Process
Literature Research
Above are a look at a number of the literature used in developing curriculum and the visual prototype.
Researching Artist/Architects
Below are two inspirational Artists/Architects and an example of work from each. These two pieces were important to my research to display minimalism in an interior and exterior environment.
Tadao Ando: Church of Light
Tadao Ando is one of the worlds most respected Architects and winner of the highest achievement in Architecture: the Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1995. This self taught architect takes from traditional Zen philosophies and creates minimalistic environments that integrate with the culture and nature.
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Here is an example of Ando's work; Church of Light is located in Osaka Japan. It is primarily made of concrete blocks and is lit by the natural light flooding in from outside. Ando has his own personal carpenters that create a unique blend of concrete that begins to look more like a fine textile rather than concrete mass.
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Frank Lloyd Wright: Falling Water
Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) pictured here caught my interest when I saw some interior work of his as a child living in the Chicago land area. Later after seeing his work "Falling Water" I considered Wright a genius of his craft.
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Falling Water is a National Historic Landmark. It is located at Bear Run Nature Reserve, in Pennsylvania. This minimalistic design is made of only 4 materials: sandstone, reinforced concrete, steel and glass. This limited material supply fits well with the idea of creating within limits.
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Research and Reference: 111 W. Washington St., Chicago, Illinois
I chose this location based on the minimalistic beauty I found there and I had access to it. I did a photo shoot early in the morning before the lobby filled with people. After taking the pictures I created High Dynamic Range Images (HDRI) through multiple exposure bracketing. Then I created the reference images found below the video.
Finding a real world reference to use as a basis for building curriculum and visual element was an important step. The approach of collecting reference is an industry standard. Real reference also gives an objective view of a visual standard to achieve. Locating the right kind of reference that fit a minimalistic style was a considered imperative. In the heart of Downtown Chicago 111 W. Washington St. also known as the Burnham Center has a beautiful lobby that portraits the minimalistic style needed for this experiment.
Finding a real world reference to use as a basis for building curriculum and visual element was an important step. The approach of collecting reference is an industry standard. Real reference also gives an objective view of a visual standard to achieve. Locating the right kind of reference that fit a minimalistic style was a considered imperative. In the heart of Downtown Chicago 111 W. Washington St. also known as the Burnham Center has a beautiful lobby that portraits the minimalistic style needed for this experiment.
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Technology Research
Because the nature of this study involves playing with blocks two approaches were taken to create a dynamic method for creating content and learning technology: 1) Supplemental training using professionally created environment pieces was part of the required learning tools. World of Level Designs "UE4 Corridor" was used as a homework teaching solution that incorporates constructive play with pre-made pieces. 2) Using procedural methods for content creation was explored as well. The key to this method was to use a flexible fast approach that could be iterated on when building and it did not require developed art skills.
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Procedural Modeling
For this project I will be using Houdini. While Houdini has a high learning curve in some areas, for modeling it is straight forward. Houdini allows the user to easily change things through its completely non-destructive history. For new budding creatives it allows them to go back and adjust things when and where it is needed. Furthermore the Houdini Engine allows the user to promote settings into a tool that can be later altered in the game engine. I know of no other tool that offer this. The Houdini Digital Asset and Houdini Engine Plugin for Unreal allows one to author a tool that makes an infinite number of primitive assets for building minimal environment (or even more complex environments if one is so inclined).
UV's
UV's will be done using procedural methods too, allowing for easy iteration.
Photo Source Texturing
Photo Source texturing will be used for most of the material. Utilizing Alllegorithmic's Bitmap 2 Material authoring beautiful PBR materials from photo's is an extremely streamlined and friendly process. It allows one to take a simple photo source texture, tile it and create PBR material from it using sliders to adjust parameters.
Materials
Materials will be kept straight forward: plugin into the proper slots and tweak later for a final look. Creating simple yet elegant materials is the goal.
Lighting
Lighting in game engines can be tricky. I worked as a lighting artist on Saints Row IV, below is an environment I worked on "The Broken Shillelagh". It is important to differentiate surfaces to create items that stand out and have a good 1, 2, 3 read by painting light from different angles. These type of concepts will be integrated into the design of the visual component.
Scene Breakdown
Below I have highlighted and broken down all of the pieces needed for completion of the visual component.
