Looking for Character Design feedback

emerald-shine

Hey everyone. Been along time since I posted here but its high time I started using this account. I am in my final year of Uni and have begun my honours project. I am desgining and modeling a trio of characters from concept all the way to game ready. High poly sculpts, rigging, animations, I'll be doing it all. Its a tall order but I have some experience and no doubt in my mind I can nail it.

The first chunk of the project is designing the characters. Theres always something that could be improved and something I may have not considered. Im seeking as much critique and feedback as possible so my designs are as close to professional quality as possible. I would be indebted if you could look over my designs, ideas and give any input.


This is Captain Porkbelly. The protagonist from the titular series. He was inspired by Earthworm Jim. He comes from a world full of predators that imprison other animals to fatten them up and harvest them as food. Not content with becoming the next round of bacon, he escapes this hell with the help of less endangered animals. Inspired by tales of another hero he dons a cape and mask and returns to his old stomping grounds stronger (not quite faster) to free the trapped livestock from a gluttonous fate.

I wanted him to look fairly comical but still heroic. Being a pig he is constantly dirty and has a thing for mud. He loves it so much, he uses it as warpaint and smears it around his eyes. This is meant to resemble a typical superhero mask, combine that with the cape and we see that he is parodying the superhero genre.


Of all the characters, the crow(who still doesn't have a name) will be the most challenging. I am trying to keep as many elements of the real world animal as I can, which means having realistic wings but also function as arms. I did try the disney bird method but it just didnt look very good.

I did a quick test to see how this could look in 3D and I am pretty happy with the result. If done properly, it could create some really dynamic poses that suit a stealthy speedy character.

I'll leave it there for now, i dont want to bog down this thread with a massive infodump. I will be Updating this thread as I go. Thanks for reading.

Aaron Barnett

These are fun ideas. I would really focus on making brackets in photoshop just to make sure that your proportions are all even. There's some inconsistencies in the dimensions for the characters features when they are side by side. For example; the bird character's beak changed height and leanght in all four headshots. His head also gets fatter and thinner in some perspectives. Try drawing the same expression over and over in photoshop. One layer on top of another in order to tighten up your line consistency and give your proportions more polished. Keep at it!

emerald-shine

Thanks for tips. Since I started working in 3D I've neglected my 2D art and gotten rusty. I also havent had much practice with animals. I've never heard of using brackets, is that similar to height in heads approach? Also just to let you know the crow is a she. I didnt want to draw attention to her gender. Its sadly a common trend now to make a big deal about a female character because they are female, also I'm trying to stay true to the real animal

Heres a few other characters i am working on

Pandemic. One of the 2 pandas left in the world. The other one was his mate, taken from him, powerless to stop it. Normaly shy and timid, he finds the courage and determination he needs to track down and reunite with his love.

I wanted to emphasize power and strength. Pandas are essentialy bears, which are pretty much all muscle. I need to strike a balence between fat and muscle. He is meant to be more capable and fitter than Porkbelly but feedback i have got from other peers is he isnt fat enough. I am going to shorten his legs and see how that  looks.


Orignaly started out as a monkey but just didn't seam authoriative enough. Him and his squad weild small cartoon style bombs. This is particually effective in areas with high structures allowing them to unleash a swift barrage of carnage from high up. The reason for this is I wanted the characters to resemble something you could see in an old 90s cartoon that kids and adults could enjoy. Dont think I'd get away with them toting firearms and grenades, censors are really sensitive these days.

Original design on the left, updated on the right. While designing him I couldnt help but think, how simple is too simple? Ive been to keep the designs simple and i get why. Simpler designs make it easier for the "read" and understand what they are looking at. It also makes modeling/drawing/animating eaiser. But with 3D/CG characters, expectations are higher arent they? Depending on the art direction certain details would be needed wouldn't they such as seams/folds and material definition in the clothing. In case of sleuth I want to really give the impression of an old and grizzled general using the folds on a bloodhound as the wrinkles that come with age.
I hope that question makes sense, I just see alot of characters that do have simple designs on paper but their 3D counter parts have a fair amount of details, be it some extra tools, accesories or even just various materials definitions.

Anyway these are the other 3 character I am working on. This brings the total to 5. I am only taking 3 forward to the modeling stage. 5 is way too much for the time i have. I'll be working on these guys all day and post an update later.