Our customers don’t need 3D characters
They need 3D people. It sounds not good for an artist, but that is true. Our customers don’t need characters in terms of the game industry. Simulators makers are practical persons, and they don’t want to invest money into things that are not directly simulation subjects. In the vast majority of training systems, people are absent at all; others are somewhere in between “Could have” and “Won’t have” speaking in prioritization terms. In the cases where they must be, the main requirements to models are their functionality and professional authenticity, not their art value.
Functionality includes, first of all, compatibility with the target software platform and a set of characteristics necessary for a successful simulation. Besides, customers are often guided by a minimum valuable product principle. That’s why lots of restrictions impose 3D people models – budget, number of polygons, textures, bones in a rig, etc. It’s not a secret that in most professional systems, graphics quality is not one of the computing and financial priorities.
Professional authenticity includes precise modeling of uniforms and instruments typical for a profession required. And this point very often presents a big challenge for an artist or a project manager. That’s because both a customer and an end-user finally belong to the same or a neighboring profession, and even slight outfit mistakes are often considered as fatal. You may create a character without ears, and it will be accepted, but the absence of an arm pocket may cause a storm of critics.
So our recipe how to effectively create characters for a professional industry:
- Naturally, first of all, you need a person understanding characters modeling foundations, topology characteristics, and having rigging and skinning skills.
- When you start a new character, find maximum source materials. Try to study the equipage, instruments, and outfit details, which are typical for a person of a profession needed. It is a crucial thing.
- Use presets like heads and arms. Customers are, in most cases, indifferent to the personality of a 3D character you create so a face (one of the most complex parts of modeling) can be reused many times. It saves a lot of time and money.
- Use automation instruments and templates. Utilize your previous works to the maximum. The difference between the outfit of people of absolutely different professions is very often not so big as it seems to be.
- Trust the creation of instruments and equipment (like a radio or a gas mask) to hard surface modelers. Character artists are often crazy about organics and choose not the most effective ways for such elements modeling.
- Use color schemes to get more variety. For instance, if you use two helmets and two jackets, you already get four “different” characters. Customers will appreciate your inventiveness.
- Here are some characters we created following these simple rules:
