Project Wrap Up

My project explored the process of character design in multiple ways. My original characters began as concept art, then were transformed into animated 3D models, and are finally recreated physically, giving them life and proving the quality of the design.

There were a couple of challenges involved in my project, which I was able to overcome for the finished product. The first involved my concept art, as it was my first time ever painting in Photoshop. With my traditional art background though, I was able to teach myself quickly and come up with a product I felt happy with. My next challenge involved rigging and animating, as they are my least favorite part of 3D animation. I love modeling, but I am less knowledgeable on character rigs and animation, so it took a lot of practice and endless YouTube video references to make the animation life-like. My last challenge was time. I started my project many many months before our show, and worked on it at least 3 days a week. I definitely gave myself enough time, as I was not rushed towards the end, but with everything I was implementing (paintings, models, animations, and costumes) at times I felt worried that I would not get it all done.

If I were to to do this project all over again, I would come up with a concrete idea and plan earlier, possibly junior year or the summer before senior year. I did not finalize my final idea until mid fall semester. If I would have done this, it would have allowed me more time to perfect areas of my project that I believe still need a little more work, like the textures on some of my models.