Chapter 2 – Proportion passes and lineup pages

Chapter 2: Proportion Passes & Lineup Pages

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Proportion Passes & Lineup Pages for Costume Concept Artists

From Brief to Package: Ideation → Iteration → Finals → Handoff

When players look at a roster of characters—heroes, enemies, NPCs—they don’t just see outfits. They see bodies in relation to each other: tall next to short, bulky next to slender, grounded next to airy. Those relationships are powered by two core tools in the costume concept pipeline:

Proportion passes – targeted explorations of body ratios and major mass distribution.
Lineup pages – comparative sheets where characters stand side by side so the cast can be judged as a whole.

These tools sit right in the middle of the pipeline that takes a costume from brief to package:

Ideation → Iteration → Finals → Handoff

This article will walk through how proportion passes and lineup pages support each stage—for both concept artists (who design and define) and production artists (who build, rig, texture, and maintain). We’ll keep the language practical and anchored in daily studio reality.

1. Why Proportion & Lineups Matter in a Costume Pipeline

Proportion is more than anatomy. It’s:

Role read: who looks like a tank, a striker, a support, a boss.
Personality: timid vs bold, rigid vs loose, noble vs scrappy.
Faction logic: what unites members of the same group.
Cast design: diversity of body types, silhouettes, and visual rhythm across a lineup.

Lineup pages turn individual designs into a visual conversation. They answer questions like:

“Do all our heroes accidentally look the same height?”
“Is this boss really reading as more imposing than their minions?”
“Does this new costume still feel like it belongs to this faction when you put everyone together?”

Ignoring proportion passes and lineups leads to problems like:

Monotonous casts where everyone shares the same body type.
Costumes that work alone but conflict when characters stand next to each other.
Production surprises when 3D models don’t match expected size or presence.

Using them well makes the whole pipeline more intentional and less reactive.

2. Proportion Passes: Exploring Body Ratios Intentionally

A proportion pass is a focused exercise where you vary body ratios, mass, and stance based on a brief before committing to costume details.

2.1 What You’re Actually Varying

Instead of random stretching and squashing, you’re making decisions about:

Height – tall, average, short relative to the cast.
Head‐to‐body ratio – realistic (7–8 heads), stylized (5–6 heads), or chibi/extreme.
Mass distribution – weight in shoulders vs hips, torso vs limbs.
Limb proportion – long legs vs long arms, big hands/feet vs delicate extremities.
Center of gravity – grounded and low vs lofty and high.

These decisions communicate role and personality before any costume is added.

2.2 From Brief to Proportion Pass

Take a sample brief:

“Elite defensive paladin, late 30s, carries heavy shield. Reads as sturdy and reassuring rather than aggressive. In the same faction as a more agile duel‑wielding rogue.”

A proportion pass might explore:

Versions with wider chests and thicker legs vs more top‑heavy builds.
Height variations (slightly taller than average vs very tall).
Slightly shorter legs for a more grounded feeling compared to the rogue.

You’d produce 4–8 proportional variants (very simple line or block forms) and judge:

Which best fulfills “sturdy and reassuring” over “aggressive bully”?
Which contrasts the rogue in the cast without breaking faction logic?

2.3 Proportion Pass Techniques

Practical ways to execute:

Start with a neutral mannequin holding average proportions.
Duplicate it and adjust key ratios one at a time (e.g., only leg length, only shoulder width).
Keep drawings simple—no costume, minimal shading—so team focus stays on structure.
Label variants (P1, P2, P3…) and note your intent under each (“shorter legs, bigger chest for grounded feel”).

From here, you and your team can choose a base proportion that becomes the skeleton for costume exploration.

2.4 How Production Artists Use Proportion Passes

Production artists use these passes to:

Estimate rig compatibility (shared skeleton vs custom rig).
Anticipate animation needs (e.g., long arms might need special reach adjustments).
Check scale logic relative to other models and environments.

If a chosen proportion will cause problems, production can flag this early—before complex costume details make changes painful.

3. Lineup Pages: Seeing the Cast as a System

A lineup page is a sheet where characters are placed side by side at consistent scale. It’s one of the most powerful tools for cast and costume design.

3.1 What Lineups Reveal

When you put characters in a lineup, you can immediately see:

Relative height and mass: Is the “giant brute” really larger than everyone else?
Role contrast: Can you pick out healer vs tank vs DPS instantly?
Body type diversity: Are all women the same silhouette? Are all older characters hunched in the same way?
Faction consistency: Do members of the same group share visual DNA in posture and proportion?

A lineup is a reality check—especially useful when designs were created in isolation.

3.2 Types of Lineup Pages

Different stages call for different lineup types:

Proportion lineups – simple bodies only, no costume, to check base ratios.
Costume lineups – rough or refined costume, to check how outfits play together.
Faction lineups – all members of a group, across roles and tiers.
Gamecast lineups – key characters across the entire game (heroes, recurring NPCs, important villains).

Concept artists usually generate these, but production artists rely on them for scale and rigging decisions.

3.3 Building a Useful Lineup

Practical steps:

Choose a scale reference – often a “generic human” or main protagonist.
Place each character on the same baseline (feet aligned) and mark rough height in heads or meters.
Arrange characters intentionally (tallest to shortest, faction clusters, role groupings).
Annotate key notes: “same base rig,” “larger hands for readability,” “shares faction shoulder shape.”

Lineups are not just pretty posters; they’re functional comparison tools.

4. Where Proportion & Lineups Live in the Pipeline

Let’s plug these tools into Ideation → Iteration → Finals → Handoff.

4.1 Ideation: Establishing Proportion Intent

At the start, you’re still figuring out what this world feels like.

Concept Side:

Decide on the game’s global proportion style (realistic vs stylized, head count, body exaggeration).
Run initial proportion passes for key archetypes (hero, tank, rogue, support, child, elder).
Create an early proportion lineup to see if the cast feels coherent and varied.

Production Side:

Give input on which proportions share rigs or skeletons, which will need unique setups.
Confirm that proposed extremes (very long limbs, huge heads, etc.) are technically feasible.

At the end of ideation, you ideally have:

A proportion bible: a small set of agreed base bodies.
An early cast lineup showing how different archetypes relate.

4.2 Iteration: Refining Characters Within Those Proportions

Once base proportions are chosen, iteration is about making individual characters distinct without breaking the system.

Concept Side:

Apply chosen base proportions to characters and run character‑specific proportion passes when needed (e.g., how far to push a comedic sidekick’s head size).
Build lineups by faction and role and adjust proportions slightly to enhance contrast (making sure the agile rogue doesn’t accidentally look more massive than the paladin).

Production Side:

Use updated lineups to plan asset reuse (same body template for multiple costumes) and to place characters properly in environments.
Flag when iterative changes drift too far from agreed base proportions and could cause rig or animation issues.

During iteration, lineups often get updated frequently as costumes and body tweaks bounce back and forth.

4.3 Finals: Locking the Cast and Costume Relationships

At final concept stage, you want consistency.

Concept Side:

Produce polished lineups of key characters with final proportions and costumes.
Make sure lineup pages show front view (and sometimes 3/4) at a clear, consistent height scale.
Note any approved special cases (e.g., “this boss is 1.3x scale in game,” “this NPC always appears hunched”).

Production Side:

Use final lineups to set in‑engine character scales and test readability at gameplay distance.
Confirm that camera framing makes sense when characters of very different heights interact.

This is also a good time to check:

Are there enough distinct body types represented?
Are any characters accidentally overshadowed by others in presence?

4.4 Handoff: Passing Proportion & Lineup Info to Production

In the handoff package, proportion and lineup information becomes production’s roadmap.

For Concept Artists, a good package includes:

Final proportion guides for each character (front, sometimes side, with head count or height notes).
One or more lineup pages for context (faction, cast, or role‑based).
Notes on scale in world units (e.g., “base human = 1.8m; this character = 1.6m”).

For Production Artists, that information is used to:

Set up base meshes and rigs at correct default height.
Ensure that animation libraries work across characters as intended.
Maintain cast proportions when creating new costumes or skins for existing characters.

If a new skin threatens to break the established proportion language (e.g., making a previously grounded tank look too slender), lineups and proportion sheets provide a quick reference to get back on track.

5. How Proportion & Lineups Influence Costume Decisions

Costume choices aren’t made in isolation from the body underneath. Proportion and lineups directly influence:

Placement of detail – bigger bodies can carry larger, bolder motifs; smaller bodies may need simpler patterns.
Silhouette accents – broad shoulders might be emphasized or softened with costume shapes.
Role signaling – long legs might be emphasized with boots; powerful arms might be framed by armor.

5.1 Proportion as a Costume Anchor

For example, if your proportion pass gave a character:

Shorter legs and a longer torso for a grounded feeling, their costume might:
- Use belt and coat length to enhance that groundedness.
- Avoid high‑waisted designs that visually lengthen legs.

If you ignore those proportions and design a costume that visually contradicts them, you dull your own storytelling tools.

5.2 Lineups as Costume Sanity Checks

When you drop new costume designs into a lineup:

Does a supposedly “lightly armored” character still look lighter than the heavy tank?
Does a new seasonal skin accidentally give a support character the silhouette of a tank?

Lineups reveal when your costume work has drifted away from original proportion logic—and give you a chance to correct before final.

6. Concept vs Production: Different Responsibilities, Same Tools

6.1 Concept Artists: Designing the Proportion System

Concept artists primarily:

Create and refine proportion passes that shape the cast.
Assemble lineup pages that reveal relationships.
Use these tools to guide costume silhouette, detail distribution, and role communication.

Good practices include:

Keeping proportion and lineup files updated and accessible to the whole team.
Clearly labeling base bodies and variants.
Using lineups early and often—not just at the end.

6.2 Production Artists: Preserving and Applying Proportion Intent

Production artists:

Build models that respect proportion decisions (or propose changes when necessary).
Use lineups to maintain scale consistency in engine and across updates.
Check that new content (skins, LODs, platform ports) still fits the established proportion language.

Good practices include:

Flagging discrepancies (“this model ended up taller than the lineup suggests”).
Referring back to lineups when inheriting assets from other teams or vendors.
Sharing feedback when proportion choices cause technical headaches so future passes can be adjusted.

Both sides share a responsibility to treat proportion passes and lineups as living documents, not one‑time deliverables.

7. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

7.1 “Everyone Is the Same Height” Syndrome

If you never look at lineups, you can end up with a cast where:

All main characters are roughly the same height.
All women share one body type, all men another.

Avoid this by:

Intentionally planning for variety in the early proportion pass.
Checking lineups regularly and deliberately introducing contrast.

7.2 Last‑Minute Proportion Changes in 3D

Sometimes a character suddenly needs to be “bigger” to read as a boss.

If this happens late, problems include:

Animation and collision issues.
Costume textures stretching or compressing awkwardly.

Avoid this by:

Making boss/enemy scale decisions at the proportion pass stage, before heavy costume or rigging work.
Including those decisions in lineup and proportion documentation.

7.3 Lineups Used as Marketing Only

If lineups are only created for trailers or posters, you miss their production value.

Avoid this by:

Creating functional lineups early (even rough ones).
Updating them at key gates: after major proportion decisions, after costume locks, before final handoff.

7.4 Ignoring How Camera Affects Proportion Read

Top‑down vs side‑scroller vs third‑person changes what parts of the body are most visible.

Avoid issues by:

Viewing lineups and proportions from the actual camera angle when possible.
Adapting proportion choices to maximize readability under the game’s camera.

8. Practical Habits & Workflows

8.1 Quick Proportion Pass Routine

When you get a new costume brief:

Spend 20–30 minutes sketching 4–8 body variants with no costume.
Mark which ones best express the character’s role and personality.
Run those by your lead or team before designing outfits.

This small investment saves time downstream.

8.2 Weekly Lineup Check

As the cast grows:

Once a week or per sprint, drop all current characters into a quick lineup.
Mark any clusters of similar body types or roles.
Decide where to introduce deliberate contrast in upcoming designs.

8.3 Handoff Proportion Sheet Template

Include in each character’s package:

Front view with head count bars on the side.
Notes: “Slightly shorter than base adult; large hands; thicker forearms.”
A small thumbnail of that character in a faction or cast lineup.

8.4 Intake Checklist for Production Artists

When receiving concept:

Confirm the character’s intended height and scale vs base.
Check any lineup pages for relative size to other characters.
Ask for clarification if the model blockout doesn’t match the lineup.

9. Exercises for Concept & Production Artists

9.1 For Concept Artists

Proportion Grid Exercise
Draw a basic proportion grid (e.g., 6–8 heads tall). Design 4 different bodies on it: tank, rogue, scholar, child. Focus only on proportion changes. Then build a lineup and see if the roles read clearly.
Lineup Redesign
Take an existing game cast (real or imagined), sketch rough silhouettes of 6–8 characters, and adjust proportions to improve contrast and diversity. Compare before and after.
Costume Integration Pass
Choose one body from a proportion pass and design two costumes that respect and emphasize its proportions differently (e.g., one formal, one combat). Note where proportion guided your costume choices.

9.2 For Production Artists

Scale Verification Drill
Take 3D models from your project, place them together in a test scene, and compare to concept lineups. Note where scale drifts occurred and how you’d correct them.
Rig Compatibility Planning
Using a proportion lineup, group characters by potential rig compatibility. Suggest adjustments to concept (if any) that would simplify rig reuse without harming design intent.
LOD Read Test with Lineup
At gameplay camera distances, screenshot a lineup and convert it to silhouettes. Evaluate whether each character’s role still reads. Share findings with concept to inform future proportion and costume decisions.

10. Closing Thoughts

Proportion passes and lineup pages are the quiet backbone of cast and costume design. They make sure that:

Individual costumes sit on bodies that tell the right story.
Characters relate to each other in clear, intentional ways.
Concept and production share a common picture of how big, small, wide, or slender a character truly is.

From Ideation → Iteration → Finals → Handoff, these tools keep your pipeline grounded in the big visual relationships that players feel immediately—even if they never think about “head counts” or “mass distribution.”

As you design or build your next costume, ask yourself:

“Do I know this character’s proportions in relation to the rest of the cast—and have I seen them in a lineup yet?”

If the answer is yes, you’re not just designing an outfit. You’re shaping a coherent, believable world of characters that feel distinct on their own and harmonious together.