So in this video, let's create the concept for an environment so we can paint over in Photoshop and this is actually the process I use whenever I need to create an environment for a game. So I'm using a free version of SketchUp, which is pretty much the basic version, and let's get started. I'm going to use the rectangle tool in SketchUp to draw my basic shapes so we can create platforms and let's try to do something like a bridge in-between the platform. So the character would have to cross it. Of course, this is all imaginary. There's no actual character. I'm just creating an environment, thinking about some aspects so we can discuss it later on. So using the rectangle tool, I'm trying to just creating some basic shapes which I think are going to be interesting. Let me make this a little bit longer using the move tool and yeah, I think this may work. Let's erase this line here and let's create some cliff on the other side. So now I'm using the line tool to sketch freely in any angle I want, not be constrained by a rectangle or a square. So let's try to create a jagged shape here on this border and one thing you need to make sure is that every line is coplanar, which means every line is on the same plane. Otherwise, when you close your shape, if they're not at the same plane, SketchUp will not create a face. So let's try to keep drawing here and sometimes it happens. So bear with me. So let's go here. Let's make this jagged edge here and let's try to close our shape, and yes. Yeah, you can see that they are not coplanar. So I'm going to Control Z a couple of times and then with my line tool again, making sure that I have the right, and better vision to create my face. I'll just keep drawing and again, find my jagged lines here, and make sure I can finish them at the same plane. Yeah, there you go. So both faces are now closed and I can extrude them, and I will do so by using the push pull tool, with the shortcut P. So the letter P on your keyboard. Let me zoom out because they're going to be really tall. So just hover over the face you want to extrude and if you extrude one and double-click on the other one, they will have the same height or the same extrusion. So let's do it more. So I'm going to move this up and double-click on this face. So you can see now they are really high and I want them really high. I don't want to be able to see the bottom because I want this to be some endless cliff. So let's make this bigger here and double-click, and have the same extrusion on the outer shape, and now if I zoom in, you can see that it's very high. So this is what I want. Now, let's try to extrude a shape for our bridge. So we can bridge the gap between these two shapes, okay and SketchUp is actually very useful because it's a light software. It runs in pretty much any computer. It is free and it offers us the perfect base so we can paint over later on, okay. So it's very handy, it's very useful in terms of like capabilities. There are some glitches but I mean, you have glitches on each and every software. So I highly recommend you to learn SketchUp and speaking of learning SketchUp. The learning curve is really shallow for SketchUp. I mean, it's really fast to learn. There are not complex issues you're going to have to deal with. So for concept art, it's one of the best applications you can find to speed up the process and to find the right perspective of your buildings or geometric shapes, and to work out their basic shapes for an over painting later on. So what I'm doing now is I'm turning this shapes into groups. Doing that, I can actually afterwards, paint this shapes with different colors, without having to select them. I just click on the group and just fill with a single color but we're going to deal with that a little bit later. So now I'm going to draw my rectangle here on this face, and let's extrude this to the other side. So if I hover my mouse over the edge, I know the shape I'm extruding will touch that edge. Let's make the bridge a little bit thinner. Just a little bit. Now, it's a little bit wide. So let's make it really thin because the idea is to convey the sense of insecurity or, "Okay, this could break at any given time." So let's make this bridge bigger, to increase that sense of like, uneasiness. I think that's okay. Now, I'm going to use the camera and parallel projection so I can see if everything is okay in my composition, and I'm going to use the arc tool, the three-point arc. So yeah, every time I touch here, it jumps to the side of the group which is not what I want. So I'm going to have to rotate it a little bit and I'll try to create my arc on a different way. So let's begin by hovering our mouse over there and creating new lines. So I can snap my arcs on this lines. So I have that line to serve as the guide for my arc. Actually, thinking again, there might be another way. A better way to create this arc. So let me undo and delete the line I just created, and let's extrude the platform, and I can draw the arc at the platform, which is much easier because it's already a face. I'm just hiding the cliff so it doesn't hide any portions of our platform. Parallel projection. So I'm just clicking here at the corner of our platform and then I'll try to reach the other side, and let's draw the arc up. That's better. So let's click here and now, I can extrude this all the way to the other side. So I hover over the other edge and it's gone. So let's take a look at the top view. So let's change our camera to the top view by clicking on this icon here and let's make a group. A separate group for this bridge and you can see on SketchUp, actually every tool is very intuitive. Ideally, it was created for architects. So it's not that good for organic shapes, even though there are plugins that help you in creating organic shapes but I wouldn't say it's the best software for that. But other than that, if you need geometric shapes, if you need any piece of architecture or any kind of concept with a hard surface and if you need to nail the perspective, I think SketchUp is a great way to go, okay. So I highly recommend it. If you are into concept art and want to speed up your concepts. So now, let's choose another feature of the move tool, okay. Let me select a face here, this face and with the move tool selected, if I hit control, I can duplicate any shape when moving. So I have the same proportions of these shape, duplicate it to the other side. So I have all my bridge selected and let's hit explode. So now it's not a group anymore. So I can push this inside the shape. Now, we have this beautiful shape on our bridge with this indents and details that it's going to make it look much more interesting when we start a paint over. So let's bring back our cliff and to do so. I need to go to Edit, Unhide, Last. So here's my cliff and now there's this bridge actually going to both sides, and what I want to do now is a couple of details here at the edge of the bridge. So let me pull up these parallel projection and let's create two rectangles here. So they can hold pretty much anything. They could be for holding torches at the start of the bridge or just like some stones that were used to help holding it together. So I'm again using the move and by clicking on control, I can duplicate my shapes and now, let's make this big, and let's make the other one a little bit smaller. I don't want this to be too uniform. So yeah, I think these will work just fine.
