Azir Q&A: Art & Sound - COMPLETED

RiotBelligerentSwan·9/10/2014, 5:59:09 PM·14 votes·59,619 views

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/are/img/ar-wallpaper.jpg

EDIT - Alright guys, we're headed back to work. Thanks for all the questions!

Curious about how we explored the voice of an emperor, or set about defining his appearance? We’ve asked some of the Emperor of the Sands' Art and Sound guys to come in and chat about everything from silhouettes to animations, and voiceover to sound effects.

Here are some other things you might want to check out: Azir Reveal Shurima: What Lies Beneath the Sands?

Check out the other Azir Q&A sessions here: Azir Creative Q&A Azir Gameplay Q&A

103 Comments

The Red Warden9/10/2014, 8:00:32 PM7 votes

Just one question I have been wondering about since I first saw him.

Did you ever think of giving him a parrot skin where he summons pirates?

trivialattire9/10/2014, 7:49:18 PM4 votes

Is there a skin planned where we will see the emperor's face or in his daily dress, when he may have been taking a much needed break from culturing Runeterra? I understand that he's an almighty badass but it's a little bit disconnecting.

Beryll9/10/2014, 7:39:06 PM3 votes

Why didn't you make a Necromancer or Dark Lord skin for his initial launch? :( Like having ghosts/corpses of his fallen enemies chained to him ready to create an empire of the dead?

the anomalous9/10/2014, 8:52:00 PM3 votes

One thing that was mentioned (not by me, don't credit me for that) on Gameplay Q&A about his attack animation: when his soldiers are attacking for him his hand motion for each and every strike looks a bit weird with high attack speed.

Personally i was thinking "channeling" animation would make more sense when he orders his soldiers to attack.

Ex Infernalis9/10/2014, 6:18:47 PM3 votes

Do you still use Zbrush to make champs like Azir? If so, how many design hours go into the average champion?

5G8Nri0B549/10/2014, 10:27:46 PM3 votes

The Gameplay guys told me to ask you guys this.

Some champions, look absolutely weird and silly when attacking too fast. Often times these are older melee champions like Wukong and Tryndamere's jerky animations that are a relic of this game being based off a Warcraft 3 custom map.

I can only imagine how much worse this would look on Azir...a summoner who should really be relying on minions to attack. So have you taken steps to make an Azir with 1.5 AS not look absolutely weird. Or somehow visually justify why the emperor must make spastic hand motions for his minions to poke the enemy?

RavenYT9/10/2014, 9:22:48 PM2 votes

Did u guys have any problem with his head size as birds has small heads compared to their bodies? and did it occur to u to have Azir in a peacock- ish theme? since peacocks has this majestic feeling to them more them.

PokladnicaZla9/10/2014, 6:06:20 PM1 votes

Ws there at an point of his devolpement a concept with him having wings?Pun intended

Are there questions about lore allowed(Shurima&Aizr)?

Lissandra mentioned that the desert swallowed Shurima,indicaiting that it wasnt always a desrt.My questions is.Did Azir live there while it alredy was a desert or prior it?How did Azir become this Falcon being,if he was huma before?Will we see more animal-creatures like him? Is Amumu still a yordle?How would Gnar react to Azir?

The Void Titan9/10/2014, 11:01:09 PM1 votes

Sorry that this isn't about Azir, but I'm in highschool and I want to do 3D animation and modeling as a career for a game studio. What would the career path be between college and after that? Should I go to art school, go to a tech school with good animation programs, go to a normal college and do art as a masters program?

Roe29/10/2014, 6:09:10 PM1 votes

Did the idea of Galactic Azir (In a Visual Sense not because of other Galactic Skins) come from the Hybrids or Protoss in SC/SC2?

Nssheepster9/10/2014, 6:14:15 PM1 votes

WHY a bird? I mean, you go, Dog, Crocodile (As brothers, no less) and then...Bird? Seems like something that could beat up a Dog and a Crocodile would make more sense, since he ruled over Nasus and Renekton.

cHAncEman12929/10/2014, 7:59:48 PM1 votes

I have a couple questions...

Sense Azir seems to be the new flagship shurmia champ what design motifs did you create to sell him as an emperor?

Azir's voice is very harsh. While obviously proud, he seems pretty aggressive. Explain maybe how you all went about selecting a voice for the emperor as well as maybe explain his dictatorial VO.

Azir's concept leaked some time ago. Between then and now some changes were made to his design. The one thing I honed in on was the change to his staff. Why was that decision made?

How did you want Azir to move, explain maybe how his mannerism are reflected in his sound and art choice? Is he suppose to feel timeless like Nasus or a face of nature like Renekton? Obviously you wanted something unique but please describe how Nasus and Renekton influenced Azir.

ZekromEX9/10/2014, 9:34:55 PM1 votes

So, What made you want to come up with the God of Sand's, And what about Ao Shin, I mean Gnar came out about a month ago and suddenly you Pulled this Guy from out of nowhere? So what happend to Ao shin, and What made you guys want to pull Ra from Egyptian Gods?

The Reanimated9/10/2014, 9:47:24 PM1 votes

Why was the decision made to simply recolor Galactic Azir's sand soldiers instead of giving them unique models?

Toso Tea9/10/2014, 9:50:35 PM1 votes

Did you ever think about giving the soldiers he summoned different appearances?

Like one being a large bulky thing, one being a skinny dude, one being a woman etc etc.

I think it would be pretty cool, since thus nicknames could be given!