6/4/2023 - 5/5/2023 | Week 1 - Week 5
Environment Design | Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Shofwa Alyadiena | 0350019

Lecture Notes

Week 6 - Material Studies and Thumbnails

We start off with a recap of the exercises, coming into the perspectives, values, ambience, compositions, photo bashing, colours, and basic shape usages. It's advised to start our material studies; for stone, wood, metal, cloth, etc.

During our ideation, it's important to create thumbnails. We should be more confident doing any sort of composition, which projects onto the lineart we produce.

Starting with the thumbnails and using the Rule of Thirds, it's good to place down our image focus on the guides [explained in Further Reading].

Instructions

Base Game

Fig. 1.1 Environment Design and Game Art Mood Board (6/4/2023)

Process

Thumbnails

1. Create a level.

2. Create a world/Environment.

Fig. 1.2 World Level Map Sketch (25/4/2023)

The first step I took was to create a 'World Level Map'. I was having trouble figuring out the direction I wanted and conjured a quick map to figure out the 'flow' of the environment. I ended up thinking of a flow where the player starts outside a forest and then enters it all the way up to the temple entrance. Everything after the temple entrance is an 'interior'.

Fig. 1.3 Forest Entrance (26/4/2023)

The first environment starts with the outskirts of the forest. I used lighter values to show the direction or path the player should take.

Fig. 1.4 Forest Centre (26/4/2023)

Entering the forest, the first mini-boss is stationed in the centre. The path to the next area is blocked by a fallen tree obstacle, forcing the player to stay a while until the mini-boss is defeated.

Fig. 1.5 First Temple Outskirt Draft (26/4/2023)

The temple outskirt or first entrance was a difficult idea, as I couldn't figure out what to take inspiration from. I did a general sketch of a temple entrance and decided to look for "arches" based on the location of where the characters were inspired from Indonesia, Japan, and Virginia state.

Fig. 1.6 Temple Outskirt (26/4/2023)

All the inspiration was combined into a natural arch, with a man-made gate wedged into it. The branches of the previous trees are visible as it's an exit of the forest and the transition going into the temple area.

Fig. 1.7 Temple Stairs (26/4/2023)

Drawing the temple outskirt was confusing as the area between the temple stairs and the arch was very close, so I opted with the focus on the stairs which will then be proceeded by a close-up of the temple's main entrance.

Fig. 1.8 Temple Entrance (26/4/2023)

The entrance is a close-up of the previous scene. The main boss is sort of attached to the main temple, as shown by the vein-like things in the scene. That's simply what I wanted to show.

Progression and Ideation

For the ideation process, we were tasked to create 6 angles of the same building to improve our structural design and understanding of the building we're creating. Since I chose to do a temple and forest, I first started by creating a view of the temple from the forest.

Fig. 2.1 Sketch of 'View from Forest' (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.2 Value for 'View of Forest' (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.3 Ambient of 'View from Forest' (5/10/2023)

I stopped working on the angle for a while, focusing more on the breakdowns of the pieces I could give other options to.

Fig 2.4 Breakdowns of Elements (5/10/2023)

The options I focused on were the pillars, roofs, and gates. I wanted to combine the different elements based on the myths that helped create the characters that live there. The main elements were a natural wall, thin bars, and separation. I also originally thought it would be good to try and include a lantern in the pillars.

Fig 2.5 3D Angle 1 (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.6 2D Angle 1 (5/10/2023)

Continuing the angles, I worked on the top view of the entire building. It helped me decide earlier how I wanted the other sides to look. I went for a symmetric building with stairs on all sides except the back.

Fig 2.7 3D Angle 2 (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.8 2D Angle 2 (5/10/2023)

Here's a close-up angle that was to figure out how big the fences should be in comparison to the main temple.

Fig 2.9 3D Angle 3 (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.10 3D Angle 3 (5/10/2023)

Another top view angle, this time trying out a split staircase on the main entrance like the original concepts (figure 1.7 - 1.8), and removing the other stairs. I tried to clean up the broken part of the gate, only to realize later on it really doesn't suit well.

Fig 2.11 3D Angle 4 (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.12 2D Angle 4 (5/10/2023)

I tried a different value for the fourth angle, rather than focusing on the changes for the overall structure. I had the most difficult time imagining how to make it clear that it's a forest- and there were hardly any references I could find that suits the vision I had. I stopped working on this one as it was less focused on the building, which was against what this project is aiming for.

Fig 2.13 3D Angle 5 (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.14 2D Angle 5 (5/10/2023)

The fifth angle was made with the intention to help fix the first idea (figure 2.1-2.3). Mr Kannan explained that it was expected of us to create a story using the building we have, and I was at a loss for ideas- the only story I could tell was directed toward the forest. The temple was intended to look unassuming. I added hanging heads and silhouettes of organs to the tree branches and spikes to the fence in an attempt to follow that expectation.

Fig 2.15 3D Angle 6 (5/10/2023)

Fig 2.16 2D Angle 6 (5/10/2023)

Finally, the sixth angle was made as a better close-up of everything. I used the split stairs yet again and added the broken fence details. I tried to make the broken bits visible on the right half as well to keep it some level of symmetric, but it still looked messy.

Final Exterior Progression.

Although Mr Kannan suggested that it would be quicker and better to proceed with one of the angles to finalize, I was completely unsatisfied with the previous angles. I realize as well, that it was difficult to imagine the trees in the background because I hadn't thought about 3D modelling them. So, I looked up a quick reference and chose to follow one of the compositions.

Fig. 3.1 Image credit: @Jandrew_art on Twitter

This piece was one of the biggest inspirations that helped me figure out a few problems- the background, the lighting, and the foreground. I always wanted to try making a good foreground element. In my case though, I don't think it worked out well at all and instead took away the focus. However, I went with it just to see how it would work.

Fig 3.2 3D Final (6/1/2023)

Fig 3.3 Blockout Final (6/1/2023)

During this time, I moved over from Photoshop to Autodesk Sketchbook on my tablet for the rough blockouts. It was easier to get an idea of the shapes and negative space this way. Unfortunately, I didn't save the progress screenshots.

Fig 3.4 Final before Adjustment (6/7/2023)

Feedback

1. Use large, then medium, then small elements to build up an entire image.
2. Don't be afraid to make mistakes and focus on projecting the idea in your head to the canvas before refining the entire image.
3. Too thin. Avoid that.
4. Use the first pillar, it's nicer.
5. Use a grass texture and try it out.
6. remove the trees that are in the way.

Submission

Fig. 4.1 Final Illustration of Exterior (6/10/2023)

Fig. 4.2 Project 1 Final PDF (6/10/2023)

Reflection:

Experience

If I were to explain the process I took for the first project, it would be 'repetition'. To some extent, it felt like we were never going to finish it, with the amends and angles we had to do. It was especially funny considering that I wanted to create a temple for Project 1 originally, and ended up having to do it for the exercise- it felt like I had to create endless temples at a certain point. In the end, it really felt exciting either way, and I was upset we had to sacrifice our 8th week for a different module.

Observation

Luckily, practice is not without results. After drawing similar things several times, I was able to see my mistakes better and produce a final image that felt higher quality than I was usually able to make. The demand for quantity pushed me to use 3D tools as well, further familiarizing myself with Blender.

Findings

Finally, I was able to realize that certain angles had terrible perspectives and used the observations to improve my understanding. Taking this to real-life situations, I'm able to determine what perspective category images and visuals are. I hope to improve this skill after the semester ends.

Shofwa Alyadiena (0350019)

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Environment Design | Project 1: Exterior and Landscape Design

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