Vinsanity - Ghost Town

[VinsanityV20]

Just claiming my space. Usually I enter the Game Art threads for these comps, but I'm still learning Zbrush over there. In the meantime, I ALSO want to practice my digital paintings, AND environments (both 2D and 3D). This seems like a perfect thing for me to at least ATTEMPT:)

I'll start on the weekend. Good luck everybody! Hope the 2D artists are as helpful and talented as the 3D ones;P

[VinsanityV20]

Note to self: Here are some links...

http://3dtotal.com/tutorial/photoshop/3d_for_digital_painting/digitalpainting01.php

http://3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_hansel_and_gretel/hansel_and_gretel_01.php

http://3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_work_makes/work_makes01.php

http://3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_deathblow/deathblow_01.php

http://3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_renaissance/renaissance_01.php

http://3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_cold_sky/cold_sky_01.php

Man, I haven't even ATTEMPTED an environment since college 2 years ago. Hope I remember all that stuff about perspective and value and whatnot:D

[dark-blast]

Lets having fun and practice together :)

[raulfabi]

Welcome to the challenge friend.
See you this weekend.
Cheers! :)

[VinsanityV20]

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/ThumbsGroup1.jpg

Alright, started my thumbnails, trying to feel out a direction to go here. I've been inspired by a lot of Bob Rafei's stuff for the Jak & Daxter games (example (http://www.bobrafei.com/galleries/jak2/environs/source/city_streets.htm)), so I'm thinking at this point to try to head down a stylized steam/cyber punk road (like Jak 2). I also think it would be cool to have a lone "Hunter robot" in the scene, implying that there was a robot war and they killed all humans, hence causing the Ghost Town. That's about all I have figured out I want to do so far;

"run-down technological city streets and a robot patrolling them looking for life"

Not a lot to go on, but enough to keep me going. Working on more thumbnails; I want to get at least 4 more concepts done before I start working in ernest. Though I gotta admit, I'm spending a lot of time on these things. I think I'm doing 'em wrong. I gotta find some video tutorials or something...

Note to self: It's not a video tutorial, but:
http://www.eyesontutorials.com/articles/334/1/Environment-sketch/Page1.html

[miycko]

great idea and very nice work on those thumbs dude :D have you checked of terminator salvation? it's got a lot of inspirational (rundown cities) scenes in it that might work well for your image :)

[VinsanityV20]

Man, I HAVE NOT been able to get to this till now. But whatever, I got some concepts up done. Assembled all my thumbnails here, and conveniently in vertical orientation so you can just scroll down the page and see everything naturally.


http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/Allthumbscopy.jpg


I'll reflect on this tomorrow; see what elements are working, refine my concept, etc. All I know for now is that I'm definitely going to use the robot in the bottom right pic; the weird, hunchback bipedal thing. It was actually supposed to be a quadraped that was getting cut off by the building in the foreground, but it's more interesting as a sort of lumpy biped.

Naturally, comments and critiques from anyone and everyone is welcome:D

[VinsanityV20]

Miycko! What up, dear Dominance War buddy? Thanks for the Terminator Salvation nod; I remember seeing concept art for that back when they started preproduction, and I think you're right. I'm definitely going to hunt down some of that. Thanks!

[dark-blast]

I like the image of second one after laser beam image. the depth and perspective is looking good

[VinsanityV20]

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/FinalLayout.jpg

This is close-ish to the final layout I will shoot for. It's got a lot going on that I like from my thumbs. I liked the sort of crane arms that hung horizontally over the top of the frame in some thumbs, I liked the large abandoned stadium in the one thumb so that's in the background, and I liked the junky chicken-style robot.

I refined some things; I added in a second robot whose pose reinforces that they're looking for life. I made sure that they're occupying a good spot according to the rule of thirds. I added some foreground elements because, oddly enough, I didn't have any before. They also serve to frame the focus, which are the robots. I also played around with some building types; there's a wall and a distant ferris wheel. I'm inspired by Fragile for Wii, and it was either that or a large abandoned tower. But I saw an abandoned Ferris Wheel, and just thought it was more unique and sadder. Though I'm not happy with the current placement - that applies to everything I suppose. That is to say, I reserve the right to play with everything for the final:) But that Ferris wheel especially; I'd like to make it bigger and move it behind the wall on the right some more.

Speaking of Fragile, I also threw that screen in there because that's the kind of sky I want to add in there. Just didn't try for it myself 'cuz this layout is in Black & White.

Going to grab some stock photos for a background and rough out the scene in 3D in Max over the weekend, then start painting over it. I think that technique is the one for me, and lets me take advantage of my 3D "skillz". And I'm finding a lot of good stuff here: http://www.dreamstime.com/environment_cid99_pg11. I mean, I can't get any high res ones, but I'm going to paint over it anyway so that's not a problem:) Not to mention I'm just finding great ideas and references for buildings and components and stuff! It's great!

Comments are always welcome:) Thanks for the feedback btw, dark-blast!

>>>>>>10 days to go!

[dark-blast]

good keep going :)

[CHAO5]

hi VinsanityV20. the basic concept looks good. for ref.pic check it out http://www.cgtextures.com

[washka]

Wow some nice concept stuff here. Seem you've got some skills with environement works. I'll come again when you're painting under 3D, good idea btw, kiu!

[VinsanityV20]

First off, thanks for the encouragement guys:) I've been blowing this off a bit lately, so it's always nice to come back and hear some good stuff. Thanks, dark-blast, CHAOS and Washka. Special thanks to Chaos, since CGTextures is a site I think I'll find very useful in the future. You guys rock!

Secondly, I very quickly mocked up my scene in Max. Considering I only have 9-8 days left to paint things, I figured I shouldn't spend too much time here. I played around with the composition a bit - I like blocking things out in 3D because it's so easy to push things around -, so you'll notice that now, it's roughly flipped around horizontally. I think I cleared up space nicely for the focus (which may now be the ferris wheel in the distance), and I THINK it's balanced. Not sure though; I was thinking that since the focus i somewhere on the left (the robots, road or Wheel), I should fill up the right side with some denser imagery. I don't know though - I AM just an environment/digital painter noob after all:D

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/RenderPrintview.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/RenderRoughLights.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/RenderWires.jpg
(this tutorial (http://3dtotal.com/tutorial/photoshop/3d_for_digital_painting/digitalpainting01.php) said that turning your wireframes on creates good guidelines. Sounds about right to me; I'll overlay this image over the others before I start painting over it)

I suck at lighting, and rushing things doesn't help much, but I think this is more than good enough to start. I'll try and have some stuff roughed out by tommorow. Gotta get moving!

EDIT: Getting the background knocked out:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP1.jpg

I'm making a pretty sky:D

[VinsanityV20]

While looking up stuff on Fragile, I found out about this weird hobby. Apparently in Japan, there was a big tourism market bust, so a bunch of tourist traps ended up abandoned now, including amusement parks. Apparently also, there are people whose hobbies are to check out these modern day ruins and take pictures. My point is, I found this site:

http://home.f01.itscom.net/spiral/t_rando/t_rando1.html

The references are rad. Y'all should check it out real quick. Very atmospheric ("funiki").

>>>>>6 Days to go!

[washka]

Care with your lightning when you're rendering in 3D, some more lightning work could "help" your 3D image, maybe one more side spot. Your 3D background image is not working with it, maybe you should change it?
No offense man but, in my point of view, your starting concept/environement sketches are better than your 3D base.
This Japanese amusement park is awesomely working with the theme of this competition, the first photos are soo inspirating. I would have gone with those as strong start documentation if I had seen them before, now it's too late for me I'm already on my way, but those can help you a lot! (Especially the railroad ones=>robot)
How did you find this little treasure?

[VinsanityV20]

Washka: Thanks for the comments:) My lighting could use tons of work, and the background is off - I realize this. I wish I had more time, but I am not fast at painting so I gotta move on - plus, I think that it's kinda not important. I really just wanna make sure my perspective is fine, which is what the rough 3D is for. But next time, I swear I'll get to this phase sooner and do a better job with the lighting. As for the background, I couldn't find a good photo for the kind of background I wanted, but the one I ended up using had good perspective I wanted to use, so I went with it. Again, I'm gonna paint over it, so I think it's good enough. But I do wish I did a better job. I really had to rush it:)

Secondly, I remembered reading about that hobbyist culture in Japan somewhere. Not online, but in - gasp* - a print magazine! It took me awhile to remember where I saw it, but then I remembered I saw it in Nintendo Power. Here's the scans of the article they ran on Fragile a few months back, including the blurb on the real-life abandoned sites in Japan. The article said that a web search for "Haikyo" ('Ruins' in Japanese) will net you all sorts of blogs and stuff apparently. I skipped over to a google image search, and found one of the pics near the bottom of the first page of search results. That's how I found that site:)

Nintendo Power Scans:
Pages 1 and 2:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/NPFragileSpread1.jpg
Pages 3 and 4:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/NPFragileSpread2.jpg

Web searching the term however does net some great results, including this page by a Michael John Grist. Including a gallery on Ghost Towns! (http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/ruins-gallery/ghost-towns/). There's also a gallery on Amusement Parks, including an absolutely horrifying one based on Gulliver's Travels (http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/2009/04/gullivers-kingdom-haikyo-rip/). I suggest googling Haikyo sometime and just checking out what you find; there's tons of stuff out there. I'm just glad I remembered the article in the first place, and went looking for this stuff!

[washka]

Seem you're smart when you need to find something.
Those links are really interesting, photos from there are really good, especially for environement concept documentation or ghost/horror theme.
I'll remember that Haikyo keyword for next time, thanks!
Last time I found interesting doc, it was on threedy home, and it was about medieval armor stuff and castle, think it's still there on the banner but It won't help you a lot for robots.
I'll come again to see your work.

[VinsanityV20]

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP2.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP3.jpg

I've still gotta play around with the ground a bit. I think the road could use some cracks, and maybe some pebbles or moss creeping onto the road. Also the hills in the very back aren't dark enough I think, considering their proximity to the light source (the sunset). But I'm pretty much ready to start work on the middle ground. Which, conveniently, seems to be hiding my color palettes:)

[VinsanityV20]

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP4.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP4flipped.jpg
(just flipping it around to make sure the perspective is still good)

Now, onto the middle ground!

[VinsanityV20]

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP5.jpg

Everything in the middle ground is blocked out. Now to actually paint it all in. *sigh* One object at a time. So much for all this steady progress...

Oh, and remember: RESOURCES (http://mayang.com/textures/)!

[VinsanityV20]

Did the closest buildings and started the robot:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP6.jpg

I figure I'll add color at the last minute, along with final lighting and foliage creeping over everything. I don't wanna get too hung up on color right now. Gotta make sure the values look right; I desaturated my Max render and put it as the top layer on my stack. Clicking it on and off lets me quickly check to see if the buildings' values are looking right. And they're matching up pretty nicely. I still want more contrast though, and "bloom lighting" effects, but I'll do that once I'm done getting all the buildings detailed.

I'm thinking I can finish off the front buildings and maybe the robot by tommorow. Then detail the back buildings (less so, since they're farther away) on Thurs-Friday. THEN take the last two days before the due date for finishing touches. That's when I'll add color and fake lighting and foliage and stuff.

Back to work!

Note to self: do something about the rust on that girder. It stands out too much, and you can notice the color a lot.Oh, and, I forgot to add cracks into the window. Finally, nix the crane. And the silos behind the stadium - they look like they're IN the stadium. There's too much random sh*t here anyway:) Also, I don't wanna block that sky entirely...

[WhiteGuardian]

Haven't seen someone start by using 3d program to do 2d art. Great!!!
Seem like you wanna block 1 part by part before you blending it. Keep it up man. and hurry up, the deadline is almost come :)

[BiG ToE-3DT]

days left and because you didn't do the game art comp, you have to finish this one. It's in the rules.

[VinsanityV20]

White Guardian: Thanks man! Glad you find my "technique" interesting:) I kinda hate it, because it TAKES FOREVER. I suppose that's what I get for being a 3D artist; I "paint" in much the same way I texture a model (I'm ABUSING Photoshop's Edit>Transform>Distort function). But no worries, I will finish!

Big Toe: :DConsider it done. I WILL be there, handing this puppy in, on Jan 31. I think - I'll hand it in on the 30th then to make sure;)

Anyway, more WIP:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP7.jpg

Just gotta detail up the stadium in the background and add another level of detail for the robot. Then everything should be done with that. A quick foreground job, then color and final details (lighting mostly, and more foliage), and voila! I SHOULD be done. I'm close - I can feel it. I WILL FINISH THIS!!!!

And flipped:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP8.jpg
The robot seems falling over a bit too much, but he IS supposed to be leaning, so I won't mess with it. Perspective, Balance seems good.

>>>>>Work on it tonight, Finish it tommorow! 2 Days left! (Note: GMT - Greenwich Time - is roughly 5 hours ahead of where I am. So, if it's due Sunday @ 11:59 over there, I should get it done sometime before Sunday 6:59 HERE - but don't push it that close)

[washka]

I hate deadlines!
Last big work man, then it's over! Good luck!

[VinsanityV20]

Thx, Washka!

Here's my last Work-in-progress shot:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/vinsanityv20/3DTotal%20-%20Ghost%20Town/PaintingWIP9.jpg

I'm definitely gonna finish, but I don't think I'll be able to add as much details as I wanted to:( Still, I'm gonna keep pushing till the very last - well, I don't really wanna push it too close to the deadline, so I'm just gonna work on it Saturday. Maybe a little Sunday.

At this point I just gotta add color for the medium and foreground objects and I'd feel fine with handing it in. But like I said I have other details in mind, so we'll see if I get around to addin' them in:)

See you all at the finish line!