"This 'Forest of Shadows' scene rendering needs some manual adjustment. The color tone doesn't need to be this dark—instead, it should lean toward a lifeless gray. The branches should be designed to look stranger and more twisted to emphasize the horror atmosphere. As for the finer details, the wood grain texture shouldn't be too clear, but it also can't be too rough. Ema, set aside your other work for now and focus on revising this scene. There's still enough time, so there's no need to rush this much."
While reviewing the work progress of the production department members, Kamiyā Yuu examined the 3D environment Miyauchi Ema had constructed and offered suggestions.
The review work should originally have been handled by Yūki Chinatsu, but since he wanted to get a more detailed understanding of the movie production progress, he had taken it over personally.
After speaking, Kamiyā Yuu grabbed Miyauchi Ema's mouse and skillfully operated the MAYA 3D modeling software, making sweeping modifications to one of the dead trees within the scene. In less than ten minutes, a lifeless, gray, withered tree had taken shape. Combined with the uniquely gloomy background, it gave off an inexplicable sense of terror.
"It should feel roughly like this."
After finishing the dead tree modifications, Kamiyā Yuu said with satisfaction.
Sitting in her office chair, Miyauchi Ema carefully examined the dead tree model Kamiyā Yuu had casually created and pondered:
"It really does fit the president's requirements much better. I understand now. After this, I'll revise all the scenes in the 'Forest of Shadows' accordingly."
"Thanks for the hard work."
...
Next, Kamiyā Yuu arrived at Matsuoka Taira's workstation. The latter had already been waiting nervously for him.
Matsuoka Taira was mainly responsible for modeling supporting characters and other secondary figures. Overall, the difficulty was considerably greater than environmental modeling alone.
Originally, the secondary character modeling work should have been handled by Majima Hana, but Matsuoka Taira had voluntarily fought to take on the responsibility himself because he wanted to test his own abilities.
"My dream is to create a character that audiences can recognize and remember!"
After hearing words like that, it would probably be hard for anyone to refuse his request.
Kamiyā Yuu walked behind him and examined the character model displayed on the computer screen.
It was obvious Matsuoka Taira had prepared himself.
The figure on the screen resembled a dynamic CG illustration more than anything else.
A heroic knight clad in shattered armor rose from black mist-covered ground. Torn pieces of a dark red, bloodstained cape fluttered in the wind, making the atmosphere even more tragic. He held a damaged, blood-covered sword with chipped edges, dried blood embedded within the cracks of the blade.
Although the knight's face could not be clearly seen, one could still feel the deep aura of a tragic hero from him—
Marcus, the fallen hero guarding the 'Boundary of Darkness'.
"Matsuoka, isn't this done really well? I can tell you added your own style on top of the teacher's original character design."
"Sorry... I made changes to Director Uehara's character design without permission."
Matsuoka Taira lowered his head in embarrassment and answered quietly.
Kamiyā Yuu smiled and shook his head.
"That's a good thing. You have your own understanding of this character, and from my perspective, that interpretation is very distinctive. Of course, you shouldn't casually modify character designs, but this time you really did live up to your words when you insisted on taking responsibility for secondary character modeling. In the future, if you need to make major changes, just ask Chinatsu or Teacher Uehara for their opinions first."
Matsuoka Taira raised his head in surprise, excited that his work had been acknowledged by someone else. He abruptly stood up and bowed deeply toward Kamiyā Yuu.
"Thank you for the praise, President! I'll continue working hard in the future!"
He looked exactly like a student being praised by a teacher.
...
Finally, Kamiyā Yuu arrived at the independent office containing multiple computers. Standing at the doorway, he smiled and greeted:
"Miss Majima, may I come in?"
Kamiyā Yuu adopted different attitudes depending on the person he interacted with. Toward mature and highly capable women like Majima Hana, he tried to behave as gentlemanly as possible.
Of course, that didn't mean he had any romantic interest in that direction. It was simply the most suitable attitude to take.
Majima Hana, who was busy concentrating at one of the computer desks, lowered her crossed jade-like legs and nodded.
"President, here to inspect the production progress?"
"Yes. Also, replacing Chinatsu to review the results."
Majima Hana turned her head and looked Kamiyā Yuu up and down before smiling.
"I'm honored. Well~ everything's on the computers over there. Feel free to check them as you like, President. Sorry, but I'm a little too busy right now."
Walking into the office, Kamiyā Yuu replied:
"Haha, don't worry about it. Since I'm the one who developed this software, I at least know how to use it."
The five top-spec computers placed inside this office were all used for automated rendering. Majima Hana's primary responsibilities were checking the automatic rendering and making manual adjustments. Her secondary role was acting as an all-purpose support member, assisting the others in the production department.
Although this kind of work didn't test technical skill too heavily, it required considerable meticulousness and experience. Aside from Yūki Chinatsu, only Majima Hana—a former assistant director of the 3D department at Kyoni Animation Co., Ltd.—could handle it properly.
And in truth, during his inspection, Kamiyā Yuu realized she was doing an exceptionally good job.
Her manual rendering adjustments were extremely precise. In fact, for certain scenes, her understanding was even more appropriate and profound than his own.
"I'm thinking maybe Miss Majima's salary should be increased a little. With such outstanding ability, not giving matching compensation really wouldn't make sense."
Kamiyā Yuu rapidly operated the keyboard and mouse while speaking sincerely.
After a brief pause, Majima Hana answered, her tone carrying noticeably more amusement:
"President, I'm not the type to be polite about things like this. By the time a woman reaches my age, money is probably the only thing that can give her a sense of security."
Kamiyā Yuu chuckled.
"But isn't Miss Majima still young right now? A woman as outstanding as you should have plenty of younger men pursuing you."
"I wish things were as the President says. But all I leave people with is the impression of being a workaholic."
Majima Hana's hands paused briefly on the keyboard and mouse. Her tone carried a trace of loneliness and the faintest hint of longing.
She was nearly thirty years old, currently at one of the most awkward stages of a woman's life.
...
By noon, Kamiyā Yuu had already finished everything he could do.
After eating the bento he had prepared that morning and resting briefly, he stretched lazily in his office chair.
"Ahh~ Time for a change of pace."
He pulled out the digital drawing tablet he had bought and began sketching the character concept art for the game he had named 'Ship Girl Collection'.
The most troublesome part of 'Ship Girl Collection' wasn't the game programming or operation management, but rather the beautifully designed ship-girl characters numbering in the hundreds.
Even if Kamiyā Yuu focused solely on character illustrations, it would still take at least half a month to a full month to draw them all.
Since 'Ship Girl Collection' was only meant to fill his boring free time, there was no way he intended to spend that much effort on it.
He planned to combine his experiences from both 'Kantai Collection' and 'Warship Girls R' from his previous world to create rough character design drafts for the ship girls, then hand those drafts to Morishita Aoi and commission professional illustration studios and artists to complete them.
He only needed to personally handle a few ship girls he particularly liked or considered important.
The subtle differences between various illustrators' art styles would instead make the game feel more diverse and increase the enjoyment of collecting them.