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Week 11: A Dichotomous Post Mortem

3ds max analysis character dichotomy game art design game dev post mortem presentation university For this project, I was required to design two characters that were total opposites of one another. I got to choose what my tri and texture budgets were – providing they were sensible. The only other major requirement was that the characters had to look as if they were from the same world.

Now, normally Pinterest provides me with a huge amount of inspiration however, for some reason, I really struggled to gain any whatsoever. I’m not sure if it was the thought of having to design two characters that spun me off course or the fact I had to have the majority of my concepts and the final idea done within 3 days. I initially thought about doing a kind of cowgirl/something duo but after going home one weekend and finding an old history book, I decided to delve further into researching women during the Second World War. This led me to the idea of a WAC Colonel and a young evacuee. After doing a massive moodboard full of random ideas, the finalisation of my idea meant I could produce a more specific one.

On the first Thursday of the project, I had to present my work so far to the critical studies team in order to receive feedback and inform them of how I’m getting on so far. This went better than I thought it would and I received some really helpful feedback - which did mean I had to change my idea slightly, but definitely for the better. Mike said that he wasn’t too sure what the relationship between the two characters was and that it was something I really needed to push in order to successfully convey my idea. It was also suggested that I look at WW2 propaganda posters and how they’ve inspired films such as The Incredibles.

After speaking to Jack about my idea, he suggested I read a book called ‘Put Out More Flags’ by Evelyn Waugh as he felt it’d aid me in my research. This actually really helped me with developing the relationship between my two characters more. Books are awesome.

I've spoken about modelling in previous posts, so onto the unwrapping...or more commonly known as the part where I broke down and did the most stupid thing ever. I was trying to work out where would be the best places to put seams on the face and for some reason, my brain thought “smack one down and across the middle of the forehead!” I definitely wasn’t thinking of the consequences at the time to say the least. I normally make my normals first to get some similar details in the albedo, but this time around, I did the albedo first so I didn’t notice the horrific seams right until the last minute. I applied them in 3DS Max, and this happened.

So not cool. Luckily, it only shows up in the viewport and it’s totally invisible in UE4 and Marmoset so I’m trying not to kick myself too much over it.

Now, the brief says that we only have to model one of the characters, but for a stretch goal we’re allowed to make the second character, or rig the one we’ve already modelled. I knew from the start that I probably wasn’t going to have enough time to model both, who needs optimism? So I planned my time accordingly and left a day towards the end for rigging purposes.

Luckily, I’d had some practice throughout the summer project which did really help me out but the hands are another story altogether. Instead of rigging every single joint etc, I decided I was just going to rig her into a pose. So, going about the usual business, I started moving the biped around into suitable positions and everything was actually going really well! Right up until the hands. I knew the success wouldn’t last.

Fingers are 100% the most VILE things to rig. Luckily, Steve came to the rescue and advised me on where to place more edge loops to prevent seriously shoddy deformation! It was like being back in first year again drawing loops all over my hands.

As you can see, the briefcase also wasn't too happy. 

Overall, this project has been an absolute blast/nightmare for me! On one hand, I enjoyed trying out a new style and working in a different way but on the other, I'm definitely not planning on making a stylised character any time soon. I decided to create my character in this style as I thought it would be easier to manage with the set timescale, however looking back, it would've been 1000 times easier to stick to what I know and produce a realistic character. I can happily say I left the dreaded comfort zone over the past few weeks, but I feel if I'd have stayed there I probably could've produced something I was much happier with.
If I were to change anything, I'd definitely spend more time focusing on making my idea stronger and possibly allowing myself enough time to create the same character in a different style. I feel that's what's bugging me the most, not how strong the idea is, but the actual style itself. Ugh.

I'm staying in Leicester until the 23rd so I'm planning on doing a couple of paintovers and improvements on the textures and rigging to make me feel slightly happier about the whole thing!