Currently, my ideas are still up in the air but hopefully these concepts can lead me in the right direction to find a project that I am truly passionate for. I have a lot of experience in 3D workflow and ultimately, games is the area that I want to have a profession in. However, exploring different areas of my interests can help me find a unique way to mash 3D or animation with something completely different.
Concept #1: Original character for League of Legends. League of Legends is a popular MOBA game that is rich in lore and has fantastic character concepts. For this concept, I would go through the entire process of modeling, texturing, rigging, and animating a character for this game. Animations would include, walk/run cycle, idle, “back” animation, and four unique ability animations. These abilities and animations are important in this character concept because they reflect specific traits such as the character’s personality, culture, and history. Most of this is generally in my comfort zone but learning the art style and how to do particle effects/visual effects is a new area for me to explore. Cloth is another area that I do not have experience modeling or creating. Working for Riot Games is a dream of mine and working on a project that would fit into their game would be a great experience.
Example of a character: https://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en-gb/champions/aatrox/
Concept #2: To explore an area that I have no experience in, I would look into facial recognition. For this concept, I would sculpt 3D character busts and use a face capture software to animate the busts and bring them to life. Users would be able to choose a bust from a selection and have it mimic their facial expressions .
Concept #3: Another thing that interests me is tattoos. If I can merge tattoos and Augmented Reality together, I think I can create an interesting project that brings your tattoos to life. I have a serpent wrapped around my forearm and for this project I can bring this to life by somehow animating the serpent and making it move around my arm.
(For Idea 1) Learning style is more or less a matter of understanding the design choices and features and replicating them to internalize it. I know all artist advise out in the world says “practice makes perfect”, but honestly I think it was to be interpreted more as “know what to practice, and how to practice it,” and in the end, that’s what makes the “perfect.”
All in all its rather subjective and only you can improve on what you’re looking to improve on, you just have to find ways of approaching that works for you.
Perhaps you could look at references for preexisting LOL characters and modeling one of them to get a better idea of the developers art style. Sort of like a pre-production, “proof of concept” if you’d like to try that first before creating your original character?
Hey Justin,
in regards to your first concept I think it would be beneficial for you to look into what makes a successful character design and how the characters traits are reflected in their actions and visual designs. There are plenty of videos that explore characters and their design choices. One in particular that comes to mind which I will link below would be a video exploring the character designs in the manga/ anime “One Piece”. I think it brings up some good things to consider when trying to create an interesting character that gives off personality through their visual design and how they carry themselves
I would start at 5:12 mark (also there is some explicit language just as a heads up)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHGO9JyTLYE
Hope this helps!
-Pat
I found this interesting article about a guy that made an AR tattoo that plays Sonic. Basically, his real tattoo is used as a marker that is recognized by the augmented reality program, generating a VR tattoo.
https://nerdist.com/article/augmented-reality-tattoo-sonic-the-hedgehog-game/
Another article I found talks about using image recognition and real-time animation mapping to create an AR tattoo. I think this aligns with what you are going for. It might be difficult with an existing tattoo, but you could use a QR code as a marker and then create an animation to apply over your real tattoo.
https://www.cnet.com/news/comic-creator-gets-awesome-augmented-reality-tattoo/
This is a similar approach that plays sound when a marker is scanned.
https://arpost.co/2018/04/12/local-la-tattoo-artist-uses-ar-technology-create-tattoos-can-hear/
If it wasn’t clear in class the other day, I’m *really* intrigued by your tattoo idea. It’s original. It builds on your existing skills and interests, but also challenges you to develop additional skills and knowledge. But technical implementation aside, I’m mostly fascinated by the social context of the project. As a said in class, imagine having this app in a bar, where people could meet / get to know / maybe flirt with others by bringing to life the stories behind their tattoos. Because the interface requires first-hand interaction someone’s body, it’s by-design more intimate than your typical social media app. Seems like a lot of potential to do something innovative and attention-getting here.
Some feedback on your first idea. Why confine yourself to League of Legends? Having a framework is important, yes but if what you want to do is go through the entire process of character development which goes from sketching to a full fledged animation cycle, why confine to the League of Legends world. Perhaps this is the world builder in me saying this, but you could start building your own world with this character. Just a suggestion. I’m not sure about the hiring practices of Riot Games but making a perhaps more in-depth character that has a place entirely of your own creation could bolster your portfolio.
Now more on a technical note, while in your comfort zone, modeling, rigging, and texturing a full character is a challenge in itself. For cloth, and any sort of clothes/rigging, you should be looking into weight painting in Maya and how to properly place bones based on anatomy.