Sarah Clarity Studios

Chapter 1: Scale Readability & Occlusion Planning

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Scale Readability & Occlusion Planning for Mecha Across Cameras & Distances

Mecha lives or dies on readability. A mech can be brilliantly designed in a single illustration and still fail in a game if players can’t recognize it quickly, understand what it’s doing, or parse its scale relative to the world. Scale readability is the art of making size, mass, and role obvious at the distance and camera angle the player actually sees. Occlusion planning is the discipline of ensuring that key information stays visible even when parts overlap, the camera is tight, or the environment blocks the view.

This article is written equally for concept artists on the concepting side and production side. If you’re concepting-side, you’ll learn how to choose proportion and silhouette systems that survive multiple camera modes. If you’re production-side, you’ll learn how to package and test readability so modeling, rigging, VFX, UI, and lighting can preserve the design’s intent.

Why scale readability is harder in mecha than in most subjects

Mecha combines large scale with high detail density. It is tempting to fill surfaces with panels, bolts, and greebles—because mecha invites it. But detail density is exactly what collapses at distance. At gameplay camera, the player does not see your micro-detail; they see a few big masses, a few strong angles, and a few color/value blocks.

Scale readability is also complicated by reuse. Many games have multiple mechs with similar roles, and players must differentiate them quickly. That differentiation must still work when the mech is half-obscured by explosions, smoke, HUD elements, or other units.

Occlusion planning acknowledges a truth: your mech will be partially hidden most of the time. You must decide what cannot be hidden.

The camera taxonomy: FPP, TPP, iso, VR/AR, marketing

Different cameras impose different readability demands.

In first-person (FPP), the player often sees only parts of the mech: cockpit UI, arms, hands, weapon mounts, maybe knees or shoulder armor. In FPP, local silhouette and interior scale cues matter more than full-body silhouette.

In third-person (TPP), the player sees the whole mech frequently but at medium distance. The camera may sit behind and above, which changes what surfaces are visible. In TPP, the “back read” (spine, backpack, shoulder tops) becomes as important as the front.

In isometric (iso), the mech is smaller on screen and the camera angle is high. Iso demands aggressive simplification, bold value grouping, and role-coded silhouettes that remain readable at thumbnail size.

In VR/AR, scale is felt physically. Players notice proportion errors immediately. Occlusion becomes visceral because the camera is the player’s head; parts that block view feel oppressive or claustrophobic. VR also punishes jittery micro-motion and noisy silhouettes.

Marketing (key art, trailers, store thumbnails) often uses dramatic lighting and close-ups, but it still needs instant identity. Marketing also cares about iconic angles, signature features, and “hero frames” that can carry a brand.

A good mecha design can adapt to all of these, but only if you plan your hierarchy.

Readability hierarchy: the four layers players actually perceive

Across cameras, players perceive a mech through a hierarchy of layers.

First is the silhouette: the outer contour and primary mass proportions.

Second is the big value and color blocks: where the darks and lights sit, and where the primary accent colors live.

Third is the motion signature: how the mech moves—posture, stride, recoil, thruster behavior.

Fourth is the detail language: panels, decals, wear, micro greebles.

The mistake is designing layer four first. A readability-first design locks layers one and two early, tests layer three with pose and animation thumbnails, and only then invests in layer four.

Occlusion planning is mostly about protecting layers one through three.

Scale cues: how to make “big” feel big

Scale is not only size; it is evidence. Players believe scale when the mech shows real-world references and believable structural logic.

A classic scale cue is the human reference: cockpit canopy size, access ladder, handrails, maintenance hatches, warning stripes, and decals placed at human scale. Another cue is thickness: armor plate thickness and joint housing mass. A third cue is environmental interaction: footprints, crushed debris, sway of cables, dust displacement, and screen shake (used carefully).

In iso and TPP, you must choose scale cues that survive distance. Handrails and hatches may disappear, so thicker proportions and strong mass breaks matter more. In VR, subtle cues matter because the player can lean in and inspect.

A useful mindset is to designate “hero scale cues” that you will always preserve. For example: a cockpit band with windows, a shoulder maintenance hatch, or a consistent hazard stripe panel. These become scale anchors.

The silhouette budget: what you can afford to add

Every silhouette feature you add competes for readability. Antennas, fins, shoulder cannons, winglets, spikes—these can define identity, but they can also create occlusion and noise.

A silhouette budget means choosing a few signature features and keeping the rest quiet. In TPP, a strong top silhouette (shoulders/backpack) is valuable because that is what the camera sees most. In iso, top silhouettes are even more important because the camera angle favors the upper surfaces.

In FPP, silhouette budget shifts to local silhouette: the profile of the weapon, the shape of the arms, and the framing of the cockpit interior.

Occlusion planning: deciding what must stay visible

Occlusion planning begins with identifying “must-read” elements. These usually include: head/sensor block (targeting identity), primary weapon or tool (role identity), weak points or critical systems (combat readability), and any unique locomotion feature (thrusters, wheels, claws).

Then you ask: what commonly occludes them? Shoulder armor can hide heads. Backpacks can hide torso cores. Weapons can block legs. VFX can cover everything.

Once you know the occluders, you design solutions. Solutions include repositioning (raising the head, widening the sensor face), creating negative space (cutouts around the head), adding secondary reads (a glowing sensor strip visible from behind), or designing “peek features” (a tall antenna that remains visible above smoke).

Occlusion planning is not about making everything visible at once. It is about ensuring the player always has at least one reliable cue for identity and intent.

Camera-specific occlusion problems and solutions

In TPP, the back of the mech and the shoulder tops often dominate the view. A common failure is a beautiful front design with an anonymous back. Plan a back signature: backpack silhouette, spine vents, shoulder cap shapes, and thruster arrangement. These are identity cues.

In iso, legs and feet can occlude each other, turning into a single blob. Solutions include separating leg silhouettes with stronger negative space, simplifying foot shapes, and using value separation between near and far limbs.

In FPP, cockpit frames and arm geometry can occlude the player’s view and cause frustration. Plan a “vision corridor.” Keep the central forward view open, and place bulky structures lower or to the sides. If the design demands bulky frames, use transparent materials or thin silhouettes in the view zone.

In VR, occlusion is physical. If the player’s view is blocked by their own mech’s shoulders when they turn their head, the experience can feel oppressive. VR benefits from cleaner interior silhouettes and fewer moving parts near the player’s face.

For marketing, occlusion is controlled by the camera, but you still want options. Design at least two iconic angles—one that sells silhouette, and one that sells face/weapon identity.

Distance testing: the simple method that catches failures early

A powerful habit is distance testing. Render or paint a mech, then shrink it to the size it will appear on screen. Test it as a thumbnail. Then test it in a cluttered scene: drop it into a busy background with smoke and other units.

If the mech becomes unrecognizable, the fix is usually not “add detail.” The fix is simplify, re-group values, strengthen silhouette, and re-prioritize signature features.

Production-side artists can formalize this by creating a “readability board” that shows the mech at multiple pixel sizes and against multiple backgrounds. Concepting-side artists can do a quick version by scaling down and squint-testing.

Value grouping and material simplification across cameras

Value grouping is the fastest readability tool. Decide where your darkest family lives and where your lightest family lives, and keep those families stable across views.

In iso, value grouping should be bold: fewer value steps, clearer separation between major masses. In TPP, value grouping helps the player track the mech during motion. In FPP, local value grouping helps the player distinguish arms/weapons from cockpit frames.

Material simplification supports value grouping. If everything is shiny metal, reflections can destroy readability. Plan material contrasts: matte armor vs glossy accents, dark rubber in joints, emissive strips that clarify orientation.

Motion readability: posture, cadence, and “silhouette in time”

A mech’s identity is not only how it looks, but how it moves. Motion becomes a readability channel when visual detail is lost.

Heavy mechs can have slower cadence and stronger vertical bounce, with clear foot plant and weight shift. Agile mechs can have quicker cadence, longer lean angles, and sharper turns. Flyers can have distinct hover bob and thruster flare patterns.

Occlusion planning includes motion. If a mech’s weapon blocks its own torso during recoil, you may need an alternate recoil posture or a camera offset. If shoulder armor hides the head during sprint, you may need a head rise or a sensor strip visible from behind.

Production-side artists can coordinate with animation to preserve signature motion cues, and with audio/VFX to reinforce them.

UI and VFX occlusion: designing for the feedback stack

In combat, UI overlays and VFX frequently occlude mechs: damage numbers, lock-on markers, explosion smoke, muzzle flashes. If your mech relies on small facial details for identity, those details will be lost.

Design solutions include: big silhouette signatures that survive smoke, emissive placement that reads through dark scenes, and color accents placed in areas that are less likely to be covered by UI (often upper torso and shoulders). If weak points need to be readable, place them where UI can comfortably anchor without hiding core silhouette.

Production-side artists should treat UI and VFX as part of the occlusion budget. A telegraph plan is an occlusion plan: you are deciding what effects appear and where, and ensuring they don’t erase the mech’s identity.

LOD and texture budget realities: planning what survives simplification

In production, mechs will be simplified through LODs and mipmaps. Fine decals will vanish. Small geometry will collapse. This means your readability must survive simplification.

Concepting-side artists can help by designing “LOD-proof” signatures: big shape breaks, clear armor bands, large emblem zones, and distinct weapon silhouettes. Production-side artists can help by aligning these signatures with actual LOD strategies and texture packing.

A useful practice is to identify three “identity landmarks” that must be preserved even at low LOD: a head/sensor silhouette, a shoulder/backpack silhouette, and a primary weapon silhouette.

VR/AR specifics: scale honesty and comfort

VR/AR introduces comfort constraints. Rapid camera motion, excessive screen shake, and noisy flicker can cause discomfort. Mecha feedback must be strong but not chaotic.

Scale honesty is also critical. If cockpit frames are too thin relative to perceived size, players feel the mismatch. If hands feel too small for the body, it breaks embodiment. VR benefits from clear interior scale cues: bolts, seams, and material thickness that match the player’s sense of distance.

Occlusion planning in VR includes not blocking the player’s forward view. Design cockpit frames and arm silhouettes to maintain a comfortable view corridor.

Marketing and key art: readability at a glance

Marketing often compresses into thumbnails: store icons, social banners, key art crops. Your mech needs a “logo-like” identity that survives this.

Plan one signature contour that is unmistakable even as a black shape: a unique head silhouette, a signature shoulder outline, or a distinctive weapon profile. Then plan one signature “close read” feature that sells detail in key art: a cockpit face, a core glow, or a weapon mechanism.

Production-side artists can support marketing by preparing a small set of “hero angles” and ensuring the final model and textures support those angles.

Deliverables: what to include for readability across cameras

For concepting-side packages, include at least one page that shows the mech at multiple distances: a normal view, a reduced thumbnail, and a silhouette-only version. Include a quick note about which features are the identity landmarks.

For production-side packages, add an occlusion plan page: back view emphasis for TPP, top silhouette notes for iso, cockpit view corridor for FPP/VR, and a list of parts that may be allowed to ghost versus parts that must not clip.

Also include a small value and color grouping guide. Even if final shaders change, your grouping intent helps lighting and VFX preserve readability.

The core principle: protect the identity landmarks

Scale readability and occlusion planning are about protecting what matters. A player should be able to answer three questions instantly: “What is it?” “What is it doing?” “How dangerous is it?” Those answers come from silhouette, value grouping, and motion.

If you design with identity landmarks, silhouette budgets, and camera-specific occlusion solutions in mind, your mechs will read across FPP, TPP, iso, VR/AR, and marketing. The design will survive distance, smoke, UI clutter, LODs, and motion—and the entire team will spend less time fighting readability and more time polishing the experience.