Catch-Up #2

Dev Diary #27

Shortly after starting my Designing for Animation module, I also started the very intense Commercial Asset Production for Real Time module. This module took up the majority of my study time throughout the year and as difficult as it was to keep up with the sheer amount of work required of me, it was also the module that had the biggest effect on my career path and plans. Because of just how much work I put into this one module, I've decided to make this blog post dedicated to just CASPR.

After learning of the assessment criteria and what the project involved, I quickly began brainstorming ideas and concepts for what story I could animate and what the character and environment might look like. My first concept that I presented to my lecturer Jess, was a parkouring, anthropomorphic Serval.

As well as create sketches for the character, I explored the environment concept in the form of moodboards. After presenting these to Jess however, she rose concerns of how I would make the character's fur and facial features considering the project assets had to be made as realistic as possible. After contemplating this, I decided to save this character for a future project and move on to one that would be more achievable for the timeframe and fit the project criteria better.

After reviewing previous art of mine, I found a character reference page I made for a previous project and felt inspired to make a character of similar fantasy vibes. Once I had settled on this idea, I quickly began exploring character concepts through sketches and moodboards.

With a finalised design, I moved on to create a low-poly model and high poly sculpt before retopologising, UV unwrapping, texturing and rigging.

Making the character from start to finish took the majority of the year but I'm really proud of what I was able to make considering it was the first time I had ever done most of the stages of the creation process.

As well as make a full character, I also made a quick environment for the animation to be set in.

Overall, this project introduced me to the process of character creation for real-time applications and games and sparked a new interest in persuing it as a career! Looking back at my project now, there are many areas that I have improved in already (such as retopology and UV unwrapping) that I look forward to showcasing in my self-placement project work. The skills I learnt during this project have been invaluable and despite the immense pressure of trying to learn and finish all the work on time, it has been the module responsible for finally giving me a clear path and goal for what I want to do after I graduate!