Computer Game. Artist and Animator. Plan of the Course. in collaborazione con

Transcription

1 Computer Game Artist and Animator Plan of the Course in collaborazione con

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3 Art & Animation

4 Introduction This course is designed to appeal to those students looking to combine their passion for games with their love of art. This is not a course for pure gaming fanatics, however. In addition to a love of all things art and games, students of our Computer Game Artist and Animator course will have the extra drive and ambition to go beyond just playing; they will have a desire to work hard to create game art of their own and display a real passion to become part of this most exciting and dynamic of industries. A&A Students on the course are taught every step involved in the art creation process of computer games development as it is done in the real world. The course is conceived and taught by industry experienced veterans, artists and animators who continue to push the boundaries of computer game art in today s market. It is presented in a unique format, heavily infl uenced by gaming technology to aid learning, retention and, importantly, add fun to the whole process of gaining these important new skills. From concept creation to the modelling and texturing of fully game-ready assets, it explores and teaches the principles of industry standard software, as well as the methodologies that go to making your work look great in game. The course is taught through a series of lessons and examples, backed up and underpinned by a wide range of practical work. Most of the coursework is targeted directly at creating great looking artwork. We hope you enjoy learning it as much we do teaching it. Start a new career as a games Artist & Animator. Being an artist in the games industry is not just a job, it s a life full of challenges, fun and great rewards. Course structure All our courses feature a module-based structure broken down into lessons and single topics with pratical examples that make up the lesson. You will be taught by one of our industry leading tutors and have the opportunity to learn alongside the other students in a collaborative work space. During the course you will be assessed periodically so you and the tutor can gauge your progress and you can challenge yourself in what you ve learned. We will assess you through: practical assignments that bring various topics together, comprehension tests, portfolio projects and the fi nal exam! 2 Art and Animation

5 Module A1: An Introduction to Everything Lesson 1 - Industry Introduction An overview of gaming genres The development process stages Explanation of common terms Lesson 2 Introduction to the Hardware PC, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, etc. Mobile gaming Brief tour of game engines Lesson 3 Common Tools 2D packages 3D packages Other common tools Lesson 4 An Introduction to Lighting and Rendering 3D Models Cameras and Lights Animation A 3

6 Module A2: First Steps with 3D and 3ds Max Lesson 1 Basics of 3D 2 axes become 3 axes, XYZ Vertices and polygons Polygon counts, vertex counts Normals (explained only) Lesson 2 3D Editors Introduction to 3ds Max and its UI Brief discussion of the alternatives (Maya, Blender, etc) First look at 3ds Max basics: primitives, modifi ers Lesson 3 Object Types A& Primitives and how these are often turned into editable poly or editable mesh Differences between poly and mesh types Editing at face, vertex, poly level, etc Lesson 4 Basic Modelling Modelling with primitives, box modelling Enhancing your models with/using NURMS (Pt 1) Manipulating at sub-object level, e.g. vertices 4 Art and Animation

7 Module A3: Modelling Methods Lesson 1 Organic modelling Editing using edges and loops Graphite tools Point-to-point modelling techniques Lesson 2 Other Modelling Methods Splines/NURBS Patches Lofting Lesson 3 More on Modifiers Space warps vs modifi ers Turbosmooth A look at other useful modifi ers (FFDs) Lesson 4 Sculpting Tools Brief examination of Mudbox and Zbrush tools in a modelling context Very high detail modelling What else can these tools do (in brief)? A 5

8 Module A4: Materials and Lights Lesson 1 Material Editor Compact vs Slate editors Various map types, show in viewport and other material editor items How do materials differ from texture maps? Lesson 2 UV and W How maps are applied, mapping coordinates Mapping schemes, projection cylindrical, etc. Good and bad UV mapping schemes Lesson 3 Smoothing A& What smoothing groups do/editing them Assigning multiple smoothing groups Normals, backfacing, 2-sided Lesson 4 Standard Lighting Lighting and light types Shadow maps, raytraced shadows Lighting parameters for the different light types, falloff, cone, etc. 6 Art and Animation

9 Module A5: Creating a 3D Scene Lesson 1 Cameras Camera types, fi eld of view, clipping Lens lengths, depth of fi eld Motion blur Lesson 2 Rendering Rendering for static graphic output, e.g. a jpg, etc. Rendering a sequence, render to texture Assigning renderers and what they mean, how games differ Lesson 3 Global Illumination Raytracing and radiosity explained What renderers can use it (e.g. mental ray) Using skydomes and other 3ds GI techniques A& 7

10 Module A6: 2D Art Considerations Lesson 1 Mood Boards Explanation of mood boards, style guides, etc. Creating an art bible DPI, PPI, printing Lesson 2 Character Sketching Proportions, rule of heads Gesture sketching Life drawing, anatomy Lesson 3 Concept Art Answering visual questions, scale, colour Model sheets, storyboarding Typical workfl ow Lesson 4 Files and Bytes Image Formats, lossy and lossless compression Bit-depths A 2D Animation and animated GIFs 8 Art and Animation

11 Module A7: Introduction to Photoshop Lesson 1 Photoshop Explained Overview of the UI and general conventions Bitmaps, fi le formats Basic drawing tools, brush, pencil, etc. Lesson 2 The Power of Photoshop Layers Layers explained Lassos, magic wand, etc. Groups, fl attening Lesson 3 Channels in Photoshop RGB, Alpha, etc Transparency explained Text Tool, tiling textures Lesson 4 Photoshop Layer FX Description of what they are Global light Combining effects, creating your own presets A&A 9

12 Module A8: 3D Animation Techniques Lesson 1 Keyframes Keyframes, tweens Set key/auto key All about different forms of motion capture Lesson 2 Bones Bones, Weights, Skinning Envelopes, helpers, constraints IK and FK, CAT Lesson 3 Animating Parameters Animating material parameters Animating UV coords Animating lights and cameras Lesson 4 Animation Rules 12 rules of animation Ensuring animations loop or cycle correctly Using the graph editor, wire parameters Lesson 5 Facial Animation Rigging a face and adding controls to simplify it Blend shapes Morph targets Lesson 6 Mixing Animations Animation layers, clips Motion mixer More on CAT 10 Art and Animation

13 Module A9: Graphics for Gaming Lesson 1 Engine Considerations Target platforms, screen aspects Poly counts, texture memory, hardware lighting Exporting to FBX Lesson 2 Creating Maps (Textures) Resources available to the texture artist - image libraries, image search, etc. Types of maps, eg specular, diffuse, etc. Level of detail (LODs) in gaming, Photoshop shape tools Lesson 3 Bloom, HDR and More Effects in games, bloom, HDR, etc. Motion blur, DOF The many fi lters in Photoshop, adjustment layers, fi lter browser Lesson 4 Normal Maps Not the preserve of gaming, but heavily used in it All about basic bumps and normal bumps Lesson 5 The Hi to Lo Workflow Using a high poly model to create a low poly one, render to texture The entire process explained, eg from reference/concept Through high-poly to low-poly Baking meshes and low-poly meshes A 11

14 Module A10: More on Textures and Lighting Lesson 1 Vertex Data The different data stored per vertex Displaying and editing various sorts of vertex data/lighting Painting vertex data Lesson 2 Unwrap UVW Unwrap UVW Adjusting Uvs in the UV editor Seam placement Lesson 3 Other Texture Tools Pelt mapping Peel Using 3rd party UV tools Lesson 4 Ambient Occlusion Ambient occlusion explained Advanced lighting A Skylights, environments (sky maps) 12 Art and Animation

15 Module A11: Particles and Physics Lesson 1 Physics Mass FX explained Physics simulations in 3ds Max and game engines Rigid bodies & constraints, cloth, ragdolls Lesson 2 Particles Explanation of different particle types PF Source, particle view When particles and physics meet Lesson 3 MAXScript Introduction to MAXScript The Script Editor Automating repetitive tasks A& 13

16 Module A12: Optimisations Lesson 1 Sculpting Tools Using sculpting tools to create normal maps A&A Lesson 2 Hard surfaces Talk about hi- to lo- workfl ow again using Mudbox (and mention similarity to Zbrush) Key features of sculpting tools: Base mesh generation, sculpting, texturing, illustration Hard surface modelling in sculpting tools Tips for getting the best out of normal maps, eg sloped extrusions, fl oating geometry, etc. Cavity maps explained Lesson 3 Better Organics Optimising topology for deformation Limb topology Body topology 14 Art and Animation

17 Notes A&A 15

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