but doing an making it look awesome without having to pump hours an hours into a painting rendering each think which is something I highly admire this work also reminds me of Andrew Loomis advertisement  work. Another artist in slightly different style which ide love to achieve  Wesley Burt work taken from his Kane an lynch project I really enjoyed how he can change a character just by adapting little things, which I think will be hugely important if I ever brake into the industry ­being able to get down quick sketches showing different character s just by tweaking aspects. is what I would very much like to work at this year .away from just the art side of this year ide like to become a better writer, in my blogs an self-analysis because I think that will help me all round being able to look my own work an critic better an make descions on where to go with it will help me if I have better knowledge of how to write about what I’m doing an to explain to others my thought proses so im not the only person who knows what im thinking espialy if was working with art director.

First year summary

Don’t have much bad to say about the course ive enjoyed all the aspects and thought its run very well and is hard but you can really see results throughout the class from start to end

My progress : I think my 3d skill has improved loads but I think it’s a lot easier to judge from knowing nothing to what I know now but the first couple 3d projects could literally do in half an hour now not to bragg as most people in the class I think would agree but they were very hard at the time  but I hope keep improving at the same rate.  I think my critical studies writing skills have improved , still trying to find my style of writing but I hope that will develop because I haven’t realy done much of this style of writing let alone what im interested in . I think watching the critical studies lectures had broadened my design skills because after doing my research throughout the first year I know what style of game art I want to go for rather then just bog standard realistic plain characters  I do still really like realistic games but stylised game have intrigued me a lot this year.

I personally find critical studies hard because of dyslexia I find the huge amount of links hard to take in and then rember and write about them  but I think the lectures are layed out very well quite simple we now what we’ve got to do and just get on with it I really enjoyed watching the films every week and looking at them for there artist values and direction styles and characters not just to watch a good film an assessing them in blogs I thing this helped me understand more  how development of stories work and how there shown across through media etc. films and games and I find them a lot easier to write about then some of the other tasks also what I think would be good is more game reviews maybe if we all had to write about the same game or a demo that you could have a quick go on in the labs or an internet game to see everyone’s opions not just to play on games instead of working .

I think the game production lectures are hard to follow and a lot of people feel the same but that’s what blackboards tutorials for I think maybe could be eased into 3d abit better but I think what progress everybody is how hard it is how fast it goes also the way the labs are set up is very helpful and if ever your realy stuck there’s lots of people who can help second years thirds years which for me is one of the best things about the course that if anyone gets overwhelmed or stuck all you need to do is just ask someone . I have really liked learning about 3d and has open a lot more doors and option to my original art skills and huge amount of places that I can improve on

I really enjoyed vd this year I think it’s good that were doing something different every week so cant really get bored and I thing the short week by projects are good espialy for building speed in drawings work and getting ideas down fast  which I think will help later being used to short snappy deadlines and moving very fast. The only think bad I could say about vd is not enough life models!! but I think it has improved my skills in anatomy drawings just hard to draw the same person and keep the attention span going

I think its very important to keep all the aspects of the course the desing drawings and 3d work and crit but I think the projects could integrate better and run along with each other better like when we go out to draw vehicles for example would of gone well with building them in 3d at the same time.

But overall I have enjoyed the course and am very glad I chose this course very clear to me it was the right choice  

enviroment

Environment

my concept art piece, environment design I’m starting by building mood board from great concept artist already out primarily for games i have some initial ideas of what i want to design so from the mood boards and ideas i have going round my head made a simple spider diagram getting all my ideas written down but also to help narrow down my ideas i had to think which one is least likely other people would thing of and what i know personally and to narrow down do something I know and have primary research i think with my boxing background design a boxing environment for a game would work well I think its important with this type of painting is  to no what style I’m going for and how realistic I want it so I think because it boxing and its  real thing not an abstract concept very realistic as I can get in proportion would work and maybe some stylization in the characters .


After i have the idea i looked into further mood boards primarily about boxing gyms like English gyms and American and rich an poor gyms

Thought ide try figure out the rules an boundaries around environment design and what i can figure out by looking at environment pieces before starting the piece

1)      firstly the environment pieces with characters in you can get a strong feel for what type of game it is adventure game or shooter action all different types of games but as far as i can tell what grounds an image and lets you know what type of game it is the character or characters or just civilians walking around for example or people running round with guns firing

2)      thumnailing is a big design rule for concept art you must make thumbnails instead of diving straight into a design without having any idea how the composition will work or where lights coming from and by doing several thumbnails you’ll have more interesting images to choose from an a better outcome .

3)      having a clear idea in your head and the style your going for like realistic or styilised .

4)      Reference the more reference you gather to build an image the more substance it should have espialy if you’re creating a very realistic image.

5)      knowing the the world making everything fit it together even if its not realistic keeping it real but abstract elements that fit into the surrounding because you believe in the idea of the game for example and apocalypse town with plants everywhere the people would be dirty an carry rucksacks and weapons and be dirty to help them cope with this new world where as wouldn’t make sense if everybody was walking around in tailored suits all polished and clean.

 

6)      leading on from thumbnails composition checking everything is proportions using perspective lines depending on how you’re looking at your image like this image above from a two point perspective view were looking into a scene fading away  and it looks realistic because its in proportion but also they break it up with things extruding in the scene like the trees and the van the characters are standing on .

7)      lighting having a strong lightings source or lack of one in a dark image lighting certain areas realy pull together an image and helps draw the views eyes to the most importants parts of an image.

My final outcome

I think my image came out well the mix between stylised and realistic which what I was after I think it could of done with a lot more detail thought but I was trying to paint it in a blocky way like team fortress concept art edge of simplicity but descriptive witch I think I could of needed more of also I think more lighting would of boosted the image as well I think the characters blend in well and leave a believable image

part 3: character

i think its hard to thing of an individual character from films or books that give of feeling because all well made films let you relate to characters and give you an impression of them as you would in real life very fast we seem to make assumptions of people and get a gist of what there like the main way in films they would do something ab it extreme to give an impression of someone  like someone being a nice guy helping an old lady across the street or a man being a womaniser by waking up with a woman or talking about women allot a good film that instantly give you an impression of these 3 main characters the first within the first 2 Min's you can tell he works hard but hes ab it of a pushover who gets ab it annoyed but has to hide it ill let people walk all over him but i think what  makes the audience  like him is one because hes funny character and when he overcomes his shortcomings  and stands up to the boss the other characters is likable just because hes ab it daft and gets him stook in amusing situations and hes ab it squeamish about them and the last character you like because hes abit of a lad a womaniser but still seems to be a very nice guy and has a cheeky face.

another character that relates to game characters hugely i think would be troy because everybody loves to play as character who kicks ass and just batters everybody in style which what most games are about i think what attracts people to characters like troy is one the acting but mainly i think the look of the character like women would Fancy him and men would appreciate the alpha maleness of him nobody wants to play as a Winny character people i think want to play or watch someone who who is invigorating and basically awesome like argon or gladiator for example.
stories that attract me are good story lined exiting films drama but for me in most films acting skills are key i will watch specific films because i know certain actors are in it so its properly going to be good stories what attracts me inparticuler are epic story lined films that are set in other worlds like sci fi war of the world or big journey films for example lord of the rings or a film that i thing looks good hunger games because its a grounded and relates to real life but set in a place that's diff rent system different way there world works

part two art director

an art director is in charge of the look and genral style of the game and to make sure the game is meeting its deadlines  one of the main parts about being an art director is keeping the stylisation of the game together and constant throughout for example strong stylistic games like bring and street fighter that have constant style from the begging concept art to the final product the art director is responsible for the art staff .

i think its a creative role because you have to have allot of knowledge about art and be able to show your vision for the film through the scenes i think its very artist but not in the sense that you have to be able to draw not that they necessarily cant but i think it more important to be able to show your style thought the whole team
games art directing could be considered as similar because both roles your trying to portray a story a mood through style but the obvious main difference is film directing majorly working with  real people and trying to invoke a mood through acting where as games art directing is trying to invoke a story also thought characters but let you interact with the mood of the game and what you see

also directing a film is the storyline everything where art directing for games is just the art side nothing to do with the storyline

i think if i wanted to become an art director i would have to build a big knowledge on games  an art and history and stronger leadership skills mainly i think idea have to really develop my own style so that ide be able to influence other people to work to the style I'm after

intersting character design mayan warrior

interesting character design Mayan warrior

for my interesting character design Ive chosen to design a Mayan warrior from a strong influence from the film apocalypto because it has really amazing designs and coincidentally one of my favourite films so thought it might be a good idea to review the film.

apocalyptic

the Mayan civilization faces it downfall and in effort to stop there dismisses they build massive temples to worship the gos and to make sacrifice which needs slaves and sacrifices the story revolvers around Jaguar paw and his clan who live in the Forrest and are stolen for sacrifice and Jaguar paw is the only member to survivor by fleeing and eventually fighting back whittling of the enemies in clever ways there is a huge amount of character development throughout for example Jaguar paw starts out abit normally scared as he should be he is very motivated to survivor  and as hes fleeing after a close moment with a Jaguar he has a moment of clarity and says this is my Forrest and then he fights back using all the tricks of the Forrest .directed by Mel Gibson who looks like has done a really good job the film i think is very visual like ridley Scott's you could watch the film and no whats going on its also in subtitles which actually made me enjoy the film more because it make you main concentrate on what you see Rather than hear but also different to ridley films apocalypto is a fast passed film always locked in like ridley but it goes on a big loop retuning to same king of thing as the beginning where as ridley doesn't .the film also has beautifull settings which would be amazing to make in a game filmed in different parts of Mexico and the film really gives of the sound that places you right there the film also has a interesting ending big boats with the cross on them coming to the shore of there Forrest .