United3dArtists Archive

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 22 Oct 2011, 09:06

While I continue to work on the animation for the film festival, I was asked by my local TV station (WCWG) part of the CW network to create a new character.
Their plans are to use this character to try and brand the local channel, if you remember the CW network was associated with Michigan J. Frog but due to legal issues they can no longer use him.
The idea I was presented with was a badger, they plan to use him as a sarcastic character that badgers everyone about what they are watching.
After several drawing and looking and way too many pictures of badgers I designed the badger character.
The creative dept at WCWG viewed the images and said they loved him but wanted to add a shirt and necklace with bling.
So I created a shirt for him with their logo on it and a gold necklace with a large bling pendant.

lysvallee · Post by **lysvallee** » 22 Oct 2011, 12:59

He's got teeth as well now

He's looking good, though I'm far from being an expert. They're certainly going to ask you to make their logo more visible: not hidden behind his necklace, but maybe slightly lower on his shirt. Or maybe you need to experiment with the size of the necklace.
Another option: simply removing the logo since it's redundant with the CW bling.

Steinie · Post by **Steinie** » 22 Oct 2011, 17:10

Looks pretty good Jeff.
My suggestion would be to remove the logo on the t-shirt and make the bling MUCH bigger.

froo · Post by **froo** » 22 Oct 2011, 17:31

Yeah! Bling ROCKS!
I'm gonna go get me a new GRILL now!

Lookin good Jeff

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Oct 2011, 19:04

Would making test renders at TV resolution be a good idea? Sure a lot of TV's are digital high def but you could see how the character looks on old fashioned low def TV. The shirt lettering and bling might need to have exaggerated size to work in low def.

His eyes need something. He looks hypnotized or drugged. Although your characters are great I think the hypnotized eyes are a recurring issue. Your characters would go from great to awesome with more life in their eyes.

I don't know about real badger's markings but the character's head fur is very different from his body fur. I think a style like his head all over would look better. However, with stripes all over some viewers would think he is a skunk.

Breech Block · Post by **Breech Block** » 22 Oct 2011, 23:04

Hey, that's pretty cool. If it is going to be used as an ident though, I'd really try and push the characters design a lot more in order to help him become more recognizable to his potential audience. As a guide, they say that you can instantly tell the truly great characters just by seeing their silhouette. Pushing the ears out a bit more and adding whiskers might help you out there. And perhaps work on the tail a bit more to make it a bit more distinctive/characteristic. For me personally, I think with the clothes you should either go the whole way and add trousers/shoes or leave the t-shirt off. Also, I don't know if your sizing of the characters hands/feet were deliberate, but one of the animals distinctive features is that its front legs/paws are bigger than its hind legs. Anyhow's, hope this helps and keep up the good work.

DarkScythe · Post by **DarkScythe** » 23 Oct 2011, 09:49

the black on the eye is too wide...

but overall it is nice

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 23 Oct 2011, 11:18

Thank you all for the comments and you will notice that with the new images in this post some of the items have been covered.
The shirt logo is much bigger and easier to read. I asked them about putting pants on him and they said no they just want the shirt so although I agree with this and would even put shorts on him they said no.
I am redesigning the eyes in a way I have only seen done a few times. Each eye will actually be two separate parts.
The ball and the pupil, by doing this I will be able to adjust the pupil size to match the emotion or event taking place.
I still have some fine adjusting to do on the bones and I have a crap load of morphs to create to adjust every expression.
Once I have the eyes fixed I will post some new images and possibly a animation.

Breech Block · Post by **Breech Block** » 23 Oct 2011, 16:34

jeffroig wrote:I asked them about putting pants on him and they said no they just want the shirt so although I agree with this and would even put shorts on him they said no.

Well the client's wishes always come first in these matters. But in my experience, any public posters featuring this character the way he is currently featured are gonna suddenly find themselves the victim of some mischievous little “artist” as he displays his deft prowess at drawing-on various sized genitalia.

That aside, he's looking pretty darned good.

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 23 Oct 2011, 22:30

Breech Block I agree 100% with you but like you said the customers wishes come first so let them discover what we already know.

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 25 Oct 2011, 09:52

Here is the latest design of the character.

Steinie · Post by **Steinie** » 25 Oct 2011, 11:39

The Bling on top of the Company Logo is terrible, I cannot read it. Are they asking you to have both?
I would ditch the t-shirt logo and just have the "CW" show however I would also make it much larger. The eyes are still weird. The sleeves appear too tight to the skin. The teeth look human and not animal and the ears are not pronounced (as stated before by Breech I think). The head coloring does not match the body which looks more like a squirrel body to me. Looking at the front view that you show here the head shape is circular where the viewer cannot make out the ears, cheeks etc. I would pull out the cheeks so the head has more character. ( He looked ok from the side)

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 25 Oct 2011, 12:14

They are wanting both the T-Shirt logo and the Bling on the necklace.
Are the eyes looking weird due to the shinny spot on them from the lights or is it just the pupil itself that is too large.
I asked them about teeth and thought that it would be good to have some jagged edges on the teeth but their reply was no we want a smooth look, so once again I was shot down.
Here is a picture of a real badger, after looking better at it his ears should be a little larger and more rounded almost like a small version of Mickey Mouse ears.
I am going to darken the body fur more to match the head better.
The dark stripes on the head fade as they go into the body from a black to a dark gray.
I will pull the cheeks out and see what it looks like from there.

froo · Post by **froo** » 25 Oct 2011, 14:44

Making progress Jeff.
Regarding the trouble with the eyes:
In Badger1.jpg, I think the big shine is causing the creepiness.
In Badger2.jpg, the smile has a 'mad scientist' type look to it, as well.

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 25 Oct 2011, 14:49

Overall he looks pretty good but some things "need fixin'".

Since the character is not nice and says sarcastic things he should not look nice.

Eyes: Too much shine as Froo said. To me, the eye problem was the shape and is the 1000 yard stare. The shape is better now and I'm sure animation and expressions will add life to it. Real badger has a very focused intense gaze. Originally, the eye shape was too open, surprised, hypnotized. Also probably something that expressions will fix later but the eyes don't look like they are focused on anything. Their "sight lines" look parallel instead of focusing on an object of interest like the TV viewer.

Fur: I see that the real badger's distinct stripes are just on/around his head but that his body is not monotone. There are subdued color areas and his paws and lower legs are a dark color. He has coarse fur. The current character's body fur is too different from his head. At least make the body fur like the lighter head fur in color and texture. Preferably add the coarseness and leg and subdued colors. I think the head stripe are a little too dark. Less contrast there.

Build: The character (needs a name) is skinny but the real badger is stout. He has a big body (or lots of fur) and proportionally short limbs. Many CG characters are skinny. Maybe making him stout would help with brand identification. He would be different than many CG mascots.

Bling: Make the bling and shirt logo much bigger. Make the necklace longer so the "CW" doesn't block the logo.

Real badger has a snout. Character has a more human flat face. Maybe add some snout for a profile shape.

They have big claws right?

Of course this character should be a character and not a realistic badger so maybe think "caricature" exaggerate the things that visually identify a badger and that give him personality in a cartoony way. The things that say "badger" to me are: fur markings, stout body, short limbs, big claws, focused gaze, coarse fur, snout, teeth.

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 27 Oct 2011, 10:35

Here is the newest sample image, you will notice the eye highlights have changed. The hand are now black and fade into the fur which is slightly darker. Sleeves on the shirt have been relaxed. The cheeks have been protruded and the ears are slightly larger and rounder.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 27 Oct 2011, 15:04

It's looking quite good. =) What program/s are you doing this all in? How was the rigging? But quite a funky little dude=)

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 27 Oct 2011, 15:45

Modeled in TS 4.3 then sculpted in Argile and Textured in Argile and PhotoShop then imported into Poser to do rigging and morph targets.

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 29 Oct 2011, 19:36

The badger does a dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elJYqE4fIwo

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 30 Oct 2011, 02:46

LOL! Very funky!

DarkScythe · Post by **DarkScythe** » 30 Oct 2011, 04:09

the dance is ok.. but would you like to try true bones mocap or workspace mocap theres mj dance and others in workspace bvh. i think it is would be easier if mocap is used.
also i check the other in youtube the talking badger, his snout doesn't move when he talk it looks like there's something stuck in his teeth he just grinding left and right, try emphasizing the opening of mouth when he talks.

I realy like the badger run and then slides in

jeffroig · Post by **jeffroig** » 01 Nov 2011, 10:44

A Sample image

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