3D1 Assignment 3, Preperations

For assignment 3 on our 3D course I will have to model and texture a character that my college Nils drew. Before that I had to know everything there is to know about his character. So I was handed this character background sheet, concept art and turn around:

 

Artist: Nils Wennergren Check out his blog here

 

• Name:  It has no name that can be pronounced by humans, through folklore since the dawn of time this one has been called Jorm.
• Gender: 
• Age:  The beings are mentioned in the earliest accounts of civilization, they are said to have been created by the goods to keep watch over the realms of good and guard them from the dark forces that wishes to take over the world. Some even say that the gods have forgotten them in this realm, and that they now just wander aimlessly in search of their creators.
• Physical attributes/ Health/ Handicaps: These beings are very large, reaching heights well above the tree tops and they are also incredibly strong. They are however not very quick to react and seldom make any hasty movements, but once they build up momentum they can move with terrifying speed.
  the only known weaknesses that they have are contact with lava and deep depressions that renders them immobile and sometimes falling asleep. Many of the hills and land formations around the world are actually made of these forgotten giants.
• Movement: As said before they are slow to react, but can build up incredible momentum given time. They seem to have certain migration patterns, but the motivation behind the patterns are unknown.
• Appearance/Hygiene: The appearance of these giants can differ a lot both in size and shape and with that their physical attributes as well. Jorm does not seem very concerned with his appearance, of course he does not abide by the same framework for vanity and attraction as humans. Most of the giants seem to not question the way that they are made, they just “are” in the sense of physical beings.
• Favorite food: The giants gather their life force from the earth itself, the core of that force is located at their hearts. As long as the core is active they are able to move their bodies, if the core is dampened by sadness or lack of energy the body will become immobilized and frozen.
• Intelligence: Little is known of their intelligence, as no one seems to understand their language. It appears as though they communicate with each other through low rumbling sounds that makes the ground shake. To hear them rumble is however very rare these days, seen as there are so few giants left and they hardly ever cross paths anymore.
• Culture: There are only speculations.
• Temper: Jorm has a very calm and contemplative personality, He has been known to just sit and watch the passing of the seasons for years just contemplating the beauty of it all. When provoked enough however Jorm has been known to obliterate entire armies of soldiers trying to bring the giant to its knees.
• About the game:
• Platform: xbox, play station, PC.
• Target audience: Achievers, explorers, ages 12 and up.
• Direct competition, 3 titles: “Shadow of the Colossus”, “Skyrim” and “Dragon Age”.
• Game description: An ancient evil has returned to the world, slowly creeping forth in the shadows. This evil was in the dawn of time defeated by the might of the great giants, but the giants have since then decade to the point of near extinction.
• In this game it is up to the main character to find the power to raise the giants once more and restore their will to live and to fight off the evil that threatens the world. The narrative will be partly a classical hero’s journey, and partly a reflection of lost respect for the wonders and magic of nature.

I will ask him more about the specifics about some minor things about details, but he has managed to make everything look good and not confusing. (And I also want to thank him for not putting on accessories!)

So when I start to model this I may need to build some of the things as separate objects for starters, this is just to be extra careful when doing this and minimize the risk of having to rebuild the entire thing from scratch. I will also ask my teacher for any hints or tips regarding the modeling.

 

The thing I am concerned about the most is the texturing part, I think that most of the things like the muscles and cracks can be done by using normal maps, and the yellow lights (or cracks) would be done with specular maps. Then I guess that I have to think about the silhouette when creating the head and shoulder parts. The thing with this character that I personally think would take the most time is that it’s not symmetrical so if I would want to duplicate the sides I still have to work on silhouette details on the body, I don’t know what would be wise to do in this situation.

As the character is an ancient “being” he would be residing on a more isolated and nature filled landscape, I have to take his rocky body into consideration and hopefully I will manage to maintain his art style. He would be like pointing out things on my work and I hope that he will be pleased by the results I get from this!