Creating Sci-Fi Keyframe Concept Art

When you’re tasked with creating keyframe concept art for the art department of a feature film or video game, you’re more than likely going to need to bring a scene to life quickly, and with photorealistic results. Sebastien Hue is a Concept Illustrator with credits including Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, who shares his complete workflow across 5 hours, from developing an initial idea to creating an establishing shot that’s worthy of inclusion in a sci-fi movie or game cinematic.

This workshop details Sebastien’s entire pipeline for creating keyframe concept art and focuses on efficiency throughout. He shares how Cinema 4D can be used alongside Photoshop to speed up the design process and help with achieving cinematic results. Knowledge of Photoshop is recommended since this video tutorial takes an intermediate-level approach with more of a focus on artistic exploration, covering the fundamentals of composition, depth, mood, lighting, and industrial design. While Cinema 4D is Sebastien’s 3D software of choice, any 3D software can be used to follow along.