Monday, 22 February 2016
Thursday, 18 February 2016
BA2a Evaluation!
BA2a has been the longest project I’ve ever been on, now where at the end, and I have so much to take away with me. I was able to make an actual working game with combat systems and all sorts of ways of making simple games compared to where I was at the beginning when I figured out how to add an asset into the game and cause it to set on fire. The project was able to push me to new heights in terms of work amount and drawing ability, I am able to draw images a lot faster than I was last year.
Most of my research it mainly came from basic google image research, and then further research into that chosen subject. With blueprints I would spend hours researching and watching tutorials on how to get the right code for the blueprint to work. I first learnt we would be using Unreal over the summer, at first I was overwhelmed by the amount the program had to offer this was completely different to when I first started using Maya last year. However we practise comes skill, and through a lot of practise I was able to get a good understanding of how blueprints work, but I still had trouble with them and was always asking for support whenever I could get it.
The specialism part of the project was also a lot of fun, I was given the chance to choose what type of 2D work I wanted to do, and what I will hopefully head towards as a full time career option. The specialism also opened me up to some new types of art styles out there that I hadn’t considered before, some were easy, some were quite challenging, but I have gained experience points from it and hope to level up to a professional level sooner rather than later. One of the great things about this project was that I got to use the new media labs, which had faster computers and able to run software a lot faster than other in the other media labs, this helped out a lot when rendering and painting in Photoshop. However like with my last project, at the beginning of the project I updated my blog regularly, but then get caught up the workflow and ignore the blog, as a result leaving the blog till late to update and regretting it.
Most of my research it mainly came from basic google image research, and then further research into that chosen subject. With blueprints I would spend hours researching and watching tutorials on how to get the right code for the blueprint to work. I first learnt we would be using Unreal over the summer, at first I was overwhelmed by the amount the program had to offer this was completely different to when I first started using Maya last year. However we practise comes skill, and through a lot of practise I was able to get a good understanding of how blueprints work, but I still had trouble with them and was always asking for support whenever I could get it.
When I summarise this project I feel was my toughest, and that strength forced me to push myself beyond my full potential to unlock new found strength. I know that I can get a higher grade than in my previous year because I sure I’ve put in the hours to get the grade I was aiming for. This second year of university has been the longest and most challenging part of the journey, but I know the road’s only going to get tougher and the project’s will become more challenging as I head into the last part of year 2 of the Games Art Course.
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
CS: Various Coherent Worlds
This post will cover all the various different coherent worlds I learnt about in the CS lectures:
Look at the emotions of the player: How do they react when they first play it, how will they react by the end of the game, link to flow, did they struggle, was it easy, what was there experience with this game world compared to others (link to what coherent worlds are) did they empathise with the characters (How did it affect them emotionally?) (e.g. Spec ops the line)
Do video games connect with the player’s emotion?
The theme I will cover in my essay is which connects better to the audience on an emotional level, Games or Books?
Amusement Theme Parks
The website: http://web.themeparkincorporated.co.uk/2015/04/11/the-evolution-of-theme-parks/ goes on to talk about how theme parks have evolved from when they first started to today's theme parks. It talks about how theme parks evolved from three traditions, the first was the middle ages which was more of a circus than a theme park, with acts, juggling, magic and freak shows, later on they added the first mechanical rides that are steam-powered carousels. This relates to how games evolved from boards and playing card games to become the platform console games we know and play today.
The second influence was the pleasure garden. One of the earliest gardens was the Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661 in London, it had many attractions for all ages, at first it was only available to the elites of London, but eventually became open too all the public to use. This can be related to a number of games due to prices and age limits, some people may have to wait to play the game they want because they can't afford it, and need the price to go down.
(Incoming Blog Glitch)
(Incoming Blog Glitch)
On the website: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfa/researchandarticles/pleasuregardensamusementparks in the American theme parks section it talks about how when Disneyland first opened up in 1955 it was unlike any other theme park in the world, removing the old style of theme parks and creating "five distinct themed areas, providing "guests" with the fantasy of travel to different lands and times". This was also when amusement parks decided to start charging at the entrance, rather than on the rides. The success of the park has grown into the Disneyland we know today, along with a number of resorts and theme parks around the world.
Mazes & Labyrinths
In one of the lectures, we where asked to choose from a list of forms of entertainment and find a book and a quote about demonstrating history and context and how it links to video game culture. I choose to do Mazes & Labyrinths.
While similar in many ways mazes and labyrinths are different in meaning and significant ways, A maze is a confusing pathway with many branches, that lead to dead ends, and the significance of mazes are used in experiments to study spatial awareness. Labyrinths on the other hand is a single through-route with twists and turns without branches, and it's significance is spiritual, in some people believe it is a way of meeting God.
The game Labyrinth (released by Ravensburger in 1990) has now been app made, and it's movie (btw love it) making 13 million copies sold worldwide.
The quote I choose was from the book 'Star Wars The Magic of Myth', the quote reads "the heroes find themselves in a labyrinth, a maze of passages and rooms, dead ends, and bottomless trenches... Each has a different goal.... In classical Mythology, the labyrinth has always represented a difficult journey into the unknown".
Mazes and Labyrinths are used in a number of various media, a few examples of these are: In the Harry Potter Movie, 'The Golbet of Fire' one of the challenges in a maze with spells and traps designed to stop you from winning. The old and classical game Snake has a simple idea of creating a maze to to get the dot successfully, The movie Inception gets the characters creating mazes inside of mazes in their own subconsciousness. The movie Labyrinth (which is more like a maze with it's various branches) focuses on the main character rescuing her baby brother from the goblin king by completing the massive labyrinth set in front of her.
Essay Plans:
How do video games effect the player’s emotions?
Talk about games and how they’ve become what they are today from what they were, talk about what I’m going to be addressing, as well as what coherent game worlds are.
What coherent game worlds are: based on historical setting, fictional and non-fictional, comes from imagination (easier for children than adults), daydreaming to create imaginary and unique worlds, then media and art to bring them to life.
What coherent game worlds are: based on historical setting, fictional and non-fictional, comes from imagination (easier for children than adults), daydreaming to create imaginary and unique worlds, then media and art to bring them to life.
Looking at the artwork of the worlds: look at different types of game artwork, AAA, indie, mmorpg’s, how it brings the story to life. Looking at how different forms of entertainment from the past, how they created the games, characters, setting, colour, music and stories we play today.
Look into the story behind these worlds: the settings, (example company telltale games: it’s games have multiple endings depending on your choice), who are the characters in this world, what’s their story, link to can they empathise with the characters (How did it affect them emotionally) (roleplay)
Intro: talk about what is going to be addressed in this essay, what coherent game worlds are.
Gonna consider the theme of books in this essay, look into books and comics that developed into games, now that characters have life, do we connect more emotionally with them? Give my own personal experience with how books, films and games gave me strength to go out and make friends. Look into meaningful design; give examples of games which emotionally tug on player’s hearts, using notes from previous lecture, looking into emotional attachment to games, objects in games (companion cube from portal), and the characters how we interact with them (NPC’s too), using game examples like spec ops: the line, brothers, the last of us. Look at games that the choices we make depend on the outcome of the game.
Conclusion: sum up what I have covered.
Essay Plan:
I’ve found a number of sites that I plan to use as references in my essay.
Industry Art Test, Weeks 16 & 17 Summary!
The next art exam begins, over these 2 weeks I will choose another style of art for a company to look at and create work to their standards. However due to this being an industry set art test, this artwork is for games that have not been realised to the general public yet so I am unable to post any of my work online, so this is it for this blog post.
Next week: The Final Countdown!!
Week 18 Summary!
The final week with hand in being at the end of the week, at this point, nearly everything was done with my work, I had finished my essay, and needed to tidy up different bits on my other work:
Pitch Doc:
I'd redone some of the slides in my pitch presentation adding in a new slide altogether, by removing the last slide to make room for the Enemy AI slide. As well as making little modifications to a slide's 2 and 9.
New slide design
Added paintovers to the pictures at the bottom of the page.
Moved the upgrade box around to focus on this more than the health and ammo pickups.
Prototype:
I was able to add a music and title screen blueprint into my game to make it feel more like an actual game, these blueprints where easy enough to make and incorporated well into the game.
Once that was completed I was able to build my game, so it is now ready to play on PC platform. With that finished the only thing left to do now is the project evaluation.
Practise Art Test: Weeks 14 & 15 Summary!
The Christmas holidays are over, moving on to the final stage of the specialism project and BA2a, the art tests. In these next four weeks, we will be doing two art tests, each one two weeks long, a practise test, and an official art test given by a designer from a games company. For the practise art test I am doing the 2D character concept art, my requirement task is:
For the newest instalment of the Monkey Island game franchise (Monkey Island: Lost Cove) I have to create a shopkeeper character that lives in an sunken underwater temple. I don’t know how they get customers but my character is surprisingly happy with the situation he/she is in. This game has a mechanic that lets the character switch between daytime and twilight form I have to design and present both their normal and twilight state.
I am asked to create:
1. A model Sheet
2. A character sheet
3. A concept painting
To begin with I looked into the Monkey Island franchise and the company that make them (Telltale Games) and some artwork moodboards to show the style they use for their games, for the monkey island series I found they used very painterly art work, this does help give the unrealistic body proportions that many of the characters have such as the tiny hands and feet.
I looked into one of Telltale's more popular games 'The Walking Dead' which is an episodic storytelling game based on the comic series. The art style used here is cell shaded, which shows the line art to give off more of a comic book theme to the characters rather than the painterly style of artwork used in MI. At this point I had ultimately decided to choose to draw my artwork with Cell Shading style to match the current Telltale Games artwork.
Next up, I looked at Tales from the Borderlands, this was to get some inspiration towards drawing the style and understanding the line art better.
After that, I found some images of my favourite Telltale game 'The Wolf Among Us' based off the comic Fables. I decided to focus on this game as my main art style to create, so while I was drawing out my work, I had to game on in the background to get a better understanding of the characters art in game. The game also helped me come up with some ideas for the different forms due to the main characters ability to transform into a werewolf.
While in the end I ended up abandoning this art style, I did briefly look into the game 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: Eye Of Heaven'. I noticed that it had a similar cell shading style to the Telltale games, I thought about maybe branching off from the Telltale side of artwork and following this one to create my work, but returned to wolf among us because of the fact that if I apply for a job at Telltale, they will want to see I can draw in their art style. When looking back on my work, I think I may have added some of this style into my pieces.
Once the research was out the way I started on coming up with ideas for my underwater temple shopkeeper, so to get the ball rolling, I threw some basic blockouts together.
Next up choosing eight of my favourite blockouts and slimming them down to look more human like.
After that comes refining them into a good and understandable shape, next I had planned to pick a few of these images to continue on to give more detail, but changed my plans a bit.
Instead of going straight on to detail, I came up with the idea that the twilight form is some kind of spirit that possesses the character's shadow, causing them to transform. so I looked at various sea beasts and creatures that could be used as spirits.
Once I had created my shadow possessed characters, I choose my favourite 3 to work on in more detail, with feedback from fellow critic's I choose number's 3, 5, and 6 to work on.
Now using images of the chosen creatures, I went about drawing what the characters would look like, I really liked the idea of a sea monkey being the main shadow spirit, mainly due to the cheap fact that the game is called monkey island.
before coming up with various character faces and bodies, I decided to use a basic pose to draw out the various clothes that an underwater shopkeeper might wear, from a sea merchant's apron to scuba gear.
Once I had the clothes down it was time to give them bodies and a face. I mostly looked at LeChuck's crew for they anatomy layout, ranging from fat and plumpy to tall and skinny, thinking about what kind of person would their body and clothes tell, when it came down to the final two, I had a tough choice choosing between the kid pirate captain, and the slow looking skinny old man. In the end I came up with a unique back story for the kid captain and choose him as my character.
Once I had chosen the kid captain and the clothes for him to wear, I began with the character sheet, coming up with a back story so I could get a full understanding of what type of character I was creating.
His back story is that he once was a 40 something year old pirate captain, who after being infected by the sea spirit curse, has been turned into a kid. Now the the spirit possesses's his shadow during the day, watching him, and causes him to turn into a sea monkey type creature at night. After meeting with a shaman who will remove the curse for a hefty price, the kid opens the shop to make money as fast as he can, by any means necessary, swindling, pick pocketing, e.t.c.
To start, I began with the lineart, showing various facial expressions and some full body shots, as well as a little skit with him running away from LeChuck after stealing all his treasure.
Here I've given my character basic colour layers, I decided to give him blonde hair because I've noticed in various series, Blonde hair boys always seem to be mischievous in some way, I wanted to give my character a design that makes him look like a con artist.
Refining the final part of the character sheet in my cell shaded art style, adding various details to light and shadow layers then fiddling around with the levels setting to make the shadows more darker, while also trying to give it that comic book theme.
Once the character sheet was finished I moved onto the model sheet, I did three different sheet forms, A normal form with the coat on, one without the coat on, and his twilight form. For his first twilight form, I looked mainly at images of sea monkeys, trying to shift away from my darker doodles that where shown in the silhouettes, what I ended up with was something that looked a little like a pokemon.
So I returned to have another go at the twilight form, and after a little chat with the tutors, came up with a form that would sell more, basically make the arms into tentacles, and rip the trousers and shirt in the shirtless sheet area to show the effect this transformation has on him.
Like with the character sheet, I gave him a basic colour layer to start, looking at the sea monkey pictures, I gave his twilight form skin a dark gold colour. Keeping his hairstyle the same and raising the neck from the first iteration to support the head a bit better.
Finalised character sheets of three different playable forms, like last time attempting to create a cell shaded style art. I used various textures on the clothes to bring try and match the wolf among us colouring, for the twilight form I added more shadows to the clothes and skin to give the impression that the character swims underwater while in the twilight form, so the clothes would be more wet and damp.
Moving on to the final part of the art test, I started on the concept piece, I decided I would do a piece of my character picking up a picture of his normal form, while in his twilight form. When I was drawing this a thought about how certain characters lose conscience when they undergo a transformation, and are left with primal instincts to hunt and survive, I hope to get across the idea that the beast is seeing his other self and trying to remember who he is.
Before moving onto the colour layer, with crit from fellow students, I moved the right tentacle off the arm and darkened some of the lineart a bit to make various parts of the coat stand out.
Now in this part added the colour layers, and getting basic background textures from the games and fiddling with the hue/saturation and merging together. I decided to add more to this piece by adding a faint silhouette of the main twilight form in the reflection of the picture.
The end result of the concept piece and the art test, adding the colour and texture layers on, then adding more to the background silhouette of my monster, before adding a few soft lines over the top to clearly show that it is behind a glass frame.
With this project, I have taken another step into understanding of what is expected in the games art industry, I know I can improve on the speed and detail of my work with more drawings. Ultimately I feel as thought my final piece could use some more work, however the whole point of this art test is to see how fast you can create the work you are given. I know that if and when I revisit the painting I can get it to look more like it's a picture and you can see the twilight form reflection better.
Week 11, 12 and 13 Summary!
In these 3 weeks we had a specialism project is which we where given the choice to do 2D concept art: Product design or Anatomy, 3D Asset Creation: High poly modelling, baking and PBR, and Interactivity: a prototype game in Unreal engine 4.
I choose to do the 2D Anatomy project, the task I was asked to do was to create a plan for the next 3 weeks, research 5 job roles in the games industry and 3 professional portfolios related to the chosen project. Once I had sent off what I was planning to create, I started my research for this project.
The 5 job specs are as follows:
Concept Artist (Various Roles) (In Random Order)
1: SR. ARTIST: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. is looking for a Senior Artist to work closely with all members of the mobile development team to deliver high quality art for our mobile games. (This is for a mobile game, but gives me an idea of what BN are looking for)
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Produce concepts and comps to establish the art style of games
• Create in-game assets, including UI, characters, and environments
• Work with internal and external teams (including outsourcing) to track, document and provide feedback on all game art
• Create guidelines for new projects, as well as uphold existing art guidelines
• Work with marketing to provide or create source assets for marketing materials
REQUIREMENTS/QUALIFICATIONS
• Excellent portfolio demonstrating your skills
• Strong sketching, illustration, concept art and story board skills
• Ability to create 2D and 3D art, as well as pixel-level graphics
• Experience with Mobile UI/UX design
• Experience developing games with an internal team and working with art outsourcing
• Experience with 2D/3D art applications, e.g. Adobe Creative Suite, Maya, 3DS Max
• Broad knowledge of art and design including classic and mobile games markets
• Ability to creatively resize/rework artwork
• Understanding of how art requirements change on different devices and platforms
• 5+ years of experience in a professional capacity
• Experience managing people and teams a plus
• Video editing/Motion Graphic skills a plus
EDUCATION
Associate or Bachelor's Degree in a related field preferred.
Please send resume & cover letter to: jobs@bandainamcogames.com
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees in this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of employees assigned to this job.
Website Link: http://www.bandainamcoent.com/company/careers.html?career_id=388
2. Ubisoft: Concept Artist
Job Description About Reflections
Reflections, a Ubisoft studio is a video games development company based in Newcastle, UK. Collaborating with Ubisoft's international creative teams on projects such as Assassins Creed Syndicate, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, online open-world RPG "The Division" as well as the adventure platformer "Grow Home". With a host of other top titles to our name such as open-world action adventure 'Watch Dogs', MMO racer "The Crew" and the latest instalment in the world's No.1 dance game franchise 'Just Dance 2015' Reflections' objective is to combine technical expertise, flair and innovation to create and contribute to successful and memorable games. We are looking for Pioneering, Obsessive Humans to cement its reputation as an industry leading studio within the UK and the world.
Summary
The Concept Artist will be responsible for the creation of 2D assets that will constitute the graphic representation of ideas, provide inspiration and become references for all the artist’s in the project. He will be responsible of carrying the art director vision throughout his work.
Main Objectives
Produce sketches, paint-over and/or mood board to make the art director vision;
Supporting the Art teams like UI, Characters, Props are Environments during the production to produce assets on quality and according to the creative vision.
Responsibilities
Assist in establishing style for production art like environment, characters, 2D or objects ;
Maintain consistent style under the direction of the Art Director and be able to iterate on them;
Work with production leads to create concept art relevant for project;
Actively participate in technical and artistic problem solving;
Able to identify inefficiencies in the concept-to-production process and help formulate resolutions;
Produce environment concept art and in-game mock ups, focusing particularly on lighting and post effects;
Actively seek feedback from the Art Director in style and mood;
Communicate with co-workers, including designers, programmers, and other game artists;
Follow the schedules set by the Production Team;
Carry out all other related tasks.
Skills and Knowledge
Excellent drawing and conceptualization skills with an ability to adapt to established styles;
Anatomical knowledge;
Architectural knowledge;
Understanding of fundamental illustration skills including composition, perspective and colour theory;
Digital illustration skills with an advanced understanding of Photoshop;
Understanding of form, composition, and use of detail;
Solid interpersonal and communications skills;
Self-managing, organized with good time management;
Understanding of 3dsMAX modelling and texture tool sets;
Minimum 1-3 years’ experience in concept art, in the games industry.
Portfolio’s:
1: https://www.artstation.com/artist/axl99
2: https://www.artstation.com/artist/vinhillart
3: https://www.artstation.com/artist/donovanvaldes
Once I had the pose down, I moved on to creating the clothing and giving my character more of a story, giving him the sense of the good warrior.
I attempted something new with my background and just fiddled around with soft brushes to make the characters stand out more, I noticed that when I put the background in, the martial arts character needed to be tilted a bit. At first I was painting randomly, until I saw that the background turned into a blurred mountain setting, after that I stuck with that idea until I was happy with it.
I finalised the painting by adding in faint fog around the area, and making the various areas glow a bit, like behind the martial arts character, and the assassins blade so the viewer will be drawn towards that. Ultimately I will go back to have another go at this piece, but at the moment I am handing this piece in at this stage, to show that through learning more about anatomy, I was able to come up with a dynamic duel between two warriors. Plus the art style I used I’m still new at, so I’m proud of my skills to produce this piece in a couple of hours, rather than 7 or 8.
I choose to do the 2D Anatomy project, the task I was asked to do was to create a plan for the next 3 weeks, research 5 job roles in the games industry and 3 professional portfolios related to the chosen project. Once I had sent off what I was planning to create, I started my research for this project.
The 5 job specs are as follows:
Concept Artist (Various Roles) (In Random Order)
1: SR. ARTIST: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. is looking for a Senior Artist to work closely with all members of the mobile development team to deliver high quality art for our mobile games. (This is for a mobile game, but gives me an idea of what BN are looking for)
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
• Produce concepts and comps to establish the art style of games
• Create in-game assets, including UI, characters, and environments
• Work with internal and external teams (including outsourcing) to track, document and provide feedback on all game art
• Create guidelines for new projects, as well as uphold existing art guidelines
• Work with marketing to provide or create source assets for marketing materials
REQUIREMENTS/QUALIFICATIONS
• Excellent portfolio demonstrating your skills
• Strong sketching, illustration, concept art and story board skills
• Ability to create 2D and 3D art, as well as pixel-level graphics
• Experience with Mobile UI/UX design
• Experience developing games with an internal team and working with art outsourcing
• Experience with 2D/3D art applications, e.g. Adobe Creative Suite, Maya, 3DS Max
• Broad knowledge of art and design including classic and mobile games markets
• Ability to creatively resize/rework artwork
• Understanding of how art requirements change on different devices and platforms
• 5+ years of experience in a professional capacity
• Experience managing people and teams a plus
• Video editing/Motion Graphic skills a plus
EDUCATION
Associate or Bachelor's Degree in a related field preferred.
Please send resume & cover letter to: jobs@bandainamcogames.com
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees in this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of employees assigned to this job.
Website Link: http://www.bandainamcoent.com/company/careers.html?career_id=388
2. Ubisoft: Concept Artist
Job Description About Reflections
Reflections, a Ubisoft studio is a video games development company based in Newcastle, UK. Collaborating with Ubisoft's international creative teams on projects such as Assassins Creed Syndicate, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, online open-world RPG "The Division" as well as the adventure platformer "Grow Home". With a host of other top titles to our name such as open-world action adventure 'Watch Dogs', MMO racer "The Crew" and the latest instalment in the world's No.1 dance game franchise 'Just Dance 2015' Reflections' objective is to combine technical expertise, flair and innovation to create and contribute to successful and memorable games. We are looking for Pioneering, Obsessive Humans to cement its reputation as an industry leading studio within the UK and the world.
Summary
The Concept Artist will be responsible for the creation of 2D assets that will constitute the graphic representation of ideas, provide inspiration and become references for all the artist’s in the project. He will be responsible of carrying the art director vision throughout his work.
Main Objectives
Produce sketches, paint-over and/or mood board to make the art director vision;
Supporting the Art teams like UI, Characters, Props are Environments during the production to produce assets on quality and according to the creative vision.
Responsibilities
Assist in establishing style for production art like environment, characters, 2D or objects ;
Maintain consistent style under the direction of the Art Director and be able to iterate on them;
Work with production leads to create concept art relevant for project;
Actively participate in technical and artistic problem solving;
Able to identify inefficiencies in the concept-to-production process and help formulate resolutions;
Produce environment concept art and in-game mock ups, focusing particularly on lighting and post effects;
Actively seek feedback from the Art Director in style and mood;
Communicate with co-workers, including designers, programmers, and other game artists;
Follow the schedules set by the Production Team;
Carry out all other related tasks.
Skills and Knowledge
Excellent drawing and conceptualization skills with an ability to adapt to established styles;
Anatomical knowledge;
Architectural knowledge;
Understanding of fundamental illustration skills including composition, perspective and colour theory;
Digital illustration skills with an advanced understanding of Photoshop;
Understanding of form, composition, and use of detail;
Solid interpersonal and communications skills;
Self-managing, organized with good time management;
Understanding of 3dsMAX modelling and texture tool sets;
Minimum 1-3 years’ experience in concept art, in the games industry.
Opening date: 21st December 2015
Closing date for applications: 19th January 2016
Salary: Competitive + Relocation.
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K
Website Link: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/86302200?trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A3985543421451516830726%2CVSRPtargetId%3A86302200%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary
3. FFXV/Concept Artist
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
(Position Summary)
The Concept Artist will be tasked with visually interpreting and portraying the vision (culture, civilization, inhabitants/characters, living objects, landscapes) of FINAL FANTASY XV, the latest instalment in the acclaimed FINAL FANTASY franchise.
This role will be responsible for an array of art-related tasks which include, but are not limited to, designing visual assets for use within the title and creating visuals for use in advertisements.
We have consistently placed an emphasis on creating and bringing unique and alluring worlds to life throughout the course of the FINAL FANTASY franchise.
The art team continuously challenge themselves in their creative efforts with the themes of “fantasy based in reality” and “a fusion of art and technology” driving their endeavours.
This is an opportunity to be involved in a highly acclaimed and renowned title with the potential to become a forerunner within the video game industry.
Join us in our efforts to create a new world in the FINAL FANTASY universe!
(Essential Duties and Responsibilities)
・Firmly grasp the context and settings detailed for the game and create vital in-game visual assets as well as key concept artwork to bring the game’s world to life.
・Create designs based on requests received from the planners. (“Design” can refer to background design, character design, monster design, or mechanical design, but an applicant is not required to be able to handle all of these types of designs. Specialists are also welcome.)
・Prepare reference art (materials detailing texture, shading/tones, shapes, etc.) for use when creating 3DCG.
Requirements
(Required Skills & Experience)
・Experience with 2D applications such as Photoshop.
・Experience designing or illustrating for games or film.
・Highly technical expertise and intimate knowledge within the field and ability to incorporate that knowledge into alluring designs.
・Grasp core aspects of story and themes, translating those concepts into images that deeply move viewers.
・Basic 3DCG knowledge and expertise.
Closing date for applications: 19th January 2016
Salary: Competitive + Relocation.
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K
Website Link: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/86302200?trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A3985543421451516830726%2CVSRPtargetId%3A86302200%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary
3. FFXV/Concept Artist
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
(Position Summary)
The Concept Artist will be tasked with visually interpreting and portraying the vision (culture, civilization, inhabitants/characters, living objects, landscapes) of FINAL FANTASY XV, the latest instalment in the acclaimed FINAL FANTASY franchise.
This role will be responsible for an array of art-related tasks which include, but are not limited to, designing visual assets for use within the title and creating visuals for use in advertisements.
We have consistently placed an emphasis on creating and bringing unique and alluring worlds to life throughout the course of the FINAL FANTASY franchise.
The art team continuously challenge themselves in their creative efforts with the themes of “fantasy based in reality” and “a fusion of art and technology” driving their endeavours.
This is an opportunity to be involved in a highly acclaimed and renowned title with the potential to become a forerunner within the video game industry.
Join us in our efforts to create a new world in the FINAL FANTASY universe!
(Essential Duties and Responsibilities)
・Firmly grasp the context and settings detailed for the game and create vital in-game visual assets as well as key concept artwork to bring the game’s world to life.
・Create designs based on requests received from the planners. (“Design” can refer to background design, character design, monster design, or mechanical design, but an applicant is not required to be able to handle all of these types of designs. Specialists are also welcome.)
・Prepare reference art (materials detailing texture, shading/tones, shapes, etc.) for use when creating 3DCG.
Requirements
(Required Skills & Experience)
・Experience with 2D applications such as Photoshop.
・Experience designing or illustrating for games or film.
・Highly technical expertise and intimate knowledge within the field and ability to incorporate that knowledge into alluring designs.
・Grasp core aspects of story and themes, translating those concepts into images that deeply move viewers.
・Basic 3DCG knowledge and expertise.
Position: Contract employee
Office location: Tokyo
Application Procedure: For timely consideration, ensure that your application meets the following requirements:
・Clearly state the job title you are applying for in the subject line of your email.
・Please submit documents in any of the following formats: doc, xls, ppt, jpeg, jpg, gif, or zip.
・Each file should be no larger than 2MG.
・File name: CV_[your name]
Website Link: http://www.jp.square-enix.com/recruit/career/group/2bd/eng/art-concept_ffxv.html
4. NetEase Games: Lead/Senior Character Concept Artist
Job Responsibilities:
1. Design game character art style; develop character design template and specifications;
2. be capable of character concept designing, organize concept artists and 3d artists to carry out the work;
3. Participate in specific character design and production process; review and guide outsourcing character production;
4. Participate in the character concept review process according to the design procedure;
5. Control the ultimate game effect of characters by using engine editor;
6. Accumulate and share character design experiences, compile courseware and facilitate new hires, share design experiences.
Job Requirements:
1. Have strong passion for video games, pay attention to gaming experience, can cooperate with product developers in gaming experience improvement.
2. Bachelor’s degree or above, art related majors, solid and awesome art skills;
3. A minimum of 5 years’ experiences in character concept design, those with experiences in leading a team to carry out the design work are preferred;
4. Strong ability of comprehensive analysis and innovation, precisely understand work demands and can accomplish it efficiently;
5. Strong sense of responsibility, high commitment to work, good cooperation spirit with team members to achieve goals;
6. Master necessary software for this position, strong learning ability, take the initiative to research and apply new technologies to work.
Location: Guangzhou / Hangzhou
Website Link: http://art.jobs.netease.com/en/careers.html
5. Concept Artist/Illustrator: Division: Arkane Studios Texas | Department: Art | Location: Austin , TX, US
Arkane Studios is currently seeking a talented Concept Artist/Illustrator to join our team in Austin to work on our next AAA title! The Concept Artist/Illustrator will report to the Art Leads and will assist in establishing the visual style for production art. All interested applicants are required to include a link to your online portfolio.
Responsibilities:
Collaborates with the Art Leads to establish visual direction for items to be used by Environment/Character Artists, Level Architects and outsource teams to model and texture assets
Concept a range of environments, characters, scenes, and assets
Paint over top of 3D geometry as needed to define concepts
Create high quality compelling illustrations and paintings
Requirements:
Strong traditional artistic skills
Must have at least 3 years’ experience concepting for video games and/or film
Work should illustrate a style similar to Arkane’s games and be detailed and polished
Excellent communication and time management skills
Previous AAA game experience a plus
Must be awesome
Office location: Tokyo
Application Procedure: For timely consideration, ensure that your application meets the following requirements:
・Clearly state the job title you are applying for in the subject line of your email.
・Please submit documents in any of the following formats: doc, xls, ppt, jpeg, jpg, gif, or zip.
・Each file should be no larger than 2MG.
・File name: CV_[your name]
Website Link: http://www.jp.square-enix.com/recruit/career/group/2bd/eng/art-concept_ffxv.html
4. NetEase Games: Lead/Senior Character Concept Artist
Job Responsibilities:
1. Design game character art style; develop character design template and specifications;
2. be capable of character concept designing, organize concept artists and 3d artists to carry out the work;
3. Participate in specific character design and production process; review and guide outsourcing character production;
4. Participate in the character concept review process according to the design procedure;
5. Control the ultimate game effect of characters by using engine editor;
6. Accumulate and share character design experiences, compile courseware and facilitate new hires, share design experiences.
Job Requirements:
1. Have strong passion for video games, pay attention to gaming experience, can cooperate with product developers in gaming experience improvement.
2. Bachelor’s degree or above, art related majors, solid and awesome art skills;
3. A minimum of 5 years’ experiences in character concept design, those with experiences in leading a team to carry out the design work are preferred;
4. Strong ability of comprehensive analysis and innovation, precisely understand work demands and can accomplish it efficiently;
5. Strong sense of responsibility, high commitment to work, good cooperation spirit with team members to achieve goals;
6. Master necessary software for this position, strong learning ability, take the initiative to research and apply new technologies to work.
Location: Guangzhou / Hangzhou
Website Link: http://art.jobs.netease.com/en/careers.html
5. Concept Artist/Illustrator: Division: Arkane Studios Texas | Department: Art | Location: Austin , TX, US
Arkane Studios is currently seeking a talented Concept Artist/Illustrator to join our team in Austin to work on our next AAA title! The Concept Artist/Illustrator will report to the Art Leads and will assist in establishing the visual style for production art. All interested applicants are required to include a link to your online portfolio.
Responsibilities:
Collaborates with the Art Leads to establish visual direction for items to be used by Environment/Character Artists, Level Architects and outsource teams to model and texture assets
Concept a range of environments, characters, scenes, and assets
Paint over top of 3D geometry as needed to define concepts
Create high quality compelling illustrations and paintings
Requirements:
Strong traditional artistic skills
Must have at least 3 years’ experience concepting for video games and/or film
Work should illustrate a style similar to Arkane’s games and be detailed and polished
Excellent communication and time management skills
Previous AAA game experience a plus
Must be awesome
How to Apply
To apply for this position you will be redirected to the job submission form at Taleo.com, our third-party applicant tracking system. While Taleo.com is not hosted by ZeniMax Media and does not fall under our Privacy Policy, only employees of our Human Resources department will be able to view your submitted information. Information collected via the job submission form is subject to Taleo.com’s privacy policy.
Website Link: https://jobs.zenimax.com/requisitions/view/811
To apply for this position you will be redirected to the job submission form at Taleo.com, our third-party applicant tracking system. While Taleo.com is not hosted by ZeniMax Media and does not fall under our Privacy Policy, only employees of our Human Resources department will be able to view your submitted information. Information collected via the job submission form is subject to Taleo.com’s privacy policy.
Website Link: https://jobs.zenimax.com/requisitions/view/811
Portfolio’s:
1: https://www.artstation.com/artist/axl99
2: https://www.artstation.com/artist/vinhillart
3: https://www.artstation.com/artist/donovanvaldes
Once the research was out of the way, I was able to focus on the anatomy drawings, my plan was to create a number of various anatomy drawings in dynamic shapes and poses, to improve my speed and skill in drawing the human body, I originally wanted to start with drawing characters, then create my own character but bend the anatomy laws a little, maybe give him another set of arms, in the end I decided against it and thought about drawing a final piece of 2 characters fighting.
I looked at references of people doing dynamic poses and put my favourites here:
I decided to jump right into it, and drew a picture of a character doing a dynamic pose, I unfortunately traced out a rough sketch of the body shape to get the idea of how to get the pose, after talking to other students about it I felt bad about tracing it and made sure I wouldn't trace any more, so as to get a full understanding of where I am when it comes to drawing a character. However the colour was all from looking at the reference.
This next piece didn't really go far, I started to work on it, but due to the image size I couldn't pick out much detail and various skin tones of the piece, so I ended that piece.
This third piece is one of my favourite ones, I attempted to do another full body drawing, and go into as much detail as I could, here is the initial rough sketch:
Next up came the colouring, although I only spent a few hours on this piece I do like how the results turned out, I started doing basic colouring to the body, when I got to the head I focused more on it, and then decided to go into as much detail to make it look at realistic as possible in those few hours.
Here's a close up of the head and reference image:
On that piece I felt like I had improved a lot since the summer project, however I still know this picture isn't complete, the head does look a little out of shape, and I need to work on the nose and eyes more, I will work more on this piece in my spare time.
While I was painting the head, a tutor gave me some advice on looking at the muscle structures individually to get a better understanding of the human body, so first I looked into the arm muscles on some of my references
I choose to shade the image rather than colour it to save time, as the end of the first week was upon me, I had to show how fast I could get the image done. I spent a bit longer on these arms than I hoped to because I wanted to see how well I could get the drawing to match the reference, I later added the skeleton drawings to see how the bone structure worked. I also did a couple of hand sketches I found in a book. (image reference below:)
Next up I worked on leg muscles, like the last piece I did it it shading rather than colouring, to save time I decided to do a basic sketch pattern, unlike the last piece, I spent a lot less time on this so as I could move on to trying skeletal sketches.
For the skeletal sketches I attempted to draw out a skeleton from looking at images on google, this proved to be a really tough challenge, as I had never drawn skeleton's much and had no idea on how the anatomical structure was supposed to look like. In the end I decided to draw a skeleton under a human pose, then without the first skeleton reference draw that same pose next to the human reference, now attempt to draw out the human pose with the second skeleton. After a couple of attempt's this seemed to work but in the end I ended up getting frustrated with how they came out, so I left it to move onto the next piece. Skeletal anatomy is something I need to work on outside of uni work.
At this point I was ready to begin my last piece for the project, I decided to quickly sketch some poses that I thought would be relevant to my final piece, but like the skeletal sketch's ended up with a layout sketch, and leaving it at that instead of going into further detail.
In the last week, I decided to use what I had collected from my anatomy drawings to do a dynamic combat concept piece. I set out with the rough image in my mind that one character would be preparing to counter the other's advance attack on him then blocked it out in thick shapes.
I began work with the poses, I started with my first character in a lunging position with the help of my wooden mannequin, focusing mainly on getting a basic male form and then altered around the legs and arms to make it look right.
Once I had the pose down, I moved on to creating the clothing and giving my character more of a story, giving him the sense of the good warrior.
Next up was rough layout for his opponent, creating a pose I liked, then flipping it round so it works better.
This part like with the other character got me fixing the pose to make it look more anatomical correct, as well as getting his dynamic pose ready.
Now that the pose had been created, I moved onto what my character might be wearing. Looking at various traveller/assassin robes, armour plating, and cloaks. One thing I always made sure he was wearing in each outfit was the scarf.
Getting my characters into their positions in the painting, to get a dynamic shot I added some speed lines to show the martial arts character is jumping to attack the assassin character at the front.
After receiving feedback on the shape of the bodies, it was suggested that I alter the assassin's forward leg, as the leg and foot wouldn't bend like that, so I redrew the leg, and removed the far hand as the arm lengths didn't match up, now that the lineart is done, it's time to add detail to it.
Once the lineart was done, I moved onto giving the characters a shadows layer, I imagined the assassin character having mostly dark clothing, while my goggles martial art character having more brighter colour to counter his opponent.
Adding the first colour layer, I originally had the assassin's hair black, but changed it to white because the design looked better.
I was pressed for time when I was doing this piece, so I decided to do the colour details in one layer to save time in making numerous layers, I started on the assassin first, this was pretty simple, I just darkened the bright colour's like the skin and scarf, and
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