Research Report

Since changing my research report idea to be about concept art, I have been reading different concept art books as well as some other sources of information.

Uncharted 2

The first book I looked at was the art of Uncharted 2 published by Ballistic publishing, well known for publishing books on celebrating digital artists. 

Naughty Dog Staff

                        Art Director: Robh Ruppel

                        Page 40 (Need to Scan) “In Uncharted 2 it was extremely important to come up with distinctly different classes- the lighter armour class being easier to kill, while the heavier class are more difficult” “…we wanted the visuals to give the player an idea of what they were up against, to convey information that would allow the player to strategize.”

                        Page 44 (Need to Scan) “All the different classes of soldiers had to be easily visually identifiable by function. The heavy soldiers are the largest guys, big bruisers that are physically intimidating. Both their gear and their size sets them apart visually from the rest of the soldiers.”

                        Page 46 “First we came up with what we wanted them to look like – massive ape-like creatures with long horns- and then we realised we had to believably fit a guy inside there.” “Once we settled on a design, we reverse-engineered how the monster suit would realistically work…we designed the elements of the outfit to look as though it was constructed out of local objects…”

                        Lead Character Artist: Rich Diamant

                        Page 57 “Modelling characters generally begins with a concept, sketch or series of reference photos to establish the look of a character…(on modelling) we do a lot of really quick models to get them into the engine quickly to give a rough example of what it could be like in-game. It can be hard when you look at something on paper, because you’ll ask “Is it going to work? Will it be suitable for the environment? Is it too colourful? Is it not colourful enough?”…we were able to do that step (get the model in the engine) within a couple of days by building a fairly basic block mesh and projecting the reference images as textures onto the models.”

                        Page 72 “He (Tenzin) started with a long jacket, which became a problem because it would require another level of cloth dynamics. If you have something that’s fairly long, then it’s going to look weird when the character is moving around. We took some design liberties and instead gave him a smaller jacket that fit tighter”

                        Page 75 “Characters like Flynn are pretty easy to model…Male characters aren’t scrutinized to the same level as females”

                        Page 76 “Because he’s only in cinematics we didn’t have to be too concerned about performance – his hair alone is made up of about 6000 polygons.” (Talking about Karl Schafer)

                        Page78 “We even thought about what would be in his pouches to give them the right shape. His design is a classic case of form following function. The final model gently blends the initial concept with the actor’s (Graham McTavish) physique and features.”

                        Page84 “We did a bunch of redesigns of the character and removed fur from a lot of area, but kept it in key areas that would work in-game.”

Rob Ruppel

Concept Art: Environments

                        Page 90 “The design of environments is a collaboration between game designers, concept artists and environment artists”

The Art of God of War

I also looked at the Art of God of War, also published by Ballistic publishing.

Cecil Kim: lead visual development artist                       

“When you are working on a project as big as God of War, designing a new character will demand lots of revisions. I personally admire our teams’ professionalism because it requires a different level of patience to endure the countless revisions and notes from other creative departments such as animation, combat design, character modelling and tech art.”

Andy Park: visual development artist

                        “The whole time I was designing this I could not help but wonder how they were going to pull this character off in the game (Poseidon Leviathan)

Concept Art (d'artiste digital artists master class)

George Hull: Concept artist who worked on the matrix

                        “Breaking into Concept Art: At the end of the day, your artistic value is based on what makes you special. What can you do that sets you apart from what others do? There are a lot of young artists that can paint an image and make it look dramatic, colourful and maybe realistic. This is important, but the market is saturated on that end. What is hard to find are artists with refined drawing and design abilities. I always get calls looking for referrals of young design talent – artists that know forms, architecture, design details, and how to draw them well.”

                        “Even with vehicle designs, everything should relate to the story ideas…the ships needed to look repaired and battered like they had been through many sentinel attacks.”

Andrew Jones: Creative Director of Massive Black, a high calibre outsourcing studio for the video game industry.

Nicolas “Sparth” Bouvier: Artistic Director and concept designer in the gaming industry since 1996.

                        “The Concept design industry was just immerging in 1996. We all looked to famous artists like Syd Mead and Ralph McQuarrie for inspiration.”

Viktor Antonov: Art Directed and did concept designs for “Half Life 2

                        “I switched from industrial design to games after I realized the amazing possibilities and freedom games allowed. I’ve always loved designing realistic yet fantastical places. 3D game engines allowed new levels of immersion. The main challenge was using a primitive medium to get a sophisticated message through.”

                        “The process for concept art in games is definitely different for each project. Games are a collective effort – the process is very organic, mainly depending on the individuals making up the team and the company culture.”

Guild Wars 2 Art Book

Artists:

·          Matt Barrett. http://mattpostsarthere.blogspot.co.uk/

·          Kekai Kotaki http://www.kekaiart.com/

·           

                        Foreword, p3 “We don’t regard concept art as a blueprint to be slavishly reproduced, but rather as an inspirational starting point for our amazingly creative production artists. Multiple layers of personal contributions are expected and encouraged, sometimes leading to significant deviations from the initial idea, but always adding depth and richness.”

                        Ascalon, p7 “Striking a balance between function and inspiration was difficult with the new charr, who’s massive iron structures needed to be always ready for war.”

                        Ascalon, p9 “ Ascalon was the first land players explored in the original Guild Wars, and it was important to us that it remain recognizable – but also show ravages of 250 years of war and charr occupation.”

                        Ascalon, p11 “The template colours for Ascalon remained very similar to those in the original Guild Wars – yellows, oranges, browns and reds. Autumn colours, colours of the sunset. It was purposeful in the original Guild Wars to reflect the war and fall of Ascalon; in Guild Wars 2, it’s a reflection of the fiery attitudes of the charr, now the dominant inhabitants of that nation.”

                        (Find images from old game, compare with concept art and in game of gw2)

                        Kryta, p34 “The City of Divinity’s Reach is made of heavy stone and mortar contrasting with the wilderness that surrounds the city. This was designed to give the city a feeling of solidity in a chaotic world.”

                        Kryta, p37 “Clothing and weapons have become more like those of the renaissance…”

                        Kryta, p48 “From strong initial designs to fine craftsmanship of final game assets, Guild Wars always strives for high-quality art. However, we never aim for absolute realism. Instead, the key is to create a believable world. These creatures (scan and add images) are not ones you’ll find at any zoo, but their anatomical design, textural materials, and animation sets are based on real living animals. Anchoring the fantastic in familiarity lends credibility and, ultimately, fosters player immersion.”

                        Maguuma, p57 “The depths of the Maguuma Jungle were relatively unexplored in the original Guild Wars, so the design team and artists had a lot of leeway and room to grow into wonderful concepts and fantastic settings.”

                        Maguuma, p59 “The sylvari, our newest race, were a challenge because we wanted to bring in a fae influence, but keep it distinct from the common fantasy “elf.” Their plant-like evolution and extreme youth in contrast to the other races gives them a unique place in the genre.”

                        Maguuma, p65 “From their homes to their garb and armour, and even skin and hair, the design of the sylvari is all centred around their absolute bond with nature. They are essentially the embodiment of the natural spirit, so it was important that this idea be echoed in every facet of their civilisation.”

Maguuma, p68 “The monsters in Maguuma gave the artists a wonderful chance to play around with unusual textures. Wood, thorns, vines, and other natural elements all came together into one imposing whole.”

The Art of the Video Game by Josh Jenisch

This is a book I found while browsing for research resources online, and the description sounded like it would suit my research report as well as be an interesting read about games as art too.

The art of the video game has come a long way in the past 25 years. Once upon a time, the person responsible for a game's aesthetics was a solitary programmer - often presenting characters and landscapes as little more than bits of code and coloured pixels. Nowadays, entire teams of artists work together to create cohesive, often breathtaking, works of electronic art. Thanks to the technological sophistication of highly advanced gaming system, virtually anything that can be conceived of can now be rendered in the digital universe. "The Art of the Video Game" is the first book to celebrate the artistry of video games, which are poised to define 21st-century entertainment, much as talking pictures revolutionized the previous century.

A brief history of video game art

"At this point in gaming history, (1970s) artists played no direct role in the creation of video games. Development teams consisted of programmers buried neck deep in computer code. The main focus was on game-play dynamic, not the visual environment; artists wouldn't find a place on development teams for more than a decade. However, some of the greatest fantasy artists of the day were hired by gaming companies to create ancillary art (posters, box designs, instruction manuals, game cabinets, and the like). In the absence of truly engaging in-game art, manufacturers tried to capture gamers imaginations via auxiliary aesthetics."

"At this time (1980s) in game history, programmers were still the major workhorses of production, and most had little interest or training in art history, aesthetics, or design. But as the graphics capabilities of the machines increased, programmers were increasingly asked to showcase such features, and those with natural visual instincts found themselves on the fast track to success. One example in Shigeru Miyamoto, who became Nintendo's golden boy. As the creator of such properties as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and Legend of Zelda, Myamoto was single-handedly responsible for bringing in billions of dollars of revenue (not to mention the colourful and whimsical look that influenced many of the company's other titles). Myamoto's knack for combining interesting visuals with superior game architecture is renowned to this day."

"At this point (Early 90s), many game companies began hiring concept artists to solidify a title'f overall appearance. These artists worked in the early stages of game development, creating sketches and illustrations that set the tone for the characters, environments, gameplay, moods, and atmosphere. Unfortunately, technology was still unable to fully replicate any of these concept illustrations "in-game," so none of this work was ever seen by home players. But when programmers were faithful to the original concept art, gamers could feel its influence in every minute of gameplay."