digital sculpting

character design

For my first character idea I decided to break my character down into body parts, my aim was to try to come up with something unique. I firstly thought about the body shape, I wanted to something different so I started to look at curved spines which led me to hunchbacks. I then had to think of legs, so I started looking at shapes and decided I wanted quite spindly legs almost the similar to that of a flamingo. Once I had decided on legs I had to think of how I could design the legs to match the hunchback on the body, I started looking at different characters that have already been designed and found that Jack Skeleton had really slim legs that went up to wide shoulders. I realised I need to design my character almost similar to the top half of an hourglass timer. Next I needed to focus on the head, I wanted something really bizarre for the head so I went straight to looking at masks and hats which led me to look at plague doctors, I think the crow like beak will go really well with the flamingo style legs and keep my odd design somewhat cohesive.

Backstory:

I imagine this character to live in a dark, damp run down environment. A very lonesome soul that lurks beneath the shadows with very little interaction with anything other than himself. Below are some examples of the environment my character may fit into.

sketches:

Highland cow/troll/big teeth:

For my second idea I wanted to change the theme a little and go for a smaller cute creature, I wanted to explore different elements of a creature so as to make the correct decision. I started looking at what makes things cute, I found that if I wanted to design something cute then I would have to make sure my design included key elements; Big eyes, fluffy and small in statue. I started looking at highland cows as they have quite long curly hair, and element in which i wanted to add Secondly I started to look at trolls, trolls can be designed big or small but the majority of reference images I found online the trolls were small, which was the second element on my list. Lastly I decided to look at teeth, I wanted quite big teeth for my character. Big teeth can be perceived as cute or aggressive depending on the rest of the design so I felt pretty safe adding these as I wanted to be sure my design was cohesive

Backstory:

I imagine my Highland troll to live in a mystical forest with a complete tribe of other highland trolls although, I do imagine this troll to be quite shy and timid. Below are some examples of the environment my character may fit into.

Sketches

Slug/octopus/humanoid:

Backstory:

For this character design, I imagine them to be living in a post apocalyptic sewer with many other mutilated creatures. I imagine this character to be quite bubbly but not very bright, a character that you can really get to know but also really gets on your nerves. Below are some examples of the environment my character may fit into.

Sketches:

Finalising my design

I decided to adapt my first idea slightly and make a more humanoid character. I wanted to keep the plague doctor mask but loose the cloak and the webbed feet, a sort of mix between my first design with a similar stance and shape to 'Gollum' Lord of the Rings. I want to keep the body unclothed so I can really focus on the texture of the skin. I feel it would valuable to have some experience in substance painter so, I would like this project to have a main focus of Zbrush and starting to use Substance painter. I have started looking at skin brushes in Zbrush and different materials/textures that will compliment each other for both the skin and the plague mask.

The feedback I received this week was that I need to give my character more definition. I completely agree with the feedback, I will need to use these images as references when I am sculpting in Zbrush so I will need to have a good idea on anatomy. I took my feedback on board and I decided that I need to look at bone structure as opposed to muscle mass, my character will replicate the body of a severe anorexia sufferer so will represent skin draped over a skeleton. Below I have now included Line work of my character , A clear image of the skeleton and a coloured image of how I would like my character to look when finished.

Starting to sculpt

prioritising forms and detail

Smoothing

I decided that I needed to start smoothing out the blocking that I had done and start adding a little more detail, when I started this process I realised a few issues in my sculpt. The muscle anatomy of my model on the arms and legs was completely wrong, it was really obvious that I need to research the human body and muscle formation in more depth that I have done previously. I found that although my character design does mainly consist of skeletal bones, there would be muscle on the arms and legs and also around the neck. I also decided that it would be better to have the plague doctors mask as a separate Sub tool, as I would with clothing (I plan to add a loin cloth to my character). After making these decisions it was really obvious to me that I needed to start my sculpt again, this decision was made really easily by the having my plan.

Researching anatomy in more depth

Starting the basics again

I started to block out just the basic shapes rather than focusing too much on the skeleton, as this was the mistake I made when sculpting my first attempt. I also wanted to shape the stomach better as I felt the first time it seemed to pertrude a little too much. I think overall that I have managed to get a better shape which in turn has made my sculpt look a lot more realistic.

adding subtools for clothing and hands

I created sub-tools for the mask and the loin cloth, I wanted to add the mask separate as you would with clothing, by using this method I can add extra details such as wrinkles and creases in the loin cloth and stitching on the mask. I think I will add the leather texture on the mask when I take my model into substance painter.

When adding in the loin cloth etc I noticed that my model was out of proportion, the legs seemed a little short and the knees appeared to be in the wrong place so I took a screen shot and put it into Photoshop to test it. Once I had decided that I needed to extend the legs I used the move topology tool to pull the legs down.

progress screen shots

I found that when I added the fingers, even though I merged them with the rest of the sculpt, they were still separate and when trying to smooth my the hands the fingers would appear separate again. I realised this is because they were merged but I hadn't used the dynamesh tool to add in the extra polys around the fingers. Once I had figured this out I was able to join them and properly and shape the hands a lot better.

The next element I wanted to focus on was the eyes on the mask, they are designed to poke out of the mask a little like goggles. I added a basic shape for those and then once I am ready to use Zremesher and subdivide my model I will add in the finer details.

Before subdividing I want to make sure that I keep to realistic poly counts, so I will research this further.

detail refinement: Zremeshing and subdividing

I believe i have blocked out the main forms of my character and I am ready to add in further detail. I set my polys to 40 before Zremeshing, this meant it would re-mesh at 40,000 polys. This has given a nice looking mesh so start to subdivide to then add more refined details to my character. I also made sure that I followed the same procedure for my mask and loin cloth.

progress turnarounds

Practising with substance painter

Although I realise that I am not yet ready to think about texturing or painting techniques, I wanted to get a little head start into using substance painter as I have never used the software before. I really enjoyed sampling out different materials and trying to replicate veins, below is a rendered sample that I produced.

insert multi mesh brush for buckle and straps

My first attempt at the straps and buckle was just a simple mould of the outline, I went on from there to remove that, that I had made and went onto look at insert multi mesh brush tutorials and free brush downloads to produce a higher quality strap with a more detailed surface. I feel this is massive difference and I am now going to follow the same process to add in the lenses for the mask. Once I have finished the lenses I will move onto getting a leather effect for the mask.

I sourced the free multi mesh brushes from here: https://www.zbrushcentral.com/t/insert-multi-mesh-repository/205636

Adding in the lenses using IMM & texture

skin texture progress

progress shots

adding in colour

progression shots

BACKGROUND IMAGE

Final images of Dr Neygers

Learning report

On the completion of this module, I have realised that I need to improve not only my modelling skill set but my design skill set too. I found the interface of Z brush easy to navigate so, I am confident that I can improve my technical skills in the future as I would like to become more confident in both Maya and Zbrush.

When starting to design my creature I wanted to focus on skeletal anatomy, I focused my designs on the bone structure of the human body as I felt that this would help develop my knowledge for both design and modelling in the future. Initially my designs didn't include the loin cloth that was sculpted into my final piece, this was an oversight on my behalf and has highlighted to me that in the future I need to spend more time on concept art and designs before proceeding onto the next stage in the pipeline.

When starting to sculpt I used the Z spheres for the initial shape, I found this to be really helpful when blocking out my character, enabling me to get proportions correct from the start. However, I found myself fixated on getting the arms to drag the floor and have the legs bent. This caused me to develop tunnel vision and I did indeed sculpt the limbs out of proportion to both each other and the body. In the future I will be sure not to spend my time getting wrapped up in the end result. having said that, It has been a huge learning curve for me and I believe that it will enable me to expand my skills and advance with my future.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this module. By having a change in current circumstances and having to work from home, I have developed my problem solving skills by having to find fixes for the minor issues I have had, without relying on help from my other peers. The use of a weekly plan has kept me on track and made me aware of the pipeline step by step which I think will be very useful when working within a professional environment. I am feeling a lot more positive about a career within this industry and I am excited to see what the future the holds.