RUST ~Final Major Project~ Character #01 Concept Development

Idea's developed for my main protagonist, the ''old caretaker droid and the main protagonist, an unlikely hero who fancies himself as somewhat of a detective, and naturally inquisitive about the world beyond''. The first full body sketch I did was taking several elements I liked from my initial thumbnails and research to get a general idea... though I think the sort of body structure looks pretty cool, I'm not too happy with the head so I took the time to sketch out various different types to fit his character, and give him a strong personality. 

I really liked the styles of head that depicted the eyes as just lights, as I think with eyelids to cover them, would give this character a strong personality and be able to translate his emotion with just the positioning of the lids (a very simple yet effective method used a lot in animation). I also liked the idea of his default expression being one of a face scrunched up in concentration as if to look off into the distance (daydreaming maybe), with his eyelids subtly on show and his over extended under-bite style jaw on a slant as if hes really pondering something. I think this gives him the inquisitive look i wanted, though at the same time I also want to make his self proclaimed 'detective' attitude shine through also, so was considering looks that may show this off to its fullest. A neat idea that i liked, was to dress him in makeshift detective gear, e.g. like the hat and raincoat worn by New York detectives in old black and white cop movies. The downside to this design choice though, is that it seems a less subtle way of showing off his personality, and at the same time covers the intricate detail of his body work. I need to consider how I can show off this aspect to his character in a more subtle way, and is something I will experiment with even into the modelling stage, so that i have a decision by the time I am ready to texture. 

When developing the digital version to a final design, i considered the silhouette at all times, making sure the original pose i had sketched showed off the detail in this characters body, with all his plates hanging off and cables all loose. Recreating him in Photoshop allows me more freedom to add details to him, such as colour schemes and attire/prop choices, as well as surface detail like paint marks, damage and maybe things such as code numbers and warning markings? These are areas in which I am definitely going to play around with, all little ares in which i think will help make his character and design much more stronger. 



As well as this, I want to create artwork of each character in situation, which I think will give them a better sense of their personality, and their identity within this world I have created for them. 

RUST ~Final Major Project~ Research and Daily Sketches

PACIFIC RIM (2013) ~Guillermo Del Torro

Watched this movie as was recommended to me by a friend in my list of sources of references and inspiration for my project, and its a good insight into a more recent movie that utilizes robotics as a major movie focus. The movie is essentially a big monster movie, that sees a world where alien monsters have broke through into our world to destroy it, and mankind's only chance of survival and combating them are the huge mechs (or 'Jaegers') that humans pilot to fight against them and even the playing field. It's pretty much just a brainless action movie, with predictable plot lines and generic characters, but its the large scale on screen characters that shine: the designs of the monsters and the mechs are fantastically detailed and a lot of time and attention has been put into bringing them to life on screen. The mechs themselves all have distinct design traits that reflect the nationality of the people piloting them (american: standard heroic design. Russian: heavy/stoic build, nuclear powered, etc), as well as all being designed to be as believable as possible (with small detail paid attention to pistons, pivots, joints and vents). The film was very obvious in its homage to Japanese Anime cinema, and i think has done a good job in portraying the mechs and monsters in a western style, especially making the scale of the mechs seem believable within the world that movie depicts.... even if there are some slight discrepancies with this, such as several choppers carrying each mech which is supposed to weigh around 2500 tons.

The level of detail spent on each mech's design is an area im definitely taking note of and studying, as an area that ill focus on in my own robot designs. Though armored, the fact that my designs will be robots that have been left neglected, i want areas of their internal structure to be exposed to reveal the mechanisms and wires underneath that make each part work. One of the benefits of making robot characters instead of organic ones is the lack of stretching of texture surface i have to worry about, though regardless of this fact i still need to make sure all the joints and limbs work realistically enough to be believable. 

Final Thumbnails

These are the final set of thumbnails i have created before now choosing my favourites to develop into the final three characters. I have some clear favourites, but what i will most likely do is narrow it down, and any aspects i like from others i will merge them into my final designs so i get the best possible outcome for each character. 

RUST ~Final Major Project~ Further Research & Inspiration

Ratchet and Clank Series

(Playstation 2, 3 & PSP)

The Ratchet and Clank games have always been a source of influence and inspiration in my projects that have allowed me to approach from a more stylized perspective, as the depiction of characters and sci fi worlds in this series are incredibly imagineered and original. The robot pirates in 'Tools of Destruction' were definitely an influence in the decision to make the focus of my project around rusty robot characters, as they posses incredible silhouettes that give each design a great attitude. 
It's these sort of dynamic and interesting shapes and recognizable poses that i have concentrated in my own thumbnails and designs, as its one of the most important aspects of character design. Not only in terms of design, but also I wanted to aim to create final characters in real time engines that also possess the same standard and quality shown in this game series, though weather I am having the realistic but stylized look seen in these games or a more cartoon/cel-shaded surface quality to my final model surface materials, I have yet to decide. It is one of those areas I want to make sure I get right, as I want to have my characters possess quite a lot of detail, regardless of how stylized I make them, and I don't want to lose any sort of that detail or detract from it with my choice of shader's or materials. 

Primordia

(PC)

Primordia is a point and click puzzle game that was recommended to me after I presented my final ideas for characters to the rest of the class for feedback, as it's characters focus around old steam-punk like designs that inhabit a world of the same style. After researching the game through game play videos and a lot of the character artwork, I found that Primordia is an old school point and click adventure with gorgeously hand painted in game artwork, that depicts a ramshackle world inhabited by robots that look both parts organic and machinery. I love how everything in this game just fits together so well, a consistency that is shared between both the world and the robots that inhabit it, which shows their connection and history with the surroundings they have lived in and built. 
Also, the fact that the robots themselves are made up of organic shapes and smooth lines, gives them unique characteristics that make them more human like than the average robot design. The steam punk elements come through in their choice of wearing attire and intricate design work on their body surfaces, which all contribute in making a very original and somehow, believable world.

Construction Cancellation Order -Short Anime Movie 

(Katsuhira Otomo)

An anime short movie, recommended to me by a friend a while back, for its similarities to its theme of 'abandoned robots' that it shares with my FMP. It was created by the same person responsible for cult classic Anime movie 'Akira' and shares the same attention to detail and style seen in that: The story follows the inspection of a production plant that is being run by robots in the middle of a swamp, and has fallen under disrepair under the failings and unfailing dedication of the supervising robot worker to the task he has been assigned (to the extent that the whole thing is being run into the ground as a result). The whole setup and vibe has a very 'Twilight Zone' feel to it, and keeps you engaged to see what happens until the end. 
I found it a very haunting and interesting comparison to my own approach of what would happen when robots are left to their own devices: where as i have taken the approach that they would develop into personalities of their own, as seen here without human intervention they carry out their programmed tasks to a scary degree, disregarding the safety and well being of the entire facility in order to make sure their orders are carried out to the letter. 
I liked the simplicity and practicality of the worker robot designs, looking like an extension of the facility itself... which they kind of are, all being linked to some distant super computer by extension cables. It's these cables that they drag along behind them, their colour changing eyes when they sense hostility and their jerking and foot dragging movements that really give them that creepy and dangerous feel, that humans should really not venture into this abandoned project. 
The whole movie is clearly an observation on how far we are willing to go with relying on technology, and the dangers of doing so... which is perhaps a more serious aspect compared to my projects themes, but still definitely # a very interesting take on a similar subject. 

RUST ~Final Major Project~ Research & Daily sketches

WALL-E - 2008. Pixar Animation Studios

This has been on my film list for ages, and thought considering the theme of my FMP i thought now would be a good time to watch this movie. It follows an inquisitive little rubbish disposal robot who is the title's namesake, from his life in isolation on a futuristic abandoned Earth to his pursuit of a new model robot he falls in love with into outer space and humans new world aboard a vessel that has been travelling through space since earth became over polluted over 500 years ago. 

Though primarily focused on WALL-E himself, as the movie progresses you get to see more robot designs each with a purpose to fulfill, but also with a distinct personality reflecting their role; i.e. the cleanup robot, overrides his programming as his cleanliness OCD gets the better of him. It is this characteristics that each robot has that really struck me as something i want to get across in my own project, the designs of the robots themselves are quite simple and i liked the contrast between the smooth body's of those newer droids to the clunky but functional design to Wall-E. Something else that i really honed in on while watching this movie, was the attention to detail in every aspect of Wall-E's design; he looks like something that could be built and function (maybe without the same personality traits), from his eye lenses that he replaces with wires all hanging out, to his retractable arms and head. It's this level of believably i really want to integrate in my own robot designs, to really complement each characters personality.

Another page of robot sketches: again, emphasizing posture, and attitude through body language. Once i have a good range of these sketches, ill develop ones i think are strongest and adapt them into the main character templates for the main characters ill work towards bringing to life. 

RUST ~Final Major Project~ Research & Daily sketches

A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) -2001, Steven Spielberg

I looked at the film A.I. not really because it was an initial inspiration for RUST but because it was suggested as something to watch as it shared similar ideas and story focuses that my idea for my robot focused one described. Focusing on a distant future in which mankind has been reduced in number due to global warming induced floods, robots have now reached the levels of even becoming emotionally attached to humans, and the story focuses on the creation of a new 'mecha' called David, the first child robot that has the programming inside to learn the ability to love. The journey follows him as he is adopted by parents who's son is in a coma, then his abandonment and the tragedy of him trying to realise what and who he is, and how he can find his 'mother' again. 

I found the tale of David in this film really depressing, and is more of a reflection on society and human nature more than anything. I can see very close similarities though on how it relates to my own project; The abandoned robots seeking to fulfill their purpose, while the human world turns against them. I liked the theme of each robot having their own personality, regardless of it being programmed.... although the stark contrast between this film and what i want to achieve in my own project, is that the robots in this movie are very close to humans in appearance (mostly), while my focus is making the characters of RUST have personalities that doesn't rely on a human appearance to do so. 





I did enjoy A.I. and i will definitely take some aspects from the film and consider them in my own project, especially the worn and dilapidated appearance to a lot of the abandoned robots in the film, to the extent of them bearing really surreal appearances. The focus on a child's journey in this move kind of makes me want to reconsider creating a human child character alongside my droids as part of the plot, but this will all depend on time and weather it will detract from the end goal. 

More robot sketches, as part of my aim to doodle some robot designs each day: trying to look at varying styles, so not all of them will be biped's or humanoid in appearance, but still bear some resemblance of personality through their pose.

Vehicle Project: Part 2

Though the main purpose of this project was to learn about using and applying shader's effectively, and looking at how they work with various surface properties, I definitely had a larger focus on the design process of the vehicle itself which is reflected in my final outcome: Despite this, and maybe not allocating more time to shader's as required in the brief I'm still really happy with the final design, as it reflects my strengths in focus on imagineering and inventing out of this world creations.

If this is had been a strictly design and create focused brief I
definitely would have spent more time populating  the environment with more equipment and machinery to bring the whole scene alive. This though maybe detracting from the main focus, would have added that extra element to this final scene and made it seem less empty, the area around the airship itself. At least this way the focus is definitively drawn to the vehicle, and not distracted by anything else. 

Overall this project I found really enjoyable, especially the idea concepting part of it. There are definitely some areas of improvement apart from the ones I've already stated, also little things like implementing shadows, as its something I really noticed after, definitely the main one that should be cast by the airship itself. Also, the way that the orange light shines into the hangar, it was incredibly tricky to get it to work that well on the airship as when I applied that same light to the relevant shaders, no matter how much I adjusted it the light itself would always look weird and not flow correctly, so I did without that effect in the final renders. It would have been a good thing to spend more time on, but Im still pretty happy with the results.      

Ubisoft Character Project ~Part 2

This project was really enjoyable, mainly that both the subjects involved were two that I have a big interest and passion for: Character design and Japanese History (specifically the samurai culture). From the outset, I was pretty much set on creating the historical warrior, Tomoe Gozen, being one of the most notable female warriors in Japanese history there was a lot of strong reference material available, both in old artwork depictions of her and depictions of people dressed as her during traditional Japanese festivals. This had both its good and bad points, as even though it gave me a good starting point it also meant that It made it hard to drift from the depictions of her that were already out there, especially as I was wanting to depict her as historically accurate as possible. With this in mind, with conceiting I focused on her costume mostly, trying to fashion something existing in style, but of my own design and colour scheme. Needless to say I wanted something fairly extravagant for such a famous warriors, so looked at clashing colours, which were often used in high ranking generals uniforms and armour. 

The base mesh for my depiction of Tomoe gozen: Made the effort of including a lot of the ornamental aspects of the traditional samurai armour from the 12th century, with lots of fancy rope work and knots, holding all of the plates of the armour together. There are some areas that could have been improved, such as the folds on her leg wear, as it looks poofy, but now as billowing as I wanted it to. It was one of those things I spent ages trying to fix, and yet couldn't get it to look right. One aspect I was really pleased with though, was how accurate i was able to get the armour style down, so I think having good research and knowledge on how it is all held together really helped in making it authentic. 

I had roughly over 3000 spare tri's I could have used to add extra detail to areas looking at my final tri count. I think this would have probably benefited some parts of the mesh that needed to deform during the rigging process. Also the rigging itself had a few small noticeable issues that I ran out of time to fix, with some verts sticking to parts of the mesh I didn't want. Also would have liked the time to play around with different poses, with different prop weapons but my schedule didn't allow me to fit all that in.

Apart from small niggles (that I'll always have, being a perfectionist) I'm really happy with the final outcome of this project. I had quite ambitious plans to make things to support the final character, such as more weapons to pose with and even a horse! (as she was often depicted on horseback)  but that in itself is a big challenge, so obviously had to cut that part out. I think because I was so ambitious and excited about creating this character though, really helped in contributing towards making a strong piece of work. Given more time, I'd probably tweak specular levels on certain areas, polish up the rigging more and maybe look at adding more detail to the diffuse for the face, to add more depth.