2D Class Week 015 - Round 06 Audio and Final Polish

Round 06 Audio and Final Polish

   Nothing too crazy on this final week. Just added some background music and tweaked and polished the scene a bit :)

2D Class Week 014 - Round 05 Effects and Atmosphere

Round 05 Effects and Atmosphere

   For this penultimate week of our project, we turned our focus to amplifying the atmosphere of our scene and creating effects to make our scene come to life. First off, I added in UE4's dust mote particle system to give ambiance to the scene, and then played around in the settings of the Post Processing Volume. As a team, we discussed the possibility in implementing a homage to Moebius' style in use of gradients, and doing so in the shadows and midtones. The color scheme we chose was a purple to blue for the temple, and doing so immediately made the scene pop

Before Post Processing Volume:

After Post Processing Volume:

After that, I tackled creating my own fire particle system. Creating a custom system, as opposed to what UE4 has built in with the starter content, is inexpensive and, well, customizable. After conferring with our Project Lead, Zack, I went with a reddish to purple fire to further the mood and atmosphere of the scene, and added the effect to all the sconces in the room

Finally, I utilized the dust motes particle system that comes with UE4's starter content, which totally gave the scene a greater sense of atmosphere :)

2D Class Week 012 - Concepts Round 04 Proxy Refinement and Concept Finalization

Concepts Round 04 Proxy Refinement and Concept Finalization

  So this week I focused on getting medium and small detail into my 2D concepts of my column

Then, I went to work in refinement for our 3D VR scene. I modified parts of the room, such as creating alcoves, decorative wall pieces, banners, crystal bushels, and a frieze. Furthermore, I blocked out rough iterations of Prometheus' weapons to be displayed on the altar. In addition, I messed with the lighting and created artificial god rays using a masked cylindrical mesh and a material. Finally, I adjusted the pose of Prometheus to give her a shackled look.

2D Class Week 011 - Concepts Round 03 Color

Concepts Round 03 Color

   Continuing on the Prometheus train, this week we focused on color and nailing our final designs. The chosen column we decided to go with was Column 3, and using a color palette made by our Team Lead Zack, I made several color variants of the column utilizing the Moebius art style

From there, as a team we addressed the concerns and critiques offered last week, and after determining what to improve, I went in and made adjustments to our VR proxy scene. Changes include altering the shape of the temple by widening the main area, and also adjusting the scale of the robots, Prometheus, and Zeus. I also moved the crystals to the ceiling and rose how high the crystal tomb was from the ground, making it out of reach. In addition, I modeled a proxy platform staircase that the altar would rest upon, and modeled a rough version of the columns. Finally, I posed the characters and swapped out materials for potentially better alternatives

2D Class Week 010 - Concepts Round 02 Columns and Proxy Builds

Concepts Round 02 Columns and Proxy Builds

   This week my team began refining ideas in our concepts to solidify what exactly we wanted for our VR experience. On the 2D side, I drew up a few potential concepts for the columns that will line the walls of our temple scene

Hopping into the 3D space, I blocked out a proxy build of our scene in Maya to lay out the space and get some sense of scale for our project

Once I completed that, I jumped into UE4, set up the assets, and created some basic materials for everything to get started on establishing the tone and atmosphere of our concept that we could potentially go for. Nothing like a visual to really get a feel for things :)

2D Class Week 009 - Concepts Round 01 Silhouettes/Thumbnails

 Concepts Round 01 Silhouettes/Thumbnails

   My team is taking on the story of Prometheus with a fantasy sci-fi twist, and I was part to the environment team. Here are some thumbnail concepts inspired by the ideas we've come up with

2D Class Week 008 - Bringing It All Together Illustration 2

Bringing It All Together Illustration 2


   So this week we continued with our concepts. We were tasked with assembling and creating a scene for our character to inhabit. For my Robin to be set in a sci-fi/futuristic setting, I gathered some references images to inspire me. Here are a few that I used to aid me:

In order to tackle such a complex concept, I went to Maya to help me block out my scene and get my perspective lines right

From there, I got to work laying down my linework

Then it was time to add value

After that, I utilized a bit of photobashing to help me get some rich color values into the scene, making adjustments and edits to fit my vision

Finally, I made color adjustments, added effects, and plopped in my futuristic Robin Hood!

IT IS DONE.

2D Art Week 007 - Bringing It All Together Illustration 1

  Bringing It All Together Illustration 1

  HEEEEEEYYYYOOOOOOO! I writing this a quarter past midnight so this'll probably be a doozy. This week we were to fully flesh out our declared concept (see previous post) by character/or environment and then render the other the following week. I chose to start with my character. To reiterate, for my concept I chose Robin Hood as a female in a sci-fi setting (AKA Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick!) So without further ado, let's get to it!

Here's some concepts and references I gathered that inspired me -

Starting out, I roughed out a few thumbnails to help decide on the pose I wanted my character to be in. Needless to say, as wonky and somewhat disproportionate as they may be, it was a good base for me to work off of, as I could clean up the linework later. In this case, they were quick and effective

With my pose chosen, I then did a few variations of the general look I was going for, then settled on one that was composed of all the ideas I liked

I then cleaned up my linework to get ready for implementing my values

Once I blocked out my values, I designed Robin's bow and did its values as well (no progress shots for that one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Finally, I added ZE COLORSSSSS

Week 007 - MAJOR LIFE DECISION OH GOD HERE WE GO

 My concept is the mythical hero Robin Hood, though portrayed as a female in a sci-fi setting. Going for the art style achieved in Horizon Zero Dawn. Yeeeeeeet

2D Art Week 006 - Lighting Assignment

Lighting Assignment

  Our objective this week was Lighting, specifically, understanding and utilizing a three-point lighting system. We were to take an object of our choice, set up three-point lighting for it, and recreate it. I chose my statue of a Northern Hunter High Dragon from Dragon Age (*someone yells from a distance* "NERRRRRRD!") Using natural light and two hurricane flashlights (ah yes, always so professional) for my three point light system, I got these reference images.

With my reference in hand, I went into Photoshop and started blocking out the rough shapes and details for my dragon

Next up, I cleaned up my linework to nail my forms as precisely as I could

Once I was good there, I laid out my base values, blocking out my prominent lights and darks. Afterwards, I went in with a grungy brush to break up the flat spaces a bit

With my values all laid out, I then went in and blended in my linework and values to further the more realistic look I wanted

As a final touch, I used the Overlay blending mode to lay down some color.

 All in all, I can die happy now, as I've now accomplished a lifelong dream of mine to make a wicked looking dragon from start to finish. Why haven't I done one before you may ask? ...Laziness? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯