Here he is! Emperor Velo from Crash Nitro Kart in his glory from 2002. This is the concept sketch that nailed the character followed by the rotation drawings I came up with for the modelers at Vicarious Visions.
Nope, he doesn't have four arms as you see in the front and back views. What I did was something a bit unorthodox. Since he wore a cape I wanted to show how it draped over his body with his arms at his side. The extended arm position is a standard pose for rotations when the character is to be modeled for CG animation. Combining the relaxed arm pose helped define the look of the Velo as he would normally appear.
Awesome, now we can see Velo in all his glory. Did you made rotations also for the other characters?
ReplyDeleteThat's totally radical! Hey Charles, was it your idea to make Emperor Velo a robot with a little alien controlling everything inside?
ReplyDeletePat, it was VV who came up with the idea as far as I know. Maybe it was Joe Pearson. Not sure.
ReplyDeleteGabriele, I did a rotation for the miniature Velo which I'll be posting in a follow up entry. I did a few front and side views of additional characters for CNK. I don't think I did full rotations for any other characters on the game.
Hey Charles. Love your artwork!! This is TouLee Chang by the way. I remember back when you came to Summer Arts in Fresno hosted by Rick Vertolli from Chico State. You had a great speech about why you decided to open up your own school because you were looked down as an artist. That speech did not make sense to me back then but I never forgot about it and now it starting to make more sense and very inspirational now. I am thinking about opening my own studio and need some advice. Contact me at touleechang@hotmail.com. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHey TouLee. Thanks for checking in. I remember the event you're talking about. Had a good time up there at Fresno State. I think it was 2008.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I recall I'm pretty sure what I was talking about was how artists are perceived by their own industry in animation. It's not what people think. I'm compelled to be independent cuz I didn't like what was happening in the studio scene on several levels. Some people are cool with it and can adapt. Others like myself had to forge another path.
What's exciting now is the emergence of crowdfunding. In 2012 we've really seen it take off. Many artists are finding success. Some of them huge success through sites like Kickstarter and the new systems for raising capital. If you were to listen to a speech of mine today I'd be going into this aspect of it with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. It's changing everything we know about how artists relate to the industry and their audience.
If there's anything I can get across to artists today that can benefit them both now and in the near term future it's to think in terms of developing your own content and community. It's not just about working at the studios any longer. That's not the only option available anymore.
I'll be coming out with my own project very soon that will follow up along these lines. It's a very exciting time to be creative in this business. There's never been anything like it in our history. If you can create quality content there's a direct avenue between you and your audience. No more pitching to studios or investment bankers or going to anyone for their permission or approval to get your project going. Today it's all about pitching directly to the people and if you have something they like you'll be rewarded. A new era is here and it's very advantageous to us.
The best advice I can give is to Keep Creating. That's the motto of my school and has direct bearing on what I'm referring to here. Good luck with your plans! Email is a significant problem for me. Too much incoming and not enough time to get to it. Feel free to contact me through my school The Animation Academy and I'll do my best to reply in a timely manner.