Art pipeline

The art pipeline is the process of creating and implementing art for a particular project, most commonly associated with the creative process for developing video games. In an era of high-profile video games, wherein the creative energy of the teams and the budgets for projects surpass even some Hollywood blockbusters, graphics are ever-improving and an increasingly important selling point. Video game developers employ extensive teams of artists to carry a project's artistic goals through from the conceptual stage to the final release. A fully realized game asset, whether it is a character, background, building, object, or animation, is created in a deliberate process with different artists working on and contributing separate aspects in a step-by-step process to the final product. To facilitate this process, a number of software programs are marketed to developers as flexible tools for productively streamlining the transformation of elements created within a program to a fully realized game asset. These highly customizable programs allow users to apply plug-ins or add-ons to tailor the interactions each program will have with one another as an element moves along the pipeline from concept to completion.

The art pipeline is basically the “production line” of video game development. It is used to describe the streamlined process of development and production. It is broken down into four major categories, each with its own very specific set of steps. The phases are concept, design, pre-production, and post production.

Concept

Concept is the basic idea of the game to be made, be it an original game or an addition to a pre-existing franchise. This is where developers do the brainstorming. This is also the point where an idea of varying levels of completeness can be pitched to the game developers in question.

Design

Design is the stage where the look, flow, and story of a game is created by planning storylines, story boards, dialogue, character designs, plot points, etc. The goal of the design stage is to assemble a coherent game. Characters are designed and developed alongside the storyline, which is dictated to create a distinct plot flow and, where the game warrants such treatment, plan for CG cutaway scenes that will provide forward momentum to the game’s story. This stage is also where the game’s overall appearance is conceptualized, providing details on how the levels look and what kind of environments will be built. Costumes, equipment, gameplay, major level goals, etc. are all decided here. Overall, this is where the substance of the game is planned before technical work on the game begins.

Pre-Production

Pre-Production is the stage where developers begin to build the game. Artists, programmers, technicians, producers, and directors are all involved in this stage. This is the stage that has brought rise to the new designation of “technical artists.” Artists and programmers work closely together to make sure the vision comes to life cohesively. Deviations from the original conceptualization are common here, as the team identifies which technical and artistic goals may be ineffective or impossible to execute. The outcome of pre-production is the creation of the alpha copy, an initial cut of the game that will next be sent to play testers. As the game materializes throughout this stage, the developers also work closely with marketing specialists to begin building an advertising campaign.

Post-Production

Post-Production is the initial testing stage of the game wherein game testers are paid to play through the alpha copy and spot obvious problem areas and glitches within the game. These 3rd party play testers focus on refining gameplay details, voicing their critiques to the developers. The play testers spend time identifying what needs fixing and reporting the bugs, so that the designers and producers may work to fix them. When the initial testing and correcting on the alpha copy is complete, the game moves to the beta copy. The beta copy is often produced in small quantities for specially selected, non-industry individuals to play through and further investigate glitches and bugs. As the beta copy is released to a wider audience outside of the industry than the alpha copy, this is often the first chance the producers gain an idea of the overall effectiveness of the game. After beta testing is complete and all major bugs have been resolved, the final, shippable copy of the game is published, ready to be sent off to general consumers.

External links

• Simple Animation Pipeline