Assignment 1 – 3D Environment – Group Project

Intro:

When I first found out what this assignment was I was very excited, as its the exact area I’m interested in. I had also been practicing creating environments in unreal engine 5 using quixel so I already had some experience with the software and task. Once we had split up into our groups, we started thinking of different concepts and styles for how to observatory would look. We put all of our ideas on a whiteboard. After we had settled on designs and style we decided to create a list of all the assets we would need for the environment and delegate them between us. This would then be put into a spreadsheet so we could keep track of our progress. After we settled on an art style, I started working on some concept art on how my assets would look.

Draft Models:

Once I had an idea of how I wanted my assets to look, I began modelling. All of the props were created in Maya except from the candle, which was sculpted in blender. I decided to sculpt to candle in blender so I would be able to achieve a better look and shape. This was straight forward and once the candle was done I imported it to Maya to retopologize it. This is where I ran into a problem. When ever I tried to do anything within the Maya scene like scaling or even opening the project, it would take a very long time to load. I first thought it was because the mesh was high poly but my computer has been able to handle much higher poly meshes in the past. After some time I realised it was the objects history that was slowing the project down. Once it was deleted, it was fine again. Originally I modelled different variants of the gears. I quickly realised these would be quite time consuming to UV. So with the team we settled on two designs.

UV’s:

A big problem I had last year was with my UV maps. I struggled a lot to create good UV’s which resulted in my models having bad textures, as they were distorted and stretched. I spent some time over the summer creating assets and practicing my UV mapping, and I think it has paid off. My UV’s and now much more clean and straight. While practicing I found a technique that works for me. Basically I start my deleting the default UV’s then create a new one by camera. I then select the vertices where I want my seams and cut, then unfold. Usually this is the point where I struggle, but now I rotate and scale the vertices about until I create a roughly straight UV. I then use the straighten UV function and straighten shell. I then finish by completing the layout. I’m actually quite proud of my progress as its something that really bothered me, and asset creation is a big part of the role I’m looking into. Once the UV were finished the next step was to import them into substance painter and add some smart materials. I didn’t want to do anything to crazy with it as I’m still quite new at Substance, but I still think they turned out nicely.

Below is an example of my old UV’s, and beside it is an example from my current work.

Finished assets:

 

Importing to unreal:

Once all of my assets were finished, I created a new unreal project and started importing both my assets and my teams. My next step was to scale all of the props to the right size. After I got them all to roughly the right scale it was time to add all of the textures. Once All of the textures had been setup it was time to set the layout of the scene. I wanted to differentiate my scene from the rest of the group, so I went for a slightly different layout than what we had planned. I placed all of the smaller assets together on one side of the room to emphasise this is where someone had been working and studying. Bookshelf’s are placed around the room to help break it up a little. Then the main asset is placed directly in the middle of the room. Once everything was setup, it was time to do post processing and render.

Post processing and rendering:

So I knew I wanted to have the scene take place at night. I began by searching for a HDRI night time picture and using that for my sky. Then I added a post process volume and change the max brightness to 7.0 and minimum to 5.9. I had to make the scene darker than how I actually wanted cause a render test show that it was turning out slightly brighter than the actual scene. I had already picked out royalty free music I wanted to use for the cinematic so I already have a an idea for the tone I was after. I also tried to add some flickering lights around the candles. I did this by creating a light function and used a series of nodes. I could then control the speed to my liking. Once the lighting and post processing was done I set up some cameras and played about with the depth of field and different types of shots. I referenced the music so I knew what types of shots i wanted and where to cut. I used a 21:9 aspect ratio as I feel this gives a more cinematic feel. After My shots were rendered I began editing in premiere pro. Below is the final outcome.

Cinematic:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18x2e2UUzXX44xYrI0xdbEDlBLnoxvVpX/view?usp=sharing

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed working on this assignment, along with my team and I think I’ve made some progress in quality in certain areas of my work. However, I don’t think the final outcome is as good as it can be. Watching back I can see a lot of areas to improve upon. Such as the post processing, lighting, layout and camera work. But these point can also be improved upon over time and I will be doing so in my own personal work. Overall this assignment has helped improve my work towards the career I want to follow.

Assignment 1 – Reflective Research Blog

Environment artist

The job I have chosen to research is an environment artist. An environment artist is responsible for backgrounds and environments, such as buildings, foliage, furniture and landscapes. They are typically responsible for creating and texturing assets, referencing from storyboards, creating ‘blockouts’ and researching for references. They also work in such software as maya, zbrush, unreal engine and unity.

While researching this job I was able to find a Graduate Environment Artist role at Ubisoft. This role advises having only 1 year of experience in an internship or placement year, Which I intend to do. This role is located at the Ubisoft studios in Newcastle upon Tyne. If I were to ever apply to this studio, it wouldn’t be much of a hassle to move as I lived there for a year while studying, so I already have experience there and know my way around the city.

Ubisoft is a French videogame development company founded in 1986. Its is currently the third most valuable independent development company and is built up of 26 studios divided across 18 countries. It is also the second largest developer to have a large amount of staff; 6900. Ubisoft have developed some of the most popular franchises in gaming, including; Far cry, assassins creed, Tom Clancy, Rayman, Watchdogs, The division and are currently working on an open world Star Wars game.

Some of the responsibilities within this role are:

  • With guidance, assist in planning out the space, with consideration of narrative and visual storytelling, while documenting intentions
  • Create functional assets, which can be shared across the project in respect of the technical and artistic constraints
  • Ensure the technical and artistic quality of the project by collaborating with Technical Artists and Senior Artists, and make changes when necessary
  • Implement and incorporate feedback from Art Director and project leads into work

Here are some of the required skills and knowledge:

  • Good interpersonal and communication skills;
  • Ability to create interesting, detailed and visually appealing environments;
  • Ability to adapt to new processes and pipelines;
  • Working knowledge of industry leading 3D modelling packages and techniques;
  • Understanding of composition visual story telling;
  • Knowledge of level editors;

Artist research:

The artist I have decided to research is Anthony Vaccaro, who is an environment artist that worked on some of my favourite games including, The last of us part 2, Uncharted 3/4/the lost legacy and Halo Reach. He started his career at Bungie working on Halo Reach after graduating and obtaining his bachelor degree in Video Game Art & Design. After leaving bungie he then joined Naughty dog and has been working there for the past 7 years.

Anthony Vaccaro’s portfolio:

https://www.artstation.com/autocon

When creating a portfolio for this role I came across a post by Jared Sobotta who is also an environmental artist at naughty dog studios. Within this post he described how to create an effective portfolio. Firstly its important to keep your portfolio solely focused on the role you actually want. As Environmental artist are responsible for things like modelling, texturing and lighting, it wouldn’t make sense to then include things like character design or animation. Its also important to keep a consistent quality throughout the portfolio. For example adding in work from the past when your skills weren’t as developed. This will not show your potential and hurt your chances of getting an interview. You also shouldn’t include any work in progress or unfinished work. Its also a good idea to tailor your portfolio to the style of games you like, to show the studio you have a similar art style to them. Other areas to consider in your portfolio are: originality, composition, lighting and workflow.

 

Research, design choices and development towards industry facing materials

 

CV:

I went with a more simple design for my CV as I didn’t want to make it extravagant or crowded as I thought this would be too distracting to anyone reading. I think this helps keep it more clear and concise. Firstly I took a look at a few examples of CV’s so I could start thinking of how I wanted to lay mine out. Once I knew I wanted to have a banner on the left side I tried to land a colour. First I chose green as i thought it felt more natural on the eye and also gives off a positive feel. I later decided to change it too purple. This was to help it stand out more as purple is a more vibrant colour creating a better contrast, plus purple is also my favourite colour. After this I started planning how I would lay out my information. On the banner I would include my name, role, contact details, skills and a link to my portfolio. On the main body of the CV I wanted to display a profile, my experience, education and software experience. For the software experience section I went for the logos of the software. I thought this would make the CV more visually appealing to the employer. I tired not too include too many as this would become distracting, overcrowd the CV and to maintain a more professional look.

Below is my first draft of my CV and beside it is the finished version.

                   

Cover email:

So for the cover email, again I based it upon the graduate position I found at Ubisoft, since its for the role I’m after. I wanted to keep this short and to the point, as its the first impression you make on an employer I didn’t want to bloat this out with unnecessary information. I split the letter into three sections as advised. The introduction, the main body and conclusion. I tried to keep my grammar and sentence structure very formal to convey a professional appearance. For the introduction I explained, why I was writing to them, How I found the role, and tried to incorporate some flattery by expressing that I have been a fan of Ubisoft for a long time and how I couldn’t miss this opportunity. Within the main body I wrote about my skills and how I had built upon them; relating them back to the job posting to target what they were looking for. I also stated what software I have experience in and that they would be interchangeable to their own in house software. For the conclusion I simply thank the employer for looking over my application and stated that I was hoping to hear their response.

Showreel:

For my showreel I am aiming it towards the role of an environment artist so thought I would follow the advice of Jared Sobotta for the portfolio as it still applies here. So first I gathered shots from different projects I’ve worked on, in both uni and personal work. I took some of my assets into blender and rendered some ‘cinematic’ shots in an attempt to show off the quality. I also done some turn arounds of my assets as well. I then found some music that I thought would fit with the reel. Next I edited the reel so that it would fit with the music and give a better flow, using cuts to fit the rhythm etc. I tried to cut most of the shots short to fit within the time limit and not let the reel feel too long; quickly display the asset, then move on. To finish off, I added title cards to the beginning and end using the tutorial below. The title cards allow you to see through the text to the reel. I feel this gives a nice look and feel right at the beginning without being over the top with any crazy transitions.

Below is a link to the final outcome:

Portfolio:

I decided to include a portfolio which I have created on art station. Following the advice of Jared Sobotta, this portfolio will only include relevant material to my chosen area. For example different assets I have created or environments. I only want to present my best work and at the moment I don’t have a lot to present but I will be working to build up this portfolio over time.

https://www.artstation.com/curtisgirvin7

 

References:

https://www.giantbomb.com/ubisoft-entertainment/3010-82/

https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/environment-artist

https://cgsociety.org/news/article/3027/how-to-create-a-stunning-portfolio-with-jared-sobotta