I've gathered some reference material from the Internet, the brief is to create an origami Crane character that will be in-keeping with the rest of the animations oriental theme.

To achieve this look it will have to look like it's been made out of folded paper. I've created a few test renders to achieve this look by generating a uv map for a simple polycube. I've then scanned some patterned origami paper from Ed and some creased paper for an underlying texture. This will require a bit of playing around in photoshop to simulate a folded look. My initial thoughts having evaluated other origami images is to have separate segments of patterned colour juxtaposed against paper to create the illusion it's made from two different surfaces (front and back). Eddies kindly offered to scan in some origami paper samples to try out. The UV map needs to be easily transferable - one scene in the animatic features a number of cranes. I can easily duplicate the model I've made and make minor changes to the geometry, but it would be nice for them to have a variety of textures. I've thought about this issue and concluded that the UV map will have to be chopped up into different segments so the patterns can be over layed in photoshop with ease.

Another thing to consider is how the geometry is going to be layed out. Most origami images are shot from the side because they have little aesthetic interest from a front angle because they are flat and have no volume. TBoth Ed and I agree this model should have volume, so the body and neck section will be more bloated out than the images to make it look more interesting.
Also would be difficult to maintain control over deformations, so a bit of volume in these areas will help when it comes to skinning the character.

Left Giant Crane with lighting effects. Because the crane is made out of paper it will have to have an element of translucency. I've had a quick play with the transparency settings in Maya which gives a uniform transparency. Because paper achieves its translucency through perforation this will be incorporated into the texture.