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2D/3D Concept Art Methodology theory for Game Characters

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#1

Hi there, I’m a 4th year Computer Arts student at Abertay University Dundee (Scotland, UK), and I’m currently working on my Honours Project that involves creating and developing 3D characters for games. I’ve also came up with a research question based on the concept art theory for my project:

"In game art, what impact can 3D have on the concept art methodology for the design of game characters?”

So what I wanted to ask is what are your approaches to concept art developments for characters in computer games?

Your thoughts and suggestions will support my research towards writing up my project’s dissertation. I would be very grateful if you can take part in participating with my project. Your comments will then inform my research for my dissertation. You can also receive a copy of my dissertation on request via email.

Thank you,

Nicandro Pacitti

#2

It depends on the scenario. If you have all the time in the world and emphasises on creating the best character ever, thinking about 3d at all during the concept stage of a character limits the creatively. Yet on projects where time is non-existent then your gonna want to plan to avoid creating time cosuming elements like alphas for hair and any effects.

#3

This is a good point when you think about it, especially when working completely in 3D for concepting can cause alot of time consuming (also known to be a common issue about this).

So would you say that the 2D methodology is still suitable to work on the concept process for game characters? Or would the 2D and 3D methodology be more efficient to develop concepts on, such as using ZBrush/Maya to create 3D meshes, and then apply the color and textures onto the rendered 3D image in Photoshop to create an illustrated concept art?

I’m currenly exploring into each different concept art methodolgies for each character designs to find out which one is more efficient and ideal to use, and then evaluate these findings in my project’s dissertation.

#4

If you can get your hands on James Hawkings Gnomon DVD (Gears Of War Creature Design) , I know you’d love it.
His concepting process involves both 2d and 3d, you’ll be able to witness first hand the differences and benefits, plus hear the views of one of the leading concept artists in the industry.

It’s a lot easier to break down the benefits of 2d then it is 3d, because the effect of each tool vastly differ in 3d and much comes down to what tools an individual uses and how they use them.

In short, I’d summarise that 2d’s greatest benefit is that it allow you to spit out initial ideas very quickly. But, If there is a point where you want to bring more clarity and precision to your concepts, then it became a blur which is more efficient, unitill obvious 3d would be best. Even though 3d is a slower medium at the initial concepting stage, it also has the benefit of helping lead the mind in exploring more dynamic spacial forms, even if generally the results looks a little stiffer than 2d.