Hello all. This is Wren, the background(BG) artist for Missing Stars. I am here to show you the process taken to make the backgrounds for the project.
I do things differently than what a normal artist will do in this project. Also I have an array of programs to use to generate what you will see here.
First of all the list of applications I use.
AutoCAD 2012
AutoCAD Architecture 2012
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012
Global Mapping 13.0 (for terrain creation)
3D Studio MAX 2012
Google Sketchup 8 Pro w/ Twilight Render 1.45
Adobe Photoshop CS5 (soon to be CS6)
I am sure you are asking what the heck are so many programs needed. First off I am not as talented like my artist counterparts with freehand. And secondly, I am good at designing things with my engineering background. So long story short, I designed the whole campus with these programs and generate the shots needed for the project.
First step: AutoCAD.
Lines, lines, everywhere! I need a foundation and AutoCAD is perfect to setup layouts needed.
I do things differently than what a normal artist will do in this project. Also I have an array of programs to use to generate what you will see here.
First of all the list of applications I use.
AutoCAD 2012
AutoCAD Architecture 2012
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012
Global Mapping 13.0 (for terrain creation)
3D Studio MAX 2012
Google Sketchup 8 Pro w/ Twilight Render 1.45
Adobe Photoshop CS5 (soon to be CS6)
I am sure you are asking what the heck are so many programs needed. First off I am not as talented like my artist counterparts with freehand. And secondly, I am good at designing things with my engineering background. So long story short, I designed the whole campus with these programs and generate the shots needed for the project.
First step: AutoCAD.
Lines, lines, everywhere! I need a foundation and AutoCAD is perfect to setup layouts needed.
Second Step: Revit.
Revit is a very powerful architecture program. It can design everything needed in a 3D view. The bulk of my designing will be done in Revit.
Also as a bonus with Revit. I can walk in 3D mode to find out any issues such as lighting and structure.
And if I really want to show a good shot, I can generate a full 3D rendering. But that can take sometime to do in Revit so I normally will import that into 3D Studio MAX to get it done.
Depending on what is needed. I would export the Revit drawing to Google Sketchup 8 texture-less.
Third Step: Google Sketchup 8 Pro
Here I place color, textures, lighting, and anything else needed to make it go “anime” mode.
Once I get the shots needed, I bring it all together into Photoshop CS5.
Fourth Step: Photoshop
After some cleanup and last minute touches, we have our end result.
This looks like a long process, but I can generate several scenes in a few hours, give or take any change requests by the other members of the project.
Hope this post has given you an insight of what is going on the BG part of the project. There is still much left to do. The quality of these shots are for testing purposes. The final product will be MUCH better. So keep an eye out for further posts about the background art.
Wren