Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Character illustrations are great, but they often don't give the model builder
enough information to create the character model. A critical piece of artwork for
the concept artist to create is the
model sheet
, which can be used as a template for
creating the character model.
What Are Model Sheets?
A
model sheet
is a template created by the concept artist to help the development
team create accurate models of the designed characters. The model sheet is an
orthographic rendering of the character drawn from different views. Each view is
designed to give the development team vital information about the character.
Many characters in games today are very detailed. Games are getting closer and
closer to reality in their graphics. Features such as cloth movement, facial anima-
tion, specular lighting, bump mapping, and transparency, which were impossible
only a few years ago, are commonplace today. The movement to realism in char-
acters is putting a lot of pressure on the concept artist and the development team
to create better and better characters. The model sheet is the vital link between the
concept artist and the development team.
Model sheets are a form of art borrowed from the motion-picture animation
industry. When animators started drawing characters, they had to keep the char-
acters looking consistent in all the scenes. Back then, all the frames of animation
were drawn by hand. The problem became even more daunting when multiple
artists worked on the same character. To help solve the problem, the industry came
up with a system for helping the animators to keep their drawings consistent. A big
part of that system was the model sheet.
Model sheets are also used extensively in the comic book industry. Comics, like
motion-picture animation, have several artists working on the same character.
Although the requirements for consistency are not as rigorous in comics as in
motion-picture animation, they are still fairly rigid.
Unlike motion-picture animation and comics, games do not have as much hand-
drawn art. Instead, games primarily use 3D models. The advantage to using a 3D
model is that the character is consistent because the same model is used through-
out the game. However, the need to keep the game character consistent with the
designed character is still important. The model sheet helps take care of that need.
