Proposal

Context and Concept

For this project my plan is to design, model, texture, pose and render a 3D model ready for rigging and animating. The aim is to make a unique, realistic character that is highly detailed and to a similar technical specification as you would find in high quality films.

Studying anatomy and forms from real life I aim to create a character that although imaginary in concept is believable, having firm groundings in animal/human structure. Researching these techniques/methods and creating the character will lead to a final model that I will use in a character design and modeling show reel upon graduation.

Theory for Research

The research I plan to undertake will be technical as well as artistic.

Artistically I will research anatomy, character design and traditional art skills. Technically I will look into workflow and pipelines for designing characters for industry standard work, all done using the latest techniques and software.

The practical research I gather will be from several sources; I will study books on anatomical reference, art and character design. I will also look at examples of successful and not so successful characters. There are a vast range of DVD titles to study from; ‘Gnomon Workshop’ has many available on several aspects of character building, from 2D concept to 3D modeling and rendering. The internet will also be an area for research as most of the latest techniques are published online before being put to print.

During the whole process I will also be running a public web log that will enable me to obtain feedback from peers and professionals. The address is below:

http://filmcharacter.blogspot.com/

The written research I will undertake will look into the role of realism in art throughout the centuries, focusing on the French School movement in the mid-19^th century up to the current day. I will begin by analyzing major realists such as Gustave Courbet and then progressing through time into the current search for realism through 3D graphics. This will not only let me learn from the past but allow me to take those lessons and apply them to my character.