How long does the process of creating a character take?

[Levente Lorand Kis]

I’m thinking of a character that needs to be designed from scratch, 3D modeled, textured, rigged, animated, etc.

How long will this process take for 2 people? One will do all the concept art part and texturing while the other will do all the 3D modelling and animations.

Also note that the two people are pretty much beginners in the field of game development.

Thank you

[Matthew Fricker]

It is hard to say, It depends on a lot of variables – Experience, level of detail required in the character, will there be hair, fur etc, detail of texturing, rig requirements, are you building the rig from scratch or are you using an addon like rigify, is a facial rig required, how much free time you have a day to spend on it… the list goes on…

For example, it could take an experienced artist a matter of hours to create the simplest of characters, whilst an inexperienced beginner may take weeks or months. A lot of time for beginners will be taken up by learning how to do it, rather than the actual execution.  

I am myself , in the process of creating two characters for personal projects, one for a game, and one for animation, and both are in their third iteration because I have learnt how to do them better each time and have started over twice now, and this process has taken me most of this year, but a huge amount of that has been learning. 

I would recommend you check out some of the CG cookie character courses , specifically one that suits your needs for your project and work alongside it. Usually you can make your own design so If you know what you want to make you can work through a course and make your own character. 

Im not sure of your skill level, but this course came out recently and covers the entire workflow of modelling a character for use in Unity so maybe you could work through it to create your game character? And I believe that a texturing course and others will follow. https://cgcookie.com/course/modeling-a-robot-game-character-with-blender

[Kasper Hviid]

If you have a deadline, that is pretty much exactly how much time it’ll take.

[pieriko]

Kasper is right.

IT can take 12 hours or it can take 400 hours depending on how much details and fountionality you’ll put in your riggrd character.

You should think first of the quality level and complexity you wanna reach

[Jody Stocks]

Hay there.
So I would like to add my two Cents if I May. I dont know much about rigging and animation but I can add some input on the Creation part.

So My Main focus is realistic characters, (Not that Im there yet) so what takes up a lot of time Is Knowing tricks and how to do Specific things per Topic.

For instance.
Anatomy, Getting all the Proportions right and Mucles flow to look Natural. Is he Buff, Fat, Skinny, Ripped etc.
You also have to get a look for the face and decide what Kind of look you want. If you are experienced you will be able to go through these things fairly fast but if your Inexperienced you will have trouble with getting your sculpt to look right as its the underlying Forms like Where fat, Muscle and bone are,you wont Understand and know.

There is then Cloth.
A lot of People simulate it, but you will have to sculpt further on it if you want it to really pop and look better.

Teres Armor, Sticking and not To Mention Hair and dont even get me started on hands and feet.
A dead like is Good, but you have to set realistic goals. Keep a structured daily and weekly deadline and try to meet them as best as you can.

A highly detailed realistic Character can take up to a Month and a Half to Create even for experienced people in the Industry, so keep that In mind.

I hope this helps some what.
Cheers for now.

[Author]

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