Link via The Area
The interview with Dave Guertin and Greg Baldwin mentions how they flesh out their creative ideas with Sketchbook:
The Area:
In your creative process — how or where do you begin when creating a character?Greg and Dave:
We banter a lot; a real lot. Any time a design or idea is put in front of us, whether it’s our own or for work, we like to argue and challenge each other’s ideas to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes the first idea is great, but with us, it rarely comes that easily. We usually need to think past our initial thoughts and prove to one another that the idea we settle on has a unique hook. If we can get there, we move on to a sketch. Usually that starts in Sketchbook as a series of silhouettes, thumbnails and scribbles. We’ve found that creating strong silhouettes is essential to getting a character design to read clearly on screen from any distance or angle. From there, we start thinking about inner details and color. The color is usually determined by the environment the character lives within, so that we can insure that it reads well and feels integrated. Then we move on to the final ink and paint.
Greg also uses 3ds Max and Maya for modeling:
The Area:
Greg, you mentioned that you spent time not only doing concepts but modeling as well – what application do you use for modeling? Do you find that 3D helps you visualize characters or is it the other way around?Greg:
I’ve used both 3ds Max and Maya. When I started at Insomniac Games, I started using Maya exclusively. I also use Zbrush for digital sculpting. I love it. I find a lot of sanity in the ability to move forms in space. I really gravitate towards functionality, so being able to understand a form in the round is really a lot of fun.
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