Task 1 Research - Pre-production Process

Task 1 Research - Pre-production Process

In this advanced modelling unit I will be developing a simple sci-fi to a very high standard. This will require me to use all of my knowledge throughout the years in this college to make a top quality model. Because I am doing this to a industry standard I will start with the moodboard ideas.

Moodboard

The crate moodboard

Because I am making the same crate with three variations, I was thinking to myself "what if for the three variations I make a small, medium and large one?". Taking this Idea I made a moodboard with three different sizes. Some of these images where examples from other artist, but some where taken from games such as Borderlands, Alien: Isolation and Destiny. The Destiny one is what got my attention the most, die to the simple animation they have when you open the crate.

Concept Drawings of sci-fi crates Moodboard

I also made a moodboard on the concept art of the sci-fi crates. All of the models that I have seen Begin as concept art. It is an important part of the development process, because it is here that the main idea of the crates get taken into the modelling phase of the development process. All of the crate are shown in a orthographic view, showing off all of the details that will be applied into the models. I will follow the examples of this moodboard and make my crates to these expectations.    

ArtStation

Crate design done by Greg Cox

I also looked into other art websites such as ArtStation to get a better understanding of sci-fi crate designs. The gaming industry always looks into these websites, so by look at other artist work here I can get a good idea of the level of quality I need to aim for. The crates by the artist Greg Cox goes into a lot of depth of the crate design, concept process and shows it off in-game. All of this that I wil mention in my Blog.

Crate Design done by Andrew Porter

Another crate design that I took inspiration from is from a artist called Andrew Porter. The way that the crate opens and closes, gave me some ideas for the creation of the animations sequences. He has also used a good colour theme that perfectly fits into the sci-fi environment. His use of colour theme is something that I will apply to my own crate models.

Polycount

Crate design done by Simmo from PolyCount

For me, Polycount was a good website to use to get some understanding on the topology and geometry of my models. Eve the gaming industry reconise it and has got a mention from the character Roadhog in a Blizzard game called Overwatch. The user Simmo showed off the development process of his crate and got some good feedback from the community. He done a good job with the UV and normal layout and  I like the way he cleaned up his crate model to help reduce the tri count further. All of this, will come in handy when I start the clan-up process of my own crate models.

Crates Collages

Top to bottom: Crate 1,2 and 3 collages

Taking my moodboards further, I have made a collage containing all of the key images I have used for the Pinterest board, in addition to the colour theme and detail ideas. Taking all of these ideas into consideration, I applied them to the sketches to give me an glimpse of a possible design for these models. The theme is sci-fi so my main focus is on the those kinds of crates. and to follow their form and structure. I also want to make them look damaged so it can fit with the Persistence game design.

Monster Nergigante and weapons concept art

This kind of practice is common in the gaming industry. During the pre-production phase they create a wide variety of  possible designs for product and eventually it will lead them to their final concept design. For the game Monster Hunter World the developers go into great lengths to get the elder dragons anatomy and features that they will feel fits their idea. In addition to this they also apply this to the armour too taking into consideration the creatures appearance and how it look for both male and female hunters.


Mindmap

The mindmap of my crate

The mindmap that I have made here include all of the features I intend to apply to this model. There are many ways I can approach this model and by creating this, I can think of other ideas I can add to the crates. The main point I want to focus the most on is the animations. Even though these will be simple, I want to make them as complex as possible. This is an idea that I can apply to my second or third models.

Sketches

To help further my idea I have made some simple sketches for the three variations. I tried to go for some sharp edges, which is what the sci-fi theme is known for. In addition to this I also highlighted the decals I will be using and the way each one will open.

Digital Sketches

When it came to the digital sketches, I tried my best to capture the original design and further improve upon my ideas. My drawing skills are not to the professional level, but I have created a good colour scheme for all three of them. The middle one is by far the least favourite of my three and the top one is definitely the one I will be modelling first. All three of these colour schemes match to the style of sci-fi. They all use metallic, cold colours that help bring out the simplicity of their palette.

Now that I have got the groundwork of my crates done, I can now begin to model them.

Additional Sketch Improvements 13.11.17

After creating the models, I decided to give them another sketch design. The decals and designs that I gave the previous models where a bit too much, so I decided to tone them down a bit. All the crates follow the main theme in the game, but with my own flare added to them. I have changed the second and third design animation due to timing constraints. But I have have enough time, I can make another one that follows my previous idea.