How to render characters

Pramin Phatiphong reveals how to make your 2D character designs look like 3D models.

October 2014

fixing colours, size, character poses, format and rendering styles will be some or all of the things that you’ll be asked to do during the visual development process. This can be time consuming and creatively draining, even for the best of us.

So in this workshop, I’ll introduce an approach to rendering that I’ve used over the years to help me through many demanding production requirements. Essentially, my process covers the rendering of a 3D look in 2D. This is a time-saving method that helps the development team to clarify and define concepts before the character or asset is submitted to modelling, which is a lengthier and more costly process, and more difficult to correct at a later date.

The approach adopts a relatively nondestructive method of rendering, which makes use of many layers along with the Pen tool. It requires some time to set up properly and this might seem counter- intuitive, but spending the extra time in establishing your graphics up front will give you the flexibility to deal with most production demands that raise their heads during the latter part of the process.

Staying organised, naming layers and creating context folders will give you back more time for higher levels of creative thinking and execution. Finally, knowing the basics of 3D lighting or just plain cinematic lighting will always come in handy, whatever the assignment.