The Character-A-Fortnight Event : CAFÉ 004


#1

CAFÉ 004

“Pseudosaraus”

“…The number of dinosaurs that have ever lived is estimated at 900-1200 genera. The fossil record of dinosaurs is presently about 25% complete…” P Dodson, National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1990.

Ever wondered what could have walked the earth? Well now is the chance to let your pencil or polygon modeling package ponder that very thought. The brief is simple - Invent your own dinosaur!

[color=white]Quote from an abstract on google scholar, located at >>> http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/19/7608[/color]

CHARACTER-A-FORTNIGHT EVENT (CAFÉ)

Manifesto: The anatomy forum CAFÉ - a place to meet, share your concepts, ideas and work for the set brief, and then discuss them with like minded individuals (Bring your own coffee though…)

The purpose of this ongoing workshop series is to develop original character artwork in both 2D and 3D. A theme or brief will be given at the inception point of the workshop, and the project will be executed by the participants during a 2 week period. To have your own idea from the set brief, develop it in 2 dimensions and then execute it in 3 dimensions is very challenging, (especially within the time period,) and helps the artist to understand form “in the round.”

If you are thinking of taking your ideas into 3 dimensions, please decide on a suitable polygon budget (for games/TV/film or as much as your computer can handle!) If you are unsure, please enquire on the workshop and others will try and help. The workshop is application independent, and so anyone can try it. For those of you who would like to try 3d but do not have a package, blender (http://www.blender3d.org/ ) is a very high standard open source 3d application that is free to download and use. However, this will take time to learn.

Duration of projects: 2 Weeks.

Breakdown: (guidelines only – depends on the complexity of the idea and model.)

Concept development and realization - 1 week.*

Model development and texture art - 1 week.*

  • You can split up your time however you wish - to reflect the area that you want to work in the most, for example.

The above guidelines are intensive and will require a lot of work. Please look at the amount of time you have available for each project before trying to take on too much. Quality artwork and developing your creative problem solving skills are key here, along with learning how others handled the same brief in conceptual and technical terms.

DELIVERABLES:

These are guidelines only. You can do all the sections or just choose the areas you feel most comfortable with. If you wish to use another persons concept art for a model, then please seek permission to do so from the user. If you just want to create the concept art and don’t mind others using your art work for a fully realized character, please state so in your post. If you are having trouble with an area, please shout up and others will try to help out as best they can.

WIP is encouraged, and please help others by providing your thoughts on their solutions in a positive manner. Discouragement of others will not help anyone as we are all here to get better, and people bring different skills to the table.

  1. Concept art >>>
    [ul]
    [li]Ideas[/li][li]Final presentation art (full body character pose, head and image plane orthographics.)[/li][/ul]2. Model >>> (high poly cinematic or lower poly real time games character)
    [ul]
    [li]Base model (untextured)[/li][li]Final model (with textures)[/li][/ul]Learning outcomes:
    [ul]
    [li]How to develop ideas and a final character from a written brief.[/li][li]Creative problem solving.[/li][li]How to demonstrate your ideas to others.[/li][li]Taking 2d artwork in to 3d artwork.[/li][li]Texture art.[/li][li]Visual communication skills.[/li][/ul]RULES FOR THE WORKSHOP:

  2. Work created here MUST be ORIGINAL TO THE CREATOR and for the purpose of serious study of character art and design. Those who post silly or off topic work will have their posts deleted immediately and will no longer be allowed to post on this thread. Rebecca Kimmel reserves the right to determine which pieces are considered to be in poor taste and / or disrespectful in the workshop.

  3. This Workshop will run in 2 WEEK slots.

  4. There is NO LIMIT to the NUMBER of posts an artist may make. However, we ask that you post only work which you feel best represents your ideas and important design points you feel others should know about during your character development, even if it is considered unfinished.

  5. Artists who post comments and critiques of other artists’ work on this thread must be RESPECTFUL, POLITE, and offer CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Flaming will be NOT be tolerated, and constitutes dismissal from this and other threads.

  6. Mike/default.rol and Rebecca Kimmel will be offering the occasional comments / critique ~ however, the main focus of the Workshop should be on Group Critique and interaction.

  7. ANY MEDIUM or STYLE may be used: Traditional or Digital Drawing or Painting, Sculpture, or 3D Model / Render for the initial stages. Development beyond the initial character idea (stage 2) should be done in a 3D application of your choice.

  8. Please limit the SIZE of your POSTS to 800 pixels WIDTH x Appropriate pixel LENGTH. No huge posts, please! (you are welcome to offer remote links to high resolution versions of your art work along side images that are of an appropriate size, if you so wish.)

  9. Have fun, enjoy, and create great art!


#2

For those of you slightly confused by the terminology, a fortnight is 14 nights in duration. Here is a definition of it from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnight

A fortnight is a unit of time equal to two weeks: that is 14 days, or literally 14 nights. The term is common in the British Isles and many Commonwealth countries, but rarely used in the United States. It derives from the Old English feowertiene niht, meaning “fourteen nights”.

Reserved for useful links

SpaceTik reference link: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.co…php/t66737.html
One that I (default.rol) found: http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/index.htm


#3

Hey,
I won’t have the time to enter this one. Too much work :stuck_out_tongue:
Anyways, have fun everyone.
Cheers.
-IS-


#4

Cool! i’ll do my best for this one.


#5

Wow! This sounds like it has tons of potential.
Does it matter what period this creature comes from? For example, would something like a feathered dinosaur be acceptable?


#6

hmm, makes me think of a dino-toy:


#7

Hey all,

I’ve just got back from the Natural History Museum, taking photos of dinosaur skeletons and the like in an attempt to get some inspiration. I’m posting my best images up here incase they are of any use to anyone for ideas:


#8

More of the images:

I’ll post the rest up after food and answer questions then.

Cheers
MIKE


#9

A few more…


#10

They just keep coming…


#11

Final shots worth sharing:

@ Igor Sandman >>> Sorry to loose you for this round. Good luck with your own work though. :slight_smile:

@ michael-olszak >>> Good to see you back for this round. Looking forward to a mad creature from you!

@ ReflectingAbyss >>> Go wherever you feel like with the brief. The text was only a starting point. Feathered dinosaurs sound totally fine with me, since it is generally belived that they evolved into birds anyway. :thumbsup:

@ Fl3wk >>> Your image seems to not be showing up for some reason? I hope you get to repost it soon.

Cheers all and best of luck with the project!
MIKE :slight_smile:


#12

Wow great photos! Would love to visit this museum. Where is this place located? :slight_smile:


#13

London, UK. Natural History Museum.

here’s the website:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/


#14

i went there once… it’s really an impressive place


#15

I have fixed it now. Now that I looked at it with fresh eyes it isn’t really innovative or even pretty. If I get some energy in me to draw some more (not been reallly wanting to draw for some weeks since finishing Uni for term holidays) I will try a better piece, or even just some better ideas overall.

PS. Great images you have, I MUST visit there someday before I die :smiley:


#16

Hi guys, missed the last topic… but I’ll have a go at this one! another cool topic…

Mine will be a mouse in a dinosaur costume… maybe smoking a cigar?

would have been a perfect timing to have a go at zbrush or mudbox…

but modo will have to do!


#17

Oh man! Great Pictures!


#18

this sounds like a great topic. I’d love to give it a try. I’ve never done any 3D character work before, but I have used Cinema 4D in the past. So we’ll see if i get to the 3D part.


#19

Hey all,

More inspiration for the National History Museum for you. My batteries died yesterday, so I quested back to take the rest of the photos today. The things I do for fellow CGSociety members… LOL!!

Some of the images are slightly out of focus though… point and click cameras and “dark, foreboding” lighting conditions, or “intense spotlights” just don’t mix well I’m afraid. :sad:


#20

And still they come… :scream: