Introduction ......................................... x
Chapter 1 Game Characters ............................... 1
What Are Game Characters? ............................ 1
Types of Game Characters ............................. 3
Player Characters ................................... 4
Non-Player Characters............................... 5
Enemies .......................................... 7
Designing Characters ................................ 7
Viewing Characters in a Game............................ 9
A Historical Overview of Computer Art and Game Characters ..... 10
The Move to Color .................................. 12
More Power Brings Better Tools ........................ 14
3D Makes Its Move.................................. 15
Looking to the Future .................................. 18
2D and 3D Art........................................ 18
Using Painting and Drawing Programs ................. ... 19
3D Art in Games ...................................... 21
The Vertex ........................................ 22
The Polygon...................................... 22
Textures .......................................... 24
Lighting and Reflections.................. .......... 28
Anim ation ........................................ 35
Game Al and Blind Data .............................. 37
Bringing Everything Together ............................ 38
Summary ........................................... 40
Chapter 2 Developing Character Ideas ...................... 43
Characters in Games ................................... 43
Character Descriptions.................................. 45
Writing Character Descriptions ......................... 49
Draw ing ............................................ 50
Holding and Using the Pencil Incorrectly ............... .. 51
Too Dark.......................... ............. 55
Not Blocking in the Drawing.......................... 57
Too Much Erasing............................... . . 58
Character Thumbnails ................................ 58
Drawing Characters.................................. 60
Start with the Head ............................. . . 60
Realistic Proportions............................... . 65
Facial Features ................................... . 75
Drawing the Full Figure ........................... . 84
Proportions of the Body ............................ . 88
Hands .........................................92
Putting It Together..... .......................... 97
Character Exaggeration............................. 98
Summary ......................................... 104
Chapter 3 Character Illustrations and Templates.............. 105
Character Illustrations ................................. 105
What Are Character Illustrations? ................... .. 105
How Are Character Illustrations Used? ................ .. 106
What Makes a Good Character Illustration?............... 107
Simple Character Illustrations ....................... . 108
Detailed Character Illustrations........................ 114
Character Model Sheets ............................... 129
What Are Model Sheets? ............................ 129
How Are Model Sheets Used?............ ........... 132
Creating Base Model Sheets .......................... 134
Making Character Model Sheets ....................... 140
Color in Model Sheets .............................. 145
Summary ......................................... 146
Chapter 4 Character Modeling ......................... 149
Installing M aya ...................................... 149
The Maya Screen ..................................... 150
The Workspace .................................... 151
The Toolbox and Quick Layout Buttons................. 156
The Main Menu ................... ............ . 158
The Status Line.................................... 158
The Shelves ...................................... 160
The Sidebar ...................................... 161
Animation Tools ................................. . 163
Command and Message Lines ......................... 165
Having a Ball...... .................................. 166
M enus .......................................... . 172
Menu Layout ..................................... 172
Common Main Menu Options......................... 175
The Animation Menu Options......................... 176
The Polygons Menu Options.......................... 177
The Surfaces Menu Options .......................... 178
The Dynamics Menu Options......................... 179
The Rendering Menu Options......................... 180
The Cloth Menu Options............................. 181
Polygon Modeling Tools ............................. . 182
Creating Polygon Primitives........................... 183
Modeling Polygon Primitives.............. ....... 193
Building a Simple Character Model ............... . ... .199
Building the Head ............................... . 207
Attaching the Head ............................... 213
Building the Arms and Legs ........................ . 215
Creating Hands and Feet ........................... 222
Summary .......................................... 229
Chapter 5 Character Modeling 2............. .......... 231
Setting Up the Template ............................. . 232
Modeling the Face ................. ............... . 237
The Eye ......................................... 237
The Mouth ....................................... 242
The Face ........................................ 245
Modeling the Head ................................... 253
The Head W rap ................................... 253
The Helmet ...................................... 257
Modeling the Breast Plate ......................... 266
Modeling the Arm .................................. 270
Modeling the Hand................................... 274
Modeling the Leg .................................... 278
Modeling the Foot ................................... 285
Finishing the Model.................................. 290
Mirroring the Model .................................. 299
Summary .......................................... 301
Chapter 6 Texturing the Character..................... 303
Preparing the Model ................................ . 304
Mapping UVs .................................... 305
Organizing Texture Groups........................... 317
Painting the Textures.................................. 325
Preparing the Normals ............................ . 326
Painting the Face Texture............................ 327
Painting the Chainmail Texture........................ 341
Creating the Belt Texture ......................... 344
Creating the Plate Armor Texture .................... 348
Creating the Eye Texture ......................... .. 352
Summary........................................... 355
Chapter 7 Character Rigging............................ 357
External Movement Versus Internal Movement............... 357
Skeletal Systems ................................... 358
Building the Skeleton ............................. 358
Skinning the Model ................................. 377
Adjusting Skin Weights ............................ 380
Summary .......................................... 396
Chapter 8 Basic Animation ........... .............. 397
2D Animation ....................................... 398
Creating a Simple 2D Animation ................. . .. .398
Character Animation ................................ 410
Comparing Motions .............................. 411
W eight and Gravity ............................. .. 411
Arcs in Animation ................................ 412
Internal Animation ............................... 413
Creating a Simple Character Animation.................. 413
3D Animation . .... . ..... . . .... .... ........ . ......... 421
Maya's Animation Controls . ......... ..... ........ . 423
Moving Objects . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Path Animation . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Simple Character Animation ................... .. ..... 433
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
Chapter 9 Animation Cycles ............................ 451
Moving the Feet ................... .................. 452
Arm and Chest Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
Animating the Feet ..... . . . . .... .. . . ......... .. 462
3D Movement . .. . . . .... . . . ....... . . ......... . . . 467
Making Final Adjustments ........ . . ........... ............. . 477
Summary. ............... . . . . . . . ...... ... . ..... . . . . 480
Chapter 10 Non-Linear Animation.. ...................... 481
Using the Trax Editor. . . ..... . .. . . .. ........ . . . ... 482
Creating Clips.......... . ... ..... ...... .. .. ........ 483
Ready Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Blending Clips . .. .... . . . . . . . .. .... . . . . . . . . . . 496
Exporting Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
Summary... ... ....... . . . . .......... ..... . . . . .. . 501
Closing Remarks . . ............... ....... .... . .. . 502