All in all, while this was the most work-intensive assignment competed to date, I can honestly say that it has been the most enjoyable, and that the Character Creation module the one I feel I’ve learned the most from so far.
Motivated by discovering that the word ‘monster’ is derived from the Latin ‘monstrare‘ which means ‘to demonstrate’ (Lawrence, 2015), and how a monster ‘demonstrates its presence, revealing something that is not normally expected, but which nevertheless cannot be ignored’ (Pennick, 2019), I set about creating a creature which would fulfil this criteria, and feel, given the skill and knowledge I possess at this stage of the course, my final outcome successfully relays these requirements.
While I loved having creative freedom over the design and creation process, the research needed to fully understand the inner struggles created by anxiety and depression, and to gather references together in my PureRef file which would hopefully personify these in my design, took a great deal of time, and between this, and the time needed to add tertiary detail and to modify and/or combine smart materials to create the effects I’d envisioned, admittedly there were times when I was considerably behind with the project. However, with hard work and commitment, I was thankfully able to address this, and complete my final render on time.
Preferring to work in 3D as opposed to other mediums, I also relished the opportunity to build on the principles learned in my Year One 3D Digital Literacy module, and to expand my skill set by applying these in a different context. Indeed, while some students struggled, I found that by following the tutorial recordings provided, and with daily practice, I mastered the basic techniques and principles of the new software used this semester quite easily, and quickly felt comfortable navigating the UI’s, creating shortcuts, and although not used in this particular project, creating custom brushes. Indeed, I can’t wait to use ZBrush again, and Unreal Engine 5 more in Semester 2.
I also now understand how the different software ‘speak’ to each other, how to transfer files to keep the flow of work between toolkits, and appreciate how the different processes, tools, techniques and strategies within the pipeline can be used to achieve my final outcome – albeit it in a linear fashion.
This module and assignment also took me out of my comfort zone, and while I followed the general design principles, my desire for the final outcome to hopefully start a conversation around mental illness by making someone who reads my blog stop and say, ‘Wait, I never thought of it like that,’ pushed me to be more adventurous and take risks with my design. However, as everyone reads an image differently, while I’d asked tutors and family for their feedback, I wish I’d have been able to attend the workshops organised by the university with Rheanna Devlin, an ex BDes Animation student and Senior 3D Character Artist at Billy Goat Entertainment Ltd., to obtain suggestions from someone working in the industry that could have perhaps pushed my design and sculpt even more, but with additional support and transport unavailable outside of my timetabled hours, this wasn’t possible.
Also, while there are many positives I can take away from this module and assignment, I realise there are areas in which I still need to significantly improve – the first being time management. As due to difficulties linked to my autism, it takes me much longer than others to both gather and arrange the information needed for my blog into a useable, linear format, to ensure I feel less stressed by upcoming deadlines, the most obvious answer would be to start earlier. However, with three submissions running concurrently, it was honestly hard to find the extra time needed, and it would likely take me the same amount of time, or perhaps longer, to go back and review the material associated with older blog entries in order to rewrite them.
Another notable issue is my reticence to sketch and thumbnail, and although I realise this is an important part of the design process, as I’ve never felt comfortable sketching (the results feel far too erratic and imperfect) and in general, compared to others, my drawing is just okay, this will be a difficult practice for me to overcome. Also, as I think in pictures, can test-run designs in my head, and can incorporate what I’ve envisioned directly into my modelling, I’ve rarely committed these ideas to paper. Nonetheless, I realise that this is something I will need to do in the future to enable clients to ‘see’ what I can see in my mind’s eye, and on my tutor’s suggestion, have already made a start by frankensteining component parts together in Photoshop to assist this process.
However, despite these shortcomings, here I am at the end of another module feeling buoyant about the progress I’ve made since this time last year, and armed with the confidence in my ability to create such a detailed model from scratch, I’m so looking forward to furthering my 3D modelling skills even more in the upcoming months.
References:
Lawrence, N. (2015). What is a Monster? University of Cambridge. [online].
Pennick, N. (2019). The Eldritch World. Arcana Europa Media.