The Art of Gaming First Edition - 2019 UK
The Art of Gaming First Edition - 2019 UK
The Art of Gaming First Edition - 2019 UK
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
CONTENTS
LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2
FROM SKETCH TO SCREEN INSIDER INSIGHTS
[10] 20 RULES OF CONCEPT ART [48] ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS
The techniques and skills that Raphael Lacoste, art director of
make a great piece of game art the Assassin’s Creed franchise,
on recreating ancient Egypt
[40]
[12]
[126] LIFE AT AN INDIE
GAMES COMPANY
How to reap the benefits of
working at smaller studios
[130] [138]
FROM SKETCH
TO SCREEN
[10] 20 RULES OF [20] DIRECTOR’S CUT
CONCEPT ART Industry experts discuss the future of cinematic
The techniques and storytelling in the video game industry
skills that make a great
piece of game art
[14] ENVIRONMENT
ART MASTERCLASS
How to generate
striking location
concept designs
[32]
PRESS X TO SKIP
How developers make
in-game cinematics
that players won’t
want to skip
[30] GALLERY –
KRILLBITE
Why Mosaic’s
monochromatic
world draws
players to colour
5 REFERENCE
Accurate photo reference is essential. For real-world material in particular, if you just
rely on your memory the best you can realistically hope for is to get it close; it’s
guaranteed that somebody somewhere will know more about that thing you’re
drawing than you do, and will know you haven’t done your homework. Short
of going somewhere to see something first hand, finding and using photo
reference is vitally important.
11 SYNTHESISING VS
ORIGINATING
Consider the balance between
synthesising and originating. By
originating I mean coming up
with something unique. It’s
almost impossible to pull off,
and you run the risk of
alienating your audience.
Synthesising means combining
different familiar elements that
are rarely used together,
providing a familiar link for your
audience.
9 BIG PICTURE
Don’t just look at people, objects and
6 ACTIVE As you begin a project,
environments, analyse them. OBSERVATION one of the first things
Studying and sketching your to establish is the ‘big
surroundings (people as well as picture’. Your client
objects) improves your may have some ideas
observational skills, helping about mood, or a
build up your mental visual certain character.
vocabulary, as well as As the concept
something I call “active designer you have to
observation skills”, which be able to take a step
means analysing what you see. back and perceive the
For example, rather than simply project as a whole, so
noticing that a column has you know what parts
some bolts, study the structure are truly important,
to understand why the bolts and what obscures the
are there. big picture.
7 FORM AND
FUNCTION 10 BREAK
In the real world, function is a THINGS
prime component of design – INTO
you’ve all heard the term “form CHUNKS
follows function.” I’m a fan of One approach
that, especially as it pertains to to design that I
architecture. I love buildings have had some
that express their structure and success with is to
utilities. In entertainment break down the
design, the main issue is “does design task into
it look cool (and solve the manageable
In games artwork, form isn’t so strictly
design problem)?” You’re not chunks – separate
bound by function as in other disciplines. restricted by real-world physics silhouette studies
constraints; of course, designs from pose studies
are more convincing if there is from texture and
some nod to real life. material studies.
20 RULES OF CONCEP T A RT [ 13 ]
16 SILHOUETTE
For games, character design depends heavily on
silhouette, which is also sometimes referred to as the
‘initial read’ of a character. I’ve emphasised the
importance of silhouette in character design before, but
it’s important enough in the context of the concept
design profession to bear repeating.
[ 14 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
Artist insight
CONCEPT ART
MASTERCLASS
Donglu Yu, a senior concept artist in the video game industry,
presents her tips for generating visually striking environment concepts
efore I reveal how to create end up being unnecessary. My tips when you work professionally.
Artist
Donglu Yu
B strong environments art,
perhaps I should explain
what I mean by strong art.
should help you to avoid falling into
such a situation. You’ll learn how to
construct your images by building up
Sometimes, they will just tell you that
the piece doesn’t feel right to them,
but won’t give you specific reasons.
COUNTRY: Canada These are paintings that are easy to a solid foundation and composition, This may also occur with clients who
read, quickly conveying clear designs design a lighting scheme that can don’t have an artistic background.
Donglu has
surfed the or stories to the viewer. help to sell your idea, before finally The topics and visual advice that I’ll
boundless There can be few artists who applying the detailing layer. cover here will help you find out
world of video haven’t spent hours working on a These tips will also help your exactly what the art director and your
games and
animations since piece, attempting to add details that conversation with the art directors potential clients are looking for.
childhood. She’s worked
on the Assassin’s Creed
sequels, Deus Ex: Human
Revolution and Far Cry 4.
1 ESTABLISH A SILHOUETTE
http://ifxm.ag/d-yu A silhouette is the outline of an object against a unique
colour background. It helps the viewer to quickly
recognise the subject matter, such as robots,
cityscapes or characters. A strong silhouette will
ensure your designs have greater visual impact. It’s a
great way to capture the essence of your subject, and
you can do it with a simple black pen or marker.
2 COMPOSITION RULES
The Rule of Thirds is a popular composition tool, because
it’s both simple and effective. Divide your image into thirds
vertically and horizontally: the focus point of your images
should appear on the points where the lines cross. The
Golden Ratio, meanwhile, has its basis in mathematics. It’s
been used in diverse disciplines such as architecture and oil
paintings, but for the composition purpose, all you need to
do is apply the shape of the Golden Ratio over your art and
see if your focal points follow the ratio’s distinctive shape.
CONCEP T A RT M ASTERCL ASS [ 15 ]
Fog densityy
Rock shapes
Lighting
3 BRUSH STROKES
Your brushstrokes should reveal the
material, textures, body structures,
and changes in lighting and volumes.
This example has been created using
ArtRage’s Roller and Oil Painting tools.
I’ve used small brushstrokes to
indicate highlights, while larger, wide
brushstrokes emphasise the change 4 BUILD UP A REFERENCE BOARD
of volume on the rocks. Large It’s crucial that you study your subject, and put together a digital reference
brushstrokes are also used to indicate board. Consider dividing your reference pictures into different categories, such
areas of light and shadow, to further as fog density or rock shapes. In addition, having a reference board to hand
enhance the volume differences. makes it much easier to explain to your art director what your goals are if you’re
able to point to specific photographs.
5 PERSPECTIVE IS KEY
Perspective is one of the foundations of art that horizontal. Each set has its own vanishing point.
you should make an effort to study thoroughly. Based on these three major sets of lines and the
Incorrect perspective in an image – particularly rules of convergence, there are three types of
environments designs – will result in your images perspective. What distinguishes each type is
lacking any sense of realism and authenticity. Let’s simply your point of view. The subject matter
take a basic example. The edges of a cube form doesn’t change, just your view of it and how the
three sets of parallel lines: one vertical and two sets of parallel lines appear to converge.
7 DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN
MOONLIGHT AND ARTIFICIAL LIGHT
There are two types of light source at night:
moonlight and artificial light. In a natural
landscape setting, far away from the usual
infrastructure that accompanies an urban
environment, illumination from the moon is
usually portrayed as a pale yellow, which
contrasts nicely with the dark blue colour of the
vegetation. However, in a city night scene, the
moon’s light is often represented as blue, which A
I start an underlay painting with a desaturated blue, aiming
for a scene that’s softly lit by the bluish moonlight, without
enables it to dramatically complement the warm additional light sources. I think about my shapes and silhouettes
tones of artificial light. and try to find a visually appealing composition.
CONCEP T A RT M ASTERCL ASS [ 17 ]
During the final painting stage of the image, I introduce crowds of Then I carefully paint in the warm artificial light sources at the base of
B people, advertising signs, cars and building details to make this snapshot C the building, because that’s where the stores or food stands are usually
of city nightlife more vivid. I also use smoke and fog to strengthen my located. At this stage, I think about colour contrast and the level of saturation
atmospheric depth of the scene. of my warm- and cold-dominated areas.
[ 18 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
9 COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS
Complementary colours are located on the opposite
sides on the colour wheel. When placed next to each
other, they create strong visual contrast and reinforce
each other’s colour vibrancy. The most commonly used
combinations are red and green, yellow and violet, and
blue and orange. The Impressionists used vibrant colour
brushstrokes next to each other to enhance the lighting.
In this digital sketch, I’ve accentuated the blue colour on
the spaceship’s hull by combining it with orange engines.
12 COLOUR VIBRANCY
Colour vibrancy can be a strong design tool, because
it can play a big role in how the brain analyses certain
lighting situations. As long as you apply the basic rules,
you can use more stylised colour choices that will help
to give your scene a specific tone and feel. You can 13 VARYING YOUR TEXTURE DENSITIES
boost colour vibrancy with an Adjustment layer. In this This term refers to the artistic choice of where to place characters and objects,
painting, if I had to adjust the colour vibrancy that’s and where to leave some empty space in an image. Not only can it create a
created by the sunlight shining through the fabrics, strong composition, it can also let the viewer’s eyes rest on the details that
I would create a Hue/Saturation layer, select Reds you’ve painted on certain areas. To double-check my image’s texture density,
instead of Master and increase the Saturation level. This I often use a Threshold adjustment layer that turns my painting black and white.
approach means I’m only altering the saturation level of The noisy area should be the part where I want to create action. The part where
my red tones, and not changing other colour channels. the large black shapes are should be where the viewers can rest their eyes.
DIR EC TOR’S
Nicola Henderson talks to video game
artists from leading studios to uncover
the future of cinematic storytelling
DIR EC TOR’S CU T [ 21 ]
I
f the many graphical sophistications that have details. “A cinematic is the walkway between a
become staple parts of modern film and the game,” suggests Franck Lambertz,
video game design, it’s fair to say that the sheer VFX supervisor at MPC. “It should be a moment to
excellence demonstrated in cinematic get the player into the right mood for your game.”
© Rocksteady Studios and Warner Bros
cutscenes is not given anywhere near the same Until the dawn of 32-bit processing power in the
prominence as the in-game graphics engines that mid-90s, the hardware restrictions of early home
make gameplay so immersive. consoles meant that effective storytelling was
At its most primitive level, the cutscene is a often limited to a core set of narrative tools, with
narrative device designed to flesh out the game dialogue boxes and inventive sound design
world beyond what the player can control, often playing a huge part in defining atmosphere.
serving to advance a plot forward, chart character Eventually, the 3D rendering capabilities of
development or highlight prominent thematic consoles like the Sony PlayStation and the Sega
[ 22 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
It’s a different story these days. Video game While storytelling has always been at the heart of
CREATE TIMELY cinematics have become so much more complex, Naughty Dog’s creative ethos, the tense and hugely
CUTSCENES and we now find ourselves watching exquisitely emotive video game The Last of Us perhaps best
“Don’t make a
cutscene just for crafted scenes merging seamlessly with in-game demonstrated the studio’s commitment to creating
the sake of it. graphics. And with the next generation of console narrative-driven titles that fully embrace the nature
The whole thing
with cutscenes is hardware now upon us, it’s safe to say that over the of cinema in order to strengthen player immersion
that you’re
taking control
lifespan of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the and connection to the story.
away from the boundaries of cinematic possibilities have reached “One of the big things we did on The Last of Us
player, and if
you’re going to even greater heights. in particular was pay attention to the transitions
do that there between cutscene, in-game character and
needs to be a
good reason. If THE LANGUAGE OF CINEMA gameplay,” says Shaun Escayg, lead cinematics
not, players will “If you create compelling characters and a fun animator. Together with fellow cinematic leads Josh
resent you for it
and will skip it.” world for them to be in, players are not going to Scherr and David Lam, the cinematics team spent
Josh Scherr, lead
cinematics
mind having control taken away from them briefly the last third of the production time trying to
animator, while the rest of the story plays out,“ says Josh seamlessly stitch together the transitions from
Naughty Dog
Scherr, who is a veteran lead cinematics animator simultaneous camera, animation and overall
at Naughty Dog. “That’s what we want to do at direction standpoints.
Naughty Dog – make cinematics that people don’t “If you want to keep players immersed, the
want to skip.” quality of both the writing and the actor’s
What was the timeframe for the What were the workflow How did you create the realistic
Fabian Frank, game’s Defy trailer? challenges you faced? ocean fluids for the game?
3D supervisor FF: Our crew consisted of RH: On shots like the upper deck, RH: We generated the ocean and
three matchmovers and eight we had to handle different layers: fluid effects entirely in the 3D
rotoscope artists for the 3D renders, live-action plates, animation software Houdini, but
Ryan Hadfield, preparation during a six-week rotoscoping, live-action elements wanted to keep the rendering in
compositor period. After that, we had a team and others. It’s important to split our main 3D tool, Maya. After the
made up of two animators, three the composition and not have simulation aspect was completed,
FX artists, two lighters and four everything in one big script. This a mesh had to be created and
Franck Lambertz, compositors working on the keeps the Nuke files very fast, tidy transferred to Maya using the
VFX supervisor trailer for eight weeks. and easy to change. alembic file format.
DIR EC TOR’S CU T [ 23 ]
Naughty Dog knew from its work on previous video games that by capturing both the motions and vocal performance of the
actors, the characters in The Last Of Us would feel more unified and realistic
© Naughty Dog/Sony
performances must be consistently high,” continues kinds of mood. “Working on the cinematic trailer
Josh. In order to make the gritty cinematics of The for The Witcher 3, it actually already means that
Last of Us stand above the norm, the virtual you have a good relationship with the developer.
performances of the story’s cast had to be just as We have known the teams at CD Projekt RED for
The Last of Us showcased Naughty
believable as a Hollywood production, which many years, and it’s much deeper than a typical
Dog’s ability to use cinematic techniques in meant taking lessons from films like The Road, client/vendor relationship,” says Tomek Baginski of
order to tell the game’s story in a realistic
and emotive way Children of Men and I Am Legend, along with an Platige Image, and director of the striking The
injection of art-house flair from documentaries. Witcher 3: Wild Hunt cinematic. “Every project we
Similarly, for creative agencies like MPC – which receive from CD Projekt RED is demanding, but
collaborated with Ubisoft on its incredible also allows us to stay creative in what we do. It’s a
KNOW WHAT cinematic for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – relationship based on trust, and I think that makes
TO PRIORITISE translating the language of cinema across to the us solid partners.”
“Always world of gaming is seen as a natural progression.
remember that as
artists, we are “Video games and cinema operate in different REALISTIC STORYTELLING
servitor of the media, but they both work in their own right,” says When it comes to creating a realistic scene, one of
story being told.
It can be easy to Franck Lambertz, who feels that the emotional the major aspects of production is having a good
focus on aspects of both disciplines are what make them source of reference material to help ground the
enhancing tiny
details instead of such a dynamic pairing. “It’s great when the two animation within a believable frame. Even reality
stepping back
and looking at
mediums meet and morph their unique attributes can be heightened in terms of character animation,
our work in the into a new entity.” as Naughty Dog’s David Lam explains. “Realism is
context of the
film or narrative.” For studios such as MPC, Axis Animation and subtle, but it can be exaggerated. Knowing how to
Franck Lambertz, Platige Image, establishing a solid connection exaggerate it is the key thing. If it goes too far it can
VFX supervisor,
MPC between video game developers and cinematic be too cartoony, so understanding the broad ranges
specialists is essential in communicating the right from subtlety to exaggeration is very critical.”
How did you use Mantra? timing and to test it in advance of it had to be believable that a ranges. In advertising, you don’t
RH: Mantra was our first choice compositing before rendering. camera was moving through always get to work on 300-frame
when it came to rendering the ship. One big challenge was sections. With the node counts,
volumetric particle effects. We What 3D software was vital? stitching these elements together you’d hear colleagues saying,
rendered previews of the whole FL: As the trailer is 90 seconds with the 3D camera in Nuke. As “I’ve got 2,000 nodes in my
sequence to get a feel for the long and one continuous piece, was working with long frame script! How did that happen?”
[ 24 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
Platige Image’s
Grzegorz Kukus
on character
creation in The
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
ARTIST PROFILE
Grzegorz Kukus
Grzegorz Kukus is a CG
supervisor at Platige Image, a
global creative studio that places
To create the hair, Platige started by strong storytelling at the heart of
Platige found that the most important
sketching the female character’s hairstyle its ethos.
character references were the 3D facial scans
and then styled the actor’s hair to match www.platige.com
the sketches
us, we knew that the bar for A similar approach was used create the models and progress Character animation is held on
creating ultra-realistic faces for hair. We started by sketching to animation process. Then simplified models long before
was set higher than usual. The our female character’s hairstyle it goes to the texturing and the assets are signed-off and
most important references were and styled the actor’s hair to simulation guys, followed by during the character animation,
the 3D facial scans. We had match our sketches. Then we lightning and rendering teams. initial rendering and compositing
dozens of scanned face mimics start to recreate it in 3D. Compositing combines all work is held based on simplified
in various setups. To achieve a What is a typical pipeline of these elements and gives us a movements. We prepare
subtle and realistic effect, we you use on a project like The final picture. everything in a way that allows
devoted a considerable amount Witcher 3: Wild Hunt? Most of the processes us to make significant changes
of time to each facial animation. We start with the script, then take place at the same time on every stage until the very end.
everyone together on the stage, just like you would Benjamin Flynn, senior character artist at
when shooting a film. You get a unique chemistry Rocksteady Studios, warns that interpreted style is
REALISTIC FLUID EFFECTS
“Getting the right sense of scale is and electricity when people are actually interacting still crucial, and this requires a careful balance:
hugely important. When generating
something on a bigger scale with
with each other that you never would if you’re just “The Arkham series has such an iconic style, so we
minute details, like an ocean, the task recording actors separately in a sound booth.” do have to balance between the two rather
always requires higher simulation times
and more data volume. By doing your 3D character artist and digital sculptor Mariano carefully. Even with high-resolution maps and
research, you can find the perfect Steiner, however, believes anatomy to be the key to meshes it’s still important for us to get a
balance of realistic fluids while keeping
the simulation efficient.” realism. “From my point of view, dictating the level handcrafted feel. No photo reference or scans are
Fabian Frank, 3D supervisor, MPC of realism is all about anatomy – you can be very allowed to be used, as that would detract from the
precise and get a realistic model, or you can distort artistry we want to purvey in the characters as well
and play with forms to get a more stylised feel.” as the world at large.”
[ 26 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
STORY-DRIVEN
CHARACTERS
BioShock Infinite’s lead character
artist Gavin Goulden shares his
tips for effective storytelling
ARTIST PROFILE
Gavin Goulden
Gavin has worked for major video
SKILLS AND SOFTWARE
game studios including Bioware, While effective storytelling is essential, the
Capcom and Irrational Games. He is technological feats that run alongside a good
also the author of a book about
character creation, entitled concept, script and cast are not to be
The Swordmaster. underestimated. ZBrush is a popular choice for
www.gavimage.com
most professionals, and Irrational Games’s Gavin
Goulden, who worked on Bioshock Infinite, is
quick to sing the software’s praises: “I really cannot
imagine my day-to-day work without ZBrush. I
believe it has become such an essential part of most
character artists’ workflow that it’s hard to imagine
creating game art without it. It has become vital to
our industry.”
Of course, modelling is but one aspect of
production, and Richard Scott of Axis Animation
explains how Axis combined all the various tools at
its disposal in order to produce the stunning debut
trailer for upcoming Xbox One title Fable Legends.
“We put the Fable Legends project through our
standardised pipeline, which involves Maya, modo
and ZBrush for asset creation, Maya for rigging and
animation and Houdini for visual effects, lighting
and rendering. Composition is handled in Digital
Fusion, and we have our own tools to link these
packages together.” It’s a complex process that
involves a lot of planning, as Richard explains:
“We invest a lot of time in pre-production and
Character artist
Gavin Goulden draws during that process Ben [Hibon, director]
on a huge range of completed storyboarding and 2D animatics while
inspiration and
reference to create our team was working on concept art for the key
his characters elements, as well as a colour script defining the
look of all the shots.”
If that wasn’t enough, the team still has to build
various assets, and implement procedural rigging
tools in Maya to give the animators the control they
need. “We then shot motion capture at the
Imaginarium, with Ben on set directing the actors.
Once we have the first motion-capture data, we
begin to go into the layout phase, adding the data
to proxy characters in a proxy environment and
working on both the camera work and edit.” This
motion-capture data was then used by the
animation team, where they pushed it further via
keyframe animation and gave it that wonderful
stylised feel that you can see in the final trailer.
From very early on in the project, the VFX team
at Axis research and develop the key effects
required, and once the animation is in progress
they can begin to integrate the VFX into the final
shots. “At the same time,” Richards adds, “our
lighting leads are doing lighting setups for the key
scenes; these setups are then given to the rest of the
lighting team so they can work on a series of shots.
Our lighting team also composite all their own
shots in Digital Fusion and work closely with the
guys doing the digital matte paintings.”
Naturally, the more visually ambitious the
project, the more technical challenges there will be.
© 2K Games
© Axis Animation
think about key areas of a character versus unseen
or repeated detail. A tip would be to use the space
you save mirroring areas to include other parts that
game features under the hood also be able to do things like persistent props and
animation and
Houdini for VFX,
David Lam, lead cinematic animator, Naughty Dog clothing, so that if a character is carrying a shotgun lighting and
rendering
in a player-controlled sequence, they will be
you would otherwise not have space for; or just carrying a shotgun in the cutscene, too.”
increase the pixel depth of current elements.”
For 3D artists like Mariano, achieving realistic CAPTURING EVERY NUANCE
texture effects relies on a lot of experimentation Likewise, new developments in performance
and cross-rendering. “I’d say my process is 60 per capture will ease the ambitions of studios
cent ZBrush and 40 per cent Photoshop. It’s all a as they enter the next-generation of
mix of brushes, alpha techniques and texture video game cinematics. Remedy
compositions. Plus having the patience to test all licensed Dimensional Imaging’s
that again and again, until it looks the way you DI4D facial performance
want it to.” technology for its Xbox One
So what can we expect to see from the next wave video game Quantum Break
of consoles? “The one thing we’re discussing is – a technology that can
doing 100 per cent real-time cutscenes,” says derive very high-definition
HOW TO
CREATE AN
IMMERSIVE
CUTSCENE
“Participatory
camera styles
are engaging
and can make
you feel more
than a spectator.
The character
sees the same
thing the player
sees at the same
time, which can
really connect
the audience.”
Shaun Escayg, Axis Animation’s
lead cinematics director Ben Hibon
animator, worked on the 2D
Naughty Dog animatics and
storyboarding for
the Fable Legends
launch trailer
DIR EC TOR’S CU T [ 29 ]
BE CONFIDENT
WITH YOUR
ABILITIES
“Love what you
do. Focus on one
thing and keep it
going – study hard
and put time into
your work.
Wonderful jobs
will come
with time.”
Mariano Steiner,
3D artist
GREY MATTER
Krillbite’s monochromatic new tale prompts you to live life in colour
I
nspired by the work of artists such as you take control of a passing butterfly. “A
Michal Sawtyruk and James Gilleard, this is game about commuting to work in itself is
the story of a grey-faced character making rather boring,” designer Adrian Tingstad
his way to his grey job in a grey city. Husby says. “These sequences provide spice
Though you often find yourself naturally to an otherwise bleak experience.”
following the crowds, Mosaic tries to tempt Mosaic hopes to make players think twice,
you from your daily routine. “Colour is encouraging them to stray from the path
deeply connected to the narrative and the and into another reality. “We’re trying to mix
shifting emotional state of the protagonist,” a stylised and a realistic look,” Aske says. “I
art lead Karoline O Aske says. A yellow think this contrast evokes a familiar feeling,
sunbeam to your left might draw you to a but also a place where you feel like you don’t
rare patch of quiet nature in the city, before belong.” Prepare to set foot in the city
you continue on. Surreal, daydream-like yourself when Mosaic releases on PC and
sequences turn up more colour: at one point consoles later in 2019.
GALLERY [ 31 ]
Aske on Mosaic’s
contrasting art style: “We’re
using a minimalist shape
language, harsh contours
and smooth gradients, but
lighting and texture towards
making an immersive and
relatable place.”
[ 32 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
PRESS X We speak to
leading artists
TO SKIP
and studios to
find out how they
make video game
cinematics you
won’t want to skip
PR ESS X TO SKIP [ 33 ]
C
inematics are crucial to the world of We’ve gathered a host of leading industry experts to
video games and, although they rarely find out how they’re made.
receive the same attention as in-game
elements, they serve a variety of THE EXPERTS
purposes, from advancing the story of a game to As one of the UK’s oldest and largest game
promoting its release. According to Hungarian developers, Creative Assembly has a wealth of
studio Digic Pictures, game cinematics are a special experience in crafting memorable cinematics,
genre of full-CG short films, sitting somewhere particularly for their Total War series. “In our early
between VFX and 3D animation. games, cinematics included the game introduction
There’s an art to creating cinematics that are and specific narrative moments,” say the team at
compelling enough to go toe to toe with gameplay, Creative Assembly’s Horsham studio. “The in-
or convince people to buy a game in the first place. engine tools that we developed for Rome: Total War
[ 34 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
ANATOMY
OF A SCENE
Creative Assembly break down their pipeline for
creating striking game cinematics
First we get a brief – either Voice actors are selected and any animatic is now slowly being
? from the game team or audio required for lip syncing is updated, replacing each live-action
marketing team. From there we’ll recorded. Assets such as character shot with the final 3D assets. We
agree a basic concept and create a models, rigs and props are realised, have a suite of powerful in-house
rip-o-matic. The rip-o-matic conveys along with any scenes that require cinematic tools at our disposal to
the very early vision of what we pre-vis due to their complexity. use. This includes a tool that allows
ultimately want to achieve. They’re us to sequence together in-game
usually built out of stock film Once the animatic is signed off, animations, which means we don’t
footage, stills and footage we shoot ? the team moves into the early have to rely on the game logic to
ourselves to fill in the gaps. It’s key production phase where acting make the characters perform
for visualising the narrative piece performances are rehearsed ahead specific actions.
and allows the team to determine of recording all the motion capture.
the timelines and budget. Usually we’ll perform ourselves, and The final sequences are
this is a great opportunity to get ? rendered out of the in-game
The next stage is the most creative and really immerse yourself engine and placed into Adobe
? important stage, and that’s to into the character you are playing. Premiere, where the shots are edited
create an animatic, based off the and composited until the sequence
rip-o-matic. We begin to build the Once we have the motion- is final, and to the high quality that
sequences up exactly as we’ll see
? capture data the performances we expect.
them in the final asset, weaving in are modified and camera creation
the early script into a more refined within the 3D software begins. We
visual sequence, adding in any have a dedicated team of cinematic
storyboard work and replacing all artists and animators who work
the stock footage with live action of closely together, modifying camera
ourselves. We do this as we often tracks and working up the motion-
find that the live action introduces capture performances required for
nuances you wouldn’t have thought each shot. The team at this stage are
of from a hand-drawn storyboard. in full production. The original
PR ESS X TO SKIP [ 37 ]
Above: Platige’s The mocap session for the trailer saw GoPro have a stylised, classical animation style, and there
cinematic trailer for
Skull & Bones, by cameras mounted on the heads of stunt performers. are others who are better with quick cut actions, or
Ubisoft, debuted at Jablonski adds: “Thanks to our incredible stunt who take inspiration from classical filmmaking.”
E3 2017.
team, under the direction of Maciek Kwiatkowski, After choosing a director appropriate for the
we managed to shoot all the underground combat project, Digic respond to a brief sent by the client
sequences in one take.” The trailer introduces a with a preliminary narrative package and a script.
plethora of memorable characters and even “This way, it’s possible to easily clarify what kind of
homages The Shining. film tools we want to use for the cinematic,” adds
“The actions of our protagonist, the brutality and Vicze. To gain a better understanding of the
desire to climb to the very top of the vampire approach the team gather examples from well-
hierarchy in the city, are mirrored, somewhat known movies: “We make a rip-o-matic version
abstractly, in the blood which slowly overwhelms where we can show what kind of camera tools,
the city,” he says of the trailer’s final shot, which lenses and editing styles we want to use.” Alongside
shows a visually arresting wave of blood about to this process, the team at Digic will undergo a visual
wipe out the entire Seattle waterfront. development process, where they will develop the
Digic Pictures’ approach to storytelling varies mood, set design, costume design, character design,
depending on the demands of a particular lighting and the main setting.
cinematic. “It depends on what story the customer For Gariazzo being a part of this creative process
wishes to tell, and what the particular story is the ultimate reward: “The final results look
requires,” says narrative director Csaba Vicze. “We incredible. It’s a wonderful feeling when you see
work with a variety of directors and each of them is your work move through the pipe and see what
exceptional in different ways. There are those who other people have brought to it. You slowly piece the
Platige began as
a studio comprised
of a dozen people,
focused on
producing
commercials and
music videos.
[ 38 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
Digic Pictures’
THE headquarters in
Budapest, Hungary.
recommend co-workers as well, it’s a good practice could be a huge advantage, how they are created, the
for everyone involved,” she adds. engines, different types of gameplay, and so on. By
Whether applying to work at a studio or setting building a portfolio this way you’ll be able to hone
out as a freelancer, a good portfolio is the ultimate in on your preferred field. For many of the most
weapon in your arsenal. “You need to have a good experienced artists, there is little difference between
portfolio to land a job,” asserts Gariazzo. “If you game cinematics, VFX or 3D animation films.
don’t have any professional work, then work on Jakub Jablonski boils success down to some more
some personal projects and make them look as fundamental qualities. “In my opinion, a good
good as you can until you get offered something, artist working in a studio like ours has to have good
and then do your best on that.” communication skills, a healthy fascination with
According to Digic, the bigger the studio is, the CGI and a desire for self-improvement.
more specific skill sets they will be looking for. This Independence and self-reliance are also very
is where a wide-ranging knowledge of CG will important traits, and many in our industry tend to
become helpful. In the game cinematics industry, a forget how important these qualities are for their
deeper knowledge of video game development personal, technical and artistic development.”
Founded by
Andrew G Vajna
and Rabb Sándor
Alex, Digic
currently employs
over 250 people.
Digic Motion
started with 12
Vicon T160
cameras, before
upgrading two
years ago, with 24
more cameras and
four Faceware
GoPro HMCs.
[ 40 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
N
ostalgia hits people in fully embraced as art yet, perhaps easy on a technical level, you still
waves every few it’s a natural fit for people with that have to learn your art basics to
decades. When these independent, artistic sensibility. have good lighting, colours,
waves break, we tend to “Of course pixel art anatomy and composition. But in
see what we grew up with recycled stems primarily from general, pixel art is very friendly
by the media and sold back to us. games,” says graphic to beginners.
In the case of pixel art however, a artist Richard
community of creators are Schmidbauer, who was Does pixel art put people off
producing images in first blown away by the pixel-based because of its games heritage?
the medium that go beyond graphics in Blizzard’s Blackthorne It definitely alienates some. It’s
mainstream acceptance. for the Commodore 64. “But it’s the same for other styles, such as
Given that pixel art has strong Raymond Schlitter’s really bled into other forms of art in comics/manga/anime. They all
pixel art often features
connections to video games, a contrasts, both visually
come out of the entertainment
medium itself which hasn’t been and conceptually.
Pixel art has industry and it’s hard to break the
connection that they’re just a by-
bled into other product. You won’t see them in
traditional art galleries, but that’s
forms of art in the a problem for the outside world.
We just need to stop seeking
past few years external validation, and take
ourselves as seriously as we want.
the past few years. You tend to see it When you grow up and start
in videos, clothing and pop culture. caring less about what others
It’s become so popular because a lot think of you, you can just enjoy
of people who grew up with those doing what you love. As we start
games are now creating various putting up our own art shows
things. So most people today are and comic-cons and esport
used to seeing pixel art as a medium events, the tables will turn.
of expression.”
Pixel artist and game
designer Raymond Matej is a game development
Schlitter, AKA Slynyrd, expert who runs Retronator, a
daily news site dedicated to
has a deep-seated pixel art.
affinity to the aesthetic,
www.matejjan.com
having grown up in the 80s and 90s.
[ 42 ] FROM SKETCH TO SCR EEN
“I instantly felt at home with pixels,” Richard creates his pixel “Pixel art is art first, pixels second,” blocky space and colours, and still
art using Pro Motion NG
he says. “Part of it is fuelled by and Aseprite. “Both he says. “There’s a layer of have it read well.
nostalgia, but I can also justify my programs are on Steam knowledge specific to pixel art, but “However, the main constraints of
and really cheap.”
passion objectively. Pixel art offers you can see the artistic the medium are also its biggest
the control I demand, while its fundamentals at work underneath. If strength. You have to work within
restrictions help funnel my rampant the foundation isn’t there, then no this frame, but you won’t have to
creativity in order to capture my amount of polish can save you.” worry so much about other things.
visions efficiently.” “The main constraints of pixel art You can’t add large amounts of
would be the limitations in resolution detail and lose yourself in that
PIXEL PRACTICALITIES and palette,” says Richard. “You because there’s just not enough
For Matej Jan, a pixel really have to work in a more space. It leaves you more time to
artist who also edits impressionistic way. You have to try focus on the important parts, like
Retronator, a blog to describe a shape with the limited composition. I find it
dedicated to the really liberating.”
medium, the restrictions
of pixel art makes it as distinct an art
The restrictions of pixel art For pixel artist Jubilee,
the creation process is
form as oil paintings or watercolours. help funnel my creativity very soothing, “I started
Growing up, Jubilee was blown away almost like you’re building an image with. It’s one less step to worry
by scenery in video game cut scenes.
“I paid more attention to the rather than illustrating.” about,” advises Richard
background than the dialogue.” If you do feel like paying for actual
pixel software, Richard estimates BROAD APPEAL
that you’re only looking at forking The growth of the pixel art
out around $40 or thereabouts. “But community means there are also
even Photoshop works for pixel art,” plenty of creators to learn from. Take
he adds. Matej’s Retronator blog (www.
“And before you get into building retronator.com), which started life
your own palettes, don’t hesitate to as his personal art Tumblr back in
try out famous and freely available 2010. Today he estimates that it
palettes, such as Dawn Bringer 32. attracts 30,000 readers who are
They are very good and fun to work keen to see what’s going on in the
PIXEL ART [ 45 ]
INSIDER
INSIGHTS
[58] UNCHARTED 4
Environment artist Martin
Teichmann takes us through
a day at Naughty Dog
[78] DESTINY 2
Jesse van Dijk, art director of Destiny 2, reveals
how the unique sci-fi world was created
THE ART OF
THEBES ENTRANCE
Assassin’s Creed Origins is set in the
ancient Egyptian empire. Franchise
art director Raphael Lacoste shows
the entrance to the city of Thebes.
[ 50 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
ALEXANDRIA
The city of Alexandria is a storied
place, one full of bloody history.
It’s reimagined here by senior
concept artist Gilles Beloeil.
W
atch a film
and you’re an
observer. But
v
play a game g
and you’re a participant. For U
Raphael Lacoste, art director
of Ubisoft’s hugely popular
a
Assassin’s Creed franchise, v
this is an important g
distinction. Growing up in
the 80s, Raphael played games like Pitfall,
U
v Another World and Rick Dangerous, a a SPECTACULAR STREETS
g platformer inspired by Indiana Jones. But m Martin Deschambault, senior
concept artist, takes us into the past
U even then, Raphael looked past point-
scoring, beating the boss and completing
c and through the spectacular streets
of the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
a the levels. He was interested in the story. i
v “It’s funny to remember that visual n
g quality at this time wasn’t a big issue,” the
Frenchman says, “because our
z What I love the most is
U v
a
imagination was taking over. The
rendering was really abstract, but the x to be able to freely explore
v experience was still immersive.”
Later on, Tomb Raider – the boss level
d an immersive world
g in particular – scared him. Playing j
U Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Abe’s y
a Oddysee changed something in the young
man. Again, he felt “immersed in the
1
v game experience.” 2
g Raphael says: “If you watch a movie g
a then you’re moved and transported by the
characters and their story – you enter their
4
v world – but for the most part you receive 3
g information. You’re just a spectator. In v
A VIOLENT PAST
In the pre-production stage, Raphael and his team are
looking for an “interesting” moment in history. And by
interesting, they mean violent and duplicitous.
THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CR EED OR IGINS [ 51 ]
STORYBOARDING
Martin Deschambault works up a storyboard, as the team
attempts to transform a good idea into a great game.
v
y
w
BAYEK FACING THE BRIGHT WALL
In this piece for Assassin’s Creed Origins, Raphael wanted to create a simple, graphically
a composed image that represents “a moment of exploration” in the mountains of Egypt
v
z 1 Light and shadow
I start with a black and white composition,
q defining the overall light direction but also the simple,
w vertical shape of the door. I want to have two guards in
v the entrance of the temple, with Bayek facing the bright
wall. The strong light on the wall creates an interesting
g contrast with the hero standing in the shade.
0
a
v
g
The painting
3 I get rid of the original sketch and focus on the painting. I want to use a
simple colour palette for the overall mood and saturation in the indirect lighting
and shadows, even if the overall mood looks pretty monochromatic. I like the
values in the shade and the local colours of the sandstone.
Graphical composition
2 I set a new layer to Multiply mode to keep an eye
on my original concept, and then start to add textures
and colours, while maintaining my original graphical
composition. I gradually reduce the Opacity of the
sketch, which enables me to work on the values,
shading and details.
a HETEPI
v Hetepi, a priest, by Jeff
Simpson. The character’s
g mask represent the
Egyptian god Anubis,
g who’s associated
with the afterlife.
U
a
v
g
u
5
g
Why recreate
reality? I love to
reconstruct reality
and create new
environments
then, he wasn’t interested in copying the
world around him. Instead, he wanted to
create brand new worlds.
“Why recreate reality? It surrounds us.
It’s sometimes beautiful, sometimes
disturbing. Reality can drive us to feel
complex emotions and have deep
thoughts. But I love to reconstruct reality
in order to create new environments that
push us to wonder, and allow us to
escape reality.
a “I like to blend cultures and
v landscapes, often exotic ones, to create
something new, something different.
g What could an Icelandic landscape
e combined with the architecture of the
a ancient city of Petra look like? Or
imaginary castles that defy gravity on a
v background of exaggerated Norwegian
z mountain peaks? My objective is to
U create fantastic worlds of what could
have been.”
a
v CREATIVE UPBRINGING
g Raphael studied at Bordeaux’s School
Adjustments and adding atmosphere U ofworked
Fine Arts and Decorative Arts, and
as a photographer and set
5 I make some minor tweaks to boost the atmosphere. This is the stage when I carry a designer at a theatre company. He
out colour balancing and saturation edits. I work on light diffusion, helping to further define e enjoyed the work, but it didn’t pay
the sunlight’s direction. The final painting retains the original aim of the initial sketch, but
brings this location to life with the overall mood, colour and storytelling elements.
g much. In 1997, his dad – who also
played games with Raphael and taught
4 him photography – bought him a
[ 54 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
Research is our
homework. It’s the
most creative time
artistically, and also
a quiet period
PLANTATIONS
The franchise has never shied away
from history’s darkest moments. This
is one of Gilles Beloeil’s concepts for
sugar plantations.
HUNTRESS
Character design
by concept artist Jeff
Simpson. The team
was encouraged to
experiment with new
ideas in the early
stages of production.
THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CR EED OR IGINS [ 55 ]
a WHITE DESERT
v Raphael Lacoste conveys how
hot, vast and unforgiving the
g White Desert is – one of
Origin’s new settings.
U
a
v
g
U
g
a
5
v AYA
In Origins, you take on the
g role of Bayek and his wife
Aya, seen in this concept
e by Vincent Gaigneux.
a
v
z
U
a
computer. He learned 3ds Max, created MEMPHIS the Assassin’s Creed franchise. In October history.” It has to be something exciting, a
Memphis, as
his first demo piece, and built up a
portfolio. He received a diploma from
painted by Martin
Deschambault. The
2017, Ubisoft released the tenth
instalment: Assassin’s Creed Origins.
with a bit of mystery to it, an
“inspirational playground” for both
v
what’s now called the ENJMIN Institute
city was the capital of
Egypt during the Raphael’s job changes as a game goes player and developer. g
of Game Design, then secured a job as an third millennium, a
time known as the
through its many development stages. At Once that’s in place, they define some U
environment designer at the French
developer, Kalisto Entertainment.
Old Kingdom, or the
Age of the Pyramids.
first, he and the team focus on research,
doing their “homework”: lots of concept
set pieces, work up illustrations to “sell”
the chosen world and characters, and
a
Kalisto went bankrupt in 2002, but art, sketching, drawing and painting. “It’s then start thinking about a hero. These v
then Ubisoft called and Raphael took the the most creative time, artistically,” says first month are full of creative freedom. g
company up on its offer. He moved to
Montreal, Canada, and became an art
Raphael, “and also a quiet period.”
The team explores specific time
Anything could happen. The game could
go anywhere. Raphael finds the blank
U
director at the games publisher. Raphael periods and locations. They try to find page both stressful and thrilling. He’s a
now works as the brand art director on “an interesting pivotal moment of happy to try things, let them fail, then
x DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
v
g
“NOBODY WANTS TO The team enlisted
historians and
Egyptologists for
BE AN ART DIRECTOR”
help. Their attention
to detail seen in
x characters like
Hetepi, painted here
v Raphael says young artists shouldn’t be thinking about going into by Jeff Simpson.
AUTHENTICITY
Critics have praised
Assassin’s Creed
Origins’ historical
authenticity,
something Raphael
and his team paid
particular attention to.
THE ART OF ASSASSIN’S CR EED OR IGINS [ 57 ]
a
v
g
U
a
v
g
U
a
v
g
U
a
v
g
HISTORY ALIVE U
Senior creative director
Jean-Claude Golvin brought
history to life with bird’s eye
views of the ancient world.
DEPARTING – AND RETURNING “I felt that I needed new challenges,” he learned a lot at Rodeo, like mastering
In February 2007, Raphael finished work says, “I wanted to learn new things.” image composition, rendering, technical
on the first Assassin’s Creed and decided He went to work at visual effects firm skills in Photoshop and even working in
to leave the game’s industry. Rodeo FX, a small company at that time, 3D software. I still use what I learned
creating matte paintings and concept art there now. But I felt that my job as a
Our levels are complex to for films such as Death Race, Terminator
Salvation, and Journey to the Center of
matte painter for film was a little too
technical, less creative.”
create, and need to be epic the Earth.
“The film industry is older than the
And it was creativity that ultimately
won. You watch a movie, but you play a
and memorable video game industry,” says Raphael. “I game: “So I decided to come back.”
[ 58 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
N
aughty Dog are one of and was part of the team that level art, including buildings,
vegetation and other
the best-known video designed the levels in the best- objects players may
game developers in the selling and multi-award-winning encounter in the game.
world. Creators of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Martin
critically acclaimed titles including modelled the buildings, vegetation
Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, and objects in many of the game’s
Uncharted and The Last Of Us – the environments, helping transform
company’s portfolio of games is them from concept artwork to
renowned not just for their iconic captivating, interactive landscapes.
characters and engaging Here, Martin walks us through a
storytelling, but for its aesthetic day during an important part of the
quality as well. development process: the play test.
Martin Teichmann is an This is where testers will put
environment artist at Naughty Dog, Martin’s level through its paces.
GETTING READY
FOR THE TEST
9.30am
My role is to create the
shapes of buildings,
objects, vegetation and
other details. We edit levels using
Maya computer animation and
modelling software. Today is the
day of the play test, so I make
some final tweaks to my level
design to make sure it’s playable.
The last thing I want is the testers
getting stuck within the level or
the gameplay mechanics not
working as they should.
LITTLE TWEAKS
3pm
When changes are
being made, I have to
make sure they don’t
interfere with the gameplay
mechanics or other aspects of
design. For this level, I had a
wardrobe I needed to put in
and I had to look around for
ages to find where I could place
it, but later a designer
mentioned that it was blocking
another bit of the scenery that
they had included. That is the
most challenging part of the
A single level in Uncharted 4 process, I feel.
could take three to four
months to construct.
FINISHING TOUCHES
6pm
Game tests are going
on almost constantly
until the very end of
production. People play the
level differently, so you get
© Naughty Dog/ Artstation, Martin Teichmann
DIGITAL FOUNDRY
Goat Simulator’s creators get real with a dazzlingly dynamic factory builder
T
his time, Coffee Stain is playing by the Joakim Sjöö says. “I think this will become
rules. While its previous project, Goat visible to players as their factories grow bigger
Simulator, revelled in going off the and the landscape transforms into industry.”
rails, Satisfactory is all about the The aim is to “explore and exploit”, by
pleasure of creating a perfectly interlocking drilling, digging and chainsawing your way
set of your own to ride. Vibrantly coloured, through lush alien planets to construct the
lavishly detailed machinery gleams in the sun ultimate factory. “We wanted the player to be
in this firstperson open-world building sim. Its the factory constructor,” Sjöö explains.
art style is a combination of various factors “Playing the game from ground level, seeing
including life studies, art found online and buildings tower above you and exploring the
game-engine limitations. “We’ve always had a wild in first-person made so much sense to
conflict in mind between machine and nature, us.” Satisfactory is out now as an early access
hard surface versus organic,” art director release, available on PC.
GALLERY [ 61 ]
STUDIO
PROFILE
CD PROJEKT RED
The Polish studio behind The
C
D Projekt Red is the Polish game system that’s due for release in
games studio that’s best April 2020.
Witcher series tells Tom May known for The Witcher series With all this creative activity, a wide
about its move to sci-fi and of fantasy role-playing games,
based on the monster hunter series of
variety of artists are needed at the
Warsaw-based firm, says character art
why it’s the fans that matter novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. It’s also director Paweł
moving into the world of sci-fi in the Mielniczuk. “Our artists’
form of Cyberpunk 2077, an open-world specialities range from
role-playing game based on the concept design, to organic
Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop role-playing and hard surface
All images © CD Projekt Red CD PROJEK T R ED [ 63 ]
A dramatic moment
from Cyberpunk 2077.
Paweł Mielniczuk says
that, “If I were to
describe our visual
style, it would probably
be ‘extremely detailed’.”
An ice giant
“We’ve had three games and two from The Witcher
expansions to perfect Geralt as a 3. “We put a lot of
character,” says Michał Stec, on the love and hard work
protagonist from The Witcher series. into our characters,”
says Paweł.
[ 64 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
Previously at Comperia.
pl S.A., Agnieszka is
now a member of the
marketing department
“I like to think of the
studio as a big family,”
at CD Projekt Red.
says Agnieszka Momot.
“The mood here is en.cdprojektred.com
always so great!”
[ 66 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
giving players the ability to shape their card illustrator, and one of the artists
own character rather than using an If you have an idea and creating the redesigned look of the
already defined one… in many ways,
this has required us to rethink our want to share it, you can, board for Gwent,” she explains. “It was
really cool to see my work and the work
approach toward making games.”
One thing that helps the studio meet
and people will listen of my colleagues come together in such
a short amount of time – from
these challenges is its democratic “Knowing that
prototypes and concepts, to
approach to ideas-sharing, Michał adds. chaos and a huge dose of fun. The studio this is your animated, almost living
game you’re
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been is made up of loads of talented, working on is
environments featuring fully 3D,
at the studio or what position you hold hardworking people and I think you can tremendously realistic characters.”
empowering,”
– if you have an idea and want to share feel it being here.” says Michał.
Bogna uses a Wacom tablet with
it, you can, and people will listen,” he Photoshop for painting, and
says. “And if the idea is really good, it DEALING A NEW HAND an iPad with Procreate for
may very well end up in the game and Right now, the biggest part of Bogna’s sketching. “I also do some
make it better.” daily work is creating art for 3D work; when I do, it’s
Illustrator/illustration coordinator Thronebreaker, which recently launched mostly Blender, but not
Bogna Gawronska on PC. It’s a spin-off RPG that blends The exclusively.” But whatever
describes the atmosphere Witcher’s in-fiction collectible card game, project she works on, her
at the studio as: “Friendly, called Gwent, with an isometric RPG. biggest sense of satisfaction
constantly motivating, “It was a challenge and a real blast to be comes from feedback from
with a pinch of creative able to work on both projects, as both a the public. “I have one of
CD PROJEK T R ED [ 69 ]
Y
ou work as a concept artist at problem with your hatch, that part of the gameplay function of being able to cover
video games developer 343 vehicle that covers the player. They don’t COMPOSED the player is more important than some
“This image was done
Industries. You’ve just finished think it looks good at all. In fact, they near the ship date of aesthetic preference. Therefore, they can
designing a vehicle for the new think it’s ugly. Halo 5: Guardians as a make the right decision for the project,
magazine cover
Halo. You’re pleased with it, this assault So you and your fellow concept artist proposal. It was tricky knowing what’s most important
vehicle. You like the energy weapon, the look to the head of the table, to Darren because there were so according to the pillar.”
many compositional
anti-gravity propulsion system, the hatch Bacon, lead concept artist on the Halo
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
elements going on.”
on top that covers the player. It’s franchise. He thinks for a minute, then
functional, but it looks good too. At least, points at something stuck up on the wall It doesn’t matter whether or not your
you think it looks good. – an overriding idea that helps guide the hatch is ugly. What really matters is that
You take your concept into a meeting production process. He’s pointing at a your hatch serves its purpose. This,
with the rest of the team. Somebody “project pillar.” Darren says, is where things get a bit
speaks up. A fellow concept artist doesn’t “If a project pillar is ‘gameplay first,’” weird, a bit paradoxical. Your concept art
like your design. This person’s got a the American says, “it’s easier for a team can be both good and bad at the same
designing a vehicle with a disputed ‘ugly’ time. It can succeed in being functional,
hatch on top to know what action to but be less successful as a standalone
Artist take. To solve the discrepancy, the teams piece of art.
PROFILE knows, at a project level, that the Your work may still be very good. It’s
95 per cent of the way there. But the
Darren Bacon
LOCATION: US
FAVOURITE ARTISTS: Syd Mead, Doug
If a project pillar is difference between creating a very good
piece concept art and a truly great one all
Chiang, Ralph McQuarrie
SOFTWARE USED: Photoshop, Modo
‘gameplay first’ then it’s easier comes down to the hardest part – that
final five per cent. So how do you get to
WEB: www.darrenbacon.com
to know what action to take 100 per cent?
HALO [ 71 ]
HUMAN SPACE
“In Halo lore, one of the ships (left)
comes back to Earth for an update,
and in the background we can see
the next generation of the fleet being
constructed in low Earth orbit.”
GUARDIAN FALL
“My greatest challenge on Halo 5: All I
was told was that Master Chief falls or
fights his way down the spine of this
giant alien robot-weapon. I had to try to
figure out what that would look like.”
TAKING HARSH CRITICISM One of the greatest things all the time, while also keeping your
For Darren’s first ever job in art, he had head above water on the workload and
to come up with drawings that served a
purpose… a pretty dull purpose. This
about my time in school was hitting certain milestones along the way.
“I would say one of the greatest things
was back in high school. His art teacher learning to take criticism about my time in school was learning to
put him in touch with someone who was take harsh criticism. Learning to get
writing a manual about oil. Darren had thousand dollars or so, at such a very comfortable taking and applying
to draw a selection illustrations of oil young age, that formed an incredible criticism can be a discipline all in itself.”
workers performing various storage and shift in my mindset about becoming an Darren describes 343 Industries, a
transfer procedures. artist professionally.” studio of several hundred people, as
“It wasn’t the most exciting work,” he Darren studied entertainment design GLASS EXPLORATION being like a big ship. Once it sets off, it’s
says, “but I’m very thankful for at the ArtCenter College of Design in “This was illustrated very difficult to turn around. Far better
for the franchise team,
the experience. Looking back, it was kind Pasadena, California. College was a exploring ideas around
to point the thing in the right direction
of remarkable what a huge impact that stressful experience, but stressful in the surviving pioneers in the first place. Project pillars help keep
analysing their ruined,
had on me. Because, even though I only best possible way: “There was a lot of glassed planet from
the ship on course. But even more
made a few hundred or maybe a pressure to generate a lot of quality work Halo Reach.” important, something that Darren keeps
coming back to, is “studio culture.” This
is what guarantees smooth sailing.
AGREE TO DISAGREE
Studio culture means a number of
different things. Communication is one.
If somebody thinks a hatch is ugly, they
should feel comfortable enough to say
so. But they’ve also got to be flexible and
make compromises. If they’re overruled
on the hatch, they have to “disagree and
commit.” Darren calls it “growth
mindset.” Instead of being a know-it-all,
you need to be a “learn-it-all.” You also
have to be able to build on other people’s
work. It’s a collaborative process. So take
the criticism and crack on, just like
Darren did in college. But he understands
that it’s not always an easy thing to do.
“Art can be such a personal expression.
Making art commercially puts us artists
in a vulnerable position. What was once
HALO [ 73 ]
FORERUNNER TEMPLE
“This is a good example of a 3D environment art draw-over.
I’d work with the 3D environment artist who’s designed a
loose 3D art block-in, which they’d like help ‘arting’ out.”
[ 74 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
BATTLE OF SUNAION
Darren talks us through the concept art that was created for a level in Halo 5: Guardians
2 AN ILLUSTRATIVE LOOK
“For this type of task one of my favourite ways to work is to find a
sketch I’m happy with, lock a camera to that image in 3D, and
build out some basic geometry to establish the scene. I try to
resolve foreground elements in 3D if I can, because then the
closest information to the camera is the most structurally solid.
Detail and structure can then dissipate to indication, as elements
fade to the background of the scene. I can hand-paint that
information in to save time and retain a more illustrative look.”
3 HARMONISING PROCESS
“While finishing a painting I like to work from background to
foreground, ideally. Once I get the bulk of the image laid in as a
sketch or 3D, I find it helpful to resolve the background first and let
that dictate the rest of the image’s fidelity. I can indicate a lot of
details in the background, and build in more information as I move
forward to the foreground. In the foreground my efforts go into
‘breaking’ the 3D and harmonising it with the rest of the image.”
HALO [ 75 ]
UTOPIA
“Here I was playing with utopian sci-fi
ideas in a simple line art sketch. My
goal was to be as economical
as possible in getting my idea out
in an efficient way.”
4 BACK TO FRONT
“I’ve included this step to show my thinking on working
back to front. This new element on the right is in the
mid-ground, and starts to get built in ‘paint’ as I work
closer to the camera in the painting.”
5 IN THE FOREGROUND
“I’ve moved to the foreground and can see the finish. A
lot of the data I want to have in the final is now in the
image, and it’s now more about finishing details,
harmonising and tweaking the image overall.”
6 FINAL IMAGE
“I’ve continued adding balance to the piece, and put in
a few last-minute narrative details,such as the shadows
on the central structure, to add the illusion of more of
the banshee’s [a flying vehicle] presence out of frame.”
MARSH CAVE
“I was given the geometry
of this area from Halo 5 and
asked to draw over it for
the 3D artists, so they had
something to build from.”
of studio comes to when they want to I usually can tell quickly if work of his favourite concept artists, guys
talk about concept art.
The big breakthrough is the first time things aren’t meeting my from the 1970s and 1980s, the
innovators: Syd Mead, Doug Chiang and
the team gets to play it. This will be a
very rough version, an early build, but it’s
personal benchmark Ralph McQuarrie.
These artists knew how to get that
the moment the game begins to feel real. final five per cent, the bit that separates
Darren reckons artists and game quickly if things aren’t meeting my the good and the great, the work that has
developers would happily refine and personal benchmark. Getting the feel for a real voice. Darren believes there’s only a
tinker indefinitely, but he’s also a big that probably just takes a while, looking very small percentage of artists who
believer in deadlines, because a bit of at art and media, and my personal know how to do that.
pressure invariably leads to better work. obsession of continually improving my “Imagine an exponential curve. Far to
So how does he know when something’s own art.” the right are the final few percentage
done, when he needs to stop refining points that are nearly seen straight up,
and tinkering? THAT FINAL FIVE PER CENT like a wall. Prior to that point, artistic or
“A lot of it has to do with when On Darren’s desk sit a couple of large design achievement is easy-ish to obtain,
I’m not really offended by it any more. monitors and a Wacom Intuos tablet. He BACKGROUND so many can get fairly far down the
Both in personal art and game mainly uses Photoshop, with Modo for DESIGN curve. The artists who know how to get
“A concept piece
assets, I tend to have pretty high 3D work. He’s working digitally, but his done for a specific up that final wall of the graph are very
expectations, and I usually can tell aim is emulate the traditionally painted shot of a cinematic rare, and that wall is what I’m struggling
from Halo 5.”
to hit and get up every day, and it’s what
keeps me motivated.”
Darren doesn’t have a foolproof
method for making great concept art. But
he has the next best thing. Early on in his
career, Darren received some useful
advice from a co-worker. The advice was
simply put: “Make your art look beautiful
to you.”
“I’d been struggling and kind of
frozen trying to paint key art. He was
helping me with an image and had me
start to focus on just painting it to look
good to me, and not worry about
anything else. The neat thing about
working like this is that, over time, as you
figure out what it is you like and what
inspires you, your work will start to
develop its own voice.”
HALO [ 77 ]
GROTTO
“This was part of an environment art
palette on the planet Sanghelios in
Halo 5. It was done for the environment
art team to define this section of the
game and to expand on the art style.”
TSUNAMI
“This drawing was
done over specific
designer geometry to
help the environment
artist solve the
aesthetics
in this space.”
HALSEY
“This image helped
sell the idea and to
get all the teams on
the same page.
It shipped and can
be seen in-game
during the opening
mission of Halo 5.”
[ 78 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
Artist Portfolio
J
esse van Dijk wants three things to says the art director, who is originally
happen when you look at his from Amsterdam but now lives and
work. He wants you to relate to it, works in Seattle, US.
remember it, and to feel in some “But it’s just what fundamentally
way surprised by what you see. He motivates me to do the work I do: a
paints imaginary places that are all in desire to go to these strange, alien
some way a version of a fantasy of places from the comfort of my couch. DESTINY FULFILLED as Doom and Quake. Back then, level
being in another world. I’m a huge sucker for wide open spaces Jesse says great design as a discipline combined both
concept art must be
“Accomplishing all three – relatable, and epic views, rich with possibilities. three things: relatable, art and game design, so he learned the
memorable, surprising – in a single The ones that raise more questions memorable, and basics of encounter design and general
surprising. But he
piece virtually never works for me,” than they answer.” admits he rarely nails all design principles (“valuable lessons
After high school, Jesse studied three in a single image. later in my career.”)
industrial design engineering at Delft He dreamed of getting a job at
University of Technology. The course Guerrilla Games. At the time, the
included more maths and physics than Dutch developer was at that time
visual design. He loved using drawings working on the first in its Killzone
Jesse Van Dijk to sell the viewer an idea. But doing series. Jesse applied for roles there
LOCATION: US this for coffee machines and vacuum
FAVOURITE ARTISTS: John Harris, Zdzisław
´
Beksinski and Peter Gric. The art styles of
classic films such as Solaris, Stalker and Time
cleaners didn’t really get him going.
“I was a mediocre student,” he admits.
I’m a huge sucker for wide
Bandits also influenced Destiny 2
SOFTWARE USED: 3ds Max
Around this time, he started to put
a lot of time into making custom maps
open spaces and epic views,
WEB: www.jessevandijkart.com
for first-person shooter games such rich with possibilities
DESTIN Y 2 [ 79 ]
ENGINEERED ART
Jesse studied industrial design
engineering – drawing coffee
machines and vacuum cleaners –
which helps his vehicles look
meticulously accurate.
EXPLORATION IS KEY
Jesse now works as art director at
Bungie. His team worked on the first-
person shooter Destiny 2, which was
released in September 2017. But what
does that job title mean? And what
exactly does an art director do all day?
“I spend a lot of time in meeting
rooms,” Jesse laughs. His job usually
entails one of two things: creating
new stuff or assessing complete work.
“In the case of the former, the task at
hand often amounts to defining clearly
and concisely what the specific
requirements for a piece of content is,
so that people who are going to work
on it are aligned and work towards a
common goal. In the case of the latter, completion, deciding when to stop BIG QUESTIONS and inviting’? How do we strike
it’s assessing the progress of a given working on it. When starting work a compelling balance between the
on Destiny 2, Jesse
chunk of content, seeing if it does “In preproduction, exploration is asked his team these strange and unfamiliar, and the
indeed solve the problem it was key, whereas during closing it’s highly questions: How do we relatable and the known?” Answers
strike a compelling
intended to solve, and as it nears important to maintain focus on balance between the to these questions will form “pillars”
previously established and agreed- strange and unfamiliar, on which the whole game will be built.
and the relatable and
upon goals.”
Prototyping is KILL THE BAD IDEAS
the known?
The initial phase of a big job like
Destiny 2 is about coming up with an The team then split off into their
like painting. You overarching vision for the game. As an specialist disciplines to prototype.
try out a bunch art director, Jesse wants to define the
tone and the mood of the world he’s
“Prototyping is like painting. You try
out a bunch of ideas to see if they
of ideas to see if creating. He asks himself questions
such as: “What does it look like? What
work. Some do, some don’t. You take
the ones that do, and try to combine
they work does it mean for a world to be ‘hopeful them somehow, while simultaneously
DEST IN Y 2 [ 81 ]
THE FRANCHISE
BUILDER
Before Destiny, Jesse
cut his teeth as a
concept artists at
Guerrilla where he
worked on Killzone 3,
Killzone: Shadow Dall,
and Horizon: Zero
Dawn. “All of those
games have special
places in my heart.”
GAME PILLARS
Before Jesse’s team splits into its various
departments, they have to agree on the game pillars
– the controlling ideas around which everything else
will be built.
VISUALISING
AN OCEAN OF
LIQUID METHANE
Jesse talks us through his process for
creating fascinating new worlds
“I put together this concept artwork to pitch the
concept of going to Titan in Destiny 2. The idea of
travelling to this strange world with an ocean of
liquid methane seemed so compelling.
I imagined what actually colonising this world
would look like: I presumed there would initially be
a steady stream of vehicles dropped in from orbit,
which would slowly accumulate to form some kind
of a flotilla on this moon. This is where the idea for
the construction platforms and the actual arcology
here came from.
In an effort to pre-visualise what the liquid
methane ocean movement could look like, I made
a simple animated version of it in 3ds Max.
Later on I discussed this art and my ideas with the
amazing FX artists who managed to do an awesome
job of creating the final ocean in the game.”
STRANGE WORLD
Jesse used this work-in-progress to pitch ideas for Titan, a “strange
world” with oceans made of methane, he explains.
DESTIN Y 2 [ 83 ]
EPIC VIEWS
The Dutchman loves creating “wide
open spaces and epic views,” and
environments that “raise more
questions than they answer.”
I desire to go to these
strange, alien places from
the comfort of my couch
[ 84 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
enjoyed it most when art directors need to know when to let them go.
would delegate their design problems “Even,” Jesse says, “if they still might
to me, rather than present me with have room for improvement.”
prescribed solutions,” he says. What Jesse finds most rewarding is
“It means I spend a significant seeing artists thrive, watching them
amount of time thinking about how to surpass even his high standards. FUTURE OF GAMES Visual design for film, he says, is all
frame problems in such a way that they “The best moments of working on The thing that excites about storytelling. Visual design for
Jesse most about the
are devoid of unnecessary specifics, Destiny 2 were where a group or an games industry is that it games is also about story, but there’s
and to ensure I never define a vision individual had done something could go in any more to it – more layers.
direction in the future:
further than I need to.” amazing, something nobody was “It’s hard for me to With games, he and his team are
Lastly, being a good art director expecting them to do.” predict what games will building places for the player to roam
look like in 10 years
takes discipline. You must see a project and options for them to explore once
THE UNKNOWN FRONTIER
from now.”
through to the end, ensuring quality, they reach each new location in the
keeping within budget, without As a freelance artist, Jesse worked game’s world. Fitting multiple ideas
burning out your team, he says. in many areas of the entertainment into one cohesive package is a
The same way that you need to know industry, from big book publishers challenge, but it’s what Jesse likes
when to kill a bad idea, you must also to major Hollywood movie studios. about video games.
know when the good ones are finished Each required him to use his skills in “It’s hard for me to predict what
and of a good-enough quality. You a slightly different way. games will look like in ten years from
now, more than it is to imagine what
films will look like at that time,” Jesse
I think of game design as an says. “This is the aspect of game
design as a medium that appeals to
unknown frontier and I’m excited me most. I think of it more as an
unknown frontier and I’m excited
about what the future will bring about what the future will bring.”
DESTIN Y 2 [ 85 ]
Yoshitaka
Amano
From Final Fantasy to working with Neil Gaiman,
one artist has done it all – and in every medium…
H
e’s a busy man, Yoshitaka
Amano. Back in 2008 we
caught up with the iconic
artist while he was
attending San Diego’s Comic-Con
International. At that time he was
splitting his time between two booths,
promoting and signing not one but THE CITY
Amano’s work for Final Fantasy is
two books: Fairies at Dark Horse, and instantly recognisable. Here a giant
Mateki: The Magic Flute, next door at mecha marches on to adventure.
Radical Publishing. Tucked behind
screens that do nothing to dim the
sound, Amano-sensei and his
translator unravelled the origins of
his career as an artist.
“I never really had the inspiration to
become an artist,” Amano explains. “I
Artist
PROFILE
© Yoshitaka Amano
Yoshitaka Amano
This man’s CV reads like a roll call
of everything cool about Japanese
art. Vampire Hunter D, Gatchaman,
Final Fantasy, his Sandman
collaboration with Neil Gaiman and
a whole heap of stunning gallery works too.
www.amanosworld.com
[ 88 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
EXHIBITIONIST
The German highbrow art set
go wild for Amano’s gallery work…
Amano’s artistic influence is global – in 2008, 30 of
his new works at the time were featured in an
exhibition at the Galerie Michael Janssen in Berlin.
The bulk of the exhibit were massive pieces created
using car paints on aluminium panels – as well as
some anime work.
Art critic Dr. Ralf Christofori said of his work,
“Amano’s paintings are a proverbial feast for the
retina. And yet at the same time something seems
to be warning us not to believe our own eyes all too
readily.” Further selections of his work went on show
in Frankfurt and Cologne. Here are a few of his
stunning exhibition pieces.
FUDOU II
One of a pair of massive metallic images, here we see popular DL-IX - THE HITEN SERIES MIROKU II
characters from the Gatchaman series isolated from their Starting in the nineties, his Hiten paintings showed off a more For his massive, eye-bending gallery pieces, Amano captures the
traditional comic book context and left to work alone, their abstract and expressive element to his work, and have been dynamic essence of the bird-being superheroes using the most
expression and pose portraying their story. considered to have thematic similarities to Klimt and von Stuck. untraditional media of polychrome car paint on broad aluminium panels.
YOSHITAK A A M A NO [ 89 ]
SANDMAN
Amano gives
Gaiman’s Dream
of the Endless a
distinctly
Japanese look in
Dream Hunters.
reflection of all the things I was seeing different. While some of the
in 70s art. I was also very influenced technology changes, it’s not
by Western art.” continuous. Each one, to me, stands
He began his career doing character alone, so deciding which piece or Final
designs for anime such as Gatchaman, Fantasy title is most representative of
aka G-Force/Battle of the Planets, but my work is very difficult.” Amano’s
his name is more often associated with artwork will also be familiar to fans of
artwork and the beautiful logos for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. Indeed,
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy computer he collaborated with Gaiman on a
[ 90 ] INSIDER INSIGHTS
MOZART ROCKS
Mateki was actually meant as a
Mateki: The Magic Flute ™ © 2008 Yoshitaka Amano
SHINJUKU
This work is a collaboration for Dark Horse
Comics with Christopher ‘Mink’ Morrison.
SOPHISTICATED PALETTE
Space Fox’s introspective adventure blends colours, emotions
and realities to show us that life’s defined by shades of grey
A
rt is a healing process. Lona: Realm Of “Like a white cat, one moment it looks cute, but
Colors is a point-and-click puzzle the next it can break something! We try to
adventure centred around this idea: its represent that the opposite of darkness isn’t
Iranian heroine paints her troubles into always light using Lona’s companions.”
watercolour playgrounds. “The art is influenced Ms Schmidt the cat rules the chaotic side, which
by both eastern and western styles,” says Amir is “a symphony of surrealism in form and subject”,
Erfami, creative director. “Lona’s design and the Erfami says, while Mr Ruppel the crow watches
colourful, vast environments are inspired by the over the realistically drawn, cold-coloured dark
east. But many techniques we use are those of side. Lona herself represents someone in
contemporary western digital artists such as particular: the game’s concept artist, Taraneh
Raphael Lacoste.” Karimi. “The similarities are not by chance: a girl
Each level in the game has two sides: ‘dark’ and struggling with life in Iran and trying to create
’chaotic’. You swap between them to solve something beautiful to convert her difficulties into
puzzles and bring balance to Lona’s heart. “Even productivity.” The game was Kickstarted and
if we are happy about something, it doesn’t released in August 2018. You can step into Lona’s
necessarily make our lives ‘light’,” Erfami says. multifaceted world on PC and Mac.
GALLERY [ 93 ]
TIPS, TRICKS
& TUTORIALS
[106] REIMAGINING AN
ICONIC CHARACTER
Your step-by-step guide to
updating a gaming icon
[118]
BUILDING
A WORLD
Learn how
to create
and illustrate
unique worlds
TURNING AN IDEA
INTO A STRONG
CONCEPT
A handy technique to help you
flesh out initial design ideas
Artist insight
25 TIPS TO BECOME
A BETTER ARTIST
Ever wanted to know the tricks of the concept art trade? Industry
experts share their tried and tested creative workflow techniques
Artist ime and time again Generally, no two assignments are from my creative box. I’ll show you
PROFILE
Eddie Del Rio
T I get asked what’s my
process. Truth be told, I
don’t have just one
the same. They’re not cookie-cutter
tasks. They require different moods,
design, creativity, touch and feeling.
how I use them individually and in
tandem with others. Sometimes one
technique works well for something,
LOCATION: US process. Instead, I use After a while you figure that out and while other times you’ll need the
Eddie’s a tool box that’s full of techniques. It you pick the best tools for the job. whole arsenal of tools and tricks
worked as a helps to save time and create a So, for this article, the ImagineFX to make the image sing and hit the
concept smooth flow of ideas. team asked me to share several tools deadlines. Okay, let’s begin!
designer for
the past 20
years in film and games.
His clients have
included LucasArts,
Warner Bros., Fox
Entertainment Group,
PART ONE: QUICK SKETCHES
Lucasfilm, Disney, THQ, 1 PAINTING FAST fill out a portfolio. Try and take some chance that you’ll have learned
Activision and 2K
Games. These days,
SKETCHES FOR FUN time out of a day or evening, and do a something new during the image
Eddie works primarily I spend about an hour on each one of quick colour sketch now and then. creation process – and you may
from home with his these guys. Fun, simple sketches like You may not always be happy with even produce a decent portfolio
family in California.
these can be cranked out and help to the final piece, but there’s a good piece out of it to boot.
www.eddiedelrio.com
BECOME A BET TER A RT IST [ 97 ]
2 SELF-PROMOTION TOOL After you’ve produced a piece more. Remind people that you’re
As well as having experimental, that you’re happy with, add it to still making art. Artists can’t
high-energy pieces interspersed your online portfolio. Then roll up always show off their client work
throughout your portfolio, you your sleeves and get busy on because of NDAs. Personal
can use them as a handy calling social media. Hit all the outlets: pieces go a long way towards
card for a spot of self-promotion. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and maintaining your online presence.
4 LEARN TO BECOME a corridor and some shapes in represents the viewer and the
A GOOD STORYTELLER the background. background figures are the
One good thing that these quick Because I was working so fast mystery and the action. As the
sketches force you to do is think and loose I began to think about viewer, you’re forced to walk
about storytelling. For this smaller facets of the story. For into that microcosm of mystery.
piece, I didn’t know what I was example, how I do It’s the drama and mystery that
going to paint before I started. I express these ideas in a very really sells this piece. All of this
And I’m sure I spent the first 10 simple visual language? Here, was conceived while I was
minutes going back and forth the two characters outside are working. It’s pretty fun and adds
on what the subject matter was clearly together, while the a whole other layer to a piece
going to be. But eventually I character in the foreground is that would otherwise have been
started to illustrate alone. The foreground character pretty generic.
5 WALKTHROUGH OF MY PROCESS
Previously, I’ve described how I approach my sketch
work. Here, I’ve broken down my sketching process
into two steps. I kick things off with a basic block-in.
I might have a prepared textural background that I
pre-paint or I’ll just paint it during this step. Then I add
the larger shapes and start to work out the
composition and the story in the scene. The textures
that I paint give the illusion of more detail present in the
image then there really is. Some stuff like the figures
are just scribbled blobs at this point.
Now that I have my story planned out, I begin to fully
realise it…. or realise it just enough so that it’s clear to
the viewer. I add some lighting breaking through the
tree foliage. Well, foliage that you really don’t see. You
only have the light hitting the ship and the small little
clump of tree foliage in the foreground to inform the
viewer of the space that’s outside the picture frame.
Little design tricks such as this add scope to
something that, on the surface, is pretty simple. The
viewer’s mind then works to fill in those gaps with the
little hints and bread crumbs that I leave for them. I let
the viewer’s own imagination do some of the heavy
lifting. As a result, they also feels more committed to
the image and the story that it’s trying to tell.
BECOME A BET TER A RT IST [ 99 ]
PART 2: PHOTOBASH
1 START WITH A STRONG SILHOUETTE
This image of a mech seen at an imposing angle may look like it was modelled
and rendered in a 3D program, but it was actually photobashed together.
I began by getting hold of a large collection of photographs of mechanical
objects – some that I had taken myself. Then I fired up Photoshop and
sketched out the silhouette of the mech. Only when I was happy with the
general shape and design direction did I reach for the stack of photos. After
that, I transformed and colour-matched elements from my photos to fit what
I wanted. This image took between three and four hours to create.
2 WORK BY ITERATION
As a game artist, working
iteratively from large to
smaller shapes is
fundamental. It’s true for
materials, but it’s also true
for modelling and level art.
Creating a block out, with
grey box assets, is always
the first step in the
completion of any
environment. Then, once
your composition is working
in the big picture, start to
iterate and add more details
layer by layer.
Screenshot below supplied by: CHRIS HODGSON Senior material artist artstation.com/christopherhodgson
4 LEVEL ART
MEANS TEAMWORK
Working hand in hand with modellers and level designers is
mandatory when creating the environment. Discussing the best
techniques, making breakdowns and organising your UV Layout
together will help you to share the same vision. Defining the amount
of textures, which pieces are going to use tileable materials, how many
trim textures are necessary, etc. all needs to be decided together to
have a seamless workflow.
As an environment artist,
focus on the overall scene,
composition and layout
10 PREPARATION IS PARAMOUNT
9 TECHNICAL SKILLS The preparation phase is important. If you don’t have a
It is not only your artistic skills that are important as an concept to rely on, then you should gather reference
environment artist. Try to understand how the engine images, prepare some quick modular proxy meshes and
you are using works. Texture streaming, LOD system, assemble them in the game editor. Think about what
memory, draw calls, poly count limitations – all those parts need to be a unique mesh and where you can use
things need to be kept in mind. modular kit pieces.
TIPS SUPPLIED BY: ROB HODRI Senior 3D/environment artist, id Software artstation.com/robhodri
[ 104 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
Photoshop
REIMAGINE A VIDEO
GAME CHARACTER
Even Mehl Amundsen takes the iconic Link, of The Legend of Zelda
fame, and updates his look while remaining true to his gaming origins
he idea for this piece is to I really want to make my Link In treating Link as a piece of
Artist
PROFILE
Even Mehl
T try and flesh out the
character of Link and get
a look at what he would
stand out from other versions that
I’ve seen. So on top of his usual
equipment I plan to take some
character art, a lot of elements are
already set because there are certain
elements that need to be on the
Amundsen look like in a gruffer, starker reality. inspiration from old games and character, and so from that
COUNTRY:
Czech Republic Because Link is used as somewhat comics, and make him the standpoint I’m a little limited. But
of an avatar for the player in adventurer I have in my head. To do I can play around with his arms and
Norway’s
Nintendo’s classic The Legend of this, I’ll try to apply details that will armour, as well as posing and
Even has
studied art Zelda – and he is mute most of the develop the character: for example, lighting. So, focusing on these, I try
in Oslo and time – it’s pretty tricky to get under his armour and weather-beaten face. to add enough differences between
Falmouth,
England, worked for
his skin. So I also want to try and For this workshop I’ll take you earlier versions of Link and my own,
Canada’s Volta games imbue the character with some through a step-by-step explanation of without straying so far off that he
studio for three years, aspects of personality that make my process, and give you some tips wouldn’t be recognisable to gamers as
and he now freelances
from Prague. good sense to me. and ideas on how I work. their Hero of Time.
http://ifxm.ag/evenma
s
Switch Lasso
)
Alt (PC & Mac
and ho lding Alt
Pressing
a first point
after setting
gonal Lasso
with the Poly
you to
tool enab s le
o free ha nd.
lass
Taking breaks
I usually try and take a
break every other hour,
to stretch my legs and
hands out, which is good
for preventing tendonitis
or cramps. It’s also a
good idea to switch up
your grip when drawing
and painting, for the
same reasons. It can be
very helpful to find other
ways to hold your stylus,
as you would with classic
painting and drawing.
Putting colours down Working up the shapes
3 I like to break my process down into individual 4 I want to define some shapes, starting with larger
problems that are fairly easy to solve. I focus on getting ones and moving down to the smaller one. I do this using
them right one by one. Lines done, I lay down flat colours, a Hard Light layer, and painting in my dark values with
not thinking much about anything else other than getting warmer hues and lighter values with a less-saturated,
a palette that works for the character – although the cooler hue. I concentrate on shapes reading correctly,
palette for Link is mostly already defined. and try not to worry much about details at this point.
Cycling tools
(PC)
Alt+left-click
Alt+ click (M ac)
A lt w he n cl icking
Hold
to cy cle
tool icons
h them .
throug
Let it be bright!
8 I brighten the piece, using a Brightness/Contrast
It’s dark in the woods adjustment layer and attaching a Layer Mask to it, so I can
7 Initially the idea is for light to be coming through the foliage hitting Link brush the adjustments in but leave key areas as they are.
sporadically, with a dappled effect. But the ImagineFX team decides against this There are a myriad ways of doing this and the best
approach as it makes it difficult to achieve a good, dramatic read on the image and approach depends largely on the lighting situation, so it’s
results in the piece feeling too mellow. Instead, the idea is that Link has just passed always worth exploring different solutions – you might
into a clearing to engage some enemies. even find new techniques!
R EIM AGINE A V IDEO GA ME CHAR AC TER [ 109 ]
PHOTOSHOP
CUSTOM BRUSHES:
AUFGENOMMENER
PINSEL 1
CHAINMAIL
ROUND HARD 70 1
Weathering pass
11 I add hints of wear and tear to the character, 12 Spit polishing
I leave the image alone for a few hours, to let my
although I don’t want to do too much. I add some dings eyes rest and then come back with fresh ones. I’m not
to his armour and mess his shield up a little. I add some thrilled with the face: while it serves the purpose it feels a
patterning to the sword, to imbue it with a little real-life little impersonal – I find that it’s not quite emotional
magic, because the patterning is that of Damascus steel, enough. So I give it another pass, add a little life, a little
which I think is appropriate. anger to it.
From general
to specifics
Always try to work from
general shapes and
elements to specific
ones, at least when
doing work other people
will have final say over, as
this will save you a lot
of trouble in the later
13 Losing edges
14 Adding filters stages of a piece. In
addition, breaking any
Sharp edges in the wrong places can easily lead the At the end, I add a filter or two, to pop a few things. problem down into steps
eye somewhere you don’t want it to go. I go around the With the noise filter I add a small amount of noise, to that you can manage will
make it a lot easier for
edges with the Smudge tool and a Scatter Brush, make the image easier to look at. Next, I go into Lens
you to organise the
scattering edges, then smoothing them out again with a Corrections, under Filters, then to Custom bar and play complex elements of an
Smudge-Round brush combination. I also use the Mixer with the Chromatic Aberration sliders, to get some illustration. To sum up,
planning prevents
Brush tool, to bring some colours from the environment vibrance along the highlights and edge-lights. poor performance!
on to Link. That’s all folks!
[ 110 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
Artist s you consider pursuing only will your designs be based on complex piece of machinery or even
Lucas Staniec
COUNTRY: Poland
A the path of a concept artist,
you’ll no doubt be
assessing the quality of
the things we know, but you’ll be able
to use your awareness for inspiration.
Knowledge will help you geek out
an entire universe.
The design process is time
consuming. As a concept artist you’ll
your art skills. Yet one of the most about your own designs and make have to do hundreds of exploratory
Lucas is a
concept artist
important things you’ll need is not a them better. Put simply, the more you sketches before that ‘eureka’ moment.
working on specific technique in your artistic box know, the better! Your job will require you to do things
Dying Light 2 of tools, but rather the right mindset. Creating a good-looking picture over and over again, so brace
as well as a
freelance artist on the
As a concept artist you’ll be can be challenging, but what you yourself! I’ll show you how I get
Warhammer 2 Total War required to deal with a lot of problem might find even harder is coming up inspired and how to proceed with a
series. In his free time solving. To do that, it’s crucial to with a good idea or design that could concept illustration task. I’ll also give
he’s developing some
personal projects, observe the world around you and try serve as a starting point. This could you some insights into what to pay
including a bestiary of to understand how things work. Not lead to an original location, a attention to in your own work.
Slavic monsters.
https://ifxm.ag/lucas-s
12 A leaf canopy helps to frame the composition and advance the storytelling
I want to give this environment a sense of being enclosed, so I add some leaves at the top of the image. The leaves also help to add a
feeling of weight and drama, as if the scene is leading up to a specific storytelling moment. When I paint such supporting elements I always try
to see them as shapes and how they relate to the entire scene. It’s not an easy skill to grasp, so it may take you some time to get it right.
Photoshop
BUILD A
WORLD WITH
CONCEPT ART
Anthony Macbain, an artist with over a decade of
experience in the video game industry, demonstrates
the process of creating entire worlds through illustration
[ 120 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
orldbuilding encompasses Dawn of the Paladin. The story takes mysterious and vicious warlord from
Artist
PROFILE
Anthony
W storytelling. To build a
world is to create a
believable set of
place tens of thousands of years in
the future where a small group of
peacekeepers called the Paladin are
a distant planet and part of an alien
race called the Bawn. In this
illustration, Mogul has sent a
Macbain parameters for multiple stories to the protectors of a remote three- messenger to retrieve his estranged,
LOCATION: US
exist, taking into account geology, planet colony. They’ve developed a yet even more powerful and
Anthony technology, language, economics, fighting style that utilises skills only diabolical mother, the evil
Macbain art, culture, history and religion. As a mastered by accessing dormant areas intergalactic villain, Madrak. Due to
spent 13
years as an world builder, you need to provide of the human brain. Madrak’s telepathic powers, the
artist and enough content through extensive Unbeknownst to the Paladin, the terrified messenger’s arrival is
later director of
brainstorming, sketching and powers they’re harnessing from anticipated, and she beckons him
illustration at Rockstar
Games. He developed research to give storytellers or games within their brains are being toward her.
marketing art styles for masters a boundary and direction, heightened by their proximity to an Madrak is well aware of the
Rockstar’s top games
including Grand Theft
but without being so broad as to alien ore under the ground called properties ouj has to enhance her
Auto V and Red Dead leave them with too many options. Ouj (pronounced “weej”.) physical and mental powers, going so
Redemption. He’s now For this workshop, I’m creating an A new wave of organised crime has far as to create an entire chamber and
the lead artist at Triton
City Entertainment, illustration of a character from a hit the colony’s inhabitants, led by a throne made from the ore, so its
where he’s working on world I’m helping to build called character named Mogul, a energy continually fuels her.
the film franchise Dawn
of the Paladin.
https://ifxm.ag/ant-mb
Life at an indie
games company
Small is beautiful Philippa Warr discovers how proactive artists can Claire Hummel’s
reap the benefits from putting in the hours at smaller game studios character sketches
for Obduction
include this
settler,
Lisa Evans’ Growbot who’s laden
work is full of mossy with gear.
textures and rich colour.
S
mall games studios vary anything from contributing to sensibilities. With that, the sense
as wildly as their art early pitches, to providing of responsibility shifts, as
styles. Yet for all their additional concept work, to Hummel explains, “I have to be
differences, the ultimate overhauling a project’s art way more proactive about doing
aim is the same: to produce a direction”, she explains. “I’d jump everything for the game from
great game with far fewer staff between a number of different storyboards, to visual targets, to
than the behemoths of triple-A projects on any given day, which orthographic prop diagrams and
development. For artists, there could be exhilarating and paintovers of models.”
are significant benefits to reap challenging, but it also meant
in these smaller spaces, as well that I rarely – if ever – got to see a DREAM COME TRUE
as reasons why you might prefer project from start to finish.” Each of the biomes that
Wei Wang, who spent 11 years at
to wait before going small. At Campo Santo she’s the only Luis Antonio was Blizzard and worked
responsible for in
2D artist on staff and the work is The Witness had a
on titles like Warcraft
Claire Hummel works at Campo formed around her own artistic distinctive look. 3, Diablo and
Santo, the studio StarCraft, describes a
behind forest lookout similar shift when he
game Firewatch. moved to Bonfire – a smaller
Before joining that studio working on its
team she was with unannounced first project.
Microsoft and then HBO. Back “At a big company there are a
then, Claire’s work was wide- lot of processes in place. It’s not a
ranging. She explains that she bad thing – a big company needs
probably worked on around 60 to make the trains run on time,”
titles in her six years, plus a Wei says. “But at Bonfire, I’m
freelance gig designing key given a huge space to be creative,
characters for Bioshock Infinite. and draw whatever I want. I get to
“At Microsoft I was in a small be involved in the pitch process,
group, best described as a SWAT and every part of what goes into
team, that was brought on to making our game. It’s a dream
help projects at various stages: come true for any game artist.”
LIFE AT A N INDIE GA MES COMPA N Y [ 127 ]
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
LUIS
ANTONIO
The Portuguese artist talks about
the appeal of working small
Costume variations
on Bioshock Infinite’s Even without details of
young Elizabeth, by what Bonfire’s first game
Claire Hummel. is, Wei Wang’s Mask of
Dreams gives a dramatic,
dream-like impression.
Starbelly is one of
Lisa Evans’ unique
cast of characters
in Growbot.
GAME
ART
MADE
EASY
NORMAL
HARD
Learn how to take your game art skills to the next
level with the insight of triple-A industry artists
G
ame art is an attractive prospect Here, five such artists shine a light on
for many 3D artists as it their contributions to the art of video
provides them with the games, from remastering beloved classics to
opportunity to help realise the creating memorable boss characters. They
visual elements that can make a video explain their go-to software, break down
game iconic. It’s an endlessly diverse field, their workflows and tell us how they went
encompassing absolutely everything from from playing video games to making them.
vehicles to vegetation. However, one thing From hard surface modelling to texture
that remains consistent among them all is baking, environments and weaponry, this
that every individual asset is the work of team of industry professionals has got you
dedicated artists, constantly improving covered. Here are some of their top tips for
their craft. aspiring game artists.
GA ME A RT M ADE E ASY [ 131 ]
Artist
PROFILE BOOST YOUR
Mathew O
3D ARTIST AT UBISOFT MASSIVE
WEB: mathewo.co.uk HARD SURFACES
Five top tips for honing your hard surface modelling
INSPIRATION AND
REFERENCE
Once you’ve spent time learning to
model and render, it’s useful to gain an
understanding of real-life mechanics. This
helps to keep your own designs grounded
in reality. To do this, I find myself looking
at all kinds of references – for example,
commercial vehicle designs or mecha toys.
It’s important to not limit yourself to your
own field.
COMPETITIONS
I feel that I do my best work under
a deadline and with restrictions. Art
competitions are a great way of pushing
myself to work quickly while creating a
design that fits someone else’s brief. At the
moment, the ArtStation challenges are a
great place for this.
DETAIL RATIO
With mechanical design, it’s important to
follow a 70/30 rule with any small detail
work. I find that increasing the amount
of smaller detail work is a great way of
drawing the eye to areas of interest and
creating an overall composition.
TECHNIQUES
Modelling is an inherently slow way to
design versus drawing or concept art.
It’s important to take time and research
the techniques being used by other
artists in order to make sure you’re not
slowing yourself down any further than
necessary. For me, the biggest boost to my
productivity has been moving from Maya to
Modo and including a round edge shader in
my renders to avoid a large amount of high-
poly modelling.
Artist
PROFILE
Claudiu Tanasie
FREELANCE 3D CHARACTER ARTIST
UPGRADE
YOUR SKILLS
How to keep your texture baking
and 3D skill set up to date
Claudiu Tanasie has been in love with drawing
for as long as he can remember but it was only
when he got his hands on a copy of 3ds Max in
college that his passion for 3D art was ignited.
It was pure chance that landed him his first
freelance role for a studio in Hungary. “It was
the first time I thought I could do this for a
living without starving,” he explains.
Since then, Tanasie has worked on the likes
of Call of Duty and The Witcher for AMC Pixel
Factory before forging a successful freelance
career that has seen him contribute to
Dishonored 2, Doom and Lawbreakers.
Knowing which software to employ for
specific challenges is crucial to Tanasie’s work
– “for example, Marvelous Designer for an
asset that has a lot of clothes and needs to look
hyperrealistic, or Fusion 360 for a robot that
would take forever to model with traditional
polygon modelling.”
Tanasie attributes his success to a ceaseless
hunger for knowledge that involves watching
hours of tutorials. He adds, “The problem is
not a lack of information, it’s about how much
time you are willing to invest.”
This ensures that you will only move 6 BAKE A TEST NORMAL MAP In the
objects in multiples of 100 units. If you Baking Options tab, choose the path
lose some of the files, this will make it and size of the resulting texture bakes.
easier to re-create them later on. Go For now, only tick the normal map. This
through all the pieces and whenever map is the fastest to bake and is best
two of them are close to each other, suited to find out the optimal ray cast
offset one so that there’s enough space distance. Then click Generate Maps.
between them. Make sure you offset the
low-poly and corresponding high-poly
geometry the same amount, then
export the offset high-poly. 9 BAKE THE ID MAP Next is the ID map,
which we will use to easily mask
different parts of the texture. For
xNormal to be able to bake the vertex
colour we assigned in ZBrush, we need
to uncheck Ignore Per-Vertex-Color for
each high-poly mesh in the High
7 CHECK FOR ERRORS Use your viewer Definition Meshes tab. Make sure to
to check for baking errors. Take your uncheck Normal Map and Ambient
time and inspect the entire model – this Occlusion, and then press the Generate
is the best time to adjust the baking Maps button. The ambient occlusion
4 CREATE A LOW-POLY MESH settings. If some details of the high- map results depend on the Ignore Per-
In order to get better ray casting, we definition model get cut out, go to the Vertex-Color setting, so if you need to
will add some subdivisions to the low- Low Definition Meshes tab in xNormal go back and generate another one, you
poly. This geometry will only be used in to increase the Maximum Frontal Ray will have to reverse that setting, too.
the baking process, so make sure you Distance and Maximum Rear Ray
save a copy of your low-poly mesh Distance. If some details get projected
beforehand. Select all the low-poly in the wrong areas – one finger being
objects, then choose Add Divisions in projected on a neighbouring finger, for
the Edit Mesh menu. Most of the time example – try decreasing the ray
one subdivision level is enough, but if distances. In some complex scenarios,
you find you’re still not getting good you may not be able to find a perfect
results, you can add another. value for the ray cast distance. When
Alternatively, you can manually add this occurs, you can bake multiple
some cuts in the problematic areas but versions of the maps and combine them
this is a time-consuming option. Export in Photoshop.
this geometry as an FBX file and don’t 10 CONVERT THE OBJECT SPACE
forget to give it a clear name so that NORMAL MAP TO TANGENT SPACE
you won’t mistake it for the low-poly The last step we need to do is to
that will end up in the game. generate a tangent space normal map
from the object space normal map and
the low-poly mesh that we will use in-
game. Switch to the Tools tab and
choose Object/Tangent Space
Converter. Set the path for the low-poly
mesh, the one used in the game and the
8 BAKE AN OBJECT space normal map path for the object space normal map
and ambient occlusion map Once you’re that we generated in Step 8. Finally, set
happy with the test normal map, it’s the path where you want the resulting
5 LOAD THE GEOMETRY TO xNORMAL time to bake some of the final maps. In tangent space normal map to be
Start xNormal, select the High Definition the Baking Options tab, click the green generated. Make sure Convert Object
Meshes tab, then drag and drop all the square next to the normal map to open Space to Tangent Space is checked and
high-poly geometry. Select the Low its baking options. Uncheck Tangent then go ahead and press Generate.
Definition Meshes tab, and drag and Space. This is the biggest difference
drop the helper low-poly mesh. from the standard workflow. We will
generate an object space normal map
that we will later convert into a tangent
space normal map. The reason this
technique works is that an object space
normal map is somewhat independent
of the low-poly mesh used. Tick the
Ambient occlusion map too, press
Generate Maps and take a break while
xNormal does its thing.
[ 134 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
Artist
PROFILE
Mak Malovic
LEAD ENVIRONMENT ARTIST AT
MASTERS OF THE REMASTER
BLUEPOINT GAMES Mak Malovic, lead environment artist at Bluepoint Games,
WEB: malovicmak.com
discusses remaking a classic
“One of the challenges is bringing them up architecture seen throughout the game. The had the general blockout done, we would
to current-day standards but keeping the process would usually begin with him start to add additional architectural
original mood and feeling,” Mak Malovic looking for inspiration in real-world sources elements on top of that in Maya. The
says about remastering beloved video and a series’ newer titles, but Shadow of the challenge here was trying to stick to the
games. Malovic has spent the last four years Colossus is a standalone game so the latter collision bounds of the original game,
as an environment artist at independent wasn’t applicable. which is why we assembled the levels
video game developer Bluepoint Games in He goes on to explain these early stages mostly in Maya and not in our game
Austin, Texas. The studio has now garnered further. “We create a beauty corner engine. Having a constantly growing Maya
a reputation for delivering high-quality representing the ‘new’ look and quality we architectural kit library helped a lot when
updates of much beloved games, even are striving for. We also try to understand we were getting started with new assets.”
being dubbed ‘masters of the remaster.’ how much more detail we can introduce After this step, he would utilise ZBrush to
Malovic has worked on upgrades of while maintaining the original mood and give standout pieces of architecture the
Gravity Rush and the Uncharted series but feeling and without affecting how players character they have inside the finished
he admits that remaking the much beloved remember the game. With Shadow of the game. “I always start with a high-poly
Shadow of the Colossus was the biggest Colossus, we fortunately had amazing blockout done in Maya and build off that. I
challenge yet. “Since Shadow has such a concept art which helped a lot.” would usually pick a few things in any
large and dedicated fanbase, we knew that The creation then begins in Maya. “Most given level I thought were ‘hero pieces’ and
any changes we made would be highly of the time with remasters and remakes, we sculpt those.”
scrutinised,” adds Malovic. “We constantly start with the original source art. We treat it Malovic has some tips to share with
had to ask ourselves ‘Are we going too far? like a highly detailed white box. Then we those looking to achieve his level of
Does it still feel like the original game?’” clean up the geometry, if needed, so it’s texturing detail. “Focus on the big reads
The added pressure wasn’t helped by the easier to add more detail and definition.” first; once you nail those, then go down to
fact that this was the studio’s first fully “In the case of Shadow of the Colossus, the medium, small and finally micro
blown remake, which involved re-creating because we knew we wanted to go further, details. Additionally, keep in mind the rule
all assets from the ground up. Malovic was we had to rebuild a lot of the geometry, of thirds, and try and think about rhythm,
responsible for creating the incredible using the source art as guidelines. Once we not repetition.”
GA ME A RT M ADE E ASY [ 135 ]
[ 136 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
Artist
PROFILE
Denis Rutkovsky
COFOUNDER AND ART DIRECTOR AT
WORLD BUILDING
ARTCORE STUDIOS A guide to starting your own outsourcing studio and building
WEB: artcore-studios.com
atmospheric environments with Denis Rutkovsky
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT ARE SOME OF THE HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CREATING
HOW AND WHY YOU STARTED ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES THE MOOD OF YOUR WORK?
ARTCORE STUDIOS, YOUR GAME ART OF BEING A FREELANCE ARTIST? A good starting point for the mood of an
OUTSOURCING STUDIO? Being a freelancer might not be as environment is deciding which kind of
I spent many years working on big projects financially stable as working for a studio lighting to use – sunlight or artificial
with various studios and for a large chunk but you do have the advantage of being able sources. I don’t use many effects in post-
of this time I was the lead artist of the to manage your own time. If you do it right, production as it affects the mood too
Insource team at Crytek in Kiev, Ukraine. you can make more money than a studio much. This should be created with the
After that I moved to the UK, where I had would offer you. You’ll also develop a range lighting setup.
the pleasure of working on Batman: of skills separate from the art like managing
Arkham Knight with Rocksteady Studios. your finances. CAN WE GET SOME TOP TIPS FOR
It was towards the end of this production A big downside is that you won’t be LIGHTING?
that I came up with the idea of starting my working with so many like-minded people. Even after making so many environments
own studio. This is what I miss the most about working with lighting set-ups, I still consider myself
Artcore Studios began as a small team of for bigger studios – you can’t put a price on something of a beginner in this area.
just two artists, and we managed to get inspiration from your colleagues and Having a good contrast between light and
clients and build a base without any friends. Working freelance is great but it is dark areas is something I have found
external investments. Now we have a cozy always better to make a start with studios as helpful, as well as trying to avoid having
office in the city centre of Kiev, with a it’s the only way to develop your skill set any complete darkness in an environment.
team of ten talented artists. The best part properly. There are so many fields linked to I would also suggest playing around with
is that we grow and gain experience every game art that would be impossible to learn the fog in Unreal Engine as it has huge and
single day. about on your own. often positive effects on lighting.
GA ME A RT M ADE E ASY [ 137 ]
Artist
PROFILE
Ethan Hiley
WEAPON ARTIST AT TREYARCH
WEB: artstation.com/ethanhiley
WEAPON SPECIALISTS
Ethan Hiley talks crafting weapons for Call of Duty
“Before getting into the industry, I used to someone picked up any of the weapons, modelling, Marmoset for baking and
spend a lot of time experimenting with 3D they immediately looked and felt just like Substance Painter for texturing. Much of his
modelling in a variety of mod tools for they did back in 2007, but with the level of weaponry consists of a variety of materials
different games. From there, it just seemed fidelity capable on current consoles.” and finishes, each crafted with the same
natural to progress towards developing One of his recent projects, Call of Duty: attention to detail.
games,” says Ethan Hiley of his path into Black Ops 3, features a variety of near- “When we texture our weapons, we treat
the games industry. He began his career as future weaponry that required him to each part of it as if it were its own asset,
an environment artist but a fascination collaborate closely with the concept artists from the barrel all the way down to
with hard-surface modelling and building that dream them up. “It’s our job to realise individual bolts. This approach helps to
digital weapon models in his spare time the weapon in a 3D space and make sure it define the individual pieces and make the
eventually led to a change in direction. looks right in first-person. The key is to weapon feel as though it was assembled
As Hiley shifted his focus towards props, maintain an intriguing and iconic first- from a variety of parts rather than one
vehicles and then weapons, he found person silhouette,” he explains. uniform material across the whole thing”
himself overseeing the weapon art for Call The process of achieving this begins with explains Hiley.
of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. He drawing up a design profile for each “Often, if a weapon is textured with
continues, “Subsequently the opportunity weapon. “This dictates how design expects everything receiving a similar material
presented itself to join the awesome team at the weapon to behave in-game and what treatment, all the details tend to blend
Treyarch, and it was an opportunity I kind of players they expect to use it,” adds together and get lost. You lose all that
couldn’t pass up.” Hiley. From this point, Hiley and his team construction detail you built in and the
Hiley describes working on the remaster look towards real-world weaponry to help materials don’t help to give the weapon its
of one of his favourite games, Modern determine aesthetic and silhouette. character. By treating each part as a unique
Warfare, as an experience that was equally When it comes to his software of choice, surface, it helps to highlight the variety of
amazing and stressful. “We poured over Hiley favours Maya for the majority of his construction detail and bring a bit more
every meticulous detail ensuring that when modelling, ZBrush for high-poly personality to the materials.”
[ 138 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
CAREER
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Practical advice and industry insight to help you
push play on your video game career
“
T
he games industry is one of the most Images. Since opening in 2009 Airship has worked
creative, diverse, exciting and sought-after on numerous AAA titles, including Star Wars
industries for a digital artist to work in Battlefront II, Forza Horizon 3
today. As a games artist you can create and The Division. When
stunning worlds, characters or props in styles beginning the search for a role
ranging from the realistic to cartoony or anywhere in the video game industry
in-between,” says Simon Fenton, head of games at Paul states that it’s always best
Escape Studios, an industry-leading academy for to look for roles at the studios that
visual effects and digital art. inspire you to work in the industry.
He continues: “The UK games market in He adds: “Tailor your portfolio to
particular is enjoying record growth; last year, UKIE these studios and be sure to research what
announced that the market had grown by 12.4% they’ve worked on in the past as well as what
over the previous year to a record-breaking £5.11bn direction they’re going in next. This is also a
(UKIE, Feb 2018), largely attributed to the delivery helpful thing to do early on in your art education,
of ‘world-class content for an ever-expanding eager as it will provide you with a clear path to follow
audience’. You have to be at a really high standard when making decisions on what type of art you
to make it in the games industry – you have to should create for your portfolio, what style to work
reach a very high bar.” in and what areas you should improve on to obtain
With those facts in mind, getting a start in the that position.”
video game industry can often feel like an According to Declan Paul, events such as
unbeatable level, a vicious cycle of disappointment. conventions or presentations represent great
That’s why 3D World has gathered producers, opportunities to meet like-minded artists and grow
recruiters, artists and tutors to assemble the a network of industry contacts. He explains: “You
ultimate cheat sheet. Each contributor will dispense will learn a lot about the industry at these events
wisdom and experience on every part of the and have fun while doing so. Often there are
process, from creating a CV to acing an interview. opportunities to get your portfolio reviewed, talk to
Follow this expert advice to take your video game studio recruiters about the positions they’re hiring
career to the next level. for and learn more about studio hiring processes.
“It’s definitely a competitive landscape, there are These opportunities are invaluable so be sure to
a lot of people that are hungry to work in this take advantage of them when you can.” For those
industry,” says Declan Paul, producer at Airship that can’t reach such events, social media and
Above: Ognyan
Zahariev’s faithful
re-creation of
Dumbledore’s office.
Only include work that you are potential employers and showcase exactly what
you’re capable of.
really proud of in your portfolio Despite the numerous roles for artists in the
Ognyan Zahariev, lighting artist, Ubisoft Sofia industry, advice for crafting a stand-out application
is fairly universal. “Focus on quality and not
online competitions represent an ideal opportunity quantity in terms of the projects you include in your
to connect with the community whilst showcasing portfolio,” says Ognyan Zahariev, who successfully
your abilities. Artists can provide feedback and landed a job as lighting artist at Ubisoft Sofia, where
encouragement to each other from halfway around he’s been rising through the ranks for five years. He
the world. The best art will often attract the continues: “Have a well-organised portfolio with
attention of established studios in their search for breakdowns of your work. Only include work that
the freshest talent. you are really proud of. The recruiters and artists
Unanimous among our contributors is the going through your work will only be looking for
assertion that every application you make should be quality and not the number of projects.”
tailored specifically to the studio in question, so do “First and foremost is a strong portfolio with no
your homework. Any application should fillers or weak work. Try to tailor your portfolio so
demonstrate that you have done your research on that it is exciting and relevant to that developer,”
the studio and their work, past and present. The adds Fenton. “For example, highly stylised work
application is an opportunity to sell yourself to might not appeal to a developer that makes realistic
CAR EER MODE [ 141 ]
7 TIPS
FOR THE PERFECT PORTFOLIO
PRODUCER AT AIRSHIP IMAGES
DECLAN PAUL GIVES US HIS TOP
TIPS TO A WINNING PORTFOLIO
01 ART FIRST
What employers want to see first and
foremost is your art. Make sure your work is the
main attraction and that navigating your portfolio
is as straightforward as possible. Remember, you
need to win someone over within the first few
06
areas of 3D art.
how the company operates, its past games and any Above (lower):
BE CAREFUL ADDING GROUP WORK
interviews that they have given. Mention past Escape Studios At Airship we prefer to see personal work as
focus on teaching
papers they may have published and check their industry-standard opposed to group work as often it can be difficult
blogs. Talking about why you like their art and software, including to determine exactly what you contributed. If
Maya, ZBrush,
backing it up by mentioning specific techniques, Substance Painter/ you’re including group work in your portfolio,
Designer and
people or processes demonstrates an inquisitive, Unreal Engine.
make sure it’s clearly labelled and you include
driven approach.” breakdown shots to show what you worked on.
For freelance character artist Sven Juhlin, who got
his start in the industry working for EA DICE, one
of the most important things is to showcase some
originality in any portfolio. He gives an example:
07 BE CONSISTENT
Consistency throughout your portfolio is
generally preferred, as it makes you look more
“Don’t do a version of the Hulk if it’s not a really professional from the offset. This ranges from
impressive version. There are already so many having the same page layout for each project to
versions of him out there and it’s so hard to stand the same image layout for each breakdown.
out from the crowd. Create your own character with
[ 142 ] T IPS, TR ICKS & TECHNIQUES
an original backstory and try to make something them questions regarding the future direction and
that feels fresh and new.” how you might progress. Try to practise, perhaps get
friends to ask you challenging questions. I have
LEVEL TWO: THE INTERVIEW often asked potential candidates why they chose to
If your application piques the interest of potential do something in a particular way and if I hear ‘I
employers you may well be contacted for an don’t know’, that’s not a very interesting answer.”
interview. This part of the job-hunting process is As Paul points out, rejection is a natural part of
often the most nerve-wracking for any applicant, in any job-hunting process – the trick is to turn it into
any industry. However, there’s some sound pieces something positive and not to let it prevent you from
of advice that can prevent the experience from moving forward. “The primary thing to keep in
becoming the stuff of nightmares. mind when receiving rejection letters or emails is
Below: Juhlin According to Fenton it all comes down to being that it’s a ‘not now’ rather than a ‘not ever’. Use these
prefers to take on prepared on the basic – and yet easy to get wrong – rejections to motivate yourself to do better and apply
shorter jobs for a
range of studios in interview essentials. “Make sure you know where again once you’ve updated and improved your
order to keep up
the momentum you are going and turn up ten minutes early, portfolio. This cannot be done in a couple of weeks,
in his career dressed smartly. My personal tip is to stay away so make sure you substantially update your portfolio
from coffee as this can make you agitated. Always before reapplying if you want to be properly
answer questions honestly; it’s a small industry and considered for the role.”
you will get found out if you’re anything less He adds: “It’s also worth following up on your
than truthful.” He continues: “Research the rejection emails and asking for feedback on your
company and their history so you can ask portfolio. You may not hear back but it’s worth the
Left: According
to Juhlin finding
your own style is
crucial to success in
this increasingly
busy industry
Follow up on rejection
emails and ask for feedback
on your portfolio
Ognyan Zahariev, lighting artist, Ubisoft Sofia
Having drawn
characters from a
young age Juhlin
found the transition to
3D character art an
easy decision to make.
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THE A RT OF
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