Exodyssey: Visual Development of an Epic Adventure [Hardcover]

David Levy (Illustrator), Sebastien Larroude (Illustrator), Thierry Doizon (Illustrator), Joel Dos Reis Viegas (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

In its first installment of their own Intellectual Property, Steambot Studios, a collective of six digital artists working in the world of visual Entertainment, takes us aboard an epic science fiction journey. In "Exodyssey" - created in parallel with a series of educational DVDs - the group demonstrates their creative production art techniques developed through many years of experience in the field (E.A., Activision, Unisoft, Epic, Digital Dimension, Canol Plus...). Follow the Steambot crew through an original but also realistic point of view on futuristic civilizations, space transportation and society.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Levy is an internationally recognized expert on artificial intelligence. He is president of the International Com-puter Games Association and in 1997 led the team that won the Loebner Prize--the world championship for conversational computer software. In 2006 he became the first person ever to present papers on intimate relationships with robotic partners at an international conference. He is also the author of "Robots Unlimited". Levy lives in London with his wife, Christine, and their cat.

Steambot Studios is a collective of five digital artists - David Levy, Nicolas Ferrand, Thierry Doizon, Joel Dos Reis Viegas, and Sebastien Larroude - working in the world of visual entertainment. The label is based in Montreal, Canada, and benefits from 10 years quality experience.

Robertson is a professional industrial designer and educator who has worked with several top sports and automotive manufacturers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Design Studio Press (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933492406
• ISBN-13: 978-1933492407
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,010,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great showcase of effort and talent, April 20, 2009

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Exodyssey: Visual Development of an Epic Adventure (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:26 Mins

A little background first. Steambot Studios consists of six artists who have worked in the visual entertainment industry for more than a decade. Clients include EA, Ubisoft, Disney, Blue Sky, Hasbro etc. Pretty impressive client list for six artists, namely Sebastian Larroude (Rainart), Nicolas Ferrand (Viag), Thierry Doizeon (Barontieri), Joel Dos Reis Viegas (Feerik), David Levy (Vyle) and Patrick Desgreniers.

I was expecting Exodyssey to be a portfolio art book. To my surprise, it's not. It's actually a series of concept paintings created off a story concept. Which means that these are created specifically for the book, for the artists themselves.

Here's an excerpt from the overview:

Exodyssey is the name given to the long and war-filled period of time during which humans departed for exo-planets in order to survive their own destruction. -- excerpt end

The book follows the journey of main protagonist Harry, a descendant of colonists who have left Earth. We'll get to see what he sees and experience as he travels on alternate Earth, Moon, Mars, space stations and discover new planets.

The concept art is based more on the environment of these planets, the architecture, vehicles and landscape. There are also quite a few elaborate character designs and, towards the back, alien lifeforms (spoilers!!). I would guess that most of them are digital paintings since the captions don't indicate, although a few pieces look very close to traditional medium. Also included are a few intricate 3D models that are painted over. The details are astonishing.

There's not much story per se as the captions by each of the artists really talk more about the scenes and concepts rather than the story. As a whole, this book looks a lot like a movie visual development book, especially with the tons of background paintings.

Without reading the text, no one would have believed that this 176-page book, filled to the brim with art and concept, is created by only six artists. It's a tremendous piece of effort and great showcase of talent.

Oh, there are both hardcover and paperback versions for the book. Without doubt, I recommend getting the hardcover. Why not?

One final note is the 4 small blurbs that appear in the book. They promote training DVDs and should probably go to the back of the book so as not to break the flow.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killer Book!, August 10, 2009

By 

Dwayne Vance "FutureElements.net" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exodyssey: Visual Development of an Epic Adventure (Hardcover)

This book is very well done and the guys at Steambot are an epic concept crew.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing world created, August 3, 2009

By 

Robby the Robot "Fantasy for life" (Century 1) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exodyssey: Visual Development of an Epic Adventure (Hardcover)

If your looking for amazing fantasy art this is the book. You loose the supposid story line a bit, but the art makes up for it. This goes right up there with sparth art, goodbrush, and skillful huntsman. Steambot rocks! They also have how to videos advertised in the book. You can pick them up on amazon.

Cheers and enjoy!