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阐述原画师的相关概念和工作职责

发布时间:2015-05-20 16:36:19 Tags:,,,

作者:Eliott Lilly

何为原画师(也称概念艺术家)?

原画师需要与多个学科的成员打交道,必须理解和清楚特定的约束条件以便协助团队有效工作。以下是原画师日常生活所面临的一些约束条件的例子。

美术方向

通常美术总监心里都有一个对你绘图方向的基本想法。而作为原画师的心,心中也许早有大量想实现的想法,但你必须记住自己是在为他人的想法绘图。你也可提供备用想法,但前提是必须满足美术总监所提出的要求。如果对方要求你绘制一辆被炸毁的破坦克概念图,而你提交的却是充满未来主义的太空舰,你在公司中的未来职业生涯就很成问题了。

concept cover(from gamecareerguide)

concept cover(from gamecareerguide)

游戏引擎限制

无论是角色、交通工具还是场景,最好都要根据游戏引擎所能处理的限制条件进行设计。各家工作室的情况不一样,每家使用的软件也不尽相同,但一般来说,任何工作室都有一些必须注意的事项。

除了局限性之外,原画师总是更易于扩大自己的初稿范围,之后再将其调整为团队能够消化的件,而不是在基础理念上逐步进行优化。如果你已经清楚哪些内容“在游戏中”可行和不可行,就比较可能获得团队的认可。

截止日期

在电子游戏行业中,老板对员工的工作要求总会比后者自身的实际能力高一截。他们可能会迫使你在短时间内提交最大数量的概念图,这会让你产生巨大压力。我相信你心里也的确希望将本职工作做到最好。但我还是建议你在自己所能掌握的时间内尽力就好。要知道在这种情况下,你必须记住这些图都不会成为杰作,有时候一个简单的线条就足以表达内容。

个人成长

如果你有幸与其他原画师共事,或者拥有引导工作的师傅,那么你就有可能由此学到的一些新技巧。但是,在截止日期和严格指导的压力之下进行学习和发挥创意,也许并非最佳的试验时机。

你应该在家里提升自我,实现自己的艺术抱负。因为家里有更宽松的环境,你可以按照自己的计划发挥天马行空的创意。我也是在家里才完成自己最佳创意作品。

concept artist(from gamecareerguide)

concept artist(from gamecareerguide)

原画师的工作职责

人们对原画师的具体职责有不少误解,以下是我所总结的一些情况:

原画师可以全权掌握自己想画的游戏内容。

这种说法只能算部分正确。所谓的“全权授权”通常只适用于特定的一个游戏开发阶段,即项目刚开始起步之时。此时工作室会倾听各种意见和想法。如果你想让自己的想法受到关注,此时就是最佳时机。这个阶段的辉煌通常很短暂。在这个阶段之后,你就会被要求按其他人的需求来绘图(多数情况下是美术总监或领导提出要求),遵从你其实并不认同的特定规范。

如果你绘制了很棒的内容,它一定就会出现在游戏中。

并不完全正确。首先,这种内容必须与游戏需求有关。假设它满足了游戏需求,通常也需要进行一些调整和修改以便迎合游戏引擎的参数和局限性。我绘制的概念图很少能够在第一次就通过。你的想法被改变得越多,它就会越不同于之前的初衷。

每张图都要充分渲染和润色才可能成功。

并非如此。概念图就用来作为各个部门进行交流,让团队理解项目理念的礼视觉对话。因此,作为原画师,你只需要将图片渲染到足以传达该理念的程度即可。一张能够充分体现游戏理念的铅笔草图也好过一个渲染充分但理念糟糕的图像。

如果你有一个很棒的想法,它就能够被游戏采纳。

理想情况下的确如此,但并非总是如此。优秀的理念可能因为多种原因而夭折:如果它出现的时机不对,或者你表达的方式不妥当,或者团队在讨论该理念的时候你正好不在场。只要有个重要的人说“我不理解这个想法”,那么它就算是被毙了。

要记住概念艺术是电子游戏开发过程的一个附加产物。它并不会被大众所见,因此对工作室的价值不大。尽管有些人会收集关于概念艺术的书籍,但大部分用户并不关心美术内容,他们在乎的是电子游戏。

每个任务都会培养我的创意并且会挑战我的艺术水平。

如果你喜欢优秀的挑战,概念美术就能满足你的愿望。你会发现自己会绘制一些从来没有画过的东西,或者构想从来不存在的世界。这正是这份工作最棒的地方。有时候也会接到一些让你大脑麻木的任务,但却仍然不得不作画。这也是这份工作的糟糕之处。当你经历过游戏开发初级阶段时,这份工作看起来就没有那么高大上了。

原画师所创作的所有或多数图像都会被游戏所运用。

鉴于概念艺术的本性,总有数张图像因为各种原因未被采纳。有可能是当前截止日期无法实现这些理念,或者这些理念虽然不错但不适合游戏玩法等等。也可能是该理念就是不符合当前的需求。除此之外,你可能还需要绘制单个理念的多个版本概念图,以供团队进行筛选。

我可以在公共论坛上发布即将面世的新游戏概念图,秀秀自己的美术功底。

在特定情况下,工作室会公开游戏的概念图以便为即将推出的项目打造声势,但原画师一般都不具备选择哪张图像及其展示途径的权利。因为这是市场营销部门要解决的问题。

如果你在游戏仍处于开发阶段就公布自己的原画作品,就有可能会泄露公司的秘密,并因此造成严重的影响。IGN或Game Informer等电子游戏网站的首页通常只用来发布独家新闻,如果你提前在论坛泄露了公司游戏的概念图,那么这个项目就不存在独家报道的意义了,这些图像所创造的舆论热潮也就不存在了。

IGN或Game Informer之后可能就不愿意将你们的游戏放到首页了,而如果你的游戏没有出现在这种拥有高流量的行业网站首页,那么就可能严重影响游戏销量。所以你很有可能因为泄露图片而被公司炒掉。

我可以公开展示已经面世的游戏的概念图,秀秀自己的美术功底。

也许能,也许不能。当你首次在电子游戏工作室就职时,你很可能要与工作室签署协议,声明你在此就职期间所创作的任何内容的所有权都属于工作室。因此,你也不再拥有自己作品的所有权。如果你想公开展示你任职期间的美术作品,可能就得先获得公司的批准。公司未必每次都答应这种做法。因为这其可能还会涉及到许多未采用的概念图,有些工作室会保留这些概念图以备开发续作之用。你最多只能发布那些已经被游戏所采用的图像。如果未经公司许可就擅自公布概念图很可能会被解雇。

原画师的日常工作

美好的一天

我正在绘制要用于周五早会的图像。今天已经是周四,我像往常一样在早上10点才开工。

我的美术总监提前给我分配了任务,也提供了有助于我绘图的所有设计文档。这真是“美好的一天”,因为他所提供的这些材料意味着我可以毫无障碍地完成自己的工作。

我可以自由支配时间精描细画(除非要开会),偶尔抽空查看电子邮件,和同事开开玩笑,或者试玩我们的游戏。偶尔我们老大(美术总监)也会来查看我的进度,为我释疑解惑,或者向我通知项目的最新状态。通常在下午3点,团队会聚在一起进行多人测试比赛,如果我有时间也会参与。我之后可能会有一个会议。如果没有开会,我就可以继续绘图直到自己觉得它已经能够传达所需理念为止。

我一直按部就班,井然有序地完成工作,所以甚至还会有时间去绘制其他项目的概念图。如果情况允许,我也想让他们知道我的想法,并询问他们的需求。我喜欢挖掘同个理念的不同变化,即使它们暂时不被采纳,也可能在之后派上用场。

对自己的初始概念图及其备用版本满意之后,我在傍晚6点下班离开公司。真是功德圆满的一天。

糟糕的一天

我正在绘制用于周五早会的图像。今天已经是周四,老大在周三晚上给我额外分配了两个要用于同个会议的任务。更糟糕的是,我现在要绘制的概念图是之前从未接触过的,我没有任何设计参照,因此实在无从入手。我告诉他时间太紧迫,并且缺乏必要的辅助信息,这可能导致概念图在不久之后又要经过大幅改动。尽管我好心提醒,老大还是坚持要我做出这三个概念图。

我在早上7点就赶到空无一人的工作室,决定先把之前的初始概念图搁置一边,把其他两个先完成,令其达到大家可以看懂的程度。

我在午饭时间做完了一个图,在办公桌上匆匆吃完午餐。在下午的时间,第二张图也快完工的时候,老大又给我带来了新的设计说明,结果发现,我做的图根本不符合其中的要求!两张图我都得重做,这让我在之后十分受挫。

经过调整之后,我继续完成第二张图,并开始做第三张图。现在已经是晚上了,我这才发现工作压力让我一整天都紧握wacom画笔没有松手。因此我的手开始隐隐作痛和抽筋。因为害怕手腕从此作废无法继续作画,我在11点钟果断离开了空无一人的工作室。

周五一大早,我又在早上7点赶到公司,努力完成剩下的内容。截止时间到了,不管完成度如何,我都得提交自己的任务了。所幸我还是很好地完成了工作,确保这些图像人人都能看懂。之后我又问老大会议情况如何,他却回答“噢,会议推迟了。”

那么美好与糟糕的工作日哪种情况更多呢?

这要看情况。越是接近截止日期,糟糕日子出现的频率就越高。几乎没有工作室都有赶工期,这个时期几乎人人都要加班以便赶在截止日期前完工。这种日子通常会伴随巨大压力,也很让人头疼。

对于原画师来说,赶工日期的数量会发生变化。在游戏开发的预制作阶段,你可能就需要额入投入更多时间,因为整个工作室都指望你来确立游戏的视觉语言。在游戏开发周期也有大量的概念图需求,建模师和关卡设计师也需要原画师的协助。

此外,在项目接近发布日期时,你肯定没有足够的时间处理工作室内的相关事种植园。要知道“事情变好之前必先经历变糟的情况”。我过去6个月制作的每款电子游戏时都会遇到这种情况。

我所学到的技巧就是尽量妥善管理时间,在日常生活中保持关注重心,永远不要对超出实际所需的制图任务作出承诺。这一行总有让你双手应接不暇的日子,你所能做的就是尽量处理好自己的工作。(本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao)

What is a Concept Artist?

- Eliott Lilly

[In this excerpt from The Big Bad World of Concept Art for Video Games, Eliott Lilly explains what a concept artist really does and sheds light on the harsh realities of the industry.]

Excerpt from Chapter 1: What is a concept artist?

What can I expect as a concept artist?

Interacting with multiple disciplines, a concept artist needs to understand and be aware of certain restrictions in order to assist the team effectively. Below are a few examples of constraints that you can expect to face on a daily basis.

Art direction

Usually the art director will have a vision of what he or she wants you to draw. While you, the artist, may be teeming with great ideas that you wish to pursue, you must keep in mind that you are there to illustrate someone else’s idea. You may provide alternate ideas, but only after your art director’s requirements have been met. If you’re asked to deliver a concept of an old, beat-up battle tank, and you hand in a futuristic spaceship instead, you may find yourself having a chat with your boss about future employment with the company.

Game engine limitations

Whether it is a character, a vehicle, or an environment, it is always best to plan your design around the practical limitations that the game engine can handle. They will vary from studio to studio, as each uses different software, but, generally speaking, there are certain dos and don’ts to be heeded.

Limitations aside, it’s always easier to go way out there with your initial design and then scale it back down to chewable chunks that your team can digest, than to try to improve upon a lukewarm idea. With the right expectations of what can and can’t be done “in game,” you will be less likely to be disappointed with the feedback you receive from the team.

Deadlines

In the video game industry, your bosses will always want more than you can give. They may pressure you to deliver the maximum number of concepts in the least amount of time, which tends to put great strain and stress upon you. I am sure that the inner critic in you wants to do the best job possible. However, I recommend that you do what you can in the time you are given. In these cases, you need to keep in mind that every image cannot be a masterpiece and sometimes a simple line drawing will suffice.

Personal growth

If you are fortunate enough to work with other concept artists or have a mentor at the job, then you might learn a few new tricks here and there. However, learning and trying to be creative under the pressures of deadlines and strict guidelines may not be the best time to experiment.

At home is where you are free to find your voice and seek artistic fulfillment. It is a much more relaxed environment, and you can be as imaginative and creative as you would like on your own schedule. That is when I do my best creative work.

What does a concept artist really do?

There are a few misconceptions floating around out there about what the role of a concept artist is and what it entails. Here are a few of my favorites.

A concept artist has carte blanche to draw whatever she or he wants for the game.

That statement is only partially correct. The “carte blanche” is usually reserved for a specific period of game development called the blue-sky phase, when anything goes, at the beginning of most projects. All kinds of ideas are suggested and heard by the studio. If you want your idea to shine, this is the time to do it. This period of bliss is usually short-lived. Outside of this phase, you are generally required to draw what other people want (in most cases, the art director or lead) from you, following specific guidelines-not what you want.

If you draw something awesome, it will end up in the game.

Not exactly. First of all, it has to be relevant to the game’s needs. Assuming that it is, there are usually tweaks and changes to fit the parameters and limitations of the game engine. Rarely have I drawn a concept that has been correct on the first try. The more your idea changes, the less it resembles your original intent.

Every image has to be fully rendered and polished to be a successful image.

Not so.  A concept is used as a visual dialog between several disciplines to enhance the pipeline and sell an idea to the team. Therefore, as a concept artist, you only need to render an image as much as it takes to sell that idea. A rough pencil sketch of a strong idea is of more value to the game than a fully rendered image of a bad idea.

Daily life of a concept artist

What’s a typical good day?

The image that I am working on is needed for an important Friday morning meeting. Today is Thursday, and I’ve arrived at work around the standard starting time, 10 a.m.

My art director (AD) gave me my task way in advance along with all of the supporting design documents that are needed to craft my image. It’s a “good day” because all of these elements mean that I am fully able to do my job without any surprises or setbacks.

I’m pretty much left alone to refine my image, unless I have a meeting, breaking occasionally to check my e-mail, goof off with coworkers, or test out our video game. Occasionally my AD stops by to check on my progress, answer any questions I may have, or update me on the status of the project. Usually around 3 p.m., the team gets together and hosts multiplayer testing matches, and if I have time, I like to participate in those. I might have a meeting afterward. If not, I just continue to refine my image until I am satisfied that it conveys its intended idea.

As it turns out, I am so on schedule that there is even enough time to deliver additional concepts. When permitted, I like to give them my ideas as well as what they asked for. I enjoy exploring multiple iterations of the same idea. Even if they go unused, the concept may be resurrected later.

Satisfied with my initial concept and also pleased with the alternate variations that I have provided, I leave work around 6 p.m. Today was a good day.

What’s a typical bad day?

The image that I am working on is needed for an important Friday morning meeting. Today is Thursday. On Wednesday evening, my AD tasked me with two additional concepts that are needed for the same meeting. To make matters worse, the ideas I am concepting are so new, there are no design specifications to them yet, therefore very little information to work off of. I tell him that severe time constraints and a lack of information will likely result in these concepts being irrelevant as they are almost guaranteed to change in the near future. Despite my best arguments, my AD insists that these three images need to be concepted.

Arriving before 7 a.m. to a dark and empty studio, I decide to stop working on my initial concept until I am able to bring the other two up to the same level of readability.

I knock out the first image by lunchtime, eating at my desk with no breaks. Later in the afternoon, with the second image almost done, my AD presents me with new design specs that, unfortunately, don’t match what I’ve drawn. I need to readjust both images to reflect these new details, which sets me back even further.

With the adjustments made, I continue finishing up the second image and begin on the third. It is late in the evening when I realize that stress has caused me to grip the Wacom pen tightly all day. As a result, my hand aches and is cramped. With the threat of carpal tunnel looming in the back of my mind and my inability to draw any more, I leave the dark and empty studio around 11 p.m.

Early Friday morning, I am back in the office at 7 a.m. again, trying to finish the remaining image. The deadline arrives, and I need to submit my work, regardless of the level of completion. Hopefully, I’ve done my job well enough that the images are readable. Later that day, when I ask my AD how the meeting went, he says, “Oh, it was postponed.”

So how many good days vs. bad days are there?

Well, that all depends. As deadlines get closer and closer, you can bet the bad days will start to add up. Almost every studio has crunch time-a time period when longer work hours are needed to meet deadlines. These days usually come with lots of stress and headaches.

For a concept artist, the amount of crunch time will vary. You can expect to put in extra hours during the preproduction stage of video game development since the entire studio will be looking to you to establish a visual language for the game. There is also a high demand for concept support later in the game’s development cycle, as levels come online, to support the needs of modelers and level designers.

Also, as the project gets closer to its ship date, you can bet that there aren’t enough hours in the day to put out all of the fires around the office. You know the saying: “Things will only get worse before they get better.” That pretty much sums up the last six months of every video game I’ve ever worked on.

The trick, I’ve learned, is to manage your time as best as possible, remain focused during the day, and never promise more images than are realistically feasible. There will be days when things get dropped in your lap, and all you can do is handle them the best way you can. (source:gamecareerguide


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