Environment Concept Design

The aim of this course is to take the client’s initial brief and create a series of concept pieces that will bring their ideas to life. Working with the kind of constraints clients will impose on us, we’ll look at employing solid workflows and techniques that are used in real-world productions.

Working from the brief, we’ll start by looking at the schedule, collating references, and creating key moodboards. These moodboards will help us spark new ideas, and in a world of infinite possibilities, we’ll work our way out of the mind map to lay firm ideas down onto the blank, white canvas.

Moving on from our initial idea generation, we’ll look to use existing 3D assets to block out the environment, which will then inform our 2D designs. Going between 3D and 2D and back again will allow us to explore and work up our environment to ensure shot cohesion. We’ll also want to make sure lines of sight are maintained, and to establish a clear narrative which supports the script and the action. We’ll also look at basic camera workflows, shot composition, lenses, aspect ratios, all of which will help to create a series of cinematic shots to sell the clients vision.

Lighting and rendering out passes will come next and this will allow us to push our concept in Photoshop. Here we will learn how to photobash backgrounds, and work and grade additional image sources to match our intended look. We’ll look at using layer blending techniques, custom brushes, and have an in-depth look at some of the core Photoshop tools which help create industry-standard professional artwork.

By the end of the course, you will have a deeper understanding of what it takes to produce environment concept art, and will come away with professional techniques, workflows and methodologies to help you in your future projects and career.