Task 6 – Art Direction

For this task I have to pick out a painting, photo, film or game, I then need to analysis and to say what I like about it. There are a few that I would like to look at but I only need to pick one. I had a look throw some of my favourite artist to find pieces of work that I like. In the end I choose a digital painting called “Dunwall Bridge” by Viktor Antonov. It was created as any concept pieces for a game called dishonoured.  

Why did I pick it?

I pick this because Dishonoured is one of the few games to make me stop and look around, not to find hidden things but just so I could see how great it looks. That is why I love looking at the concept work for the game and seeing how close it matches to the game. It is also made by Viktor Antonov, who is an artist that I have been a big fan of because of his work on half-life 2, which is my favourite game of all time. I think the best way to look into the image is to break it down into the elements of design. These are Line, shape, colour, texture, tone, form, space, and depth.

Line, where do I start looking and where do I go from there?

When I first look at this image the first thing that stands out to me is the light, at the top the bridge close to the middle. From there I look down the tower looking at the lines that go down it. About half way down I follow the roof to the right, of what I think is some sort of control room. This then leads me to a long metal wire that curves down to the very right of the image. From here I then go to a building that bring to some metal looking pips that go back left, under the first tower. I keep following this line left till I get to the second tower. When I get to the second tower I follow the lines up the tower to the very top of it and then go along the top to the left that leads me onto the buildings to the left and I keep going left following the roofs till I get to the end.

This gives you a good look of the whole image and keeps you very close to the 2 tower of the bridge. What is the point of this image to show. The line takes you on a very good look but it shows a very good point on where to start.

Shape, what different shapes stand out to me?

The main part of this image is the bridge so I think it would be best to talk about the shape of that. Just by looking at the bridge, you can see there are many geometric shapes, they make the outside of the bridge and there are many more within the bridge itself. The 2 towers are like simply block shapes with an ellipse in the centre and a right angle triangle to the right side to show the metal wires. Within these shapes there are more geometric shapes like on the towers there are parallelograms that show the metal building supports.

Colour, what dose he use and why?

Right away I see a lot of dark blues and grey blues. This gives it a very well-worn and grimy feel to the image. The colours used on the bridge also give it a very industrial feel to, what gives an idea of what going on in this world.

Texture, how are surface Martials shown?

I see that a lot of the textures have a matt and smooth look to them this can be seen in the water at the bottom of the image is shown very nicely by the way by the smooth lines of different colourer that blend in well with each other but also the darker colours to show the reflection of the bridge and buildings. The metal of the bridge can be seen; by the 1 colour he use then adds 1-2 more colours to show shadows or reflection of other parts of the bridge.

Tone, how is shading used to show form?

There is a lot of shading used on this image, mostly on the bridge to make it stand out and have depth to it. On the first tower (the on close to the right) you can see how different tones have been used to show the support that keep the tower up but you can all so see the different floors that go up the tower. There is also a nice use of tone used on a part below the building on the left. You can really see how they come out of the wall into the water by the dark tone used to show one side of the walls. By his use of tone he makes the bridge stand out very well by using a gradient that is dark at the top and bottom of the image and then making it lighter in the centre because the dark colours used on the bridge make it really stand out nicely, he also use more lighter colours on the buildings to the left of the bridge so that they don’t take your eyes away from the bridge.

Form, how does the image look 3D?

The form of the bridge is mostly because of the tone and colours used but it allows you see to see what the width of the bridge is and that you can then use that with other objects in the world to get an idea of how big it is.

Space, what space is used in the image?

The most space is used up by the bridge because it is what the image is about but if you look at the image in the rule of 3^rd you can see a lot more going on. The left line horizontal goes right up the left tower of the bridge and both vertical lines meet the tower as well, one half way up the tower and then goes along the bridge to the second tower and the other line at the bottom of the tower. This is a really good use of the rule of 3^rd and helps make the bridge stand out more the eye.

Depth, what is in the foreground, background, and middle ground?

There is nothing in the foreground but there are 2 things in the background that show depth in the image. On the very middle left you can see what looks like to be buildings and towers but not with any detail on them but you can still make out what they are meant to be. If you also look to the very right and follow the water you can see in the background there is another bridge, again there is no detail on it but you can tell what it is meant to be. This help fill in what would be empty space but it does not take your eyes off what you are meant to be looking at.

This is how I see this image but if you can’t maybe this will help

Line – red

Shape – yellow

Texture – dark blue

Tone – Green

Form – light blue

Space – purple (rule of 3^rd)

Depth – orange

I think I have learnt a lot by looking at this image and I think I could maybe use it on my future work if I need to.

Websites used

http://dishonored.wikia.com/wiki/File:Dunwall_bridge_concept_art_by_Viktor_Antonov.jpg

Task 5 – Game Art Careers

For this task I need to find a company with a job role I would like to do. I have look at a few different company but in the end went with Valve.

Company - Valve software

Job – Artist

Job description - We’re looking for versatile, self-directed artists who have experience in 2D character and world design and enjoy working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Your folio should, above all, demonstrate originality, an ability to iterate, and an understanding of color and form. It should also reflect a solid understanding of anatomy and painting, and contain examples that show your awareness and appreciation of Valve’s various Intellectual Properties.

Duties:

Integrate into a multi-disciplinary team (6-8 people) and continually produce useful concept design based on the group’s collective conversations and decisions.

Iterate quickly and submit work that solves problems rather than creates them.

Self-manage and also be aware of the needs and requirements of those around you.

Generate ideas and use 2D/3D work to communicate those ideas to the team.

Requirements:

Working knowledge of 3D packages such as ZBrush, Mudbox, SketchUp, etc.

Communication skills that allow you to describe your process maturely and succinctly

Ability to change gears quickly when needed

Why did I pick this job?

I have been a long time valve fan because of the video games that they create like half-life 2, portal, Dota2 and many more and it would be great to help work on their next game. Also valve have a very interesting way of working that appeals to me and that is they have no managers and employs are allowed to work on what they want, when they want but this means they are looking for very hard working people and love what they do.

How I compare myself to the job description

Valve is asking for a lager verity of different personal skills and abilities. The first thing they are asking for is someone who is “self-directed and who has experience in 2D character and world design”. I do have the experience in 2D character and world design from the work I have been doing on my course, that I’m on right now but I do not fell like it is self-directed because its work I have been told to do and I have not really done anything by myself in my own time to practice these skills that I have been learning.

They also say that you need to enjoy working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. This is something that I fell I fall down on a bit because of low experience, I don’t feel like I can do my work fast and that I have to take my time just so that I fell like I’m doing right. It’s the same thing with the collaborative environment I really have no experience with this because I do like to keep to myself what I know is not very good if I’m going to be working in a team with other people and that we need to communicate with each other.

Looking at what they want in your folio I think the number 1 thing they want is to “demonstrate originality, an ability to iterate, and an understanding of color and form”. I think from the work I have done I can originality but they will be looking for a lot more. For the iterate skill I could repeatedly do the work but again not at a very fast pace that they would be looking for. As for understanding color and form. I think that I could maybe do a bit more for understanding colour but from the work I have already done, I can show a good understanding of form.

They want people to show that they have a very solid understanding of anatomy and painting. I can show that I have a good understanding of anatomy from the life drawing but it can always be improved. As for painting I have a lot that I need to work on because I have only ever used watercolours and nothing like oil paints or acrylic that they would be looking for as well.

What I think of the duties I will have to do

Form looking at what I may have to do I think one of the think I may have a bit of a problem is that you will have to be working in a team of 6-8 people and that you may have to integrate. I think I would have the most problems with because my people and communicate skills are not as strong as I would like them to be and as I said before I don’t really have much experience in working in teams.

Next they need people who can “Iterate quickly and submit work that solves problems rather than creates them”. I do like to think that I am a good problem solver but doing it quickly is something that I don’t know if I could do.

They are saying they want people who are “Self-manage and also be aware of the needs and requirements of those around you”. I do think I can self-manage but could be a lot better if I was more organised with my work and I do like to help other people but the only way to be aware of other people’s needs are is by communicate. So I feel this may be a bit hard for me to do.

They also need people that can “Generate ideas and use 2D/3D work to communicate those ideas to the team”. I think I could generate ideas very well but have not way to really show that right now and then to communicate those ideas to other people could be hard for me.

What requirements I have that meat what valve want

I have work with 3D software a lot but not of any they have listed but don’t think that will be much of a problem as long as I show I have a good understanding of 3D.

As I have said many times before now my communicate skill are not very strong and could use a lot of work on them. They want people who have the “Ability to change gears quickly when needed” I think I could do this but still would not like the idea of maybe leaving uncompleted work.

What I think overall and what I can do to improve myself, to make myself better fitted to the job?

Overall I think I need to do a lot of work if I want to work a valve as an artist. What I think I should be looking at to improve is my self-directed work, to be more organised, and people skills. With the self-directed, and organised I think I could kill 2 birds with one stone by planning out my own work, that would help on improving my artist skills that I don’t have. For the people skills I could start spending less time on my computer and just find more things to do in my free time but organise it so I still do my work.

I may make another post in a year or so, just to see how I’m doing.

http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/job_postings.html

Task 4 – Personal Enquiry

For this task I need to look up area I think I’m interested in working in. This is something that I have not been thinking about much, like I know I want to work as a game artist but there are many different paths I could go down, it could be for character design, environments, or concept but from the work I have been doing I think I could be good as an environment artist or concept artist because I like drawing and painting, landscapes and building. I also really like working in 3D but what I really love about the idea is that I could be creating a complete new world and that to me just sounds amazing. So just for this I decided that I’m going to be looking into environment artist and see what they have to do, what it takes to an environment artist, and what problems they may come across.

What is an environment artist and what do they do?

An environment artist is someone who will make a concept for a level or environment or take one that someone else has made and turn it into a 3D level by creating the assets and layout that will make it fun for the players but there is more to it than that. They will have to work like lighting and post-processing that has a huge impact on the game as a whole. They will have to texture the models as well to make them applying to the player. They will have to be working in a team. They will have to work together to come up with ideas and help each other to meet deadlines that they have been set for them.

What is takes to be an environment artist

There are many different skills that you need to become an environment artist. The most important is that you know how to use 3D software to create assets and props but It is not all about the modelling; it is also about how well you can create textures, so artist need to know how to use software like Photoshop because a lot of the time a very well made 3d model can come out bad if the texture has had not much time spent on it. Good textures can help with the visual storytelling and composition of your scene. Things like better transitions between your materials so when moving around the level there are no clear lines showing where textures change. Unique spec maps that make textures stand out more and do not take up as much memoire as it would if model that way. Proper dirt and grime overlays, that can show wear a tear on different types of assets and props. It will all improve the visual impact of your scene by a big amount.

An environment artist also needs to be very organised because when it comes to working in 3D there many things that need to be named from the model itself, to all the texture files that are created to go along with the model. So if it is given to another artist they can see what everything dose and they don’t waste any time or if is trying to be imported into a game engine and there is something wrong they could do a quick fix what will save time and having it all named right could help them find the problem.

Time management is something that an environment needs to have because to make sure they are spending the right amount of time on the different areas of their work to get it done that move onto there next task they have been sent to do.

What are some of the problems that an environment will have to fix?

Environment artist will face many problems that they will have to overcome and fix and this can only be done by the skills and knowledge of the environment artist. They may have to create an asset for a level but may be limited to how many polygons they can use; having a good understating of 3D and form can help with this and will allow them to do it without taking too much time to do it. Another problem is making sure that the level is fun and works but also matches the original concept because if it doesn’t it could make the player fell out of place, so if a level is set in a dark cave they have to make sure it stays that way, all the way throw and not have any pretty, colourful flowers just randomly in there at some point because that would spoil the experiences for them.

A lot of the problems that an environment artist come across, they may not be able to fix that is why working in a team is very good so they can go to someone else who may what to do. This is good because then less time is wasted by that one person trying to fix it on their own.

What I think

By looking in to what an environment artist is now, it does sound a lot like what I would like to do in the games industry. I really do like working in 3D making assets and props but I know I still got a lot of things to learn before I can start working in the game industry.

Websites used

http://platinumgames.com/2014/04/02/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-environment-artist/

http://eat3d.com/forums/general-chat/what-it-takes-be-environment-artist

http://www.littlelostpoly.co.uk/

http://getinmedia.com/careers/environment-artist

Taks 3 Computer game history 3, 2000s – Present (The birth of game consoles - the rise of Sony and a start of a war)

Games consoles were very well known about by everyone at this point but little did they know it will start a war and it all starts with a Japanese electronics company called Sony.

Sony started with the PlayStation (also known as PS or PS1) that was released in 1994 in japan and then later on in 1995 in Europe and North America. The PlayStation did very well for its time and made a lot of sales but it was not until later that they made a big hit in the games industry with the PS2. The PS2 (PlayStation 2), was released in 2000 in japan, North America, Europe. It was a huge hit all over the world braking sales records by selling over 155 million units. This crush there competitors like Sage and Nintendo.

The PS2 did very well because it could do many things that other console could not like play movies and music CDs. But one big thing the PS2 had that others could not was allow online play with other people from the world this was a big hit with people but like every great things it had to have some problems with it and this left people getting very angry. This is where a new console comes in the Xbox.

The Xbox came out in 2001 and was PS2 biggest completion because of one of its best fetcher Xbox live. This supported the user if there was a software problem and they did it very well unlike the PS2. This started to make think of which console was better the PS2 or Xbox. This started a small flam war between people saying the pros and cons of each console. This went on till the next generation of console came and only 2 were most waited for, the PS3 (PlayStation 3) and the Xbox 360.

The PS3 came out in 2006 but the Xbox 360 came out in 2005 and this gave then a bit of a lead on Sony and they had now in provide on their Xbox live but this time you now had to pay subscription to get access to the service. This did not make a big problem to many people but did stop some from playing online with other people because this is where gaming was going. When the PS3 came out, they released. They had made their own vision of Xbox live called the PlayStation network and the one big thing that made it so great is that it was free, people who could not pay for the Xbox subscription started to sell their Xbox’s to pay for a PS3.

In 2011 something very big happened. Sony was attack by hackers who stole over 77 million accounts and this top many people from playing online. This was a big blow to Sony and the PS3. The problem was fixed after some time but the damage it left was big, Sony would recover from it after time.

Websites used

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_consoles#Second_generation_.281976.E2.80.931983.29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_(console)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Network_outage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

Taks 2 Computer game history 2, 1980s - 1990s (The birth of game consoles – the start of legends)

After the release of spacewars more and more computer games start to be crated and people loved them but at the time to have a home computer could cost a lot and sometimes could be hard to get the games. After some time people came up the idea to opened arcades. They were a very big hit with young children but then some companies came up with the idea to make a way to play computer games at home, so that people could just stay in there houses and not have to pay more to carry one after they die or fail, and so came the birth of the game consoles.

The first generation of game consoles did sell well but a lot of them only had 1 game built into them. The Magnavox Odyssey, which was the first game console, did have changeable games but was only one of the few that did this. The second generation of game consoles were all made to have changeable games and this is when games industry really started to take off. By the third generation game consoles were very well know of and many kids wanted them, to play the best games because some games were no longer been made for arcades. This brings us to 2 companies that made a very big hit in this time, Sega and Nintendo.

The SG-1000 was Sega first console to be released by Sega in 1983, on that very same day Nintendo released the Famicom in japan. The SG-1000 was sadly not that very successful.

Nintendo had made a games console before 1977 – 1980 but they were only released in japan only. It was not until 1983 when Nintendo released the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) on July 15 but it was not until 1985 was it released in North America and 1986 in Europe. It was the bestselling console of its time. Nintendo then began to licensing third-party developers so that they could make and sell their own games for the NES.

2 years later Sega released their second gaming console, the Master System also known as the Sega Master System or SMS. It was first released in japan in 1985 but was named the Sega mark 3. It was then redesigned and redesigned the Master System for release in 1986 in North America, 1987 in Europe and Japan. The Master system was made and released to compete with the NES, that killed there first console the SG-1000. The Master System did not do the job. Nintendo had a greater market share advantage in Japan and North America but not all hope was lost when the Master System made a big hit in Europe.

Sage carried on making games consoles up until the 1999 with their last console the Dreamcast but Nintendo are still making consoles to this day but have not been doing great because the rise of a new console, That really started to take off, the PlayStation.

Websites used

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_consoles#Second_generation_.281976.E2.80.931983.29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_SG-1000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2009/04/21/ign-presents-the-history-of-sega

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Master_System

Task 1 Computer game history, 1850s - 1970s (The birth of game consoles - Where did it all start?)

Computer games have become very big part of peoples life’s but to see where they came from I think we should ask first where did computers come from and what was the first computer? I think to answer this question is to first look at where the word computer come from.

 The word computer first started to be used in the 16^th; it was way to describe someone who was very good at doing calculations or computations. This stayed the same until 19^th when people saw that machine build in the 18^th were better than people because they could never stop and were much faster.

Charles Babbage was considered the creator of the first mechanical computer because in 1822 he came up with the idea of the difference engine. The difference engine was a machine that was designed of calculating several sets of numbers and making hard copies of the results but because of Charles Babbage funding, he was never able to complete the machine

Later in 1837 Charles Babbage designed the analytical engine. It was considered the first concept of a general-purpose computer. It could use punch cards as memory and a way to program the computer but sadly again because of Charles Babbage funding, he was never able to complete the machine again. Charles Babbage passes away October 18, 1871 (Age: 79).

Herman Hollerith made a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards, which could tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. From this he crated the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896. In 1924 C-T-R adopted the name International Business Machines (IBM).

In 1936 Konrad Zuse Developed the Z1, the Z1 was considered the first electro-mechanical binary programmable computer. The Z1 could be programed by inserting punch tape into a punch tape reader and all output was also generated through punch tape.

On 1937 John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry begin their work on creating the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) The ABC would to be come to be considered as the first electronic digital computer. The ABC was also the first computer to use vacuum tubes. The ABC was not competed until 1942.

The Z4 became the first commercial computer, when Konrad Zuse started work on it in 1942. It was then sold to Eduard Stiefel a mathematician of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich on July 12, 1950.

The transistor was one of the biggest innovations to computers. Made in 1947 and crated by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. The transistor is what crated the binary code 0s and 1s (bits) what all computers still use to this very day. It was not until 1956 it was shown at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It all leads to the very first computer game being made in 1962 when Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen created spacewars. A 2 player game, were each player had to kill the other player to win. It was put on a DEC PDP-1 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Websites used

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/diffengi.htm

http://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/a/analyten.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/comp/ibm.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/people/herman_hollerith.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/z/z1.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/a/abc.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/t/transist.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar_(video_game)