@Phil, This is what I have done today and would like to hear your thoughts
The water character looks kind of plain, but worth showing because it was an idea.
The last character I drew before I got a chance to talk with Simon was this robot dinosaur character. In the world it would be the soul of a long dead dinosaur, bound to some coal that had been used to power a prototype robot dinosaur and began to control it and fight crime with the good guys.However when I was talking with Simon we came up with a different approach. The animation would be like an old Saturday morning cartoon (Like Power Rangers, Transformers or Zoids), in that sort of art style and with those kind of colours. He also said that I could make it post modern by over exaggerating their actions to the point of being comedic. Also we looked up Zoids and I really liked the style of the different robots, and now I'm wondering if I could take my animation in a Saturday Morning Cartoon direction and have my characters as these animal looking robots that embody the 3 things that go into the carbon cycle and combine in a Power Rangers style to make a Glucose Megazord or something. We also talked about the way I could easily make and rig these sorts of things in Maya, and that I could put more of my time into the textures and animation.
Hey Ollie - my thoughts are this: you need to reflect honestly on your own skill levels and speed/expertise in Maya - these characters are currently out of your league on account of their arms and legs and capes etc... This is 'self-harm', Ollie - you will never ever be able to create these assets to the appropriate standard within the bounds of this project and your current engagement with the Maya curriculum... You need to return to your original premise for character design - so simple forms that are accessorised as the only practical means to create your cast - so it's much this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theverge.com/2014/6/16/5814578/the-powerpuff-girls-will-return-to-television-in-2016
http://mrmen.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Strong?file=TVmrstrong.jpg
Ollie - you need to think about the sort of student you've been and the sort of student you're likely to be and create the conditions under which you can be more successful - complex dinosaurs are not for you at this stage in your learning curve - it would be reassuring for me if you could reflect on the sense in what I'm saying! I don't think your characters need to be so different either - I think it's the way in which the Mr Men are different, so I mean simple, strong representative shapes that are 'different' but the design logic underpinning them is the same...
More radically, your characters don't even need legs (and it would be better for you if they didn't).
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/EVE