My initial research into professional pipelines, for environment artists, yielded some interesting and insightful information that should help me understand the most common approach to environment art on both small and large scale. From this study, I learnt that 3D art begins all the way back to the research, in which they must carry out their own analysis of the game’s theme; during this stage, the artist is also encouraged to gather their own reference images to look back at for inspiration. Following this process, I conducted some research of my own over the course of task 3, in which I break down the theme’s definition and synonyms while also considering words and sub-genres that may link back to the initial topic. Through this development, I created a mind map that included all of the surrounding subjects I felt fitted within the assigned theme – ‘cybrpunk’. Throughout the duration of the written exploration, I created a total of 6 mood boards and collages which covered a variety of related topics, including space related art, steampunk creations, and spaceships. In between each board, I chose a cyberpunk related video-game or film to break down and scrutinise, making sure to consider how they would be influencing my practical work later on. However, that is as far as the pipeline section of my critical report will shape my project, as I didn’t choose to create any environment art for this unit.
When I was asked to write a report on the historical and contemporary influences in the development of video-games, I researched, analysed and evaluated the evolution of games over time. Throughout this section, I explored a variety of video-games that would be considered first of their kind, regarding technological advancements or new genres/play-styles. Looking back over this examination, I can safely say that none of the information I reflected on within these chapters influenced my project. However, it has been thoughtfully pointed out that 20 years ago, games engines were primarily internally written for individual companies, much like they are now, except that these examples weren’t so readily provided to the public. Therefore, without these technical advancements in both hardware and open source software, I wouldn’t be able to create and publish the content I’ve made for this unit.
Over the course of unit 12, I’ve personally learnt a great deal about topics I didn’t think would apply to my project proposal. For example, I’ve steered away from my initial plan to model a vehicle, and have instead studied particle systems and advanced materials in Unreal Engine. Rather than attain the ability to model a jumpship, which is an advanced 3D modelling skill, I’ve studied the fundamentals required to create particle systems. Although this isn’t a turn I expected to pursue, I’m glad I was able to take the time to learn the basics of a topic I’ll probably never have the time to experiment with again. In addition, I was also able to learn how to animate textures, which is another new experience unit 12 has provided me. Using this new skill, I toiled with panning planet surface textures that give off the illusion of planet rotation over time. Using a similar but far more complex method, I managed to create a portal-like visual effect by panning two copies of the same texture in two different directions. Even after publishing my work, I’ve learn that I could substitute my 2 appended U+V variables with a Param2.
My work ethic surrounding this entire project has revolved around the idea of there always being room to improve. Although I am disappointed in the fact I didn’t get around to modelling the jumpship itself, I am proud of the work I uploaded. Following the project management log, it’s quite clear that there were moments where I felt it was best to start over, using what I’d learnt from the initial attempt to improve the next. Despite this taking a lot of time out of the period we were provided for this work, it is still a large part of testing ideas and so I will most likely repeat this process in the future. Over the course of experimenting with visual ideas and test pieces, I don’t tend to provide my personal opinion on each aspect I introduce to my work; this is an element that could bulk out my writing as well as demonstrate my thought process, and so it should be something I consider adding for the final major project this year. However, there are occasional areas in which I state that I’m unhappy with test pieces and I do go on to explain where I felt I needed the most improvement. For example, ” I find that keeping the planet’s surface and clouds material on completely separate layers/meshes looks extremely unrealistic, so I merged them. I also changed the camera position to be more neutral, with no large star visible. This time around, I’ve used textures from Solar System Scope.” In the future, I should elaborate further on the reasoning behind these choices rather than just simply stating what will be changed.
Task 6.2 – Peer Feedback – includes screenshots of feedback received from both peers and tutors. Interim 1 consisted of only 2 elements – the critical report and its bibliography – both of which were completed in full before the start of the new academic year. Unfortunately, I’d encountered a publishing error toward the end of the written report, which I didn’t notice at the time. Luckily, it was a simple fix involving WordPress’ auto-save feature. I also introduced a few more related images for visual aid. As for interim 2, James thoughtfully pointed out that although my general research is great, there are inconsistencies present. E.g. I made sure to include research in other mediums in most topics I studied but the ‘guns’ section got very little attention, in comparison. I won’t be going back to this task to improve upon this area but it is something I’ll make sure to remember for this year’s final major project. This peer feedback has also brought light to my incomplete bibliography; there’s not much missing from it so it shouldn’t take long to amend. Finally, interim 3 was marked (by a peer) 20 days early and so there are some missing aspects that I swiftly returned to and amended within the next 7 days. These included my missing renders as it was suggested to be by a tutor that I take the time to learn more about animation sequencers in UE4 to create a short video of my final products. In the end, I’d created a result that I was happy with and (partly inconsistent) written work to go alongside it. Using this insightful feedback, I know for the future, that I need to put in the same amount of time and effort into every chapter of the final major project to get the best grade possible, rather than delegating varying periods to different tasks.
Level 3 Year 2 