Saturday, June 24th, 2017 Posted by Jim Thacker

Master the art of vehicle design for film and TV


The Gnomon Workshop has released Practical Vehicle Design for Film and Television, a unique guide to designing sci-fi vehicles for movie and TV work, recorded by Lucasfilm concept artist Matthew Savage.

An essential guide to designing sci-fi vehicles to build as physical props
Rather than simply explaining how to create concepts for vehicles that will only ever exist as visual effects, the video explains how to work within the limitations of building an actual physical prop.

In the tutorial, which runs for over three hours, Savage runs through the process of taking a commercially available vehicle, stripping it down to its chassis and designing a new sci-fi vehicle over the frame.

Having built a rough block model to use as an underlay for sketches, Savage explores how to create a workable 2D concept in Photoshop, before moving to Modo for modeling and texturing work.

The rendered image is then imported back into Photoshop to create production-ready concept art.

About the artist
Matthew Savage trained as a product and multimedia designer, but moved almost instantly into the film industry as a 2D concept artist on Season 1 of Doctor Who.

Over the past 15 years, he has worked in the art department of movies including The Dark Knight, Prince of Persia and Kick-Ass, and in the costume department on Prometheus, Thor: The Dark World and The Martian.

He is currently working for Lucasfilm as a weapon and prop designer on features including The Force Awakens, Rogue One and The Last Jedi.

Pricing and availability
Practical Vehicle Design for Film and Television is available via a subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, giving access to over 300 tutorials. Subscriptions cost $49/month or $499/year, and there is a free trial.

Read more about Practical Vehicle Design for Film and Television on The Gnomon Workshop’s site


Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.