Your ideas needed for a Weekly Creature / Character Design Workshop!

#38

Hey everyone,

Sorry i’ve been ill, but finally my body seems to love me again and is allowing me to move (and think in structured sentences.)

So, without further ado, here is my proposal for the first workshop - I’m testing this idea out here so people can understand the brief. [b]THIS IS NOT THE START OF THE WORKSHOP, YET! :smiley:

[/b] CAFÉ 001
“Take something organic and turn it into something mechanical.”

Story starter – “The whirring of cogs and the humming of moving parts reverberate in the darkened passageway. I can see blinking lights casting their illumination on the walls ahead. My breathing quickens as I turn the next corner
THERE IT IS!”

[left]How does this sound to everyone? Does that get your imagination going? I hope so. (It certainly does mine.) :smiley:

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[left]Cheers
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[left]MIKE :slight_smile:

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#39

well, to be totally honest, with me it doesn’t…:smiley:

I was thinking more along the lines of specific instructions like:

  • [organic to mechanical]: 23rd century industrial watchdog

  • [organic to mechanical]: Jack the robot ripper

  • [organic to mechanical]: Orgasmatron 3000 premium line

  • [organic to mechanical]: desert patrol mount

  • [organic to mechanical]: submarine bomb disposal vehicle

and so on… all in all: not so vague, but rather specific. But I don’t know what the rest of us is thinking…

#40

Thanks for replying Mr.Mu and good of you to shout up. :thumbsup:

The reason I am so reluctant to literally write down things in the way you have shown above, is because that format ape’s pretty precisely the way it is done over on Concept Art.

The irony is, of course, that all of your ideas above fit the brief very well. :applause: My advice is to literally pick your favourite one and use that as your starting point. Then as soon as the workshop is up and running, you will be too. :wink:

Cheers
MIKE

#41

Well, I think the Mike’s proposal or ideation of the character just from piece of story or small thought is the way the workshop should go… sure after getting your ideas right way, it’s necessary to get down to the basics of anatomy drawing, texturing, lighting and so on, but what really important is, is creating character ideas from story…sure you can also develop ideas just from straight definition

but i like the story behind…well, actually, in the “darkened passageway” could be everything from the list… and that’s the point.

After reading the “story starter” I got already some ideas, but as several times in the past, the realisation is or will be way different as the idea… :sad::cry::banghead: , but that’s the reason, why we want participate on this workshop, or?

#42

I rather like Mike’s prompt, and his explanaition. I like CA’s concept threads, but I want something different, with a little more learning to it (ie, discussion as we do things). Namely, I don’t want it to be so much like CA’s threads. I think I can work with this prompt.

#43

I am also thinking like this.

I would love to see transparency in the way that we collaborate. For example I am from an industrial design degree background and we were taught to approach a brief in a particular way. I am more than happy to share this method of how I work, with others. I only hope that others will do the same in return.

What I am less intrested in, is a post of a brilliant final image without an explination of how you got there/ where your ideas came from. Like all great math puzzles, the working out section provides more insights to thought processes than the answer ever shows.

Design is a constant challenge, (for me at least,) and the creative struggle behind what I do always looks more intresting to me in hind sight, than my neat and tidy drawing ever is.

I hope that makes sense.

MIKE

#44

We should definitely give ourselves a lot of room for creative decisions and ideas. A more detailed brief is cool but not too much details please.

All the rest is ok with me really.

#45

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the really good feedback RE: this workshop.

Providing I get the green light from RebeccaK, I would like to begin the first workshop on Saturday 31st March.

Hope to see you on the workshop soon.

MIKE :slight_smile:

#46

I like the broader interpretation direction in which Mike is headed and agree that it’s a nice difference from CA. :slight_smile: It’s not to say that specific topics are bad, they certainly aren’t, but I liked how the vague / open to interpretation brief of the “Head Hunter” Workshop spawned a lot of different kinds of work.

I say let’s go ahead with this one, and potentially throw in some more specific topics down the line. :slight_smile:

#47

hi,

I did not know the CA workshops, therefore it did not occur to me to try different approaches.

Of course, like you said, I could always just choose one of those specific ideas to go with.

Like you mentioned, the most important thing for me will be to get some insight into the thought processes of how to tackle a given task, anyway.

See you at the Café…:slight_smile:

#48

Sweet Mu, I can’t wait to see your participation! :thumbsup:

#49

Alright! So it’s on. We start tomorrow. :slight_smile:

#50

Hope to see you there!

MIKE :thumbsup:

#51

Hehe, very cool! Just remember to spell out what ‘fortnight’ means, and what the deadlines are very clearly. Looking forward to this! :slight_smile:

#52

that sounds real cool!

#53

separated

monthly

#54

monthly for sure! I’m actually more into combined 2d/3d - it’s just tools, and it’s the end result that matters IMO

#55

Just remember to spell out what ‘fortnight’ means

I thought “a fortnight” always means 14 days?

#56

Indeed you are right, Mu. A fortnight is 14 days 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 [i]feowertiene niht, meaning “fourteen nights”.

[/i]I’m sorry for the confusing term, but it is used very regularly here in the U.K. and I didn’t think it would be a problem.

Anyway, the upshot of it all is that these workshops will be run in 2 week bursts. Any longer and people seem to loose intrest, (I’m a culprit of this too sometimes.)

Cheers, and see you all tomorrow for the first one.

MIKE

#57

well, then it’s a case of…

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We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.

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[right][i]Oscar Wilde

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:smiley:
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