How to Create a Character: Process and Recommendations
While developing Dream Cats, we redesigned the entire game and realized we had to re-create the cat characters. As it turned out, the characters were not clearly structured and optimized because almost every cat had its own proportions and body structure. As a result, we developed a single structure for all the cats, which entailed redesigning the old images and creating new ones.
This article will be helpful for artists who draw character concepts or want to start creating them and game designers and 3D artists involved in design development. We will explain how to create an interesting character, what questions you should ask yourself when developing a concept, what problems you may encounter, and how to address them.
There is a rough sketch from the art director and an old character design.?
To get started, we break down the creation of the concept into stages:
This pipeline is needed to structure the conceptualization of any character. It would be wrong to say that the concept development is linear. Still, by sticking to the plan presented, you can understand what stage we are at, what remains to be done, or what phase to return to in order to develop the character better.
Gathering character information
To fully represent the characters, we need to find out who they are, what they do, and what interests they have to identify the main characteristics. You can ask these questions to yourself or to those who may know this information: game designer, narrative designer, art director.
After a brief discussion, we figure out that Lucky is:
To keep this information in front of me and not search through documentation, I do a summary and add my associations.
Collecting references
I collect references based on the input data. I will redesign the old Lucky, but the whole pipeline is appropriate to create a character from scratch.
In my understanding, a good reference is any element in real life from which you can borrow any features and visual solutions. I gather references to get inspiration and find compelling solutions specifically for our character. It is not necessary to collect thousands of references for the sake of one character, and it is better to select a few dozen that most clearly describe the hero. In addition, it makes it easier to navigate references and elements, and grouping will save your time. Therefore, I have collected photos, several illustrations of cute cats, and a couple of 3D models that show stylized shapes.
I used Gabriel Soares's 3D sculpture of Superman, as well as Kagamine Rin and Vocaloids Anime from FURYU Vocaloid, as the primary reference for the style and figures of the cats. The colors are by Edwardian Taylor.
Sketches
When drawing a character, you need to monitor its volume. In the example above, each item of clothing has a thickness, whether a scarf or a sleeve. It is also worth using pure generalized forms. For example, the characters' anatomy is simplified and has no realistic shapes.
In our case, the finished work represents a 3D model. As described earlier, we had a problem with optimizing the cats' resources and structuring. Therefore, we decided to make several blanks of cats of different sizes and body builds.
We have four types of cat blanks to make any character, for example, a little bee looking for help or a fat lumberjack with a beard.
We take a small blank for Lucky, as his age and general vibe condition it. After making an orthographic rendering of the little cat's blanks in Blender, I put them on a worksheet in Photoshop and reduced the opacity to 40%. This way, we can create new shapes and not deviate much from the cat's body structure.
Based on references and a small 3D model of a cat, we sketch general forms that describe the character most clearly. At this stage, we draw the front and side views to check the design's look from different perspectives. More complex designs may require sketches in different views, such as from above or behind, so the 3D artist can navigate how the design works.
At this stage, most of the attention is paid to the cat's snout and shapes. The general movement lines, patterns, and details within the figure are also thought out.
After creating the sketches, we immediately choose the colors to understand the location of the color spots of the coat and the general distribution of colors.
Together with the art director, we decided that we should work on #6, since this version most clearly reflects the cat's character. Shaggy hair, a bell dangling to the side, tiger spots and playful eyes!
Let's break down point by point why the other characters didn't fit:
Option #6 is good, but I felt that the snout became fractional due to the intense tiger spots, which breaks our idea of the character. In this regard, I decided to work on the head shape, as well as the color scheme of the body. I wanted to change the round shape or make the snout more attractive with different colors.
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We got a few more options, of which numbers 4, 5, and 6 seemed the most suitable, thanks to the more interesting silhouette and clarity of shapes.
New colors:
Let's also break it down point by point:
We chose #6 because of the dynamic line that runs through the entire character. Also, the character seems more consistent compared to the other variants, as the layout of colors looks more meaningful and corresponds to the references from real life. #4 also fits the concept but doesn't keep some of the "tigerishness" from the previous variant.
The reference from real life also confirms this variant – cats have the same dynamic line when the lower part of the coat is light, and the upper part is red or of another color. Lucky also has this line and the corresponding distribution of colors.
Color scheme
At the color search stage, all the colors are represented as pure fills to see how they work without shading and gradients.
When gathering references, it's a good idea to choose the colors and patterns you want to use (at least approximately). In my case, the cat is playful and always active. He's the type of cat that wakes us up at 4 am, but we love him anyway. Therefore, I knew beforehand that the main color would be warm, keeping Lucky's old design in mind.
I have chosen an 80/20 color scheme: 80% are the main and similar colors (for example, dark blue and blue in a couple of shades lighter / darker), and 20% are the accent colors. Thanks to this color scheme, the design integrity is maintained, and there is no overload.
But this color scheme is not necessarily the only right one. You can choose a different layout if the design would benefit from it.
When players meet a cat for the first time, they are focused on his appearance, conveying a specific mood. That's why we have created a small pack with different colors of the cat's snout. Different colors and shapes can dramatically change the hero’s mood. Thus the muzzles marked in the picture below have entirely different vibes.?
The version on the right uses warm colors, the arrangement of color spots makes the eyes look bigger, and the snout seems friendlier. In the version on the left, we use the contrast of dark and light. The shape of the white spots around the eyes creates an ominous feeling, and the white eyebrows intensify this effect. The contrast between the white chin and dark snout gives the impression that the cat is wearing a balaclava, and the triangular spot in the center of the muzzle makes him more threatening.
I used a similar method with Lucky. The light stripe in the center of the snout highlights the eyes and enhances the heterochromia (different color eyes). I added a brown spot around the blue eye to make him look more rowdy-dowdy. The color around the green eye is lighter to contrast the brown. The forelock is also colored brown so that it is outlined against the red head and makes the hair more shaggy. The cat's eyebrows are made lighter for a more lively facial expression. If the eyebrows were the same shade of red, they probably wouldn't be visible.
I finalize the cat's snout so that it really attracts the viewers. To do this, I paint the collar blue, so the attention is drawn to the base of the head. The multicolored eyes stand out against the warm tones of the coat. The blue eye matches well with the blue collar, and the green eye adds an intriguing accent. Lucky is the main character, and his multicolored eyes make him stand out even more from the other cats, as he is the only one with this feature.
Final concept refinement and launch
We have already figured out what our cat is like and determined his distinctive features and character. Now, we need to draw the final three-quarter view with shading to ensure the design is correct. You can make the three-quarter view in the earlier stages of the concept development. However, working through the design and shapes will be more challenging, and you'll have to think about perspective distortions constantly. When you have a completed and thought-out design in two views, it will be much easier to make any other view and think about lighting and shading.
The final concept sheet includes:
While working on the concept, we create a reference sheet for the 3D artist containing all the critical information for the character's creation. Ideally, it would help if you worked out all the unclear aspects separately, like in the example below: where the bag is attached and what shape the brooch has. It is also helpful to attach references so that 3D artists can better understand the shape and design of the elements.
Conclusion
This article covered the main points to consider when creating a cat character. The bottom line is that the quality and final look of a character often depend directly on what questions we ask ourselves or colleagues, how we use references, and what our character is based on.?
Before using this pipeline, there were a lot of problems with understanding proportions and the visual aspect of the cats because concept artists were drawing in three-quarter view and perspective, which took more time, and the result did not quite meet the request. At the same time, 3D artists did not always understand how clothing elements should look or how the shapes should appear in perspective distortion. Consequently, there were many questions, and we spent much time discussing fine details and nuances. Naturally, this pipeline can't address all the challenges, and we have to discuss specific points anyway, but having a clear structure solves most of the issues.
I hope this process has helped highlight some nuances in concept development and explain how to make your projects easier to manage. It's worth noting that this process is not a set of strict rules but more of a guide to help you build your work in a more structured way. So improvise, break the rules, and always aim higher!?