Assignment #2: 3-point lighting

 

 

 

IN this assignment, we used a fountain as the center piece. A three point lighting arrangement was the intended layout. I chose a target spot light for my  key light, an omni light for my fill, and free directional light for the rim. The beginning idea was intended for an army/war feel, so I went with a worn green for the color scheme, and added a plane underneath with a broken cement/cobblestone effect.

The omni light really helped do its purpose by filling in the darker shadows, while still applying an extra coat of green to the already established lighter areas. The biggest problem I ran into was with the rim light. I wanted the edge to have that slight bright light curvature to the edge, which seemed to become a bit nuance with this particular piece. Eventually I got my vision to come forth, and I feel accomplished with the final scene.

 

 

Case Study #2: If it’s good for Blizzard… It’s good for me!

IN this case study, we had to watch the “Making of The Black Soulstone Cinematic Panel” at Blizzcon 2011. I’ve seen the video before, yet still took some extra tidbits from the video.

 

Question#1:  What was the most impressive or surprising thing you saw in their design process and why?

 

The most impressive thing I saw in the video, was just the way they went about showing light in so many different situations. They used light in a ton of different ways, and even took real world objects and materials to see how light reacted to the material in real life lighting situations. The balls wrapped in different cloths was extremely clever, and really gave an idea how light bounced off and reflected off the surface of each material, be it wood, leather, or any another of the numerous materials used in the experiment.

 

Question#2:  As an artist, what would be something that you can take from this video and add it to your design process and why ?

 

The most essential thing I can, and must take from this video, is iteration. Just doing something once, and being done with it is not enough. No matter how good you may think the end result looks, without extra time put into it, it will never reach it’s full potential. The numerous times that Blizzard re-iterated ideas, even when in my opinion characters and environments looked really polished, they took it a step further. Whether it was the lighting, shader, or the camera angle. Things were changed, and adjusted to better suit the idea and mood that they were trying to accomplish.

 

Question#3:  What was something that you didn’t understand or don’t think would help you in your ways as an artist and why?  Make an example.

 

I don’t understand rigging at all, although I’ll admit I haven’t taken any time to learn about it on my own time, at least not yet. Also I wanted them to go a little more in depth about the particle effects, which really made the crumbling way scene come together. The indulged a bit into the larger chunks, but didn’t explain the process behind the smaller and thousands of small set pieces. Wish that was something they delved a little deeper into.

 

Overall the whole video is incredible interesting and inspiring.

 

Assingment #1: All Aboard!!!

Train Station, A/1:

This scene was pretty interesting once I got the shaders working the way I imagined them to. The whole idea started out with it being after dark, and the train station was closed down, for maintenance or some other reason. There were still some lights on, but only a couple of the main floor lights, enough for someone to see where they were walking, and not end up in between the tracks.

I used light as sparingly as possible, but still wanted what I had applied to the scene to be visible. The color I chose for the overall feel for the scene is a common yellow, yet have it fade to go for a dim light instead of anything to distractedly bright. I also had the lights fade from the train, with the dark slightly creeping in from the outer ridge, and had the front end of the train almost entirely shadowed from the overhead light sources.

The scene comprises of three lights, all omni. I wanted a bask of light over the entire scene, and no extremely harsh light standing out to much, except from the reflective surface that the train itself is giving off. Showing that the surface is slightly reflective, but nothing brand new, and could probably use a polish or two.

The reason I chose two scenes, instead of a single one, was both bring something different to the table. Even though the lighting hasn’t changed, the angle of the camera provides an starkly different take on the scene. Plus you get a better shot of the make up of the wall, with some parts being marble, and the rest being another type of material, also you actually get to see the where the light source is being emitted from.

Overall the scene has a “lights out” feel, with just the essential lights(enough for a late night security guard) on.

Case Study #1: The Return!!! (I get to do at least ONE Halo related post!)

Question#1:  What game, how does the developer balance the use of color in the game?

Game: Halo 3: ODST

The developer, Bungie, takes things really out of context for a Halo game, and focuses slightly more on portraying a mood. The mood they went for in ODST is a noir setting, which if you aren’t familiar with the genre is usually portrayed in detective and crime films with strong(often cynical) characters. Where ODST, and its developer, chooses to show this style off is distinctively in the atmosphere and most importantly the lighting.

Most of the game takes place in the streets of New Mombasa after the Covenant ship jumped into slip space, nearly destroying the city, and leaving it in tremendously bad shape. Streets are covered with rubble and damaged vehicles, with only back up power now running the city. The open world gameplay (Hub-World), is a night setting, and sets up the use of VISR, an gameplay effect that highlights enemies, friendlies, and nearly everything with a highlighted outline, depending on the relation to the player, as you can see in the screenshot below.

The use of stark/bright lighting effects, against the dark night of New Mombasa, really balances the way color is represented. Especially when VISR mode is turned off, the streets really are drastically dark, as you would expect in a powered down city.

 

Question#2:  How does the developer use color to evoke emotion, and what emotions and feeling are they trying to get from the user?  Think about the audience the game is intended for.

The developer uses color, and lighting for that matter, to show a whole bunch of different tones and emotions that the player is be able to pick up from. Such as highlighting enemies with a red outline in VISR mode, to friendlies in a green outline. The mostly night time setting creates a sense of unknown and loneliness, that you are not in control of this super human in a tank suit, but a more fragile, yet still bad-ass, but no where near what you’re capable of as a Spartan, as you play as in the other Halo games. The color palette is harshly different from other games in the Halo library, and it complies with the altered gameplay it brings to the table.