Photoshop, 3ds Max & Unreal Engine 4 PAINTING OVER A 3D ENVIRONMENT

Anya Jo Elvidge draws on her experience as a video game artist to model a 3D environment before bringing it to life using Photoshop

- Anya Jo Elvidge

The aim of this workshop is to create a beautiful place from your imagination that perhaps you’d like to spend time in. Maybe a cosy room, a secret temple or a relaxing café!

I like to work over a 3D base that I’ve modelled in 3ds Max and lit in Unreal Engine 4 (UE4). This isn’t essential, but because the aim of my process is getting to the fun decision- making bits as quickly as I can, it might be helpful to understand some basic 3D modelling. And if you ever wish to model your concepts, having a base already modelled saves you time because the basic forms are already there for you to work from.

Once I’ve made my 3D base and lit it in a simple UE4 scene, I’ll begin overpainting a screenshot where we can start having fun with colour, lighting and storytelling. I use basic Photoshop brushes, and a lot of how I make images is about choosing the placement of shapes, patterns and colours carefully.

Creating beautiful environments is all about finding what you like and condensing it into an image. If you work on what you want, and not what you think others want, you’ll create work that you love and are passionate about. People will love your work when you love it first!

1 The initial plan