Analysis of Facial Feature Design for 3D Animation Characters

The facial features of animation characters convey information about the characters to audiences and make the characters more believable. Using multidimensional scaling, this study analyzed the differences in the facial features of 332 three-dimensional characters from the top-100 grossing animation films at the international box office. We also explored whether top character designers follow implicit design principles that vary with the gender, age, and role of the character. The study results indicate that (1) face aspect ratio, (2) nose length, and (3) distance from mouth corner to face edge are three crucial facial features in character design. The results of this study offer concrete suggestions for character design to help designers make suitable adjustments to the facial features of characters.