CMSC340 3D Character Design & Animation

3D Character Design

3D Character Design

Breathing life into your creations is one of the hardest elements of character design

It can be easy to miss the magic when you're developing your own projects

While the most successful characters often look deceptively simple, it can be difficult to deconstruct why certain characters and their characteristics work, and some don't

3D Character Design

Understanding the importance of personality and environment is key to a good design

From inspirations and early drafts through to revisions and finalized versions, the design process can reveal complications that arise during development and how they are overcome

3D Character Design

In designing 3D characters, three types of visuals are essential:

Character sketches

Model sheets

Pose sheets

Character Sketches

Sketching may look simple but to sketch a single character a designer may have to do several sketches before a decision maker is impressed

With high tech programs and new software designing tools, a designer can exhibit freely their creative ideas to create symmetrical and proportionally correct characters

The final sketches of a designer can be translated straight from the computer to a fabrication stage, going through various procedures before the character is brought to life

Character Sketches

Note different facial expressions

Character Sketches

Note different sketch styles

Model Sheets

Aka character board, character sheet, character study or simply a study

A document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of an animated character

Are required when large numbers of artists are involved in the production of an animation

Help maintain continuity in characters from scene to scene, animator to animator

Model Sheets

Drawings of posed characters

Created to provide a reference template for several artists who collaborate in the production of an animation

Usually depict the character’s head and body as they appear at various angles (a process known as "model rotation")

Include sketches of the character’s hands and feet, and shows several basic facial expressions

Model Sheets

Depending on the whim of animation direction, deviations from the model may be permitted in the course of final animation

This "tightness" of model is a major distinguishing factor in overall animation style

It constitutes a tradeoff between expressiveness and smoothness/consistency

The usage of models varies widely between studios and projects

Model Sheets

Front Side Back

Model Sheets

Front Side Back

Model Sheets

Front Side Back3/4

Pose Sheets

Character pose sheets have been used for years by illustrators, animators and artists for the purpose of maintaining accurate renderings of their main characters

Think of how annoying it would be to have to constantly figure out how to draw your character in each situation they’re placed in

With a handy reference, you’ll remember key changes to your character’s look in all sorts of angles and actions

This will improve your work-flow and make you more efficient in the long run

Pose Sheets

Pose Sheets

Pose Sheets

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

A significant project in Studio AKA’s portfolio, the National Lottery ‘Big Win’ campaign saw the development of a signature style that has laid the foundations for future projects, most notably the current animated commercials for Lloyds TSB. “Early inspiration for the characters came from The Moomins,” explains Craste, who designed and directed the commercial. “The Moomins have a charming, if quirky and slightly spooky, quality that I very much like. I thought that mixture of charm and oddness might be the ideal direction to take the Big Win.”

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

The identity for each character was developed from scratch. Initial elements of personality were introduced at this stage, during the preliminary design process, as instructions on early sketches of Tyler show. “If every week you’re designing something new, you’re going to run out of steam on your own,” Craste continues. “Inspiration comes from various places. Very often something will serve as a starting point. The task is then to bend, break and reinvent until the source is no longer recognizable and you have something original.”

Characterization was developed very much with the target audience in mind. “We trod a fine line between keeping the design interesting enough for us creatively, and not being too weird or out there, because the characters had to appeal to a wide and diverse audience,” he explains. “The challenge was to make something fresh, original and hopefully memorable, within these constraints. We also had to avoid anything that might be too appealing to children. Animation is often seen as appealing largely to kids – slightly inappropriate for a Lottery ad.”

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

When designing new characters, Craste works from a pencil drawing first, often sketching straight onto a tablet in Photoshop where he then adds color.

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

The team used model sheets to maintain the graphic continuity, helping to standardize the appearance of the characters.

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

While the characters and costumes were drawn in detail at an early stage, their surreal environment evolved more organically, with input from Studio AKA’s CG set designers and builders. Initial designs reveal a darker feel to the National Lottery world than the finalized ad. “Invariably I’ll go too dark,” admits Craste, who spent the first 10 years of his career in Sydney doing adverts for children and working on children’s shows. “It’s probably a reaction to that. But I definitely have a preference for dark and moody stuff. It usually gets reined in on commercials and has its outlet in the short films we’ve made.”

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

The final ad plays to Studio AKA’s character design and animation strengths, particularly in its trademark deceptively simple geometry work, and the characters proved popular – not only with the client, but to other big names as well. “I think the National Lottery job was one of the points of reference for Lloyds TSB,” he explains. “They liked the ad – I think it suggested to them that they could do a CG job with contemporary design, comfortable in the knowledge it wouldn’t be perceived as too childlike.”

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win

Example:Studio AKA's Big Win