Hi everyone. This video is a few years old now, and I still get comments on this video and other videos from 2014-15, from people asking me to draw their MLP OC. I am a self employed freelance artist. I don't just make MLP stuff. If you are interested in a commission, visit my main youtube page and watch my trailer video. That has all the information you need about how to get a commission. Please do not ask for a drawing in the youtube comments.
Indeed, AnY (heh). All my OCs have names, but I can only make them through the Creator. Can't draw. Very well. EDIT: Actually, I guess some of my OCs don't have names yet -- mostly because I haven't come up with their personalities or designs yet! I am thinking of Dusk and Dawn Shadow's parents, who like the parents of the Azure (Windwalker and Aerial) and Verdant (Redwood and Sweet Pepper), should still be alive. Three whole families. That's what I've created so far.
Mad Munchkin Doesn't it smell delicious? AnY explained this to me when I asked him about sending his Ponysona to Equestria in my fanfic. He said I should either come up with a name, or ask someone funny, like Silver. Or you, possibly. What d you think? I haven't gotten a response from Silver or most of the others yet. Guess he's being funny with me?
Mad Munchkin I remember when i made my oc, my first was...no making her with my first name would be...well, why not xD and I think I used a week to just put in thought of what her name would be ^^
Usually I just use the pony generator for fun when I'm bored. I don't save the characters I end up with at all, and sometimes I have the goal to make the ugliest pony I can. It's fun.
Character generators have their place, but unfortunately are used waaaaay to often. I feel if you try drawing/making a story for the character yourself, you get a deeper sense of satisfaction with the final product. Thanks for edu-taining us! :)
IKR!!! I can't draw something good to save my life, so I kind of had to think of my OC's background first. When I was done with that I made an attempt at drawing her then had my artist friends fix it up so no one would go blind from looking at it ;p
*Animated games with character generators* (like Skyrim in your example list) have already chosen the character's background for you, and even then, most of it is *made irrelevant*. Almost all of the character's actual development comes after you get started in the game and is based on your decisions. And when you start playing, you often don't know very much, if anything, about the universe you are delving in to. It doesn't have anything to do with immersion, but simply the style of the game. This is going to be different from tabletop RPG games in which there is very little emphasis on character looks and more on unique background and the skills that compose them. - - - I can also understand where you come from on character generators, but you're an extremely talented full-time artist. Almost all of the rest of the population is not. They do not have the ability to draw their own characters. I'm a writer, and I have to keep reminding myself sometimes that character creation does not come naturally to most people. Like art, it's an acquired skill. So when you make a character generator available in an easy DIY user-friendly program, people swarm all over it and sometimes create kitchen-sink Mary Sues.
I would totally agree with you, but the problem is that I use pony generators to get a head start, and then customize them from there. I have never been skilled with a pen, pencil, marker (and so on) so this helps my brain storming get started.
+Skylynxify Reborn People are not actually watching Mads Videos and pay attention and fall into the straw-men fallacy. Happens all of us all the time - that is life. Still - most people would not disagree with Mads actual arguments, but with her statement in the title. Mad could avoid that by using a more positive title like "An OC is more then its look" or "characterization first", but... Mad is intentionally provocating. She seems to enjoy sending people into different directions, bounce around concept and finally to leave the viewer with his own thoughts and views. After all: Critical thinking is a skill that is tricky to learn, but valuable.
(( With all my ocs, I make the backstory, name, personality, siblings, etc, HOURS before I make the design! I could make 10 pages worth of LORE for 99% of my ocs, and I find it sad that others don't do this. ))
Deandra Storie-Belanger me and my friend role play our ocs 😜 yea 14 and acting like a child and have a hundred oc with back stories, names , siblings, cousins , bffs, bf/gf , children , parents , and pets 😊 I have to much free time
I believe a OC should come from the heart. Even if you can't draw very well you should still try. You can find it so fulfilling when you create a OC which shows how you see yourself.
What about when you're creating OCs for a story, and NONE of them resemble you on more than a cursory level? I have over 20 OCs I've created for my 'Gear Series,' and apart from when I describe them in text the only way I can visualize what they might look like (because the Creators don't have the exact builds or colours or cutie marks I want) is through these imprecise Creators. For now, anyway.
Being a writer can be a great alternative to being a artist when it comes to creating original characters as it allows for the same levels of creativity if not more, and you can always hire an artist to draw your character based on your characters description but you could always imagine the characters portrait in your head.
The only reason I have ever used pony generator is to visually figure out what I might look like if I was pony, and once I'm happy with the design, I then attempt to draw my version of it. I have done this about 5 times, but I will keep trying.
I use pony creators sometimes, but i only create ponys on generators so i have an idea of what my character would look like if I can, and when i know how i want it to look i actually draw it. But I dont really use the pony creators for anything other than that
Just wanna say that you've helped me develops my character even more and omg I lover her! She's so cute! Ah... I tried not to make her cliche and all too haha.
I disagree with the statement that looks of the character has to show their personality traits. That there has to be a reason why character looks this way. People look like they look, and how their appearance shows their personality? Sure, smiles, color of clothing, but big nose, thin waist or massive eyebrows? It says nothing. Character can look however the creator wants in my opinion, and the only things that needs explanation are scars, clothing, mimics, maybe hairstyles, accessories, cutie marks if talking about ponies but... yeah. Antagonists don't have to looks scary (why they always do uh...), protagonists can be ugly or scary in some ways, nice OCs can have massive eyebrows and grumpy ones be little, tiny pretty girls wearing pink or whatever.
How a character looks, how he clothes, ho he appeared says a lot about the Character itselfs. Look at it as a Human. Der are Persons out there you just look at and find them unsympathetic. Then you talk to them and find out. Yeah... they are pretty unsympathetic to you. Maybe its not the details like the Eyebrows. But the complete appearance of a character. Our Mind love to categorize and understand the more more easily by using stereotypes. So using that stereotypes make the character more believable than one which look completely is separates from the Character. You can say that is it not good to jugde a book by its cover. But you will do it and you will see how much the character fits with this first thought.
dies200 I have to agree with you, I know that cover really often tells a lot about the book and that stereotypes, when it comes to cartoon OCs are important in making them memorable but... we see it everywhere. And usually when making an OC, the "cover" is much less complicated than what makes a person un/sympathetic in real life. That worries me. It is all quite too simple. Simplicity is important but there is less and less creativity put into it. Especially when it comes to "normal" people creating their pony OCs, not the character designers nor artists whoa re not designers uh... in mlp it is done well, for example Twi, looks both pretty and nerdy, acts like an upper class while being silly, really smart while paranoiac, friendly but easily tired with others, socially awkward but able to help people who can't find themselves in society. But eh, not every character can be complex I guess, I have to deal with it.
Szczurzysława When it goes to cartoons. Of course, the details you can put into it are a lot fewer. But its a lot easier to work out certain character traits trough the look. Twilight is a really good example. She looks a bit nerdy and she is a bit nerdy. Rainbow Dash looks energetic with the very colorful designs and look how she is. Celestia look very bright, mystic and wise. Look how she is. If the characters look and the characters behavior does differentiate to much the character feels odd and less good than one with the right design. It can be a style choice to make this difference. For example the big, massy barbarian warrior and it overwhelming love for flowers. But it will mostly triggers some laughts and a lot of confused minds.
dies200 Yeah, as I said, mlp is really well done show when it comes to good characters. Same does Steven universe for example, but as I said, when it is done badly it really hurts, because people can rely way too much on appearance and keep forgetting to put some contrasts in OCs.
Yes, but a fictional character is often a symbol for many different things and reflects bits of their personality, so there should be a reason for many aspects of a character's appearance. However, I do see your point. Sometimes the reason for parts of a character's looks could be as simple as "genetics".
Woah girl, okay, I love you and all, but you just wandered into my territory as a game designer so I've gotta say my piece. You may not find character customization fun in games, but other people do, and for different reasons. In Saints Row I treat it like a power fantasy, so I make my character look as close to myself as possible. (Or Goku, because that is hilarious.) When my friend plays Dragon Age, she takes the character generator seriously and uses it to weave her own narrative, much like you do. Another friend plays Skyrim and all she is interested in is making her character look cool, because she is the DRAGONBORN and she is here to wreck everyone's shit! Those games are about YOU, and games like The Legend of Zelda don't have character generators because the story is NOT about you. It's about Link. Shadow of the Colossus is about Wander. Bayonetta is about Bayonetta. It isn't like the decision to not have character customization was whether the developers felt like doing it, it is important to the atmosphere and linear narrative. The very act of having any kind of customized appearance is a carefully crafted mechanic that serves a much larger purpose. The point is, customization appeals to many people for many reasons, but in the end it is about having fun, and you can't tell someone that what they find fun is wrong because you don't find it fun. Character generating doesn't have to take 30 minutes if you don't want it to. In the end, some people just don't find true creativity fun. Let them have their fun, that's why they bought the game. Okay, sorry, it's just that I kind of wrote an entire paper on a subject very similar to this so it's kind of close to my heart >.> There is a LOT of psychology behind this kind of thing when it comes to games and interactive design.
I don't believe she was bashing on character customization in general, I think she was saying that creating a character on one and claiming it as an oc is unoriginal because it uses pre-made choices like hair and facial features that you didn't design yourself, and, after enough uses, i suppose many people's characters end up looking the same, such as games like animal jam or club penguin.
Just because he or she has the username of a cartoon character or any character at all, doesn't mean they are 10, nor is there anything ethically wrong with that. Ironically most people would assume you to be a little kid with your username and picture, but in reality you can't just assume things. They're just usernames, no big deal.
She finds them enjoyable, but hates how they just CALL them ocs after designing the character! They put lack of thought, and only think appearance is important! But you may be right, but she has nothing against generator users!
From the list at 4:10. I would be Shining Belle, a lazy Pegasus, with a dark blue, and maybe a little green or emerald green color scheme. Would mostly lay around with a pen in my mouth trying to think of something to write. My cutie would be a stack of papers that are unfinished writings. Never get why people have a hard time coming up with back stories. They come pretty easy to me.
I figured the back story, imagined the concept, and thought of a name. Then created 5 different OCs with similar characteristics and chose the best one. I got Silver Fang, a batpony stallion that is over 500 years old but doesn't look a day over 25. His name is supposed to be a reference to the phrase "silver tounge" which means that he is a big sweet talker and mare hungry. All of his mates, former and current, equal around 105. This has been over the last 470 years though. He truly cares deeply for his herd members and has "died" several times in their defense. He's loved in every city of equestria and has also lived out side the border a few times. The only one who knows about this is Princess Celestia, but she has kept his secret, due to the fact that he is the Captain of the Lunar guard and recently became a close friend of Princess Luna.
I love the way that your art style works. The rough edges with the line and the shading as well as the colored radiation are all so beautifully brought together in such a unique style that in all honesty is worthy of paintings found within art museums. Great props to you for how well you’ve developed your style
I love the character generator in video games, myself. I understand why you hate them, but I personally absolutely love them. I love creating designs of characters.
I actually have one pony oc her name is Scotty why is her name Scotty you ask? Well I will say: One day in the golden green fields in Scotland a fawn was born and that morning her parents had found a clover and wished that their baby was special that afternoon she was born with bright green eyes as green as the clover her parents had found she stood up wobbly but confident and walked at that moment her parents realized they should call her Scotty Miracle she was surely a Scotland miracle indeed...
I find the major issues with generators is how limiting they are. They can't read my mind with what I want, and they don't have what I need when making my pony. I LIKE getting creative and I'll admit I'm not the best pony artist, so I sometimes go to generators for fun but often find myself disappointed because of the lack of true variety. At least that's just my opinion.
I clicked the link to see your price list. I got this: Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist. Make sure that you have the correct URL and that the owner of the file hasn't deleted it.
+Mad Munchkin It might be a good idea to create a redirection link (for example, through bitly) and post that on your videos. You can always update the bitly link, which would be a lot easier than updating all relevant descriptions.
5:07 if you are going to read this, It may take a while. I hate that people that make O.C.'s to sell! Goddamn it! Its vulgar and uncreative! The person who makes it may put effort and great thought into what ever pony, zebra, Pegasus, or unicorn, but there *SELLING* them to people that don't have any imagination or just don't care! I CARE! IF YOUR APART OF HIS FANDOM YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN FUCKING WORK! IN REAL LIFE THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IS TO GET PAST SCHOOL AND SURE AS HELL YOU CAN'T BUY YOUR WAY AROUND WORK! YOU MUST DO IT YOURSELF! SO WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK BEING ACCEPTED INTO THIS FANDOM WOULD BE SO EASY! YOU CAN'T SHOW UP IN AND PRETEND YOU HAD THE GREAT IDEA OF WHATEVER OC YOUR SHOWBOATING AROUND! I HATE ANYONE WHO COPIES ANYTHING! AND THIS IS BASICALLY PAYING SOMEONE NOT TO GET ANGRY THAT YOUR TAKING THEIR IDEAS!!! If anyone is reading this thank you for using your time to read my comment.
I do agree with your points, however some people use the pony generator because they lack the skills,abilities, and talent to draw their OC without it looking like a scribble.
You make good point. I first used the pony maker when my friend showed it me but know with practise I'm drawing the main characters hopefully leading to ending in the result of making my own proper oc.
Holly Martin She actually talks about that ^^' She talks about it more in the original video though. But no one really lacks anything. With a little bit of elbow grease and practice, you can draw anything you want to. I started out with scribbles myself, and now I'm better at realistic drawing (in some angles) than anime or cartoony drawing. But I wouldn't have gotten where I am without actually working to achieve it. And if you're too lazy to learn and do it yourself, there are always though on dA and other places who will draw the character for free. Or even if you have a friend who can draw. All in all, I don't mind the generator, it's given me some great ideas, but it's super limited and when I make something I'm not too happy with the outcome because I don't have my own creative spin on it. My OC in my avatar was originally made with the generator, but I eventually drew her because I disliked the noncreative design on the generator. But yeah, generator is great for ideas, but you can actually draw what you picture if you practice, learn bone and joint limitations (which could just be studying a picture of anatomy, not actually learning by name every bone), and use references, you'll be golden. You'll also have more satisfaction with the end product.
Took me years to realize that theres absolutely nothing wrong with people wanting to use a pony generator character and absolutely nothing wrong with not having a backstory for your oc ❤
Comparing the Pony Generators or Dressup doll games to Video Games is apples and oranges. Heck Dragon Age the race you choose alters your backstory, how certain characters interact with you, and alters your romance options (if you use those). I agree with you on people spending too much time on appearance of a character because that's honestly the least important aspect of character creation. Unless your character has a handicap or some kind of alteration that they would remember having then it's not integral that their backstory and appearance collide outside of genetics especially in MLP when the characters end up looking nothing like their parents. Heck you could have two earth ponies giving birth to a unicorn because potatoes since that's canon.
Holy moly, as a relatively new member of the fandom, everything that this video expresses is insanely well worded and articulate and has actually inspired me to put even more effort into creating my OC. So thank you Munchkin.
You know, in games like Skyrim the character customization screen is actually needed. Each race has perks to it so when you create the character you know the perks as well as the weaknesses, also the fact that they want you to be intrigued too so they add character customization and hope you keep playing because it's a tough game.
Plus name also isn't that important. I had some characters with full back story, personality, looks, what they like and dislike, their family and connections with other characters of mine and also with the environment, their purpose in the plot... but name really didn't come to my mind at this time so I asked if ppl knew some nice ones, and then I just chose one from many, which I liked and could be chosen for this character in the certain era they live in. Ofc it's just my opinion uvu
dies200 Yeah I guess, but she repeats it a lot during this and previous vid, so I wanted to say that there are better examples what characters can lack without thinking about them. Because names can also be way too much simplified just as appearance and become just the next stereotype or be matching in silly way, even a little bit too much (pinkie pie, fluttershy, Goldfinger...goodie goodie good)
for me it's just that why would you skip the naming part? it's alot of times verry hard to imagine one, bu it's fun (at-least for me ) and the name of you're character is like describing him/her in one word
Victoria Meira I agree! But I also have over 300 developed OCs and some years ago it sometimes was hard for me to find one, especially that lot of my characters live in and stuff, so naming one "Stacy" was not a thing I wanted to do xD Now I am much more in touch with more "unusual" names which still doesn't seem too odd so this problem disappeared~
Skylynxify Reborn I totally agree~ so when someone create a pony OC they should match the universe of mlp itself. But when it comes to characters in general, name isn't that straight forward description of them. It is important to check the meaning to not name an OC in the wrong name because of lack of the knowledge, also it can be used for comedic purposes (I have an OC named Rowena with coal-black hair, and her name means "the one with light hair" so yeah, I'm sooooo creative in this matter that noooo one can beaaat me. But the fact she isn't named in English or my foreign language makes her still kinda "normal"). And even in mlp, Cheerilee comes from cheering I guess, and what she does is teaching and making their students bloom.
DamaOscuraDeTodos pshhh who needs artistic talent when you can just... vomit rainbows on a page, draw a stick figure sideways and there ya go. You have a design.
I don't know how I came across your videos, because I am not a fan of MLP and don't seek it out. But I have watched a ton of your videos now because I think that you have many valid points that don't just pertain to MLP. Just in character creation in general. Though I would say that it isn't always bad to start with how the character looks first and then build your story around it. As long as you build your story. Since you brought up the character creator in Skyrim, I'll use that as an example. I have made many characters with skyrim. I'm more interested in making characters in it now instead of playing the game because I've beaten the game 7 or 8 times. And generally when it comes to that, I start with how they look first. Then as a play around in the game as that character, and interact with other characters, I start to get a feel for how the character would actually react if I had more options, and then sometimes tweak them physically to fit who they are a little once I have a good idea for who they are. So while I do agree with you that the look of your character shouldn't be the most important. I do feel that sometimes that can be a decent start to your character, as long as you develop them. And don't start throwing them around the internet claiming they're your character when they're pretty much just an empty exo-skeleton
cRYING i am crying this is beautiful actually, I was making an OC while doing this,, and the style completely changed when you told me these things :'')
While I can't say I've run into the problems you've mentioned (I lay out the backstories and personalities of all my OCs BEFORE I come of with a look for them), I can certainly see where you're coming from. After all, how a character looks means zip in a narrative context versus a visual one. The hard part is getting the community to remember that rule. I honestly don't think there is much we can to change that though- you can lead a pony to water but you can't make them drink, after all. You brought this subject to light, though, and I appreciate that. :)
10 years old? HAHAHAHA you make me laugh. Maybe when you stop copying and pasting the same reply on every comment I'll take you seriously (not like will)
I hat when people accuse me of copying fluttershy! I look notrhing like her! I'm a blank flank, short hair and a cream coat! NOT FLUTTERSHY!!! and I have a personality! ive had my oc for 3 years, and I'm not changing her
I always start with a bio of what my characters are like so that the people I share it with will have a reference should they ever decide to do a story about said characters. My MLP character Storyteller has several aspects of myself in him, he's a pony who likes to write and he is a Earth stallion who has some unicorn abilities (because of his heritage) and has a cutie mark that is connected to his abilities to tell stories and his writing skills, he communicates expressively via writing and through his thoughts, he isn't mute or anything...he is just socially awkward and doesn't like the sound of his own voice.
i can see where your stand point is and i love it!! i am an artist myself and have had quite allot (more then anyone can think of) people asking me to draw their oc and when i ask "why do they have this weapon" or "how did they get this [insert horrible injury]" they always say cause its cool or they dont know. but also for the selling oc thing.....i have no clue what that is for
I _love_ this video! I use character generators to help me get a visual reference for what the character will look like, so that I don't have to sketch it out without knowing fully what I want their design to be. I think this is one of the things that make it fine to use a generator, as long as you don't post it.
I tried to make an OC in it based off of my imagination, I had the story down and everything. It just didn't cut it. I drew it on paper the way I wanted too, it looked pretty good! Lesson here? Don't use it for designs.
This has really made me think twice about oc design. I really need to put more thought into character development, thank you for changing my perspective on this, Maddie.
It's important for me to be able to connect with my character when I'm playing an RPG. I connect on a visual level and thus having a lot of sliders and options for my character is important to me. However, I can definitely see what your saying about aesthetics being blown so out of proportion that they become more important than the back story. And when it comes to characters the back story is always more important.
I have a problem where I come up with a backstory for a character, design it, come up with a personality, but then have no idea what to call it (not in that exact order)
I left the mlp fandom for a while, but I’ve recently came back. I have to say that I understand what you mean about the trading thing, but what is great about it is that they can inspire you with the variety of colors and design ideas. I get them to develop a story like with my earth pony character Amethyst Glory, a beautiful girl who is painfully shy.
I only use pony generators to see my OC in a different style. As my own style doesn't really look like the show. But along time ago I made a character called ashy with a pony generator. I quickly realized when trying to figure out a back story for ashy, IT MADE NO SENSE! I have since then learned this is not the way to make OCs. So many great points in this video. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for making this video, because my OC originally was from the generator, but after watching this I realized how much of a waste my creativity was being, and I was too lazy to draw my own, so I drew and digitalized my character after seeing this
Also my OC has certain colors because GENETICS. I wrote a backstory and have her parents. She has black striped hair from spilling ink on herself and is blind in one eye because genetics.
Whenever I make OCs they're usually for fanfictions so I usually construct there looks and personality all at the same time. For example I have a Voltron OC who while I was drawing him I put together his backstory to fit up with cannon aspects of the show a bit. He's nowhere near to being completed but I do have the basics of his personality and backstory set up, the idea that someone would create an OC without a backstory is odd and it seems insane to give away or sell OCs
I hadn't actually heard of the pony generator until your first video, and I admit that I immediately went and tried it in an attempt to make myself as a pony. While I didn't have to worry about character building, as I am already a whole person, I really got what you meant about it not having much individuality. So I looked at pony me, and said "being still, with all my limbs on the ground? That's not me". And it wasn't until I manipulated the body to show her dancing with abandon, that I saw personality in it. Thanks for your insight!
as a person who's addicted to character generators, character design on paper, and concept art, I am ok with your opinion. However I think the most important things about the character is "Personality and back story". I like to write stories myself, so that helps too. But I sell characters for fun, ok? Nothing wrong with that. Either way you earned a sub.
I use to write and make up characters of my own in short stories, and while my art isn't that great I would draw them how I imagined them, and usually it came out just how I liked it. This is one of the reasons why when I look at an rpg with character creator I look into how detailed the control is, so I can try applying my own characters into it. The most successful one in terms of character customization has been Champions Online, which I've spent sometimes a few hours putting together my characters design for.
Here's the thing: for my story, The Alpha Generations, all I had was a couple screenshots of wolves created in a wolf designer game. I ended up writing a story based on them, but I decided to make improvements. I changed the story, their designs, and roles so often that those Wolf Maker OCs are just ancient history.
I love creating backstories for my OC's as much as i love writing fanfics and roleplaying with my characters it opens more options for my fantasy whenever i create a character in game or just an OC i create a backstory and name first before the character.I also absolutely love your art.
2:29 can someone tell me what that game is??? It was a huge part of my childhood (I'm still a kid but I'm talking about when I was really young) and I've been trying to find the game for a long time but with no success.
You sound like someone I'd really get along with and have a fun time discussing things with. I've been a shut in most of my life and only in the last 3 years of my life opened up more to the world. I find the ideas and opinions of others to be fascinating. I'm more quite during school or any big social event, but get me on a topic that I know a bit about and I'll probably talk for hours. Anyway my real point in commenting is to agree that the generators should be used to help with the look of the characters and that a back story and thought should be put into an oc. Hope you get lots more attention and commitions for your art! Have a good day!!
If you did any of the things you just said in your video about enjoying discussing the meaning behind a picture, you'll understand that people do give interesting backgrounds to their characters, and people who make large groups of characters give them different personality traits and often use them together in one story. If people find they need to use a generator to give an appearance to something that's not because they aren't creative. Many generators allow you to be creative in your own way but choosing colour schemes or giving you many combinations of things that you can choose to go together.
Oh, and I also enjoy thinking about the type of character I want to make. Like "I wanna make a villain type character" so I'll make a type of villain and I'll edit the design a little bit to fit my taste better. I refer to not MLP, but other generators, cause I don't like MLP much myself. I enjoy hearing your side of things, though, which is why I watch you.
I made an OC awhile back with this. Her name's Shade, and she is a sort of alicorn, but with robotic wings, and limited magic due to a bolt in her horn.Technically she was a born unicorn, but she does have wings. I have a backstory based off of a fanfic, and put alot of thought into her personality. Really, she's more of a character than an OC. I think I'm pretty proud of Shade.
what I do with a generator is that I try and revolve around a theme then try and make a backstory for it, but I don't pick ones I think "look cool". the theme is something that I feel resembles myself in a way, with a a general backstory in mind, which I then build on based off what I'm thinking or looking at to make it original. I do this not only with generators, but other things like roleplaying games. I do not mean anything by this comment other than to inspire people to get ideas that aren't mary sues or recolors.
I used a pony generator to make a sort of draft for my OC representing me, then I practiced drawing ponies and began to add details to my mare. I tried to flesh out her character slowly.
Mad Munchkin, I agree 100%! I've always had trouble making characters or even drawing them because I have an image of what I want based off of their personality and what I want them to do, I focus on WHO they are first, then what they look like, it's so nice and inspiring to hear you say this! S\Everyone CAN draw and earn money, it just takes a little work and effort!
I just want to ask how you feel about if me or my friends or anyone made a background that was reasonable and had a good back story but could have their look something like "she changed her hair to look more like ______ because she was partly _____" or ....wait better question what would you think of some one who had every thing planed and good but had no idea what the would look like?
I write page, after page, after page, working on an OC then sometimes I don't even get around to drawing it. Even though I know perfectly well and good on how to draw. The reason i do this is because like reading a book the character can be different in anyone's mind. And with this i love because the way even though i give a description anything could be different. I love the way you speak your mind and don't care about what others think, even though when you do this you get told you are insensitive and inconsiderate. I love the way you spoke out about this topic and still put a different spin on it. That is why I like to watch your videos, they are enjoyable to watch as well as bring up good arguments.
At 4:13 i got Berry Trumpet...So i'm a musician playing Trumpet with a berry symbol on it ? Or something like that? I still prefer my OC's name "Midnight Frost" thought.
You are one of my biggest inspirations and I have taken your criticism, opinions and discussions to heart about art and OC's and characters. I used to love the Pony Generator myself, but I as well have grown frustrated by everyone like you making 'original characters' by already existing designs. I love when people use the Pony Generator but do a Before and After picture, because I have seen incredible and amazing new designs and concepts and ultimately original characters that don't look at all like the Pony Creator they were inspired by luckily. I made my pony Sapphire Gemstone when the first version came out before it was deleted, I was unsatisfied with any one the manes and tails and made the pony 'naked' and drew on and colored my characters Mane and Tail itself. It was fine... for 2011, but now it's my most popular and most faved picture in my entire Gallery ( Which is over 18,000 views and 500 favorites), which is now embarrassing so due to recent creativity I decided to update the picture with a Pony Generator (with drawn Mane and Tail) VS Currently and drawn by myself. I hope with showing the updated and recent version and design of my character that more people will see that I have no need of the Pony Generator (Only used it once for this picture) and that I can draw show accurate pictures. www.deviantart.com/maskedsugargirl/art/MLP-OC-Sapphire-Gemstone-Digital-Old-vs-New-210435754 I love your motto 'Stay Creative' and I always try to uphold that.
Usually whenever Im drawing a new character, I get a bond. I get ideas for a story or personality traits whenever I see a character. It upsets me when nobody does this with their own ocs, I'm not exactly in the mlp fandom but I still kinda like the lore. And ocs. While watching this video I came up with a detailed mlp character. She plays violin, and she's gentle, she has a cute smile, and she likes to care for others and give advice. But she can be really sensitive and she has a good temper. She has too much generosity usually, but she works on the streets playing her violin to raise up for things. She's not poor, but she likes the progress and the job of playing music.
I know this is an old video but I wanted to ask what your opinion is on actually DRAWING your own adoptable character designs? I used to do it at one point because I kept having design ideas but knew I would never actually /use/ most of them, and would sell them to people who possibly could. A lot of my customers were writers in the MLP fandom who would see the character designs and would think of backstories for them and would actually use them in their writing, and would buy the design so that they could use it, and occasionally commission artwork of scenes from their writing from other artists. It was really nice seeing people actually use the characters I designed, and it felt rewarding. Honestly though a lot of the adoptable scene is literally just people making those designs on the generator and then selling them and trading them and that's part of why I stopped in the end. I enjoyed making designs and seeing people use them, but then I always feared that someone who would treat these characters like a tradeable card would end up buying one from me and doing just that :
Hi everyone. This video is a few years old now, and I still get comments on this video and other videos from 2014-15, from people asking me to draw their MLP OC. I am a self employed freelance artist. I don't just make MLP stuff. If you are interested in a commission, visit my main youtube page and watch my trailer video. That has all the information you need about how to get a commission. Please do not ask for a drawing in the youtube comments.
Mad Munchkin how do you get the generator?🐎 ^_^
Mad Munchkin What do you think about an alicorn Oc that is blind and autistic?
Mad Munchkin :3 hi I love your style :3
I looked at the thing that said "what is ur pony name" and got "Sweetieprincess." That is the LITTERAL OPPOSITE of me!
Mad Munchkin I agree with your points and completely agree with you ps this is not sucking up
According to the Pony Name Generator, my name is Beautiful Buns, so it's accurate. My butt is fabulous
and mine is Sweetie Luck :P
My name is silver ink
Mille Gredal mine is sweet grass or i did it again with my pony name and it was tender clouds
KittenWantMore I'm twilight bloom
I am feather princess...
creating a character without even giving them a proper name? Pfft! What kind of uninspired slacker would ever do THAT?!
*nervous giggle*
Indeed, AnY (heh).
All my OCs have names, but I can only make them through the Creator. Can't draw. Very well.
EDIT: Actually, I guess some of my OCs don't have names yet -- mostly because I haven't come up with their personalities or designs yet! I am thinking of Dusk and Dawn Shadow's parents, who like the parents of the Azure (Windwalker and Aerial) and Verdant (Redwood and Sweet Pepper), should still be alive. Three whole families. That's what I've created so far.
I smell irony!
Mad Munchkin Doesn't it smell delicious?
AnY explained this to me when I asked him about sending his Ponysona to Equestria in my fanfic. He said I should either come up with a name, or ask someone funny, like Silver. Or you, possibly. What d you think?
I haven't gotten a response from Silver or most of the others yet. Guess he's being funny with me?
Mad Munchkin I remember when i made my oc, my first was...no making her with my first name would be...well, why not xD and I think I used a week to just put in thought of what her name would be ^^
I usually base my OCs' names on what makes them unique. I don't have a name for the ponysona I use as my avatar on Fimfiction, because it's just me.
Usually I just use the pony generator for fun when I'm bored. I don't save the characters I end up with at all, and sometimes I have the goal to make the ugliest pony I can. It's fun.
Sam Hem
Hello flight rising player
Hi Flight Rising fellow!!
I would like to see a ugly character
I, for some reason, looked at the Pony Name thing. My name: Butterfly Dash. That is soooo cringey.... :,(
Mine too... Snuggle Shimmer? What kinda name is that xD
Lol, just realised my best friends name is Rainbow Dash xD
+Meow Scratch twilight sparkle happiness
I got berry garden or berry happiness
TheHellokitten12 XD
Character generators have their place, but unfortunately are used waaaaay to often. I feel if you try drawing/making a story for the character yourself, you get a deeper sense of satisfaction with the final product. Thanks for edu-taining us! :)
I didn't know there was such a thing till Maddie's video on iy
Candiflozz xD
Tyandaga a couple more bids and 1000 sub's is up your street, your doing so well :D
Candiflozz Haha, it's bad luck to look to what might happen in future. Got to stay day-to-day :)
IKR!!! I can't draw something good to save my life, so I kind of had to think of my OC's background first. When I was done with that I made an attempt at drawing her then had my artist friends fix it up so no one would go blind from looking at it ;p
*Animated games with character generators* (like Skyrim in your example list) have already chosen the character's background for you, and even then, most of it is *made irrelevant*. Almost all of the character's actual development comes after you get started in the game and is based on your decisions. And when you start playing, you often don't know very much, if anything, about the universe you are delving in to.
It doesn't have anything to do with immersion, but simply the style of the game.
This is going to be different from tabletop RPG games in which there is very little emphasis on character looks and more on unique background and the skills that compose them.
- - -
I can also understand where you come from on character generators, but you're an extremely talented full-time artist. Almost all of the rest of the population is not. They do not have the ability to draw their own characters.
I'm a writer, and I have to keep reminding myself sometimes that character creation does not come naturally to most people. Like art, it's an acquired skill. So when you make a character generator available in an easy DIY user-friendly program, people swarm all over it and sometimes create kitchen-sink Mary Sues.
I would totally agree with you, but the problem is that I use pony generators to get a head start, and then customize them from there. I have never been skilled with a pen, pencil, marker (and so on) so this helps my brain storming get started.
That is true. I wish I had thought of that earlier.
Compared to her I draw like dirt
+Skylynxify Reborn People are not actually watching Mads Videos and pay attention and fall into the straw-men fallacy. Happens all of us all the time - that is life. Still - most people would not disagree with Mads actual arguments, but with her statement in the title. Mad could avoid that by using a more positive title like "An OC is more then its look" or "characterization first", but... Mad is intentionally provocating. She seems to enjoy sending people into different directions, bounce around concept and finally to leave the viewer with his own thoughts and views. After all: Critical thinking is a skill that is tricky to learn, but valuable.
(( With all my ocs, I make the backstory, name, personality, siblings, etc, HOURS before I make the design! I could make 10 pages worth of LORE for 99% of my ocs, and I find it sad that others don't do this. ))
Deandra Storie-Belanger me and my friend role play our ocs 😜 yea 14 and acting like a child and have a hundred oc with back stories, names , siblings, cousins , bffs, bf/gf , children , parents , and pets 😊 I have to much free time
still took me a day for the design and a week and a bit 😩 for all the other stuff my oc has a really depressing back story
Deandra Storie-Belanger I do the family and backstory while I draw my oc
Deandra Storie-Belanger I appreciate you. I have about 5 OCs, and they all have fully developed backstories and all inhabit the same universe.
just saying, I paused on "What is your pony name". my name came out to be Sweetie Pie.
I believe a OC should come from the heart. Even if you can't draw very well you should still try. You can find it so fulfilling when you create a OC which shows how you see yourself.
I agree completely with you.
What about when you're creating OCs for a story, and NONE of them resemble you on more than a cursory level? I have over 20 OCs I've created for my 'Gear Series,' and apart from when I describe them in text the only way I can visualize what they might look like (because the Creators don't have the exact builds or colours or cutie marks I want) is through these imprecise Creators. For now, anyway.
Best answear so far buddy ;)
Being a writer can be a great alternative to being a artist when it comes to creating original characters as it allows for the same levels of creativity if not more, and you can always hire an artist to draw your character based on your characters description but you could always imagine the characters portrait in your head.
If possible, I don't want to have to pay to have my OCs drawn, though. I'm cheap.
I paused at 4:10 to see what my name would be. Snuggle Princess. You have got to be kidding me.
I WAS CANDY FASHION WHY?!!!!
Gorgeous Skittles wow.
Apple Happiness
Epic Guy Not that bad.
Pinkamena Diane Pie mine is shinning bloom
The only reason I have ever used pony generator is to visually figure out what I might look like if I was pony, and once I'm happy with the design, I then attempt to draw my version of it. I have done this about 5 times, but I will keep trying.
I use it as a game and sometimes I make my friends!
+Boshwa i use pony generator if im bored. one reason i hardly use it: HAIR ISNT ORIGINAL
+Boshwa Same!
mine is OK I guess... its diamond waves..
I use pony creators sometimes, but i only create ponys on generators so i have an idea of what my character would look like if I can, and when i know how i want it to look i actually draw it. But I dont really use the pony creators for anything other than that
Same here.
Saaaaaaaaammmme
yep same
Same
same i do that for all kinds of creator games and if i don't draw them yet i don't even count them as a oc
Just wanna say that you've helped me develops my character even more and omg I lover her! She's so cute! Ah... I tried not to make her cliche and all too haha.
I disagree with the statement that looks of the character has to show their personality traits. That there has to be a reason why character looks this way. People look like they look, and how their appearance shows their personality? Sure, smiles, color of clothing, but big nose, thin waist or massive eyebrows? It says nothing. Character can look however the creator wants in my opinion, and the only things that needs explanation are scars, clothing, mimics, maybe hairstyles, accessories, cutie marks if talking about ponies but... yeah.
Antagonists don't have to looks scary (why they always do uh...), protagonists can be ugly or scary in some ways, nice OCs can have massive eyebrows and grumpy ones be little, tiny pretty girls wearing pink or whatever.
How a character looks, how he clothes, ho he appeared says a lot about the Character itselfs. Look at it as a Human. Der are Persons out there you just look at and find them unsympathetic. Then you talk to them and find out. Yeah... they are pretty unsympathetic to you. Maybe its not the details like the Eyebrows. But the complete appearance of a character. Our Mind love to categorize and understand the more more easily by using stereotypes. So using that stereotypes make the character more believable than one which look completely is separates from the Character. You can say that is it not good to jugde a book by its cover. But you will do it and you will see how much the character fits with this first thought.
dies200 I have to agree with you, I know that cover really often tells a lot about the book and that stereotypes, when it comes to cartoon OCs are important in making them memorable but... we see it everywhere. And usually when making an OC, the "cover" is much less complicated than what makes a person un/sympathetic in real life. That worries me. It is all quite too simple. Simplicity is important but there is less and less creativity put into it. Especially when it comes to "normal" people creating their pony OCs, not the character designers nor artists whoa re not designers uh... in mlp it is done well, for example Twi, looks both pretty and nerdy, acts like an upper class while being silly, really smart while paranoiac, friendly but easily tired with others, socially awkward but able to help people who can't find themselves in society. But eh, not every character can be complex I guess, I have to deal with it.
Szczurzysława
When it goes to cartoons. Of course, the details you can put into it are a lot fewer. But its a lot easier to work out certain character traits trough the look. Twilight is a really good example. She looks a bit nerdy and she is a bit nerdy. Rainbow Dash looks energetic with the very colorful designs and look how she is. Celestia look very bright, mystic and wise. Look how she is. If the characters look and the characters behavior does differentiate to much the character feels odd and less good than one with the right design. It can be a style choice to make this difference. For example the big, massy barbarian warrior and it overwhelming love for flowers. But it will mostly triggers some laughts and a lot of confused minds.
dies200 Yeah, as I said, mlp is really well done show when it comes to good characters. Same does Steven universe for example, but as I said, when it is done badly it really hurts, because people can rely way too much on appearance and keep forgetting to put some contrasts in OCs.
Yes, but a fictional character is often a symbol for many different things and reflects bits of their personality, so there should be a reason for many aspects of a character's appearance. However, I do see your point. Sometimes the reason for parts of a character's looks could be as simple as "genetics".
Woah girl, okay, I love you and all, but you just wandered into my territory as a game designer so I've gotta say my piece. You may not find character customization fun in games, but other people do, and for different reasons. In Saints Row I treat it like a power fantasy, so I make my character look as close to myself as possible. (Or Goku, because that is hilarious.) When my friend plays Dragon Age, she takes the character generator seriously and uses it to weave her own narrative, much like you do. Another friend plays Skyrim and all she is interested in is making her character look cool, because she is the DRAGONBORN and she is here to wreck everyone's shit! Those games are about YOU, and games like The Legend of Zelda don't have character generators because the story is NOT about you. It's about Link. Shadow of the Colossus is about Wander. Bayonetta is about Bayonetta. It isn't like the decision to not have character customization was whether the developers felt like doing it, it is important to the atmosphere and linear narrative. The very act of having any kind of customized appearance is a carefully crafted mechanic that serves a much larger purpose.
The point is, customization appeals to many people for many reasons, but in the end it is about having fun, and you can't tell someone that what they find fun is wrong because you don't find it fun. Character generating doesn't have to take 30 minutes if you don't want it to. In the end, some people just don't find true creativity fun. Let them have their fun, that's why they bought the game.
Okay, sorry, it's just that I kind of wrote an entire paper on a subject very similar to this so it's kind of close to my heart >.> There is a LOT of psychology behind this kind of thing when it comes to games and interactive design.
Hi, I'm a concept artist for video games, so it is my territory. :P
I don't believe she was bashing on character customization in general, I think she was saying that creating a character on one and claiming it as an oc is unoriginal because it uses pre-made choices like hair and facial features that you didn't design yourself, and, after enough uses, i suppose many people's characters end up looking the same, such as games like animal jam or club penguin.
Just because he or she has the username of a cartoon character or any character at all, doesn't mean they are 10, nor is there anything ethically wrong with that. Ironically most people would assume you to be a little kid with your username and picture, but in reality you can't just assume things. They're just usernames, no big deal.
I agree, if you're on a online video game there has to be diversity to tell which friend is which, even including mobs.
She finds them enjoyable, but hates how they just CALL them ocs after designing the character! They put lack of thought, and only think appearance is important! But you may be right, but she has nothing against generator users!
From the list at 4:10. I would be Shining Belle, a lazy Pegasus, with a dark blue, and maybe a little green or emerald green color scheme. Would mostly lay around with a pen in my mouth trying to think of something to write. My cutie would be a stack of papers that are unfinished writings.
Never get why people have a hard time coming up with back stories. They come pretty easy to me.
i know im late but, thats not really a backstory, just a personality
I figured the back story, imagined the concept, and thought of a name. Then created 5 different OCs with similar characteristics and chose the best one. I got Silver Fang, a batpony stallion that is over 500 years old but doesn't look a day over 25. His name is supposed to be a reference to the phrase "silver tounge" which means that he is a big sweet talker and mare hungry. All of his mates, former and current, equal around 105. This has been over the last 470 years though. He truly cares deeply for his herd members and has "died" several times in their defense. He's loved in every city of equestria and has also lived out side the border a few times. The only one who knows about this is Princess Celestia, but she has kept his secret, due to the fact that he is the Captain of the Lunar guard and recently became a close friend of Princess Luna.
I love the way that your art style works. The rough edges with the line and the shading as well as the colored radiation are all so beautifully brought together in such a unique style that in all honesty is worthy of paintings found within art museums. Great props to you for how well you’ve developed your style
I love the character generator in video games, myself.
I understand why you hate them, but I personally absolutely love them.
I love creating designs of characters.
4:13
I am Butterfly Princess. Um, okay. I will rename myself Agitha, the Princess of Bugs now.
Every Alicorn ever xD
Will you have link find you bugs? Lol
Aloha Lyon Yes. And I will have a ball and only bugs with a certain sheen are invited. And they all need a partner.
Terezi Pyrope Oh man, I know how you feel. Mine came up as Cotton Princess. XD
THE IRONY OF THE TIME AND YOUR NAME IS OUTSTANDING
I actually have one pony oc her name is Scotty why is her name Scotty you ask? Well I will say: One day in the golden green fields in Scotland a fawn was born and that morning her parents had found a clover and wished that their baby was special that afternoon she was born with bright green eyes as green as the clover her parents had found she stood up wobbly but confident and walked at that moment her parents realized they should call her Scotty Miracle she was surely a Scotland miracle indeed...
I find the major issues with generators is how limiting they are. They can't read my mind with what I want, and they don't have what I need when making my pony. I LIKE getting creative and I'll admit I'm not the best pony artist, so I sometimes go to generators for fun but often find myself disappointed because of the lack of true variety. At least that's just my opinion.
Tchaikovsky's nutcracker playing in the backround had me dancing in the kitchen. It made me happy
I clicked the link to see your price list. I got this:
Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist.
Make sure that you have the correct URL and that the owner of the file hasn't deleted it.
+Fetch26291 mad--munchkin.deviantart.com/art/Commission-Price-List-539225612
Now, you are a way to make an OC!
+Mad Munchkin ... is that Metallica I hear in the background?! OuO
+Mad Munchkin Hey i'm drawing my own OC right now I have three others they are all superheros!
+Mad Munchkin It might be a good idea to create a redirection link (for example, through bitly) and post that on your videos. You can always update the bitly link, which would be a lot easier than updating all relevant descriptions.
5:07 if you are going to read this, It may take a while. I hate that people that make O.C.'s to sell! Goddamn it! Its vulgar and uncreative! The person who makes it may put effort and great thought into what ever pony, zebra, Pegasus, or unicorn, but there *SELLING* them to people that don't have any imagination or just don't care! I CARE! IF YOUR APART OF HIS FANDOM YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN FUCKING WORK! IN REAL LIFE THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IS TO GET PAST SCHOOL AND SURE AS HELL YOU CAN'T BUY YOUR WAY AROUND WORK! YOU MUST DO IT YOURSELF! SO WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK BEING ACCEPTED INTO THIS FANDOM WOULD BE SO EASY! YOU CAN'T SHOW UP IN AND PRETEND YOU HAD THE GREAT IDEA OF WHATEVER OC YOUR SHOWBOATING AROUND! I HATE ANYONE WHO COPIES ANYTHING! AND THIS IS BASICALLY PAYING SOMEONE NOT TO GET ANGRY THAT YOUR TAKING THEIR IDEAS!!! If anyone is reading this thank you for using your time to read my comment.
I completely agree...and see no point in investing in something that is stolen...
This is why we copyright guys.
(says to the people who copies someone's work and take credit)
Yes! :D
yepsadoddel
such agree
I do agree with your points, however some people use the pony generator because they lack the skills,abilities, and talent to draw their OC without it looking like a scribble.
You make good point. I first used the pony maker when my friend showed it me but know with practise I'm drawing the main characters hopefully leading to ending in the result of making my own proper oc.
Holly Martin She actually talks about that ^^' She talks about it more in the original video though. But no one really lacks anything. With a little bit of elbow grease and practice, you can draw anything you want to. I started out with scribbles myself, and now I'm better at realistic drawing (in some angles) than anime or cartoony drawing. But I wouldn't have gotten where I am without actually working to achieve it. And if you're too lazy to learn and do it yourself, there are always though on dA and other places who will draw the character for free. Or even if you have a friend who can draw. All in all, I don't mind the generator, it's given me some great ideas, but it's super limited and when I make something I'm not too happy with the outcome because I don't have my own creative spin on it. My OC in my avatar was originally made with the generator, but I eventually drew her because I disliked the noncreative design on the generator. But yeah, generator is great for ideas, but you can actually draw what you picture if you practice, learn bone and joint limitations (which could just be studying a picture of anatomy, not actually learning by name every bone), and use references, you'll be golden. You'll also have more satisfaction with the end product.
So true ;P
Took me years to realize that theres absolutely nothing wrong with people wanting to use a pony generator character and absolutely nothing wrong with not having a backstory for your oc ❤
Honestly, I need to see my OCs to make back stories, so when I draw anything, it usually becomes an OC, and same goes for genoraters...
Comparing the Pony Generators or Dressup doll games to Video Games is apples and oranges. Heck Dragon Age the race you choose alters your backstory, how certain characters interact with you, and alters your romance options (if you use those). I agree with you on people spending too much time on appearance of a character because that's honestly the least important aspect of character creation. Unless your character has a handicap or some kind of alteration that they would remember having then it's not integral that their backstory and appearance collide outside of genetics especially in MLP when the characters end up looking nothing like their parents. Heck you could have two earth ponies giving birth to a unicorn because potatoes since that's canon.
In the shows defense, Mr and Mrs Cake had unicorns and pegasi in their family, so they can get away with it.
PikaMewTheGreat That wasn't the point I was making but yeah.
Hi mad, you have another subscriber on the way! And I love that you speak your mind
No one should keep you from it
Did i hear some metallica in the music :D
Love the fact you had Apocalyptica in there for background music. Your work is quite inspiring, thanks for all the work you do.
Holy moly, as a relatively new member of the fandom, everything that this video expresses is insanely well worded and articulate and has actually inspired me to put even more effort into creating my OC. So thank you Munchkin.
wait theres a pony generator? what the fuck kind of hole have I been living in?
+KingdomKinz A very deep one I presume. That has been a thing for years now.
e.e I'm disapointed in myself
+LinkNinjaMaster what's the link for the generator
+TrueFireFlame Write on google "pony generator". But is better you draw. At least with drawing you have more fun in colouring!
+TheSilverShinx Yes, you can go on Google and look up "pony generator".
Holy crap, is that a version of Metallica's "One" in the background there?
Could you tell me who made it so I can look it up?
Apocalyptica
Thank you
4:10
Apparently...my name is...
Rainbow Garden...
huh...well then.
Emerald_Erin mine is twilight buns ...... why
Sweetie Bloom.
Sounds like a ship name. ~Jasmine
Mine is the same. XD
Emerald_Erin Mine is Cotton Pie! 😂
mine is Sweetie Luck
2:32 I really liked that game. Wonder why it got took down?
You know, in games like Skyrim the character customization screen is actually needed. Each race has perks to it so when you create the character you know the perks as well as the weaknesses, also the fact that they want you to be intrigued too so they add character customization and hope you keep playing because it's a tough game.
PureMorganic I think she is more at odds with the purely cosmetic customization, that has no effect on the game.
Plus name also isn't that important. I had some characters with full back story, personality, looks, what they like and dislike, their family and connections with other characters of mine and also with the environment, their purpose in the plot... but name really didn't come to my mind at this time so I asked if ppl knew some nice ones, and then I just chose one from many, which I liked and could be chosen for this character in the certain era they live in.
Ofc it's just my opinion uvu
its more of an metaphor for people doesn't put a single though into their character before creating it.
dies200 Yeah I guess, but she repeats it a lot during this and previous vid, so I wanted to say that there are better examples what characters can lack without thinking about them. Because names can also be way too much simplified just as appearance and become just the next stereotype or be matching in silly way, even a little bit too much (pinkie pie, fluttershy, Goldfinger...goodie goodie good)
for me it's just that why would you skip the naming part? it's alot of times verry hard to imagine one, bu it's fun (at-least for me ) and the name of you're character is like describing him/her in one word
Victoria Meira I agree! But I also have over 300 developed OCs and some years ago it sometimes was hard for me to find one, especially that lot of my characters live in and stuff, so naming one "Stacy" was not a thing I wanted to do xD Now I am much more in touch with more "unusual" names which still doesn't seem too odd so this problem disappeared~
Skylynxify Reborn I totally agree~ so when someone create a pony OC they should match the universe of mlp itself. But when it comes to characters in general, name isn't that straight forward description of them. It is important to check the meaning to not name an OC in the wrong name because of lack of the knowledge, also it can be used for comedic purposes (I have an OC named Rowena with coal-black hair, and her name means "the one with light hair" so yeah, I'm sooooo creative in this matter that noooo one can beaaat me. But the fact she isn't named in English or my foreign language makes her still kinda "normal").
And even in mlp, Cheerilee comes from cheering I guess, and what she does is teaching and making their students bloom.
I prefer to hand draw my characters
+BookHorse Copyright SaMEEE
DamaOscuraDeTodos pshhh who needs artistic talent when you can just... vomit rainbows on a page, draw a stick figure sideways and there ya go. You have a design.
I don't know how I came across your videos, because I am not a fan of MLP and don't seek it out. But I have watched a ton of your videos now because I think that you have many valid points that don't just pertain to MLP. Just in character creation in general.
Though I would say that it isn't always bad to start with how the character looks first and then build your story around it. As long as you build your story. Since you brought up the character creator in Skyrim, I'll use that as an example. I have made many characters with skyrim. I'm more interested in making characters in it now instead of playing the game because I've beaten the game 7 or 8 times. And generally when it comes to that, I start with how they look first. Then as a play around in the game as that character, and interact with other characters, I start to get a feel for how the character would actually react if I had more options, and then sometimes tweak them physically to fit who they are a little once I have a good idea for who they are.
So while I do agree with you that the look of your character shouldn't be the most important. I do feel that sometimes that can be a decent start to your character, as long as you develop them. And don't start throwing them around the internet claiming they're your character when they're pretty much just an empty exo-skeleton
cRYING
i am crying this is beautiful
actually, I was making an OC while doing this,, and the style completely changed when you told me these things :'')
While I can't say I've run into the problems you've mentioned (I lay out the backstories and personalities of all my OCs BEFORE I come of with a look for them), I can certainly see where you're coming from. After all, how a character looks means zip in a narrative context versus a visual one.
The hard part is getting the community to remember that rule. I honestly don't think there is much we can to change that though- you can lead a pony to water but you can't make them drink, after all. You brought this subject to light, though, and I appreciate that. :)
If I made a Pony Backstory Generator, would it piss you off? :p
Why don't you make one and see what happens?
Lol
10 years old? HAHAHAHA you make me laugh. Maybe when you stop copying and pasting the same reply on every comment I'll take you seriously (not like will)
TazeTSchnitzel that would be hilarious!
I hat when people accuse me of copying fluttershy! I look notrhing like her! I'm a blank flank, short hair and a cream coat! NOT FLUTTERSHY!!! and I have a personality! ive had my oc for 3 years, and I'm not changing her
+SwiftWindKC “CosmicKitty” Johnson If that's your OC in the thumbnail there, then...
I'm sorry, but that does look a lot like Fluttershy......a LOT.
You're not Fluttershy!!
You're Fluttershy as an alicorn.
You're welcome.
+SwiftWindKC “CosmicKitty” Johnson Well Fluttershy is amazing even though your not copying her :P
flutters is my fav
I have a oc based if flutters and they dont care
im not trying to be rude but your intro is kinda tacky :T im not trying to be rude!
This video is over a year old. I don't even use intros in mu new videos anymore...
get rekt
oh :P that makes since!
However, it's hard to knock those bagpipes.
I hate you as much as you hate... everything really.
what is the name of the music used in the intro? thats exactly my type of music. :D
I always start with a bio of what my characters are like so that the people I share it with will have a reference should they ever decide to do a story about said characters. My MLP character Storyteller has several aspects of myself in him, he's a pony who likes to write and he is a Earth stallion who has some unicorn abilities (because of his heritage) and has a cutie mark that is connected to his abilities to tell stories and his writing skills, he communicates expressively via writing and through his thoughts, he isn't mute or anything...he is just socially awkward and doesn't like the sound of his own voice.
Do you hate when people make OCs based on theirselves? I made my OC based on me...
no she actually likes it when you create the pony after yourself
Five Nights At Elex's okay. This video just made it seem like OCs without backgrounds
yeah
random question: do you have DeviantArt
Five Nights At Elex's
Actually, I do!
It's Derpy900
epic!
I'm Firelight5382
i will never get sick of that accent
People have called you an elitist snob? Some people seriously need to grow up...
Yup. And I know who they are.
i can see where your stand point is and i love it!! i am an artist myself and have had quite allot (more then anyone can think of) people asking me to draw their oc and when i ask "why do they have this weapon" or "how did they get this [insert horrible injury]" they always say cause its cool or they dont know. but also for the selling oc thing.....i have no clue what that is for
I _love_ this video! I use character generators to help me get a visual reference for what the character will look like, so that I don't have to sketch it out without knowing fully what I want their design to be. I think this is one of the things that make it fine to use a generator, as long as you don't post it.
Pony creator is generic and very cookie cutter...Use it when ur too lazy to actually try to make anything original xD
I tried to make an OC in it based off of my imagination, I had the story down and everything. It just didn't cut it. I drew it on paper the way I wanted too, it looked pretty good!
Lesson here?
Don't use it for designs.
If you use the generator to create sellable OCs that's messed up! But I only use generators as games cause that's all I see in them
I love your accent.
This has really made me think twice about oc design. I really need to put more thought into character development, thank you for changing my perspective on this, Maddie.
I love this video. It's like someone really goes into art and really cares on more than appearance. :)
It's important for me to be able to connect with my character when I'm playing an RPG. I connect on a visual level and thus having a lot of sliders and options for my character is important to me. However, I can definitely see what your saying about aesthetics being blown so out of proportion that they become more important than the back story. And when it comes to characters the back story is always more important.
I have a problem where I come up with a backstory for a character, design it, come up with a personality, but then have no idea what to call it (not in that exact order)
i love how passionate you are about having people CREATE rather than Mass Produce hollow characters. Thank you for putting it so eloquently.
I left the mlp fandom for a while, but I’ve recently came back. I have to say that I understand what you mean about the trading thing, but what is great about it is that they can inspire you with the variety of colors and design ideas. I get them to develop a story like with my earth pony character Amethyst Glory, a beautiful girl who is painfully shy.
I only use pony generators to see my OC in a different style. As my own style doesn't really look like the show. But along time ago I made a character called ashy with a pony generator. I quickly realized when trying to figure out a back story for ashy, IT MADE NO SENSE! I have since then learned this is not the way to make OCs. So many great points in this video. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for making this video, because my OC originally was from the generator, but after watching this I realized how much of a waste my creativity was being, and I was too lazy to draw my own, so I drew and digitalized my character after seeing this
Also my OC has certain colors because GENETICS. I wrote a backstory and have her parents. She has black striped hair from spilling ink on herself and is blind in one eye because genetics.
I like pony generators because I'm obsessed with things being randomly generated. But I never use the random ones for OCs, I just like looking.
Whenever I make OCs they're usually for fanfictions so I usually construct there looks and personality all at the same time. For example I have a Voltron OC who while I was drawing him I put together his backstory to fit up with cannon aspects of the show a bit. He's nowhere near to being completed but I do have the basics of his personality and backstory set up, the idea that someone would create an OC without a backstory is odd and it seems insane to give away or sell OCs
I hadn't actually heard of the pony generator until your first video, and I admit that I immediately went and tried it in an attempt to make myself as a pony. While I didn't have to worry about character building, as I am already a whole person, I really got what you meant about it not having much individuality. So I looked at pony me, and said "being still, with all my limbs on the ground? That's not me". And it wasn't until I manipulated the body to show her dancing with abandon, that I saw personality in it. Thanks for your insight!
2:29 I used to play it all the time. What's it called again? I just want to know
as a person who's addicted to character generators, character design on paper, and concept art, I am ok with your opinion. However I think the most important things about the character is "Personality and back story". I like to write stories myself, so that helps too. But I sell characters for fun, ok? Nothing wrong with that. Either way you earned a sub.
I use to write and make up characters of my own in short stories, and while my art isn't that great I would draw them how I imagined them, and usually it came out just how I liked it. This is one of the reasons why when I look at an rpg with character creator I look into how detailed the control is, so I can try applying my own characters into it. The most successful one in terms of character customization has been Champions Online, which I've spent sometimes a few hours putting together my characters design for.
Here's the thing: for my story, The Alpha Generations, all I had was a couple screenshots of wolves created in a wolf designer game. I ended up writing a story based on them, but I decided to make improvements. I changed the story, their designs, and roles so often that those Wolf Maker OCs are just ancient history.
I love creating backstories for my OC's as much as i love writing fanfics and roleplaying with my characters it opens more options for my fantasy whenever i create a character in game or just an OC i create a backstory and name first before the character.I also absolutely love your art.
2:29 can someone tell me what that game is??? It was a huge part of my childhood (I'm still a kid but I'm talking about when I was really young) and I've been trying to find the game for a long time but with no success.
You sound like someone I'd really get along with and have a fun time discussing things with. I've been a shut in most of my life and only in the last 3 years of my life opened up more to the world. I find the ideas and opinions of others to be fascinating. I'm more quite during school or any big social event, but get me on a topic that I know a bit about and I'll probably talk for hours. Anyway my real point in commenting is to agree that the generators should be used to help with the look of the characters and that a back story and thought should be put into an oc. Hope you get lots more attention and commitions for your art! Have a good day!!
If you did any of the things you just said in your video about enjoying discussing the meaning behind a picture, you'll understand that people do give interesting backgrounds to their characters, and people who make large groups of characters give them different personality traits and often use them together in one story. If people find they need to use a generator to give an appearance to something that's not because they aren't creative. Many generators allow you to be creative in your own way but choosing colour schemes or giving you many combinations of things that you can choose to go together.
Oh, and I also enjoy thinking about the type of character I want to make.
Like "I wanna make a villain type character" so I'll make a type of villain and I'll edit the design a little bit to fit my taste better.
I refer to not MLP, but other generators, cause I don't like MLP much myself.
I enjoy hearing your side of things, though, which is why I watch you.
I made an OC awhile back with this. Her name's Shade, and she is a sort of alicorn, but with robotic wings, and limited magic due to a bolt in her horn.Technically she was a born unicorn, but she does have wings. I have a backstory based off of a fanfic, and put alot of thought into her personality. Really, she's more of a character than an OC. I think I'm pretty proud of Shade.
what I do with a generator is that I try and revolve around a theme then try and make a backstory for it, but I don't pick ones I think "look cool". the theme is something that I feel resembles myself in a way, with a a general backstory in mind, which I then build on based off what I'm thinking or looking at to make it original. I do this not only with generators, but other things like roleplaying games. I do not mean anything by this comment other than to inspire people to get ideas that aren't mary sues or recolors.
I used a pony generator to make a sort of draft for my OC representing me, then I practiced drawing ponies and began to add details to my mare. I tried to flesh out her character slowly.
I used to create with the generator to make smaller characters, this included name + story in description. They even incorporated into each other
toke me awhile to realize that mettalicas "one" is playing in the back round nice touch
Mad Munchkin, I agree 100%! I've always had trouble making characters or even drawing them because I have an image of what I want based off of their personality and what I want them to do, I focus on WHO they are first, then what they look like, it's so nice and inspiring to hear you say this! S\Everyone CAN draw and earn money, it just takes a little work and effort!
I just want to ask how you feel about if me or my friends or anyone made a background that was reasonable and had a good back story but could have their look something like "she changed her hair to look more like ______ because she was partly _____" or ....wait better question what would you think of some one who had every thing planed and good but had no idea what the would look like?
8:40 may i find this picture please? (fma on the right)
I write page, after page, after page, working on an OC then sometimes I don't even get around to drawing it. Even though I know perfectly well and good on how to draw. The reason i do this is because like reading a book the character can be different in anyone's mind. And with this i love because the way even though i give a description anything could be different. I love the way you speak your mind and don't care about what others think, even though when you do this you get told you are insensitive and inconsiderate. I love the way you spoke out about this topic and still put a different spin on it. That is why I like to watch your videos, they are enjoyable to watch as well as bring up good arguments.
I can understand this entirely and appreciate this video. good job!
Please tell me I wasn't the only one singing along to The Nutcracker in the background
hmm. thinking of saving up for an art print, you're really good Maddy!
But what if I make the look with their base personality in mind? like "I'm gonna make a queen bee type character"?
4:16 snuggle trumpet?!?
At 4:13 i got Berry Trumpet...So i'm a musician playing Trumpet with a berry symbol on it ? Or something like that? I still prefer my OC's name "Midnight Frost" thought.
+Hungry Dino Victim
It's also TOTALLY not inappropriate when the two words are put together!
You know, moonshine? The illegal alcoholic beverage?
You are one of my biggest inspirations and I have taken your criticism, opinions and discussions to heart about art and OC's and characters. I used to love the Pony Generator myself, but I as well have grown frustrated by everyone like you making 'original characters' by already existing designs. I love when people use the Pony Generator but do a Before and After picture, because I have seen incredible and amazing new designs and concepts and ultimately original characters that don't look at all like the Pony Creator they were inspired by luckily. I made my pony Sapphire Gemstone when the first version came out before it was deleted, I was unsatisfied with any one the manes and tails and made the pony 'naked' and drew on and colored my characters Mane and Tail itself. It was fine... for 2011, but now it's my most popular and most faved picture in my entire Gallery ( Which is over 18,000 views and 500 favorites), which is now embarrassing so due to recent creativity I decided to update the picture with a Pony Generator (with drawn Mane and Tail) VS Currently and drawn by myself. I hope with showing the updated and recent version and design of my character that more people will see that I have no need of the Pony Generator (Only used it once for this picture) and that I can draw show accurate pictures. www.deviantart.com/maskedsugargirl/art/MLP-OC-Sapphire-Gemstone-Digital-Old-vs-New-210435754 I love your motto 'Stay Creative' and I always try to uphold that.
I've sometimes used generators, because I can't draw, so I can't visualise my characters properly.
4:55 GUSTY and SHADY! Omg it's Gusty and Shady from the old MLP! :D
BTW I love your videos. xP
Usually whenever Im drawing a new character, I get a bond. I get ideas for a story or personality traits whenever I see a character. It upsets me when nobody does this with their own ocs, I'm not exactly in the mlp fandom but I still kinda like the lore. And ocs. While watching this video I came up with a detailed mlp character. She plays violin, and she's gentle, she has a cute smile, and she likes to care for others and give advice. But she can be really sensitive and she has a good temper. She has too much generosity usually, but she works on the streets playing her violin to raise up for things. She's not poor, but she likes the progress and the job of playing music.
I always make sure every character I make, even if it's just a doodle on my sketch book, has some kind of backstory even if it's simple.
I can draw, but I don't know how to get it on to my computer.
Phone or camera?
You can use what is called a scanner.
thx
paint? with a mouse or a draw... a draw... this draw tabble .-.
You can also buy a drawing tablet if you want to make digital art.
For me the issue on drawing ocs is that I have a hard time drawing well on the computer...
I know this is an old video but I wanted to ask what your opinion is on actually DRAWING your own adoptable character designs? I used to do it at one point because I kept having design ideas but knew I would never actually /use/ most of them, and would sell them to people who possibly could. A lot of my customers were writers in the MLP fandom who would see the character designs and would think of backstories for them and would actually use them in their writing, and would buy the design so that they could use it, and occasionally commission artwork of scenes from their writing from other artists. It was really nice seeing people actually use the characters I designed, and it felt rewarding. Honestly though a lot of the adoptable scene is literally just people making those designs on the generator and then selling them and trading them and that's part of why I stopped in the end. I enjoyed making designs and seeing people use them, but then I always feared that someone who would treat these characters like a tradeable card would end up buying one from me and doing just that :