Methods of creating stylised characters for games using physically based rendering

Abstract

When this thesis was started, the author had been working in the game industry for a couple of years as a concept artist and 3D artist. He had acquired some experience working in different student projects and in different game companies.

The goal of this thesis was to observe and research methods that are used in modern games for crating stylised characters and what kind of knowledge and skills are required from the artist to achieve the best possible results. The thesis also observes what is connsidered stylised in the context of game graphics by observing modern games that show-case graphics that can be considered stylised. In addition, current visual trends in games are discussed.

The data for this thesis were collected from various sources including internet articles, books, videos online and observations. It also includes practical work created by the author specifically to analyse the results of this thesis as well as professional work the author has created for the game Stardust Galaxy Warriors. The first part of the thesis goes through definitions of visual styles in games and what physically based rendering means from the artists’ point of view. The latter part collects the results of the practical part of the thesis and analyses the results

It was found that stylisation can be loosely divided into two main categories of exaggerated stylisation and simplified stylisation. Both of these categories contain many variations and the term remains relatively subjective.

Stylised graphics are very popular in modern games for many reasons, and it is quite beneficial for aspiring artists to think about what is involved in creating stylised graphics for games and to learn the tools required to make them.