Break down of game character creation (in terms of time)

Boozebeard

Hey, I've seen a few threads about how long roughly it take to make a game character in the industry but I was wandering what the kind of time each individual stage would usually get allocated, including the initial design/concept art? If anyone has a link to specific article or anything that would be great too.

This will really help me with a piece I am writing for uni.
Thanks.

ioster

It varies based on the complexity of the character. I've worked on a AAA third person action game where an NPC gets two weeks for the high poly, and two weeks for the low poly, UVs, and textures. I'm working on a project now with a very low tri count limit and diffuse-only texture. It probably won't take more than a few days.

ysalex

Hi ioster, nice to see you outside r/compG.

As for me, I haven't worked on any AAA, but my personal schedule is generally two or three weeks for a high, and a week or less for the low. I think I need to start spending more time on the low.

In my portfolio, if you care to look, the spacedive character high was a month, the low a week. The photoJ was two weeks high, less than a week low. The survival male was 1 week high 1 week low.

If I broke down the process percentage wise, I would say:

- High, including concepting, 60%
- Low-poly transition, including retopo and bakes, 20%
- Texture finalization, 10%
- Trying to get the materials correct, 10%

Just my numbers, probably not accurate for people with experience.