3D Character Design Document

Transcription

1 3D Character Design Document For this project I decided to create a puppet/teddy bear/doll type character that would later on be imported to Unity and will be customizable. This is the first out of a series of characters deriving from Japanese culture (ex. Geisha, maiko, samurai, kabuki actor, noh performer, etc) created for a learning game around Japanese culture. Each character will move through a relevant environment and explore different elements. The first out of these different customizations is the geisha outfit (including everything from clothes to hair and make-up) that has been designed and implemented for the current project. The concept was to create something cute and inviting that would also fit the environment designed for it (Japanese garden with small sinto shrine) and the purpose of its creation (educational and fun) while remaining faithful to the characteristics of the geisha. The rest of this document presents samples of references that were used for each of the different parts that compose this particular character. 1. Basic Body (Customizable) The main concept is to create a character that looks like an animal rather than a human with a cartoony style. The body is smaller than the head with small hands, big and cute eyes and nose and bear-like belly. At the same time the body s and head s shape must remain neutral to fit any customization with no problems (no big ears, no tail, etc). The texture is like that of a doll with a knitting pattern. Considering the next stage involving animation, appropriate loops have been added around the mouth for showing expressions (in case it is needed) but not the nose or eyes since it is not desirable to move these parts (based on the concept up to now).

2 2. Geisha Outfit 2.1 Clothes Since the environment will include a Japanese garden the patterns on clothing and accessories depict natural elements focusing on flowers. They were also

3 considered more suitable for a geisha. Some of the Japanese patterns include cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, tortoise shell or hemp leafs. The colors of the clothing are mainly black, red and gold with little brown. Most of the fabrics are embroidered with gold to highlight the patterns Kimono The main cloth worn by a geisha is a kimono called hikizuri. Kimono are large robes, worn with an underrobe. Since geisha wear many layers of clothing and designing all of them for the model wouldn t work for a game character, the whole concept had to be simplified. Only the crucial parts that could be noticed if they were missing are kept. Hikizuri is longer than other kimono and piles up on the floor. This hasn t been changed very mush (the kimono is still long enough) but it will be shortened accordingly later on for animation purposes. Geisha s kimono s sleeves have a standard length and also the part that hangs has an opening from the side closer to the body. This has been simplified for this project (the gap has been closed) to make animation process (in the future) smoother. The underrobe worn under the kimono (haori) is visible when the geisha raises her kimono to walk or at the side through the sleeves. Of course, only the parts that are visible have been implemented. Moreover, geisha s wear the nagatjuban which is like the underrobe but in addition it has a collar visible near the neck. Only the collar part of this cloth has been designed.

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5 2.1.2 Obi Fabric wrapped around the waist like a belt and fastened at the back in a particular way (folds twice). Covers most of the waist.

6 2.1.3 Obiage Fabric used to keep the obi in place. Most of its front part hides under the obi and is mainly visible at the back of the obi.

7 2.1.4 Obijime A long lace folded twice used to further secure the obi. It is placed at the middle of the obi and the knot is formed at the front.

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9 2.2 Shoes They wear the geta. A common version worn is the one in the pictures below: a wooden base with two wooden supports. The laces that keep the foot in place are made of fabric or sometimes plastic and split the big toe from the rest. The socks (tabi) are white.

10 2.6 Hair The hairstyle of a geisha is unique and quite complicated. Unlike apprentice geisha (maiko), full-fledged geisha use a wig instead of their real hair made form human hair. The wig is decorated with different ornaments depending on the geisha and the decoration is kept usually simple (not too many ornaments). The only common ornament worn by all geisha is a comb on top of the head and a small lace around the bun. Hairpins are also very common.

11 2.7 Make-up Make-up is also pretty standard for a geisha. The whole face down to the parts that are visible while wearing a kimono are smoothly covered with white powder. Only the ears a small part at the back of the neck is left unpainted for sensuality forming a small W. Eyebrows are painted on top of it with red and black colors. Part of the lips is painted crimson red and red with black eyeliner is applied around the eyes. The eyelashes are small. From the above, only the make-up for the eyes is kept small to fit the character s big eyes so that it won t look excessive.

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