Game artist reacts to FINAL FANTASY 7 Character designs
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2021
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If youve ever wanted to become a character designer for video games or animation, you need to study what has historically equated to a "good" character design. In this episode of the Character Designers Toolkit, I do a deep dive into the concept art and character design of Final Fantasy 7.
Twitter- / trentkaniuga
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PO BOX - Aquatic Trent 26895 Aliso Creek Rd, B1031 Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
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Games I've worked on -
Fortnite (Environment concept art)
Overwatch (Environment concept art + Sprays artwork)
League of Legends (Character design + Environment concept art, UI + Icons)
Diablo 3 (Character design + Environment concept art)
Hearthstone (Illustration)
Burning Crusade(Character design + Environment concept art)
Wrath of the Lich King (Character design + Environment concept art)
Indivisible (Environment concept art)
Final Fight Streetwise (Voice Acting + Character Design + World Design + Cutscene Direction + Co writer on script)
He Man GBA (Pixel Art)
Terminator 3 GBA (Art Direction + Pixel Art)
CannonBallers (Character + World design)
Ikeda: The Scrap Hunter (Programming + Art + Design)
Goblins and Gnomes (Concept Art)
Books available-
CreeD Re:Imaginary (2021) - 2 part Comic series
Twilight Monk - Return of the Ancients (2021) - Illustrated Novel
Twilight Monk Secrets of Kung Fulio (2020) - Illustrated Novel
Escape from Giants Crown (2019) - Illustrated Novella
World Of Twilight Monk Vol 1 (2019) Art Book
The Man and the Moonken (2019) - Illustrated Novella
The Beast of Tuksa (2018) - Illustrated Novella
Twilight Monk (2012) - 2 Graphic Novels
Nova Colony (2009) - 1 Graphic Novel
CreeD (1993-2007) - Comic Book Series
Ghost Rider (2000) - Comic Book Series
The Fuzz (1997) - Comic Book 
Развлечения
You revealed something in the first three minutes that is interesting: Artists didn't need to do full-on renders of concepts due to tech limitations in the 90s. Basically, now, your design work needs to mirror the in-game graphics or it will get nixed. So, your art skills need to be through the roof, on par with movie concepts. So like what 10% of peeps will have "it". Go. Indie. Do. It. Yourself.
They used to mirror the in-game graphics back then in the same way they need to mirror the graphics now. So yeah, a whole new level in terms of skill
yeah or work for indie studio
in my case i dont even want to do it, i just want to make my own stuff like what trent is doing
people still do plenty of loose drawings, they just have to eventually create a more finalized product, but that can even be passed off to someone else on a larger team as opposed to the smaller teams of back then.
That's what I'm doing right now "Going Indie" My art's good it's just not yet at "film or triple A or Double A" game level. So Indie it is for me for a few years.
Always wanted to design characters for games.. I draw well, but I no longer want to work for any studio.. I will most likely create the designs, and gather all references needed, and have someone create the models.
Nomura's designs from FFVII are quite literally why I am pursuing concept art. To call him inspiration is an understatement.
Honestly, if Yoshitaka Amano's art can be used as concept art, you can pursue whatever course you want with your art, just make it good. Make it unique. Make it your own.
That's the lesson I've taken away.
@@TheOneRiojiyoshitaka amanos artwork can be used as concept design because it’s unique and because they’re like fashion designs a little bit, they convey what makes the character work. Only thing amanos artwork doesn’t do well is convey emotion through facial emotes. You can get a vague sense of what they’re thinking through gesture but they’re not showing alot of what they’re actually feeling. Also they seem somewhat androgynous at times which is fine for the time period they were produced and I personally like it but I can see why another person would be a lil confused as to why his designs look like twink femboys 😂
26:25 My drawing anatomy professor spoke to me about functionality and logic in character design. (ex. character suits in Anthem) We came to the conclusion, if it looks cool, throw logic out the window.
Cloud is rockin' that "There's something about Mary" hairdo...
I think it would be interesting if you took a look at the guilty gear series, as a fighting game with some really wild designs and characters i think there's a lot to look at
Huge influence on our generation... These and the final fantasy tactics designs blew us all away; set the standard for the jrpgs of an entire generation.
"Barrett was originally planned to have a medallion around his neck, described as a gift from his deceased wife, but this was later changed to a set of dog tags."
Totally agree with your views on Yuffie’s arm guard, that thing really grabbed my attention back in the 90s. (Especially the huge stud on the end)
I also really appreciate asymmetry in character designs and when I do my own, somehow it just feels more interesting.
I’d love to hear your analysis on the character design of the Kingdom Hearts series, especially given how the characters travel to multiple worlds and seemingly seem to fit right in to most worlds aside from a few where they are given custom designs.
BTW love your content, always a fun time!
Dang! This video's 47 minutes long? That's awesome! Can't wait to sit down and soak in some knowledge.
I love this! Trent please make more content like this. It's honestly OP as hell.
This is awesome man. I gotta say though after hearing you get started talking about design elements I think we would all love to see you tackle the characters with redesigns.
Love the breakdown of this! Very cool to hear another artist geek about characters and point out certain things, is a delight.
A note on Vincent's early design which few people know about--- So Vincent Valentine originally was going to be related to Tifa as in siblings; this is why they look alike, especially with the red eyes and long black hair. Secondly, he was originally going to wield a scythe and have two claws instead of one, but my guess this was abandoned because it was too cliche. The latest design that he has is a lot more refined where he has no skin showing, save for his face, and his cloak is tattered instead of a straight cut. His hair is also jagged and unnatural in the newest designs. It's amazing refined designs can get over time, and just goes to show you don't have to have a perfect concept art from the start as they always evolve, even years later.
I did not know that! Was this revealed in an interview or one of the behind the scenes concept art books or something?
@@TrentKaniuga Yeah the info is scattered so I'll try to compile what I am able to find right away-- finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Vincent_Valentine/Gallery
You should be able to see the earliest version in the illustrations below in regards to the concept art. Unfortunately I don't recall where the Tifa-Vincent connection is but you can find a ton of lore/early discoveries about FF7 in general in this website: thelifestream.net/ It is loaded with ff7 info that very few know about. The website is difficult to navigate but it is run by a guy who is a scholar in Norse Mythology (which is what ff7 is based on).
@@TrentKaniuga One other thing I'll add-- this one is a lot more vague but nonetheless exists. Way early into the story design, Sephiroth was originally designed to look like Vincent (or Vincent was originally Sephiroth, it's hard to tell). thelifestream.net/forums/threads/tifareth-along-the-paths-of-the-sephiroth-early-development-speculation.22770/
But yeah, check out the website. I think you'll have a lot of fun learning all things ff7.
Suggestion to break down some Professor Layton character designs (Nintendo DS)! I have not seen many games with a style like this :)
I appreciate these long form vids. I can sit back and work and take it all in.
Seeing trent fanboy for these classic games is just too wholesome
I haven't played the game but have seen enough gameplays to know the story and absolutely love it. This video is very fascinating to know how the characters came to be and what all goes usually into designing a character.
Play the damn game. 😂
Absolutely love your work, Trent. Could watch your videos all day. More, please.
Loving this, this is actually a very informative video for character design, a very good study. It is very interesting to know why back in 90's the character design was much more simpler than nowadays, and still have a strong story telling, unique design. I love how Aerith's symmetry design in the character tells a different story compare to the other characters, looking forward to see more of these type videos!
I killed Ruby Weapon with Cid
Noe for the ultimate test. . . You must beat trent with cid!!!
Super fun video!! I remember when I was like 5, and was watching my brother playing FF7 & 8, this was so nostalgic, and also informative!! Thanks for an awesome video again!!
Crazy you Wld have these on your video today. I just received my Package today of Two of these Characters today. Perfect Timing.! 👊😎
This series is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good keep em coming Trent
This is my favorite video so far. Great video.
I love these in depth conversations
I had a feeling I'd like this video, but I ended up appreciating your commentary 'way' more than I thought I would! I'd enjoy listening to you go over any other games or series you really enjoy - or even ones you really DON'T like, as a comparison to what not to do.
If I could toss anything out there, I'd love to see you go over Resident Evil! 1, 2 or 3 would be my suggestion, but if you go down that path choose the one you like the most. Keep up the great work - I've been following your beginner Gumroad videos and they have helped me tremendously, I'll definitely be going for the rest when I get far enough along!
Damn trent, this is a really informative character design breakdown.
And I would love that if you do a breakdown of nier automata's character design next, that's my favourite game. After I finished the game I was like damn now I want to work for Platinum Games or Square enix XD
Awesome stuff! Thank you for all this valuable insight :D
There are some novels called On The Way to A Smile, but they tend to be about the characters after the game, not before.
Also, Red's cub is probably from the after credit scene.
I'm really looking forward to the next part! OuO
12:30 referencing the sword not resting on his shoulder -- that's intentional. If you look at the turnaround images for the Cloud designs, it points out (in Japanese) that the Buster Sword attaches to a strong magnet on his back that's incorporated into the harness. Edit: I guess you kind of show it later. But that's the explanation for it.
Yo it would be cool if you would continue some of the old video series like the artist workouts or photoshop tips
Been playing a lot of FFXIV recently, love these video games and these videos, keep it up!
The “anime close up shot” was used IN-GAME when viewing your party. Almost all of the finalized drawings were used in the game. As for portfolio stuff Japanese Developers still do all of this.
Cool video. I was always a huge fan of the character designs in Capcom's Breath of Fire series. Especially Breath of Fire 3 which seemed to be the pinnacle for me.
Surprised someone mentioned Breath Of Fire here. The designs and concept art behind the franchise is amazing.
I feel like a character design toolkit for the classic Megaman and X series could be very interesting.
Released this video on my birthday :o
Thank you so much, for making this video! I adore FF series i'm a big fan and Tesuya Nomura is one of my favorite artists and I have a lot of influence from him in my art, i remember the first time I saw art made by him, I was a little girl in 2002 and I received a magazine from videogames, the art was from kigdom hearts 1 then in 2006 I was able to play ffvii (first I saw FFVII advent children) I fell in love with the characters and the game, at that time FFXII was the game that was on the market. i also remember spending hours trying to draw as Tetsuya Nomura i practiced and analyzed how I designed the characters i've always adored that style that he has, especially the characters of FFVII, FFVIII, FF X and KH, nowadays I make commissions to people who want me to draw them In that style, of course, not everything is perfect in this type of drawing i hate that Nomura makes a lot of belts and buttons, he also repeats a certain style of characters a lot (Noctis, Riku kh3 and Leslie FFvii remake, they are all the same) I feel that sometimes it gets stuck in the same thing, in summary i am very happy that you made this video, it is one of my favorite artists and your analyzes teach me a lot, it was very nice to see everything you expose here, looking forward to the next episode :D
awesome video!!!
about Cids pants, in 1930s men wore the Errol trousers, they had a very high waste band, usually above the belly button. not sure if that was look he was going for on purpose
But this is done on EVERY character.
You commented that every characters had metal bracelets and the reason is that in that game, the armors ARE bracelets. Since you'll be equipping them pretty much at all time unless you are doing some no-equip challenge, it was just normal for them to integrate them in the design of the characters.
Awesome vid Trent! Can’t wait for more, itd be cool if you broke down the design in breath of fire 4. has some of my fave game art ever. or yunno any game designed by akihiko yoshida
what makes a good character design? I was waiting so long for a video like this, waiting for more!!
I honostly had so much fun listening to you geek out over these designs. I used to LOVE looking through the FF art books as a kid. Especially 8-12, it’s sad that character designs nowadays are so streamlined and sorta normalized in their own way. Like there’s a formula that works, so we don’t get anything too weird or outlandish anymore. I hope to do a bit of that myself :D another great video!
I'd love to see a video on Guilty Gear Strive's redesigned characters!
I saw Cloud and my gitty little ff7 fan-heart skipped a beat. I clicked super fast.
I never realized Nomura put so much thought in stuff like purpose for why Aerith is standing like that. I always thought it just looked nice.
Also a few small things you got wrong. Nomura actaully joined square during ff5 and he did monster design for 6 and made Setzer. Also one of the ealry design you showed was not really Cloud, but early design of Zack, because they were going for black vs white contrast for Cloud and Sephiroth, becuase they are based off some famous japanese samurai's. And there is actually more sketches Nomura did that he said they will never release, like you mentioned.
Other then that really cool video.
FF7's world seemed to be a world that used to be a typical fantasy land like the older Final Fantasy games, but over time developed into a "modern" cyber/steampunk setting due to technology advancing. There's lots of influences from 1930's Germany/Europe in the town designs and overall technology. Even the Shinra troops vehicles and machineguns in the remake look like WW2 era tech.
The original game was basically paralleling the way nuclear power became dominate after WW2, and how it changed our world and became an environmental concern.
26:30 true waist is that high
Cid may simply be wearing high-waisted trousers.
Ooohhh baby yeahhh!
Loved your video! 💗 I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the character design for Final Fantasy X 💗 I have always been drawn to Final fantasy games because of the look of the characters which made me want to play the games
Where is his body! Haha 😂 thank you for the video. very informative!
Can you make a vid all about how to make a portfolio like what site to use, how to make a different portfolio for a different studio how to arrange your art how to present it and so on it whould help immensely
I made a whole workshop about making a portfolio. Www.gumroad.com/trentk
@@TrentKaniuga I'll definitely check it out when I'm able to afford it
I’d say gohan’s Super Saiyan form in dragon ball z had a lot of influence on Cloud’s hair
Your awsome dude
cid is my favorite character from the game, he's more realistic in a sense and I really dislike most of the cartoonish designs in final fantasy + great fashion style
anyways, great video ^^
lord of the rings online. given its an 07 game which i've played from 07 and i'm an artist. its very story/lore driven. we all know tolkien as a writer. the game sticks to the story very well.
300th like, because i love your content!
I liked this and def feeling how much you liked this game made it more as if we're apart of it ya know? Very homely
One of the dragon quest games would be interesting
Hey trent, kinda unrelated question. Can you start a career out of designing mostly fantasy weapons? It's what I find myself having the most fun, but I feel it kinda falls into this weird place between character and asset design.
Yes.
you should compare nomura's work from ff7 and ffxv and how he has evolved.
How about looking at the underappreciated lost planet designs?
good one! But I'm thinking I should do something more current. Many people might not know that series these days.
A lot of Cloud's design came from Guts's different costumes in Berserk. The baggy blue pants from when he first joined the Hawks, the various large belts and armored left hand. Even his Kingdom Hearts version is based on the Black Swordsman outfit. It's probably why they couldn't give him a gauntlet, because it would be too close.
Very Enjoyable Video good sir! If you still want some suggestions for checking out character designs, I'd vote for either breath of Fire 4, which had some really cool but rather simplistic designs, or
maybe even Dragon Quest 8's designs ofc. by yours truly Akira Toriyama and you could even cross reference that with his other works (Namely Dragonball)
Thanks for the idea!
Cool
There's a prequel/parrallel story of ff7 called Before crises. It mostly deals with what the Turks were doing during the events of crises core to the end of ff7
Yep, people still say chibi.
Chibi is still largely used! It's very regular on commissions particularly.
I mean... Barret isn't edgy imo, Barret is the stereotype of American soldiers. So into guns it's literally bound to his arm, dark green pants as an omage to camo pants, heavy duty shoes, tattoos, utility belt, dog tags, and a crew cut with language to match. Barret is the token American. But what they did right was make him part of the heroes. A lot of Japanese manga has the unfortunate tendency to make Black foreigners bad guys in stories.
>the stereotype of American soldiers
>Describes wht
Oh... That makes a lot of sense, actually! Thank you!
I miss the big spiky hair. Emo cuts weren't cool when I was ten and they aren't cool now.
It's funny how the only 3D Cloud that actually looks like Cloud is in the first Kingdom Hearts, and he wears Vincents cloak and claws lol.
I think her weird arm thing might be a riff on a roman cestus? But who knows. res.cloudinary.com/jerrick/image/upload/f_jpg,q_auto,w_720/jcyeqgrufqok0myhbomo.jpg
my thought too
Please do final fantasy X ! I’d love to know your opinion about it :)
Hey boss man I d donate for an HD 2D Trent FF7Lineup as well as avid like this with your opinions on the FF8 cast OR THE MGS CAST97-05 was an interesting time for those devs I Like to think.
Do a character break down for Guilty Gear Strive
Amen to that
They look more down to earth compared to the original more heavy metal fantasy inspirations.
7:05 Mhmm surrre
35:40 master of master lookin ass
really do wish people were more accepting and embraced their sketches in designing.
they let you really understand an artist and what they come up with, rather than these complete model sheet like designs.
Damn I am 2 slow
Trent my man, you forgot the first part: Yoshitaka Amano was the 'inspirational' artist that first did his designs and those were then worked over by Tetsuya Nomura. I think that stage is really important, because you can see the raw art of Amano and then how it gets passed down to Nomura, who has to make workable pieces. Otherwise, great video :)
Totally, I can understand that maybe he skipped Yoshitaka Amano in this video because that's not concept art in the same sense as Nomura's work and is kinda beyond the point of this video, but yeah, is very hard to talk about Final Fantasy designs without mention Amano's illustrations.
Square doesnt really promote Amano for FF7 though. When you read the credits, the character designer for FF7 is credited to Nomura.
I think it may be the other way around where nomura literally designed characters and amano adapted them into own style for promo concept art. I learn this a few years ago but even though amano is cited as the designer from ff1-6 the sprites used were made first and Amanos art came later which is why sprites especially in ff5 don’t resemble Amanos designs that much.
Hello! My name is Francis and I’m an inspiring artist. I’m looking to become a character designer. Is there any tips on how I can get started professionally?
Modern clothing places the beltline much closer to the hips than the waist. Too close to the hip in many instances.
That was a 90s thing too. But mostly just for women.
@@TrentKaniuga I remember. It got really bad when they started to do it to men's fashion. Can't tell you how many times I tried on a pair of pants that didn't fit because of the belt line.
I regret buying the art book for the game because the only art for cloud in it was him in the dress its very disappointing
👍✨✌️💫💥
I constantly forget Cid is in this game. Every review, parody, analysis or fan video just throws him 1 or 2 sentences.
Loved this. Great analysis, but completely disagree with you about Cait Sith. :)
I LOVE that stupid cat's design (and his marshmallow friend).
Fair enough!
Nomura should've stuck to character design. When he stuck his nose into the gameplay and writing of FFVII:R, not to mention the pustulant excuse for a 'plot' that beleaguers Kingdom Hearts, you get confusing needlessly convoluted garbage.
He wouldn't survive with his art skills. Objectively, he made the right choice.
@@torrentthom4734 false . Nomura has a big name now. He can sketch characters and they would be accepted. Just like the way the mgs artist would make drawing in his own style and they would convert those into 3d models. If you look at the last of us 2 concept art . The early art looks like very rough drawings. None of this high end realistic stuff. So designs can be made like a sketch . But later maybe someone can make a more rendered version .
Nice hot take. Maybe the story went over your head which is why you're so angry. The plot is brilliant. That was the best sequel to ff vii. Massive watch some of Maximilian doods videos so you would understand how much amazing stuff is in there. Most people loved the gameplay sooooo , nice hot take .
@@AliHamza-sv4ni I disagree: If devs use his works, it's mostly out of sheer respect/seniority, as he is def a noteworthy personality in gaming.
Early concepts/sketches are just a funnel for solid ideas to take shape. The high-end stuff is drawn right before 3D modeling begins, because the designer/director can judge quickly and cheaply how xyz will look in-game before modelers begin their expensive and time-consuming work, which is basically designing every visual element in 3D.
2D games are a bit different, Nomura's art would still fit there, maybe even strive.
@@torrentthom4734 what are we disagreeing on exactly? I basically said nomura is too big of a name that even his 2d illustrations wouldn't get rejected.
Here's the thing regarding concept art . The high end realistic , polished stuff , set piece matte paintings etc are primarily being done by senior concept artists/ leads. The average AAA concept artist who isn't a senior primarily make things like prop concepts , sketches , ugly photobashes etc .my senior works at massive ( ubisoft) they literally make him do detailed sketches for his concepts etc for the division and the new Avatar game. So it depends on what they have hired you for.