The next member of the Staywise cast. The client is trying to be very politically correct, so they decided to have an Asian paramedic. Hard to give him character and make him look fun without being offensive :!:
All comments welcome!
and for Nik, a Flash animation:
I doubt that RAJ is Asian?? Indian possibly?? Why would you even say being politically correct? Is it a stretch that an Indian person would be a paramedic?? I could see that comment about a black woman polo player but come on. Where do you live? Just saw your link and your from the UK. A lot of racial tensions there, eh??
Oh yeah - nice character.
Regards Peter.
You know guys…you inspire me…I mean…I am just a Architectural modeler and have not the slightest idea on how to start modeling these types of things…BUT I WANT TO…Where or what should I do first…I mean…Do I have to be an expert at DRAWING by hand…cause I am not and have no skills at character animation or creation. My son is in daycare and loves firetrucks, etc…Keep up the good work, my son loves your firemen… 
and india not part of asia ??
relax dude.
Now that you mention it, I guess it depends where your from - DUDE! Just not a term that I am familiar with; to refer to the continent as apposed to the race. I have heard a lot of English / UK residents refer to Indians as Asians, which I always thought a little strange. I guess they paint with a broader brush.
Should I call him a European? I’m not a North American. I AM CANADIAN as a beer commercial so aptly puts it.
You must be a European as well, no? Scandinavian,no? Danish?
Cheers Peter.
probably better to say that the client is trying to be ethnically diverse. and that its hard to be have fun (have fun..not make fun) with a character without stepping on some toes. if you push ethnic humor too far it becomes almost a parady which some might find offensive and if you dont go far enough you loose the soul of the character and cant tell what background he has. great job on the characters though
hey GeorgeP, he’s great! cool animation, i hope you get to do a vray one at some stage - do these guys justice.
does it matter really? you seem too care alot on where people are from and judge them by that…hmmm sounds familiar ?
lighten up and sorry if i offend you by saying that.
does it matter really? you seem too care alot on where people are from and judge them by that…hmmm sounds familiar ?
HUH??
I was commenting on that George’s remarks seemed strange to me, being “North American” . All of a sudden I am, what, a racist?? That’s logical?
It seems you may have some issues along those lines.
You didn’t offend me, I just don’t think you understood. That is all. I’m sorry if I didn’t explain myself a little more clearly. MY BAD!
Ciao Peter.
tomarto tomayto - great work George
Thanks again for your kind comments guys, I am again, truly flattered.
About the P.C. issues - my fault entirely. The other character is a policewoman; the client wanted a mixed cast of characters - race and sex.
The (very general) term Asian is commonly used here in the U.K., yes, but I believe it’s in an effort to AVOID awkwardness, not to cause it. An Irish friend of mine thinks it very amusing when people ask what part of Scotland she’s from, and I guess the term was derived to avoid this kind of situation, it certainly isn’t meant in any derogatory or racist sense.
Yes, I am a European. I’m also English, British, Earthling. I find none of these terms racist or generalistic and they’re all true.
I aplologise for my poor choice of words in my original post, I never meant to upset anyone. I was going to post some images of the police officer next, but I guess I’d better not post anymore just in case I upset anyone else.
Thanks and apologies again. Keep up the good work, you all rock, seriously, and I’ll pay you a visit from time to time.
George
speaking as a New Zealand born person of Dutch parents currently living in London i would love to see the police officer 
Dont stop posting. There was just some confusion about the word “Asian” in context. In the US, “Asian” usually connotates Eastern Asian people, such as Chineses, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Tai, etc, people with “squinty” eyes.
Saying the client wants to be “Politicaly Correct” can also have strange connotations. Some people would interpret that to mean that the client is not, and is just trying to seem like they are.
All in all, you have very fine character work, keep it up, and keep showing. Remember, the intent of the client and their marketing is not our job here. Our job is the quality of the imagery we produce.
I think we’re all a bit hyper-sensitive. I just thought the language interesting and different from what is common in my part of the world. I’m pretty sure no one was offended. At least I know I wasn’t. I would love to see the Police woman character.
It’s funny Toronto Canada is the most racially / culturally diverse city in the world, apparently. The people who used to be the minorities are now the majority. This suits me fine as I love the diverse culture, especially the food and beverage. Canada would be a pretty bland landscape without what newer immigrants have brought to this country considering our relatively short history as a society and a nation.
What did you use to do the animation? It is 2d, which is not what I expected from the look or your 3d models posted.
Regards Peter.
Great work! Hanging out to see the police officer!
Just checked out Betty…Great Stuff again…All you need now is the K9 unit to go along with the theme and your in…lol…Keep it up
Eric
Eric, you cheeky monkey!
Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag. Eric has found the client’s area on my website, it’s:
http://www.palmhousedesign.co.uk/RBFRS/
for anyone who wants to browse it. I did the pencil sketches first and got full approval for them before I started modelling.
In answer to your earlier question, Eric, if you want to start character modelling, then just do it! Sit down with a pencil, sketch out some ideas, and when you’re happy, produce a front view and a side view of your character.
You can then use box modelling in Max to create the character mesh. There are tons of tutorials on the web for doing it. Start with something simple like maybe an M & M character (which is all Bleep! is, really) and go from there. I guess it helps if you can draw, but perserverence is worth almost as much…
I’d never done facial morphs or body rigs before I took on this job, I just learnt as I went, all from the Max tutorials. It’s pretty slow and painstaking, but worth it when you have a character that you can give any facial expression and pose/animate in any position!
There are members of this forum whose character work is light years ahead of mine and I’m sure they’ll disagree with much of the above, but that’s what I did, and it’s working out okay so far…
should have locked that folder from viewing hehe
Lol…Oops…What I meant was…Can’t wait to see that Policewoman…lol…Sorry bout that…Of course I would have never endulged such info to the general public…hehe…I actually wanted to see your website, but it said you are no longer trading or something…Then I figured I would type in the other letters…and voila…Great stuff…Love to see the creation process and how it all came about.
Later
Yeah, my freelance business is about to be re-branded. I was doing far too much website design *YAWN* so I’ve put up a holding page saying I’m no longer trading in case some of my ex-clients happen along and see I’m still working.
I’m only accepting fun jobs from now on, no more html for me. When I want mundane tasks, I go to work
By the way, the Staywise site is up now:
but there’s not a lot of my stuff on there yet… 