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@Riot Skins Team, Some questions about the process of skin making :^)

Sahn Uzal·2/18/2016, 8:38:39 PM·3 votes·2,649 views

I'll first tell you why I'm asking these questions, so here we go. I'm currently a student at a school called SintLucas (In Eindhoven, The Netherlands.) This is my first year here, and we basically get to a bit of everything this year, basically to test it out. We can cross things off the list and end up with that what we are going to study.

My choise nr. 1 is Game Art :P (I get to learn how to 3d model in 4 weeks, and I can't fcking wait for it :<) I'm learning how to make a ''2d spaceshooter'' in unity atm, and it's hard as fuck. Lol

Anyhow, I'm thinking of things that I would like to do later, ya know? -_- So I'll just get to the questions now.

  • How do you decide which concepts go through and which ones don't?
  • How doyou decide who is gonna get a skin?
  • Are there different persons for: -Comming up with a concept -Drawing concept art -Making the 3d models -Making the textures for these models. I know the VFX's are done by a ''VFX artis'' Because the guy who did BM Kennens particles commented about it in a thread :P
  • Have you ever made a skin for a champion you hate, and did you feel any different while making it? :P
  • If the guys who make champions made a new champion that: -Has a Gryphon pet -Is voiced by Morgan Freeman -Has ''badassness'' in being calm and knowing what he does, kinda like Gandalf -Plays like a mage fighter -Has some things about him that YOU feel like he should have. What would his release skin be? Just tell me the first or coolest thing that comes to mind.
  • Do you ever feel stressed out because of deadlines? (I do -.-) I should ask if there are deadlines actually...
  • What happens if you for some reason can't finish something before the deadline?
  • Is there a skin concept that you REALLY wanna make, but ''your boss'' (Or whoever goes over that) won't let you?
  • Do you often/ sometimes/ ever get to make concepts that you really wanna make to actual skins?
  • Sion/GP skin? (I had to do it, sorry.) -_- If someone at the skins team would take some time to awnser some of my questions, That would be awesome <3 Have a great day everyone! ^-^ summoner 31

9 Comments

Riotmoonstones2/19/2016, 7:33:07 PM3 votes

Hey!

Holy crap, there's a lot of questions here. Lemme see what I can tackle!

Anyhow, I'm thinking of things that I would like to do later, ya know?

I'd suggest dabbling in several different aspects and see what you like! College is a great time to find your niche!

How do you decide which concepts go through and which ones don't?

This depends on if the team decides if the thematic is strong enough to work for a champion. If it doesn't we may shelve it for later, and potentially come back to it at a later time. This is something we did with Guardian of the Sands Rammus, Xerath and Skarner.

How do you decide who is gonna get a skin?

There are a few different ways.

  • We go into a meeting with a thematic in mind and talk about which champions may work for the thematic.
  • We go into a meeting with an event in mind, like Snowdown, and talk about champions who could work for the thematic.
  • We go into a meeting to talk about a particular champion, and run ideas about what kind of thematic would work for them.

In any case, we do talk about the champions who haven't had a skin in a while to see if they're potential candidates for the theme/event, etc.

Are there different persons for: -Comming up with a concept -Drawing concept art -Making the 3d models -Making the textures for these models. I know the VFX's are done by a ''VFX artis'' Because the guy who did BM Kennens particles commented about it in a thread :P

Yes! We have a different person for all of those.

Have you ever made a skin for a champion you hate, and did you feel any different while making it? :P

I'm QA, so I've been on the team working on the skin in terms of ideation, giving feedback and testing.

I've worked on some skins I'm not particularly thrilled about, but it's usually because I'm not a fan of the champion. It doesn't really affect the effort I put in, I'm just more excited about some skins than others.

Fun fact - I've recently picked up jungle because I worked on Blood Moon Elise and really wanted to play it 'cause I love the skin.

If the guys who make champions made a new champion that: -Has a Gryphon pet -Is voiced by Morgan Freeman -Has ''badassness'' in being calm and knowing what he does, kinda like Gandalf -Plays like a mage fighter -Has some things about him that YOU feel like he should have. What would his release skin be? Just tell me the first or coolest thing that comes to mind.

No idea on these. D: We have a seperate champion team who handles the creation of the champion. My team (skins) only helps to make the launch skin!

The first thing that came to mind was Spellthief. :x

Do you ever feel stressed out because of deadlines? (I do -.-) I should ask if there are deadlines actually...

We do have hard deadlines for some content, especially for events like Lunar Revel and Snowdown. We make content for every patch, and yeah, sometimes it's stressful. The feeling of players loving the stuff we make helps to drown out the stress. :P

What happens if you for some reason can't finish something before the deadline?

We make it happen in cases of deadlines for events like Snowdown! We ask for help from other teams! For stuff without hard deadlines, we may move skins around internally in terms of release to make sure the skin gets the time it needs in production before releasing it.

Is there a skin concept that you REALLY wanna make, but ''your boss'' (Or whoever goes over that) won't let you?

Sea Witch Nami is a skin I'd absolutely love to have. Shockowaffel designed it! It's not that our manager/boss won't let us make it. We bring up ideas, and it's something we decide together. Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it can't happen in the future! :D

http://orig08.deviantart.net/8bad/f/2014/337/0/a/sea_witch_nami_splash_art_by_shockowaffel-d88fyz0.jpg

Do you often/ sometimes/ ever get to make concepts that you really wanna make to actual skins?

I don't personally make concepts, but I've seen some pretty awesome stuff by artists. A former concept artist, Sam, does an awesome stream where he makes fan art that people suggest! He most recently made Blood Moon Nami!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kBzPbqNnp4o/Vq6j-QnIamI/AAAAAAAAAmw/LX1yRAfmm7I/s1600/BloodMoonNami.jpg

Sion/GP skin? (I had to do it, sorry.)

Unfortunately, I'm not able to speak to what we may or may not have in development! :x

Hope this helps! ^-^