In this course you will explore concepts and approaches involved in creating successful character designs that can be applied to video games. Following a first week delving into some foundational concepts for successful character design, each of the remaining three weeks are structured as a master class where you will observe three professional character designers at work in the studio: Andy Ristaino (Adventure Time), Jacky Ke Jiang (Journey), and Robertryan Cory (SpongeBob SquarePants). Each designer will take on two different design challenges on the fly and address the various issues in designing characters for games, such as movement, expression, and technical limitations. At the end of each week you will have an opportunity to try out some of the concepts from that week's lesson on characters of your own design. This is a fun and engaging class especially useful for students interested in animation in film and TV as well as games, and is suitable for students of any drawing ability.
2D Tablet Drawing
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From the course by California Institute of the Arts
Character Design for Video Games
543 ratings
California Institute of the Arts
543 ratings
Course 4 of 5 in the Specialization Game Design: Art and Concepts
From the lesson
Week 3: Design with Purpose
This week, we visit Jacky Ke Jiang, an animator who has worked as a character designer for both Disney Feature Animation and in video games. Jacky will discuss working in both 2D and 3D modes as he completes his challenges.
Meet the Instructors
Fran KrauseFaculty, Character Animation
School of Film/Video
No I can just do it on my phone,
cuz that's the other thing I usually do is I start just sketching using my app.
So basically this is a program I have been using for the last five years.
It's called Sketch Club.
I highly recommend it.
I like this better than the Autodesk one.
Maybe I'm just used to it.
It's just a lot more simpler and It has everything I need and
you can record process.
So, I'm gonna start recording.
Like what Photoshop has, you can do layers, you can fill colors.
So I usually start with a color fill.
Just to not draw in the white background.
Drawing on the white is like you already push it to 11.
They have become more of a carving into a negative black process.
But in digital, we have the freedom to use any colors.
And when I use a brush, I use super simple,
just one brush and draw all of them in different sizes.
And once again, stylus don't really have pressure sensitivity.
So first I was really bummed out, but later I really discovered that's actually
really good, because then you're putting down very confident value.
If you can make a drawing with very simple just flat color,
that's better than dithering with values too much.
There's many tools I can use right now I'm just gonna use some very simple ones.
I'm laying down some very basic values so
I can pick them very easily just by holding down to the canvas.
Also make sure I only draw on the separate layers.
It's almost like just painting.
When I was at Disney featured,
that's when I started using this tool to do a lot of observational oil painting,
instead of, everyone else is doing analog oil painting.
I'm just doing a lot of this type of thing because you can redo and
undo very quickly.
And you don't have to mess with oil.
Cuz' learning how they use real oil to paint is a trick on its own.
I'm just playing with a very simple shape, you wanna start with a bigger brush.
I wanna start with a very simple idea my head.
What do I want this player to do?
So I'm trying to think of scenario, okay.
Maybe he's already in a dance pose, rather than a T-Pose.
When you make a character,
it's much better to have the character doing what it wanted to do.
Then just put him into a straight T-Pose.
T-Pose is like a very standard staying in 3D animation,
you have a character, you put the arm out and you put the leg down like that.
That's a T-Pose.
The reason why you put the character in the symmetry T-Pose is so
you can put a skeleton into the character.
So you can make them animate.
But the downside of T-Pose is obviously it's a T-Pose.
It doesn't really reflect how the character behaved in any way.
So, it kinda take away part of the character.
So, what you're really focusing on is the costume and the body shapes.
But when you start initial concept,
you wanna start something more than just a T-Pose.
You can always bend the character back to a T-Pose when you,
go back into the production.
T-Pose way back when remembered of very classic.
>> [INAUDIBLE] yeah the [INAUDIBLE] in the circle.
>> Yeah I'm surprised no one has made a 3D model of that.
Somebody should do that like a model people do that,
that will be pretty interesting so much.
To do in so little time.
That's my frustration.
If I can do everything that went through my head, yeah, I'll be a lot happier.
>> I noticed your sticking with magenta's and greens.
>> Mm-hm >> Why those two colors?
>> I don't know, I kind of just always felt like i wanted some 60s groove.
Cuz' astronaut always used like a brownish grey, it's very serious.
So I wanna maybe use some prime playful color in this one instead.
But I guess that is the one rule I bended.
The design itself should be more realistic maybe or maybe more legit.
>> Well we're bending some of the rules there weren't artificial intelligent
robots back then either.
>> Yeah exactly.
So I guess that what I'm getting from the idea is I want,
I'm thinking about something very playful.
Make something, Something not serious.
It's about playing.
So once again, there's really no detailing, it's just a pose.
Right now.
So but now you can, once you have established a very strong silhouette.
Then you can start laying down some details.
But it's all about how different you wanted that it to shift.
Because a good concept art.
I cannot really say the good concept art it just the latest trend.
Is to have the color really pushed to one direction, so when you look at it
you can have the detail color shift on different props.
You can also have it to be accentuated based on the real lighting resources.
Does that make any sense?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, so it all depends on what you wanna say.
If you want your character to appear to be very physical.
Sell the of,
is in the real physical world, then you can even go out and study,
make like a little, realistic armature and put the bounce lighting into it.
Really study the light.
How he behaves.
And then use that as your primary example.
But if you want this thing to be more decorative, like a fly to the drawings,
you wanna accentuate the detail design on the shapes.
Then you focus on just finding interesting shape,
doing some research on the internet or magazine.
And then put them together.
But when you have two at the same time, you kinda wanna still manage how much of
each you want, cuz' you don't want it to take too much of a sensory overload.
You want it to make sure they don't compete with each other.
A good drawing, everything you should to sing the same tone.
But the one's you can start with a design the rest of is all detail management.
I like to put just a hint of gray, in the same color family into each color.
It's a trick a lot of painters uses.
What it does is it creates a very,
it makes the color, the saturated color, much more vibrant.
It makes your, it tickles your eye in a very good way.
So that's what I like.
Also the other thing I do is I can turn lower the transparency
that will create a nice color mix.
But I don't do that too often because if you do that too often your color,
your drawings start to become blurry.
The first couple patch of color is very important.
Because that pretty much establish what color you want to be in this drawing.
So you have wanted to have a better transition between this and this.
I just go to the, the gray scale, put brush to be 50% transparent.
And just brush it once over.
And then you'll create a nice transition.
You can just.
I don't know if you can see it.
[INAUDIBLE] I can zoom in here.
The art director from Journey, Matt Nava, he got me into this.
Jaw on the phone theme with me but
I don't know if he actually does this on the phone.
He just does it as hobby.
But a lot of early design for
the dagon county next game is actually done by phone.
Just because I was, I just happened to be in the place I don't have my computer.
And in a coffee shop I just start doodling.
Is a very handy tool and
as far as phone now is a huge, like iPhone 6 Plus is like Galaxy.
It's a big dimensions so you can really get a nice drawing going.
>> Yeah. >> The what
it does is allows you to draw small but they can appear as they big.
Cuz' all you need to do is zoom in, [LAUGH] it's big.
So it doesn't matter what the format is.
Anyway, like right now for example,
I'm drawing this one astronaut doing the dance move.
Clearly, composition wise, I can't really fit the other robot onto it anymore, but
because it's digital, what I do is.
I can raise this layer and duplicate it.
And then always make a safe duplicate layer.
And then I can just do like a scaling after I did some work.
So this way I can draw a robot and fit it to the side.
I can either make it taller or shorter.
Like tweak the composition a little bit.
Here and there.
I like that so now I have more space to work with the robot.
Again I don't really draw the whole structure yet.
I just play with the shapes.
If I don't like the shape I just change it.
And when I'm going with this shape, I'm not really thinking in terms of robot, I'm
just thinking about abstractly [INAUDIBLE] what shape looks pleasing and interesting.
And to make a robot out of that shape.
So it's important for us to break the category first,
create something that's outside the category, and then re-categorize it later.
That's how we create new and beyond what's there.
So right now what's happening is, I felt like the color pattern design is a little
too overwhelming, so I'm using some like lower opacity brush to dim down the color.
Just overlay it so it doesn't draw too much of your eye.
But as soon as I've finished that, I will go back to the sharper design.
This will cover it up.
>> One of the things I think is tough about drawing with pen is not
really knowing what the whole character's gonna look like until it's done.
>> Mm-hm.
Because you have to start partially.
>> Yeah, how do you deal with that?
>> Let's see.
I'm gonna deal with drawing things you can only draw half.
Well, the same way I deal is I can't read your mind.
Just, knowing what limitation is, and work with what you have.
So because the pen has this
policy of you can draw it but you can only draw it halfway from a side.
That allows so much more wonder and
surprise elements when you finish the drawing.
And that's something you can never do when you, I can't say never,
never say never right?
That's something, other medium might not have the same thing.
Cuz' when you brush, your one brush stroke,
that may just look like a human silhouette.
And you're done. >> Mm-hm.
>> It's a very quick feedback rule.
So the drawing has that nice feeling of you draw super slow.
And then you put detail here and there.
And then you see the whole picture.
It creates this cinematic movie experience when you're creating art don't you think?
It's like you start with a blank slate.
You have nothing on the page.
And then you end with now I understand what this is all about.
>> Okay yeah I think so.
>> It's like cathartic.
>> Oh is it a problem that you can't see the whole thing, all at once.
You're saying it's good to have that surprise.
>> Mm-hm, yeah, it's good to have that surprise.
So once again, this is a very quick just a rough concept of what this robot is like.
Now I could start drawing another character if I wanted to.
Like a secondary character.
Maybe I'll change a different color.
>> Trying a totally different color there?
>> Mm-hm.
Again, I'm working with a very simple shape.
So that character is small and in the back so
he needs a little bit more close ranged value.
And it's a very very subtle difference.
Again, I'm still just an entry point student in terms of finding good values.
Those Disney guys they're super amazing at doing it.
Just really push value to be so
close range but just enough you can tell the difference.
To me that is Kung Fu.
You know Kung Fu actually means mastery on something in Chinese.
It means effort, but in the western culture it just means martial art.
You have people say in China.
When you something is amazing, you say, oh that requires a lot of Kung Fu.
It means it requires a lot of effort.
>> Mm-hm.
>> So they appreciate it.
Maybe that's why when you grow older you start to appreciate finer things more,
it's because you know your life is fleeting away.
And you understand what each minute and second mean for each person.
So when you see something takes a lot of time to do,
you really appreciate it versus when kids see it, they take it for granted.
Cuz they don't know the relative terms of how much is a second.
Or minute.
Also the other thing I really like, I like podcasts.
>> Yeah.
>> I think I just like humorous and
in general, I think laughter is the ultimate weapon against death.
>> Mm-hm.
>> Cuz' no matter, what you do in life
if you become too depressed if you can laugh about it that means you win.
You win the round.
>> Mm-hm.
>> So I like I like comedies.
So there you go.
I just did some very simple 60s groove.
Maybe I'll add a planet on the back.
I'm sure I can just put this layer on the back
Laying down some more aggressive colors.
But I felt like I made a mistake.
I should be drawing the space first cuz then
I can use the color to block the color in front.
You will see what I mean as soon as I start putting blocking color.
See part of it I was using
the third color to shape the character, now the dirt shows why.
This is a discipline thing.
If I was being more disciplined.
It won't happen.
I would just make sure I use erasers rather
than use a different color to paint.
Now I'm just putting down some big colors.
Kinda like to add a little bit of, add a mist here
even though on Mars they don't have an atmosphere.
>> Is there a subject matter or
something that you really wanna see in a game that you haven't seen yet?
>> Subject matter >> Just last shooting game,
last robot game, cuz' there's too so many of them.
I wanna see a game explore.
Maybe just different human conditions, make us all connected in some way.
Family value.
Really, really thought about it.
Like make generations understand each other.
That's the kind of game I wanted to see.
Like something we all have in common and
understanding where we are in the grander scheme of things, in the universe.
Understanding there is no bad guy in the world,
we're just all having our world of play.
I guess that's the kinda game I wanna see.
>> Mm-hm.
>> A game operating on a much higher or lower level, is always good.
Like, to me this is just a very simple sketch version of a concept
I can go more detailed into later, but this is perfect for phone size.
But why do my timecard animations,
I usually make a character based on one of those simple concepts.
And save to image.
And done.
>> Cool.
>> All on my phone.
>> Nice.
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