Character Sheets: The Blueprint for Consistent Animation

Introduction

Creating memorable characters is an art form, but animating them throughout the whole production in a consistent way is just as challenging.

To make this work more effectively, animators rely on a simple tool: the character sheet.

This article explores the process of creating a character sheet that not only captures the essence of your character but also serves as a comprehensive guide throughout the whole pipeline, from defining distinct visual styles to ensuring consistency across every animated movement.

Read on to discover how to make better character sheets!

What's A Character Sheet

A character sheet is a reference document that provides detailed information about a character's design, movements, and often personality traits.

It typically includes a turnaround, expressions, poses, and details of specific features or clothing. It can also include notes on color schemes, proportions, and any distinctive characteristics that need to be consistent throughout production.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, a character sheet for the character Aang could include his bald head with the signature blue arrow tattoo, and his clothing details reflecting the Air Nomad aesthetic. This sheet ensures that every animator working on the series can accurately depict Aang in any given scene:

Why A Character Sheet Is Important

Character sheets make sure all animators and artists working on a project maintain consistency in the appearance and design of a character to avoid visual discrepancies that could distract the audience. This uniformity is crucial, especially in long-form animations or series, where multiple scenes might be produced by different teams or at different times.

Character sheets typically show how they move and emote, not just what they look like. It helps animators understand the character's personality to improve the quality of the animation.

Character sheets are crucial communication tools among different departments in animation production, like storyboard artists, animators, character designers, and directors: by providing a visual reference that everyone can follow, character sheets help streamline the workflow, reducing misunderstandings and saving time by minimizing the need for corrections. It's essential for studios to save costs.

1. Character Turnaround

A character turnaround provides a 360-degree view of a character through a series of images:

1. Front view—Animators begin with a detailed front-view drawing. This is often the most straightforward angle, laying the foundation for the other views. The front view shows the character facing directly forward, helping the viewer understand the character’s symmetry and primary features.
2. Profile/side view - We then use horizontal guidelines to ensure features align correctly from the front. The profile view depicts the character from the side, usually the right side. It highlights the depth and silhouette of the character, showing elements like the nose, ears, and arms in profile.
3. Back view - The front view is used to mirror elements in the back view, adjusting for any asymmetrical details. The back view is a look at the character from the rear. Important for understanding back-specific features such as hairstyles, clothing details, and body posture.
4. Three-quarter views - These views are typically midway between the front and side views (both front and back). They provide a more dynamic perspective, revealing depth and how elements wrap around the character’s form. These are often the most challenging since they involve foreshortening and perspective. Use the front and side views as references.

2. Expression Sheet

An expression sheet is a type of model sheet that showcases various facial expressions a character can make to reflect their emotions, attitude, and personality:

1. Character's emotional range - The sheet displays a variety of emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, and fear. Each expression is carefully crafted to ensure it feels authentic to the character's personality.
2. Head angles - Often, expressions are shown from various angles (front, profile, three-quarter views) to guide animators on how a character's face changes with different perspectives.
3. Eye and mouth shapes - Detailed illustrations of how the eyes and mouth alter with each expression to convey emotion accurately.

3. Pose Sheet

A pose sheet explains how a character moves and behaves in different situations.

1. Basic poses - Standard positions that define the character's physical attributes, personality, and behaviour. It often includes the T-pose, which shows the character standing upright with arms stretched out to the sides to allow animators to see the character’s proportions and details clearly.

1. Key poses - Significant positions that reflect key actions or emotional states of the character. Examples might include running, jumping, laughing, or any other action that is characteristic of the character.
2. Silhouette views - Simple outlines of the character in various poses to check if the character’s form is readable without internal details.
3. Interaction poses - Poses that show the character interacting with objects or other characters can sometimes be included, depending on the complexity of the animation.

4. Props

Props can be extensions of a character’s personality. For example, a character’s unique weapon or quirky gadget can become an iconic aspect of their identity.

Props are often integral to the plot (e.g., magic wands in a fantasy setting, high-tech gadgets in a sci-fi story): they can drive the narrative forward, and their design should reflect this significance.

1. Prop contextualization - Make sure props are depicted in relation to the character. Show how a gun fits in a holster or how a hat sits on a character's head to give animators a clear understanding of scale and proportion relative to the character.
2. Multiple angles - Illustrate props from various angles and perspectives.
3. Functional breakdown - Include a breakdown of movable parts or components if the prop has functional elements (e.g., a folding umbrella or a transforming gadget). Animators need to know how these elements work mechanically to animate them believably.
4. Material and texture notes - Add notes regarding the material or texture of the prop to help during texturing and rendering. This could include glossiness, fabric types, or the reflection of light.

5. Color Palette

Color palettes convey the character's personality and the overall tone of the animation.

1. Highlight key colors - Artists identify and list the main colors used in a character’s design: base colors for skin, hair, and clothing, along with details like eyes or accessories. Present these colors as swatches, typically in a row or grid format near the character illustration.
2. Shade variations - A series of shade variations are included for each key color, covering light, mid-tone, and dark shades to demonstrate how the character looks in different lighting conditions.
3. Labelling and notation - We clearly label each swatch with names or codes (such as RGB, HEX, or Pantone) to ensure consistency across different platforms and media. Artists often provide notes on the use of each color, if necessary, such as when certain colors should be used (e.g., bright light vs. shadow).

You can also include small illustrations in the character sheet to show the character in different lighting scenarios, using the provided color palette for reference.

6. Don't Underestimate Annotations

In animation, the adage "show, don't tell" should be a priority.

But sometimes you need to write things down to avoid guesswork: including annotations in character sheets is essential for clarifying important details.

You can provide information about visual features (head, body structure, clothing, accessories, color palette, etc.), but also on turnarounds and expression sheets to help with nuances, proportions, and contextual cues.

Annotations are also a great way to mention personality traits that might affect animation, like a character being jittery, confident, or clumsy. You can describe typical mannerisms or habits that should be reflected in movement. You can even note down any particular speech patterns or vocal quirks for lip-syncing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, character sheets are an invaluable tool for animators to capture every detail necessary for (pre-)production.

From the careful selection of a color palette to the turnaround, every element is meticulously analyzed for consistency. Annotations offer additional insight into a character's unique attributes, and expression sheets and pose sheets capture the emotional and physical range of the character. Props provide additional contextual storytelling.

But creating character sheets is pointless if not grounded in strong character designs, so make sure to spend ample time on concept development.