Turnarounds/Low Poly

Unit 9: Characteristics and contexts in media and communication

Unit Aim: Provide students with an opportunity to develop a focused, in‐depth, understanding of the range, characteristics, complexity and contexts that define media and communication activity. It will require the student, through exploration and investigation to enter into a more formal dialogue of personal interrogation and understanding designed to confirm strengths, enthusiasms and ambitions.

What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it

Intent: You will develop your knowledge of character turnarounds effectively. You will gain insight into character design, proportioning, and 3D visualization, which are essential for developing well-rounded characters in various media forms, especially games and animation.

Implementation: Through research, analysis and development.

Impact: You will have a foundational understanding of character turnarounds and their purpose within the games industry. Creation of your own turnaround ready for reference in future tasks.

Soft skills: Creativity, attention to detail, problem-solving, patience, communication, adaptability.

Industry: Proficiency in character turnaround creation is highly relevant in the entertainment and gaming industry, especially for concept artists, character designers, and 3D modelers who need to create detailed character references.

SMSC: Encouraging learners to express their creativity through character design, consider ethical and cultural aspects of character representation, and engage in social interactions through peer critiques and discussions about the role of characters in storytelling and media.

Task 1 - Context

What are turnarounds?
When and why are they used?

On your google sites:

Context questions answered in YOUR OWN WORDS. Any research supporting your argument must be appropriately linked and referenced.

Task 2 - Research

What do I do?

Find some character turnarounds. Analyse them!

What do they have in common?
What makes them different?
What is the difference between a turnaround and a model sheet?

On your google sites:

Character turnaround (minimum 3)
Analysis
Comparison

Going further:

Find more character turnarounds. Can you find specific artists discussing them?

Task 3 - Mascot Turn Around

What do I do?

Use the template provided and create your own character turnaround.

You must:

Create front, back and side
Document the development

On your google sites:

Development of your turnaround
Your turnaround
Reflection

Going further:

Add the 3/4 view!

TIPS!

Reduce your character to shapes first
Don't be afraid to take reference photos
Use lines to make sure your character is consistent
Focus on the shape and details of your character. We can always go back and colour them later

Task 4 - Peer review

Reflection:

What happened?
How did you feel?
What were you thinking?
How did things go?
What might have helped?
What might have hindered?
What else could you have done?
What have you learned?
What can you change in the future?
If the situation arose again what would you do?
Anything you need to know or improve?

Going Further

Creating character turnarounds is such a valuable skill. Take it further with additional research. Use the links below as a starting point. Review the research gathered. Then apply your new knowledge to your turnaround, upload to your site and show your development. If you're happy with your results go further by using this as a base for a model sheet. Add expressions and key poses!

Creating Animated Cartoons With Character Joe Murray.pdf

What Is a Turnaround in Character Design and How To Draw One | Blog | DomestikaA turnaround shows a character in different poses. Learn how to create one following these steps. If you work in illustration and animation, chances are that at some point, you'll be asked to create a turnaround. It is a vital tool for successfully modeling in 3D. As the name suggests, a turnaround is a 360-degree view of a character that gives us all the information we need to know. It can be tricky to do it correctly, but Laura Ewing Ferrer (@le_lauraewing) knows a lot about turnarounds. She is an illustrator and storyboarder who loves creating characters and has worked as a freelance artist for various documentaries, pilot series, and publishing houses. Today she will share with you the steps and tricks you should use when making a turnaround.

Animation-design-challenge-character-sheets.pdf

What we're doing, how we're doing it and why we're doing it

Intent: To develop low-poly mascots using Blender. You will gain understanding in 3D modelling and character design, essential skills for creating characters for games and beyond.

Implementation: Through practical development and experimentation.

Impact: Practical skills in 3D modelling, character design and Blender.

Soft skills: Creativity, attention to detail, problem-solving, patience, communication, adaptability

Industry: Proficiency in creating low-poly mascots and character animation is highly relevant in the game development and other visual mediums. These skills are essential for character designers and 3D modellers.

SMSC: Creativity, importance of attention to detail, engage in social interactions through peer reviews and explore the cultural significance of pixel art in gaming history and various game genres.

Psst, if you've never used Blender before you might want to jump into my absolute beginner Blender tutorials, should take only take you a couple of hours to get through but will give you a decent foundation for everything going forward.

Task 1 - Context & Research

What is low poly?
What are pros and cons of low poly?

On your google sites:

Context questions answered in YOUR OWN WORDS. Any research supporting your argument must be appropriately linked and referenced.
Examples of low poly characters

Task 2 - Making your low poly mascot

What do I do?

Make a low poly version of your mascot
Your model must:
- Use your turnaround as reference
- Have a polygon count of no higher than 1000
- Have segmented limbs

On your google sites:

Development! Screenshots, etc
Reflection on your progress

Tips!

Focus purely on shape, do not worry about textures!

Blender calls polygons faces.

Try to focus most of your polygons on the places a player would look: Character's faces, weapons etc. Bottom of the foot probably isn't a priority!

What do I do?

Watch the videos, get making your character.
Show your development!
Learn how to use the mirror tool
Learn how to use loop cuts

What do these keyboard shortcuts do?

Tab
1,2,3
CTRL+R (in Edit Mode)

On your google sites:

Development! Screenshots, etc
Reflection on your progress

Tips!

These tutorials were originally made for game design students who were expected to grab turnarounds rather than make their own so apologies that the language might not always match but it's the same process!