How do you regard your characters?
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Posts: 487
How do you regard your 3d characters?
I know that some people have favourite 3D characters, and will give them names, maybe a backstory, maybe assign some level of personality to them. Other people will regard a 3D character as an object, having no more personality than a cardboard box. Certainly characters in the DAZ store are often described in terms of their personality, or the type of personality the the vendor wishes to portray.
For people who render the same character in various images, do you think of your character as having 'experienced' and remembered what happened in previous images, or do they start off in each image with a 'blank slate' as it were with no 'memory' ?
Before this starts sounding creepy, I'm thinking of 3D characters in a similar way to characters in a novel. With a well written novel ( or TV series ) we can get invested in the characters, we can learn what kind of person they are, and how they might react in any given scenario. Sometimes, particularly with TV series where there may be different writers, a character can do something, and you think "no, that person would never do that, or say that.". Yet of course the people in TV series are actors, and characters in novels might only have agency in the wrier's imagination.
I think for my own characters I do prefer to imagine some backstory for the most important ones, and have them act in some consistent way. I will often assign names to the, if only to make organising them in the library more straightforward.
I'm curious how other people deal with these things. From viewing DAZ related Youtube channels some people will stick to a main character, or small group of characters, and fill them out with likes and dislikes, fashion preferences. etc etc.
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They're all people to me.
I'd say they come from stories I've written, but it feels more like they arrive one day and tell me their stories, and I'm just the conduit.
Some of the renders are creating a visual of one of those scenes, and some of them I get inspired by a pose or a location or something and go "oh hey, I bet they would've done that!" (I've never specifically written or envisioned them going to a carnival, or visiting a bowling alley, but... I'm sure they do things they haven't told me about yet.) I'm having fun trying to think through how much story I can tell in an image, what details like expression or clothing or setting (or lighting... which I still struggle with) say about what's going on.
Even the background people in the scenes... sure, I don't generally get into a huge backstory for them, but I try to make them look like they would have one. (Maybe they do and I'll find out about it someday... wouldn't be the first time.)
So whether they remember things from one image to the next... well, it would depend on where each image falls in their timeline (because none of them are time travelers... yet) but yeah, they would as much as you or I.
My character Roxy has of course a backstory and a real personality. Although you never see her in a sci.fi environment, she is actually a... Ssssh
I don't want to tell too much. that story needs to be told some day.
Crazy, that I even belief to know, what her voice would sound like.
They're children of the mind.
Nice to know I'm not the only one.
Generally, I consider every character I create to be some version of myself. For that reason, they're all female and usually African American. They usually find themselves in a perilous situation that reflects something I've been through. Since they're all me, they do remember things that happened to them in the past. But some of those things are on another timeline or in another world so it's more like reincarnation in those situations.
"A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them. A good novelist does not create events, he watches them happen and then writes down what he sees. A good novelist realizes he is a secretary, not God." -Stephen King
Also, there was one quote I wish I could find again, but it was to the effect that really, writers are just a bunch of people piled together under a trench coat pretending to be one person. I resonated with that one hard. =P It was an absolute epiphany in 5th grade when I realized not everyone heard the voices and saw the pictures in their heads like I do. I'm still baffled. Doesn't it get... lonely?
That SK quote - That's exactly how it is. I'm doing the dishes or something and these folks show up doing their thing. And then I have to get to the computer or at least a notebook to write it down before I forget what happened. Madness! And yes, the extra voices definitely make life more interesting. Don't know what I'd do without them!
well since I posted it
they are actors in my plays as far as I am concerned
actors play a role, they follow a script
they are not the character in the script in reality, it's just a part they play
my few actual characters I have tried to portray, exist separately in my mind, some existed once in reality but are no longer, the 3D meshes are merely proxies for them and far from perfect as to how much they resemble them as seen in in my mind's eye
I am also likely less invested in them emotionally than most users I will admit
and just for the record
I live in an imaginary world and daydream all the time and do have specific people in it, 3D representations have never done any of them justice
may be my lack of skill
Same! I do wonder what the difference is, sometimes, why some people have it and some don't. I've had people tell me I'm crazy and need to be medicated or go to therapy to make my head-mates go away, but... why? Just because they don't have any to keep them company? It's not like mine are telling me to hurt people. One of them loves inventing new soup recipes. Like, how is that bad?
Most of my DAZ characters are recreations of OCs from other non-DAZ art projects because I need consistent drawing references. Because of this, they come with personalities and backgrounds. However, I rarely make illustration renders of them because they will never look "canonically accurate," like they do in my drawings.
So far, I've had 2 characters that are recurring DAZ characters, but they lack a detailed history. The main one of these is just a 3D self-insert. She doesn't need a bio or backstory. (It is the one I use for my PFP/icon/avatar.) Because she's of my likeness, it's the one whose morph recipe I don't want to share because most people do explicit stuff.
For my other OCs (for drawings and DS projects), I'm not "overprotective" of their designs. I don't mind sharing the recipes either, since anyone can acquire the individual components to recreate them. The "soul" of my work is what I create with my [digital] hands. If someone else uses my OCs in their render, their doppelgänger doesn't feel like it's my OC. So IDC what they do. (And yes, you can ask me for my OCs' mixes, I don't mind. Though, you may be out of luck in one-shot characters because I don't save those.)
I don't think I have continuity in my renders. They are random "snapshots," depicting the characters in the moment. Except for my self-insert, who goes by different rules.
I've one of those too, but she doesn't share her recipes with me. A chuntering idiot to the rest of them, although she has canny knack of predicting their futures. If only they'd learn how to interpret her playground poetry, but then I suppose they can't understand her as I do. There's a lot of misunderstanding between them all, bless them.
Anyway, this chorus of witches - because for some reason they're thirteen and a coven - keep her around only for the soups she forages. That must be why she guards the recipe so closely? She's from 1969 and I've an inkling she simply has a supply - perhaps magical; perhaps hidden in her VW van (bus). If I had to guess, I'd guess it was Campbell's Cream of Mushroom, likely embellished from the forest. Not that there's ever any left in the cauldron by the time I get there. I wouldn't trust a drop of it to my lips, anyway.
Hmmmm. I think mine might make more dangerous soup than yours. That might be the reason folk tell you to go to therapy, which is plainly crazy, if you ask me. What is it that they believe? That my witches are in your head? Or that they can know your thoughts?
People should keep inside their own heads. I don't care if they're lonely - not our problem.
Interesting reponses. While I don't feel that my characters are 'real' people in any sense, they sometimes seem to have almost free will, and will refuse to cooperate if I try to push them into scenario where they really don't belong. For instance I have a character, who is based on a person I once knew, and I tried to put her into a sci-fi story and she just would not work, I constantly was reminded "I don't belong in this timeline". When I persisted in pushing her into this future world she stubbornly insisted on meeting every situation as if it was like a film set.
I think it's the Rudolph syndrome... that red nose is to be mocked and shamed except under circumstances where others find that it benefits them personally.
I guess one gift from being on the bottom rung of the social ladder at school is it taught me not to care what anyone thought of me or my art. If I do my best to be a good person and make the world a better place, my kids are safe and loved, and my art makes me happy, that's enough for me.
Also, I would love to meet your witches one day. :)
Count me as another one who follows the lead of the characters. I always outline my books with a rough plan of scenes and plot points, but it's ultimately my characters who guide the stories. I just type the words out. I live every moment of every day with other peoples' dialogue and actions playing out in my head. My husband thinks it's the weirdest thing but to me, it's normal. I honestly don't understand what not having those voices is like.
Almost all the 3D characters I've created are from my stories, so yes, they have personalities and backstories, preferences and specific appearance traits. It's why I spend SO. MUCH. TIME working on my renders. I need to stay true to my vision of the characters. I came to Daz to do exactly this, to create my characters in a way I can replicate them for many different scenes and commercial applications (website, covers, promo art). It's amazing to see them come to 'life'.
To allow a fictional character evolving a personality of its own, is as far as I know also important for acting. So the S.K. quote makes perfectly sense.
I just saw a YouTube short showing Emilia Clarke and Claire Foy in parallel screen tests reading the same script. They gave quite different tones to the words and to the character. The director/artist should have an understanding of the persons in the story and the vision for where they're destined in their arcs, but the actors/3D figures bring something into the story as well, and the artist is wise who pays attention.
A generation ago I accidentally started producing a small webcomic on the old DAZ bulletin board starring V4 and Millennium Gorilla. Their facial features and physicality informed me that the gorilla was the playful one, given to innocent pranks and impulsive decisions, and V4 was the adult caretaker and sign-language interpreter who didn't let her friend get himself into too much trouble, and that they were an inseparable team. That's how much these CGI datasets are persons to me. It goes back and forth... I need a character to fill a role, so I screen test members of my library, their appearances tell me what sort of person they might be and what life they've lived, I work up a biography for the role they'll assume, their abilities influence their arcs (e.g., one character might have a great "indignant" expression)... two-way communication. I'm not sentimental about replacing a character if a better performer comes along.
Hallelujah!
Disciple
People don't really understand how the mind works. I believe it's our subconscious, our imagination, our creative spark manifesting itself in our lives. To extinguish that would be to kill something wonderful within us, wouldn't it? No way I would try to get rid of it. As long as it doesn't disrupt our lives or loosen our grip on reality, it's a good thing - It enhances our lives! Does your friend share her soup recipes? And have you tried them?
My 3D characters ultimately are representations of characters from my books, so they come with names and vast histories (and futures). They have personalities - their personalities are the reason why many of the things in these stories happened. To me, they are like real people but in some other place and time, and I feel compelled to tell their stories.
The 3D characters exist because seeing their faces helps inspire and motivate me to tell these stories (at least that was the plan).
Somewhere along the way, they became a product-testing franchise. That's something I need to work out so I can get back to writing those stories.
My friend does indeed share the soup recipes, and they're awesome. (Well, we all have experiments seemed great in theory and then fell flat, but *overall* the soup is awesome.)
My favorite is the turkey taco soup, and I know my friend would be pleased for others to enjoy it:
1 qt-size Ziploc bag of cut up cooked dark meat turkey (light is okay, but dark is better)
2 green peppers
3-4 small/medium onions
3 T minced garlic
1 small bag frozen corn
(and a bag of frozen turkey stock, if on hand... if not, still tastes good)
1.5 Tbsp (or to taste) of the following seasonings:
Taco seasoning
cilantro
chili powder
red pepper flakes
Chop everything up and throw it in a a large pot, with enough water to fill it and leave room for boiling. If starting with frozen turkey, start on high and reduce to medium high when it's no longer in a block. If starting with fridge leftovers, start on medium high. Soup is done when onions are translucent.
@SilverGirl Outstanding! That recipe should be delicious! Must give it a try! I don't often have turkey meat, but I frequently have boneless chicken breasts and thighs.
I hope you enjoy it if you do! I imagine chicken would work fine. Back when turkey prices in November were incredibly low, I used to do six or so of them in November and then chop everything up and freeze it for use the rest of the year, so that's why this one is turkey. Had to find something to use it in!
Many of my characters go clear back to my adolescent years, so they have well-developed personalities. Obviously, they aren't real people, but they do seem like old friends in some ways. Getting into 3D art has enabled me to visualize them without having to depend on anyone else to interpret my ideas.
In some cases, based on the content available, some of my characters have evolved in ways I hadn't originally planned. It's a rather enjoyable feedback loop.
Sometimes, I'm not creating a character from my previous ideas; I'll just open up D/S, experiment, and see what I get.
Brilliant idea! A good bit of work, too, cooking 6 turkeys. I expect to enjoy it a lot. Thanks for sharing!
.... or they get marketed as potentially being able to do any of a list of jobs, which to me always reads as "they could be anyone! I dunno, we couldn't decide."
That said, it's always unimaginative stuff like "company executive, firefighter or racing driver", and never "bassoonist, septic tank inspector or toenail organiser."
~~~~~
Anyway, as far as my characters, I see them as having identities and I generally try to respect them as people; They might get put in annoying or embarrassing situations from time to time (... okay, quite often), but I still have limits on how they're depicted.
It irritates me when artists have theoretically developed interesting, capable and competent characters, and then it's "Hey, for nude pics of them, check out my Patreon!". I mean, yes, artists have got to eat, bills have got to be paid, but I've spent the time crafting a setting that deconstructs concepts of philosophy, ethics, identity, cultural values and society*, and I don't want to cheapen it with "Enough about all that, let's get a good look at their tits!"
Even the assorted not-quite-canon renders are mostly still in character (mostly covered by having established that some of them do modelling or LARP).
*Yes, I am claiming that putting underpants on centaurs forms part of a commentary about the ways in which we view the body, set cultural standards and program our interpretations. This is not to say that it's not also hilarious.
Most of my characters are just assets, there are a few who have become much more. They have hopes, dreams, problems, they have stories to tell, and adventures to quest. Whole worlds have come to exist around them. One in particular I have drawn, painted, and sculpted since childhood. She has been a lifelong companion in my art life.
You restore some of my faith in humanity, true story.
And add me to the list of people who are baffled by personality descriptions on character pages. I can figure that part out myself, thanks.
There are just not specific characters, that resonate in you somehow. Like some musicians are trying to grab a certain tune. Some unconscious influence is kicking in.
Your job as an artist is, to scratch that itch and bring it to life, at least sort of life.
@Matt_Castle - Standing on the other side of it, I can only say, everyone wants to see! Caveman programming, natural curiosity about others, and all that. Even so, yes. Context - There is an element of cheapness to hawking it so blatantly for the pay site. @SilverGirl - Ok, not everyone, but lots of people! I do. It's sort of natural to want to see - Not necessarily lewd or lascivious (though maybe that's part of it). Curiosity! They say it killed the cat, and probably got a lot of guys smacked in the head.