Planning, Production & Practical Skills

Week: 7 – Date: 21/10/19

Tasks

1x Unreal Layout of Final Design – Completed

1x Rough Sketches of Final Design – Completed

1x Colour Ideas of Final Design – Completed

Unreal Layout Design

In the image below we can see the design layout that I have decided to use for my final design, I started off by adding in a few cubes and then adjusting their properties so that there were rectangles which would make them easier to place in my design and would also help me get the main layout done. I also used the subtract object mode and then created a cube for the window and two rectangles for the doors, I decided to use two for the doors as I wanted to have a double door as I felt this would work and look better.

In this next image we can see that I have added in a couple of the assets that I will be using in my final design, the safe and the desk. These assets are the most important ones so I decided to add them in first as I wouldn’t forget, the desk took me a while as I had to think about an appropriate design which looked good. I managed to get the design of the desk done, I then created another rectangle and placed it against the wall to make it look better.

For this image I decided I was going to add the cactus and the clock into my design, these were two of the less important assets but I wanted to add more to my design to make it look better. I feel that by adding the cactus I really try to enforce the idea that my design is in the Western theme as a lot of people will associate a cactus with the desert. I also added the clock as I felt it was a nice touch to give to the design and it is an extra asset which also looks good.

In this image I have decided to add in the second most important asset which is the moneybag, I also made the decision to add a second one in as I felt just having one wasn’t enough and seeing as it was an important asset it was probably a smart idea to add more than one in. The placements for these two assets were pretty straightforward as I wanted to have one by the safe which would look natural and then another one next to the counter and this would give off the idea that they have just taken a moneybag and are about to place it inside the safe.

In this final image we can see that I have added one last asset which I feel is a good one to use. After looking at my last two designs I decided that I preferred the first design but I also liked the barrel and multiple moneybags from the second design. So I made the call to use the first design layout again and then add in a second moneybag and also add in a barrel to the near right corner. I also moved the clock slightly left as I felt it was too close to the desk edge on the right hand side.

Rough Sketch and Colour Designs

In this image I have placed my final design into Photoshop, this will ensure that when I create my rough sketches I will be able to get all of the measurements right which will make my design look better. To add this picture into Photoshop I found the picture in my folder and then simply dragged and dropped it into Photoshop, this also created a new layer with the picture name which is handy as I don’t need to make a separate layer for the picture.

After I had added the UE4 layout into Photoshop I then made a new layer which I labelled rough outline, this would ensure I would know which layer to use when creating the outline and also for later on when I add in more layers as it means I can keep track of them. I started off by sketching the main building outline as this would mean I can place all the assets correctly. I then started by adding in the desk and the safe, they are my two biggest assets so I felt the need to put them in first. After that I then added the window and doors as these make the design feel more like a building rather than an empty space and they also give it characteristics. Following this I then added in the moneybags the clock above the desk and the barrel in the corner, I added these in last as they weren’t the most important but I would still need them to make my design look good.

Following my rough outline sketch I then started adding colour to my design, to start with I made a new layer and called it colour. I started off by colouring the safe in first as this was only using a grey colour, I then went on to get a light brown and colour in the barrel and then used a darker shade of that brown to go around the edges of it and also in the middle of the barrel as I felt this would make it look better which I feel worked out nicely.

After colouring in the barrel I then focused on the cactus and the window as that was my next area to colour in, I got a nice looking green colour and tested a few shades before deciding on the final one, I then used the colour I liked best and coloured in the cactus and then used a darker shade of the green to outline the cactus to make it stand out. I then went to colour in the sky in the background of the cactus, for this I chose a blue that wasn’t too bright nor too dark as I wanted it to look good. When I do the final colour version I will be using multiple layers with different opacity’s to make the sky look realistic as I will be able to use different shades of blue. Finally I coloured in the outline of the window as I didn’t want it to clash with the colour of the walls when I coloured them in.

Next up for me to colour in was the desk, along with the moneybags and the clock. I started off by colouring in the desk as I felt this was the most important asset to colour in as this point. I got a light brown colour and colour in the desk and left a gap in the middle as this was going to be an open desk where people would talk to the worker, I then got a darker shade of the colour and went around the outside of the desk to give an outline as this would make it stand out. I then went on to colour in the moneybags, for this I got a very light yellow/white colour and tested it to start with, I realised that it was a good colour to use so I coloured in the moneybags and then added a nice little gold line to make it seem like the rope securing the bag. I then had to colour in the clock, I decided to use the same colour as the moneybags as it seemed to work well with multiple items, and I feel it was the right colour to use.

Finally all I had left to do was colour in the walls and the floor, I knew roughly what colours I wanted the floor and walls to be so all I had to do was select them and then colour in. I started off with a fairly dark brown for the walls as I felt this looked good and worked well with the rest of the design, I also got a darker shade of this brown and went around thew walls making sure to give the design a nice outline. For the floor I got a lighter colour brown as I felt this looked good and worked with the wall to give the design a nice feel to it. Finally I got a dark brown and went around the sides and bottom just to make it look better, since they were on the inside I figured I’d make them darker as they wouldn’t be being hit by light.

In this image I have added the final details to the design, I added numbers to the clock so it looks a lot better and I also added a handle and pin lock on the safe door, I feel like these were needed as they make the safe look a lot better and improve the overall design as well. I also added the dollar signs onto the moneybags in this section as I felt they were necessary and looked good. I removed the grey lines from the barrel as I feel they didn’t look right, I might add them back in for the final design but it depends on the time I have left at the end.

Current Position

  • What did I do this week and why did I do it? For this week I started by creating a layout design in Unreal and then transporting it over to Photoshop, from there I drew a rough outline of it and then made a colour design with some extra details at the end, I did this as it was very important and I needed to complete this so I could move on to my next weeks work.
  • What did I find difficult or easy? I didn’t find anything too easy or difficult apart from my time management, this was my own fault and I will improve this for the next weeks as it is very important.
  • What tasks didn’t I complete from this week? I didn’t complete my second colour design due to my time management therefore I will be removing it from my process, it won’t mess anything up as one colour design is enough as I can clearly see the colours I’ve used and can change them when it comes to the final design.
  • How do I plan to catch up? Since I was behind with my project due to time I am binning a secondary colour design, I feel that this is essential as these take me a while and by removing one I will be able to work quicker and catch up.
  • Do I need to change anything about my work or planning? I will need to ensure I work quicker when not doing colour designs as these take a while, by working quicker when not doing colour designs it should save me some time in the end.

Half-Term – Date: 28/10/19

Tasks

1x Texture Ideas of Final Design – Completed

2x Rough Designs of Detailed Asset – Complete

2x Colour Designs for Detailed Asset – Complete

Texture Design

In this image I have produced a texture which I feel would be viable and would look good on my design, I started off by looking up a hand-painted wood texture on google images and then found an appropriate one which I then placed into Photoshop. After placing it into Photoshop I used the rectangular marquee tool to make a rectangle which I would be using for one of the planks. Following this I then made a second one and placed it next to the first one. Afterwards I used the eyedropper tool to get the correct brown colour and then used the paint bucket tool to fill the rectangles in. I then used the eyedropper tool again to get the dark brown colour that was used for the outlines and then applied that to my rectangles and also added a couple lines across my planks to make it seem as if they were different planks. I then got another lighter shade of brown just to highlight the edges of the shape which I feel worked well and it also followed the design I was going with. I then finally added a number of lines and shapes onto the planks to try and make them look textured, this is because any wooden plank will be unique and won’t have a specific design.

Asset Designs

To start my Asset design I started off by getting a screenshot of my asset that I wanted from Unreal that I had previously created for my full design. Before getting the screenshot I added some lighting to my level to make the design look even better which in turn made the scene and all the assets look better as well as giving shading and highlighting that I will be able to incorporate into my final design. I got the screenshot from this angle as it will allow me to zoom in to the safe on Photoshop and therefore allow me to get the outline correct.

This image shows the outline of the safe that I made in Photoshop, to start this off I created a layer and transported the screenshot over and then resized the image to fit the canvas on Photoshop. I then made a new layer which I labelled outline, I turned the opacity down on the screenshot layer which would make it easier for me to see the outline I was drawing. I started off by trying to make sure that the gap on either side of the safe was the same, I made it approximately 5 squares on either side as it looks good and is the same on each side. After doing that I then drew the outline of the safe however the one thing that I don’t like about the safe is that it isn’t thick enough.

I then started the colouring process of the safe, I started off by colouring in the wood first as I thought it would look good having the background coloured as well as it makes the image look a lot better. After I had coloured in the background I got a dark grey and ensured that the safe outline was still prominent as it was important that I could still see it. I then got a lighter shade of that grey and finished off colouring in the safe, following this I then had to add the final details on to the safe.

I did this by using the same brush and adding in the handle and also the dial system and using different colours so that they belnd well together. Finally I went into my brush settings and found some different brushes which I felt would look good on the safe as a texture for it, after using a few of these brushed I had found the ones which I felt worked best and created a pattern on the safe door which I feel looks good and overall makes the design a lot better.

In this next set of images we can see my second rough design that I created for my asset. In this design I started off by re-sketching it out, I made the gap on either side of the safe an 1 block wide and I also made the safe a bit thciker down the side so it looks better and more realistic. In the second picture I have removed the screenshot in the background and gone over the background outline so it looks better, I have also given the design planks so that the wood will look more realistic when I come to making the final design.

In this set of images we can see the progress of the colouring design of my asset, I started off by colouring in the wood, I decided to use a lighter shade of brown so that it was clearly visible that the wood and the outline was a different colour, following this I then started to add some texturing to the wood as I wanted to make it look really good and I also wanted to experiement with it on this design. After this I then added the safe outline this was so that when I added the colour it would look good and wouldn’t go all over my design and outside the lines. I feel that by using a lighter shade of grey for the main door and darker shade for the outline works well and makes the design look a lot better.

This is the final image of my rough asset design, after I had coloured in the safe door I added the handle and dial and then changed my brush settings to find some quirky shapes that would look good on my design. I feel that the different brush settings that I used worked well with the design and improved it a lot. I really like how this final rough design turned out and I will be trying to incorporate so of the designs into my final design as I like how they look and think they will work well on my final design.

Current Position

  • What did I do this week and why did I do it? For this week I had to create a texture design for my main layout and then also create a couple of rough sketches and colour designs of my asset. I wanted to create the texture design first as this was going to be a mian factor in how my main layout would look in the end. I also wanted to create a couple of rough sketches and colour designs of my asset as this was also very important as well as I needed to see how it would look.
  • What was difficult or easy? The task that I found relatively difficult this week was the texture design as I wanted overly confident with creating it to start with and I wasn’t too sure with how it looked at the end however I decided to stick with up and I knew that I would be able to change it in the final design anyway. The rough asset sketches weren’t easy or difficult but they were a lot easier to do than the texture.
  • What tasks didn’t I complete from this week? I managed to complete all of my tasks for this week so I will not need to catch up next week.
  • How do I plan to catch up? I will not need to catch up since I was able to stay on top and keep on track.
  • Do I need to change anything about my work or planning? I will need to keep on getting better with time management as I feel this lets me down slightly each week as I get close to the next week and may not have one design completed.

Week: 8 – Date: 04/11/19

Tasks

1x Final Sketch of Final Design – Complete

1x Final Colour Design of Final Design – Complete

1x Final Texture Idea for Final Design – Complete

Final Design

In these set of images we can see the progress of how I went from just a screenshot to the outline of my entire design. I started off by getting a screenshot from the design I had made in Unreal, from this I then transported it into Photoshop and resized the image so it was the correct size for the canvas. After that I turned the opacity down on that layer to about 70% as this would allow me to be able to draw over the design and let me see where everything was. I then got a new layer which I would use for outlining and went around the design, this outline was a bit scruffy as it was only a rough outline but it still allowed me to get a rough idea of where verything should be and also the size of each object that I had placed in my scene. Following this rough outline I then turned the opacity down on that layer to about 70% as well as this would allow me to do a full outline while seeing where the rough outline was. By doing a rough outline and a final outline it alloows me to change objects if needed and is also very handy as a guideline.

After I had done the outlines I then toggled the rough outline layer off and went on to my new layer which was for the walls and floor, I wanted to do these 2 layers first as getting these done would allow the scene to look a lot better as it progressed through the stages of creation. I started off by creating the outlines of the walls and floor first, this was done by getting a dark brown and going around the outline of the design. This would then make it easier for me to colour in the walls and floor. After doing the outlines for the walls I then selected a lighter shade of brown and coloured the walls in, by colouring the walls in first it gave me a good idea of what my design would look like at the end. After colouring in the walls I then got an even lighter shade of brown and coloured in the floor, this was so the main bulk of colouring was out of the way and also so I wouldn’t have to worry about it and mess about with it later on in the design.

Following on from colouring in the walls and the floor I then moved on to colouring some of my assets. The assets that I started off colouring were the moneybags and also the safe, this is because these were 2 of the most important assets that I would create and I wanted them to look really good. After I had outlined the safe with a dark grey I then got a lighter shade of grey and coloured in the door of the safe, following this I then got a brown and created the handle and also the dial as this would make the safe look more realistic. After that I decided to use some different brush settings to allow me to texture the safe which would add more character to the safe and also the design. After I had finished with the safe I then got a very light yellow/white colour and started to colour in the moneybags, I then got a darker shade of this colour and went around the outside of the moneybag to make it look good. After this I then got a gold colour to make it look as if there was a rope around the top of the bag keeping it sealed and then also got a bright green colour and drew a dollar sign on the front of it as I felt this was necessary and would further improve the design.

After I had coloured in the safe and the moneybags I then moved on to my next set of assets which were the barrel and also the cactus along with the window. I decided to do these two assets next as they were particularly small and wouldn’t take too much time to finish off. I decided to colour in the cactus first as this was one of assets that I wanted to create as I had done a few rough designs of it beforehand and I liked how it was turning out. I started off by getting a nice bright green and colouring in the cactus shape and adjusting it slightly so that it looked better, after I had done the main shape of the cactus I then got a darker shade of green and outlined the cactus as this would make it show up even more. I then used a light grey colour and small brush to add some grey lines onto the cactus as these would look like spikes from the cactus which would make it look even better. Following on from completing the cactus I then got a light blue and created a sky to go with it as I wanted to make the window look even better.

After completing the cactus and window I then moved on to the barrel, I placed the barrel in the corne near the door as I felt this was a good place for it since there wasn’t much going on in the scene in this area. I got a dark brown and went around the outline of the shape and made 3 sections, this would make it easier for colouring as each section was going to have a certain shade of brown, I got a dark brown and coloured in the middle section first, I then got a lighter shade and coloured in the top and the bottom section, I did this as the shades were different and would therefore help each other stand out. Finally I got a dark brown and coloured in the very top of the barrel, I then changed my brush settings and added some dots to the barrel as I felt this make it look better.

In the second image I have coloured in the clock, the door and also the desk, I started off with the desk as this was a fairly large asset and I wanted to get it out of the way but I also wanted it to look good, I started off by getting a dark brown and outlining the shape, this allowed me to be able to colour in the rest of the shape with ease as I wouldn’t have to worry about going outside the lines. I then got a light brown and coloured in the 2 closed windows and also the front of the desk, I felt like this looked good and it was obvious to tell what it was. Finally I changed my brush settings and added some odd shapes to give it a cool design which I feel worked well for the design and made it look even better. After colouring in the desk I then coloured in the clock, I started off by getting a very light yellow/white colour which I was going to use for the face of the clock, after using that colour I decided it was a bit too bright so I got a darker shade of the colour and thern recoloured it which made it look better and more realistic. I then got a bright yellow and coloured in the hands of the clock so it was showing a time, and then I got a black and just added 3, 6, 9 & 12, this was because I knew it would look good and also so it looked more normal.

Following on from colouring in the clock I then coloued in the door, this consisted of me using a dark brown to outline the door and then using a lighter brown to colour in the door, I then also got an orangey/brown colour and added two door knobs to the design, this was to make it look a lot better and also add some realism to the design as I wanted to make it seem as if the doors would really open.

This image shows the final design finsihed off with some texturing added to the walls and also the floor. For the walls I created a rectangle and added a light brown for the main background colour of it, I then got a dark brown and went around the edges and then got a lighter shade of the brown and went around the inside as I was using a reference image and wanted to make it look realistic like the image I was using. After completing the first plank I then made a second one and changed the design up as I didn’t want them to both look the same, this was a good idea as if they had both been the same the design wouldn’t have looked as good as it did. To make the planks go all around the walls I got the two planks and grouped them together and made copies of those groups which I then moved around the design and split them up so they were different each time. For the floor of the design I wanted to make it seem as if there had been mud trodden in from the outside so I used a light brown colour to add this effect to the floor. Along with some brush settings I made it seem as if people had been standing on the floor as I was making footprints and creating large areas of mud, this would make it seem as if more people had stood in that spot.

This is also the final design but in this image I have removed the background as I wanted to see how different my design would look. I feel that without the background the image does look good but with the background it adds more character to the design, either way I’m pleased with how my design turned out and I feel that the texturing for the walls and the floor went well as there weren’t any mishaps along the way.

Current Position

  • What did I do this week and why did I do it? For this week I was focusing entirely on my main design, this was creating a final sketch as this would dictate how the entire design looked. The colour design as this would make the design pop and look even better and finally the texture design as this would add a lot of character to the design and finish it off.
  • What was difficult or easy? I would say the most difficult task for this week was the texture design, I created a couple of them and was content with the second design which is the one I used in the end, I only found it hard as I’m not great at creating textures but at least now I know that it can give me something to work on in the future. I found doing the sketch for this design probably the easiest task as it required the least amount of effort and concentration which helped me out as I was burned out from my activities during the week.
  • What tasks didn’t I complete from this week? I managed to complete all of my tasks from this week which was good and I managed to keep a better track of my time management, this means that I will not have to catch up next week which is even better as it means I can solely focus on that weeks tasks.
  • How do I plan to catch up? Fortunately I will not have to catch up as I was smart with my time and my time management skills and was able to complete all of the tasks in the time required.
  • Do I need to change anything about my work or planning? I would still like to improve on my time management skill as I feel there isn’t really a point where it is ever going to be amazing but I can certainly improve and get better over time.

Week: 9 – Date 11/11/19

Tasks

1x Final Design of Detailed Asset – Complete

1x Final Colour Design of Detailed Asset – Complete

1x Final Texture Design of Detailed Asset – Complete

Final Asset Design

In these set of images we can see how I created the basic outline of my final asset, I started off with the screenshot that I had take in Unreal and then transferred it into Photoshop and then resized it to fit the canvas size. I then lowered the opacity down to about 80% and made a new layer which I would be creating the rough outline on. I started the rough outline by going around the area of the safe and then the wooden wall behind it, while I was outlining the safe I changed the dimensions a little bit as I wanted the safe to be a bit thicker than it has been in the previous designs. Following on from the rough outline I then went on to make the proper outline which would be used for the majority of the design, I started off by lowering the opacity on the rough outline layer and then created a new layer which I simply labelled outline. I went over the rough outline design and made it look neater and then also added some more to the design, I added some lines running down the wood as I wanted to make it look like planks off wood as this would add more character to the end result of my asset.

In these images we cann see how colouring my asset made it look better and also why I coloured in the way I did. I started off with the walls as this was going to be interesting to colour in, I began by getting a dark brown and outlining the wall and also the planks, this would then make it easier for later on when I would go on to texture the planks as they would all be split up and ready to texture. I then got a lighter shade of brown and coloured in the entirety of the wood and made it look like a wall of planks.

I then went on to outline the safe, I did this by using a dark grey as I wanted to outline it and make it look really good, I feel this worked well and also made it possible for me to colour in the rest of the safe without any mistakes as I was able to use the outlines as a guideline and not go over them, this meant that I was able to colour inside the lines and not mess up my design.

This is the final image of my finished asset, after I had coloured in the walls and the safe, I then added a handle and dial to the front of the safe which I did by using a brown colour for the handle and a lighter brown in the centre to make it look good, I then went around it in a dark grey so it was clearly outlined, following this I made the dial by getting a dark brown and drawing a circle and then got a lighter brown and added a smaller circle with an arrow as if it was pointing towards one of the numbers that would be on the dial. I then added a texture to each of the parts of my design. I started off by texturing the safe first as that was my main asset and I wanted it to look really good. I changed up my brush settings and used some of the weird and whacky brush shapes in the settings which I then used to create the texture for the safe, down the side I wanted to make it seem a bit scratched up which I feel the brush setting did just fine, I then got a couple of different ones and made a design on the front of the safe which made it look even better.

Here is the final asset design with no background, I personally feel as if this design is better as we don’t have to look at all the squares around the design and it just looks a lot more cleaner, I do like the other design with the background but it’s not as good as we don’t really get to see the sky due to the angle of the screenshot and where the safe is. All in all I would say that this a successful asset design and I thoroughly enjoyred creating it.

Current Position

  • What did I do this week and why did I do it? For this wek my tasks were, creating a sketch of my asset, creating a colour design of the asset and also creating a texture for the asset, I wanted to do the sketch as I wanted a newer and better looking version than the previous ones I had already made and by creating a new one it meant making changes would be easier. I also did the colour design as it was the msot important part of the design as it decideds how the final product will look. Finally I did the texture as I thought it would thoroughly improve the design and ensure it was great.
  • What was difficult or easy? I would say the most difficult task for this week was the texture, this was because as I have explained previously I am not great at making textures but also because I hadn’t really done a rough texture design for the wall forthe asset, I decided I would create a different version than the one from my final product as I wanted them to look a little bit different. The easiest task was the sketch as there wasn’t a whole lot to sketch over which meant it didn’t take too much time.
  • What tasks didn’t I complete from this week? I managed to complete all of my tasks for this week and hand-in on time which was very good.
  • How do I plan to catch up? N/A
  • Do I need to change anything about my work or planning? I only need to work on improving my time management skill, this will happen over the course of the year as I will be able to work on it a lot during my future projects.