sidequests

Character Design: Accuracy or Simplification? (Production Insights #1)

Added 2022-03-18 15:01:03 +0000 UTC

In addition to behind the scenes stuff on work-in-progress projects we've decided to also post some "Production Insights" to share more in depth thoughts on the process! (I'm self taught so there are a lot of technical terms I don't know but I'll do my best to explain things!)

So the other week someone on Discord asked me how I go about turning characters into the Something Series art style. In short; I try to simplify them down to basic shapes so I can draw them faster.

Another community member had a follow up question: Do I prioritize accuracy to the character or simplicity in shape when condensing them down?

Between the two I guess I prioritize simplicity - but I do still want them to be recognizable. I consider my subjective happiness with a design while considering how long it takes me to animate them.

Extra ramblings on character design stuff:

When the Something Series started it started with very simple Monster Hunter designs, then Yoshi and Kirby. Mario had a bit more too him but his first video was like, 10-20 reused drawings of him for the most part. I'd say Fox is about as detailed as Mario. For reference; Fox's neutral stance is about "56 lines" when put together (not counting the colored in triangles of his ears, muzzle or tail).

Each time I draw a new keyframe of his, it takes at least 56 strokes to draw his outline, at 24 Frames Per Second, animating on 1s and 2s (meaning a keyframe lasts for 1 or 2 frames). For the most part I like to keep characters around that simple. Characters like Storm Eagle L took a lot more time to animate.