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Games VFX | Stage 2 Brief | Search For A Star & Sumo Digital Rising Star 2018 Sticky Locked

A topic by GradsInGames created Dec 18, 2017 Views: 460
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Search For A Star & Sumo Digital Rising Star 2018

Games VFX | Stage 2 Brief

Core Brief

Create a game-ready VFX action sequence appropriate for a contemporary AAA game, presented in Unreal Engine 4. All stylistic, thematic and aesthetic considerations are at the artist's discretion. The full development process must be evidenced, from pre-production, production, post-production to final presentation.

Objective

The goal of this piece of work is to demonstrate your ability as an artist to conceive, develop, create and present an innovative and creative effects sequence. The process that leads to the result is as key as the final composition itself, the creativity and motivation of the final piece should be evident from the foundation work.  

Fixed Conditions

The scene must contain a chained Area-of-Effect sequence typical of VFX in games environments. The final sequence must be presented both as individual sections and as a complete chained sequence, beginning and ending in the passive state. The sequence should take place within a 30x30x30m area.

Effects sequence must include:

  • One passive/idle state

  • One ‘powering up’ state

  • One ‘release’ state

  • One ‘impact’ state

Thematic and Stylistic Suggestions

The theme and tone should act as strong motivators toward your choice of response, render style, execution and your personal strength, as it’s your artistic judgment in these areas that will be on show.

The choice of theme and complexity of the sequence are at the your discretion, but to help here are some examples to encourage a range of creative interpretations around the brief:

  • A basic group healing effect (self-targeted)

    • Idle; [generating object] encircled with an ethereal glow

    • Charging; slow pulse as if a heartbeat

    • Release; an outward cascade of light

    • Impact; crash to sparks as they hit [secondary object(s)] or fade out with distance

  • A fantasy-styled elemental attack (ground-targeted)

    • Idle; [generating object] dripping with water

    • Charging; gathers a growing pool beneath them.

    • Release; In a sudden shift, the water is raised high into the air above & arcs back down

    • Impact; The liquid hits [secondary object] with a mighty splash.

  • A high-tech, proximity activated charge-station, (linear-targeted).

    • Idle; [generating object] with gentle pulsing lights & a rotating hologramatic sign

    • Charging; rapidly spinning holo-sign and increase in lights activity

    • Release; A beam emission of light and data to [nearby object(s)]

    • Impact; a pulse wave passes over [nearby object(s)]

  • A raging storm cloud with arcing lightning bolts (auto-targeting)

    • Idle; [generating object] floating above surface, pulsing with inner lights

    • Charging; electrified aura, sparking and crackling with potential

    • Release; discharge of directional lightning bolts towards nearest [target object]

    • Impact; electrified aura on [target object] & loop back to Release state.

Concept & Design

The pre-production phase is there to help solidify a vision and decide the motivating factors for the visual effect being produced. Whilst reviewing the final piece, the journey, influences and creative choices along the way will be taken into account.  

Evidence of reference gathering, moodboards, collation or collage of specific designs, concepts or reference points will need to be produced and presented.

Whether the use of photo reference, concept art or existing game materials is more relevant when consolidating your design, depends on the creative direction you choose, so long as the vision and compositional elements can be clearly communicated.

Storyboarding should give a feel for the structure & timing before starting production, acting as a template for your initial sequence. This could take the form of simple sketches right through to beautifully painted concept art, but the key is for the frames & annotations to be clear and solve as many pre-production questions as possible.

The pre-production phase is an integral part in both outlining and defining your objectives, as well as giving a reference point for your artistic and creative progression throughout the project.

We cannot understate the importance of good research, development, planning and documentation.

Presentation of materials

The final piece will need to be presented alongside all the preliminary pre-production works, the layout and composition of all pieces should be well considered and clearly communicate your creative intentions.

Often strong VFX work can be mis-represented when not demonstrated or composed effectively. Your ability to show good judgment when focusing your 3D creation effort and techniques towards specifically composed areas will be taken into account. Be sure to know the framing of your scene to maximize your efforts and the impact of your final render(s).

Do consider the format and framing ratio of both your final renders as well as the preliminary works. Explore and consider your dimensions and relative composition and layouts.

Development Process / Assessment Milestones

 

 

 

 

 

 

MS1

Pre-Production

Written intro, outline the tone and artistic motivations

 

 

MS2

Curated references, mood board, influences

 

 

MS3

Concept design, Compositional exploration

 

 

MS4

Storyboarding

 

 

MS5

Production

Sequence preparation, modelling of any required guide object(s)

 

 

MS6

Initial sequence blocking & base layout

 

 

MS7

Reviews & revisions of initial sequence, add to detailing & aesthetics

 

 

MS8

Final sequence in full, complete with all detailing

 

 

MS9

Post Production

Rendering of final sequence and post render edits

 

 

MS10

Presentation

Present and discuss Pre-Production documentation and assets

 

 

MS11

Present and discuss Finished piece

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assessment Criteria

Concept design & development

Technical

Creative

Documentation

Presentation

Recommendations & Considerations

Industry professionals have been consulted throughout the SFAS process. Below you’ll see a list of common threads and feedback points that often occur. Each point is worthy of consideration when defining your own brief, subject matter and executing on your own works: -

  • Aim for high quality - your best work

  • Show Concept Development

  • Researching & Purposeful Mood boards

  • Know your strengths and build upon them

  • Show full process documentation

  • Demonstrate Compositional sense

  • Understand and Define your Style

  • Showcase of artistic ability

  • Showcase of creative ability

  • Showcase of technical ability

  • Dev Diaries

  • Scaling, Accuracy

  • A well selected Colour palette

  • Use industry standards / pipelines

  • Detailing of aesthetics

  • Layout and arrangement

  • Appropriate detail & density

  • Unreal engine best practice

  • Use of mixed tools

  • Well composed Lighting

  • Consider use of post-prod’ FX

  • Meshes, maps, textures

  • Use & application of guide objects

  • Leverage Post Processing

Summary and Goal

  • Design and create a VFX sequence based on a typical games AoE chain.

  • Define your own setting, theme and tone

  • The sequence must contain the following stages: -

    • One passive/idle state

    • One ‘powering up’ state

    • One ‘release’ state

    • One ‘impact’ state

  • Format and present your final in-engine renders and supporting assets.    

The goal of this exercise is to create a brief or framework that focuses your attention and skills into a single piece that demonstrates both industry relative abilities and your own personal creative judgment.

Submission Details

  • You may use any additional tools that you have access to (e.g. Maya, Substance etc.)

  • Finished projects should be presented as a combination of in-engine videos, images, sketchfab models (optional), and as a self-contained downloadable PDF project.

  • Projects must be submitted using the Itch platform (see submission guide below).

Submission Guide

All finished projects are required to be published on the itch.io platform and submitted to the Search For A Star VFX Challenge 2018 by 28th January 2018 at 11:59 PM GMT

 You must join the SFAS VFX page to take part : https://itch.io/jam/games-vfx-challenge

 We advise that you set up a draft of your project page ahead of the deadline. To create your art project page, go to your itch.io Dashboard and select the ‘Upload New Project’ option.

 Complete the submission form, in line with itch.io’s Quality Guidelines 

  • Set Classification to ‘game assets’.
  • Set Kind of project to ‘Downloadable’.
  • For Release State, choose an option that best describes your project, even if ‘prototype’ or ‘in development’.
  • Set pricing to ‘Disable all payments’ - You can change this once all projects have been marked by the judges, if you wish. 
  • Upload your project files as a single zip file, exported from UE4 (Package project > Zip)
  • Upload a separate project PDF containing your intro, pre-production work, summation and any additional production documentation.  
  • Include the following on your project page:
    • A cover image
    • Your key screens as the screenshots
    • Video content of your full sequence 
  • The ‘Description’ text box should contain a copy of your written intro & final written summation from your documentation. It may contain further documentation if you choose.  
  • When your project is complete, set ‘Visibility & Access Settings’ to ‘Public’.
    • To prevent your project showing up in public listings, choose the option for ‘Unlisted in search & browse’.

 

To submit your project, return to the Search For A Star 2018 page and press the ‘Submit your jam’ button

 Select your finished project, fill in your name and challenge tier details and press ‘Submit’.

 If you have any issues with the submission process or want to clarify anything, let me know either at dan@gradsingames.com or ask on the Grads In Games Discord : https://discord.gg/7ppfTnT

Please note that there is no ‘fail’ or ‘disqualification’ criteria. Do what you can & submit what you are able to. Even unfinished pieces and works in progress can be valuable.

Support & Resources

Support information, FAQ & resources, as well as a copy of this project brief, can be found on the itch.io community forum pages for the project. Additional help & guidance may also be posted here throughout the challenge, so it’s recommended you check it regularly.

Community Forum : https://itch.io/jam/games-vfx-challenge/community

Grads In Games Discord: https://discord.gg/7ppfTnT

We’ll also be active in the community forum & in the Grads In Games Discord to help you out & answer questions.

If you have any questions about the project or competition contact Aardvark Swift / Grads In Games at dan@gradsingames.com or call us on 01709834777