2. Next-Generation of Character Concept Art: Creating photo-real people who don’t exist Chip Sineni Vince Proce MIDWAY GAMES

3. Goals + Issues of Next-Gen project  We want ‘realistic’ characters.  Can’t spend indefinite time on R&D; Need to be fast- can’t tweak forever.  Next-Gen consoles not as powerful as we would like- avoid problems in the ‘Uncanny Valley’.

4. Target of Next-Gen  Photorealistic surface materials.  Memorable characters with subtle exaggerated memorable features.  In real-life, similar to movies like:  “City of Lost Children”  “ Sin City”

5. Previous Character Experiences  Concept Defined:  Proportion.  Mood and Attitude.  Rest was solved “Brute Force” Art Direction  Team not sure of final objective.  Difficult to get approvals.  Endless tweaks.

6. Environment Concept Success  For environments we realized we needed to spell out:  Architectural relationships, structure and perspective.  Mood, Lighting and Atmosphere.  Material and Texture.

7. Starting Next-Gen

8. Case Study of “Thug 1” Concept Work

9. Case Study of “Thug 1” First Pass 3-D Character

10. Case Study of “Thug 1” Second Pass 3-D Character

11. Case Study of “Thug 1” Realizations  Faces and cloth did feel “real”.  Next-Gen tech did not solve issues as much as we hoped (normal maps, subsurface scatter simulation, etc)  Preproduction of textures and materials were not specified to a degree that there were agreed upon instructions.

12. Midway ‘Current-Gen’ Detail PS2 generation likenesses of athletes looked more real and believable than our Next-Gen heads.

13. Case Study of “Thug 1” New Direction  Couldn’t CyberScan imaginary people.  Using real actors reference did not meet goal.  Finding the right materials.  Casting call for heads.

14. Case Study of “Thug 1” New Direction (2)  Producing the high resolution photos of facial features that match the original approved sketch.  Creating a photo composite “mug shot”.

15. Case Study of “Thug 1” New Direction (3)  Exaggerating certain features to illustrate the characters identity- bad or good, dumb or smart, etc.  Clothes research & gathering to match original sketch.  Blending, painting, and compositing in final painting.

16. Case Study of “Thug 1” New Direction (4)  “Paper doll” approach for multiple concept ideas for thugs in orthographic pose.

17. Case Study of “Thug 1” Final Concept

18. Case Study of “Thug 1” New Direction- Results

19. Case Study of “Thug 1” New Direction- Results (2)

20. Case Study of “Thug 1” comparison heads

21. Case Study of “Thug 1” comparison body

22. Further Example A- Concepts

24. Further Example A- Models

25. Summary  WYSIWYG- Art, Design, Tech, Production.  For our Next-Gen Characters we now specifically define:  Proportion.  Mood and Attitude.  Material and Texture.  Process works well with outsourcing.  Questions?