The brief for this project involved the creation of an External Broken Archway with a Gate/Door, that tells a story through the final image rendered within a Game engine.
During the first 2 weeks I focused on the creation of the 2D concept, collecting images of natural environments, buildings, videogame designs and in-game shots, trying to find inspiration for the design.
I had to make a choice about the style, so I drove my research into mystical sci-fi portals immersed into a natural, green location.
My aim was to create a strong, original piece and I believe that collecting different references related to the theme and style (not only the main object) makes a big difference in terms of originality.
Observing different shapes and colours stimulates my creativity and add something more to my artwork.
for the lights I’ve been inspired from Halo Reach which I recently played and also watched few game-plays of Bayonetta. I like the idea of aliens and bizarre creatures so I started to think about how to integrate specific features of my choice into the structure of my archway.
This is the first stage of my project. I collected the references of archways and environments (see below) and created a moodboard on Pureref. I love to analyze the images and have a look of all the details that make the composition.
I had a look on weather conditions as well and elements like thunders and rain.
I wanted a cosmic sci-fi vibe for my archway, settled in a natural environment (aliens and natural power which are closely related).
I wanted to visualize this concept and represent it through my archway concept. I decided it will be made of stones and will have sculptures of faces and wings. I am heavily inspired by avatar for the story concept (movie) and Bayonetta for the visuals (game).
Primary research
Silhouettes
My Silhouettes
I tried not to limit myself too much while making the silhouettes, which allowed me to focus on the aesthetic. I tried to make designs that are visually good, thinking differently, avoiding stereotypes, but still creating something recognizable as an archway.
I enjoyed this stage of the project, although choosing one design was really difficult for me, so I’ve set some parameters such as considering the time I would spend to make the structure.
The challenge now was to avoid repetitive-looking elements, but I got away creating few design variations in a complex looking structure.
Narrative
I’ve also been thinking about the narrative, in fact my archway would be a portal into a planet populated by alien gods.
I got more inspiration later looking at Indian landscapes and reading about induism which is really related to spiritual energy and nature, and whose gods are mystical creatures, with really peculiar qualities (there are 33 Million Gods!).
So I though that my portal would have been a connection to this spiritual world but today the activation of this archway remains a mystery ( however, there is a valve that is involved in this action, which needs a missing component to gain access to this dimention).
Secondary Research
India – Western Ghats India – Western Ghats India – Western Ghats India – Western Ghats India – Western Ghats Mound of stones on mountain trail. Polish Tatra mountains. Zakopane, Poland
Props references
I’ve been exercising with Value drawing making 4 environments and one archway.
I feel my style improved a lot recently, thanks to my constant practice, University classes and independent learning.
Rocks Study
Value painting
Block out
After having my concept done, I blocked out my 3D concept in Maya in order to have a clear Idea about what I needed for my scene. I kept every element in low poly and added some light to get a rough preview of the shadows in the scene.
I matched the camera getting the same angle of my 2D concept to make sure that everything is in the right place, I believe that is a fundamental step as I am trying to recreate the same 2D environment in a tridimentional space with active perspective rules.
I started to write what I needed to model in order to recreate my concept in 3D.
I made an asset list and started to work on my 3D gym – I’ve been making rocks, trees and some details such as the statue wings. It was a long process and I’ve learnt a lot through the making.
Workflow – realization
I had a clear idea about how I was going to create my scene elements, and I kept looking at my researched images for reference.
I started to model elements individually in Maya and importing it into Zbrush to make detailed normal maps. I chose to model a variety of rocks, trees and the details of the archway (Wings & head). I made grass and leaves later on.
I had some technical difficulties through this process which I tried to solve through independent learning as much as I could, enriching my knowledge as an artist. I believe that only challenging myself I can improve my skills, every struggle added something new to my skillset.
I tested every model in Unity to make sure the final render of the model looks good. It saved my time later, as I added my models straight after I created it.
I tried using different workflows for learning purposes (Blender and Substance painter).
I kept working in Maya just because it allowed me to manage my time better, considering that I am more confident with the software. Doing all the Normal maps in Zbrush helped me becoming more than confident with sculpting, and so far it is the work I enjoyed the most.
Modelling stages: Low poly modelling, Normal and coloured map
GYM Rocks – made with Maya and Zbrush
Building up my archway in Unity
I focused then on elements such as the top sculpture and the gate, inspired by the the representations of indian gods and adapted to my narrative, changing the hat to look like more like an antenna:
Zbrush sculpt
First attempt rendered in Unity Weird artifact.. Artifact after fix in SP Detail final result
I almost completed my scene, but I soon realized that something was wrong. The shadows were missing! I spent a whole day trying to figure out what was going on and I tried many options to get it back, but nothing could solve this problem.
Here a shot of the scene:
The composition was ready and looking good enough, but unfortunately I had to make a new project and re-import everything.
There was a problem with the main light which had the same settings as the fresh scene but the file was probably broken.
Gym – Fresh scene.. Let’s do this again..
The last object I modelled was the mysterious valve which once could open the portal. I used Maya and substance painter to texture this part.
Valve in Unity Working on substance Painter Substance Painter
Critical appraisal
I am aware that my archway isn’t perfect (especially the gate which I just realized it is a bit thin) but it is a great start for improvement. I am really satisfied with the general aspect.
The archway is almost levitating on its own (wings) but as we proceed towards the background we can see that part of it collapsed as it hasn’t been connected with the god’s planet for more than a million years.
Choosing the lights was quite a challenge as I wanted to add some colour but there was a risk of looking fake. So I went for a neutral blue to keep everything in line with the first concept.
I really made a great effort into keeping everything well organized inside the software outliners as I was working with a multitude of duplicates, which would have been a nightmare to work on without folders.
My scene doesn’t have too many elements but I wanted those elements to look good and be able to re-work them in case I wasn’t satisfied with it or if something needed to be changed after getting feedback.
I believe that independent learning had a fundamental role in my journey this year as the Covid-19 pandemic paradoxically helped me push my limit while I tried to rely mostly on my own research.
Comparing the first 2D concept to the final render in Unity and looking back to when I started this year, I feel I made a big step forward constantly pushing hard to get the best result I could, completing the composition at the right time.
Bibliography
-Naughty Dog,( 2001), Jak and daxter, [CD] PS2, Santa Monica, California : Sony Computer Entertainment;
– Bungie, (2010), Halo Reach [Digital copy] PC, Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Game Studios
– Cameron, J., (2009), Avatar, London, UK: Cameron, J., Landau, J.
-A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, (1970), Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Tokyo, Japan: Dai Nippon
– Platinum Games (2014), Bayonetta, [CD] PS4, Tokyo- Kyoto,Japan : Sega, Nintendo.
-Warner Bros, (2015), The Witcher III – Wild hunt, [Steam] PC, Warsaw, Poland : CD Projekt S.A.
-Riot Games, (2009), League Of Legends, [Online] PC, North America: Riot Games, Garena.
-Insomniac, (2002), Rachet and Clank, [CD] Playstation 2, North America: Sony Computer Entertainment
-Araki, H., (1986), Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Part I-VI.