Asset Management
Asset management refering to digital graphics is the management of your digital image files.
The files need to be located together in relevant folders.
It is always handy to keep a back up of your files this could be on a hard-drive or a flash drive.
Naming Conventions
Naming files appropriatly will help you locate them at a later date.
There are three popular file formats, these are; TIFF, GIFF and JPEG
File Size
File size needs to be kept efficient, this is shown as a number of bytes for example an image taken on a 12mp digital camera is 5mb
The greater the image resolution, the larger the
file size will be. As discussed in the optimizing section, this needs to be kept effiecient.
Thursday 18 October 2012
Optimising
Optimising is making the best or most effective use of something, in this case digital graphics
Target image output
Image output is very important when viewing your image. The image output will effect how the image will look. For best results you should aim for the best possible output. An example of this would be an image created specifically for a desktop background, the image would aim to be 1920 * 1080 for a perfect high resolution fit.
Image bit depth
Bit depth usually refers to bitmap images. Bit depth is the amount of bits to reveal the colour of a single pixel. If their are more bits in the whole image the image will appear better.
Image Resolution
Image resolution refers to the detail of an image. Images with a higher resolution will look more detailed. If you are creating a very large image such as for a poster it is important to use a larger resolution.
Image resolution will effect the size of the file, so if memory is an issue this is something to consider.
Image resolution is calculated by the number of pixel across by the number of pixels down.
Image Dimentions
Image dimentions are the width by length of a digital image.The main measurement of dimentions is in pixels. Some programs will let you view and work in centimetres or inches, adobe photoshop has the feature of being able to work with both.
Compression
There are two types of compression these are; lossy and loss less.
Lossy images remove some data and lose some quality of the image, some of the images information may be lost perminantly with this method of compression.
Loss less compression will change the way in which the file is stored to reduce file size. Loss less compression also makes no visble alterations to the image.
Target image output
Image output is very important when viewing your image. The image output will effect how the image will look. For best results you should aim for the best possible output. An example of this would be an image created specifically for a desktop background, the image would aim to be 1920 * 1080 for a perfect high resolution fit.
Image bit depth
Bit depth usually refers to bitmap images. Bit depth is the amount of bits to reveal the colour of a single pixel. If their are more bits in the whole image the image will appear better.
Image Resolution
Image resolution refers to the detail of an image. Images with a higher resolution will look more detailed. If you are creating a very large image such as for a poster it is important to use a larger resolution.
Image resolution will effect the size of the file, so if memory is an issue this is something to consider.
Image resolution is calculated by the number of pixel across by the number of pixels down.
Image Dimentions
Image dimentions are the width by length of a digital image.The main measurement of dimentions is in pixels. Some programs will let you view and work in centimetres or inches, adobe photoshop has the feature of being able to work with both.
Compression
There are two types of compression these are; lossy and loss less.
Lossy images remove some data and lose some quality of the image, some of the images information may be lost perminantly with this method of compression.
Loss less compression will change the way in which the file is stored to reduce file size. Loss less compression also makes no visble alterations to the image.
Thursday 4 October 2012
Compression
What is compression?
Compression is the process of reducing the size of the data in order to save space or transmission time. For data transmission, compression can be performed on just the data content or on the entire transmission unit.
Graphic image file formats are usually designed to compress information as much as possible (these can tend to become very large files).
Graphic image compression can be either lossy or lossless.
Effects of compression?
The images' file size will become smaller (some programmes will ask the specific size you are wanting to compress your image to).
The quallity of the image may be reduced.
Smaller files can be tranferred faster. This is beneficial with web design as it would take less time to upload the image and then display it.
Lossy
This type of compression reduces the size of the image by removing some data from it. Some colour data is usually removed in this process.
This type of compression reduces the quality of the image.
Some of the inofrmation is permanently lost in this process.
Lossless
This type of compression reduces the size of the image by changing the way in which the data is stored. Therefor this type of compression will make no visable changes to your image.
How can digital images be caputred?
Scanner-
Scanners are usually used to capture images from old photographs or documents.
Old photographs are physical prints so the scanner is the best way to capture these images.
In the games industry this type of image capture would be best suited for capturing concept art.
Digital camera-
Digital cameras are one of the main ways of capturing images. It is a very simple process of snapping the picture, connecting to pc, and transfering.
The image size can be changed on the camera before the image is captured. The image can be further compressed using compression or editing programmes.
Digital cameras are a good choice to capture detailed texture graphics for games.
Graphics Tablets-
Graphics tablets are used to draw images straight onto the computer. This makes the process much more realistic to really drawing rather than using a mouse.
Graphics tablets can be used to create a lot of digital art in games, for example the background art could be done this way.
Some concept art may be done this way rather than by hand.
Compression is the process of reducing the size of the data in order to save space or transmission time. For data transmission, compression can be performed on just the data content or on the entire transmission unit.
Graphic image file formats are usually designed to compress information as much as possible (these can tend to become very large files).
Graphic image compression can be either lossy or lossless.
Effects of compression?
The images' file size will become smaller (some programmes will ask the specific size you are wanting to compress your image to).
The quallity of the image may be reduced.
Smaller files can be tranferred faster. This is beneficial with web design as it would take less time to upload the image and then display it.
Lossy
This type of compression reduces the size of the image by removing some data from it. Some colour data is usually removed in this process.
This type of compression reduces the quality of the image.
Some of the inofrmation is permanently lost in this process.
Lossless
This type of compression reduces the size of the image by changing the way in which the data is stored. Therefor this type of compression will make no visable changes to your image.
How can digital images be caputred?
Scanner-
Scanners are usually used to capture images from old photographs or documents.
Old photographs are physical prints so the scanner is the best way to capture these images.
In the games industry this type of image capture would be best suited for capturing concept art.
Digital camera-
Digital cameras are one of the main ways of capturing images. It is a very simple process of snapping the picture, connecting to pc, and transfering.
The image size can be changed on the camera before the image is captured. The image can be further compressed using compression or editing programmes.
Digital cameras are a good choice to capture detailed texture graphics for games.
Graphics Tablets-
Graphics tablets are used to draw images straight onto the computer. This makes the process much more realistic to really drawing rather than using a mouse.
Graphics tablets can be used to create a lot of digital art in games, for example the background art could be done this way.
Some concept art may be done this way rather than by hand.
Thursday 27 September 2012
File Extensions
Raster file formats
JPEG - This is one of the main graphic formats used. These are compressed and use both 8 bit greyscale to 24 bit colour.
PNG - Clear background, portable network graphics.
BMP - This file format is also known as a bitmap image file.
TGA - A TGA is also refered to as a TARGA. These raster image formats are created by Truevision Inc.
Vector file formats
PSD - These are file formats from photoshop which can be re-worked on and edited at a later date. Programes which use it can handle both vector and raster images.
AI - This file format is used for adobe illustrator artwork.
DXF - This is a file format used for AutoCAD developed by autodesk.
JPEG - This is one of the main graphic formats used. These are compressed and use both 8 bit greyscale to 24 bit colour.
PNG - Clear background, portable network graphics.
BMP - This file format is also known as a bitmap image file.
TGA - A TGA is also refered to as a TARGA. These raster image formats are created by Truevision Inc.
Vector file formats
PSD - These are file formats from photoshop which can be re-worked on and edited at a later date. Programes which use it can handle both vector and raster images.
AI - This file format is used for adobe illustrator artwork.
DXF - This is a file format used for AutoCAD developed by autodesk.
Raster and Vector Graphics
Raster Graphics
Raster images are made up of different coloured pixels.
Larger than Vector graphics.
Raster graphics lose qulity the more they are zoomed in or enlarged.
Most images taken on digital camers are raster graphics.
Vector Graphics
Vector images are made up of lines and curves.
Smaller size than raster graphics.
Vector graphics do not lose quality when they are enlarged.
A big use of vector graphics is for fonts. an example of this would be zooming into the text on your web browser, the text will not become blurred.
Raster images are made up of different coloured pixels.
Larger than Vector graphics.
Raster graphics lose qulity the more they are zoomed in or enlarged.
Most images taken on digital camers are raster graphics.
Vector Graphics
Vector images are made up of lines and curves.
Smaller size than raster graphics.
Vector graphics do not lose quality when they are enlarged.
A big use of vector graphics is for fonts. an example of this would be zooming into the text on your web browser, the text will not become blurred.
What is a pixel?
Also known as Picture element.
A pixel is a physical point in a raster image.
A pixel is a single block of colour. These blocks are put together to create images. The co-ordinates and colour is determined based on the display.
The more pixels there are in a smaller amount of space, the higher the image quality (resolution) will be.
A pixel is a physical point in a raster image.
A pixel is a single block of colour. These blocks are put together to create images. The co-ordinates and colour is determined based on the display.
The more pixels there are in a smaller amount of space, the higher the image quality (resolution) will be.
Thursday 20 September 2012
Artistic styles
-Photo Realistic-
These games are realistic and accurate to human standards. Good photo realistic games will incorporate reflections and good realistic shadows.
Here is an example of the game operation flashpoint.
(Non Photo Realistic)
-Cell Shading-
These games are cartoon based and use a lot of lines and geometric shapes just like in cartoons.
Here is an example of the ps2 game Cell Damage.
-Abstract-
Abstract games do not stive to be realistic and are very graphically abstract.
Games that are different and don't fall into the other categories genrally fall into the abstract catergory.
This example is the game limbo. This game shows a very strong abstract style.
-Exaggerate-
Anime drawing style usually fits into this category. Features in this style of game are exagerated for example; the size of the characters eyes.
This example is Naruto Generations. The style of the game is close to the actual anime series graphics.
These games are realistic and accurate to human standards. Good photo realistic games will incorporate reflections and good realistic shadows.
Here is an example of the game operation flashpoint.
(Non Photo Realistic)
-Cell Shading-
These games are cartoon based and use a lot of lines and geometric shapes just like in cartoons.
Here is an example of the ps2 game Cell Damage.
-Abstract-
Abstract games do not stive to be realistic and are very graphically abstract.
Games that are different and don't fall into the other categories genrally fall into the abstract catergory.
This example is the game limbo. This game shows a very strong abstract style.
-Exaggerate-
Anime drawing style usually fits into this category. Features in this style of game are exagerated for example; the size of the characters eyes.
This example is Naruto Generations. The style of the game is close to the actual anime series graphics.
Thursday 13 September 2012
Types of computer game graphics
Background art-
Background art is art seen in the distance. It is usually a stationary 2d image plane which is not in focus.
Texture art –
Texture art is the mapping a 2d image around a 3d model, the 2d image textures can be created from
scratch.
The textures contribute to 99% of the visual experience of the game.
Concept art –
Concept art is usually created at the planning stage, Concept are will help companies save money and time, One of the most common uses are in
character and product design.
Concept art is created in various ways, the main way being by hand with pencil and paper. Concept art can be created digitally with a graphics tablet.
Concept art is created in various ways, the main way being by hand with pencil and paper. Concept art can be created digitally with a graphics tablet.
Pixel art –
Pixel art is common in 8 or 16 bit games, some examples are Scott pilgrim, Mario and habbo.
Used as isometric and none isometric. Basic mobile games us pixel art as phones don’t have
as much memory.
This type of art is usually simple and block colored.
This type of art is usually simple and block colored.
Interface graphics
–
HUD's, menus and health bars are examples of interface graphics. The graphics are usually
created on Photoshop or other similar programs used to create 2d graphics,
HUDs are usually basic grapics designed to be clear and informative.
HUDs are usually basic grapics designed to be clear and informative.
Print media art –
Used on media such as box art, posters, billboards and merchandise.
Not only used for games but for dvds, cd ect.
Its main purpose is to look appealing to help advertise and
draw in the desired target audience.
Mainly developed via printing
Can be seen online as advertisements so not always developed via printing.
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