CREATING FAST CONCEPTS IN DREAMS

Learn how to build painterly 3D images in Dreams on PlayStation 4, with a step-by-step guide from Media Molecule’s Matt Bergasse

- Matt Bergasse

Matt Bergasse

Matt is an artist from Toronto working at Media Molecule, the studio behind Dreams. He works with traditional and digital art, and is excited for the future of creating art in VR. matthewbergasse.com

Since Dreams’ release in 2020, it has become my main tool for creating fast and expressive 3D sketches. In this tutorial I’m going to share my usual workflow, the bulk of which is done with a PlayStation 4 and a gamepad. For me, Dreams is less a ‘game’ and more a digital 3D sketchbook where I can quickly sculpt and paint characters, environments and even add animations, all while hanging out on my couch.

01 A BLANK CANVAS

Once you have Dreams up and running, open a new scene and you’ll see a ground plane, the create UI palette and a character representing a cursor in 3D space (called an ‘imp’). Physical movement on the controller maps directly to the imp, giving us multiple axes of movement while creating. At the top of the screen is the tools palette which includes different working modes and gadgets for us to use.

02 SUN AND SKY

To set the mood for the scene, we’re going to change the skybox and lighting from the default to something more atmospheric. Press the square button on the controller to open the palette, and grab a Sun and Sky gadget from the bar. Stamp it down anywhere in the scene. Change the sun colour to a cool blue, and adjust the sky type to a moody preset. This can always be changed later, so just go with what feels right.