Networking - LAUNCH Game Conference

I had the opportunity to attend the LAUNCH Future Gaming & Digital Conference 2012 as a volunteer artist for TL Multimedia .

The event was absolutely superb as it was all about networking and hearing what the professional game developers have to say about the industry. I have attended several talks from companies and people like SEGA, Starfire,  Codemasters, Microsoft, Playground Games, Vicky Rowley from Acvition Blizzard, Blitz Games Studios etc.

I've tried taking notes from an Environment Artist perspective and to draw the bottom line, I have learned the following:

- I need to tailor my application to the specific job/company I am applying to: this means, if I want to apply as an Env. artist to a company which produces car racing games, then my showreel should show racing tracks and all the assets around it. If I am applying to an RPG game developing company, then outdoor and medieval city models should really be in my showreel.
I also need to study the visual style of the "targeted" company and incorporate that into my showreel.

- My work should look very cinematic. Games nowadays are very much influenced by the film industry. A lot of people from the film industry end up working for game development companies. These people incorporate their cinematic knowledge into the final product, thus you actually feel like your playing through a film. My work has to show that I am aware of this fact and can produce such work.
This is heavily tied in with the color theories I am learning, because that and perspective drawing knowledge are very crucial to making my environments look like they are from a film.

- The games business has grown huge. It is rivaling the film industry, thus it is a massive business nowadays. It's become very profit orientated and being efficient is crucial. I have to be able to produce quality work in the least amount of time possible. 
This requires a lot of practice and theory studies to learn what to really focus on during my work and what can be neglected. In the past, my projects were lengthened very much because I was caught up perfecting small details that did not have a huge impact on the final outcome. I need to be aware what the main elements are with every project I receive and use that knowledge to complete the work as quickly as possible.

I've talked to several people during the breaks and have gained some new connections within the industry which I'm very happy about. Here are some of the business cards I was given:

Freelance work - Photoshop

I`ve received an offer that I could take on due to my Generalist skills.

The client provided photographs of various arm watches. These watches were shot at a certain angle and the request was to recreate them from a perfect front view.
At first it did not seem like a huge task, but the quality needed was very high, so I couldn`t just use the Transformation tools to re-orient the watches as the interior had to be perfectly aligned as well.

Here are some the reference provided (I had to re-create a total of 6 watches, I`m going to show 3 of these):

Watch nr. 1:

Watch nr. 2:

Watch nr. 3:

The final pictures I need to create need to be completely front facing and as the viewer shifts between the different version of a model, everything has to be consistent. If I scroll through the reference images sent, I can see that for example the interior part keep moving around. This is because it is not aligned properly.

The colors of the handles and numerous other elements change as well, so a basic color adjustment would not do the job.

I had to completely redraw the interior of the watches, piece by piece in order to have full control over them.
I took one version, rebuild it and then change its colors afterwards to re-create the grey and yellow version of it.

The sent images did not have an alpha, so the background color was blended together with the watch. I had to separate the background and make it transparent. The images will be used on a website and have to let its design visible around the watch.

This is very good Photoshop practice for me. I`ve bumped into quite a lot of issues and had to rethink my workflow. For my environmental work, I use Photoshop a lot of texture painting and post-production work. Becoming more familiar and fluent with the software makes texturing all the more easier and allow me to focus on applying the theories of color, tone, shade rather than being limited technically.

The workflow was pretty much the same with all of the watches: redrawing the necessary elements with the Pen tool mostly and using the guides to match things up perfectly.

The task proved not being as simple as just making the watches front facing. The client, almost on a pixel level, spotted every little irregularity. If there was a slight reflection somewhere, I had to go in and remove it, or if the texture had a bit of different shading in a certain area, that had to be removed as well.
It was a lot of retouching as well, and I was debating whether to rebuild the objects in 3DSMax to get a perfect, clean control over everything.
In the end, that did not seem like the most efficient way to go about the project, so I remained with Photoshop and retouched every little element.
It is a good learning process as you become aware of what to usually look out for when working for a client. There usually are no shortcuts, you have to do things properly and very professionally.

I had one week to finish the job and just like with the Jewelry one , I kept updating the client frequently and asking for feedback so I know I am on the right track and they feel that their project is in "good hands".

I've met the deadline, client was happy and I've already managed to build some credibility for further possible assignments.

Here are some of the final images:

Watch nr.1 - finished:

Watch nr. 2 - finished:

Watch nr. 3 - finished:

Freelance: Jewelry animation - testing, refining

Here are the very first test renders with textures and lighting:

There are several issue with this one, although this was created 1 day after I`ve gotten the project, so it is a good swift test so I know where I`m at. Right now, the colors need to be adjusted as they don't completely match those of the reference, the material is a bit off as well.
The ground plane is too yelow/brownish as well and the bow on the right box is too thin and lifeless.

After multiple discussions with the client, the final animation was approved, which then got showcased on their website as well.
Final animation:

Freelance work - jewelry animation

I had received an offer of creating a presentation video/animation for a jewelry company. The request is to model, texture and animate a sort of camera closing in on a ring box, which opens up. The camera hovers around the ring itself and then zooms back out, with the lid of the box closing.
The provided reference images were helpful enough in establishing the main visual style of the video and I had 10 days to finish the job. My aim was to learn from my previous experiences and pretty soon after the first talk, I wanted to send a somewhat roughed out test render to the client. There are multiple reasons behind this:

 1 - by sending a piece of work soon after the initial talk, you give the impression of being someone very active and committed to the job. It reassures the client of you being the right choice and they don't have to bite their nails up until the deadline day, wondering whether you will deliver or not. 
 2- by providing early test images, the client can immediately point out the visual direction you need to head in. If he/she can rule out an issue early on, that will save you time and money. Eliminating problems at the very early stages can save you a lot of headache. 

 Reference images:

The first step was to build the models with good proportions. At first, I had doubts about the ring itself as I didn't really understand the exact shape of the diamond itself, but I`ve managed to gather some schematics which cleared things up. This schematic was not provided by the client, so often times you have to gather your own... you won't be provided with absolutely everything.

Breaking down the reference:

   
It's really helpful to go in and examine the reference and make scribbles, notes. It makes you more aware and familiar with what you need to create.
The light is coming from above with a whitish color. The light is sort of a sky light with very scattered and smooth behaviour, hence the shadows are soft as well. The surfaces have a gradient type of shading. On the front of the right box you notice a kind of radial transition from light shade to dark around the edges.
This shading can be reproduced by positioning the lights appropriately and adjusting the material accordingly. That said, there is another technique, which involves hand painting in these shades directly in to the texture. So, if render times become an issue, or if simply the latter solution seems simpler, I will choose that.