Concept Art Pipeline

[Riiroi]

Hi, i have a few questions regarding concept art in general.

I do know that concept art is done during the pre production stage of games and film. What i'd like to know is

1) Are there any differences in how concept art is done in the games and film industry? Is it common for concept artists to do story-boarding in animated films and game cinematics?

2) Someone told me that during the pre production stage of a game, concept art is "tested" by the QA department. Is this true? If so, how does one go about "testing" concept art as they are basically illustrations.

3) Who determines the art style of the game. The art director, games designer or publisher?

4) Is it true that most concept artists work freelance?


I sincerely apologize if any of the questions above have been asked before. I did a search before posting and couldn't find what i was looking for.
Thank You.

[J Wilson]

I haven't done professional level concept design yet, but my understanding is the look of a game is usually determined by the creative director (or a similar title depending on the company), but that doesn't mean that they personally provide the style. They may have something in mind, and then turn to an artist that works similarly. Or maybe they don't have anything in mind and ask for people to start concepting ideas, at which point they pick the look that appeals to them, and pushes and shapes it via their input. Or possibly someone above the creative director has something in mind, and then it's the creative director's job to see that the look is maintained. In other words I'm fairly sure it happens differently from company to company, and even project to project, but it will rarely be the concept artist who chooses the over all look (although they may inspire the look depending on circumstances). There's often some back and forth on ideas though.

Read some of the "art of" different movies and games books, and you'll often be able to glean something of the process.

[tn100]

I'm curious if most of them work freelance too. I prefer working full time at a company but I don't know how hard that is to get for a concept artist =( Someone let me know please!

[Sogbad]

Hello Riiroi, let's see....

I do know that concept art is done during the pre production stage of games and film. What i'd like to know is

Concept art is carried out in pre-production but it also carries on for most of production as well, there's normally far too much concept work to get done to have it finished in pre-production, and there are tasks such as environment paint over's that can only be done during production.

1) Are there any differences in how concept art is done in the games and film industry? Is it common for concept artists to do story-boarding in animated films and game cinematics?

I've only worked in the games industry so I can't give you a definitive answer but broadly speaking the game and film process is similar in terms of concept design, concept designers are also becoming increasingly specialized, some concentrate on characters, props/vehicles or environments, so although some concept designers would be expected to be able to produce good storyboards others would/could not.

2) Someone told me that during the pre production stage of a game, concept art is "tested" by the QA department. Is this true? If so, how does one go about "testing" concept art as they are basically illustrations.

No, in my 16 years in the game industry I've never come across this or heard of it, it would serve no purpose.

3) Who determines the art style of the game. The art director, games designer or publisher?

It's usually a collaboration between the creative director and the art director, with input from other interested parties such as the publisher and the development team.

4) Is it true that most concept artists work freelance?

I don't have the figures but I think the majority of game concept artists are in house positions but there is plenty of freelance concept artists as well.

[Justin.]

As a note, freelance is much less expensive than hiring an in-house artist, because you are paying per piece, not per hour. No benefits, no lunch breaks, no PTO, etc.- But you need in-house guys because they will have a deeper understanding of your product than a freelancer will, and they have the ability to attend meetings and respond to feedback faster and more directly.

[egerie]

I’ve only been in the animation and game industry so here’s what I can contribute…


1) Are there any differences in how concept art is done in the games and film industry? Is it common for concept artists to do story-boarding in animated films and game cinematics?
Yes, even between projects. Common, I don’t know any statistics on the subject… But for animated FILMS, no. You have specialised people in the position of storyboarders. That’s not to say that the person who’s doing storyboards hasn’t already done character concept in their career (it’s better if they have), as well as being ace at filmography. It’s a form of high-end specialisation. For game cinematics, it can happen, but usually it’s different positions.

2) Someone told me that during the pre production stage of a game, concept art is "tested" by the QA department. Is this true? If so, how does one go about "testing" concept art as they are basically illustrations.
What? I’ve never heard that, never experienced that either. Perhaps what they meant was focus group testing on the early tests of game like target footages and such. This is usually done with selective groups of the public or just with editorial suits.


3) Who determines the art style of the game. The art director, games designer or publisher?
Developer for internal IP:
Art Director pushes the art direction for anything visual in the game (except the animation). And that includes filters, level design, character designs, etc. The Creative Director can have a macro input to the art director too, but as suggestions. The editorial or marketing can put pressure on the art director as well, but preferably, the art direction is already well established at the very early stages of the project (concept).
Developer for external IP:
Sometimes, the client (publisher or external company) already has established the artistic direction for an existing franchise. Nevertheless, they can be open to a redefinition of their IP in a different style. Take for example Star Wars, cartoon style. The art director on the project works on the direction and suggests it to the producer of the client. Once an agreement is reached, the art direction is set and followed on the project.
Sometimes, though, the art direction is very rigid and you can’t, ABSOLUTELY CAN’T stray from what already exists. I won’t give examples (too many bad memories :)) Style bibles are received, ideally with model sheets, color chars, etc. The more information, the better, since it’s less stuff the developers will be uncertain about and have risks of retouching.

4) Is it true that most concept artists work freelance?
Again, don’t know about statistics but first party game developers (heck, even some third party) have in house concept artists. It’s more common to have freelancers for smaller companies that can’t afford a concept artist full time.

[dose]

2) Someone told me that during the pre production stage of a game, concept art is "tested" by the QA department. Is this true? If so, how does one go about "testing" concept art as they are basically illustrations.

I'm not sure if this is what you're talking about, but at my current job they have "tested" concept art by showing it to members of the target market and asking if they like it or not.


4) Is it true that most concept artists work freelance?

In smaller companies the concept art is sometimes done by the regular employees, and maybe supplemented by a freelancer- especially one who might specialize in an area the regular employees are weak in, or who have a particular style that's conducive to the project.

[Riiroi]

Thanks for clearing my doubts and answering my questions guys! I was really confused when i was told that concept art was "tested" in the pre production stage. Now i know that this is not true. I have one last question

Do creative directors do concept art as well or are they more like the "managers" in the team?

Once again thanks for the replies. I've really learnt a lot from it.

[egerie]

The problem when you go up in hierarchy, you get to less and less art.