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2s | hello everyone and welcome back to the |
---|---|
4s | sixth episode of deconstructing this |
6s | month community manager Megan Everett |
8s | sits down with environment artists Brian |
10s | you and Lionel kaigu as they chat about |
13s | what it takes to design environments for |
15s | a game like warframe sit back and enjoy |
32s | [Music] |
34s | welcome back to the deconstructing |
37s | podcast my name is Megan Everett and |
40s | today I have with me Brian you I am an |
44s | environment artist there for four years |
46s | and Lionel and I'm also an environment |
49s | artist and I've been here two years |
51s | oh very nice all right we're gonna jump |
53s | right into these questions because you |
55s | can't see but these two are extremely |
57s | prepared for this podcast more prepared |
59s | than even I am one of the broader |
61s | questions is what exactly is an |
64s | environment artist because I know you |
66s | hear the word environment artists and |
68s | you probably automatically assume |
70s | literally environment like trees and |
73s | foliage are like an environment so what |
76s | exactly is an environment artist well it |
80s | depends on the studio right so like I |
82s | used to work at dice and they have a |
85s | term called world builder so they do |
87s | other things they can do layout they can |
89s | do prop dressing ID eat a little |
92s | different so we basically do almost |
94s | anything except from except characters |
98s | and weapons we don't do like large |
100s | creature either but we do you know rocks |
103s | asteroids spaceship interiors you know |
106s | monuments spaceship itself sometimes |
109s | person yeah we could do like a lot of |
112s | different we've even done creepy very um |
115s | I've done two fishies done a couple of |
117s | fish to think as well so it's pretty |
119s | broad yeah it's it's huge wide gamut of |
121s | a lot of stuff and how did you both get |
124s | your start in environment art I didn't |
127s | go to school for it initially initially |
129s | I went to school or I didn't know what I |
130s | wanted to do in university I'm not |
132s | choosing my university it was more of a |
135s | I like Photoshop at the time so I went |
138s | to the University fair and was like hey |
139s | are there any programs that had |
141s | Photoshop in it and like hey this one at |
143s | Ryerson I'm like okay cool I'll go to |
145s | something called new media it was new |
147s | and nothing to do with the news so when |
149s | did that yeah it was a lot of everything |
151s | actually which kind of prepared me for |
153s | this it was like robotics some |
155s | programming websites motion graphics and |
158s | I chose 3d for one of the courses and so |
162s | I forgot my first taste there and I |
166s | don't know I just love the immediately |
167s | ended up graduating with my bachelor of |
169s | fine arts and then worked graphic design |
172s | for a little bit got let go up my crappy |
175s | design job yeah |
180s | then from there apply to Seneca for |
183s | gamer and animation got in eight |
186s | grueling months and then got into |
189s | working in the industry but mostly form |
192s | a professor or freelancing mhm and then |
195s | to cut the story short ended up here |
198s | yeah I know how about you long story |
201s | short I used to you can actually record |
204s | it will be easier long story short I |
207s | basically started as a character artist |
209s | for many years for about close to 10 |
212s | years and then scanning happened and I |
216s | was not very challenging creatively so I |
219s | decided to go into environment art and a |
222s | recruiter told me oh I have a job for |
225s | you in Canada and I applied and that's |
227s | how I got here and all over the place |
229s | then yeah yeah everything Sweden and |
231s | Spain and all right back to warframe now |
236s | let me know your past what were the |
237s | first environments that you worked on |
239s | for warframe as a project basically when |
242s | I got into the studio I got a pretty |
245s | challenging task they basically told me |
246s | all you need to create some orc and |
249s | fishes like what is that oh that's her |
252s | first house that was my first task and I |
254s | had to do the design open to make the |
257s | models and he had to reuse the |
258s | animations from the fishes from the |
260s | planes right so it was gonna have a |
264s | swimming animation like a wiggly tail |
265s | something |
266s | but Steve was like I don't want them to |
269s | look like fishes I want them to look |
271s | like creatures that process coolant like |
274s | wow so we're talking sorry we're talking |
276s | Valles fish yeah and and also there was |
281s | this tier system where basically if you |
283s | catch a rare fish it's gonna be having |
285s | more ornaments so basically I had to |
288s | come up with a system where let's say on |
290s | this fish called the Synod for the |
291s | people listening they might know which |
292s | one it is it's rare the crest is |
295s | actually growing so if you have a rare |
296s | rare one the crest is actually very like |
300s | long it's almost like a circle right |
302s | okay that was tricky to make that's |
304s | where I worked on first and what I got |
305s | here that's it that's pretty crazy to be |
307s | thrown into warframe be like we're doing |
310s | a new open world here you go oh you know |
312s | you find some fish that don't look like |
313s | fish yeah cutting fish that aren't real |
316s | and don't move the same as real fish |
319s | Yeah right Brian yeah for me it's |
323s | nothing that glamorous but for my first |
325s | time it was for the war within set or |
329s | the question anyway yeah I worked on the |
333s | Grenier asteroid set where there was |
335s | like this giant door and you had to join |
339s | the gameplay you have to stand there |
340s | while the doors slowly opening or so |
342s | right yes yeah and so I worked on that |
344s | and also worked on this stone door I'm |
347s | not gonna have any spoilers but it's in |
349s | that quest in the mountains and hey |
352s | stone door I worked on that and those |
354s | are like my first two actual hey these |
357s | are your own props start from scratch |
359s | kind of thing mm-hmm |
360s | were there any challenges when you were |
362s | thrown into that oh yeah because I've I |
365s | had to design the stone in a certain way |
368s | because it had to have structure but |
370s | also look like stone right and so the |
373s | concept you're only given so much and |
375s | you have to translate that into 3d and |
377s | make it work with the environment and |
378s | whatnot and at the time I didn't have a |
380s | lot of experience with ZBrush which is a |
383s | program we use for sculpting and |
384s | modeling so that was probably most |
387s | difficult one I would say mm-hmm yeah so |
390s | you guys get to work on obviously a lot |
392s | of things fish Doris you know it's not a |
395s | lot of doors at the beginning it is like |
397s | door guys like yeah one Thor I |
399s | was the door it was one door and that |
402s | working like to corpus doors the grineer |
405s | asteroid ship doors don't door and |
407s | they're probably like one or two more |
408s | yeah at the beginning did you do |
410s | friendship doors I wish I almost me I |
414s | mean we could have made one in Cedars |
415s | but we could scrub that a friendship |
417s | door I don't know what could have been a |
419s | friendship door it was must be a door |
421s | underneath the market that was a secret |
423s | too Oh instead we did the cave thing |
426s | yeah yeah okay gotcha |
429s | no spoilers kind of find the cave now |
431s | whatever so what have you worked on that |
433s | you are most proud of that you can |
435s | remember on warframe what's for me like |
439s | your Realtor Roca the fish look at this |
444s | fish totally different now yeah oh yeah |
446s | the fish was like it was a cool |
448s | challenge specially because Steve was |
450s | like okay make me something that does |
452s | not look like a fish every time I was |
454s | like sending him like a sketch mm-hmm it |
456s | was like too much like a fish didn't |
458s | printed it oh it was that another one oh |
459s | that's the other one okay |
460s | yeah so basically I'm working on a fish |
462s | then I'm actually printing okay it's |
464s | gonna be a physic 3d printer okay |
466s | is it like a warframe fish yeah but it's |
468s | not in the game so it's one that I made |
470s | in my spare time but it's not we |
471s | couldn't actually squeeze it in because |
473s | there's too many fishes in there you |
474s | know it's never enough fish never enough |
477s | fish no who knows maybe we'll put it in |
480s | at some point will be pretty much team |
484s | 650 well yeah like the the rail jack |
487s | interior because it was when we started |
490s | like having conversations about what it |
492s | was gonna be in the style the first |
495s | question was like how we're gonna pull |
496s | this off so it's like organic stuff |
499s | nobody has made it before in the game |
501s | industry how are we gonna produce it |
503s | well there's a reason why sure exactly |
504s | there's a reason but it's extremely |
506s | tight because it's really hard and it's |
509s | really hard because it's essentially |
512s | automotive design so you have a lot of |
515s | like curves and flow and you know |
518s | creases to catch like highlights and you |
521s | know you work on like parts of the ship |
523s | and then you put some other stuff and |
525s | you realize oh it doesn't fit so you |
526s | have to do a little back and forth a lot |
528s | of iterations yeah I would say like the |
530s | the bar was really high |
532s | and I'm happy with what we delivered I |
535s | think it's different I think it's |
538s | something that people haven't seen like |
539s | a spaceship like that and I think it's |
541s | offering like a new kind of player |
543s | experience and seeing like the reaction |
546s | of people like a telecon was really so |
551s | yeah definitely that one I mean what |
553s | about you Brian the same honestly it'd |
556s | be rail jack cuz I spent a lot of time |
558s | on that I think I spent was working on |
560s | that for like a year to two years real |
564s | Jack and also the Cetus fish but for the |
566s | real Jack I think specifically in that |
568s | space it's probably the airlock room I |
573s | would say was my favorite and and what |
576s | I'm most proud of because we spent so |
577s | much time designing it and it was like |
580s | the dry dock like what you show in the |
581s | dojo know the airlock room in the actual |
584s | real Jack which room is that I can't |
588s | think back to the demo like so you have |
590s | a room in the back of the ship where it |
592s | has changed a bit never the Kanan was |
594s | you know that's that's the top yeah so I |
597s | was like on the main floor all the way |
598s | back they showed it briefly they didn't |
600s | spend a lot of time back there oh the |
602s | resource things were coming in the boxes |
604s | oh it's all my main level though that's |
609s | a pretty recall like it was very tight |
612s | like I wish we had the quality |
614s | everywhere ship like it's hard to |
616s | sustain I think oh there's new fridge |
619s | deferred rendering might be able to do |
621s | more it's more like from a production |
622s | perspective I could think it's very time |
624s | consuming like you can see there's a lot |
627s | of tricky curves and detailed and |
629s | whatnot that air is contained but then |
631s | if you put it everywhere it'd be too |
632s | much meteorology or too many curves and |
635s | other times like it's with you curvy so |
638s | yeah we had that problem too we had to |
641s | introduce more structural and more |
644s | strict and rigid elements to kind of |
646s | balance it yeah it's like the mind of a |
649s | an artist right they're too curvy need |
651s | more ridges like I would have never |
653s | maybe not never noticed it but like |
655s | never thought of that |
656s | yeah you guys obviously have to because |
658s | you're artists hey Steve brought it up |
660s | to like that we because we in the |
663s | channel we share everything with Steve |
664s | and he has opinions |
666s | so sometimes Steve like for example he |
668s | he's the one who said I want a window in |
670s | the cockpit on the side he's the one who |
673s | said I really wanted to see the exterior |
674s | more so we tried to cut it in and design |
677s | it right so it was the same for some |
680s | part of the ship where he was like guys |
681s | I don't feel it it's too curvy and I'm |
683s | like yeah you know what like it's hard |
685s | to see what you're looking at to |
687s | understand the space especially that |
688s | lower area with your giant machine |
690s | because it all is pretty cool it doesn't |
692s | make sense but it's pretty cool warframe |
696s | yeah that's pretty cool yeah a bunch of |
698s | giant like three giant holes that looks |
701s | like I don't know you could do anything |
702s | there and then I was like hey or someone |
706s | was like hey we need to redesign this |
708s | and we designed it more structures more |
710s | rigid okay looks like a machine or some |
713s | like orokin or not Robin but some |
714s | warframe type organ looking thing yeah |
717s | it works now yeah exactly yeah no one |
720s | must streak you my god yeah well |
722s | speaking of tricky what are some of the |
723s | hardest challenges you've had as an |
725s | environment artists could be no con give |
727s | me a rail jack and fish me specifically |
730s | as a kind of broad stroke not anything |
733s | specific but I can't get into specifics |
734s | I'm sure you can it's more on the design |
738s | part cuz my design skills aren't strong |
741s | though I am getting better at it and I |
743s | have a lot more opportunities like right |
746s | now I'm I think given a level in |
748s | sentience stuff so I even though I'm not |
750s | a level artist hmm it kind of freed up |
754s | and so it took the opportunity and I'm |
757s | working in designing that level and |
758s | speaking of the level designer why not |
760s | to make sure we get the gameplay across |
762s | and also working on the main prop that's |
765s | in that space mm-hmm but definitely |
767s | design whether it's designing the level |
769s | or we have a rough sketch of something |
771s | or maybe even the concept is concrete |
774s | and we put in the level and it just |
775s | doesn't work and we have to like hey we |
777s | don't have to design something else for |
779s | this or that I'd say that as a general |
783s | bubble would be the most difficult |
785s | challenge for me mm-hmm |
787s | yeah a lot of the players are people who |
789s | don't know about the dev side of things |
792s | and how things work there's a lot of |
794s | thought process and rework and revisions |
796s | that go into it you just go through so |
798s | many iterations and |
800s | sometimes we love this sometimes we |
801s | don't like for example like the Acme |
805s | holes that people that you're dropping |
806s | out of now initially we didn't really |
809s | have those it was just you go to the |
811s | airlocks which is in the operator area |
814s | which we never use yeah and that's how |
816s | you got out which is like okay if we |
818s | have we're in a firefight we have to go |
821s | from other the side turrets or the |
823s | cockpit with the run all the way back |
825s | right so we started putting those |
826s | everywhere to make a more convenient a |
828s | lot of times it's like either you've |
831s | balance between realism or what you want |
833s | as an artist and designer and if it's |
836s | fun and game play mm-hmm so it's a |
838s | spectrum a lot and actually those helped |
840s | a lot from a demo point of view because |
843s | we could use you can see two different |
844s | parts or three different parts of the |
846s | ship and we're both like exiting out of |
848s | the ship right so you see more and also |
850s | at one point it was broken where if we |
852s | all use the same one it would crash well |
860s | good thing we have four other exits to |
861s | use yeah there's there's six actually go |
865s | through the cargo I can remember oh you |
867s | can now okay but you guys haven't really |
869s | shown their cargo you've briefly breathe |
871s | yeah the very beginning it was like |
872s | really quick tour of yeah what we could |
875s | because actually other than showing off |
878s | the rail Jack and that beginning where |
880s | rub loads into it yeah most of the time |
882s | walking through that was so Danielle and |
884s | I could load into it and not crash also |
888s | cuz it's really cool to look at you know |
890s | showing something new but yeah yeah this |
893s | was we had two exits and now we have six |
899s | if you don't include the cargo bay |
900s | mm-hmm when canning being the best one |
905s | yeah I was definitely the funnest to the |
910s | whole and then with the electricity |
911s | whoever did the effects that came out of |
913s | nowhere I wasn't expecting the effects |
915s | to be like yeah he punched punch through |
917s | the holes like oh who are do the effects |
919s | genius yeah yeah cuz the way they did it |
921s | it's kind of like great what do you |
924s | expect from like a superhero movie yeah |
926s | he had like punchy sound effects to to |
929s | follow that now yeah when we were doing |
931s | the demo it was like that wasn't there |
934s | then I was on the next run it was there |
935s | oh god what did we do different nothing |
939s | who does added this crazy lightening |
941s | effect |
941s | so speaking of rail jack do you have |
943s | anymore memories from Ted Oh Kahn that |
945s | you remember working on or just like you |
947s | said the reaction from the crowd any |
949s | kind of memories well so I mean this |
952s | year it was cool but I have an anecdote |
955s | from last year last year so basically I |
958s | was I was in the crowd right and last |
961s | year there were like two kids in front |
963s | of me I think they were like 10 12 and |
966s | when we showed the demo with the |
967s | spaceships right one of the kids in |
970s | front of me he jumped in the air out of |
972s | excitement I was like wow like if you |
974s | can you know trigger that kind of |
976s | response that's crazy right yeah so like |
979s | for me to see how gamers react to what |
982s | we do because you know we work like |
983s | pretty much in a sheltered environment |
985s | like you know we work on our stuff like |
988s | you know we don't see we don't have any |
990s | feedback from the world like from gamers |
992s | right this year you know and then they |
996s | have like a huge reaction it's really |
998s | cool to witness a thing and also a lot |
1001s | of the players they usually react to not |
1002s | so much the environments you it's with |
1005s | bugs or weapons or characters not so |
1008s | much environment art a lot of the not |
1010s | just more from particularly but a lot of |
1012s | environment art artists if we're doing |
1015s | our jobs right either they notice it's |
1018s | like oh this is fantastic or they don't |
1020s | say anything good they just pick up on |
1022s | the bad stuff if we it's kind of skewed |
1025s | and weird if we do a good job and no one |
1027s | notices any of the flaws or things that |
1029s | we might have missed or put in then we |
1032s | did a good did like a fantastic job yeah |
1034s | all right back on track here |
1037s | what sort of influences did you draw |
1039s | from when working on different |
1040s | environments like maybe some video games |
1042s | movies or other artists for the |
1046s | listeners here maybe they know this but |
1048s | like the Tenno side is is highly |
1050s | influenced by sea creatures you know |
1053s | like calamari and squids and stuff like |
1055s | that if you look at volts head you can |
1057s | see it right yeah and basically we look |
1062s | at like fauna and flora so you can look |
1064s | at animals and plants for the real jack |
1067s | interior for |
1068s | we really looked at car design |
1070s | automotive design and we looked at car |
1073s | designs that were kind of organic |
1075s | looking so now because of new |
1076s | manufacturing technologies they can |
1078s | actually make heart that look much |
1080s | curvier right and so one of them is |
1082s | infinity they make really cool cars they |
1085s | have some very cool concept cars are |
1088s | very you know curvy and flowy and some |
1091s | nice creases to catch some highlights so |
1093s | we try to to use that because we have |
1097s | this new tech with the Deford lighting |
1100s | system and we can we can have really |
1102s | cool reflections more complex lighting |
1103s | so it was a cool way to make the |
1106s | surfaces interesting where you know you |
1108s | have like this this nice curve and then |
1110s | you have a little modulation in the |
1113s | reflection right we look at like para |
1115s | design so it could be like I don't know |
1117s | like a perfume bottle it could be toys |
1119s | there's a lot of people at work who love |
1121s | Gundams there's a channel like I don't |
1127s | dislike populate oh yeah people and lots |
1130s | of people like like cats for example |
1132s | she's crazy about God she's named so |
1135s | yeah like we look at different things |
1136s | right so we don't really look at games |
1138s | strangely enough like we we want to do |
1142s | our own thing and I think that's why the |
1143s | game looks so different because part of |
1147s | there's a culture at the office where we |
1151s | try to think out of the box we want to |
1153s | go into into the uncharted territories |
1156s | right we try to see like is it different |
1158s | enough can we make it more interesting |
1161s | idea what like how do we push this to be |
1163s | porous right weird like Matt for example |
1167s | or Steve they really push every time oh |
1170s | yeah courageous and brave in that regard |
1173s | because I mean if it fails and you know |
1174s | a fails and we learn from it we try yeah |
1177s | and then we rework it and you know we |
1179s | get some fantastic stuff like the dog |
1181s | lazy event was freaking fun even though |
1183s | like they're afraid of water |
1184s | but we're still using Marga that wasn't |
1188s | genius I was not expecting that it was |
1190s | so cool yeah yeah yeah to touch on what |
1193s | Lana said we don't really look at a log |
1195s | game it's the only time we did was we'd |
1198s | have her designs I mean most the time of |
1200s | our Mars we don't |
1201s | designer stuff from from scratch most of |
1205s | the time we get it from concept artist |
1207s | and that's if it's like hey all the |
1208s | customers are you know bogged down and |
1210s | they're busy and we need some cowl or |
1214s | whatever to fit over this year then |
1216s | we'll design but usually it's we have a |
1218s | concept already and going from there |
1220s | sometimes we're making us like this kind |
1224s | of looks like something you'd find in |
1225s | another game and so from there we'd be |
1229s | like okay we need to change it or design |
1231s | it so it doesn't look like it's from |
1232s | something else more so then hey let's |
1235s | look at this and see if we can pull any |
1237s | ideas or stuff from it warframe is so |
1239s | different from everything else that we |
1241s | can't really pull sort of things right |
1243s | maybe the general sense of the idea we |
1246s | can but yeah usually not especially like |
1249s | sentient stuff for examples just so |
1252s | weird yeah which is so weird and |
1254s | different yeah yeah they put a lot of |
1257s | work into that because there were a lot |
1258s | of different take on that design kind of |
1261s | visual language and I remember like it |
1264s | was interesting but maybe it was not |
1266s | iconic enough and they pushed I get the |
1268s | break it's not singular enough so they |
1271s | actually spend many many months doing |
1272s | concept art explorations right and I |
1275s | think it's probably when Marco I think |
1278s | he made a concept that everybody was |
1279s | like okay this is what we want yeah it |
1281s | was like a kind of the tipping point oh |
1283s | yeah we for the sentient stuff this is |
1286s | another tangent but I think from |
1289s | whatever we went through like three or |
1290s | four big iterations as their sleeve we |
1293s | had one artists like Amy three years ago |
1296s | we started to dabble it hey what was a |
1298s | sentient how does that look like and it |
1301s | looked like innards and bowels and stuff |
1303s | like that where you'd have like fleshy |
1305s | bridges going from place to place and |
1307s | then that got kind of shells because |
1309s | we're working a lot of stuff and then at |
1311s | one point it reminded me of like the |
1314s | movie aliens and some of it you know |
1316s | because it's very high repetition very |
1318s | noisy and dark and kind of like gross |
1321s | and and shiny and looks like it's sticky |
1324s | or slimy slimy yeah wet was it go it was |
1327s | pretty cool it looks like it be nasty |
1329s | being there it smell gross but and then |
1332s | when I got brought on the project |
1333s | Michael it's so different now |
1335s | yeah it's the new direction which which |
1338s | I feel it's more unique than what's |
1341s | already out there mmm yeah I'm excited |
1344s | for that I've seen it's a lot of work I |
1346s | know what Jeff was saying on the one dub |
1348s | stream where we showed it off for the |
1350s | first time yeah |
1351s | the fact that it went from I think that |
1354s | like that tile said originally which is |
1356s | gonna be for the new war quest and |
1359s | that's like no we're gonna make a whole |
1361s | new whole new everything new you know |
1364s | enemies and all that and it was it's |
1367s | kind of what happens here is you get one |
1368s | idea you think it's cool add it into |
1370s | something no no this needs to be its own |
1372s | entire thing let's do something wild |
1374s | with it alright so I'm going to ask the |
1377s | last question of where people can find |
1379s | you if you want people to know your |
1381s | social medias so I have a an art station |
1384s | you guys can check out its atomic boy so |
1388s | atomic lowercase and no space you can |
1393s | find me there and my name is lion-o CRE |
1396s | ju t you can probably find me anywhere |
1399s | my name is that it's just Brian you |
1402s | spelt the correct way Bri en incorrectly |
1407s | because some people spell with the Y and |
1408s | that's incorrect |
1409s | Oh doing really sorry some people spell |
1411s | Brian with a why yeah weirdos it isn't |
1414s | Brian Adams who the why yes yeah yeah |
1418s | probably incorrectly so you should send |
1422s | him an email so is just be Brian you on |
1428s | our station and then I guess on like |
1430s | Twitter of stuff that's up young but |
1432s | it's spelt 3 py 0 and making it real |
1435s | difficult it was from like 2004 tells me |
1438s | 5 p.m. it's an epi on it's based on the |
1440s | gundam epyon |
1443s | back to Gundam |
1445s | yes yeah alright thank you to Brian and |
1449s | Leno for joining me on deconstructing ok |
1451s | so much for having us no problem and we |
1453s | will see you next time thanks guys a big |
1457s | thank you to Brian and Lionel for being |
1459s | on the podcast today and thank you for |
1461s | listening |
1462s | tune in next time for another episode of |
1464s | deconstructing |