Welcome to your Concept Art for Games and Film course

All lectures will take place in person in one of our dedicated games development labs. You can expect class sizes to range between 24 to 44. Where there are larger classes there will be more than one tutor to help run the session.

Each class typically lasts 3 hours. Don’t worry, you’ll get a break during these sessions!

On the Concept Art course, we try to keep lessons as practical as possible. You’ll be expected to follow along and complete in class exercises and live demonstrations in a workshop-style environment, with further feedback on your development taking place both in-session and via assessment points.

You’ll have access to industry standard hardware and software, so don’t worry if you don’t have your own equipment! Our Concept Art teaching team have a variety of different skills and art styles, and we try to incorporate as many different approaches to our tasks as possible.

During your first few weeks on the course, you’ll be introduced to the fundamentals of concept art skills anatomy, linear perspective, 3D forms, research and design theory.

You’ll also be shown how concept artists use key pieces of industry software such as Photoshop and Blender. Don’t worry if you’ve never used this software before – you’re here because we see your potential as a concept artist, so relax and enjoy making art with your new course friends.

It can’t be overstated how much there is to learn when it comes to being a Concept Artist. Not only do you have to be an excellent 2D and 3D artist; you also have to be an adept designer and researcher. It can be a lot to take onboard, so why not give yourself a head start!

When it comes to books, How to Draw by Scott Robertson (Design Studio Press; Illustrated edition (15 Nov. 2013)) will give you an excellent introduction to drawing precise forms in 3D using only a pencil and paper.

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney (Andrews McMeel Publishing; Illustrated edition (9 Dec. 2010)) is an excellent and beautiful book about rendering colour and lighting

https://www.artstation.com/learning is a large, free resource that contains many mini courses covering all aspects of Concept Art

Concept Artist magazine has a large selection of interviews with concept artists working in a wide variety of genres. It’s published by Future Publishing and is highly recommended.

3D is often the trickiest thing for traditionally minded artists to adapt to when starting to learn concept art. In the first year you’ll be taking an introductory module on Blender. Blender is completely free, and The most up-to-date tutorials can be found on platforms like YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjEaoINr3zgEPv5y--4MKpciLaoQYZB1Z

Computers and digital equipment are provided both in the laboratories and are available to borrow at no extra cost from the University SISO media stores.

However, you will need to buy traditional art supplies:

• Sketchbook (Size A3 or A4, with a paper density of 150gsm MINIMUM)
• Set of graphite pencils (including a H and B range)
• Blending stump
• Plastic and putty rubbers
• Ruler
• Sharpener
• Charcoal
• Set of multipurpose paintbrushes (at least 3 different sizes)
• Set of paints (a small set is more than adequate, be it gouache, watercolour, or acrylic)

Our on-campus art shop is well stocked and can advise you on supplies.

Although, as mentioned, computers and equipment are free and available for you to use, it can still be helpful to have a home PC or laptop where you can work at home.

We would suggest the following Hardware specs: 

·         Minimum 8GB RAM, recommended 32 GB RAM 

·         Minimum i7-4790k5 Intel CPU, recommended i7-8700k Intel CPU 

·         Minimum NVidia nVidia GTX 1060, recommend RTX2080

·         Minimum 1 TB HDD, recommended 512TB SSD with 1TB HDD

·         Wacom Intuos Pro tablet and pen

Software:

We’ll be using the following software on all our awards. Much of the software you’ll be using is free (such as Autodesk or Microsoft Office) or heavily discounted to students with a valid University e-mail address. 

Download software

It should be noted all of the software can be accessed in our games labs which are open 8.30am-9pm, with several rooms available 24/7. 

• Blender:

• • https://www.blender.org/download/

• Autodesk Suite (Including: 3ds Max,  Maya, Motionbuilder)

• • Autodesk Education Community Resources

• Adobe Photoshop

• • Adobe Photoshop for students | Adobe

• Unreal Engine 5

• • https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download)

• Maxon Zbrush

• • Plan & Pricing for Students (maxon.net)

• Substance Painter

• •  https://www.substance3d.com/buy/education

• Substance Designer

• • https://www.substance3d.com/buy/education

• 3D Coat 

• • https://3dcoat.com/download/

Free alternatives or practice software

• Krita https://krita.org/en/
• ZBrushCoreMini https://zbrushcore.com/mini/ 

Backups

You’ll have access to 1-Tb of OneDrive space – which will automatically sync between machines. We strongly recommend all students use this to store any completed work.

An external, off-site, backup solution is essential to protect yourself from hardware failure. Don’t rely on external hard drives or USB sticks to always work.

You can also used Google Drive, or Dropbox on your personal machines.

Services like Backblaze will back up unlimited data on your PC and external drives automatically for cheaper than dropbox or google drive.

https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html

Recommended Graphics Tablets

As a BA(Hons) Concept Art for Games and Film student most of your modules will involve the use of a graphics tablet. We support the Wacom lntous and Pen and TouchI ntuos and Intuos Pro tablets in our games development labs. We have numerous labs with these set up ready for you to use and tutors will bring pens for you to use with your classes.

Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablets and pens are also bookable through SISO, the website of the Henrion Media Stores free of charge.

https://staffsorb.siso.co/henrion_media_centre

Our Let’s Talk Games event is located at one of the UK's largest gaming hubs in Leamington Spa, and last year brought together over 14 schools, colleges, and universities. Throughout the day you'll get to hear from industry professionals and recruiters

Previously, we have arranged annual trips to Cosford Aviation Museum and Leeds Armouries – both excellent for reference material. We have also taken students down to the Vertex Digital Arts conference in London and hope to do so again in the future.

There are many clubs, groups and societies at Staffordshire University – too many to list here. However, Concept Art students have joined the following in the past:

https://www.staffsunion.com/activities/society/cas/ - The Digital Arts Society – this society was set up and managed by Concept Artists, and if you’re serious about improving your skillset with like-minded people, check out this society during Welcome Week!

https://www.staffsunion.com/activities/society/sams/ - Anime and Manga

https://www.staffsunion.com/activities/society/24402/ - League of Legends

https://www.staffsunion.com/activities/society/myth/ - TTRPG

Go to https://www.staffsunion.com/getinvolved/clubsandsocieties/ for a full list!

Welcome to your first few weeks at university! Our Foundation year is specific to your development as a Concept Artist, but also as a student new to university life. You'll be diving into the following engaging modules: 

Introduction to Games Scholarship 

This module introduces you to the video games industry from an industry-grounded perspective. You'll learn about the evolution of the industry, the various roles and practices, and key topics like gender, ethics, and the societal impact of games. Group workshops will help you develop essential study skills through industry-related tasks. By the end of this module, you'll have a solid understanding of a professional game studio environment.

2D Foundations

Now is the time to start developing your bespoke Concept Art portfolio, and for that you will need exceptional 2D observational drawing skills. This module will lay the foundations to that competency development, ensuring that realism is at the heart of your reference building whilst also allowing you to get creative with mini concept art challenges! Drawing from observation, you will learn the fundamentals of perspective, materials, object interactions, along with traditional skills in sketching, shading, lighting and colour application. By the end of this module, you will have a solid understanding of observational drawing and artistic self-reflection.

The benefit of starting in the Foundation year, is that you have an extra year to develop your art skills and find your style! But it can’t hurt to give yourself a head start with some of these resources:

Books: You Will Be Able To Draw By The End Of This Book by Jake Spicer is a fun, task-based book to get you drawing! Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney is an excellent and beautiful book about rendering colour and lighting

YouTube is full of demonstrations and speed-drawings, but Proko is one of our favourites for traditional drawing skill: https://www.youtube.com/c/ProkoTV

Concept Artist magazine has a large selection of interviews with concept artists working in a wide variety of genres. It’s published by Future Publishing and is highly recommended.

The key thing is to draw EVERY day. If you can draw something from life, from a photograph, from your imagination, anything, then you’ll be preparing yourself for the course and the challenge ahead

No1 in the UK for Games Development

In the 2023 annual rankings, the University is recognised 7th in the world for Games Design and Development and is 23rd in the world’s top 50 Creative Schools – the best ranked UK University! The Rookies platform is known for helping digital artists to build their careers by providing a space for gaining inspiration, learning new skills, and connecting with like-minded creatives​​. This certification will offer students better exposure to the industry and open more opportunities for networking and career advancement

FUSE Conference

Taking place in February, Fuse is a free online conference that features industry expert talks on a variety of Games specialisms. The week-long event is a showcase of Games industry professionals, running virtual activities such as specialist talks and demonstrations.