In this post I am going to detail why I chose to make a 3D Environment for my major project and what I have gained in creating this proposal document. While I have included summary paragraphs in each blog posts here I will take a brief overview of what I have gathered in creating this proposal and how it will impact on the creation of my major project.

:: Proposal Summary ::

To start with I will go back to why I chose to create a single environment for my major project. I originally enrolled in the course ‘Game Design with a year in industry’ however found myself unable to secure a industry placement as either a 3D environment of 3D Prop artist. I did however contact a number of individuals at game studios when it became clear I would not be finding a placement in order to gather feedback and learn what I would need to change about my future work.

With the gathered feedback I knew I needed to change a few things about my workflow if I was going to be considered for junior 3D artist roles post my university study; which was clearly something that needed to be addressed. However it is hard to devote my time before graduation to adapting and improving as a 3D artist while creating other unrelated work for university. So this major project was a perfect opportunity to fast track my progression in the hopes of being in a position where I can realistically apply for junior roles post-graduation.

I first had to understand exactly what studios look for in a junior artist applicant, which I did in my Industry Research post. This showed me a number of job requirements which were shared between almost all studios I could find with job listings available. I then thoroughly researched those requirements in order to understand how I can show them with the environment I am to produce. Whether that be understanding LOD’s to truly grasping what was meant by ‘Knowledge of PBR materials.’

I also gathered feedback on the current pieces I had on my portfolio from a few varied industry contacts, which allowed me to get personalised feedback on how to improve my workflow. I was also recommended several tutorials which I can refer to during the production of my environment. I used industry contacts throughout my research of the aforementioned topics too, in order to answer any questions I had from the perspective of individuals actively working in the industry.

With the knowledge I had gained about the individual aspects I should aim to show in my work as well as the personalised feedback regarding areas I needed to improve on I could look to deciding what kind of environment would allow me to show those improvements well. I made sure to take inspiration from other Junior 3D Environment artists in my environment idea post in order to make sure I knew what level of quality work I would need to be producing come the end of my university studies.

From there I could go through the usual steps required for the pre-production of a 3D Environment. Creating 2D Sketches of the image I imagined before translating that to a 3D Blockout of the environment, which I made sure to gather industry feedback on before deciding on my initial asset list.

:: Asset List ::

Following the completion of my blockout I have created an asset list I can start to produce. This list is naturally subject to alteration, as while I create the environment I will likely need to increase the number of small objects needed to clutter the surfaces.

:: Textures + Shaders ::

I have also discovered that before I start to produce assets for the environment in maya I should create the tileable textures for things such as the ground. This will require the use of substance designer, a software I haven’t used before and so will likely prove a challenge.

Im aiming for a muddy, wet environment. Which will let me experiment with different textures. I also want to create a method for adding rainfall to the scene in unreal engine. I have seen this done with shaders such as snow. Which allows for a dynamic covering of the assets in the scene. This will require a lot of research but if done as I intend will allow me to create puddles on surfaces such as the awning.

Dry dirt ground texture

Wet dirt texture

Rain puddle system

Another thing to note here is I will need to create two different dirt textures, while the surrounding area will be a wet ground surface, the area underneath the awning will require a dry dirt texture. It will also be nice to be able to create wet footprints I can have walk through the campsite.