IMGD 1001 The Game Art Pipeline Visual Art

IMGD 1001: The Game Art Pipeline

(Visual) Art Courses o o o o o AR 1100. Essentials of Art. AR 1101. Digital Imaging and Computer Art. IMGD/AR 2101. 3 D Modeling. IMGD/AR 2200. The Art of Animation. IMGD 2005. Machinima. IMGD 3500. Artistic Game Development I. IMGD 4500. Artistic Game Development II. (AR 200 x. Figure Drawing. ) (IMGD 201 x. Digital Painting. ) (IMGD 401 x. Concept Art. ) IMGD 1001 2

Introduction o "The computer artist is modern-day alchemist“ -- Matthew Omernick n Turn polygons and pixels into wondrous worlds o Sources of inspiration n Playing games! o How can make fun game if not having fun yourself? n The real world o The real world is always more interesting than anything we can make up IMGD 1001 3 Based on Foreword, Creating the Art of the Game, by Matthew Omernick

Introduction: Remember the Constraints o Year 2098, Macrosoft will release Fun. Station 3000, 14 million terabytes of RAM, quantum-holographic drive with near infinite storage, processors at the speed of light n Game developers complain not fast enough o Game artists must be creative inside confines of technology n All disciplines: engineering, design, sound n But often constraints biggest on artist IMGD 1001 4 Based on Foreword, Creating the Art of the Game, by Matthew Omernick

Outline o The art pipeline (this deck) o Concept art o 2 D Art n Animation n Tiles o 3 D Art n Modeling n Texturing n Lighting IMGD 1001 5

What's a Pipeline? o In the pipeline n Informal. in the process of being developed, provided, or completed; in the works; under way. (Random House) o For our purposes, the art pipeline is … n The sequence of operations required to move art assets from concept to the finished product o The Art pipeline n n Concept Creation Conversion Asset management IMGD 1001 6

What are some type of 2 D Art? IMGD 1001 7

Types of 2 D Art o Character art n Sprites and other pixel art o Scenery / worlds n Tiles, backgrounds, … o User Interface (UI) n Text types and fonts o Animation o Video o All these need a pipeline! IMGD 1001 8

2 D Asset Creation IMGD 1001 9

2 D Pipeline (1 of 3): Concept o Sketches n Napkin-style n Detailed design treatments n Prototypes o Animation n Flip books n Story boards IMGD 1001 10

"Napkin-style" Concept Art IMGD 1001 11

2 D UI Prototype designersnotebook. com IMGD 1001 12

Paper UI Prototype boxesandarrows. com IMGD 1001 13

Flip books o Stick Fight (video) o Matrix Style (video) www. michaelspornanimation. com IMGD 1001 14

Story Boards www. royzy. co. uk accad. osu. edu IMGD 1001 15

Story Boards for Animation gamespot. com IMGD 1001 16

2 D Pipeline (2 of 3): Creation o Commercial / third party tools: n Photoshop, The Gimp, sprite editors/creators, HTML/browsers, Flash. . . o Homegrown tools n Specialized animation systems n Tools that simulate key game features (UI layout tool, etc. ) n A game engine n… IMGD 1001 17

Example Assets for 2 D Animation (1 of 3) eberlein. org/euphoria IMGD 1001 18

Example Assets for 2 D Animation (2 of 3) cvrpg. com IMGD 1001 19

Example Assets for 2 D Animation (3 of 3) aniway. com IMGD 1001 20

2 D Pipeline (3 of 3): Conversion o Putting the assets into the final form n File type conversion o Examples: PSD to TGA / JPG o Compression o Collection (zip files, pak files, etc. ) n Testing in the game n Debug / fix IMGD 1001 21

Group Exercise o Break into your project groups o At the top of a piece of paper, each person writes the o o o description (text) of a visual concept for a character/item/object in your game (3 -4 minutes) n About 1 small paragraph Rotate papers among group In the middle of the paper, draw a concept art sketch based on the text (5 minutes) Pass back to the original person Provide feedback (verbally), and briefly in text on bottom (2 -3 minutes) (Hand in) IMGD 1001 22

3 D Asset Creation IMGD 1001 23

3 D Pipeline (1 of 4): Concept o Sketches n Napkin-style n Detailed design treatments n Prototypes n Animation sketches / flipbooks n Maquettes (a small scale model) n Mockup models n Texture mockups n Architectural layout IMGD 1001 24

3 D UI Prototype lostgarden. com IMGD 1001 25

3 D Pipeline (2 of 4): Creation o Commercial / third party tools: n Photoshop, The Gimp, sprite editors, HTML/browsers, Flash. . . n 3 D tools: 3 D Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave, Blender, Zbrush o Homegrown tools n Specialized animation systems n Tools that simulate key game features (UI layout tool, etc. ) n A game engine n Exporters / plugins IMGD 1001 26

3 D Studio Max gamedev. net IMGD 1001 27

Stages of a Model IMGD 1001 28

3 D Pipeline (3 of 4): Texturing o Animation systems n Motion capture n Third party tools n Homebuilt tools o Texturing systems o Shaders / surface tools o Renderers / video systems IMGD 1001 29

Texturing and Accessories garagegames. com IMGD 1001 30

A Model, Textured zbrush IMGD 1001 31

Character and a Skin (1 of 2) secretlair. com IMGD 1001 32

Character and a Skin (2 of 2) cresswells. com IMGD 1001 33

3 D Pipeline (4 of 4): Conversion o Export from modeling to custom formats o Putting the assets into the final form n File type conversion o PSD to TGA / JPG, for example o Compression o Collection (zip files, pak files, etc. ) n Testing in the game n Debug / fix IMGD 1001 34

Asset Management o How do you share the production process across time, space, and content creators? n Source code has many tools -- "solved" n Data/Art is harder o Not easily merged o Dependencies not obvious o Relationships complex n Some commercial systems are trying n Typically a combination of: o Homegrown tools o Convention and process IMGD 1001 35