Fanboy and Chum Chum

Hey folks, Steve Lambe here! I was recruited by the Erics to start posting up some of the super cool stuff we’re working on daily for Fanboy. Mr. Homan just gave you guys a glimpse in the last post of the final Griffin design we did, so I thought it’d be interesting if I showed a “behind the scenes” on how we arrive at the final designs. I don’t know about you, but I love reading through “art of” books” just to see the evolution of characters. So here we go!

Step One : Read the script!

Knowing who the character is, and what they’re going to be doing is crucial. You don’t want to design a robot with cool tank treads, and then find out later in the script that he has spring loaded copper feet. Time is valuable so doing the research can save you headaches later.

Step two: Rough sketches.

With this being a CG production, there is a limit on new characters, so each character is precious. Eric loves to see exploration, so here’s what two versions I came up with to show him. (Digital sketches in Flash. I’m addicted to the cintiq.)

Step 3. Notes and Revisions.

Once Eric’s seen the sketches, he’ll go over it to suggest any improvements that can be made. Since he’s a badass designer, he usually has buckets of great advice and tweaks that help make the character really sing. (He probably did this in 2 minutes while listening to a voice track , making storyboard notes, and sculpting an ice monster. He’s magic like that.)

Step Four: Cleanup:

Once I get Eric’s notes, I incorporate his feedback into the final cleanup in Flash. After the lineworks done, I export a nice high rez jpeg for approval, and color.

Step Five: The Texture Wizardry of Chris Near.

Once everythings approved, the cleanup is wisked to the desk of texture wizard, Chris Near. Chris is fantastic at taking 2-D designs and bringing them into the third dimension. I heard he hunted down a real griffin with his digital camera just so’s he could use it’s feather textures in the final model.

I guess that brings us fully through Stage One of the design process. Coming soon…..Stage Two: Turnarounds, Mouthcharts, and Expressions. So please stay tuned!

-Steve.