How does one design robots that are visually appealing?
Is it just something only Japs and a few westerners are born with?
>>14181210
>he says as he posts a fuck ugly tubebot that originates from the seventies
>>14181210
I think an I eye for simplicity is important. All the most iconic robots I can think of off the top of my head have really simple designs (Mazinger, Getter, first Gundam) Usually only 3 main colors max on either a white or black base. Part of that was just that it was harder to make really detailed stuff on the animation budget of a lot of these shows. Meanwhile a lot of the shows that never took off have robots with lots of useless details, and random colors.
In the west (and Japan in recent years) we've made things "realistic" which is a better way of saying "add panel lines, different shades of the same color and weather it up." In my opinion, the best thing a robot design can be is simple.
>>14181233
>that originates from the seventies
what did he mean by this
My autism always hurts when i see mecha with human like "face" features, like gundams.
Thats why i like macross which head just have few variously shaped optic sensors.
>>14181238
Black Getter is just an altered Getter-1 which was designed in the seventies and looks like shit.
>>14181241
Why?
>>14181264
there it is again
how is designed in the seventies relevant, what's your point. Is that an inherent flaw? If you made this a 2 column list you would put under cons that they drew it while being in a particular decade? If it was the exact same design but I drew it last week it would be fine? Why do you keep saying 70s
>>14181210
>Is it just something only Japs and a few westerners are born with?
No, but too many western designers are afraid of sacrificism realism/utility of design for coolness. Thus forgetting that mecha are inherently unrealistic in the first place. You can go tacticool or grunt gritty, but not because it's more realistic. Rather because it's cool.
>why does it need hands for holding guns?
>why does it need a head to begin with?
>won't chicken walker legs be more practical than human-like ones?
>won't bright distinct colors make it an easy to spot target?
If you ask this kind of questions, you won't be able to design a good looking robot.
>>14181272
*sacrificing realism/utility of design
typo
>>14181272
Don't forget the practicality of weapons
Yes the robot has an axe fuck you
>>14181272
Obviously that's the case, but I can't seem to make a cool looking robot anyway. Probably a mix between my shittiness at art and having no sense of aesthetics
>>14181269
It, like most everything from that decade, is a shitty tubebot with bad colors that doesn't even have actual joints. It's shit, through and through.
>>14181280
Axe is more practical than a sword as far as giant robots go at least.
>>14181296
>muh realism
>muh practicality
Spotted the gundamfag
>>14181233
HOLA HERMANO QUE PASA
>>14181264
>>14181296
You're not fooling anyone.
>>14181210
KISS.
Make it vaguely human like (so enough to make it relatable but not enough to just be a giant human - as an aside, if you want to make it non-humanoid, make it more based on a big animal, that also works), be mostly focused on one or two colors - maybe a third and OCCASIONALLY a fourth for detailing, but that is the absolute max - and don't go too big on the detail work. A few big things are fine, some smaller things are nice, especially on combiners like the original Gundam, Daltanius, and their like - but the minute you start just slapping random shit on and putting little giblets everywhere, the design starts to lose things. If you feel your machine needs to be more complex, give it a lot of unique weapons - by unique I mean don't make them all missiles or hand fired or shit, Combattler's mistake is having like 26 weapons and all of them be basic variants on the same few ones.
Here's a more recent design that's pretty appealing. It's not as simple as most 70s robots, but it's a lot more simple than a lot of other modern designs. It's mostly white, with a bit of red on it (the second, movie upgrade makes it a lot more red with a bit of yellow, but that still works), making it easier on the eyes colorwise. It's notably humanoid, but also clearly not human. It has a multi-use weapon system as well as a few other weapons that are all pretty different from each other, which allows for the fights to end up differently even if you know in general what the finisher is going to be. So overall it works. Of course, the problem with being appealing is that some people like very different things, and it won't appeal to them, but that's the problem with a lot of things.
>>14181272
>No, but too many western designers are afraid of sacrificism realism/utility of design for coolness.
Except there are no realistic western mechs.
Take a look at military vehicles. They have many large surfaces and relatively simple shapes. It is only once special equipment is mounted that they start to get more complex geometry, and even then it's nothing more visually complex than something like the Gundam's vulcans i.e the function is obvious from form. Yes, even the Gundam has embellishment compared to the military machine, this is because Japanese designs are often based on motifs (ex. samurai) so there is some ornamental element to their mechs.
Western mechs, on the other hand, are laden with garbage on the surface, random panel lines and armor separation that makes zero sense, and tons of exposed parts that makes the mech look like it came off the factory line only 50% complete. They often lack motifs and the detail exists purely for the sake of visually confusing the viewers under the pretense of creating interest.
Not to say Japanese designs (especially recent) ones don't sometimes suffer from these problems, but it seems to me like it's more like western design has been polluting Japanese design fairly recently.
There's really no way around it. Even in terms of "realism" western design is typically dogshit and they're most certainly not pleasing to look at. The most recurring thought behind western designs is "busy" and it's not just limited to mechs but most popular mechanical design. Someone should really tell them "More exposed and moving parts is bad design".
>>14181353
>Except there are no realistic western mechs.
This was hyperbole. But I hope my point is clear. Just that in general western mechs are too busy, which is antithetical to realistic mechanical design.
>>14181345
>that
>appealing
Also, fuck your liberal arts "it's all opinion based" bullshit.
>>14181345
fuck you mattman you stupid nigger
>>14181398
>SUPERIOR STEM COMING THROUGH MAKE WAY
fuck off dude.
>>14181409
Nice baseless assumption there. Also, only when you realize art is as objective as everything else.
>>14181353
That's not exactly true. There have been several examples of pretty clever robots with Western design origins. The original ED-209 is such a perfect representation of 80s aesthetic that still managed to have a great look and a menacing attitude. The Squids from the Matrix were unsettling automatons of utility. Quite a few of the units from Starcraft are excellent bits of design, particularly things like the Dragoon, Reavers and Colossi. The great majority of it is pretty bad but i wouldn't throw the whole genre aside.
>>14181475
Don't mind the weebcuck, this board is full of them
>>14181475
Too bad Terrans are literally Western Mech stereotypes personified. SCVs are power loaders, Goliaths are chicken walkers, etc. Starcraft 2 made it even worse.
Start with something people are familiar with and design around that concept.
Take detter, it's very demonic in a lot of ways especially shin
Take Gundam, it's a samurai esque design.
Take the inspired football designs, from here an japan.
all of them work because they're starting with an existing concept.
>>14181499
>detter
There is no such robot named that way you stupid shitposter
>>14181475
>Starcraft
You and I are niggas now.Too bad I'm shit at RTS games and I lost my Blizzard account a long-ass time ago
>>14181404
>>14181398
Shut up, you retarded spic
Learn fucking English before coming on an English imageboard. And I don't mean enough English to cook your fucking cup noodles and interact with the customers at whatever McJob you work, I mean English comprehension.
>Of course, the problem with being appealing is that some people like very different things, and it won't appeal to them, but that's the problem with a lot of things.
Perfectly valid statement. The majority of the post deals with how to make something appealing. The end mentions that some people will disagree with those design principles. It can be reasonably inferred that those principles are applicable in the creation of a design that has appeal with the majority of people, with a small exception who don't.
What exactly is your gripe with that?
>>14181421
>art is as objective as everything else.
Nice baseless assumption there.
>>14181335
I don't get this meme at all. The whole spic thing started because they loved Getter and Mazinger so why the hell is it now thrown around whenever someone shits on those?
>>14181519
Dude he has a speech impediment cut him some slack.
>>14181519
>he doesn't know about shin detter bobo
>>14181686
New Detter Bobo was great.
Also Neo Detter vs Shin was also awesome.
>>14181345
>Combattler
>Mistake
>All weapons are variants
Let's take a look, shall we?
>Battle Guleggar
Grabby claw
>Hunter Rest
Spike block
>Atomic Burner
Flamethrower
>Battle Chainsaw
Chainsaw missiles
>Choudenji Spark
Lightning bolts
>Twin Lancer
Combinable daggers
>V laser
Logo beam
>Choudenji Yo-Yo
Buzzsaws slung like yo-yos
>Big Blast
Giganto missile
>Grandasher
Transform body into a tank and ram
>Choudenji Tatsumaki
Binding gust of wind
>Choudenji Spin
Giga Drill Breaker
Not seeing how these are all the same
>>14181638
The guy who heavily shitposted and still sometimes does Dynamic Pro threads is an Italian that got called a spic one time and got really pissed when that happened, so it's stuck ever since. You must be pretty new not to know that.
>>14181945
No that's just a shit excuse to shift the term spic towards those who shit on Dynamic Pro stuff when it's ALWAYS been the exact opposite.
>>14181956
It's been both, you dumb nigger.
>>14181967
Shut the fuck up you're clearly just a butthurt spic trying to push the meme onto someone else.
>>14181345
I wouldn't call that appealing but your post is on point, and the reason why pic related is an awesome design.
>>14181972
You can continue to be wrong all wish, won't make it any less true.
>>14181974
>knockoff Gundam
>almost entirely one color
>stupid rhino horn
>katana
Great design, yep.
>>14181210
it's called whatever suits your opinion and taste, there is no universal standard
>>14181997
>hurr ur just wrong xD
Spoken like a true spic.
>>14182007
What's funnier is it's mostly a SEED Gundam before there was SEED. It's pretty much just a blockier Akatsuki with an Astray katana.
>>14182034
And a dinosaur head helmet with the dinosaur trail as the shoulders and a car for a chest
Goldran is way more awesome than any Gundam could ever be. Braves in general make much better use of the Gundam head than actual Gundams because their bodies are much more visually distinct. Gundams are often difficult to tell apart from the shoulders down
>>14182074
Oh yes, so very different.
>>14182115
And gee, I literally can't tell one Gundam from another, I mean they're all the same height and shape and color and...
>>14182018
>hurr I can't accept that I'm wrong XD
Spoken like a true moron.
>>14181353
>Western mechs
Also dangling cables everywhere and extremely exposed parts on the frontmost angle.
>>14182119
Your post debunks itself several times over. Ironic shitposting is still shitposting, anon, so you should probably try and make good shitposts.
But thanks anyways.Braves do have roughly the same amount of variety once you get to the generalizations that apply to every franchise though.
>>14182074
>Braves in general make much better use of the Gundam head than actual Gundams because their bodies are much more visually distinct.
>By making something you ripped off even more samefacey and muting it's presence with something else that's overdesigned, you make it better
>Gundams are often difficult to tell apart from the shoulders down
>Implying the variety between bodies doesn't reach the level of the variety of heads
>>14182115
>>14182119
Thanks for agreeing with me/proving my point.
Even just looking at the main Braves in their final forms, you can see varying colour layouts, different degrees of animal/vehicle motifs, different armaments and so forth. Even the heads show more variance than Gundam heads.
Meanwhile, the pic of the main Gundams shows mostly the same shit looking from left to right. Almost all of them
>Are primarily white and blue with the occasional red or yellow highlight
>Have a blue chest that juts out slightly before sloping downwards. Said chest probably contains vents
>Have white skirts over the hips
>Have solid white legs with large kneepads
>End in feet shaped like a trapezoidal prism
They vary the most in the head area and in the things stapled onto their backs.Height is almost irrelevant given that it doesn't change anything about the visual appeal and that most shows don't bother assigning any meaning to the larger scale.
Turn A does stick out like a sore thumb though
>>14182259
>Overdesigned
Eye of the beholder, anon. Pic related is overdesigned to me. Braves generally don't have a high enough panel line density to be overdesigned to me.
>>14182289
Almost all Braves
>Are primarily yellow, red and white with the occasional blue or black highlight
>Have a lion chest that juts out before sloping downwards. Said chest probably has a mane that looks like wings
>Have yellow wings somewhere on the design
>Have fat rectangle legs
>Has jutting knee things
I don't pay attention to the entire lower half of any Brave mecha because the top half is so clusterfucked that it draws all your attention. I can barely even remember what the legs look like but I'll bet they're all basically the same.
>>14182306
I see what you mean, that's really bad too. My main problem with the Braves is how they tend to have a bunch of pointless shit sticking out that doesn't really ever benefit anything in any way all crammed into the same space.
Pic related for something that does both wrong from Gundam and done by Katoki, who I usually like no less.
>>14182343
The smaller number of Braves defeats your point. Look at Great Exkaiser. It's almost entirely white and blue, with the lion chest being the only part where there's red and being the part containing most of the yellow. Opposite to him is Super Fire Dagwon, which is mostly red and black. In the middle, you have Great Da Garn GX, who's mostly white and red, and below that is our pal GaoGaiGar, who's mostly black and white. Only half of them even have a lion chest, and of those that do, only two have roughly the same shape and proportions (GaoGaiGar's and Great Goldran's) Literally only two of them have yellow wings, Baan Gaan and Goldran. Copying my format only works if you can make the same point.
You probably should pay attention to those lower halves because those can be pretty distinct as well. Great Da Garn GX, for example, has bullet trains for legs. GaoGaiGar has drill tanks. Great Goldran has two giant cannons embedded in its legs.
>>14182351
Yeah, I know what you're saying. We are looking at the final form Braves only here, and remember that Braves both transform and combine. The final forms naturally do end up rather busy, though some less than others. Great Fighbird is my favorite among them; it's relatively clean (ironically moreso than its original form in my opinion) and its colours coordinate well. Pic related is a Brave that I really like the design of in that form, but I feel like its "upgrade" ruined it by adding a bunch of stupid ugly shit from its partner. Fire J-Decker is the worst.
>>14182500
To be fair, those generalizations did apply about as much as the ones on the Gundams did as well, in a post that ignored really distinct Gundams like the Ez-8, Quan[T], Hi-v, and Unicorn.
The shapes often have very distinct variety, with something like the Zeta looking like it appears in an entirely different franchise from the RX-78-2 almost. The same goes for designs like the F-91 and V2. The codified heroic white with blue and red featuring yellow accents can't really be helped, as it had long since been codified, leaving room for still interesting distinctions between more a more 'real' style, such as tone variety and color use. For example, the V2 has a beautiful cobalt color all along it's torso and knees with the gold accents following along the booster with only a couple red accents along the feet and face. The v almost entirely excluded red and dropped the blue in favor of black, which also appears on the legs and feet. Then there's the Unicorn which is literally just white outside of the black hooves and red glow from Destroy Mode.
Of course, this is all just main protagonist Gundams. There are still ones such as the various distinct Wing and 00 designs, such as the 'one with real fucking wings' or the 'one with hair', as well as the ones all throughout SEED.
>>14182585
>in a post that ignored really distinct Gundams like the Ez-8, Quan[T], Hi-v, and Unicorn.
Admittedly, I have seen very few Gundam works, but I have seen 00 and I have a hard time telling 00 apart from the Qan[T]. Apart from the chest and their attachments (and them having different coloured knees in the base form), I could swear they're identical.
>Of course, this is all just main protagonist Gundams
Naturally, just as we were talking about the main protagonist Braves. Both of our points would have collapsed if I brought up practically anything from Goldran and you brought up practically anything from G Gundam.
Still, the issue I often take with Gundam designs is the lack of anything recognizable or iconic (again, apart from the head and the V fin in particular). Getting away from Braves for a moment, let's look at Great Mazinger. Its design is quite simplistic, but that serves to highlight the one detail on the body that is there to draw your attention: the chest in the shape of the letter "V". Now while admittedly, this is kinda silly, the fact that it's something my mind is familiar with a priori makes it simple to recall and effective in standing out. Despite the simple design, it also hints subtly at dynamic movement through the spikes on its arms and thighs. These spikes and the colour layout also help distinguish it from many imitators who came afterward that copied the V chest. It became easily my favorite DP design because of that.
In my opinion, Braves generally share the same qualities even if they do have busier designs. By contrast, most Gundams, and indeed, most "real robots" are nondescript, the shapes of their bodies mostly being formed out of abstract blocks and ovals. I will say that Valkyries generally get away with it slightly more thanks to being able to get away with more colour schemes and being formed out of (sometimes) recognizably distinct jets
I think it has to follow a few things to work.
1.Have a theme, a feel, and follow it religously. If it's animal inspired then work with it and don't stop unless it's a statement being made about the work or some idea.
2.It has to have good colors or a color scheme that goes along with a certain feel, thematic pourpose, or is needed for dramatic pourposes.
4.It's design/shapes/angles(for lack of a better word) has to work towards either an overall theme or be part of a trend or is needed for dramatic pourposes.
3.Utilitarian vs ornamental. It's up to the creator to decide how much of which is needed but it has to not just be useless in theoretical practicality or ideology or it's ability to be provocative.
>>14182500
>those lower halves because those can be pretty distinct as well.
The lower half of that thing is just Gundam donut steal.
>>14182772
Such is what happens when you are designed by Okawara.
>>14181945
What? I never got pissed at that. I helped to spawn that meme as much as the guy who first came up with it. I did it because it was fun, don't fool yourself saying otherwise. But Dynamic Pro does produce a lot of crap more often than they do anything good, that's for sure.
>>14182979
Whatever you say. Also, shouldn't you be off somewhere mindlessly licking Yokoyamas and Ishinomoris nutsacks, spic?
>>14182988
Shitposter shits on Giant Robo all the time though
The most important element in mecha design - and all character design, really, since mecha design is essentially a form of character design - is to have a recognizable silhouette, preferably one that tells you something about it.
Consider the three most common Battle Droids in the Star Wars prequels, the OG, the Droideka, and the Super Battle Droid.
The original Battle Droid from The Phantom Menace is a skeletal, emaciated looking thing that puts one in mind of the classical "undead army" out of high fantasy, a countless swarm of individually-disposable yet insurmountably numerous automatons that will keep coming no matter how many you crush.
The Droidekas, on the other hand, are squat, armadillo-like killing machines, their heads flowing directly into their necks and backs to put one in mind of a heavily armored animal, which is fitting since Droideka's signature trait is their onboard shield systems that give them nigh indestructability.
Lastly, you have the Super Battle Droids that show up in TCW, towering machines that resemble nothing so much as a circus strongman with their huge torsos and forearms, eschewing the extrnal weapons of the more basic battle droids to literally fire energy out of their "muscles." The SBDs are interesting because while they initially appear quite threatening, they ultimately are dispatched just as easily as the basic droids, shich you can see from the fact that the SBDs have committed the cardinal sin of skipping Leg Day, undermining their supposed strength.And of course, all of the battle droids that appear in TPM have platypus-esque duckbills just like the Gungans, highlighting that the Gungans are being suckered into a position of servitude and death by the Jedi and the Naboo Aristocracy
>>14183052
This is incidentally why so many people who imitate Obari and Nagano by making spindly robots covered in spikes keep falling flat, as they clutter up the silhouette and disguise any identifying signifiers, causing the viewer to just sort of glaze over the design rather than remembering it.
>>14183052
>And of course, all of the battle droids that appear in TPM have platypus-esque duckbills just like the Gungans, highlighting that the Gungans are being suckered into a position of servitude and death by the Jedi and the Naboo Aristocracy
>>14182988
That's geographically impossible and they're probably already in a deep state of decay.I'm sure it's still better than doing the same to living and breathing Nagai. Now that would be gross
>>14183052
The OG battle droid is a terrible fucking design because it poses no threat and makes dumb comical noises like "ROGER ROGER"
It looked like you could kill it by pushing it over.
>>14183150
That's literally the point of the design, that the Battle Droid is an individually harmless skeleton that will drown you in numbers.
Good job on your reading comprehension.
>>14183157
>the point of the design is too look weak.
Half the time the Jedi fight them in tiny groups and, to qoute Lucas, "cut them down like butter"
Though I guess that's the fault of Lucas for being a shoddy writer than the designers.
>>14183169
You are working backwards from a faulty assumption rather than considering the point honestly. The Jedi only fight the droids in small numbers because they actively run away and avoid large concentrations of them.
The zombies in a zombie movie are not scary because a lone zombie can fuck you up, its because nothing you can ever do will be enough to get rid of them. The same principle applies here, and indeed the one time in TPM that the droids fight as an actual army, they utterly rout the opposition out of crushing numerical superiority.
>>14181638
Newfag.
Spic got started because spics had a retarded reaction to shin mazinger for not being toeizinger.
>>14181945
This. It actually gets a little confusing because not only is there a shitposting Italian we call "the spic" because it pissed him off hard one time but there's also a subset of actual Spanish mecha fans who hate all mecha that isn't the Toei anime that they grew up with. They are two very different things.
>>14182351
The braves have a very simple design philosophy. Big meaty calves, big meaty forearms, big meaty shoulders, muscular thighs and forearms, and a big crest-piece on the chest like a winged badge on a car.
The combined forms are even simpler. It's usually something like. You add oversized feet to the bottom of the existing feet (platform heels), add a crest piece over the existing crest piece, add wings or something on the back. Maybe a new mask for the face too.
I really love Goldran, but Great Goldran just looks fucking hilarious and not in a good way. Sky Goldran is great, I love it and the Blitzkrieg Sword is one of the coolest finishers visually. The detailed illustrations by Okawara in the ED are great too. But there's literally no way you can make Great Goldran look good. Really glad Genesic GaoGaiGar went with a completely new body altogether rather than give him platform heels.
>>14184142
Some of them are just... what the hell? Like Dagwon here. Really, what's the point of the backhoe?
>>14184234
What's funnier is that looks more deserving of the name FighBird than FighBird.
I think Star Wars and Alien influenced Western mecha and spaceship design a whole bunch. The look of greebles and exposed components was a big factor in making the tech of those worlds seem "realistic" compared to the finned and swoopy designs that came before.
>>14184142
>>14184234
When in doubt, blame Takara. It's still funny how some Brave designs were a forewarning to how later Sentai combiners ended up looking like.
>>14184142
>Hating on the most blingtacular robot of all time
Yeah, I'll agree those platform heels are way bigger that they should be, but on the other hand, they add even more firepower to Goldran. And the more overkill weaponry a robot has built into it, the more I like it. The jet waist piece was a pretty cool idea too. It's just the damn giant bow that throws me off. It looks like something the designers slapped together at the last minute after realizing that half of Kaiser had nowhere to go.
Also GGGG didn't really go with a different body. It kept Galeon the same. It just gave it different boots, backpack and shoulders than the ones it had been using.
>>14185185
That looks hideous.
>>14185185
>Also GGGG didn't really go with a different body. It kept Galeon the same. It just gave it different boots, backpack and shoulders than the ones it had been using.
Skirt and lion head crest are also different. And the forearms. Like 90% of it is altogether different even if it looks similar.
>>14185318
That's the thing, Galeon is the same but all it is is a frame that the GGG parts build around. Kind of like the Gusion thing - the Gundam Frame is the same, but the sheer level of armor changes made for Rebake, it's basically a new body.
Speaking of Gundams and Braves: http://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2015/08/custom-build-gundam-kit-bash-brave.html
