Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels

Must have and keeping it on the shelf for reference is a MUST. If you show up to a new job and have this in your reference library, it will be noticed. So many important fundamentals and a VERY HIGH-quality book. Pages are thick, nicely colored throughout and illustrated. A book that will absolutely last a very long time!

For the record, I am not a professional animator/producer by any means, strictly a hobbyist (granted, an increasingly active hobbyist, but a hobbyist none-the-less), so take my review for what it is - the perspective of somebody with no formal character design or animation training. Basically, the concepts in this book were completely new to me.This book was referenced in an Animation writing book I was reading. I checked it out of my local library and within a few days I knew I was going to need to purchase a copy of my own.I know each person learns differently but I prefer books that presents and steps through new material, prompts exercises for the learner to complete, then reviews the salient points of the material just presented. This book does exactly that.The material, too, is valuable. The author walks the reader through the thought processes of how to frame the viewer's perception of the character being designed i.e., when to use characters whose basic shapes are square and what kind of characters should be constructed from more oval-shaped foundations.There are also interviews with industry professionals (who are also completing the exercises in the book). Some are insightful, some are entertaining, but the real value is the actual material in this book.I find myself referring to the book whenever I start a new project. If nothing else, it reinforces the principles of character design and (hopefully) makes my work better each time.

I loved the book since the very first moment I saw it on this site and I didn't stop even after I finished the last page.It only have some minor cons: Although the book try to cover many areas of the design the truth is that is too centered in the theme of the animation (Specially the classic Disney style) and the fact that sometimes some topics that may interest you don't have the length that you would probably prefer.But honestly it have far more pros: Each chapter is pretty well explained in an easy to understand way, the fact that the author have a lot of experience in the field makes you confident in the quality of your purchase, the advices are very good, the illustrations are beautiful.I can go and go telling you why you should buy this wonderful book, but probably it would be enough letting you know two things:1. Instead of telling you how you must do the job the author seeks to help you find a vision and style of your own, giving you just tools and tips that are going to make your technique stronger and more appealing to other people.2. Only watching the bunch of sketches and conceptual art and reading about how exciting its to bring to live to a character makes you want to look for a paper piece to start drawing and watch by yourself how the magic works.

I've grown to like Tom Bancroft's books and style of teaching. He has a way of really drawing you into what he's trying to say and gets you involved and interested. Some may see his style as a little too cartoonish but you can't exactly blame him since he worked from many years as an animator for Disney.In this book, Tom Bancroft discusses the importance of adding personality to your characters and giving them life. His focus is to get you thinking from step 1 to plan your character so that when a passer by sees him/her, they can immediately tell what sort of person your character is.Bancroft discusses things such as poses, body shape, expressions and the like for characters of different types including humans (male and female), animals as well as monsters.I would recommend this book to beginners although it can also be helpful for intermediate artists. The only thing I'll add is to say that this book is definitely not a must have. It doesn't have secrets in there that you can't find anywhere else. Having said that though, Tom Bancroft teaches with a rich background and portrays things quite simply encouraging you to try it out as he teaches through.

I just got through with this book and I have to give it a few words. While remaining kid-friendly (i.e. if you're looking to do pinups of busty babes, look elsewhere for full depth guidance on the upper torso area) it gives a LOT of information in a relatively small amount of space. As with any book about drawing, this book will not create a story and characters for you, however, it does give you ideas to get the ball rolling. One thing I like in particular is how they follow along throughout the book with a continuous assignment about the made up characters described in the first chapter. If you follow along, and actually do the revisions and find the one that's "right" then without realizing it, you've already begun the process for your own characters. As i went along, I started to mentally drift from what was in front of me as they described it and was thinking steps ahead to my own characters I wanted to create and applying the principles to them. This book covers a few different drawing styles, and though it doesn't go into depth for each style, it points out the similarities for personalities and how they are captured regardless of the style you use. I've used a few different drawing books before, and some were great for action and such, but with a focus on personality, I feel like this one really nails it. If you truely experiment with what you're given here, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I've just started sketich up different people again and already they all look different and like they could really have their own story as opposed to me putting different faces, expressions, and hairstyles on the same "template" of a head.

Echt top - was man hier für das Geld bekommt. Klare Linien und Aufbau der Figuren im charakteristischen Comic-style. Genial. Ich kann dieses Buch empfehlen - für Leute die einfach mal was in eine neue Richtung probieren möchten oder auch um den Horizont zu erweitern. Hat Suchtpotential und kann als Basis für die Entwicklung des eigenen Stils genutzt werden. Sehr zu empfehlen.

Hace un buen recorrido por los pasos para crear personajes, indicando todos los tipos de documentos que se suelen utilizar

Si no tienes una idea de como empezar a dibujar tus propios personajes, este método te hará que lo logres además de tener muy buenos dibujos.

O livro é perfeito para quem está iniciando e para quem quer revisar conceitos para fazer o designer dos seus personagens. Conta com alguns desafios propostos pelo autor. Trata-se de uma visão geral de todo o processo de criação. Não se aprofunda muito. Escrita super tranquila e uma boa didática.

It clears lots of confusion on creating character