Game art design

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This article is about video game art design, and does not deal with the development of other forms of game, such as board games and card games.
For other uses, see Art game (disambiguation).
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Game art design is a subset of game development. It is the process of creating the artistic aspects for video games. Video game art design begins in the pre-production phase of creating a video game. The video game artists are visual artists involved from the conception of the game and they make rough sketches of the characters, setting, objects, etc.[1][2][3][4] These starting concept designs can also be created by the game designers before the game is moved into actualization. Sometimes these are concept designs are called “programmer art”.[5] After the rough sketches are completed and the game is ready to be moved forward those artists or more artists are brought in to bring these sketches to life through graphic design.

The art design of a game can involve anywhere from two people and up. The larger the gaming company is the more people there are likely designing a game. Small gaming companies tend not to have as many artists meaning that their artist must be skilled in several types of art development, whereas the larger the company, although an artist can be skilled in several types of development, the roles each artist plays becomes more specialized.[6]

Overview[edit]

A game's artwork included in media, such as demos and screenshots, has a significant impact on customers, because artwork can be judged from previews, while gameplay cannot.[1]

Artists work closely with designers on what is needed for the game.[7]

Tools used for art design and production are art tools. These can range from pen and paper to full software packages for both 2D and 3D art.[8] A developer may employ a tools team responsible for art production applications. This includes using existing software packages and creating custom exporters and plug-ins for them.[9]

History[edit]

Video game art development began when video games started to be created. When game development started the game artists were also the programmers, which is often why very old games like Pong lack any sort of creativity and were very minimalistic. It was not until the early 1980s that art began to become more developmentally intricate.[10] One of the first video game artists who contributed more shape and two dimensional characters was Shigeru Miyamoto, who created Mario and Donkey Kong.[11]

Starting in the early 1990s art requirements in video games were allowed to increase greatly because there was more room in the budget for art. Video game art began to be in 3D around 1994, before which it had mainly been 2D art design. This required the artist and programmer to work in congruence very carefully, in the beginning, due to the foreign nature of 3D in video games.[3]

As the hardware of video games and technology on a whole advances the ability to develop art for video games increases exponentially.[5][12] In more recent years many games have developed a much more realistic art design where some artists choose to have a more stylistic approach to the game. There are some games that aim for realism, modelling characters after real actors and using real film to create the back up the artistry to make it as real as possible like in Until Dawn.[13]

Roles[edit]

There are several roles under the art development umbrella. Each role plays an important part in creating the art for the video game. Depending on the size of the game production company there may be anywhere from two people and up working on the game. The fewer the people working on the art design the more jobs the people will have to create the different facets of the game. The number of artists working on a game can also be dependent on the type of game being created. For most games there are many roles that must be filled to create characters, objects, setting, animation, and texturizing the game.[11]

The video game artists must use the same design principles that any other kind of artists use. This adds to the aesthetic value of the art created for video games. The greater understanding of these techniques adds to games to make them have a unique experience.[14]

  • Lead Artist/Art Director

The art director/lead artist are people who monitor the progression of the other artists to make sure that the art for the game is staying on track. The art director is there to ensure that all the art created works cohesively. They manage their team of artists and distribute projects. The art director often works with other departments in the game and are involved from the conception of the game until the game is finished.[5][15][16]

2D artists[edit]

  • Concept artist

A concept artist works with the game designers, producing character and environment sketches and story-board and influencing the "look of the game".[15][17][18][19] A concept artist's job is to follow the art director's vision.[20] The produced art may be in traditional media, such as drawings or clay molds, or 2D software, such as Adobe Photoshop. Concept art produced in the beginning of the production serves as a guide for the rest of development. Concept art is used for demonstration to the art director, producers and stakeholders.[15] A storyboarder is a concept artist who designs and articulates scene sequences for review before main art production.[21]

  • Storyboard Artists

Storyboard Artists often work with the concept artists and designers of the game from conception. They develop the cinematics of the game. The storyboard artist creates an outline for the rest of the artists to follow. Sometimes this is passed on to other departments, like game writers and programmers, for a base of their work. The storyboards that are created breakdown scenes and how the camera will move.[11][16][21]

  • Texture/2D artist

A texture/2D artist adds texture to the work that has been created by the 3D modellers. Often the 2D/texture artists are the same people as the 3D modellers. The texture artist gives depth to the art in a video game. The artists apply shading, gradients, and other classic art techniques through art development software.[11][16][22]

    • A sprite artist creates non-static characters and objects or sprites for 2D games.[22][23] Each sprite may consist of several frames used for animation.[23]
    • A texture artist creates textures or skins and applies them to 3D model meshes.[24][25][26][27][28]
    • A map artist or background modeller creates static art assets for game levels and maps, such as environmental backdrops or terrain images for 2D games.[17][25]
    • An interface artist works with the interface programmer and designer to produce game interface, such as game menus, HUDs, etc.[22][23]

3D artists[edit]

  • 3D modeller

The 3D modellers use digital software (Maya, Max, Blender)[26] to create characters and environments. They create objects such as buildings, weapons, vehicles and characters. Any 3D component of a game is done by a 3D modeller.[11][16][22]

  • Environmental Artists

Environmental artists are 3D modellers who work specifically with the environment of a game. They also work with texturing and colours. They create the land that is featured in a video game. Environmental artists build the world, the layout, and the landscapes of the video game.[11][16][29]

  • Lighting artist

A lighting artist work on the light dynamics of a video game. Lighting artists adjust colours and brightness to add mood to the game. The lighting changes made in a video game depends on the type of game being created. The goal of the lighting artist is to create a mood that suits the scene and the game.[16][30]

  • The animator

The animator is responsible for bringing life to the characters, the environment, and anything that moves in a game. They use 3D programs to animate these components to make the game as real as possible. The animators often work with technical artists who aid in making the characters able to move in a realistic way.[11][16][26][27]

Compensation[edit]

In 2010 an artist or animator with less than three years of experience on average earned US$45k a year. Artists with three to six years of experience earned US$61k. An artist with more than six years of experience earned $90k.[31]

A lead artist or technical artist earned $66k with three to six years of experience; and $97k with more than six years of experience[31] and an art director with six and more years of experience earned on average, $105k a year.[31]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Bates 2004, p. 171
  2. ^ Moore, Novak 2010, p. 85
  3. ^ a b Bethke 2003, p. 45-49
  4. ^ Chandler 2009, pp. 23-26
  5. ^ a b c Rogers, Scott (2010). Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-0-470-68867-0.
  6. ^ "Getting a Job as a Games Artist". www.cybergooch.com. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  7. ^ Chandler 2009, p. 23
  8. ^ McGuire, Jenkins 2009, pp. 116-118
  9. ^ McGuire, Jenkins 2009, p. 281
  10. ^ Bethke 2003, p. 45
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Rogers, Scott (2010). Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-470-68867-0.
  12. ^ "The Art of Video Games". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  13. ^ "Creating the atmosphere of Until Dawn". www.develop-online.net. Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  14. ^ "Gamasutra - The Aesthetics of Game Art and Game Design". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  15. ^ a b c Bethke 2003, p. 46
  16. ^ a b c d e f g "Getting a Job as a Games Artist". www.cybergooch.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
  17. ^ a b Moore, Novak 2010, p. 86
  18. ^ Bates 2004, p. 173
  19. ^ McGuire, Jenkins 2009, p. 280
  20. ^ Chandler 2009, p. 24
  21. ^ a b Bethke 2003, p. 49
  22. ^ a b c d Bethke 2003, p. 47
  23. ^ a b c Moore, Novak 2010, p. 87
  24. ^ Moore, Novak 2010, p. 88
  25. ^ a b Bates 2004, p. 176
  26. ^ a b c Bates 2004, p. 175
  27. ^ a b Bethke 2003, p. 48
  28. ^ McGuire, Jenkins 2009, p. 283
  29. ^ Moore, Novak 2010, p. 90
  30. ^ McGuire, Jenkins 2009, p. 286
  31. ^ a b c Fleming, Jeffrey (April 2010). "9th Annual Salary Survey". Game Developer. United Business Media. 17 (4): 8.

References[edit]

  • Bates, Bob (2004). Game Design (2nd ed.). Thomson Course Technology. ISBN 1-59200-493-8.
  • Bethke, Erik (2003). Game development and production. Texas: Wordware Publishing, Inc. ISBN 1-55622-951-8.
  • Chandler, Heather Maxwell (2009). The Game Production Handbook (2nd ed.). Hingham, Massachusetts: Infinity Science Press. ISBN 978-1-934015-40-7.
  • McGuire, Morgan; Jenkins, Odest Chadwicke (2009). Creating Games: Mechanics, Content, and Technology. Wellesley, Massachusetts: A K Peters. ISBN 978-1-56881-305-9.
  • Moore, Michael E.; Novak, Jeannie (2010). Game Industry Career Guide. Delmar: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-4283-7647-2.
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