Emerald Sustrai/Behind the Scenes

Throughout the production of a series, a lot goes on behind the scenes in regards to planning and design, which often go through multiple stages before resulting in the final version that is seen on screen. Some concepts and ideas can have an effect on the show and characters, and unexpected occurrences during production can also lead to changes and additions to the plans for the show.

Emblem
Emerald's emblem is a stylized depiction of a cut emerald. This emblem appears on one of her possessions:
 * Battle outfit - on the back of her white top.

Battle Outfit
Emerald makes her first appearance in the Volume 1 after credits scene as a 2D image, wearing an outfit that differs from the final version worn by her 3D model. The scene is very dark, but with a little editing, her outfit becomes more visible. The 2D version's differences are
 * The green shirt covers most of her chest.
 * The bottom of the white top is wider, and the narrow bridge across the middle is shorter.
 * The bangle on her upper arm is bronze instead of silver.
 * The beads on her bracelet are yellow and green.
 * She is wearing a bronze belt with circular plates on it and four straps hanging from it on each side.
 * She is wearing white shorts.
 * Over the white shorts, she is wearing dark green pants that are open on the outer sides of the upper legs.

Later concept art resembles her final appearance more closely, except for three minor differences:
 * The bangle on her upper arm is bronze instead of silver.
 * The beads on her bracelet are yellow and green.
 * The outer side of each glove dips lower over her hand.

Concepts With No Change
There is no visible difference between the concept art and final versions of the following appearance.

Production

 * Emerald first appears as a 2D drawing in the Volume 1 after credits scene because she did not yet have a model. She makes her first appearance as a 3D model in "Best Day Ever".
 * After Volume 3, Rooster Teeth changed animation software from Poser Pro 2013 to Autodesk Maya. With this change, the animation department also made all new models for RWBY. The Emerald Sustrai model's eyes were given a different shape, and her face has modeled lips.