Ideas: Kunai, Basketball and knife.
Kunai: Throw it in the air and it lands with the tip down on the finger tip (drawing below).
Basketball: Basketball spins on finger tip (drawing below).
Knife: Throw the knife in the air and it lands with the tip down on a finger tip (drawing below).
Final choice: Kunai, because it’s associated with martial arts and ninjas, therefore making it a known and popular tool or weapon.
Stimulus
Client brief:
A company has given me a brief to design a 3D model of a Japanese tool or weapon that could be used in a game. The most challenging aspect of designing a kunai is ensuring that it appears as non-violent whilst being seen as a tool for ninjas or martial arts practices. Therefore, being only used for defence. Many who believe that the kunai is a violent tool or weapon will be reassured by this.
Own brief:
I’ve decided to design a kunai which could be used in FPS or other games. As this can target multiple audience, for example gaming audience, anime audience and Japanese audience. Those who watch anime would have encountered a kunai before, as it is a common Japanese tool used in animes, for example like Naruto. The same goes for the other audience.
From market research:
A kunai is a popular ninja tool that was originated in Japan (Sengoku period), it is made from soft iron and the grip was usually wrapped around with cloth. At first it was mainly used for agriculture and gardening tasks by the peasants. However, due to its sharp form and strong material, this tool started to be used as a lethal weapon by criminals and ninjas. Kunai’s also became well-known in the anime industry, especially in “Naruto”. Therefore, this tool is very popular amongst children and teenagers (12-18 years old), so I decided to design one and make a 3D animation of it for a game.
Ideas
Brainstorming:
I’ve taken ideas from animes like “Naruto”, from FPS games such as “Valorant” and real life kunai designs. Lastly I took some ideas from games for the animation of the kunai.
Sketches:
The first sketch was a kunai. I’ve taken this idea from “Naruto”, hence the wrapped cloth around the handle, as well as the sharp edges. It took me a few rough sketches, but I’ve settled on this one and I’m fairly happy with the result.
The second idea depicts a basketball spinning on a finger tip. This was my first draft, however I’m still satisfied with the result. I’ve taken this idea from a professional basketballer that comes up with different tricks.
Lastly for my final idea, I’ve drawn a kitchen knife. It was fairly easy to draw, however I’m not satisfied with this drawing being my main idea. As it isn’t creative.
Pre-visualisation:
- Concept drawing: The drawing is a concept for a 3D render of a kunai for a video game. I knew that I wanted to draw a tool or weapon, but wasn’t sure what type of weapon to draw. So I drew a few sketches of different weapons and decided to stick with a kunai.
- Storyboards: The storyboard is that the hand will flip the kunai in the air, and it will land with the tip down on the tip of the finger. And finally balancing it on the tip of the finger.
- Level diagrams: I will follow a process or system with rules that will allow me to create the 3D kunai on the software. If I follow it step-by-step I should succeed in finishing my 3D kunai.
- 2D architectural drawing: A 2D drawing of a kunai gives me an idea of what the final outcome of the kunai will look like. As it is a simple 2D drawing which will lead in the making of a 3D rendered drawing.
- 3D architectural drawings: A 3D drawing will give me a real view of what the kunai will look like in game or in the rendering software.
Legal & ethnical consideration
Legal (copyright):
A kunai isn’t owned or made by someone, so no one can copyright or claim my 3D render of a kunai. Due to it being a common tool and not a product owned by someone.
Ethnical :
- Confidentiality: If the product is public or private, you will need to contact the original creator of the product, so that you can have the full consent from the creator in order to use their creation. However, some creators will make you pay fees for their creation, which you are using.
- Decency: The 3D model of the kunai could resemble violence as it could be used as a weapon, which could offend some viewers. As a designer we must be careful, as we don’t want to publish something that represents or shows violence. Furthermore, the same goes for explicit graphics or images, as children or teenagers are the audience that game the most. Therefore, you have to follow the PEGI rating.
Representation:
- Race: Different races could see the kunai differently. As for an individual who is Japanese, it could mean something symbolic, as it is part of their culture. Therefore not seeing the kunai as a weapon or something dangerous, but more like a agricultural tool. And for others races it could vibe seen as a weapon to attack others.
- Gender/Sexuality: Gender and sexuality have a huge impact on a 3D representation of a kunai, as this weapon could be interpreted as only for men. Because it has a masculine connotation, therefore woman’s could get offended by this.
- Religion: Religion could also have a big impact on my 3D product, as a religious individual could see a kunai as violent or dangerous, therefore seeing it as promoting violence and crimes.
Specification
Target audience: My target audience are children and teenagers (12-18), mostly Japanese audience, as this audience will know what a kunai is, as this is seen all over the anime industry. Which is popular amongst children and teenagers, especially in Japan. Furthermore, this tool (kunai) originates from Japan.
Key visual themes: The model will accurately follow an actual shape and dimension of a real kunai. The design, colour and pattern will be the only things that differ from other kunai’s. This will make it an original design and idea.
Storyboards: As I mentioned before I will create a hand which flips the knife in the air and makes it land with the tip down on the finger tip, I will try and do this whilst showing others that the kunai shouldn’t be seen as a violent weapon, but as a useful tool.
Constraints:
- Polygon count: The polygon Count is proportional to the number of polygons per rendered frame. It’s important to choose your ideal polygon count for your 3D models. As it decreases the frames per second, because this will minimize the uploading size of the file.
- Image resolution: If the image resolution is poor (the fewer pixels the poorer quality of the image), then the image will look blurry. If the texturing of the image is poor, then so will the image quality be. However, mine isn’t poor as the resolution is 2560 x 1440, meaning that it’s very clear.
- Output size: The output size of the 3D kunai was 2gb and it was a simple model of it, however, the texture and shading caused the file to be this big.
- File type: We’re using Houdini to create the 3D model of my project, meaning that Houdini can save 3D models as an OBJ file.
- File size: The resolution and polygons are added together to determine the file size. The smaller the file, the easier it is to load; however, you will have to sacrifice the details of the model (kunai).
Conclusion:
For this assignment, I planned my 3D model and the design of the kunai. This is due to the information and knowledge I’ve gathered. I’ve succeeded in drawing my kunai, however now I’ll have to render on a 3D software (Houdini) and make an animation of it. Therefore, I will continue to follow my storyboard, as everything has gone well so far.
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