Games with Character
The importance of creating characters with personality in a game
Games have evolved drastically over the years, having come from an era where sprites were the only ‘animated’ things on your screen. Alongside this evolution, characters have also evolved from primal low poly, small skeleton, no rig assets, to beautifully modelled, high tech characters with deep personalities. This creates a new depth to an animator’s job. They now have the freedom to breathe life and personality into an array of characters in a way that has never been done before.
This session shows the evolution of characters over the years, and how important it is to apply the basic principles of animation into a 3d world, thus creating powerful, believable characters. The session also looks at the animation development process and how to prepare and present an animation show reel for the games industry.
Presented by Louise Ridgeway: Animation Supervisor
Having spent 3 years studying Classical Animation at Ballyfermot Senior College in Dublin, Louise crossed the waters, in 1999, to come to England to work for renowned games company Rare ltd. Having spent the first couple of years at Rare figuring out how to use a computer, she eventually figured out how to apply her classical knowledge of animation to 3d animation and make it work within a game environment. Louise has worked on the two instalments of Conker (Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Conker, Live and Reloaded). She has also worked on numerous other projects over the years, and is responsible for many of the female voices that can be found in Rare games. This culminated in her winning an AIAS award this year for best female vocal performance for her portrayal of Leafos in Viva Piñata.
Louise’s recent promotion to Animation Supervisor at Rare is an excellent opportunity for her to establish her belief that good character animation in a game is of the utmost importance. It is through her passion and love for animation that she hopes to ensure that Rare continues to push the boundaries of the high level of animation that has always been present in Rare games.
