WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:03.540 So, to start off, it's very important that we know 00:03.552 --> 00:06.820 what kind of character we are going to create. 00:07.760 --> 00:11.006 The first thing we already kind of know, that is 00:11.018 --> 00:14.480 inferred by the title of this course, is the style. 00:15.020 --> 00:20.420 But what exactly do I mean when I refer to stylized instead of cartoony? 00:21.260 --> 00:24.419 It's really important to know that the art style and 00:24.431 --> 00:27.480 detail level will also inform the animation style. 00:27.481 --> 00:30.690 So, cartoony and overly simplified characters 00:30.702 --> 00:33.780 can be more forgiving and easier to create, 00:33.940 --> 00:40.320 since they can behave and animate in strange and absurd ways, without seeming odd. 00:40.940 --> 00:46.800 The style and animation can be snappy and absurd, and it still totally works, 00:46.940 --> 00:49.644 since it's so far detached from reality that 00:49.656 --> 00:52.680 it's easier to get away with not being realistic. 00:53.740 --> 00:57.011 Overly realistic characters on the other side need 00:57.023 --> 01:00.240 high attention to detail and anatomical accuracy. 01:00.980 --> 01:04.158 And I know the footage in the background is also live 01:04.170 --> 01:07.120 action, but all CG elements still need to fit in. 01:07.320 --> 01:11.460 And if you have CG characters that are supposed to be realistic, 01:12.060 --> 01:16.260 then it's even more important that these mesh well with everything else. 01:16.940 --> 01:22.040 If it's not fully faithfully realistic, there will be a sense of uncanny valley. 01:22.041 --> 01:26.080 Uncanny valley is basically when something appears to be real, 01:26.620 --> 01:32.880 but small differences in the details or in the motion make it seem creepy and alien. 01:33.640 --> 01:37.740 Think of androids that look and talk like they seem real, 01:38.180 --> 01:41.423 but once they really start moving their faces, 01:41.435 --> 01:44.620 you immediately notice that something is off, 01:45.040 --> 01:47.520 and it comes off as really unsettling. 01:47.521 --> 01:50.879 If you're interested in more of this topic, I can 01:50.891 --> 01:54.260 recommend to watch the talk by Hjalte Chalmersson 01:54.261 --> 01:58.460 called The Illusion of Animation that he gave at the Blender conference. 01:59.140 --> 02:03.500 He gives a more detailed explanation on the overall thought experiment. 02:04.540 --> 02:09.835 and how to manage the different styles from really 02:09.847 --> 02:14.730 cartoony to stylized to abstract or realistic. 02:14.731 --> 02:18.910 I added the link in the description, so check that out if you're interested. 02:20.230 --> 02:25.270 But my goal for this character is to show you how to strike a middle ground, 02:25.530 --> 02:30.990 to create a stylized but believable and grounded character. 02:31.870 --> 02:34.636 Apart from the general style, we also need to 02:34.648 --> 02:37.550 figure out what the character itself should be. 02:37.551 --> 02:45.750 So simple questions like ethnicity, gender, age, time period, occupation, attitude. 02:46.830 --> 02:49.930 You can basically go wild with this, but to give an example, 02:49.950 --> 02:53.810 this is basically what I came up with for the character Rain. 02:54.310 --> 03:00.230 So she's obviously a black woman, young adult, roughly present time, 03:00.310 --> 03:05.970 but I intentionally left the occupation and attitude ambiguous. 03:05.971 --> 03:09.930 This basically allows her to be placed into many different scenarios. 03:10.870 --> 03:13.415 This was pretty important in this case since 03:13.427 --> 03:15.810 the character Rain will be made available 03:15.811 --> 03:19.610 and heavily used for the upcoming animation course. 03:20.390 --> 03:25.470 But for your character, I'd suggest you make them much more clear cut, 03:26.110 --> 03:28.698 which will make them also more interesting if you 03:28.710 --> 03:31.310 already have a kind of predefined emotional state 03:31.311 --> 03:34.330 and just in general what the character is supposed to be. 03:34.331 --> 03:39.890 But even though I say go wild, try to create something that can actually move. 03:40.610 --> 03:43.710 For that, we should set some healthy limitations. 03:44.510 --> 03:47.714 So for example, with my character, I made sure that 03:47.726 --> 03:50.690 the character will be easier to rig and animate 03:50.691 --> 03:54.481 by choosing relatively tight clothing that won't 03:54.493 --> 03:58.690 need simulation or just additional rigging to happen. 03:59.570 --> 04:03.370 I also decided to go for mesh hair. 04:03.830 --> 04:08.750 So all the hair is completely modeled instead of using hair particles. 04:09.750 --> 04:15.250 And this is overall just easier to handle in terms of animation and also rendering 04:15.251 --> 04:21.210 because I wanted to make the character very optimized for viewport display 04:21.211 --> 04:25.430 so that what you see is basically what you get, 04:25.431 --> 04:28.849 what will be rendered in the viewport, either 04:28.861 --> 04:31.910 in the viewport shading or even in Eevee 04:31.911 --> 04:36.010 is going to closely represent the finished result in cycles. 04:37.250 --> 04:41.290 I also early on decided to go with a ponytail, 04:42.250 --> 04:44.858 which is a good example of creating simple follow 04:44.870 --> 04:47.170 through animation for the animation course. 04:47.910 --> 04:54.750 But again, you can go for totally different hairstyle and add a lot more detail to it, 04:54.751 --> 04:58.570 especially when you don't plan to animate the character. 04:58.630 --> 05:02.190 If it's just supposed to be for a single pose, 05:02.770 --> 05:08.210 it's going to make your job much more easier on deciding what are your limitations. 05:09.430 --> 05:14.250 I also decided to keep all the materials and textures rather simple and stylized 05:14.251 --> 05:17.430 to fit with the character model and viewport shading 05:17.431 --> 05:21.410 so that there's not a stark difference between them. 05:21.411 --> 05:26.310 These things were all planned early on to keep the overall scope focused. 05:26.810 --> 05:30.190 But it's not just about limitations on animation and rigging. 05:30.590 --> 05:34.330 If you're planning on adding burning armor plating, 05:34.910 --> 05:39.110 sounds great, but if the limbs can't even move a little 05:39.111 --> 05:42.970 because the plating is just covering all of the joints in a weird way, 05:43.310 --> 05:46.030 or if you can't render the fire, 05:46.031 --> 05:50.670 or if there's some other limitations on how to make the 05:50.671 --> 05:53.490 fire look good and it's too complicated or expensive, 05:54.890 --> 05:57.250 then maybe add some more compromises. 05:57.310 --> 06:00.170 Maybe go for something a bit more simple. 06:00.510 --> 06:01.890 But once you have a plan in mind, 06:02.030 --> 06:05.870 it's time to go to the next task, which is doing a bit of research.