Les Mis: The Video GameLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

This exhibit features my original character design and digital 3D game-ready costume assets for the character Thénardier from Victor

Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Misérables. Les Misérables is set in Francebetween the years 1815 and 1835. It illustrates the struggles of

multiple characters who each strive towards a higher cause, either within themselves, for their lovers, for the law, or for the people.

By creating the character of Thénardier with game-ready costume assets I am proposing the concept for a video game that incites unity by immersing its audience in a counter-narrative in which no side is

exceptional and the enemy is, as Hugolian scholar Dr. Kathryn Grossman describes, “nobody”.

Thénardier initiates every miserable circumstance the other characters experience. Visually defining his identity, or lack thereof,

has been the main challenge of my character design and game-ready 3D costume assets.

ResearchLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

I began this design by analyzing the character Thénardier in both Victor Hugo’s novel and in Dr. Kathryn Grossman’s book on Hugolian theory, “Figuring Transcendence in Les Misérables.”

Next I collected historical and conceptual research that evokes Thénardier’s physical and psychological characteristics. I then hand drew and painted a sketch that details my interpretation of the research.

DesignLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

After studying how historical garments were originally constructed, I used the program Marvelous Designer to create sewing patterns and to simulate stitching the patterns together in a virtual space.

Garment SimulationLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

In order to function properly in a video game, the costume assets need to be simplified. I manually “re-topologized” the polygons in Marvelous Designer and cleaned them up in an all-purpose 3D program, Blender.

RetopologyLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

For an extra realistic touch, I sculpted details using a “cloth brush” in Blender. I used this technique to create the fur trim and additional wrinkles in the cloth.

SculptingLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

Up until this point, the garment acts like it’s made out of fabric but it doesn’t look like fabric yet. The base color and the way the fabric reacts to light needs to painted on in a program called Substance Painter.

TexturingLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

RenderingsLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

I worked through this same process with all four costume pieces that Thénardier wears.

I made the costume assets in a stock size so that I could import them into the program Character Creator on a default body type. Using this body as a base, I then adjusted sliders to make Thénardier.

Avatar CreationLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

Once Thénardier is dressed I set up a scene in Blender that includes cameras, lighting, haze, and a backdrop. It is through the lens of these cameras that I capture the final renders.

Staging the SceneLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

Final RendersLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

Thénardier is now ready make his entrance in Les Mis: The Video Game.

Les Mis: The Video GameLes Mis: The Video Game - Alyssa Ridder - The Graduate Exhibition 2021

Thank you for taking the time to review my exhibit! I welcome any and all questions and feedback.