Pre-Production Portfolio: Environment Concept

Hello,

Well I think I am ready for submission, but i suddenly realised I had nothing really for the environment other than that really rough sketch.

So i started to create a 3D environment in maya so I can get a feeling as to what it will look like,

It might not look like much, truck and skyscraper were previously modeled and textured but getting pixel art into 3D is rather time consuming.

my main problem was the pavement tiles,

When you do pixel art you usually work on the smallest amount of pixels then scale up if necessary, yet for 3D you want the texture to be pretty high quality so the textures dont start to blur which means high resolution.

you cant scale down or else the lines become distorted.

So what i decided to do was export the image from maya as 2048x2048, then seperately worked on a single 16x16 tileable square and then scaled up duplicated the tiles rinse and repeat until it was 2048x2048. Deleting the parts that are needed for the road. however with 4096 pixels things begin to get sore on the eyes and a bit jarring.

but yeah, need to texture other skyscrapers and maybe put in some more things in the environment to liven it up a bit.

but yeah thats me for today and prob what I'll have for submission.

David M

Pre-Production Portfolio: Stylised concept

Hello,

After doing the classic style characters for the animation the next step was to create the more stylized image..

I made a start on the more realistic ones but I don't think they are ready, will need to look into creating that type of pixel art later.

So, I think thats pretty much close to submitting my work, just need to a few more stuff for concept development.

Planning on doing a video of me discussing my work in more detail that I have done so writing the script out for that after i have done this blog. not sure if i will manage to do it in time however.

Pre-Production Portfolio: Storyboards, scene layout

Hello,

This is going to be a short one but eventually got my storyboards completed so here they are,

So yeah not many but the animation is going to be rather short and rather simple.

I also did a rough sketch of the layout of the animation,

The character will most likely just walk on the spot and i will make the environment scroll to give the illusion that he is moving. The environment will also just keep looping to save space and time. as i want to spend most of my time on the actual pixel art.

Pre-Production Portfolio: Classic Pixel Art Concept.

Hello,

So lastly for today i did a quick bunch of concepts of all the stages of the character in the classic pixel art style.

 

So I thought I should put it up to my critical framework to decide whether or not it is classic style

Resolution: 53x24

Colour: 

Outline: N/A

Anti-Ailising: N/A

Shading: Cell Shaded

Style: Classic

Platform: Image

Critical Framework: Fez Part.6

Critical Evaluation - Fez (2012)

3D environment, 2D characters

Resolution - Environment : N/A, Characters : 16x16

Colour:

Bright, colourful, contrasting colours

Outline: N/A

Anti - Ailising : Used

Shading: Cell Shaded

style : 3D Stylised

Platform : Game

Pre Production Portfolio : Storybeats and Thumbnail revision

Hello,

Following on from yesterday i decided to have a look at my script and thumbnails and improve them a little.

Since i want the animation to cover various different pixel art styles i thought it would make sense for it to start offwith the classic style with more contrasting colours then it grows from there to a more modern stylised approach then 3D (not 100% sure how i am going to do this part)

anyways so here are the storybeats,

1. starts off with a baby crawling down a street (classic pixel art)
2. as the baby grows older more pixels are added (modern)
3. the boy starts to run and the camera rotates round the character (3D)
4. the boy starts to get older and slows down pixels start to fall from the character and the screen as the pixel art slowly turns back to classic. Eventually all the pixels fall and disapear and thats the end

I am expecting the animation to be no more than a minute but I might accompany that with environment images etc maybe even the environment will be able to be explored using UDK but I havnt yet decided but might aswell chalk up a few concepts for that.

here are the revised thumbnails i did using the above storybeats,

Not really clear, i know but hopefully all will be clearer when i make my storyboards.

David M

Pre-Production : Re-Do's

Hello,

So in typical fashion today has been a day of not happy with what I have done so far and re-doing them in time for submission this Friday.

First up, Im not really happy with how my animation goes (story wise) , I like the fact that I am trying to use various different methods on the styles pixel art has but I feel it would make more sense if the pixel art grows from what it was classic to the more modernized style it has gotten now.

Also, through a personal development practice I have given myself (which i will talk about later) i decided to redo my character sketches but this time keeping pixel art in mind.

so here were my old sketches:

And here are the new ones:

I decided to make them more angular with less curves which helps and will save time.

Also through previous tests I came to realise that when it comes to 3D angular geometry works better with pixel art than smoothed curves. (thats if i choose to do th characters in 3D or not)

So for the next few days im hoping to get my story and storyboards finalized with also a few conceptualized pixel art images so you can get the general look and feel of the animation.

Critical Framework: Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery Part.5

Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery - Framework Evalutation

Resolution : 400 x 250

Colour:

Neutral harmonizing colours

Outline: N/A

Anti-Ailising: Used

Shading: Cell Shaded

Style: Modern Stylised

Pre-Production Portfolio: Low resolution concept and thumbnails

Hello,

So I have been doing some personnel development/concept development stuff recently but its taking a rather long time so wont be up for a while. So instead today I decided to do some stuff for my pre-production and made a start at visualizing my story.

so heres the thumbnails,

Not finished yet still cant think of a decent ending yet.

So what I moved onto was making a concept low resolution, stuff for the old man. So I started looking at other low resoultion work.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery a fantastic Classic Styled game for Ios/PC Sprites are extremely low pixel, but yet have a fair amount of detail. ( I shall be posting up a critical feedback of Sword & Sorcery after this)

so heres the image of my old man,

as you can see hes really basic more so than even superbrothers, I would rather use my own pixel art style.

next up will be my medium and high resolution work, and also sort the ending and my storyboard

Pre-Production Things to do.

• sketches
• Pixel Art low res
• Pixel Art High res
• Pixel Art Med res
• Script
• Storyboard

Critical Framework: Yuriy Gusev, Part.4

Framework Evaluation - Robots by Yuriy Gusev

Resolution : 400 x 400

Colour :  

Outline : Coloured

Anti – Ailising : Used

Shading : Gradiant & Dithering

Style : Modern Realism

Critical Framework: Paul Robertson, Part.3

Framework Evaluation – Violent Storm By Paul Robertson

Resolution : 384 x 216, Expanded ( 768 x 432)

Colour :  

Outline : Black

Anti – Ailising : N/A

Shading : Cell Shaded

Style : Modern Stylized

Platform : Image

Critical Framework: Passage, Part.2

Framework Evaluation – Passage (2007)

Resolution : 16 x 100

Colour : 

Outline : N/A

Ant – Ailising : N/A

Shading : Cell Shaded

Style : Classic

Platform : Game

Critical Framework: Definitions PART.1

Hello,

Well today I went into University to try find my supervisor to no avail. However I did bump into Rory Jobson who was wanting a bit of help as he is doing some pixel art game assets (this is not for his honours project check out what he is doing for that here: http://roryjobsonhonours.blogspot.co.uk/) After telling him a few hints and tips I thought I may be ready to actually do a fairly in-depth critical framework, Plus I am in desperate need for some inspiration so looking at other peoples awesome pixel art is bound to help.

So heres the definitions and things I will be looking for when critiquing other work.

Pixel Art Critical framework Definitions

Style

Classic: low resolution and limited colour palette mimics the limitations provided by early consoles of the 70s – early 90s due to size outlines are not used.

Modern 'Stylized' : higher resolution than classic, and has an unlimited number of colours, however still uses simpler shading techniques such as cell shading. Can have a coloured/black outline

Modern 'Realism' : High resolution unlimited colours but uses more complicated shading techniques such as gradient and dithering and Anti-Ailising. Outline coloured or not used.

3D : simple geometry pixel art texture

Voxol : 3D created using recognizable individual cubes all consisting of the same size

Each style is decided depending on,

• Resolution : the resolution of an image is the amount of pixels used in an image
• Colour : The colour palette and the amount of colours used in the image
• Outline : What type of outline it used around objects and characters in the image
• Anti – Ailising : used to create smoother edges and more realistic colour gradients
• Shading : what type of shading technique is used: Gradient, Cell Shaded or Dithering

Also I thought it would be a good idea to note what platform the pixel art is for such as;

• Game
• Digital Image
• Animation/Film

Other things to look out for, Found in bad pixel art and will only be added if they are present

• Pillow Shading
• Jaggies

I realise some of these definitions are unclear to people who dont know pixel art so i will be updating this post with examples so that it becomes more clear.

EDIT: After reading the honours handbook rubrics on the concept development log and pre production portfolio. I am now unsure what module my critical framework belongs into so I will label it under both utnil it has been made clear. 14/01/2013

Pre-Production Portfolio: concept sketches & script

Hello,

So today was all about trying to get myself back into the creative swing of things which resulted mainly in me drawing below par drawings of what could vaguely be described as human.

Eventually i managed to draw something that I was happy with (for now) but will probably/hopefully be improved on before submission but hear are the concepts sketches as they are now...

however obviously these are sketches and not pixel art so the pixelated equivelant of these and a better created "baby" will be up shortly.

Things to do for pre production portfolio - 18th january

• sketches*
• pixel art low resolution 'Classic'
• pixel art medium resolution 'Modern'
• Pixel art high resolution 'hyper-Realism'
• Script*
• Storyboard

*Completed but can do with improving before submission if time allows

Pre-Production Portfolio: Concept Baby

so today i started to do some concepts of the characters in the animation i described in the previous post, i decided to go for this one as i feel its more relevant and feels more fitting to the aim. I need to script and storyboard it etc so those should come next few days.

Anyways, back to what I was doing, I was sketching out the baby, boy, young adult adult and OAP today but I was going through an artistic block and couldnt really get down what i had in my head.

The closest was the baby so i decided to move onto the pixelation of him.

the idea of the baby was he was going to be about mid range resolution 35x70 pixels.

You may notice that through creating i was trying to decide whether he would have a coloured outline or not. the reason why I chose for hime to have a black outline, was primarily to help when it came to animating him.  However this is a concept so doesnt matter too much right now

I dont think the pose reads to well however especially his hands, and i think his arm on the side on view looks like a foot. It is something i have to work on especially when 1 pixel out of place can make a significant difference.

However, I have decided to make a video analysis critique of all my timelapses so far so I can easily explain my processes, thoughts, likes and dislikes of the work I am doing. As i think i find it hard to get the point across and miss out things when i am typing.

Pre-Production Portfolio: Skyscraper and truck Part 2

Hello,

Well firstly you may (or not) have noticed that my skyscraper has changed and looks less blurry, I used a 'Sharpen' Filter in photoshop to recover the lost pixels in the Anti-aillising. however this has made some of there lines get coloured oddly which will needs further fixing, but its better than what i originally posted. So I shall re edit that post with what i was intending to talk about after its been completely finished.

I was intending on creating timelapse videos for these but I cant get VLC to work anymore and my computer is enjoying crashing on me.

So, today my next part in my little project is to create the truck, 

So, thats the finished model.

I am thinking of creating different models for the crashes as it gets deformed by the explosion.

Anyway, I enjoyed this part, pixel art is great for making sure things align properly, I am starting to realise why most 3D pixel art has basic geometry suits the style perfectly, however I am still adiment that I can find my own style so I dont just get told I am cloning minecraft or whatever.


Anyways next up will be making the street, might do alternate skyscraper textures to make the environment look more varied.

but yeah going to try get VLC working for the next parts as I really found it helpful to look back and examine my own technique.

Anyways hope you like,

Laters,
     David M

Pre-Production Portfolio: skyscraper test part 1

Hello,

I am not sure actually what this goes under (yet) but right now i think its close to a pre-production.

So what have I been upto? Well aside from slaving away at my proposal  (2000/3000 words) I have decided to do a little more practical.

The idea

Well, I want to do a pixel art animation that looks 2D but is actually 3D, the sequence I have chosen is a truck crashing into a skyscraper which came from a midnight think before bed and a chat with my flatmate.

The animation is not going to be too long, 30 seconds at max. 

The camera is going to have to rotate to show that the animation is 3D.

Progress?

Well I havnt gotten far, thanks to my computer crashing, but I have finished off the skyscraper (near enough) heres the 3D model for you to have a look.

How'd you do that?

Simple really, but I shall go more in depth for you.

As you may have read before (if not go look, i'll be waiting) I have textured 2 cubes, 1 looked like Fez and the other looked like Minecraft. I also decided to get really ambitious and try and texture a team fortress 2 model but failed miserably.

So This is why I chose a skyscraper and a truck they are both fairly rectangular.

I then used the same technique as my minecraft cube, but blew it up from 512x512 to 1024x1024.. However I seem to have made a catastrophic Pixel Art error that I have only just realised.

I appear to have made the rookie mistake of accidently forgetting to tick maintain hard edges on the scaling up.

Not to sure how to fix that!

Well i was going to take close ups of each part so you could see what was going on, on a pixel level but that would be kinda pointless now since everything been AA'd and blurred out...

Well thats something im going to have to make sure i dont do for the truck...

Hopefull i find a way to fix this and upload a new one tomorrow.

Typical, well that was a real downer to thee old moral, ahwells

till tomorrow,
     David M

Concept Development: Failures, low pixel and high pixel

Hello,

Havn't made a post in a while so heres a wee catch up of what I have been upto, 

Research

been reading the tutorials I have posted previously and highlighting things i felt useful down in my notebook.

also found a few books, but with £85 for the cheapest £150 for the most expensive i have passed it on to Lynn in the hope that the library can get them instead so fingers crossed.

Practical

I have been upto a couple of practical things recently some good, some bad and some ok. so we shall kick things off with the bad:

After studying into the pixel art theories and practices, I fell into one pit fall of being far too ambitious. what i decided to do was create a 3D fan art image of FEZ (a 3D game but with looks of a 16-bit console) 

Fez gameplay screenshot

and heres where I got too before deciding I was in way over my head,

as you can see i didnt get far but things weren't going to well when it came to the texturing, if the UV was to high in resolution getting the pixels to look right was causing problems. if the uv resolution was to low then the texture would appear blurred.

So 3D environments with pixel art textures are out of reach for me at this stage so instead I decided to go back and do some 2D stuff using what I learned from the tutorials,

 Low pixel image of a devil character i sketched in my sketchbook ( an image of which will be updated when i can get my scanner to work)

And here is a high pixel count of the same devil character, I am not too happy with some of the shading and outline but i think its an approvement from the running banner 

heres an animated gif of the pipeline 

1. First I drew a sketh using the brush tool, of the character directly into photoshop using my tablet referencing the image in my sketchbook.
2. I then traced over using the pencil tool to get the outline of the character
3. *Then i tidied up the outline getting rid of uneven pixels and defined the shape of the character*
4. *I added base colours for the characted*
5. then used shades and highlights to define the character

* these stages are missed out in the gif due to my own poor layer management in photoshop, another area I need to improve*

But yeah thats what I have done for the past few days, expect to see more practical work posted up in preparation for my presentation.

David M