Next Generation Character Creation Pipeline
By: Mark Brady
Supervisor: Chad Walker
Masters of Interactive Technology degree conferred July 12, 2008
Thesis / Project completed: June 24, 2008

This thesis documents the factors of character design and the process of taking a character intended for next generation video games from concept to final product. The study looks at current examples of character design from different genres of games to find out what design elements are most important when designing a character for next generation application. These design elements include silhouette value, character size on screen, level of detail and technical necessities.

The character creation process begins with character sheets derived from reference material for each suit. The process continues in 3D Studio Max where reference planes are placed and low polygon work begins. The process then continues in Mudbox for high polygon work and Adobe Photoshop for texture painting. All the geometry and texture maps are then brought back in to Max and applied to the low polygon geometry in order to complete the character.

Download entire thesis (.pdf)