10/14/2016

Computer Graphics & Design – Major Project Character Design

Design Brief:

Seeing as I enjoyed the character design assignment earlier in the course, I’ve decided to

create another. This time I hope to create far more detailed sketches, as I wasn’t really

content with my sketches from the earlier assignment and wanted to do so much more but

couldn’t because of the time frame. I intend to utilise a 3D modelling/sculpting program

(Blender) to model my character once I produce satisfactory sketches and perhaps a

backstory, as I want to create a purely original character and not one featured in another

production, whether that be a movie, book or video game. During this project I would like to

extend my sketching skills, as aspects of my previous character sketches weren’t as strong

as I’d like them to be.

Sketches:

As mentioned above in my project brief, there

were aspects of my sketches that I wanted to

improve upon, namely hands and feet. Because

of this, I decided to accentuate those features

on my character so I would have much more

experience in sketching and modelling them by

the end of the project. This is why my very first

sketches were of different angles of hands,

arms and towards the end, gauntlets, as I

thought that that would be a good way for me

to emphasize the hands and arms.

I then went on to sketch different facial features

like mouths, and various hairstyles. Sadly,

although I did attempt to add them, they never

made it onto the final model because of time

restraints and lack of experience creating those

finer details in blender. I did however manage to

add some articles of clothing to my model after

creating the base mesh, but not to the extent

that I intended, as they lack proper textures and

only have materials attached to them.

Next, I attempted to sketch some poses

that I thought about modelling my

character in. The finished product ended up

being somewhat of a combination of the

two shown here, with my character

beginning to run and bringing his right arm

back as if he were about to throw a punch.

This main sketch was my attempt to fit the

gauntlets on a basic sketch of a human

body and I think it went rather well, save

for the lack of a head and left foot. The

lower two sketches are just more pose

testing that resulted in too much polygon

clipping when I attempted to pose the

mesh in blender. I still managed to model

the gauntlets on the blender mesh in the

final pose, however; they are on a

different layer and not linked with the

armature of the main mesh so I am unable

to pose the as easily as the main mesh.

Blender Modelling:

When I started using blender I contemplated just importing a human mesh and continuing

on from there, but I decided against it in an attempt to challenge myself and gain some

experience with blenders tools. I then began to follow various tutorials on the subject of

creating a completely new human mesh. These tutorials resulted in me creating this basic

mesh.

The hands in particular were quite

difficult compared to the rest of the mesh, as the

method that I used to create the individual fingers

left me with odd shapes to work with. Luckily,

blender has a function known as ‘subdivision

surface’ that allowed me to soften the edges of the

entire mesh, leaving me with something like this.

Armatures:

One I had the base mesh fully modelled, it was

time to add the armature so I could pose it in the

way I wanted. This presented me with some

problems in the form of mesh weights. Each

individual ‘bone’ needed to be weighted correctly

for the posing tool to move the mesh along with

the armature this is where I came across various

warping issues, particularly in the shins and feet of

the mesh.

Because of some earlier armature mishaps

the two shins of my mesh had become

linked, this mean’t that then one was

moved, the other would follow. The only

difference being that the foot on the one

being moved is moving with the rest of the

leg, wheras the other leg is moving without

the foot, leading to some servere

deformation.

Clothing:

The clothing was fairly simple to make, as all I had to do was duplicate the objects covering

the characters torso then scale them up ever so slightly and re-colour them. I then did this

for his legs and feet to make his jeans and boots. The clipping between the shirt and jeans

became somewhat troublesome when I posed the character, as the would often overlap. To

remedy this I had to bring out the bottom of the shirt more and bring in the top of the pants

creating some clipping between the pants and the main body, not visible in the renders.

Gauntlets:

The gauntlets were created post

posing so they didn’t warp or become

disfigured but it meant that they

would be somewhat difficult to

construct, given the angles of the

arms and hands. I still managed to do

it successfully due to the use of

blender’s ‘looptools’ add-on that

allowed me to re-shape the model to

near exactly what I needed to fit the

arms on my character after every extrusion.

Timeline:

Project Start

Character research

Blender research &

tutorials

Begin initial

sketching

Begin character

modelling

More blender research

& tutorials

Design brief

Resume character

modelling

Begin final

documentation

Final Renders:

Research Essay:

The 3D modelling industry may not be as widespread as other more traditional design

industries, but as technology has progressed, designers have progressed alongside it. The 3D

modelling and design industry has thrived over the past few years with the advancements in

video games and movies just to name a few.

Current video games have progressed leaps and bounds from their roots, with some of the

earliest games being simply text based, to many now being produced with fully 3D models

and environments. With the over saturation of the gaming market, it’s important to make

your game stand out, and one of the best way to do this is with outstanding graphics and a

unique art style, and that is where 3D modelling and character design plays a large role in

attracting a player base and allowing your game to withstand the test of time among the

thousands of others that you may be trying to compete with. Another aspect the consumers

look for when purchasing a video game is the story is it compelling and will it make them

want to play the game. The characters play a large role in developing the story and whether

or not the player will like the game, is the character likeable, are they relatable, do they fit

the role that they are given. This issue deals with more so the personality of the character

more than the actual design, but it is still very important to the overall longevity of the

game.

Movies and television also have a need for 3D modelling and animation, just look at Disney’s

3D animation division, Disney Digital 3-D. They have released approximately 40 original

feature films over the space of 11 years, some of which weren’t purely animated features

like Toy Story or Tangled, some of them required the use of actors for the main roles, such

as Pirates of the Caribbean or Alice Through the Looking Glass. It isn’t just movies that

require 3D modelling and effects, independent animations or advertising can also utilise 3D

character modelling to promote a certain product or make a transition to a larger scale

animation team.

Because of the rise in popularity of 3D modelling software, there has become a large market

for pre-made meshes, textures and other assets. This makes it extremely easy to find and

download pre-made models for use in your projects. This also allows 3D modelling artists to

earn a profit while allowing others to create amazing artworks and possibly share their work

with others. Less on the creative side of things, 3D character modelling can also assist in

police investigations through forensic facial reconstruction. This is primarily used to identify

victims and is achieved through analysing the remains or description, then manipulating

scanned photographs of the cranial remains in 3D modelling software to then produce an

approximation of what the victim looked like.

The sheer amount of things that we can choose to create ultimately depends upon the

opportunities presented to us by the technology available. This will create a need for

computer aided design in many other industries. With people striving to create the very best

that their creative medium can offer, whether that be video games, movies or just

independent animations, there will be a need for characters and subjects for them to use.

Research Essay Mind Map:

Character Design

Video Games:

Does the characters

design suit the role

they’re given?

Does their personality

make people want to play

through them or will it

suit a more antagonistic

role?

Movies:

Does the animation style

of the character fit in with

the rest of the movie?

If they are in alive action

film, do they break the

flow or immersion by

being noticeably CGI.

If they are in a fully

animated feature, are

they properly animated?

3D Artists:

Is the community large

enough for this to

become a stable job?

If so, is the need for

characters and parts of

them (clothing, hairstyles,

extras, etc.) so great that

just specialising in them

will make for a stable

source of income?