Being able to create well thought-out environment and prop concept artwork is a super valuable skill for video game production. During my experiences in the industry – working as an artist for clients such as Bandai Namco, Grinding Gear Games and Marvel – I’ve found that using a high-fidelity 3D workflow offers the other art teams a close idea of what the work will look like when it reaches the final product.
When creating a concept, it's important to not only undertake plenty of research, but to make decisions about how the world your design exists in would affect its appearance. This could be factors such as: what materials and tools would most likely be used for building it? Is there a commonly used visual motif in the world’s cultural history?
If you’re building your own personal world, then you don't need to have all the answers, especially as worldbuilding can be daunting, and every creation is an opportunity for exploration. But these are nonetheless good topics to think about thoroughly, and it makes a huge difference in the believability of the final design result.
In this tutorial I’ll be showing you my process as I create a dark fantasy concept of a sacrifice ritual to a goddess, set in Rituals of Malah, a personal world I’ve been building.
01 BEGIN WITH A BASIC BLOCKOUT
Sometimes the most difficult part is starting, especially when faced with Blender’s default cube. The best thing is to just dive straight in without thinking too much and create a super basic blockout. In this environment, the main focus was to figure out what was going on with the main ritual and the structure of this bell, so I just blocked that part out first. I also made sure to add in a human model for scale; even if you change it later, it helps give a better sense of grounding in the world.
02 THE POWER OF A SKETCH-OVER
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Founders Edition
On the surface, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super is barely any different from the vanilla GeForce RTX 4080 that was launched in 2022.
MCU VFX moments
Pros choose their favourite CG shots from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Nosing around on Fallout
We sniff out the story of how FutureWorks brought The Ghoul to life with the creation of his iconic noseless face
DISCOVER RED GIANT GEO'S HANDY TOOLS
Heather Sterland introduces one of the newest additions to Maxon's suite of Red Giant VFX plugins with an atmospheric lunar creation
BUILD AND ANIMATE A FUN-FILLED ROBOT
Expand your horizons with Julio Benavides, who reveals his workflow for creating a charming hard-surface character
DESIGN STRIKING SCULPTS AT SPEED
Learn how to build 3D characters that balance visual quality and efficient workflow with pro advice from Oh Holy Mary
CREATE A CANYON ENVIRONMENT
Build a stunning desert setting with an expert walkthrough from Romain Eboli, who uses high-quality Quixel assets
TURN A 2D CONCEPT INTO AN INCREDIBLE 3D-PRINTED FIGURE
Concept artist Emily Chapman shares her process for sculpting, printing and painting an outstanding model to put on display
Goodbye SAIGON
Trevor Hogg gets held captive by multiple versions of Robert Downey Jr.while uncovering the visual effects of HBO's spy series The Sympathizer
IMPRESSIONISTIC REALISM
Trevor Hogg learns how the artisan aesthetic came to be for The Wild Robot