The Dame

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:37 pm

Hey,
I thought i'd carry on creating more characters for this story i've not yet written set in the 1920s... Here is my femme fatale 'The Dame'

Hope you like her

Genete · Post by **Genete** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:01 pm

Yeah! I like her!

... but the second image is strange... Is she close behind him or a couple of steps away? It seems her head to be very small compared to The Don's one...

Cheers!
-G

human · Post by **human** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:10 pm

I didn't comment on the first sample, but now that you have two characters, I can't keep quiet.

Stellar. Just marvelous. Down to the ritzy winedark background. (I just love it when a talented character designer knows how to use color.)

Perhaps you'd care to step over to Moving Images Archive and get some reference footage for inspiration?

Particularly:

http://www.archive.org/details/LadyGangster.mov

http://www.archive.org/details/Gangsters_Boy

EDIT:

Also:

http://www.archive.org/movies/thumbnail ... iller_dill

dlangdev · Post by **dlangdev** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:36 pm

bravissimo!

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:57 am

Thanks for the comments

Genete - yes, she is quite a bit behind The Don (if i moved the camera you would see

) - I figure shes got a hand on his big chair, not his back.

I think her hand might be too small... i will enlarge it i think

Thanks for the links human - this Dame is a nasty piece of woyk, Its no accident she got involved with The Don. I need to make another, more ditsy, female character... i'll call her 'The Broad' for now...

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:33 am

Good stuff.

Just a reminder: besides getting the face right, and the colours, it's quite important to have your characters express something with their whole body. In live action for a period film it is a task for all actors not to move like people nowadays move, but to get into poses and movements which were acceptable at the time the film takes place.

In you case, I couldn't help but to think of Edward Gorey, one of my favourites. His characters are a kind of exaggerated victorian people, but many of their gestures could work well if applied to your characters.

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:08 am

Heres an update:

I made her hand bigger i think its better...

Thanks Slowtiger - i will try and make her poses more dramatic

I'm still very inexperienced and am only just crossing the drawing phase, which i'm quite comfortable with, into the boning/rigging one.

Also i'm very bad at hands, particularly animating them... many more experiments will follow before i even attempt a propper scene!

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:19 pm

Hey anyone watching...
I've rigged her whole body/face now...
I've worked out how to make a good facial rig - but still having a lot of trouble with hands... all the fingers are boned etc but theres no way to make her make a fist as the bones only rotate - i think hand rigging is the most difficutl thing to master...

Heyverns system is great (described elsewhere) but i couldnt get it to work with a more realistic hand (i think its also my animation skills that are lacking to make it work)... if you have mastered hand rigging please start a new thread about it!

Feedback welcome - i will do an animation test soon, this is my most complex character yet, as the breasts/earings and hair bobbles are all rigged to have 'swing'

Watch this space.

Genete · Post by **Genete** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:09 pm

i think hand rigging is the most difficult thing to master...

Have you seen this?
http://genetita.googlepages.com/voila.mov

Here the anme file and the thread it comes from.
It does not have nails but you can try to make the poses and add the proper nails as shapes over the skeleton and bind to some of the floating bones... a little difficult but can help.

Best
-G

BTW: I don't like so much the beauty spot. It is so ... ... try to move its position... it seems to me a fly over her mouth .... aaargh!. Put it on the chick. That's my honest opinion... She's ... mysterious, elegant, intelligent, ... but I don't like the spot there... sorry.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:37 pm

I have a personal dislike for that cartoon style which enlarges the head. I prefer tall, slender characters ...

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:38 pm

Thanks Genete - if you dont like the spot then i will get rid of it - so when you see there is nothing on her cheek you can say 'i did that' hehe

Here is an early video test of the rig... Vimeo couldnt handle the colours so here is a big render for download: The Dame

Feedback appreciated.

dlangdev · Post by **dlangdev** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:54 pm

wondering about the drawing style, is this a combo of retro and your own style of drawing? i'm seeing a very unique style, with strong influence of retro with a little influence of marvel and dc illustration style.

human · Post by **human** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:23 pm

Dang, you're good!

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:51 pm

To be honest with you, I dont really know what the style is... its just what comes out when i draw... i often draw heads too big, and then resize them down

infact i draw everything totally out of proportiona and then spend ages tweaking points...

Thats what i love about AS and drawing on the computer in general... i have a hard time drawing on paper coz i cant 'tweak' or UNDO... (i sometimes find myself looking for an undo button on the paper

and i'm SURE i'm not the only one! hehe)

Anyway - ive sized the head down - what does everyone think? I had more fun with the composition too

human · Post by **human** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:59 pm

It's very common to not supply characters with sufficient neck. I tend to have this problem... perhaps it's affecting you, too.

The Dame

The Dame

Another Update