Pre-Production Practice

For this brief, I am to start by choosing my specialty for example Character Design, Environment Creation, Prop Creation and so on. From here, I will research what it is that goes into my chosen specialty such as the pipeline from concepting ideas all the way up to producing finished or game ready pieces. Essentially, I will be writing my own brief for this module which will then be approved via a proposal, in this case, a presentation.

What I submit for this assessment will then be used to inform the brief and the creation of a piece of work 

According to Juego Studios, the pre-production stage of a project is the very start of the process. Within games, this includes the production of concepts and ideas along with writing up initial design documents. 

For my project I would like to focus on Prop creation, with an emphasis on creating weapons. My idea for this stems from some plans I'd written a while ago for a sword that will fit into the world of Destiny 2. With this, my target audience for this piece will be the prop designers at Bungie. This is a sort of passion project that I hadn't really got around to doing so I thought I'd use it for this module.

I am aware that these companies are a few of the largest within the industry currently, they are both based in the US and that it is quite ambitious of me to have set the bar this high so soon. However, I do think that having this as an end goal to work towards will give me the want to work on my hard surface and weapon modelling skills for the future and spur me on to meet this goal.

With this in mind I have found another company that I would happily work for that, if nothing else, is at least based within the UK.  

For me, Rebellion Developments would be a more reasonable target audience when it comes to securing a job while Bungie or Digital Extremes work as a better target audience for the type of project and the theme I wish to produce. Going forward I will include Rebellion Developments as part of the target audience and will keep them in mind for this and future personal projects in the future.

I have begun piecing together the initial mood board for my weapon. Following this, I plan to go into further detail and begin working on creating initial designs and block outs as well as a callout sheet for my piece.

Early in this module, I was not entirely sure exactly what I wanted to do in terms of putting a plan together and the research I'd need in order for this module to inform my final GAMA3000 project, this was due to having high ambitions in terms of target audience. After talking with a good friend, and previous graduate of this course, I now have a more solid idea of what I want to achieve and what research I need to do to inform my later GAMA3000 and GAMA3005 modules.

The result I want from this, and the aforementioned modules, is still to create a realistic weapon prop based on real world elements with futuristic and sci-fi elements added to fit a game world similar to that of Destiny 2. For this module specifically, I aim to research the pipeline and processes of creating props and weapons which will be used to inform what I will do within the GAMA3000 module. I plan to do additional research into rigging and animating props as there are some moving parts I'd like to show on my weapon. This will be used to inform my GAMA3005 module.

Throughout the GAMA3000 module, the aim is to model and texture the weapon using industry standard pipelines and processes within Maya, and potentially ZBrush for certain elements.

Throughout the GAMA3005 module, the aim is to rig and animate my weapon informed by research done within this module. If I have time towards the end, I would like to do some research into VFX to make the already applied textures and other elements pop and be more interesting to look at.    

I found the above image on Pixune.com which covers a basic pipeline that can be used for all aspects of Game Art production from characters to environments and props. I plan on using this as a baseline throughout all of the respective modules.

This being the pre-production module, I will cover everything from idea generation all the way up to 3D model planning and design.

Production will be split into two parts, the focus of GAMA3000 will primarily be on 3D modelling and texturing  

My final proposal form is linked here

This module has allowed me to display my creative freedom within an area of Game Art, as well as the themes and genres, that interest me the most. I have enjoyed building the story around the concepts and ideas I have produced and have enjoyed the freedom that comes with self lead modules such as this. The motivation that comes from the ability to work on something that genuinely interests me is exceedingly helpful as I feel this will stop me from becoming burnt out. Also, knowing that this is something that I hope professionals will see in the future really drives me to est myself and makes me want to ensure I create the weapon for this project to the best of my ability.

Through the course of this module, I have managed to come up with a solid idea for my weapon prop and I feel I am adequatly prepared for the modules to come. However, there were a few bumps in the road for me during this module where there were occasions where I was unable to produce work or even research everything I felt I needed in order to prepare myself going forward into the next semester. Between now and the start of the following modules, I aim to cover anything I am still unsure of to ensure I hav the best possible start when I come to creating my sword.

I had also ran into some uncertainty when it came to producing research for the upcoming Supplementary skills module as, at the start of the year, I was not timetable in for the 3005 module until late into the semester. I will continue to work and research through the ideas I have for the upcoming modules that support the main GAMA3000 module.

To conclude, there are some things I need to iron out before the start of the production process but I am certain I can get myself prepared before this time.