I see a lot of technical breakdowns but understanding and studying these fundamentals through observing references will make you better, faster. Understanding why real-world places look and feel a certain way or how a shape suggests use of an object is the core of being an artist and a designer.
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Learning how to think as a designer and understand how your work affects the whole process of development as well as the viewer experience is what ultimately allows you to make subjective decisions that can improve the design or limit cluttering of conveyance. This is all about visual balance and iterating quickly from rough geo and textures to final assets. To get this right we may need more assets, or sometimes, less. Make sure that pathing is visible or importance is conveyed right away. Readability, color/detail, scale and the first two seconds: This is a later check after getting in some texture and base lighting for a scene. Repetition: Do we need new pieces to break up a kit that maybe is too small? If the viewer can easily see each piece and notice the prefab architecture we will have a hard time immersing people in a space.įorms and shapes: Does everything have a unique silhouette and play with light well in the engine? Or does a flat surface break up well?Ĭomposition: Is everything working together? Can an interesting image be composed? During these tests of assets the key things to check are:Įase of use: Does the asset line up well with others? Is the pivot point of the mesh in the correct spot and snapped to the grid? Overall, is it not a hassle for you to use?
Games typically require more lateral thinking and communication between artists, designers, and programmers it is important to get feedback early so as not to cause problems down the line.Īs we build our interlocking assets, we must always check out the pieces in the engine, seeing how simple untextured or textured models line up or don’t line up when trying to put pieces together to form simple structures. With VR, these lines are merging together regardless of the application you are making, whether it’s a game or an experience. Whereas with just a consumer, we must focus on an invitation to someplace comfortable and easy on the eyes. Poor level design begets a poor user experience. While a player is still a consumer, a game has rules and mechanics that must be emphasized in the layout and design of our spaces to accent what makes the game fun. The biggest difference between games and commercial applications should be that the art created accommodates a player whereas, in commercial, our art accommodates a consumer. Iterative strategies such as this improve the overall quality without stretching budget, as well as inform next steps. I highly recommend aiming for the minimum amount of work, or the maximum amount of reusability when beginning a scene. In addition, this plays into how we as artists look at reference and decide which assets to make first. Understanding how to simplify visuals into believable and reusable prefabs while working within design and hardware constraints is all a balancing act that gets easier with practice and study. Understanding how elements of architecture come together to form details and interesting spaces is just as important as knowing level design strategies of how to convey importance to a user when it comes to creating modular assets. How To Think as a Designer: Basic Fundamentals In this article I aim to share my experiences learned in creating environment art for virtual reality (VR) games that can be applied to any 3D application or experience. Pros: Build large environments quickly| Memory efficientĬons: Extra planning time required at the start | Can look repetitive, boxy or mechanically aligned boring With the current next gen tools and engines, it is possible to add detail within the final scene by leveraging the use of advanced materials/shaders to increase the visual quality across the scene and break up repetition. This requires a lot of rapid iteration and early testing. This is a challenge because it is important that the whole scene shares consistent and equal detail, rather than inconsistent pockets of micro detail where one spent more time. As artists, we rely on a plethora of programs that all get consolidated into a workflow, with the final product reaching the engine. One of the biggest issues with real-time environments is that we cannot do all the creation in-engine.