I Need Advice for Creating a 3d Avatar Editor in an iPhone Game
Hello,
I am currently prototyping an idea for an iPhone game. I'd like to create an avatar editor inside the game so that the player can create a 3d avatar face and modify certain features (using slider controls), such as nose shape, eye color, mouth size, etc. This has been done in several games, but what I'm looking to do would be fairly cartoon-ish/caricature-ish, similar to the Mii editor on the Nintendo Wii (http://www.myavatareditor.com/). I'd also like the final result to have the ability to use some canned animations, such as simple speech animations, smiling, frowning, etc.
I am not an artist, so I would be unable to create these assets, but what kind of effort is required for an artist to create the 3d models necessary for this type of game? Also what mechanism would be required to tweak the face's characteristics? Would you use bones or morph targets? How would the final result be animated? Would facial animation use bones or morph targets?
I've seen several tools that do this sort of thing too, such as FacialStudio. Are there any facial generation tools out there you'd recommend for generating some base content for this game, or should I just hire an artist to do this type of work.
Thanks!
I am currently prototyping an idea for an iPhone game. I'd like to create an avatar editor inside the game so that the player can create a 3d avatar face and modify certain features (using slider controls), such as nose shape, eye color, mouth size, etc. This has been done in several games, but what I'm looking to do would be fairly cartoon-ish/caricature-ish, similar to the Mii editor on the Nintendo Wii (http://www.myavatareditor.com/). I'd also like the final result to have the ability to use some canned animations, such as simple speech animations, smiling, frowning, etc.
I am not an artist, so I would be unable to create these assets, but what kind of effort is required for an artist to create the 3d models necessary for this type of game? Also what mechanism would be required to tweak the face's characteristics? Would you use bones or morph targets? How would the final result be animated? Would facial animation use bones or morph targets?
I've seen several tools that do this sort of thing too, such as FacialStudio. Are there any facial generation tools out there you'd recommend for generating some base content for this game, or should I just hire an artist to do this type of work.
Thanks!
Replies
In response to the effort required, it can be pretty considerable. I guess it depends pretty drastically on the style and variety you are aiming for. I highly doubt any pre-canned tool or software is going to replace an artist helping you with this...just not gonna happen.
For face creation, a mix of bone scaling and morphs would provide the ultimate flexibility. However, if you are going for mii style, that level of detail may not even be necessary and you may just want to straight-up swap meshes around...I dunno. Morphs are likely your best bet for animating, as they are light on performance and widely used for animating.
Character creation systems are very interesting to me personally. I have thought deeply about approaching a project similar to what you describe, but I have to ask what you think the target market would be, and why 3d would be so important? Just doesn't seem like it would be a 'huge hit' or anything...so what personal interest do you have in pursuing a project like this, if not for the love of it?
[ame]
How would one even start on something like this?
that APB character editor looks awesome. Makes me want to have a standalone version of the editor.
Although, if you have loads of money and time, I would say go for it.
The key thing about iPhone games is that unless you are a big studio, it's virtual suicide to invest on time-suck features like this. Just go with the main things that make your game fun. Most games are $1 - does that price point really warrant a fully customisable character?
Also this post is in the wrong forum category, you may get some technical answers if this was moved to technical talk
From reading your posts I get this inexperienced vibe from you and think you need focus on the game. Unless the game needs customisable characters then by all means. It'll be a lot of work though even for Mii styled meshes. Good luck :<