Looking at Concept Books!

Before i start producing my concepts for the environments, i wanted to have a look at examples of concept art from the professional industry and the artist themselves.

I looked at 2 books specifically as it had plenty of examples of how a concept should be drawn for an environment and the methods of exploring and experimenting before commiting to the final design.

The first book i looked at was X-men 2 The Movie Artbook which i actually bought from the shops. Its a really good book and what i found so compelling was the amount of detail and work that goes into creating a world, even if its a small set for a film, the dedication and commitment is amazing!

Here are some of the images that i was looking at.

These 2 image were the design and blueprint for the creation of the white house oval of the US President. What's interesting is that it took 2 months for the production team of X-men 2 to fully replicate the exact copy of White House Oval. That shows stamina and dedication.

The 2nd book that i looked at was The Skillful Huntsman. This book was excellant and very helpful as it displayed the amount of detail and experimentation that goes into concepts before finalising the design. It gave me inspiration to produce a quality work of concepts and how to construct and illustrate a concept while experimenting at the same time.

This image above was really good and was a good refrence for our Sci fi Environments.

This image above was excellant and displays in detail the the design process and what influenced it. It ultimately led to final concept that you see above this image.

There were also design concepts for the interior and how we can use this as refrence mainly because we are also going to do an interior as well as an exterior. This specific image is the interior for a castle

Before they finalised their concept for any design they would explore and experiment and in this image below is one of their examples.

Wellcome Collection Trip with camera pics

Jared, Mike Smith and another teacher organised a trip to the Wellcome Collection Museam in London. The trip was to broaden our horizons a little and to have a look at some of the historical and modern sculptures, paintings, antiques and furnitures that were on display.

While we were looking around, we did find some interesting stuff that could be used as potential refrence and research. Here are some camera pics that i took from the trip!

These glass objects above were interesting because of their dynamic shape and i thought they might be useful for the construction of our cityscape and buildings.

The Barber DNA sign, which is the pic with the twirly light, was an interesting object. The 2nd pic below is the description of the piece and what inspired it. Reading it made the object even more compelling. It was inspired by surgeons in the middle ages where they would use towels that were soaked in blood from an operation and later wrap it round a pole outside to advertise their practice. Now in modern times that object or symbol would be associated with a DNA symbol or a barber shop sign. Its funny how things get inspired and influenced from the most bizarre of situations and eras. It was inspiring nevertheless, as it goes to show that you shouldn't limit yourself to what you should be influenced by, and that is something i want to use when i approach my researching for refrence.

The other 2 images are from a tech based piece called Mass Spectrometer. I liked the retro look of it and how it was technology based. Plus all the wires and nuts and screws were detail that made me think about our Sci Fi environments and whether we should make it more simple or detailed texture and modelling wise when it comes to Maya.

When i was there i also recorded some video footage showing other interesting pieces of sculptures and antiques.

My camera pic refrences

I decided to go out in my local area to take some camera pictures of modern day architecture. In my local area, most architecture are old and urban and were not much of a cityscape. But it did help me realise that the texture and shape of some architecture were useful refrences. If i wanted to experiment or combine some ideas, then its there for visual interpretation.

Here are some pics that i took for the environments project!

The images below that you are going to see are the ones with interesting shapes and texture that i found which could come in handy. The particular arch in one of the pics was an interesting shape possible for a bridge or something that i can use and the rough texture gave it an earthy look. I can use that too.

Refrences of City skyscrapers!

I wanted to gather up some refrences of city sky scrapers, so i browsed through google image and found some pics of of big city sky scrapers in certain countries that are known for their vast cityscape look. This is all refrence for the buildings that we intend to create but not specifically pure skyscrapers, just a blend and a little influence of a cityscape that we are going to model in maya.

I looked at Honk Kong skyscrapers as they are known for their vast and huge blocks of buildings.

The next batch of images are city skyscrapers of sydney in Australia. Similar as typical cityscape look but just a little different in terms of its design of buildings.

The last images are city skyscrapers of New York, the big apple! classic destination for a cityscape business look.

More research!

Just recently we spoke to Jared about our theme and look we were going to create for the environments project. And the feedback we got for choosing the sci fi theme was that we shouldn't try and imitate our refrences of sci fi movies or concepts. We should instead focus on how they got to the point of the final design by looking at what they researched and looked at for ideas and influences. Jared showed us some images of sculptures, objects and how that sparked an idea off just by looking at its shape or colour.

So i thought for a futuristic cityscape, i wanted to have a unique and odd look to it in terms of its shape. So i started digging up some books from the library on sculptures and hi tech architecture. Here are some interesting and odd pics i found in some books.

I like these 2 images above where you can see one of the sculptures looks kinda like a building and the shape is very interesting. I can use this to sketch out potential buildings of the cityscape.

Here are some more which i have looked at and sketched out some ideas for the sci fi landscape.

All the images above were scanned from a book called Outdoor Sculpture and Authored by Margaret A Robinette.

The next book i looked at was high architecture. This book had a lot of industrial environment images as well as mechanical objects. I thought it was interesting refrence since we want our future to be a little tech based.

These images of pipes was useful since our cityscape could potentially have pipes to represent its industrial scope as well technology based future. The refrence images were scanned from a book called High Tech Architecture and is authored by Colin Davies.

Another book i looked at was authored and named Dennis Oppenheim. I found some of his art objects or sculptures interesting for its shape and colour. I found this particular image below in the book and it reminded of a greenhouse dome.

I thought shape wise our future could have some eco friendly architecture as well as the environment itself.

Looking at these books from the library has just sparked some ideas off for me visually, so i intend to sketch out these visions and hopefully post it on here soon.

Research & Refrences

The theme and look of the environment design that we are essentially going to go for is a Sci fi futuristic city added with certain contemporary elements of modern day architecture. The reason for choosing the theme of Sci fi was because it gives you more freedom to be creative and experimental, where as if it was more modern based and real, we would have to consider the logistics of how its going to work. This rule still applies to the Sci fi theme but we can push the limit a bit further.

I've been surfing the net and have found some images of Sci fi concepts just to get an idea of the look, feel and texture we are considering at the moment.

The image below is a concept art created by Dawid Michalczyk.

This first 2 images above is interesting as its more industrial based and looks pretty dirty and rusty. The mood feels like this city is rusting away and ageing. A more urban feel to it. Looks interesting and i think its a possibility we could consider the rusty look to it that it has in this image.

The concept art above was created by an artist named Robert Brown.

I like these 2 images very much. While it looks futuristic, there are elements of it that look contemporary based. Like the buildings for instance, they are not too over the top and the mood and colour of this concept makes it feel sci fi but a little grounded to reality. This is close to what we wanna achieve but honestly we also want to be a bit open and creative and make it more different, unique and creative.

This image below is created by a Deviant Artist named Teemu.

These 2 images are primarily to consider the mood, colour and whether its going to be set during day time or night time. The look of the sunset has a beautiful colour tone and texture to it. But the whole group are thinking of setting the day at night. This will be kept open and won't be decided till the whole group agrees.

Ok i'm going to look at some books and movies for refrences and build on what i have now as research, hopefully from there i can start sketching some designs and colour images taking into consideration the mood, texture and lighting.

Brief & Intro

Digital Environments/Visual Studies Unit Code - ANI09206

Date of Issue Jan 04 2010

This unit focuses on the development of students’ skills in environmental computer visualisation. Students begin to exploit the possibilities of animation within an environment to create a virtual setting to support dynamic character interaction.

Working in teams to simulate conventional animation industry workflow, students are introduced to the visualisation and creation of an environment in 3D using modelling, texturing and lighting techniques. They learn how to create and populate this environment with contextually appropriate assets, in a consistently defined and implemented visual aesthetic that is derived from their drawing and research into environments both actual and virtual.

The Unit aims:

• To introduce industrial, team based, animation workflows;
• To develop personal reflection upon individual contribution to group endeavour;
• To develop UV mapping and texturing skills;
• To develop the ability to generate considered and analytical visual responses to research.


Project Brief For this project you will be working in teams of four or five students. You will all be working towards a final collaborative short film but will have the opportunity to fulfil clear and separate roles within the team.

• You will be working to create an animated environment.
• You will be collaborating not only with the other animators in your team, but also with designers from the environment design course.
• Their designs will form the starting point for your work.

This environment will be modelled in 3D, UV mapped, textured and lit based upon the research of materials and environments as initially designed or propsed by IDEAS students. This research will consist of practical site visits (such as the trip to Barcelona and alternative London based venues) and associated drawing and photography, as well as academic research via the web and the LRC.

This environment must demonstrate integral animation, it could be mechanical such as machinery, doors, windows, windmills etc, or it could be more organic, and atmospheric, such as the effects of wind on plants, weather conditions etc. It could be a much more long term animation to show the effect of years passing, rather than minutes. For those of you who feel that you are more character animators than computer visualisers you can focus upon contextualising the designed environment by populating it with characters using that environment, it may be that the environment is being used in an unintended or unexpected way that has evolved through public interaction with the space. (Was the South Bank designed for skateboarding or parkour?).

It may be easier for you to think about defining the way in which you will approach this project by choosing one of the themes listed below.

a) Changes over time (historic).
b) Changes in weather or lighting (climatic).
c) Changes in use of the environment (contextual).

Although you will be working as part of a team towards your final animation, you will also be required to provide evidence of your individual contribution to the project via a blogged design journal where you will document your personal research, experimentation, and acquiring of new skills.

Ok let's get cracking with this!

Having read the brief, i have already formed a team consisting of 5 members overall including myself. These members are Leonard Onikoyi, Yemi Akande, Trish Kim Phan and Marios Economides. The group will be called Team ALPHA! lol!

Already a week into the project, the team and i have been working very closely and in depth about the sort of environment we want to go for. Having discussed and brainstormed ideas of potential themes and moods, we have settled on creating a sci fi futuristic city combining contemporary modern day architecture. The reason for choosing the theme of sci fi was because it was the most exciting and interesting theme out of all the other ideas we came up with. Plus relishing the challenge of creating something epic and grand was what motivated everyone in choosing this type of environment.