Chapter 2: Deliverable Types

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Creature Concept Deliverables

Silhouettes · Turnarounds · Callouts · Gait / Flight Sheets · Paintovers

Creature concept art becomes real for the rest of the team through deliverables—the specific images, sheets, and notes you hand off so others can build, rig, animate, market, and balance your designs.

For creature concept artists, especially those crossing between indie and AAA, and between the concepting side and production side, understanding deliverable types is as important as drawing skill. Each deliverable type solves a different problem and serves different collaborators.

This article will walk through the main creature deliverables:

  • Silhouette sheets
  • Turnarounds
  • Callout sheets
  • Gait / flight / motion sheets
  • Paintovers (blockouts, 3D, in-engine)

We’ll look at what each one does, how they differ in indie vs AAA, and how both concepting-side and production-side creature artists can use them to strengthen their collaboration map.

1. Deliverables as Contracts Between Teams

A creature concept deliverable is more than a pretty image. It’s a visual contract:

  • It says: “This is what we’re making.”
  • It encodes: “This is how it should behave and be built.”
  • It reassures: “Everyone can proceed without guessing.”

In small indie teams, you often pack a lot of information into a few dense sheets. In AAA, the information is usually split into specialized deliverables for modeling, rigging, animation, VFX, UI, and marketing.

Concepting-side creature artists focus on exploratory and selection-focused deliverables—silhouettes, variants, mood pieces. Production-side artists focus on clarity and implementation—turnarounds, callouts, paintovers that solve real engine problems.

Strong creature concept artists learn to move fluently between both worlds.

2. Silhouettes: Reading the Creature at a Glance

2.1 What Silhouette Deliverables Solve

Silhouettes answer the question:

“Can players (and designers) instantly understand this creature’s role and presence?”

Silhouette sheets are used to:

  • Explore body plans quickly (quadruped vs biped vs serpentine vs insectoid).
  • Establish role clarity (tank, agile striker, caster, swarm, support).
  • Check readability at distance and in motion.
  • Compare related creatures in a faction or biome lineup.

Silhouettes are especially vital early on, before anyone invests hours in detail and rendering. They let you test dozens of ideas cheaply.

2.2 Typical Silhouette Deliverable Formats

Common formats for creature silhouettes include:

  • Silhouette banks – Many small, flat silhouettes on a page.
  • A/B/C sets – 3–6 focused variations pushing different ideas (bulk, limb count, head placements, etc.).
  • Role lineups – Crunched silhouettes showing grunt, elite, boss, and support creatures together.
  • Biomelineups – Multiple species in one biome to check diversity and cohesion.

For each silhouette, you can add subtle internal value hints (eyes, mouth, core shapes) but avoid over-detailing. The goal is still read and shape, not rendering.

2.3 Indie vs AAA, Concepting vs Production

Indie:

  • Silhouette sheets might also carry quick notes or arrows: “Tail stinger telegraphs poison,” “Weak point on belly.”
  • One silhouette page could feed design discussions, marketing, and future variants.
  • You may revisit silhouettes during production to find new variants without redoing everything from scratch.

AAA:

  • You’ll often produce multiple rounds: loose exploration silhouettes, then refined silhouettes once pillars are established.
  • Silhouettes might be part of a formal pitch deck for a creature class or faction.
  • Production-side, silhouettes get revisited to check rig/animation issues: does a new attack pose ruin the read? Do added accessories clutter the shape?

Concepting-side creature artists lean heavily on silhouettes to set the visual language. Production-side artists use silhouettes to protect readability as scope and detail increase.

3. Turnarounds: The Build Blueprint

3.1 What Turnarounds Solve

Turnarounds answer:

“How do we accurately build this creature in 3D from all necessary angles?”

They are the primary blueprint for modeling and sculpting. Turnarounds reduce guesswork by showing the creature:

  • Front view
  • Side view (often left, but doesn’t matter as long as consistent)
  • Back view
  • Top view (when needed, especially for flyers, long backs, or unusual body plans)

Turnarounds ensure that:

  • Proportions are consistent.
  • Volumes can be understood in three dimensions.
  • Asymmetrical details (scars, gear, mutations) are clearly tracked.

3.2 Good Practices for Creature Turnarounds

  • Use clean linework and clear shapes; avoid painterly noise.
  • Align key landmarks across views: eyes, joints, major armor edges, wing bases.
  • Keep centerline and any symmetry markers visible.
  • Use light value or color coding to separate materials (skin, bone, armor, tech, cloth).

Optional but powerful additions:

  • Small pose thumbnails on the same sheet to remind the modeler how this creature “feels” in motion.
  • Callout notes for tricky forms like compound joints, hinged armor plates, multi-part jaws.

3.3 Indie vs AAA, Concepting vs Production

Indie:

  • Turnarounds may be simplified, sometimes just a 3/4 plus front if the team is comfortable improvising.
  • One turnaround may cover multiple variants (e.g., base creature plus attachments or color-coded armor layers).
  • The concept artist might also be the 3D artist, so the turnaround becomes more of a personal guide than a strict contract.

AAA:

  • Turnarounds are more formal, often reviewed by the creature lead and model lead.
  • You might produce separate turnarounds for different forms: base creature, armored version, mutated version.
  • Production-side concept artists refine turnarounds based on feedback from rigging and animation about deform issues.

For concepting-side artists, turnarounds mark the moment a design is locked for build. For production-side artists, turnarounds are often revised to accommodate real technical constraints.

4. Callout Sheets: Explaining the Details

4.1 What Callouts Solve

Callout sheets answer:

“What exactly is happening in these complex areas, materials, and mechanics?”

They zoom in on the parts of the creature that aren’t self-explanatory:

  • Multi-layered armor and clothing.
  • Complex facial structures, mandibles, or eye arrangements.
  • Mechanical implants, energy cores, breathing apparatus.
  • FX sources: glands, crystals, runes, vents, ports.

Callouts guide modelers, texture artists, riggers, VFX, and audio. They prevent misinterpretation and let specialists make confident decisions.

4.2 Types of Callout Sheets

Common callout types for creatures:

  • Material callouts – Swatches and notes: “chitin, semi-gloss,” “worn steel, rough edge,” “translucent membrane.”
  • FX hook callouts – Arrows and notes: “fire breath origin,” “rune pulses when enraged,” “spores emit from here.”
  • Construction callouts – Exploded or x-ray views: showing armor plates, underlying anatomy, harness straps.
  • Functional callouts – How jaws open, how wing digits fold, how tentacles coil and grip.

Visually, callout sheets often feature:

  • A main 3/4 render or line drawing of the creature.
  • Multiple zoomed-in boxes with annotations.
  • Overlay sketches showing motion or layering.

4.3 Indie vs AAA, Concepting vs Production

Indie:

  • Callouts might be merged into a single multi-purpose sheet: 3/4 view + a handful of zoom-ins and notes.
  • You may favor handwritten annotations and rapid overlays to move fast.
  • One callout sheet often serves modeling, VFX, and marketing simultaneously.

AAA:

  • Callouts can be split into specialized sheets: materials, FX, rigging, “damage states.”
  • Outsourcing teams often depend on meticulously clear callouts for consistency.
  • Production-side artists frequently create follow-up callout sheets to fix in-engine issues (“please simplify spines here,” “remove extra layering at this joint”).

Concepting-side artists use callouts to capture the original intent. Production-side artists use callouts to translate that intent into something buildable and stable.

5. Gait / Flight / Motion Sheets: Designing How the Creature Moves

5.1 What Motion Sheets Solve

Motion sheets answer:

“How does this creature move, and what does it feel like in motion?”

They guide animation by showing:

  • The core locomotion cycle (walk, run, sprint, flight, swim, crawl, slither).
  • Weight distribution and contact points.
  • How secondary elements behave (wings, tails, tendrils, feathers, membranes, armor).

These sheets are especially vital for:

  • Non-bipedal creatures (quadrupeds, hexapods, serpents, arthropods).
  • Flyers (wings, fins, propulsion systems, levitation cues).
  • Creatures with non-standard limb arrangements or constraints.

5.2 Types of Motion Deliverables

  • Gait cycle sheets – Sequential poses (e.g., 6–8 frames) showing a full walk or run cycle.
  • Flight cycle sheets – Key upstroke/downstroke positions, gliding poses, banking.
  • Behavior sheets – Short sequences of key actions: pounce, burrow, perch, roar, cast spell.
  • Silhouette motion tests – The creature in pure black across a move to check readability.

You don’t need to animate fully; even rough poses with good proportion and gesture give animators a powerful starting point.

5.3 Indie vs AAA, Concepting vs Production

Indie:

  • Motion sheets might be quick and sketchy, done during or after the main design.
  • A single page might include gait, attack, and death hints.
  • Sometimes you’ll draw over in-engine screenshots or graybox levels to see how movement fits the environment.

AAA:

  • Motion sheets can be requested by the animation or rigging lead for complex creatures.
  • Creatures with shared rigs may only need motion sheets for the base skeleton.
  • Production-side artists often create motion sheets reactively: when animators struggle or when readability issues appear in playtests.

For concepting-side artists, motion sheets help ensure your design makes physical and emotional sense. For production-side artists, they help align animation with readability and gameplay telegraphs.

6. Paintovers: Fixing and Clarifying in Context

6.1 What Paintovers Solve

Paintovers answer:

“How do we bring the creature back on target once it’s in 3D or in-engine?”

They are one of the most powerful tools for production-side creature concept artists because they let you:

  • Correct proportions and silhouette issues after seeing the model.
  • Clarify materials and lighting in the actual environment.
  • Adjust FX placement and intensity based on camera and gameplay.

Paintovers can be done on:

  • 3D blockouts or early sculpts.
  • Screenshots from engine (in-game camera).
  • Marketing frames from cinematics or key art renders.

6.2 Types of Creature Paintovers

  • Blockout paintovers – Early corrections directly over grey meshes; big shape changes.
  • Material and lighting paintovers – Clarifying how forms read in game lighting, rebalancing contrast.
  • FX paintovers – Indicating VFX, glow, particles, and emissive patterns.
  • Damage / variant paintovers – Showing armor break, elemental variants, or evolutions.

Paintovers often sit somewhere between “concept” and “feedback”: they are art and documentation in one.

6.3 Indie vs AAA, Concepting vs Production

Indie:

  • Paintovers may happen constantly and informally: you grab a screenshot, paint on top, post it in chat, and the modeler adjusts.
  • They substitute for more formal doc, especially when time is tight.
  • A paintover might simultaneously suggest animation tweaks, environment lighting, and VFX.

AAA:

  • Paintovers might be part of structured review sessions with art direction.
  • They are often archived as part of documentation for outsourcing.
  • Production-side artists may be dedicated to model and shot paintovers for multiple teams.

Concepting-side artists use paintovers occasionally, especially when reviewing outsourced or experimental 3D. Production-side artists rely on paintovers to keep the design coherent under real-world constraints.

7. Mapping Deliverables to the Collaboration Map

Each deliverable type connects to specific collaborators. Seeing this clearly helps you design targeted sheets instead of generic images.

7.1 Silhouettes

  • Primary audience: Game design, art direction, creature leads.
  • Secondary audience: Marketing, UI (for role icons), narrative.

Silhouettes ensure role clarity, style consistency, and fantasy read before anyone commits to full builds.

7.2 Turnarounds

  • Primary audience: Modeling, rigging.
  • Secondary audience: Animation, texture artists.

Turnarounds are the build contract: they keep the model grounded in the agreed proportions and asymmetries.

7.3 Callout Sheets

  • Primary audience: Modeling, texturing, VFX.
  • Secondary audience: Audio, narrative, marketing.

Callouts support accuracy and intent at the detail level.

7.4 Gait / Flight / Motion Sheets

  • Primary audience: Animation, rigging.
  • Secondary audience: Design (for telegraphs), audio (for timing and feel).

Motion sheets ensure the creature’s movement matches the fantasy and gameplay.

7.5 Paintovers

  • Primary audience: Modeling, animation, VFX, lighting.
  • Secondary audience: Marketing, UI (when based on in-engine shots).

Paintovers are course-correction tools, aligning the final in-game creature with the original design goals.

8. Indie vs AAA: Packaging Deliverables

The content of the deliverables is similar across indie and AAA. What changes is how they’re packaged and how many there are.

8.1 Indie Packaging

In indie, you often:

  • Combine multiple deliverables onto a single or a few dense sheets.
    • Example: a 3/4 view, a mini turnaround block, a few callouts, and motion thumbnails on one page.
  • Use quick, sketchy styles to keep iteration fast.
  • Communicate directly with the person using your sheet—less need for hyper-formality.

Your job is to get the game made with minimal friction, not to produce gallery pieces of documentation.

8.2 AAA Packaging

In AAA, you often:

  • Split deliverables into separate, focused documents to avoid overload.
    • A silhouette exploration sheet.
    • A clean turnaround sheet.
    • A dedicated materials/callouts sheet.
    • A motion sheet requested by animation.
    • Multiple paintover passes during production.
  • Follow studio documentation templates (naming conventions, logo, project labels).
  • Design deliverables to be understood by outsourcing partners who never sit in your daily stand-ups.

Your job is to maintain consistency at scale, across many people, time zones, and SKUs.

9. Concepting-Side vs Production-Side: How Deliverables Shift

The same deliverable types appear at both ends of the pipeline, but with different emphases.

9.1 Concepting-Side Creature Artists

Focus on:

  • Exploratory silhouettes to explore tone and role.
  • Rough turnarounds to test body plans.
  • High-level callouts for motif and IP identity.
  • Fantasy-centric motion sketches for key behaviors.
  • Occasional paintovers to sync early 3D explorations.

Your deliverables answer the questions:

  • “What kind of creature is this?”
  • “Does it fit the game’s tone, fantasy, and mechanics?”

9.2 Production-Side Creature Artists

Focus on:

  • Refined silhouettes to protect readability as detail increases.
  • Final turnarounds for modeling and variant forms.
  • Technical callouts for materials, FX, break points, and rigging.
  • Detailed motion sheets for tricky locomotion problems.
  • Targeted paintovers to correct in-engine issues.

Your deliverables answer the questions:

  • “Can we build this cleanly?”
  • “Does it work in engine, on all platforms, across all cameras?”

Being able to switch mindsets—inventive vs surgical—is one of the superpowers of mature creature concept artists.

10. Practical Tips for Strong Creature Deliverables

10.1 Always Start With the Problem Statement

Before you create a deliverable, ask:

  • Who is this for?
  • What decision do they need to make?
  • What confusion or risk does this sheet need to remove?

Example:

  • If rigging is struggling with wing deformation, a wing motion sheet and a joint placement callout are more useful than another beauty render.

10.2 Prioritize Readability Over Style

Especially for turnarounds, callouts, and motion sheets, clarity wins over heavy rendering.

  • Use simple values and clear silhouettes.
  • Keep annotations clean and concise.
  • Reserve heavy painting for key fantasy images and marketing.

10.3 Design Your Layout for Skimming

Most collaborators will skim your sheet during a busy day.

  • Group related information (all wing callouts together, all FX notes together).
  • Use arrows and headings that clearly label zones.
  • Avoid burying crucial details in paragraphs—let images do the heavy lifting.

10.4 Version and Label Your Work

Especially important in AAA or multi-month projects:

  • Include version numbers or dates: “v03 – post-rigging feedback.”
  • Show which creature, biome, and project the sheet belongs to.
  • Keep filenames consistent so teams can find the latest version.

10.5 Use 3D and Screenshots as Allies

For paintovers and motion sheets, work over actual 3D whenever possible:

  • You’ll catch issues with scale, camera angle, and environment integration.
  • Your notes become more actionable because they’re grounded in the real build.

11. Practice Ideas: Building Your Deliverable Skills

Here are some exercises to practice creature deliverables, whether you’re on the concepting or production side.

Exercise 1: Silhouette to Turnaround

  1. Design a page of 12 silhouettes around a single brief (e.g., “swamp predator”).
  2. Choose one silhouette that clearly communicates role and fantasy.
  3. Turn it into a clean front/side/back turnaround.
  4. Ask: “If I gave just this turnaround to a modeler, would they know what to do?”

Exercise 2: Callout Deep Dive

  1. Take an existing creature design (yours or from a game you love).
  2. Create a callout sheet that explains its materials, FX sources, and construction.
  3. Write notes aimed at a specific collaborator: “for VFX,” “for rigging,” “for modeling.”

Exercise 3: Gait or Flight Sheet

  1. Pick a non-human body plan (e.g., insect, bird, lizard, or fantasy hybrid).
  2. Draw a 6–8 frame gait or flight cycle.
  3. Below each pose, note where weight is, which limbs carry it, and what the player should feel (plodding, loping, darting, gliding).

Exercise 4: Paintover Corrections

  1. Grab a 3D model screenshot or a in-game frame (from your work or public footage).
  2. Do a paintover adjusting proportions, silhouette, materials, and FX.
  3. Annotate your changes as if giving feedback to a team.

Repeat these exercises and you’ll develop not just a portfolio of cool creatures, but a library of production-ready deliverables that art directors and leads can instantly see as “hireable.”

Final Thought

Creature concept art is not just one kind of drawing; it’s a language of deliverables. Silhouettes, turnarounds, callouts, motion sheets, and paintovers are how you speak to your collaborators.

Whether you’re the lone creature generalist on an indie title or part of a large AAA creature team, your value comes from knowing:

Which deliverable to produce, at what fidelity, for whom, and at what moment in the pipeline.

Master that, and your creatures won’t just look incredible—they’ll ship well, play well, and live convincingly in your game’s world.