Trying to make an "SD" figure model; it's not going that well
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - 11:09
I'm working on a modification of my human figure model to give it a caricaturized or super deformed (SD) look. I'm mainly taking inspiration from Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star 4, and I suppose Wesnoth too.
The problem so far, as you might see in the image links, is that I've come up with some kind of "man baby" instead. Understand that I intend to use this model as a base mesh for all my (male) characters starting from the main protagonist, to wizened old men, to middle-aged shopkeepers, to grizzled street gangsters. Still, I think it needs improvement, but I am unsure what those improvements would look like.
Currently your model is about 4,5 heads high. This may lead to the effect that it looks more like a baby. (babys and children have a bigger head compared to their overall bodysize)
I am not sure how far you want to go with your deformation, in some styles the character is just 2-3 Heads high. If you want to go more into that direction you have to make the head even larger.
Another point is that your model has still very detailed arms and legs. Often simplified / "SD" characters have just some sticks as legs, without a knee in the middle. In addition legs and arms are much shorter then your version.
Imo you should try to simplify the anatomy more instead of tuning just the proportions.
Best of luck
Well, the 5-heads tall thing was intentional, so I guess that leaves your suggestion of simplifying the anatomy. I'll see where that takes me.
It does look kind of baby-like. I'm not sure why, exactly. I don't think it's the number of heads high it is, though, necessarily. You might consider using an SD anime character as a reference.
Do you know of any good references before I sift through the internet?
Also, I mentioned before that I might try simplifying the muscle structure. I'm wondering how far I should go since I have to take into account the fact that I'll be putting clothes on this model when I make specific characters out of it. I'm leery about taking too much muscle definition out of the model.
Edit
Also, the more I go over it, the more convinced I am that it's the face that's the problem. Something needs to be fixed in the face.
Well, looking at the sprites shown, it seems to me that they are around 3-4 heads tall, so that should be your target. Also, the arms seem to be as long as the head, if not shorter.
Regarding the face, it seems to me as if it is a tad bit too chubby but it could just be an illusion from the body proportions, so I wouldn't suggest working on that until the body proportions are improved.
Well, When I dont know much about this stuff. But when I opened up the picture, someone next to me asked if it was a baby? I really do think its the head that is big. does anyone also feel the torso is small?
Brandon Morris,
Steam Group: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/OpenGameArt
If you guys need any help on projects email me atBrandonmorris12@gmail.com. Pay is not mandatory and Im open.
All SD character models will inherently look (vaguely) like babies - in fact; that's to a certain degree, the point in doing SD. We are hard-wired to find those proportions cute, because that's about the only thing that makes babies look cute to us (which is a major and necessary survival trait).
Yes, but my model looks like a baby in a bad way.
I was going for something like the tall sprites found in 16-bit era games like Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, and the Phantasy Star series on the Sega Genesis. Instead i got that...thing in my first post.
The face is not anime
To see if the head is the problem you can try to get my head from here
http://opengameart.org/content/body-anime-female
And test it on your mesh and see if thats the problem
Maybe the head is to long, specialy the nose.Something like that would help to get a better proportion:
ps:sorry haven't seen the post above ^^..
The shape of a SD head
http://www.3dm3.com/forum/f24/3d-anime-head-wip-7002/
Ref
http://ayez.fazuu.net/skidmarks/?paged=6
Musculature of body
http://community.livejournal.com/artjen/12814.html
Best suggestion is to find a manga with the proportions your looking for