Assignment #2

For this assignment I set up my three point lighting with directional spotlight, two omnis, and one last spotlight. I started with the directional spotlight to the right, of where the camera was set up, to get the shadow on the other side and the contours of the base. Second, I used an omni in the top of the bowl, and followed it by setting another one in the inside of the base if the fountain. And lastly, I put the last spotlight to the the left of where the camera was set up.

I used low intensity for most of lights, I was going for those fountains that have the lights in the bottom to help it look like the water is cleaner than what it really is. With the exception of mine having water of course. I also used two different colors a light blueish grey, and a light blue.

Kody Sokalski

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

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

Answer #1 I’ll admit to seeing this video more than once, in fact this makes viewing number four. However, the single still most impressive part of their design process is how much time they dedicate to not only using references but collecting them as well. The fact that they spent an entire day at a zoo, taking pictures and recording different types of animals to see how they moved and interacted within the world was and still is fascinating. But not only did they focus on getting texture and animation references, but also lighting. They set up light “labs” and went to town.

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

Answer #2: I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, something that I would definitely like to take away from this video and add it into my design process would be the fact of emphasizing references much more. They used reference for everything and you can really tell that it paid off, it makes sense to me that it would. I personally feel that references for all aspects of the game making process, and not just for textures, makes a HUGE difference, and I would love to personally add that to my process as well, in hopes of achieving a sliver of improvment in my work.

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

Answer #3: I’ve seen this video multiple times, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are portions within it that I don’t understand 110%, however there was nothing that I saw that would not make me a better artist in some way or another if I were to implement it into my process. These guys are professionals for a reason, why not learn what I can from them. Even if that does mean watching a video and having to look up things as they come up. But that’s what I did and gave me some better ideas of some of the more advanced things that they were talking about it, but I still got an understanding of it, even if it were the most basic understanding. I feel that’s better than blankly staring at the screen not having a clue of what is going on.

 

Kody Sokalski

Assignment 1: All Aboard!!

I had somehow imagined working within the actually train station to initial be a nightmare, and I was right. The was my first thought going into this, but after hiding parts of it, the hassle of it quickly went away. I had my idea set from the start I wanted to do a shot of the lead engine with a clean polished look, and of the floor as an impossibly shiny tile, almost a chrome so to speak.

As far as shaders went I made a steel one, and a mocked up “chrome”. For the steel shader, I will admit that I used a tutorial, so to save a bit of a headache of me explaining what I did, and for those who might be interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqY9viwoy8s&feature=related. I made a few changes to the material once I had the basic idea of it down, so that it  was a darker looking steel. I figured it would go better with the lighting that I had in mind. And for the floor, I simply changed the diffuse and ambient of a standard material to a gray that was just a little darker than a normal gray, pumped up the specular level and glossiness to 40, the put a raytrace shader on the reflection map and turned it to 45. Any higher on the reflection and I felt as if it was just overly reflective for what I was going for. I did a wood shader for the benches just in case one was going to find it’s way into the shot, but I worked around it. Quick rundown on it though, had the default wood and diffuse, had the same bump map for it just changed the lighter color to black, and the darker color to white, and turned the bump down to 20. That was all.

The light I wanted to go with something that looked eerie and mesmerizing to a point. With the shaders in place on the train and on the floor, I was going to to need the lighting to show it off. I started with a skylight that is on the placed behind and to the left of where this shot was taken. I had a VERY low multiplier setting on it, 0.02 I think it was. And a very dark blood red. I did this just so that the subtle hint of the color was in the air. With the cast shadows option at 20 rays per. I also placed an omni light under the train itself with a little brighter of a red and more powerful, to help give the feeling of animosity that the train gives off. I was really happy with the side effect that the omni light provided. The half red ring with the gaps in it on the far wall is the light pushing out through one of the wheels and casting the shadow. Lastly I had omni lights set in the actual light fixtures within the scene and had turned them down drastically and refrained from adding a decay mode to them,  it made the scene to dark. I had set them to the same dark red shade that I had used with my skylight, but then slid it down so it had more white, with only a hint of the red.

All in all, I was happy with the way the scene had come out. And aside from the fanagling my way around the scene without anything hidden, there was no real issues that presented themselves. But on a side note, using the skylight with shadows per ray and then the materials that used ray tracers within their maps, really extended to the render time, it was long enough for me to shower, eat dinner, and come back with it just about to finish.

Kody Sokalski

Case Study#1: The beginning!!

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

Answer #1:  Dark Souls, the developer balanced the color of the game with dark colors that are both warm and cool. The environment in my opinion mostly consisted of grays, browns, greens, and sometimes blue, as to where the characters would be warmer colors, red being more prominent. The real balance came not only from the colors of the environment and characters but from the lighting as well. With the additional support from lighting the balance of color really becomes noticeable and appreciable.

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.

Answer #2: Dark Souls does a great job of evoking the right emotion at the right time through both the colors within the game and the lighting as well. The emotions that it pushes right into the face of the player is easily identifiable. It sets the tone that you are wandering through this grim world full of death and evil. One thing that I picked up is that most of the larger scale fights that take place had an element that connected them. Between the colors, but more importantly the lighting set up for those fights set the stage for an epic, impending doom feeling.

This dark world that is full of magnificently filled color from the entire spectrum in addition to the spectacular lighting goes over the top in evoking the emotions of fear, death, suspense, and glory.

Kody Sokalski