Salford City CollegeEccles Sixth Form CentreBTec Level 3Extended Diploma in Creative Media ProductionGames Design

Unit 78 – Digital Graphics for Computer GamesHA3 – Transformation

Task 7 Review – GuidanceWrite an evaluation of your project. Use your blog posts to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your design process. This is best carried out by producing a conclusion to your production log and schedule. Try to establish whether or not your finished product has achieved the aim of the project. Take into consideration anything said by interested parties.

Remember that you are trying to create computer game graphics to a technical quality that reflects near-professional standards following industry practice, showing creativity and flair and working independently to professional expectations.

Your production log that you have produced as evidence for Task 5, should have explained clearly what you have done and how you have done it. Your evaluation should allow you to make conclusions about what aspects of the project have been successful and what you have learnt.

You need to explain what you would have improved and how you would have made this happen. This information can be useful to you in the future.

In order to do this you must remember what the aim of the project was. I.e. what job you were asked to carry out in the first place:ScenarioGames studio Lazy Eye Media are recruiting for trainee digital artists. As part of the recruitment process you have been asked to reinvent yourself as the main character within a new game. You will devise the setting, genre, objectives and storyline for the game. Following this, you will produce a profile for your character and produce screen and print-ready concept art and marketing material. You will be using yourself as the model for your character.

In addition to the final artwork, Lazy Eye Media are very interested in how you have made the work; your design process. This means that you will need to evidence each aspect of the assignment carefully and publish it to your blog. They will be interested in finding out which types and styles of games you enjoy playing.

This is your chance to apply the traditional art and design and software skills you have learnt to date. You will be using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to produce both raster and vector artwork.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Did you read the assignment carefully?Yes I knew what I needed to do for each task before starting them. Did you understand the way it was structured and the language used?Are you clear about how the Unit is mapped to the assignment tasks?I understood the structure and language; also it was clear to me how the unit was involved with each task.

Did you use the Moodle materials connected to the assignment effectively?Yes it was very useful in helping me with the task.

Were you aware of the timescale for the project?Did you manage your time well? Did you set yourself short-term goals? Did you plan ahead or simply work from day to day? Think about how you used the schedule for the project and your production log.I was well aware of the timescale for the project. I believe that I did not manage the time as well as I hoped I would, especially when I left the assignment for a while to work on other assignments. For some weeks I did

as I was determined to have certain tasks finished for certain weeks. I planned on a day-to-day basis. I believe I didn’t use the schedule as well as I hoped because I didn’t use it as much during the assignment, the same goes for the production log and especially how I left it for a few weeks.

Did your research and ideas generation help you to create a strong concept?Yes, it gave me a good basis for my game and how I would present my character.

Did you feel confident in using the Adobe software, Photoshop and Illustrator? Were you clear about the differences between them? Did you carry out the theory homework promptly?I felt very confident using the Adobe Software, I was very clear on how Photoshop and Illustrator worked as well as knowing their differences, and also I did carry out the theory homework.

Did you feel comfortable producing initial sketches for your character?Did you carry out additional research to help you do this?I felt comfortable making sketches for my character; I did not use any additional research.

Were you confident in using the DSLR cameras to take source images?I felt confident in taking pictures to take source images for my character; I knew how I wanted to present him when I took the pictures.

Did you experiment fully with your photographs and found imagery using Adobe Photoshop before coming up with your final composition?Yes, I experimented with a variety of backgrounds and different designs to use for my final outcome before moving on to actually making it.

Do you feel that you were you able to improve on your tracing skills when producing the final artwork using Adobe Illustrator?Yes, I felt like I improved a lot more over time whilst designing my character and background.

What is your overall impression/gut reaction to your completed artwork presented on the template?I felt that although I didn’t add as much background detail as I had hoped, I still felt it was a pretty good final outcome.