communications outpost - finished

[LeeSmith]

I've already posted this in the work in progress froum, but I am considering it finished at this point, so I thought it would be ok to post it here now.

I would really, really like some feedback on this as it is a sample which may get me a concept art job with a great gme development company, I havn't done alot of environment stuff before so I would really like to know what some of you hardened veterans think :)

here's what I got so far, looking for any comments at all about whats good, whats bad, what I can do next, what I shouldn't have done etc. Anything and everything welcome! :)

http://www.shawawa.com/misc/comstation.jpg

thanks!

[HellTaxi]

nice design, i dig it. Crits, hmm... maybe if it interacted with the enviroment more... you know, icicles, snow piling in corners, maybe show it a little storm weathered and worn down. But then again maybe u arent going for that look. Just a thought. good job.

[Boom]

nice and clean looking. I like it :)

But somehow the scale is off. I get a feeling that I'm looking at a toy-station. I think it has to do with the oversized windows and the small looking door next to the helipad. Also the twisted tube to the satellite dish doesn't help with the scale either...

But you are on the right track - keep it up :)

[Mr.Magnetichead]

I like it. :)

Very Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun:arcfreak:

[Seung Ho]

Bastion,

The quality of your linework is great. I have seen your pencil work before, so I know your rendering skill is good.
However, I think you could add more color, work more with atmosphere on this one. You also need to give more reference of scale. Small details (easy to recognize and distinguish) need to be put in, such as people, vehicles etc.

Push the image conceptually, and worry less about details where it's not necessary. Vary detail concentration and balance it more to certain areas, where detail density is higher rather than all over the place. This often takes scale away from an object. Every line has to be considered and analysed when working on large scale objects (seen from distance.)

I did a quick color test to see how it works. Not saying this is better, just another take of it. I also resized it slightly, as I thoguht the square format looks bit odd, considering you used a telescope lens (so to speak).

Hope this useful, and good luck with the job. I'm sure you'll be fine ^^

http://henrik.cgcommunity.com/temp/cm_.jpg

[Oblio]

i'm with seung.
totaly noob here but i tried to follow masters words and stick with the feel you aimed for in the first place.

[LeeSmith]

thanks for all the great advice everyone, you all had some cool ideas. I'm definitely not finished now, so many more ideas to add!

Thanks especially to Seung Ho and Oblio for the paintovers, your darker version really has an awesome atmosphere Seung. One thing I'm not sure about is how much of the design it obscures though, I don't really know which is more important, the atmosphere or the structure?! I think I might actually do 2 versions to present, one along the lines of my original and one using your paintover as a guide (I hope thats ok?) to creating a more dramatic lighting effect. After all they can't complain for doing extra work can they! :)

thanks everyone

[Theo]

Finally seeing some real conceptart around these forums:) This is the kinda stuff ive been after all the time.
More attention to form than actual render. I like that.

But u sure are right, they cant complain if u give em both!

:chug: Beer please.

-Theo

[Seung Ho]

Bastion> I think it's a great idea to include 2 versions of the same image. But I'd advice against any color at all in one of them. Present one line drawing, and one with atmosphere and color.

Good luck.

[LeeSmith]

well I think I finally made it through and am reasonably happy with the results considering it's pretty much the first time I've done anything like this. The company in question asked to also see sketches and notes for the image so I put together a small presentation for each concept going through ideation, development and the final stages. The following images are what I am planning on submitting tomorrow, so please let me know if you see any glaring mistakes! I've linked to the files because they are all reasonably sized...

EXTERIOR CONCEPT
ideation
http://www.shawawa.com/samples/ideation_exterior.jpg
development
http://www.shawawa.com/samples/development_exterior.jpg
final
http://www.shawawa.com/samples/final_exterior.jpg

INTERIOR CONCEPT
ideation
http://www.shawawa.com/samples/ideation_interior.jpg
development
http://www.shawawa.com/samples/development_interior.jpg
final
http://www.shawawa.com/samples/final_interior.jpg

Please give me any thoughts, I really don't know how close I am to the mark here so it's a bit stressful,...wish me luck! ;)

[defcombeta]

ive commented on this elsewhere but all i can say o nthe new stuff is its fine, dont worry youve done your best work and they should see that, you colour work is good and anything else i say is pointless, as i say you hav nothing to lose so give ti you best and if the worst that can happen is you will learn to be bettr, thats what i do every time

best of luck and i hope you get it

john Mac the wee mad irish man

[Oblio]

well.. i suck so hard that i can't render like you but i'm fooling around anyway.
I've noticed that you stil don't varry the values enough - you need to consider "the air" in your room.
I've lously used just the burn/dodge tools to give you a slight ideea - agan - i'm too stupid realy make something out of it but i try to learn -so i post this with a question mark.

[saturnfive]

Great thread, and really nice work there, Lee.

I like what you did to the interior, Oblio, gives it a lot of atmosphere. However, I wonder if it's a little too far for game concept art, though: I think maybe the contrast now starts to hide a little of the detail that the model builder would like to see?

[Yaseck]

That is really good. I like it. I hope you'll get the concept-artist job. :-)

[LeeSmith]

thanks for the interest and comments again everyone and nice paintover too Oblio. I decided to go with the lighter/less atmospheric look for my final submissions because (as saturn5 also mentioned) I thought it would be more valuable for the team who has to work from the concepts to be able to see the detail clearly. Lighting and such can always be enhanced later to give a better feeling, but they have to have the detail in the first place.

Of course, I'm no expert in the industry so I'm only guessing. I'd love to hear from some concept art pro's as to what they have found in their experience. Is clear presentation and detail more valuable in a concept piece or cool lighting and atmosphere to conjure up the feeling of the idea? Or a nice balance of the 2?

Thanks everyone for your help :)

[Oblio]

well... it depends on what you're working with - engine features.
The lighting and the colors are subject for a lot of tunning - especially if you're working with dynamic lights.
If the engine is a bit older and work with vertex colors you need to set up the lights more in the concept. Havint already a mood in the concep help A LOT.
At least from what i know - since it saves a lot of time knowing how it's going to look in the end. Surely... details are important.
You should focus on a few main things:

FORM - how the mesh will look like! What a re the objects - what is moving there and how (a fan or something... etc)

TEXTURE - this is where the form can't say it all - if you go for exagerated forms (Warcraft) then the forms says enough - texture is not too important. Going for realistic - is another story.
Usualy - the concept artist does the textures too - so - you already know how it will look each pixel - terefore - you can include the mood in the concept.

LIGHTS - it is betst to have it in the concept - it will help you make a better concep and set everythingfrom the start - you don't want to design a super futuristic recicle bin that will end up in darkness after the lighting is done. YOou want to control what the player will see. Also - you need to keep coherence between the rooms, varry the mood and make the whole music - not only the base line.
I hope you get my point.
Anyway.. as people use to say - "just my 5th element (or two cents)" :D

Oblio

I'm working in the industry yet not as a GFX artist - i'm working with the guys though every day.
I would love to see a pro coming in here and enlighten us all (again)