3D shooting game "Alice Gear Aigis" fighting with girls armed with mecha, given by the game maker Pyramid. Mr. Shimada Fumikane checked the 3D model of the character and asked about how to use “CLIP STUDIO PAINT” when reflecting feedback in modeling.

 

【interview】

Pyramid Co., Ltd.

Representative Director and President Junichi Kashiwagi

Design Department Manager Naoto Tanaka

 

Illustrator Shimada Fumikane

 

(July 2019)

• This article is in Japanese. Machine translations are available at sites other than Japanese.

Focus on “Alice Gear Aegis”

-Please tell us about your work at Pyramid

 

Masaki:

We have made various games such as consumer and arcade. I joined the Coropla Group three years ago and now I am making it on a smartphone platform. Currently, we are particularly focusing on “Alice Gear Aegis”.

 

-In what kind of environment are you producing?

 

Masaki:

There are about 25 designers in the company, roughly divided into 2D and 3D teams. As for the tools, the 2D team is Photoshop, CLIP STUDIO PAINT, Illustrator, and the 3D team is Photoshop, 3D Studio Max.

 

 

――You have introduced “CLIP STUDIO PAINT”. Please tell us about the background to your adoption.

 

Mr. Tanaka:

Pyramid is a 3D game company, so when I joined the company, only 3D was the main person, and there were not many 2D people. At first, Photoshop was the only 2D tool, but it was difficult to get a pen touch in Photoshop. So it was CLIP STUDIO PAINT that was used by individuals at that time, so it was introduced.

 

 

―― I would like to ask Fumikane Shimada, an illustrator who is supervising and designing characters.

Please tell us how you decided to work with Pyramid

 

Mr. Shimada:

Before I became a full-time illustrator, I had a relationship with Kashiwagi-san. I was talking about working together in the future, but I would like to do it after Mr. Kashiwagi became the president and was able to manage such things. Since I have been an acquaintance for a long time, I feel like I'm doing it happily without "outsourcing with clients".

 

 

――When has Shimada-san been using CLIP STUDIO PAINT?

 

Mr. Shimada:

I used a different tool in the past, but the features became so heavy that I felt that I didn't need it. Instead, I switched to CLIP STUDIO PAINT a few years ago to change to a tool with a lighter basic operation.

 

It was easy to introduce in terms of price, and CLIP STUDIO PAINT already felt that it was the de facto standard in Japan. I thought it would be no problem.

 

CLIP STUDIO PAINT and Photoshop are used for production, but Photoshop is only used for final processing such as filters, and 90% of the work is CLIP STUDIO PAINT.

 

Photoshop is a photo retouching software, so it wasn't intuitive enough to draw as a substitute for pen and paper. On the other hand, CLIP STUDIO PAINT was easy to enter from the very beginning. Since the voices of users who draw manga and illustrations are mainly picked up, the necessary actions for drawing can be performed from the beginning.

 

 

Use 3D loading of “CLIP STUDIO PAINT” in the 3D model production check process

―― In which process of game production do you use CLIP STUDIO PAINT?

 

Masaki:

Basically, CLIP STUDIO PAINT is used for illustration production, but apart from that, it is used in a 3D model production process in a characteristic way different from other companies.

 

When requesting a 3D model check from a character designer, until now it was a flow of starting 3D software → taking a screen shot → starting CLIP STUDIO PAINT → writing correction instructions on the screen shot.

 

However, CLIP STUDIO PAINT can be read directly by 3D, so 3D models created from character designer rough can be read and displayed in CLIP STUDIO PAINT, and correction instructions can be directly written.

 

Taking the flow of creating the main character of “Alice Gear Aegis” as an example, first order from the pyramid, Mr. Shimada will raise the rough design.

 

Since the character will eventually become 3D, the pyramid creates a 3D model from the rough. The created rough model, a 3D model modeled with polygons, will be sent to Mr. Shimada in obj format that can be read by CLIP STUDIO PAINT.

 

You can check the 3D model itself and write the correction instructions for the proportions directly to Shimada using CLIP STUDIO PAINT.

Not only the character but also the weapon alone is handed out in obj format, and as with the character, the problem of the shape is pointed out, the design is packed more and more, and it is completed.

 

Mr. Shimada:

Since it is possible to write correction instructions directly in CLIP STUDIO PAINT, it is no longer necessary to launch 3D software separately for confirmation. You can check the 3D model in real time from various angles, and you can quickly change the angle at which correction instructions are written.

 

 

-How did you come to this utilization method?

 

Mr. Shimada:

I knew that CLIP STUDIO PAINT can handle 3D, but I didn't use it for my production. I heard from Mr. Kashiwagi that “you can read it in CLIP STUDIO PAINT in obj format and check it” and thought that it was “easy” and started this check method.

 

Masaki:

Personally, I have been using CLIP STUDIO PAINT for a long time, but there is an explanation that `` CLIP STUDIO PAINT can be used as a guide for manga production by reading 3D '', which is probably a check work I thought it could be used for

 

When I actually tried using the data written in the obj format, the shader looked very good, the outline could be adjusted, and the display looked almost the same as in the game. I think that it is an ideal viewer to check the look of Cell Look that the game creator wants to make.

 

From this point, I proposed to illustrators other than Mr. Shimada and it worked, so now the company as a whole recommends using CLIP STUDIO PAINT as a check method. It was easy to introduce in terms of money.

 

 

Reducing labor and increasing work speed directly leads to uncompromising quality improvement.

―― What was your impression when you actually performed the workflow to check the 3D model with CLIP STUDIO PAINT?

 

Mr. Shimada:

I still don't know how my drawing will be displayed in 3D, so it's not good to pack your design too much at the beginning. Also, the more you draw as a design picture first, the more difficult it will be to correct later. After you have decided on a rough silhouette, you can concentrate on the one with the fine decorations.

 

It is great that the correction instructions for that purpose are completed in CLIP STUDIO PAINT. It's easy and quick to give instructions using your favorite tool. You can check it by other methods, but it is not the best, but it tends to be troublesome because it takes time and effort. Because it is easy and fast, you can write more detailed instructions and it is directly linked to quality improvement.

 

Masaki:

It was very revolutionary that the process of adjusting the design could be done in 3D with a cell look. Up until now, it was necessary to load 2D software and 3D software back and forth, such as loading a model with another 3D tool, taking multiple screenshots and bringing it to 2D software, but CLIP STUDIO PAINT It came to be completed with one.

 

Since the exchange of checks is easy and fast, the character designer can check the 3D model of the game to the end. Reducing labor and increasing work speed directly leads to quality improvement without compromise.

 

 

―― Is this workflow applicable to other game productions?

 

Masaki:

I don't have a special way to build a system, so I think it can be applied to other 3D projects as well, not just “Alice Gear Aegis”.

 

… It may be a corporate secret in terms of improving the efficiency of the work process, but I talked about it because it ’s convenient and everyone should try it (laughs) I want it to become the de facto standard in the industry .

When you ask how far you can reduce the weight of work, CLIP STUDIO PAINT has you loosened

――What was your hard time working with Alice Gear Aegis?

 

Mr. Shimada:

“Alice Gear Aegis” has a high calorie as a work. The illustration of the card game is completed in 2D one piece, but since it will eventually become 3D, you have to do it while thinking about 360 degrees. In addition to the characters, the amount of work for each character, such as weapons and techniques, is tremendous. However, I feel like CLIP STUDIO PAINT has loosened it when I asked how much the weight of the work can be reduced.

 

 

―― Can you tell me if you have a favorite function in CLIP STUDIO PAINT?

 

Mr. Shimada:

I was impressed that mesh deformation can be used at this price. Mesh deformation that can be used across multiple layers is useful for attaching decals to curved surfaces, and for slightly hanging. This is much faster than rewriting. On the contrary, I was shocked (laughs). That was so cheap that I was in Japan. I thought I should have used it earlier.

 

I have suffered from the previous design check, but it was a great help to adjust the perspective in real time not only for the design but also for the copyright illustration work. Of course, instead of just tressing the 3D model, we will add a two-dimensional scale, but we can concentrate on drawing as much as we do not have difficulty in the previous stage.

Collaboration from the desire to promote "push"

-Previously, the collaboration between CLIP STUDIO and Alice Gear Aigis was a topic of “overdoing” collaboration, where the characters actually delivered the brushes used in the game. Will it be?

▼ CLIP STUDIO PAINT collaborates with “Alice Gear Aegis”

 

Mr. Tanaka:

There is an impression that collaboration is just a commercial start, but because the pyramid is a craftsman group, "If you like" I like ", I want to convey that" like "to other people" in the staff There are many. As for the collaboration with CLIP STUDIO PAINT, the staff actually used the software in their work, and they wanted to advertise “recommendation” such as “It's convenient and can draw manga. is.

 

The delivered `` Sitara Pen '' was used to draw manga such as Alice Gear P and brushes that are easy to use among the brushes used by the writer who is in charge of the illustration of Sitara under construction .

 

The stage of “Alice Gear Aegis” is based on modern Tokyo, but we would like to provide our customers with an experience that makes us feel as if we are living there. `` Distributing the brush used by the characters in the game through CLIP STUDIO '' is not a character in the game, but a character such as that uploaded by that child of the same dimension actually exists I want you to taste the feeling of being.

 

 

―― Can you tell us if you have any future expectations for CLIP STUDIO PAINT or CELSYS?

 

Mr. Tanaka:

The bug that I was interested in updating CLIP STUDIO PAINT has been fixed, and now I am completely unhappy. I am very happy with the text editing. In other words, it would be great if you could edit and reflect the texture of the 3D model in real time.

 

Mr. Shimada:

I've already wanted too much ... At this price! ? It is a feeling. I feel that the required range and the range to be implemented are close, so I would like to see more improvements like “this is a little more” rather than a big deal.

 

-Please say something to those who want to work with Pyramid.

 

Masaki:

We are looking for people who can make this fascinating “mecha girl” genre together!

 

 

[About Pyramid Co., Ltd.]

Develop high-quality game software that can be enjoyed by many users

 

Pyramid has long been involved in the development of consumer games, and has been involved in a wide range of game development utilizing its technical capabilities such as arcade games, browser games, porting to various hardware, and VR projects.

In September 2015, we entered the smartphone market by joining the Coropla Group, but even with a different platform, we believe that we will develop games that can be played with fun. “Alice Gear Aegis” is released and operated.

 

[About Alice Gear Aegis]

Game maker "Pyramid" and smartphone game maker "Colopura" are tags!

A new sensation smartphone game that fights with girls armed with mecha!

Fumikane Shimada is in charge of character supervision and character design of this work.

In addition to Shimada Fumikane, mechanic designers Kanetake Ebikawa and Takayuki Yanase also participated in the character design.

In addition, "ZUNTATA" is greeted by the sound team, and the gorgeous creators who have both popularity and ability gathered!

In addition, hobby development such as “Megami Device” and “figma” is in progress! Please look forward to various developments!

 

【Official site】

 

[Official Twitter account]

• The official hashtag is “#Alice Gear”

 

▼ Market URL

■ Google Play:

■App Store：

 

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• Item charge system. Some characters are provided by a paid random item provision method.

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