What is a Diorama? A Diorama is a model which represents a scene that can contain three-dimensional figures which can be presented in a miniature or as a large-scale for a museum exhibit, this can also be presented alongside a digital 3D digital display.
In this mind map I have listed some types of Dioramas that are used/made daily and that are more commonly well-known. The reason I have listed these specific Dioramas is because these are the ones that I am going to be performing research on and then creating a Moodboard for each of them, this is so I can have a good idea of what each one is and what function it serves. Although I am doing research on all of them the one Diorama that I will be creating will most likely be a Pixel Art one as I prefer that design style over the rest of them. Furthermore by performing the research on all of them it can help me out with how a Diorama should be laid out effectively.
Moodboards
This is a diorama moodboard that I made on Pinterest, for this moodboard I focused on finding concept art dioramas that had a lot of detail and that also looked good. I like a lot of these dioramas because they have bright colours, by using these I believe it makes the diorama look better, makes them stand out and also makes them more noticeable. The dioramas that I prefer are the ones near the top of the moodboard because they are more colourful, this makes them stand out more to me and makes me notice them. I believe that by using this moodboard I would be able to create my own diorama because I would be able to look at all of these and gain inspiration from them and incorporate some of their designs into my own design to make it unique.
This is a 3D diorama moodboard that was made on Pinterest and for this moodboard I was looking for 3D models that would be able to provide sufficient research and information if I was going to create my own diorama. A lot of these pictures that I found showcase 1 or 2 buildings that are well made but may not completed as this way they would be able to gather feedback for their design so far and then improve it. A few of the pictures that I have placed on this moodboard show a small city or town and this is because I wanted to get some different views on what a 3D diorama could be because there are a lot of types of dioramas. I also choose the small cities/towns because they looked really good and I like them as I feel I could use them for inspiration if I was going to produce my own diorama.
This is my Pixel Art diorama moodboard that I made on Pinterest. I managed to find a good amount of Pixel Art dioramas on Pinterest which is very handy as it allows me to use them for inspiration for my own diorama. A few of the dioramas that I found are quite small but also contain a lot of detail which is handy as it shows that a diorama doesn’t have to be big to be good. I like all of the dioramas on this moodboard because they all look good and contain a lot of detail. A few of these moodboards contain cities/towns these are some of the better dioramas as it shows that they have decided on how to layout the diorama in a sensible way that works well. Overall I like these dioramas and they are all full of detail which is good for me as they will provide me with a lot of inspiration and information for my own diorama.
3 ways dioramas are used in games
Example 1
A method that is used for dioramas in games is for the development process, this would mean that if a 3D modeler could design a product for a game and they would leave parts of it incomplete so that they could use it as a diorama and then collect feedback on it, a load of these developmental dioramas can be found on FZD School of Art as this is a popular place for Artists to upload their artwork so other people can view it.
This diorama shows a bedroom that is being developed, doing this method helps out as since the room hasn’t been made in a game yet it allows the artist and modelers to discuss it and then change it either by adding more or taking away parts of the design. Looking at this image shows me that a development diorama is important and can be very helpful when designing a game as it allows you to start a design of a project, gather feedback on it and then change it depending on the feedback or if you feel it needs to be changed anyway.
Example 2
A secondary method that dioramas can be used in games is advertising, this gives a teaser to the fans and also allows the company to then collect research from the fans which can then make them make improvements before the release. Also by doing this it also provides more hype for your game and can get the fans excited which will lead to more media attention which is good as it allows your game to be seen by more people. However the diorama doesn’t have to be just for a new game as seen in our example below as the game can be big and the diorama will still receive a lot of attention because its a well known game. An example of this method would be Blizzard when they made a huge diorama with over 10000 3D printed models for WoW.
This image depicts a massive diorama made by Blizzard for their game WoW at Blizzfest 2017, this diorama has 10000 3D printed character models made just for this diorama, Blizzard did this as they wanted to thank some of their players and also wanted inspiration because they were making this diorama to show a battle. Looking at this I can see why Blizzard would do this as it looks like a good method of advertising as some people going may not play the game, they could see this and want to give it a go, hence it could drag some new players into their already massive list of players.
Example 3
Another great use for dioramas is portfolios, this is because you can upload the diorama onto a portfolio and then people around the world will be able to see it and leave comments about it, this is useful as you could then use those comments for when you want to create another diorama depicting near enough the same items. Some good examples of diorama portfolios can be found on ArtStation as this is what I used to find diorama portfolios.
All 3 of these images came from ArtStation from the same Artists portfolio, I was looking for a good diorama portfolio when I stumbled upon this, it looks very good and well made especially with the theme that he is using. The colours used also work well with the theme and blend in really well and I really like the look of this diorama. By looking at this diorama I can understand why he uploaded it to his portfolio as it shows his former artwork and will also allow people to comment on it saying how good it is or if he should change anything about it.
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