Environment development - Thought process

Hey guys! Welcome back to my blog. I wanted to write about my thought's on developing environment's for games & speed level design videos. 

The very first thing I start with is a theme for my work. So far I've used a castle/fortress with a Forrest and ruins + crystals. I pick a theme based off Unity asset's I can find and then think about the focal point.

The focal point is very important and is central to making the environment interesting. I always have one in mind before starting the video. After the focal point I like to dress up the setting around the focal point, placing assets which could be props, grass, trees etc..

After the focal point & scene dressing lighting comes into play. Always remember to use a combination of skybox for ambient color, directional light color, sun shafts and a plugin for Unity such as Amplify color. Amplify color really adds to my environment's. 

Once I'm happy with the lighting I usually go through a few more post processing image effects, add particles to develop an atmosphere and then call it a day.

This is a super brief look at my though process, here are the final key points:
-Choose a theme
-Develop a focal point
-Develop a composition & add props to dress up the scene
-Develop lighting
-Add post processing
-Add particles

This time around you'll have to settle for a video :) Hope you enjoy it!