This part of the module is professional
character conception and goes through the process of concepting a character in
2D and finally modelling and texturing that character in 3D to a professional
standard.
The project requires two characters one low
poly (600 tris) and a higher poly (6000 tris). These tri counts would be
similar to a PS1 character and an early PS2 character model.
I like to model in low poly and the designs
of good low poly characters is something I can admire more than a next gen high
resolution character model. Low poly models can have a charming quality about
them as often elements of that character will be oversize or cartoonish, just
look at most ps1 or Nintendo 64 era games.
For some inspiration and understanding of
low poly character designs it may be usefull to look at games such as Crash bandicoot, Spryo the
dragon, ect.
http://mestarstudios.deviantart.com/art/Crash-Bandicoot-109456711, MeStarStudios
High poly
Although 6000 tris is not considered that
high poly in today’s game technology it would have been around the time of the first ps2 titles. Most games in 2002-2003
would have characters around the 6000 tri mark. An example of how poly limits have changed is
that in 2007 the character head models alone in Crysis would be around the 6000
tri count.
For this tri limit I wanted to do a
completely different sort of style character and since theres more polys to play
with I could attempt a more semi realistic design over the cartoony and
exaggerated features of what I intend to do on the low poly model.
Concept of characters in 2d
When it comes to concepting characters
there are thousands of ways and styles that artist adopt. Me myself I find that
drawing a silhouette of a character with little to no detail then when I’m
happy drawing line art over the silhouette and finally adding colour works best
for me. However this project would be a great chance to explore some other
techniques that I may find other artists use.
Evolution theme in character designs
Some initial ideas for character that have
some link with my chosen evolution and genetics theme:
·
A
character not necessarily humanoid having shrunken limbs due to the fact they
aren’t used anymore.
·
Taking
a creature from the world today and putting them in a different environment and
designing how that change of habitat may affect them.
