In this section, I will be discussing my idea and show research based around it, This will include, mind maps, moodboards and concept art. I will also go into thorough detail on where I got the Idea from and discuss the history on the setting.
Pitch
My idea for this project is to have a highly detailed character, posed and have simple camera animation, as if I was presenting a product, almost like a promo video or a teaser. I felt that I wouldn't have the time to make a good animation short. Character Modelling is my passion and I want to show that in my work, so making a highly detailed character was the right choice.
Going into the theme, I was looking into norse mythology, mostly because of Santa Monica's God Of War PS4. I love the style, the clothing, creatures and beings, and all of the small details and symbols. I wanted my character to live in the Norse world, with symbols and runes on him as tattoos, almost resembling Kratos' history, One Mythology stumbling across another and choosing to live there.
My Character will be modelled in Zbrush, other assets such as weapons and accessories will be a mix of Maya and Zbrush, Textures will be done in Polypaint and Substance Painter. Animations will be done in Maya and Editing with After Effects. I need to make sure I pay attention to the details and creating a solid piece to present. I am very confident that I can get this done within the time I have been set because of my knowledge of multiple softwares and being able to problem solve and create characters fast and with great detail. This project is practice for Unit 13, so creating highly detailed characters is very important and that's another reason why I don't want to do a full animation now, because of the amount of time I have and I don't want animation to drop the overall quality of my work.
Concepts
Instead of doing traditional or digital art for my concept, I decided to use Zbrush to make a concept sculpt, because it would help me visualise what I want and I'm not good at drawing, I will use the body I make in the concept for my final model, so I won't waste any time. I'll model clothing and get a general Idea of what Váli will look like. I am using the body from this concept sculpt for the final model, I will obviously change the anatomy and fix some things . The Process of sculpting the body is shown on my production page. After the concept I wasn't happy with it being a published concept, but it helped spark some ideas when designing some new assets. I could've spent more time on it however I began to focus too much on the concept and not the final model. I had to leave the concept as it is and start designing the final model.
After three weeks of trial and error, Here is the FInal Result: