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[Bones]

Is silouette readability the be all and end all for games?

I sure hope so, silhouettes are an important practice in illustration.
It's all about them shapes.

Characters from Naruto/Onepiece for example (probably do have memorable silouettes but thats not where im going) theyre memorable because of their colour masses. Wouldnt that have some value?

Absolutely color has value.
I'm sure these have been posted more than they need to, but for discussion sake.




I'm sure their silhouettes would be recognizable because we have seen them for so long.
But it's their colour palettes that really resonate with people.

[Dacke]

If you are going for realism it doesn't make sense to focus too heavily on silhouettes, though.

[rek]

If you are going for realism it doesn't make sense to focus too heavily on silhouettes, though.

If you're going for realism, colour blocks don't really make sense either. That's why superhero comic book movies mute or completely replace the bold yellows and reds and magentas of costumes – they'd look ridiculous in context.

I have a hard time seeing realistic characters as well-designed characters. They're often too busy – too many straps and pockets and frills and layers of clothing – or just improbable/costumy.

[JWK5]

If you are going for realism it doesn't make sense to focus too heavily on silhouettes, though.

If you're drawing anything, realistic or not, it makes sense to focus heavily on silhouettes. Silhouettes describe the overall form, balance and movement, and what positive space the figure is taking up in the scene. It's very important because it is one of the first things you start to analyze as you put together in you head what it is you think you are seeing (squint your eyes while looking at a character and you can get a pretty clear view of the silhouette). It's not the only thing you should be focused on, but it is definitely up there near or at the top of the visual hierarchy.





You can actually use this to your advantage and establish character ideas very quickly. By making quick line silhouettes you can churn out dozens of rough character ideas in mere minutes.

[Dacke]

Sure silhouettes are important. But if you are creating a realistic human, you can't really rely on silhouettes to make the character memorable, lest the character becomes unrealistic.

I have a hard time seeing realistic characters as well-designed characters. They're often too busy – too many straps and pockets and frills and layers of clothing – or just improbable/costumy.

Except that there are plenty of memorable live-action movie characters out there. So it's arguably possible to create good human characters that actually look like humans.

[JWK5]

Sure silhouettes are important. But if you are creating a realistic human, you can't really rely on silhouettes to make the character memorable, lest the character becomes unrealistic.

Contrary to popular belief the goal of a silhouette isn't to make the character memorable (since the shape of a character's silhouette will change dramatically based on what they were doing), the goal of the silhouette is identification (i.e. to be able to pick them out of a scene easily). A unique silhouette is only "memorable" in the same manner an uncommon color scheme or distinct hair style is. Memorable or not, you don't want to give a character any kind of silhouette (in any pose) that will make them hard to "read".



You can see here, in this realistic painting, the silhouette still plays a major role in how the image is taken in. You can also see that grouping light and dark masses is very important as well. A good test of this is to look at the image and progressively move back from your monitor. You can see that even at a distance the silhouette and general form (as blocked by light and dark masses) still holds up. This is what silhouettes are meant to accomplish, identification.

[rek]

I have a hard time seeing realistic characters as well-designed characters. They're often too busy – too many straps and pockets and frills and layers of clothing – or just improbable/costumy.

Except that there are plenty of memorable live-action movie characters out there. So it's arguably possible to create good human characters that actually look like humans.

Is a memorable character necessarily a well-(visually)designed character? Are we including personality, distinct speech patterns, emotional sensitivity, etc, when we say a "good character design"?

[kummerspeck]

probably should

[mooosh]

Sure silhouettes are important. But if you are creating a realistic human, you can't really rely on silhouettes to make the character memorable, lest the character becomes unrealistic.

I have a hard time seeing realistic characters as well-designed characters. They're often too busy – too many straps and pockets and frills and layers of clothing – or just improbable/costumy.

Except that there are plenty of memorable live-action movie characters out there. So it's arguably possible to create good human characters that actually look like humans.

agree:

[Dacke]

I haven't said that silhouettes are unimportant, you know. I'm just stating the fact that they aren't the only thing that matters in making a character readable/memorable.

It all comes down to human psychology. We have parts in our brains that specialize on recognizing silhouettes, facial traits, movement patterns, colors, distinct features etc. The more relevant information you feed to the brain, the better it will figure stuff out. Silhouettes matter, sure, but other things matter as well. 

[C.A. Sinner]

fucking beat me to it

leone had a great talent for picking actors with interesting and distinctive faces for his movies. i think there's an interview with him where he says he essentially treats his close-ups like panorama shots with the face being the landscape lol.

[iffi]

Not just his appearance, but also his personality.

[Alevice]

How well do silhouettes work for realistic characters in motion? Honest question. I can understand a staic figure - it determines a loads of things like physical traits and role with a given pose. A character in motion cant rely on pose at all.

[Hangedman]

Depends on how realistic you mean.

If a silhouette has distinct features and poses that are reflected in both standing and movement then it's a great way to tie their images still and moving together.
Create a walk cycle that suits the posture/clothing/etc of the standing figure, and make it unique enough that it stands out.

Somewhat related, and yes more TF2 I know, but the real triumph of character design with regard to silhouettes in TF2 in particular is this:
If a cloaked spy from the enemy team bumps into someone on your team, they flash the enemy team colour and appear as a momentary silhouette of whoever they're disguised as.
You can instantly tell what class a clumsy spy is disguised as, from across the map, with only a split-second glance of their rough shape.

[Cobralad]

How well do silhouettes work for realistic characters in motion? Honest question. I can understand a staic figure - it determines a loads of things like physical traits and role with a given pose. A character in motion cant rely on pose at all.

So, character in motion can change his shape, costume, personality and facial features?