Sarah Clarity Studios

Chapter 4: Final Packages: What to Include and Label

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Final Packages for Environment Concept Artists — What to Include and How to Label

Introduction

A final package is the moment your environment ceases to be a picture and becomes a plan. It is the bundle that lets modeling, layout, lighting, VFX, tech art, and outsourcing vendors execute without guessing. This article explains what to include and how to label it, tracking the same arc your work follows in the studio: ideation, iteration, finals, and handoff. It addresses both concepting and production perspectives so the package communicates vision, measurement, and build logic with equal clarity.

What a Final Package Is

A final package is a curated set of images, layered source files, and written notes that collectively describe mood, composition, scale, and construction. It should read like a mini spec, not a dump of everything you made. Keyframes establish the emotional promise. Orthographic drawings establish the measurable truth. Callouts and sheets translate shapes into materials, mechanisms, decals, and rules. The package is successful when each downstream discipline can answer who, what, where, why, and how without needing a meeting.

Guiding Principles

Everything in the package must be canonical, navigable, and verifiable. Canonical means there is one approved version of each asset or image and it is clearly labeled as such. Navigable means a newcomer can find the right file in seconds, following a predictable folder structure and naming pattern. Verifiable means any measurement, material ID, or lighting setting can be cross-checked against a note, a unit system, or a reference. Preserve the poetry of the scene, but treat the package like engineering documentation in its precision and signal-to-noise.

Ideation: What to Preserve and How to Label

Early work distills into a small set of artifacts that continue to drive alignment. Keep one or two ideation keyframes that still reflect the scene’s soul and label them as archival context, not production guides. Tag them with the original date, the author, and the reason they survive the cut. If sketches established a motif or faction language that future callouts reference, save the cleanest sheet and mark it as a design roots reference. Avoid including exploratory detours that conflict with the selected direction, because archival images often get mistaken as current truth.

Iteration: What Graduates into the Package

The iteration phase generates the most change, so your task is to freeze the signal and retire the noise. Promote the first orthographic plan and elevation set that matches engine scale and keeps to the modular grid. Replace exploratory thumbnails with the single composition study that matches the current camera height and field of view. Convert ad‑hoc notes into persistent callouts that resolve ambiguous joints, mechanisms, or material boundaries. Where you tested time-of-day variants, keep one alternate that best expresses range, and tie it to lighting notes rather than leaving it as a free-floating image.

Finals: The Visual Truths to Lock

Finals should show what players will perceive and what builders must honor. Present the final keyframe that captures composition, palette, and lighting hierarchy without contradicting proportions established elsewhere. Present the final orthos that define plan, elevations, and any sections necessary to communicate grade, ceiling profiles, or subterranean volumes. Present the final callout sheets that map materials, decals, and wear logic and that declare unique elements versus kit parts. Treat finals as the visual source of truth against which later changes can be measured.

Handoff: The Working Bundle

Handoff is the act of packaging, not merely exporting. Include layered source files for images with sensible groups, descriptive layer names, and non-destructive adjustments. Include flat delivery images at the studio’s standard resolution and color space with embedded profiles. Include vector or CAD-like files for orthographic drawings when available so tech artists can derive measurements without raster ambiguity. Include neutral 3D block-ins when they exist, aligned to world origin, right-handed or left-handed as per engine convention, and with unit scale declared. Include a readme that states what the package contains, what is approved, who approved it, and how it should be used.

Folder Structure That Survives Pressure

Organize the package as if someone will unzip it a year from now and need to rebuild context in a minute. Start with a root folder named with project code, environment code, and delivery date. Place a 00_Readme folder that contains the overview, change log, and contact sheet thumbnails. Place a 01_Keyframes folder for final narrative images and a 02_Orthos folder for plans, elevations, sections, and layout guides. Place a 03_Callouts folder for materials, joinery, signage, decals, FX origins, and wear logic. Place a 04_3D_Blockins folder for neutral scene files and exported geometry. Place a 05_References folder with cleared reference boards and any legal notes. Keep exploratory or deprecated content out of the delivery to prevent reintroduction of discarded ideas.

Naming and Versioning That Reduces Risk

Name files like you expect a script to parse them. Use an environment identifier, deliverable type, short description, version, and status. Keep status terms consistent such as work-in-progress, review, approved, and release-candidate. Increment versions numerically and avoid ambiguous suffixes. Freeze an approved release and duplicate only when a new change request is opened. Maintain a simple change log in the readme that lists what changed, why, and what downstream files were affected.

Color Management and Image Specs

Declare and embed color profiles. If the studio renders in a wide-gamut working space but displays in sRGB, state that clearly and indicate whether the provided images are scene-referred or display-referred. Record exposure notes when the keyframe lighting depends on a defined middle gray or tone mapping curve. Avoid undocumented LUTs that will not survive the handoff. Where UI color pickers in engine must match concept values, note the exact color codes or a short table of swatches with purpose and usage.

Measurement and Unit Discipline

Write down the unit system once and enforce it everywhere. Declare the grid increment, the reference heights for doors and stairs, and the standard human scale figure you use in drawings. State whether orthos show dimensions nominal or exact and whether they include tolerances for dressing overlap. If terrain is significant, provide a simple contour interval or stepped section that describes grade changes and retaining solutions. Measurement clarity prevents re-modeling when collision or navigation data hits reality.

Materials, Shaders, and IDs

Material communication is stronger when it is both visual and semantic. Provide a material ID map in flat color with a matching legend that links each ID to a material name, a shader type, and key scalar or texture expectations. Describe roughness or sheen behavior in words so that the intent survives even if the texture library changes. Record how materials weather over time, where grime accumulates, how edge wear appears, and how emissive elements glow relative to the scene’s key. Include a short note about shader complexity budget if the scene risks overdraw or costly transparency.

Modularity, Uniqueness, and Build Rules

State what is a kit part, what is a unique, and what is a dressing or decal. Describe connector logic so repeating modules snap without slivers or gaps. If rotation or scale variants are allowed, state the permitted transforms. If a hero element breaks the grid, explain why and mark it as a justified unique. Visual density should be governed by a rule rather than vibe. Put that rule in writing so set dressers and outsourcing partners can apply it consistently.

Gameplay, Collision, and Accessibility Notes

Explain how players move, where they can stand, and which surfaces are climbable. Mark the difference between visual ledges and functional cover. Where signage communicates gameplay affordances, describe the language hierarchy so designers and localization can maintain consistency. Include a short paragraph on accessibility considerations that affect visuals, such as color contrast choices for critical paths or patterns that could trigger discomfort. This ensures the scene is both beautiful and humane.

Lighting, Time-of-Day, and VFX Hooks

Tie lighting to truth, not only taste. Note the intended light sources, their color temperature relationships, and the exposure range across focal zones. If the scene must support day–night cycles or weather variants, include a compact note about which elements swap materials or intensities and which should remain stable. Mark spawn points for fog cards, dust motes, steam vents, rain sheets, sparks, or screen glows. VFX origins and directions should not be left to speculation.

Terrain, Topology, and Water Behavior

When ground is not flat, include one plan with simplified contours or slope percentages. Where cliffs or cuttings meet architecture, show at least one section through the junction. If water is present, describe level ranges, wave behavior near structures, and the wetness logic for nearby materials. These notes let environment artists avoid uncanny intersections and allow tech art to stage believable interactions.

Decals, Signage, and Language Systems

Decals are a system, not stickers. Include a small atlas showing approved decals at 100 percent scale, the blending mode or shader, and intended use. If the world uses a constructed language or a stylized typography system, provide an orthography guide and show how signs communicate hierarchy, direction, and warnings. Name a default placement grid or padding rule so signs remain readable from expected player distances.

LODs, Texel Density, and Optimization Intent

When concept art implies fine detail, give modeling a way to satisfy the read without breaking budgets. Provide a target texel density and call out where it can decouple for hero surfaces or micro-textured areas. Suggest how detail can migrate from geometry to decals to shaders as camera distance increases. If you expect LOD swaps in certain silhouettes, diagram where those transitions should occur so that pop is masked by form or lighting.

Dependencies and External References

If a scene borrows an existing kit, list the kit identifiers and the version you designed against. If a hero prop is defined in a separate package, link to it and state what assumptions your environment makes about its scale or material response. If legal or licensing constraints apply to reference imagery, include the clearance status and a reminder to avoid direct reproduction where required.

Version Control, Approvals, and Status Language

Use status language that mirrors the studio’s approval gates. Label images clearly as review, approved, or for reference only. Record who approved each artifact and on what date. When changes occur, update the status on every dependent file and list the cascade in the change log. Avoid shipping a mix of statuses in the same delivery because it forces other teams to guess which image to follow.

The Readme That People Actually Read

Write an overview that can be read in one minute. Begin with a two-sentence description of the environment’s purpose and tone. List what is included in the package and which files are canonical. State the unit system, the color space, and the modular grid. Note any known limitations or open questions that remain. End with contact names for art direction, concept, and production so blockers have a clear path to resolution. Keep the readme short and link to deeper notes inside the relevant folders rather than repeating content.

Common Failure Modes and How to Avoid Them

Packages fail when they are beautiful but unmeasurable, measurable but uninspiring, or organized but contradictory. Anchor beauty to believable perspective and light so keyframes remain credible. Anchor measurement to a single unit system, clear origins, and consistent increments. Anchor organization to a folder structure and file naming convention that remain stable across deliveries. Do not ship exploratory variants that argue with approved images. Do not rely on memory for one-off rules that belong in callouts. Do not bury critical truths inside hour-long paint-over recordings without a written summary.

A Mini Walkthrough From Brief to Package

Assume a desert canyon outpost with wind generators. Ideation saves two keyframes that test whether the outpost nests inside the rock or straddles a natural bridge. Iteration promotes the straddle concept, locks a third-person camera height, and introduces a pale dawn key light to separate forms. Orthos define a 1-meter grid, a stair standard that meets traversal metrics, and a repeating gantry module. Callouts capture sand abrasion on windward faces, cable tray routing, and the flaking of painted metal near fasteners. Finals deliver a single approved keyframe, a clean plan and elevations, a section through the bridge, and three callout sheets for materials, joinery, and decals. Handoff bundles layered PSDs, flat PNGs with embedded sRGB profiles, a simple block-in aligned to origin, a readme with status and unit declarations, and a change log that notes the removal of a deprecated tower.

Working Across Concept and Production

Concept-side artists protect vision and composition while leaving breadcrumbs that welcome constraints. Production-side artists protect constraints and modular clarity while preserving the silhouettes and light logic that sold the scene. The final package becomes the handshake between these values. When both sides contribute with the same labeling, unit discipline, and status language, the environment ships truer to intent and absorbs change with less friction.

Conclusion

Final packages are not glamorous in name, but they are the reason beautiful ideas survive contact with schedules, budgets, and engines. Treat the package as a product in its own right. Curate, label, and verify. Speak to imagination and to measurement with the same conviction. When your bundle delivers a clear promise, a clear plan, and a clear set of rules, your environment will arrive on screen with the integrity you imagined from the first sketch and the reliability your team needs to build it.