How to choose a good concept?

mikewitk

Hello everyone,

First of all, thank you for your time and help.

Second, I'm doing a 3D Environment bootcamp at GAI (Game Art Institute) and now we have to pick a concept to make it in 3D.

I really love Blizzard style look on their game (Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, etc) but I'm finding really hard to search a concept that would show these details, because of a few reason

1- Some concepts have too much information. Some concepts are huuuuge, have tons and tons of assets. And unfortunately I don't have the time to do them
2- Lot of "missing" info. Since they are concepts, there is a lot to fill in there.

Please, if you can, share some

1- Artists that I could look for that has this art style
2- Tips and tricks when following concepts. What should I add? What should I remove? Do I need to fill all the missing details? This will be a portfolio piece, so I'm not sure how to approach this.

With this piece I want to show that I can do hard surface modeling, sculpting, stylized assets. Unfortunately I can't make a full environment yet, so I want to show as much skills as I can.

Thanks again for your time.

Brian "Panda" Choi

What's preventing you from choosing an environment concept that has a lot of elements, but deciding to only do a select few for this assignment?

You could just do a smaller diorama of a section of the concept.

You won't find, in terms of volume, more diorama concepts than full on environment ones.

Also, keep in mind nothing is stopping you from adding more to the project after submission, unless GAI has some weird "your assets are our assets while you're here" stipulation.

Regarding "missing information," do you not feel comfortable conceptually drawing out props and assets at this time?

JordanN

mikewitk said:

1- Some concepts have too much information. Some concepts are huuuuge, have tons and tons of assets. And unfortunately I don't have the time to do them

Can you explain what you mean by this? 

If you can get something in your portfolio that is impressive, the amount of time you had/didn't have becomes a non-issue.
Don't think of school as being the end of your work either. Take as much time as you need to after a course to get a concept done. You can work on it at home, the holidays or during the winter and march breaks.

It sounds hard but imagine if you are selected for a job interview and they want you to model the same piece of concept art with lots of detail? What answer can you tell them so they know you are prepared?

mikewitk

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

What's preventing you from choosing an environment concept that has a lot of elements, but deciding to only do a select few for this assignment?

You could just do a smaller diorama of a section of the concept.

You won't find, in terms of volume, more diorama concepts than full on environment ones.

Also, keep in mind nothing is stopping you from adding more to the project after submission, unless GAI has some weird "your assets are our assets while you're here" stipulation.

Regarding "missing information," do you not feel comfortable conceptually drawing out props and assets at this time?

Well, tbh, nothing is stopping me to choose some elements from a full environment. I just wasn't sure if that would be "well seen" on my portfolio. You know, doing just a part of a full concept.

GAI doesn't have that stipulation hahaha my tutors just want to be sure that I go from start to finish of a project, and that I don't try to bite more than I can chew.

At this point, since the time is a huge factor, I don't feel comfortable adding information (conceptually drawing) the details of the props.

As I mentioned before, I think I was afraid of not looking "professional" to make part of a concept. Do you think that is something "bad"?

mikewitk

JordanN said:

mikewitk said:

1- Some concepts have too much information. Some concepts are huuuuge, have tons and tons of assets. And unfortunately I don't have the time to do them

Can you explain what you mean by this? 

If you can get something in your portfolio that is impressive, the amount of time you had/didn't have becomes a non-issue.
Don't think of school as being the end of your work either. Take as much time as you need to after a course to get a concept done. You can work on it at home, the holidays or during the winter and march breaks.

It sounds hard but imagine if you are selected for a job interview and they want you to model the same piece of concept art with lots of detail? What answer can you tell them so they know you are prepared?

What I meant is that some concept I've looking are of a full environment. For example, I was looking some work from Peter Lee (Lead Artist @ Blizzard). One of the concepts that caught my attention is a full map from Heroes of the Storm, with all the buildings, turrets, grass, forest, etc etc etc

That is simply too much for me to do now. I don't want to start a project and not finish it.
And as I told Brian "Panda" Choi, I didn't know if it would look professional to do a part of the concept. Maybe some buildings, maybe a specific part of the map.

What do you think? Is it better to do a complete work based on a concept or a complete work but just part of the concept?

Brian "Panda" Choi

It's not bad if you only do a part, just specify you only set out to do certain elements.

As long as what you made looks the best it possibly can, you're usually good.

But so much of this will be dependent on how you present the assets as well.

mikewitk

Brian "Panda" Choi said:

It's not bad if you only do a part, just specify you only set out to do certain elements.

As long as what you made looks the best it possibly can, you're usually good.

But so much of this will be dependent on how you present the assets as well.

I think I found other concept that I would like to work on now.
This is the concept
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/overwatch/images/8/82/Orisa_and_efi.png/revision/latest?cb=20170307232025

The issue now is: it's showing only one side of the "lab", so I will basically model only this side with all its props, but when I will present this on my portfolio, should I just add this view?
Maybe I can show the assets separate after?
(sorry about all these questions hehehe)

KerryAislinn

Think about something that is manageable as far as time constraints go but also gives you a challenge in an area you know you need to improve in. Think about what sort of objects/assets those might be and see if you can find some concepts from there. Having a better idea of what you are looking for may help you. Are there any concept artists you admire?  Maybe start there.  Keep in mind that the importance of concept art is to figure out if something works or does not work well before it ever gets turned into 3D. Make sure that whichever concept you choose will not cause you problems in that sense.  

Also, just because there is a concept doesn't mean you need to make the model match the concept 100%. You can still insert your own artistic direction. Good luck with your project. I'm sure you will figure it out. And like others are saying, you could turn it into a long term project, creating one or two assets at a time if the concept art is of an entire environment. 

sacboi

Chung Kan ArtStation - Blizzard Entertainment Lead Senior Artist

Michael Vicente ArtSation - Blizzard Senior 3D Environment Artist

There are no hard-'n-fast rules when leveraging concept artwork as inspiration, pretty much choose those aspects of a particular piece you've an interest re-creating via exploration, experimentation or even infuse an individual angle, anyway sky's the limit basically.