Changes to the brief

As a group we had a meeting with  mark to discuss our outcomes for the project. After telling him we were considering creating an animation he suggested that it would probably be the same amount of work to make a level in a game engine with better outcomes. We thought about this  length and decided to try and make a level for the character to walk through entirely in 3d.

From this our roles naturally became more noticeable. I am now the lead concept artist. I will be creating all the concept work in BA8 as well as texturing 3d models. Jarvis will be the 3d generalist. He will be creating all the 3d assets that need to go into the game. Ollie will be the graphics designer, which will consist of creating the UI, posters, logos, titles, menus etc.

The pipeline will be as follows;

I will create the concept art for one of the subjects such as characters, Jarvis will then take these designers and create a 3d model. He will then give me these models and I will texture them. During the while process ollie will be creating decals for the characters such as armour logos, or textures. He will then give them to me when I have finished with the texturing. I will apply Ollie's designs and send the models or UV's back to Jarvis. Finally Jarvis will insert these asset into the gas engine. This process will repeat with each different asset that we create.

My process in more depth;

I need to start the concept work before Jarvis starts to create any models because his work needs to reflect mine. To make this process work, during BA7 I will be creating concept art while Jarvis is learning the process of a game engine.

When I need to texture an asset I will either paint it in a 3d package or take the UV's and paint them in photoshop depending on what they are. For example if I need to texture something with round edges I will need to texture it in a 3d package such as Zbrush or Mudbox. If the object has sharp flat edges then I can use photoshop.

Research will determine my success so I need to have a strong understanding of how to digitally paint using  3d package and become as fluent with it as photoshop. I will also need to research how to use the basics in a game engine because I will have to contribute to this at the end of the project. I will also have to use Maya to extract UV's.

The game engine that we will be using is UDK because it is simple to use for beginners and it is available at university.

We have also decided to create a blog for the group which will contain all our research as a group for the project. This will help us reflect on each others research.