Cyber Arts: Tech - ISU Artist's Statement

Throughout my life, I've always and never will stop enjoying the thrill of playing video games. I knew since I was a kid that I had to get into something to do with them in my future. I took this ISU project and I simu you're opposed with opportunities to steal many riches?lated a future in designing video game covers, or creating trailers for them. This project was much more fun than it was raw work, however it was still a lot of time devoted especially into the trailers.

Pathway is what the game is called. The decisions you make throughout this game determines what your rewards and consequences are. Having a "faction" helps you in certain situations and deters your progress in others. Depending on if you help the helpless or feed off of them, your faction will slowly lean towards bad or good. It would show on your character as well with small features such as your eyes changing colours from blue to red.

The point of the game concept is to present risk vs. reward and really emphasize it. Would doing something bad help you in the long run or in its current time? Is being good too hard to stick with when opposed with many riches to steal? That's what I was aiming for when the concept of this game was thought of.

Creating the cover was the easier part of the two things I did. Using Illustrator isn't that difficult for me anymore. It's more of the brainstorming that's difficult and trying to translate it onto a monitor. I made a rough copy so that my head could physically visualize what the cover's layout would be. Then I started on the good copy, making it look much more refined and robust. I used both Photoshop and Illustrator to create the final copy. Photoshop always poses me problems so using it is always a challenge well accepted. When the cover was completed, I was extremely happy with the outcome as it was exactly as I pictured it being. A bold font, a strong enough colour scheme that it stands out, and an awesome vertical split between two worlds.

Creating the video took much longer than the cover did. Eight hours total to be exact, without counting the second edit. Going back to my old roots and using Sony Vegas Pro 11 was an amazing feeling. I felt comfortable with the program just like I used to, however it has been 4 years since I last used it. Readjusting to the quirks and fidgets of the program took some time, but after re-watching some online tutorials, I instantly snapped back into action when my memory came back in place. Keyframes, timestamps, Video FX, fading and offsetting. It all came back to me in one fell swoop. Finding the clips and putting them all together, as well as stylizing and tweaking every little thing such as the subtle colour of the smoke or the perfect syncing of effects with music took the longest. It has to be spot on if it's going to be me making it.

I made the first trailer with upbeat, techno house music. This music is known for boosting energy and waking people up, as it also catches an attention really quickly due to the fast loud robotic noises. However house music isn't properly advertising a game, so I switched up the music and had to re-sync all the clips and effects to the new track. The second one came out better in my opinion, and I added a date of release to it so it seems more like a trailer and less like a promotional video. Success in my eyes.

Visit my online portfolio: tristantrieu.wix.com/ttrieuportfolio to check out both the trailers and the cover art, as well as all of my other artwork!