Digital Reflection 20 - Finishing the moodshot

I decided to use the 3D blockout method that I had practised previously for the landscape photobashing task in order to produced the moodshot. Using my building designs I made some simple block outs in 3Ds Max, and arranged them according to my thumbnail and street layout designs. I then set up a perspective camera, so that it matched the composition of the detailed thumbnail and took a series of render passes. I took a main fully lit render, Zdepth render, a clown map, and a lighting pass from the left and the right hand side so that the lighting in photoshop would be more accurate, and that it would set a stronger mood in advance before doing the rest of the moodshot.

Blocking out buildings in 3Ds Max

Creating a Camera

Camera View I chose

Using a HDRI for lighting

Rendering

Applying directional lights

Creating a clown map

I then used a combination of photobashing and handpainting to render the rest of the moodshot. I used a similar process to the landscape photobashing task that we practised previously as it was more efficient. 

I then played around with the raw camera filter to edit the photos, and played with the clarity, tinting and saturation setting. I wanted the moodshot to portray a sense of desert heat in the afternoon during a duel, but I also wanted there to be a sense of magic in the air, so I tried to achieve a balance of the more fantastical pink and the warm orange of the desert. I added several fantasy elements to the moodshot, including the magic windmill, water trough, the slight tint and finally the flying dragons in the sky to drive home the sense of a fantasy world mixed in with the wild west.

Finally I added stylistic effects similar to that of the character design, such as the bright highlights, and the silhouettes of different races based on the characters designed by the group. I think that the final moodshot represents how the 3D platformer would play quite well, and dictates the level of  fantasy and western elements in the style. To improve, I could have done some colour versions of the crowd silhouettes, and maybe made some signs for the building facades, such as shop names. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome.

Final moodshot