Week 6
06/01/2020
Tasks for this Week:
Start Cyberpunk Character Concepts
Implement texture
Add detail to character designs
Current Position:
Before starting with a detailed I’ve worked on producing this very simple outline for both character designs which gives me the posture and proportions I want for them both and so with having this outline sketched out I can now lower its opacity and use it to help me structure my characters and build detail onto them.
In this image I am presenting a screenshot showing my in progress cyberpunk outlaw, as of now from what is seen in this image I have successfully designed the entirety of the figure excluding one of its hands as at this current moment I am considering a different technique of drawing hands since the current one in use has not provided me with the result that I am looking for as I would prefer a skinny hand as opposed to a large circular one as I believe it will look more realistic and fit the design I have in progress more effectively. For this outlaw I want to present them in a human light and so I have excluded any cybernetic enhancements from them and have left them completely organic whilst I also wish to present them as if they are on the run in the cyberpunk underworld which is why I have given them a hood that acts to conceal them when in large crowds or seen from behind. The level of detail I have added onto this character serves to portray them as fashionable yet gritty as although they are on the run I would like to make them still appear as a vibrant and stylish individual so that they can fit more effectively into the projects theme of cyberpunk. After adding in the detail on this character I went around the inner lines and lightly shaded them all the way along just so they would appear more polished as well as another reason being that it makes it look as if they are in a dark area. Overall I am pleased with the outcome of this design and will soon move onto texturing it and implementing any details that I feel may be needed to make this concept stand out even more. I have also included my reference image in this screenshot so you can see how my design has been influenced by existing characters.
For my next design I have begun work on producing the outline of my cyberpunk cyborg and so far this design has gone by much quicker than the previous due to my increased level of focus in a fairly quiet working environment. For this design I have used the same sketching techniques which includes multiple light strokes rather than one unending line that can easily become uneven on the designs proportions. I have also begun shading in the inner lines of this character so that they are a more polished design when I begin to implement texture onto them. One flaw that I have noticed in my design so far is how far the legs are from the center mass as this character appears to be a lot shorter than they should be and so to remedy this I will look into this area of the design and experiment with any changes that I believe may remove this flaw and allow the cyborg to appear more evened out than when I first presented them. Due to the help of a reference image I have been able to create rather detailed feet that present multiple features of plating onto the feet that make this character seem all the more real whilst the legs present kneecaps that I believe I have designed effectively. Besides the flaw I have noticed in scale and some other minor details that I will be adding in the next upcoming phase I am pleased with the current outcome and will be able to move onto texturing shortly where I aim to create a colour that serves to connote this character effectively.
Planning for next week –
- How do you plan to catch up?
- Do you need to change anything about your work or planning?
I plan to catchup by focusing directly on implementing texture on my character designs and producing rough designs for my 2D assets. I need to be able to work faster and implement my ideas and references used to greater effect so that I can get greater quality results whilst spending less time on each product.
Week 7
13/01/2020
List of Tasks this week:
Improve and finish character designs
work on drone and hoverboard asset designs
Current Position
Since completing the sketch of my cyberpunk outlaw I have now moved on to implementing the texture which I have decided to make a vibrant and bright colour scheme that allows this character to fit in with the genre, whilst yellow has served as the base colour for this design I have also used different shades of many other colours such as orange to add in some highlighting on the jacket which I have then gone over with the mixer brush to blend it in with the yellow and make it look more realistic, doing this has also added a neon like appearance to my character which greatly captures my interest in using this as my final product with no need for any further renditions. Although I have almost completed the texture of this character it is still at the moment subject to change as I am not to happy with how the hands have come out whilst the feet have gone through many different designs and so before I add the final touches I will be experimenting with some different designs for these parts of my outlaw before it is deemed finished and suitable for presentation as my final product.
In this image I have successfully finished implementing the texture onto my cyberpunk cyborg and although I have concerns about this particular concept I do still hold to my appeal of the colour scheme and think it suits the character quite well, for the texturing process I used the same technique as on the image above with a lot of blending, shading and multiple tones in one area along with a base colour and despite this colour scheme appealing to me I am still not too happy with how the final design looks as the proportions for the legs and waist appear to be very incorrect and misplaced and after experimenting I have been unable to fix this and so will be working on a second concept which I will create using a similar appearance to my previous outlaw that I will then compare to this one and see which works best. Although I only have a few weeks left to work on the project I would still like to try and improve my work as much as I can and so will spare some time to produce one extra concept that will go alongside this one as my final product for my cyberpunk cyborg.
In this next image I have produced another character design for my cyberpunk cyborg this time using a style that I am able to work with much more efficiently, to add some custom features to this design and make them more unique I have adorned them with a golden skull mask and a cape and the reason why I decided to use these two features is because I enjoy fitting them onto designs and blending them into the genre so that they do not look out of place in the project theme, I have also added many cybernetics onto the cyborgs body which help to make them stand out as a part human and part machine such as the robotic joints present on the arms and legs whilst I have used a metallic texture for these parts that identify them as false limbs. For the texture so far I have been using a vibrant and flashy colour scheme that makes my cyborg stand out and appear more as an individual than a cyborg as they appear to have fashioned themselves with multiple novelties. What I like about this design so far is how I have been able to fit two assets usually associated with fantasy into the cyberpunk theme whilst also making this character easily identifiable as a cyborg due to the many cybernetic augmentations I have implemented onto this character. To finish off this design I will need to finish successfully adding texture to the arms and feet before I move onto creating my asset designs and finalizing my work.
Planning for next week –
- How do you plan to catch up?
- Do you need to change anything about your work or planning?
Over the next week I will be implementing the final touches onto my character designs and begin the development process of my cyberpunk drone and hoverboard.
I need to continue to focus on one task at a time and ensure that I do not over complicate the tasks that I have set myself to complete.
Week 8
20/01/2020
List of Tasks this week:
Finish texturing Cyberpunk Drone and add necessary highlights and effects
Begin producing hoverboard sketch and use a variety of techniques to produce design
Move onto texturing and highlighting hoverboard
Current Position:
In this image I have produced a sketch for my cyberpunk drone where I have attempted to apply a stylish appearance to the outline so that it can fit into the theme of the project. At the front end of the drone it may look as if it is manned due to the cockpit like screen covering the front end though I have remedied this by adding a module above the screen that acts as a surveillance camera. For this design I plan to use a metallic texture whilst implementing a variety of vibrant colours that will make this drone look unique and attention grabbing.
This image shows the final design for my cyberpunk drone where I have used a variety of colours and detail to light it up and fit into the genre appropriately whilst trying to keep a moderate texture in some areas so that it can be identified easily as a drone and not appear to be too extravagant and over the top which at first was one of my fears although now I have managed to surpass that fear and produce a texture that I am overall happy with. For this drone I wanted to give it a unique appearance that made it appear intimidating and majestic whilst keeping in line with the role I have written for it to serve as. To make this drone stand out as a surveillance drone I have given it two cameras on the front end with one small lens on the top along with a larger camera present on the undercarriage of the drone. Initially I spoke of including only one camera but as my product developed I decided to implement a second as due to the drone belonging to law enforcement I believe that it makes to give it extra features that allow it to commit to maximum surveillance. During the texturing process I wanted to give it a metallic and rough appearance and so I have used a variety of dark colours along with multiple shades of grey that have given my drone the rough appearance I was after, though I still wanted to place a metallic shade over it and so I made use of the dodge tool that then enabled me to highlight multiple areas and give my drone the metallic texture I was after. Despite struggling during my ideas generation to produce a suitable and high quality concept of a drone I am overall happy with this outcome as the design I have produced is unique and shows that I have been able to utilise my development from ideas generation towards my final product whilst also learning new techniques of texturing and shading throughout the development process.
In this next image we can see that I effectively completed the design of my hoverboard which I have produced after spending some time viewing and scaling multiple references of hoverboards from online sites such as pinterest and art station where I was able to view 3D models created by 3D artists that fit into the theme of cyberpunk. After viewing these references I began my final product by producing a simple sketch that included a marginal amount of detail just so I could have a guideline for when I enhanced it with a darker and neater outline where I would be implementing more detail. So far on this design I am pleased with how far I have come with as in the beginning I struggled to produce a simple outline that would make sense to the viewer. After creating this outline whilst doing my best to keep the lines straight and neat I have begun implementing the detail which includes multiple engravements and technological enhancements and input panels which make it more futuristic and fit it more appropriately into the cyberpunk genre. To make this design appear more advanced and futuristic I have bridged the two ends of this hoverboard to make it seem more versatile and eye catching which I believe I have been able to do effectively. The next stage for finishing this design will be to begin implementing a texture onto the concept that will make it look realistic, vibrant and gritty whilst keeping it secured within the Cyberpunk theme of this project. Before moving onto the texturing process of this design I may implement additional features that will add further detail to the product and make it appear even more stylish whilst making sure it does not go over the top.
After successfully producing an outline that I was happy with I have since started the next phase of finishing this design which is the texturing process where so far I have managed to complete the first end of the hoverboard despite some additional textures that I will implement once the entire design has been given its base texture. With the colour scheme I am using I aim to make it have a neon appearance whilst giving it a metallic shine through the use of the dodge tool in the selection bar which has enabled me to paint exposure over certain areas of this design which has been of great assistance to me so far in giving a metallic shine to my current phase in texturing. As of now I am progressing onto the last end of the hoverboard where I will be using multiple bright tones that will allow this concept to fit into the theme of the project. The side and bottom edges I may implement a darker texture too as they are more obscured than the other features that are visible on this product. Thus far in this phase of final design I have been progressing in good time as I have been finding it a simple concept to texture which allows me to fill in multiple sections without spending too much time on each area and so this will allow me to focus on implementing highlights and areas of shading onto my hoverboard after I have finished the base texture.
This final image of my hoverboard presents my finished texture and the last of my final products that I have listed within my proposal and to present this product professionally I have made use of the layer special effects as well as the default airbrush like paint brush that I have utilised to light up the area behind the hoverboard after drastically increasing the size of up to almost maximum so that I could cover a large area with the light. For my texture I have utilised a various palette of colours with multiple tones being used to implement detail and create a vibrant flashy product that can fit into the cyberpunk genre. Despite being pleased with the outcome of this final product I feel as if I could have made a darker more realistic texture with a gritty and rough appearance that could add an almost eerie overtone to it though besides this imaginative alternate product I am happy with this final design and will use what I have learned during the development process towards whatever I decided to create for my final major project. Alongside the hoverboard being completed as my final product I have implemented additional features to the canvas that I have implemented to add some more lighting and atmosphere to the product starting with the orange particles that are floating around the hoverboard which I have created by just pressing down once with the brush and then opening the special effects for layers panel and turning on an outer glow that makes them look more ethereal unique. With the particles I have also included a title using the text feature that says C Y B E R P U N K and although I did not need to add this I felt it would be a fun inclusion and decided to place it there as a reference to the project theme and I have once again added an outer glow and increased the noise levels so I was left with a staticy and grainy glow around and inside the text layer. With this product done I am pleased with what I have experimented with and what I have learnt after utilisng layer effects I wasn’t too familiar with.
Planning for next week –
- How do you plan to catch up?
- Do you need to change anything about your work or planning?
For next week I need to update the final details I implemented onto my character designs as well as start work on my final evaluation, with the deadline approaching fast I need to make sure I have all tasks completed to the standard of a merit as this is the grade that I am aiming to grab.
Week 9
27/01/2020
Tasks for this Week:
Evaluation
Update Blog Art work
Current Position:
Earlier on in this design there were multiple areas that stuck out to me as being uncomfortable for the design which was the hands and the feet and so after erasing the previous designs I have reworked them to a more suitable and appropriate appearance and added the texture that I believe fits them best.
For this image I have finished applying the texture to the product and have been left with a design that I am happy to present as my third character concept, although at first I had only 2 designs planned I decided to fit this one in as I wanted to improve on my previous cyborg concept and so I now have two of these designs to go together, in the future I will need to adjust my planning so I will not run into issues like this when deep into the production phase.
Planning for next week –
- How do you plan to catch up?
For this final week I will finish my evaluation from this unit and move on to the FMP
- Do you need to change anything about your work or planning?
All my work at this stage has been finished showing that I have effectively managed the development of my final products.
Level 3 Games Development Spencer Lee 