To design the character I have been developing some concept art over the past few weeks to experiment with different clothing variations and colours to create usable templates of the horse and rider that I will be able to start modelling from. I had intended to do a 3/4 view concept piece but felt this wasn't as necessary to the project because it would provide far more inspiration developing multiple ideas than focusing on one. 

Because i'm creating a real world character my concepts are very limited because I need to ensure a level of historical accuracy and make sure that it is authentic. Therefore I have been collecting as many examples of greek armour and clothing as I could from the internet to get a feel for the style of clothing they wore. I have found there are an enormous amount of variations in helmet design and armour though the main reoccurring themes are that greek soldiers mostly wore a corslet chest piece, skirt and loose overalls, an open faced helmet, sandals and a guard for the shins. The best reference for the companions was a sculpture on the Alexander Sarcophagus which showed them carrying a spear and wearing a cloak. 

To speed things up and prevent me from having to work out anatomy over and over I decided to create a realistic template of the character, drawn from photo reference. This allowed me to focus on trying out different clothing variations by reusing the same template. These are several different designs from the same period though I think the bottom middle and right are more closely related to the description of the companions so I will most likely develop the character with those in mind.

I've also created a template for the horse for which there were far fewer references. These are several ideas drawn mostly from the film Alexnder the Great (2004). I looked at the different breeds of horse to experiment with colours and how that might fit with the saddle design and rider.

Now I've finished my templates I can start work on the model of the rider. I intend to block the character out in 3dsmax to begin with as I find it far faster to sort out overall proportions using box modelling software. Once I have something i'm happy with I will then move into zbrush, smooth over the anatomy and start adding the clothes. I hope in 1 months time to have completed the first character.

For my next project I have decided to start work on a quality animation piece that will demonstrate the skills I have developed over the last 5 years at college and university. This piece will be more ambitious than anything I have attempted before and I hope will give me the portfolio I need to get my first job in the games industry. My hope is that I can create a piece that shows how flexible my abilities are in producing game ready characters and will open the door to multiple animation job opportunities. 

Macedonia was a hellenic kingdom situated in the fertile coastal planes of northern greece. In the ancient world it was one of a number rival greek states that existed before the rise of the Roman Empire. Whilst being the largest of the greek states, it was for many years kept weak by internal struggles of the noble families, raids from barbarians to the north and the meddling of other states such as Athens. If it could break free of its situation it had potential to become a great power because of its large population and access to horses which were more readily available in the fields of the north.

It was Philip the second who finally managed to achieve this objective. In a time of shifting powers when the other major greek states were weak, Philip managed to unify Macedonia through diplomacy, bribery and an increased importance in the military. Within a year of his succession he had managed to raise an army of ten thousand and begun a radical re-organisation of how it trained and fought. This had the effect of stabilising the country because now the peasants loyalty to the nobles was weakened as they were now directly serving the king. The nobles themselves were bound to the king by becoming the kings 'Companions', and their superior cavalry were put to good use as the royal bodyguard. All these changes turned Macedonia into a highly efficient armed state, allowing it to secure its borders and force treaties with the other greek factions.

Ultimately it was Philips legacy that enabled his son Alexander the Great to carve his way into the history books as he led the Macedonian army to conquer the Persian Empire.

For my project I have decided to recreate one of the Companion Cavalry, the royal bodyguards of Philip and Alexander. This will be a thorough and detailed project where I will design and produce the character and horse suitable for a game engine. I will then rig and animate the character doing several hand keyed loops that could be imported to an engine to create a playable character. I also hope to obtain motion capture data and apply it to the rig to demonstrate those skills to potential employers. Finally I will render the piece out using quality lighting and sounds for a short, high quality animation piece.

Here are some ideas and sketches i've been preparing to help me design the character.

Moodboard

Sketches