How do you guys approach concept art?
I have a question and it would be great if some senior artists in the industry could show me how they work and their opinion on this subject.
For example, if you get a concept art of a control room from the 80s with many props like radio, computer, control panel, etc.
Are you gonna do research and reference exactly the name of that props in real life or come up with something similar from other sources of references?
Example:
A control room with a radio from the 80s but it is hard to find refs for that specific radio so I google "retro radio" and create another radio that has "the 80s" look but shares the same feeling and major shape, forms of the one in the concept art.
I wonder how you guys approach this and do they allow this professional work?
Replies
this will depend entirely on those involved and may vary from one asset to the next.
the general approach is to try and follow concepts closely, given leeway.
reference is always helpful with better understanding forms you're unfamiliar with.
ultimately, feedback would then steer the course. you may be asked to veer away from aspects or better adapt something lost from the concept.
at times the concept artist may be asked to expand on the concept.
the approach becomes to rely upon the concept to mitigate rework.
Use what ever you find and do a rough blockout of the room. Thats the base for further discussions with the Lead or the Artdir. Show them waht ever you found as reference.
not to detract from kongbui's question, but i've had some playful thoughts on this standardized dynamic i'd just like to wax on.
i've been wondering what might happen if we closed the air gap between these two roles, minimize overlap, by putting them back to back, concept art facing the ether and the modeler toward the project. in essence it's generally this way with a difference, the concept artist is made responsible for solving and establishing a final look, or target. this absolutely makes sense from a production point of view by setting up a modeler to execute on the task of focusing primarily on transitioning the idea from 2d to 3d and better controlling an end result. but, i think as an artistic process, it's potentially detrimental.
maybe miring the concept artist with the brass tacks squanders their potential yield as a resource, one that's specialized in ideation.
maybe overtly controlling the 3d construction process squanders yet another potential resource, one that's specialized in game asset creation.
so what if, both are still directed to produce work with the project in mind, but unleash the concept artist by pointing them towards pure idea generation and stylistic exploration, grow them towards a director role. ask them to put themselves in sketchbook mode, draw only what an idea needs in order to be conveyed. do not concern them with preempted solutions for game assets, how it may complicate modeling, animation, so on, relieve them of those concerns so anything goes. even stylistically, encourage variety, to explore styles beyond the project, or to use their own personal style to remove additional friction in idea exploration. all that matters is looking outward for creative new ideas for the modeler to plagiarize, but collaboratively and with attribution.
we then unshackle the modeler from the concept artists, the interpretation of the concept is made flexible for the modeler to curate and solve on their own, based on the guidance of the art director, to match and define the current art style for the project. they are given the power to grow artistically in a more principal and natural way, rather than solely craftsmanship via technical reproductions. ideally the concept provided is sufficiently juicy enough that we do not need to interrupt the concept artist with additional orthographies, breakouts, what the pockets look like on the other side of the pants.
these thoughts are not meant to be manifest-esque, but flirtatious. thinking back the process has actually been much more fluid than what these points imply. a majority of those i've had the pleasure of working with, would absolutely have been open to leaning one way or the other, were it even conceived of or expressed at the time.
That's too many words for the internet ...
Anyway.
Are you suggesting that concepts are more loose and less directed and the modellers can be more free to interpret?
Great idea and perfectly normal during pre-production when you need to generate ideas.
Terrible idea during production when you need to actually make something. A functional creative process is based around answering questions for the next person in the line - not asking them.
yeah, the idea of doing what's normally used for pre-production during the entire process sounds cool and exciting to me.
tbh thats how many of our productions work, in many cases the concepts we work do not represent the final look of the game and even after established do not. its part of the job of a 3d artist to make sure a concept fits into the stylistic parameters of a game, the concept artist mostly creates the ideas, but doesnt have to bother with all the nitty gritty details of the execution.
i love that.
From my experience, it's normal for a 3d artist to fill out gaps in concepts. I don't think most concept art have to look good (it's not an illustration), but primarily communicate an idea. It can focus on very specific aspects (layout, prop placement, purpose/story, colors, lighting) and is often just one part of the whole picture, next to more concepts, written descriptions (gameplay, narrative), style guide and tech specifications in the background. Part of the process is frequent feedback and iteration.
For a personal project simulating this, you could setup some "rules" (or extract from existing game).
Its weird though I have had pretty poor concepts to work from in the past and decided to impove on them, only to be told that i literally have to trace over the concept in 3d ie exactly the 2d concept but in 3d . suffice to say those did not go in to my folio:)
other times they have given me more artistic license. to inerpret the concept in 3d, which is always better
personally my concept skills are neglible, whicn kind of hold me back a bit