Environment Concept Design | CG Master Academy

Environment Concept Design

An 8-week course utilizing industry techniques for developing environments for games, film, and more

OVERVIEW

INSTRUCTORS

COURSE OVERVIEW

Tell a story through world building

This course will guide students through the creation of compelling and thoughtful environment designs for the entertainment industry. From visual ideas and storytelling to gameplay aspects, we will look at how we can create the most entertainment value in our designs and how to use the fundamental knowledge of composition, color and lighting to bring these ideas to life. The class will follow an industry standard workflow to come up with unique environment concepts. The main focus will be on ideation-sketching, creating thumbnails and final illustrations. Besides 2D-techniques we will also be using 3D (Blender) to elevate our designs before we finish them in photoshop. By encompassing the skills of contemporary concept art, this class will give students the confidence to tackle any assignments that will be thrown at them in a professional work environment. The course focuses on industry-relevant techniques to help students get ideas from their brains to the page, layer storytelling into their artwork, and ultimately create images for their portfolios.

NOTE: Although the course will cover introductory aswell as some advanced techniques in 3D (Blender), the use of it is optional but highly encouraged.

Course Format:

Standard

Duration:

8 weeks

Materials:

adobe photoshop (or equivalent software) , blender 2.8 ( or equivalent software)

Lecture Type:

Pre-recorded

Assignment:

Due each week. Expect to spend 8-10 hrs/wk viewing lectures, q&a, and time on assignments.

Skills Level:

Intermediate to Advanced

Feedback:

Individual recordings

Q&A:

Once a week

Prerequisites:

Environment Sketching and Fundamentals of Environment Design, or understanding of drawing in perspective and at least intermediate-level skills in digital painting. 3D knowledge is optional.

Course Format:

Standard

Duration:

8 weeks

Materials:

adobe photoshop (or equivalent software) , blender 2.8 ( or equivalent software)

Lecture Type:

Pre-recorded

Assignment:

Due each week. Expect to spend 8-10 hrs/wk viewing lectures, q&a, and time on assignments.

Skills Level:

Intermediate to Advanced

Feedback:

Individual recordings

Q&A:

Once a week

Prerequisites:

Environment Sketching and Fundamentals of Environment Design, or understanding of drawing in perspective and at least intermediate-level skills in digital painting. 3D knowledge is optional.

Course Format:

Standard

Duration:

8 weeks

Materials:

adobe photoshop (or equivalent software) , blender 2.8 ( or equivalent software)

Lecture Type:

Pre-recorded

Assignment:

Due each week. Expect to spend 8-10 hrs/wk viewing lectures, q&a, and time on assignments.

Skills Level:

Intermediate to Advanced

Feedback:

Individual recordings

Q&A:

Once a week

Prerequisites:

Environment Sketching and Fundamentals of Environment Design, or understanding of drawing in perspective and at least intermediate-level skills in digital painting. 3D knowledge is optional.

COURSE OVERVIEW

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

EXPAND ALL COLLAPSE ALL

The more you know, the better.

Week 1 | visual communication principles

To get started we will review how to use the most important viscom principles such as composition, depth & scale, proportion and perspective to create interesting focal points and bring our environments to life.

Week 2 | ideation 1: design principles & sketching

What makes a unique environment design? By using entertainment design principles and mixing keywords we will learn how to come up with interesting concepts and sketch them out using various drawing methods.

Week 3 | ideation 2: composition & staging

Painting in values, this week will cover the use of archetypical lighting scenarios such as direct-, ambient- and artificial lighting to stage our ideas in the best possible way.

Week 4 | color & mood

Color is closely related to value. Building on the previous week we will learn how to use color in addition to lighting to create mood, enhance the storytelling and spice up the visual design of our images.

Week 5 | 3D part 1: the blockout

3D is a vital part of the game-production pipline. After creating a simple blockout of our idea in 3D, we will start to model props to populate our scene with. Afterwards we will draw and paint over the renders to establish a final direction . This week we will start the final project.

Week 6 | 3D part 2: the concept

Building on the work of the previous weeks we will start to refine our 3D-environment. Subsequent texturing and lighting will inform the final render of our composition before we start to paint over in photoshop.

Week 7 | painting & photobashing techniques

This week will cover different techniques to bring our images to the next level by painting over the 3D-renders in photoshop. Using photos and brushes artistically, we will learn how to create a detailed and cohesive looking concept image.

Week 8 | creating a valuable portfolio & final review

Theres a big difference between student and professional portfolios. In this last week we will learn how we as artists can make our images valuable to clients and how to present them accordingly. By revisiting principles from past weeks we will strengthen our final concept image and students will get their final review.

Environment Concept Design

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Instructor

Unleashing your creative potential

Simeon Schaffner

/Freelance

LECTURES BY Simeon Schaffner

Simeon is a concept artist and illustrator based in Switzerland. Specializing in environment-design, he has worked on games such as The Last of Us: Part 2, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the Call of Duty series as well as various tv-series and indie-games alike. With the goal of making useful images for any given project, his distinctive approach to art and design allows him to craft locations that feel rich and alive while at the same time deliver thoughtful designs to the client. Aside from work Simeon can always be found sketching and painting outdoors with friends, combining his passion for nature and visual communication.

INSTRUCTOR'S GALLERY: