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.
Philip II of Macedon
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.
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.
Companion Cavalry
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
Here are some ideas and sketches i've been preparing to help me design the character.
Moodboard
Sketches
My plan for the next few weeks is to create a high quality concept piece of how I want the character look and feel when animated as well as Front, Back and Side drawings to plan out the model.
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