TOM EBNER ART DIRECTION & PORTFOLIO
Art Director and Art Lead for James Cameron's Avatar: Project Eden. Working closely with the Studio Art Director, I owned pipeline setup, mood boards, key art, concept art, effects concepts, character design, in depth team management internal and external, and environment development. Our team worked in direct collaboration with Disney and Lightstorm to ensure every deliverable met the VERY strict standards of the Avatar IP.
THE PITCH
I was brought in to build a pitch for Lightstorm around a game set in the Avatar IP. The concept was an RPG-style isometric game using match and combination mechanics to solve puzzles and progress through the world of Pandora. The pitch landed, and that project became Avatar: Project Eden.
WORLD OVERVIEW CONCEPT FOR PROJECT EDEN
Intial dialogue setup between characters.
Open world concept based on a linear zone structure.
Initial hud concept and map layout. Concepts of elements included.
Gameplay concept cont...
MOOD BOARD - VISUAL DIRECTION
Inspiration and research.
GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS
OVERALL FEEL
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Vibrant colors, IP tested, bioluminesant
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Adventure, mystery, story driven
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On brand, stylized to a point
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Fun and exploration, high detail, stunning
CULTURE AND ARCHITECTURE
ON BRAND, STYLIZED TO A POINT, EXPLORATION, HIGH DETAIL
ON BRAND, STYLIZED TO A POINT, ADVENTURE, STORY DRIVEN, ENGAGING
CHARACTER EXPLORATION
ON BRAND, STYLIZED TO A POINT, ADVENTURE, FUN, HIGH DETAIL
CREATURE EXPLORATION
WORLD BUILDING AND EXPECTATIONS
ON BRAND, STYLIZED TO A POINT, EXPLORATION, HIGH DETAIL, ADVENTURE, BIOLUMINESANT
MYSTERY, VIBRANT COLOR, EXPLORATION, HIGH DETAIL, STUNNING, BIOLUMINESANT
EXISTING PANDORA
ENVIRONMENT DIRECTION
Project Eden's interpretation of Pandora.
EARLY CONCEPT
Finding solutions to a very ambitious project.
ENVIRONMENT CONCEPT TO FINAL
STRUCTURES AND ENVIRONMENT NIGHT/DAY
Problems include how to streamline all these detailed environments and at the same time, make them work at night which is a massive element to the world of Pandora. We were able to overcome this by building simple 3D elements which were then handed off for the artists to paint over. These were also given an extra alpha layer to give the illusion of bioluminescence.
FITTING IN. SIZING GUIDES FOR ELEMENTS
Sizing and working with all the environment elements had become a big issue. I eventually created a solution to this by creating a sizing guide for the artists to work off of.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT
CHARACTER DIRECTION
Denizens of Pandora.
Creatures of Pandora
Taking hyper detailed to a stylized product.
Banshee final renders and 3D design
Process of concept
Creatures cont.
In-game sizing and implementation concepts
FINAL APPROVED CONCEPTS
Refined concept pass
Silhouette process and study. Sketch dump and final render.
Early concept pass
Hero early concept pass
Hero mid level concept pass
CONCEPTS AND DIRECTION EXAMLPES
Process and execution examples
WORLD DESIGN AND DIRECTION
Various concepts and examples of direction for Project Eden.
First world zone expansion layout
First world zone direction
Resizing adjutments to make more compelling
Hero tree concept and direction
Puffball tree concept and animation direction
RDA concepts and design direction
Instance area design direction
STRUCTURE CONCEPTS AND DIRECTION
Various concepts and examples of direction for Project Eden.
Order Board concepts
Hunter's Hut concepts and direction
Botanist Hut concepts and direction
CREATURE CONCEPTS AND DIRECTION
Various concepts and examples of direction for Project Eden.
Tapirus creature concept and direction
Infant Titanothere creature concept and direction
Hexapede concepts and design direction
Juicer structure concept and design