Game Production

Week 20

Experimenting with ZBrush:

Receiving our project brief, we were made aware that we'd be creating the bust of our superhero character designed in the digital art segment; this would be done through sculpting in the software ZBrush, known for its competence in creating high poly models with intricate detail, sculpted in a painterly fashion rather than constructed.

Since this is our first encounter with the software, we would just be learning the basics of movement and important shortcuts before tackling complex sculpts such as human busts. We were asked to create anything initially, but try to somewhat attempt a human head towards the end.

Unsure of what to make, my tutor requested that I make the "moisturised queen" which is becoming my artistic signature at this point; I started this with a sphere, adding dimension to it with the clay build up brush (B+C+B) which works by adding layers to the sculpt. I'd go over areas such as the lips, brow, and cheeks in a low subdivision, smoothening it by holding shift, and repeating the process to achieve this shape.

Next, I would start adding details in a higher subdivision for added detail and intricacy. At this point, I was struggling because I couldn't find the right brush to use and marking areas like the lips wouldn't create a smooth cut like I wanted. My tutor gave feedback by showing me the dam standard brush (B+D+S) which has the purpose of creating details, which was great for the brow, eyelids, and lips. They added some extra plump and volume to the lips, finally finishing off with the marks made using the dam standard brush.

For the final touches, I added a "Reflective" Material to the sculpt, with a pink gradient to imitate the original image and truly capture the moisturizedness of this diva.

Next, I'd attempt to sculpt more human features. I started with two spheres to act as the head's blockout.

I then used the clay buildup brush, holding Alt to invert it, to carve the general shape of the head, with a jaw and temples. I'd also blockout a strong area for the lips.

Finally, I smoothened the lip's blockout and used the dam standard brush at a large size to mark the lips, jowls, and cupid's bow.

Dev Log Evaluation:

Learning ZBrush was an interesting experience of ups and downs; I found that the general movement tools felt very wonky and the etiquette of the creation process felt foreign, with its save button being on the top right in a menu on the side, tools such as "Merge" were set to "Append" so I felt like a beginner once again. Despite feeling rather awkward while sculpting, I did grow in understanding the appeal of ZBrush. Watching a sculpt go from ugly to composed and communicating form well in a few strokes felt rewarding and I know I can continue making a human head in better detail in coming lessons.

Sculpting a Head:

Today we were developing our skills in ZBrush, I focused on sculpting a head starting with the jaw.

Before beginning my sculpt, I searched for a planar head reference to use and ensure the anatomy of my model was correct; this image had planes on the face with shadows to show elements of depth and multiple angles to achieve accuracy overall.

I started out with two spheres that marked the cranium and jaw's block-out. I used the flatten tool to achieve the more angled look skulls have, maintaining the overall roundness, followed by the cheeks.

Next, I used the clay build-up tool to block out the chin and mouth, holding shift to go over it and smoothen it. Next, I held alt to invert the tool and corrode the top-most area of the mouth to depict the protrusion of the lips, followed by hollowing out an area for the philtrum. Finally, I increased the subdivisions to 2 for higher quality and intricately lined the lips with dam standard and the philtrum for outlined details.

At this point I managed to delete the mesh and had to start over.

Starting over, I inserted a sphere and duplicated it, moving it upwards to mark the cranium and jaw.

I used the flatten tool on the sides of the face to attain the ovular shape of a head, differentiating the planes of the front and side. I then used the clay buildup tool to make the chin and lips, smoothing them with shift.

Then, I used the dam standard tool at a higher subdivision count to mark where I'd place the lips for later refinement.

I used the clay build-up tool to increase the lip's plumpness, holding alt to add a little depth where the lips meet, going over it with the dam standard tool at a higher intensity to show how these are two hard edges meeting, followed by the dam standard tool softly used to define the lips' outline.

I built up the chin here, hollowed out area for the philtrum and added some extra skin under the lips for an extra pouty look, all done with the clay build-up tool and smoothening.

To finalise the jaw, I used flatten to mark the cheek bones; on the next step I added a new sphere and scaled it upwards for an oval shape to adapt.

I sort of just winged this using clay build-up and shift to smooth, adding protrusions on the front to define the bridge, on the nostril's skin, and hollowed out the nostril holes, areas where the nose varied in width.

This is how the nose looks on the head. I hollowed out small areas where the nose met the cheeks so the transition between the two didn't feel unnatural. Working on the cranium, I flattened each plane and hollowed out the eye sockets and temples.

To combine all the pieces, I merged down; I wanted to sculpt this model altogether now so I used the Dynamesh tool which melded it all together and looks super ugly.

Using the Zremesher tool, I was able to clean up the colliding areas much better.

For a seamless transition, I held shift to smoothen the hard edges.

I then used the clay build-up tool and smoothened areas to build up prominent areas such as the cheek bones and the smile lines falling from the nose to the mouth; finally finishing off with building up the brow line.

Due to the subdivisions changing in the remesh transition, I went over certain areas of the sculpt like the bridge of the nose and the lips with the dam standard tool to add final details to the face itself.

Dev Log Evaluation:
Finishing this session, I felt fulfilled and much more confident using ZBrush; this model turned out better than I expected and I'd like to tackle the eyes and facial hair such as eyebrows.

My only concern is that my superhero is a woman and will therefore have feminine features, contradictory to this sculpt.

If I have time next session, I'll aim to create a female face with softer features that appear benevolent and trusting to civilians in need of help, or to carry on learning the software with Ioannis' base template to approach texturing.

Week 21

Capturing Likeness in a Sculpt:

Familiarizing ourselves with the basics of Zbrush in the previous week, creating a head sculpt, I was ready to start polishing my sculpt for the rest of the steps in the block. Our next step was to find someone to replicate in head mesh and create a board of references for it.

For this session, we were asked to pick a person to reference in sculpting and produce a mood board of said person. It was important we compiled multiple angles such as front, side, and 3/4 with a consistent age since the face changes with time, causing inconsistency. We also had to include references to help with sculpting, so I used my previous planar head image which kept me mindful of the face's dimensions and direction.

(How my mesh looked before adjusting.)

This time, I used a new brush labelled "Move" to maintain the volume I previously crafted and still change the proportions. I used the brush at a small size to thin the lips out and pull them forward for the subtle pout Mads possesses. At a 3/4 angle, I adjusted the silhouette of the face by pulling out the cheek bone since Mads has a very strong, sharp 3/4 silhouette with protruding cheek bones. I also used the flatten tool to straighten the bridge of the nose as it was previously akin to a roman nose, now softer and rounded.

Mads has a very defined brow bone, portraying his masculinity, so I used the clay build up tool and sketched along the contour of the brow so build volume, followed by smoothing it. I then held alt to hollow out the eye sockets in preparation for making the eyes.

At this point, I was provided feedback; my tutor pointed out how I was squashing the proportions in trying to match the references, compromising the anatomy so they used the move tool at a large size to lengthen the face to grasp realism effectively. They used the clay build up tool to build the cheek fat up, making downward strokes to demonstrate the cheek muscle's connection to the mouth. Finally, they added more volume to the lips and lined them using dam standard to create a strong cupid's bow, maintaining the slight pout, without it looking lowkey horrific.

Beginning on the eyes, I brought in a new sphere and scaled it down and placed it in the socket.

Soloing this asset, I used the mask lasso tool to mark where I'll create the top eyelid.

I'd then hit the "Extract" button in geometry at around 0.005 thickness for a thin extrusion of this area. This process caused some unpleasant topology that needed to be fixed.

In polishing the topology, I hit the ZRemesher button with "Half" selection so the topology would be cleaned up and also reduced since this is such a minor area.

I repeated this process for the bottom lid and then used the move tool to mold the eyelid shape. Mads has quite naturally happy eyes since his bottom lid is relatively straight, causing a smiling eye effect (or squinting?), which I attempted to replicate.

I merged down the layers of the eye parts to combine these parts and finally, I entered modify topology and hit the mirror and weld button to spawn in the next eyeball. My peer pointed out how the eyes were a little too small; I observed that Mads has a very broad face and a lack of prominent brows, so his eyes appeared rather small but I made them too small. Therefore, I scaled them up and decided I needed to bring them in a little too - he was giving Sid the Sloth too much, but that was an issue for next session since I was packing up.

Dev Log Evaluation:

I'm feeling pretty good about this subject so far. I've got the majority of a face sculpted with effectively captured likeness. I believe I succeeded in observing the distinct features of my chosen celeb study. I'm also feeling much more adjusted to the controls of ZBrush and sculpting etiquette, strengthening my habit of frequently rotating to ensure it works from all angles.

I did fail in creating the lips at first as I used the move tool to squish the initial lips so they'd appear thinner. This created too strong of a pout and a very unnatural expression - next time, I'd simply smooth over the lips to start from scratch so I can observe and create with a blank slate, rather than tussling with an already sculpted mouth.

My goals for the next session are to add detail to the eyeballs such as simple creases, sculpt the ears, and create the hair. I believe I heard that we were focusing on hair next session, so I should already be focusing on that but I want to finalise the face before adding hair. Once I have these features implemented, I will be able to work on textures such as wrinkles, pores, and smaller hair strands.

Sculpting Ears and Eyes:

Today I started working on details for the ears and eyes.

I started by finding a ZBrush sculpt of an ear with the process shown to use as reference for my sculpt by @vminguillo.

Inserting a new sphere, I scaled it on the X axis for height, on the Z axis for length, and inwards on the Y axis so the base is thinner.

I started by using the flatten tool to shape the ear's outline, followed by using the clay build-up tool inverted to hollow out the concavity of the ear, following the reference.

Adding a subdivision for detail, I started to use the clay build-up tool to add the loops of protruding cartilage, smoothing it with shift. I outlined the furthest borders of the ears with the clay build-up tool and smoothed it to demonstrate the folding property that area of skin has.

Here, I deepened the cavities of the ears to achieve the depth it holds and relined certain protrusions for extra definition.

Smoothing over the newly built up areas, my ear was finished.

In the Geometry tab, I entered "Modify Topology" and selected the mirror and weld tool to correctly place a duplicated ear on the opposite side of the head.

Before working on the eyes, I added the wrinkle details where the skin has sagged with age on the face using the clay build-up tool to add volume to the cheeks and smoothing it out with shift, followed by lining areas like the nose bridge and lips with dam standard to regain the definition lost in subdividing.

Dev Log Evaluation:
At this point, I started working on the eyes and used clay build-up and shift to smooth the topology, followed by the dam standard brush at a high intensity to mark the eyelids on the eyes. However, the eyelids look puffy and unnatural so I'll ask for assistance in fixing them next week.

I believe my ear sculpt is realistic and believable so I've gained confidence in using ZBrush again and I look forward to using it in block 4 for my character. I did also add a neck but it's a very rough blockout in its first stage so I'll be sure to screenshot it next session.

For next week, I aim to complete the neck(/shoulders if necessary) at a higher resolution, fix the eyes with my tutor's hair, merge the ears and blend them into the head seamlessly, and continue with the rest of the process. My progress is good at this rate so I hope to keep it up.

Intro to Retopology:

In this session, we were taught about the technique of retopology and recreated the process shown of retopologising the main landmarks of the face necessary for animation including the mask (eye area), tip of the nose and nostrils, muzzle (containing the mouth and nose), eyelids, and mouth. These parts are the first areas to approach to mark out the separated areas of the face to build the topology around.

Retopology is the process of transforming a high-poly sculpt to a low-poly mesh, adapted for animation and generally optimised for flexible use. Sculpting a character in ZBrush allows for intricate details and the ability to capture the essence of a character, while transporting it to 3Ds Max allows for the creation of the same model with less polygons, maintaining the appearance of the character, to use it in animation and games.

Important Shortcuts:

Left Click = Insert Vertex.
Shift + Click = Creates a polygon from surround 4 polygons.
Alt + Click = Delete vert.
Ctrl + Click = Delete polygon. (keeps verts)
Shift + Alt = Hover over verts to select and click to fill them with a polygon. Release the keys to clear the selection.
Ctrl + Shift + Alt = Move a selected vertex.

Left Click = Drag from a VERTEX to create a polygon
Shift + Click = Drag from an EDGE to create a polygon
Ctrl + Shift = Drag and EDGE to extend the entire loop it belongs to.
Ctrl + Alt = Drag between two edges to create a polygon.
Ctrl = Delete polygon and its vertices
Ctrl + Shift + Alt = Click and drag to move a vertex on the surface.

Setup:

The first thing we must do before importing our sculpt from ZBrush into 3Ds Max is decimating it; this is the process of vastly reducing the polys in the sculpt while preserving the details.

You must enter the "ZPlugin" dropdown menu, enter "Decimation Master", precompute your subtool, and then decimate it at around 10-20%.

Include your naming conventions are included to communicate each subtool effectively and organise your interface.

HP = High Poly

LP = Low Poly

The decimated mesh is reduced but still high poly, therefore the wireframe view will strain the eyes and muddy your view; we'll supplement this with the "Display Selected with Edge Faces" option in "Default Shading" to see the edge faces on the retopology layer, excluding the high poly mesh layer.

In "Units Setup", ensure Centimeters is checked as the metric as this the one most commonly used between software.

With the pre-decimated model imported and subtools labelled, this is what my scene looked like. I made sure to scale these objects on every axis and remember the digit scaled by so it'll be consistent.

At this point, I created all my materials to help colour code each area. I dragged in a physical material, labelled it, and changed the base colour to give distinction to each feature.

To begin retopologising this mesh, I cloned it and relabelled it to LP, deleting everything and turning it into an editable poly. In the Selection menu, change the option from Grid to Surface, click Pick to select the high poly head to draw over and change the offset to 0.03 so your verts are slightly above the face.

I began the retop process with the eyelids, marking the corners and top/bottom centres. From here, I counted 8 faces as I clicked to create new verts and dragged shift through the row of verts to create polygons lining the eyelid. I then repeated this process for the bottom eyelid to get the entire eyelid.

Next, I lined the brow with 9 faces curving up and downwards to follow the face's contour, reaching the middle of the eyelid height-wise. Next, I curved it underneath the eyebag up nose, below the radix. This created the mask.

For the muzzle, I marked the row of verts that reach the middle roughly to split the process in two parts. I then counted 7 faces that were still connected to the mask, followed by the next 4 that curved down to the cheek.

For the second half of creating the muzzle, I counted the 7 larger faces that curved down the the chin's underside. This completed the muzzle, but I held Ctrl+Shift+Alt to move the verts and get a better shape that'd follow the face's contour better.

For the lips, I marked the top, side, and bottom and counted 7 along each side, holding shift to fill them with polygons.

The nose was complex in structure so I followed the example images on learningzone carefully, ensuring the polygons matched the shape of this specific model's anatomy.

With the outline of the nostril complete, I'd start building inwards to create its cavity. I used border selection, held shift to extrude, scaled the new loop inwards and brought it up with the move tool.

With the final loop made, I needed to connect the verts to complete the hole. I used target weld and pulled all the verts on the border into each other, closing the hole.

For the rest of the nose, I started with the topmost row that connects to the edge of the nostril skin; this was followed by the polygons between this row and the top of the nostril.

Finally, I created the button part on the nose to give it a curve rather than a sharp edge at the tip.

With each primary area retopologised, I'd test the symmetry by adding a symmetry modifier. This initially didn't work as my edges on the X-axis were wonky and misplaced, causing overlaps and gaps in the symmetry. I'd fix this by selecting each edge and resetting the position to 0 on the X-axis. With this complete, you can see the improvement in its straightness.

This image clearly shows the symmetry modifier working successfully this time.

Starting with the radix and moving outwards in columns, I filled out the area between the brow and the cheek, around the eyes.

This is how it looked all complete, the area around the eye was easy as it was a single polygon connection already establish by the eyelid and brow.

Next, I connected the areas from the nose to the top of the muzzle, and nostrils to lip outline which helped establish where to build from in the rest of the topology.

I then created a row in the muzzle, building towards a complete face.

The row outside of the lips were next.

Finally, I built the rest of the rows.

Starting with the inner eyelid was easy as it was an extension of the outer one; for the eye socket, I started with the tear duct and then referenced the example on learningzone for the rest.

The lips were the same process as most other areas, marking the middle and establishing the rows I'd be building, followed by aligning new verts with the previous ones from the lip's outline marked in green. I then held shift to create the polygons within.

With the lips complete, the retopologising of the face was done! Although I accidentally changed the mouth area's colour hold on.

The final product of my introduction to retopology!

Dev Log Evaluation:

Watching the demo, I felt very overwhelmed by all the new tools and processes we were shown - it was so much to take in that I didn't retain it all on first listen so I had to go back occasionally. Once I got to my own retop attempt, I was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying it was to do. I struggled with the shortcuts at first and often referred back to the power-point but I swiftly got a hang of the process and found myself on track with everyone else.

By the end of the session, I had the eyelids, mask, muzzle, and half of the nose complete. I completed the rest on Wednesday independently with no need for assistance, solving my own problems such as the symmetry issue which demonstrated my confidence in this new area of 3D. I do believe the retop itself has small areas hidden under the mesh itself so tomorrow I'll aim to ask my tutor for assistance in fixing this as the conform brushes did not help. Overall, good session!!

In my spare time following the session, I starting working on the eyes as I wanted to finish the retopology before next week. I started with a sphere primitive with 20 segments.

Following this, I used the snap angle toggle and rotated the eyes to align with the high poly eyes.

Finally, I applied a symmetry modifier and had the eyes, yay!

In building the side of the face up, I created a line to mark the jaw and starting filling the empty space in with rows that align with the pre-made muzzle/mask/etc.

Ioannis checked in to give feedback and I was struggling to connect the temple areas, but he pointed out how areas were misplaces so he used the relax brush and added a swift loop to the mask which helped with the lacking topology.

With that done, I had the overall face completed.

The ear was pretty complex to retopologise with all of its folds and crevices, so I followed the colour-coded example and tackled it colour by colour, starting with the surrounding skin.

Next, I added the outer loop of skin.

The protruding cartilage further up and its loop connected to the outer skin.

Establishing the vert that starts the next section.

Added verts in the middle of this section and connected it all.

Used the relax tool to even space out.

Creating the ear cavity.

This part was super difficult, so I followed the reference model carefully.

Created a new row from outer loop that goes backwards into skull at the back.

Used a combination of triangles and squares to connect it to the deformation loop around the ear.

With the face and ears done, I started filling out the neck followed by the cranium.

Filling out areas of the neck up to the jaw.

Creating the curve on the head stemming from the temples.

Establish rows of polygons on the back of the head by placing verts aligned with previous rows.

With all of the head filled in, I needed to use the relax brush to ensure it's all even and the edge loops follow the head's contour well to communicate the volume, the before and after of this step is to the right. Before on top, after below.

Back.

Side/Top.

Front.

Border select the neck.

Cap tool to fill it in.

Place a vert in the center.

Use the connect tool to connect the edge loops on the head to the neck's base.

Mini Dev Log Evaluation:

In my own time, retopologising independently was a challenge but I believe that's mostly due to the areas being retopped being monochromatic and colour coded all the same which led to difficulty distinguishing which row I was doing. The ear was a struggle too, but the colour-coded model provided helped greatly and now I know the structure, I'll be able to tackle it again with added ease. Despite these challenging areas, I found myself fully familiarised with the retopology process and have grown in confidence with it, ready to unwrap next week.

Week 23

Unwrapping the Head:

In this session, we began to unwrap our retopologised head; being already familiar with unwrapping, this stage should be swift. Given that the skin material is unified and wrapped around the head, we only need to flatten the face rather than group each side and peel it individually. That way, we would be prepared to bake the head.

Before I started unwrapping, I checked for ngons in the "Selection" tab, checking for faces greater than 4 sides. With the ngons identified, I simply target welded the excess verts. Following this, I heled "Ctrl+A" to select the whole model and applied it to smoothing group 1 to accommodate for the texture of skin.

I began unwrapping the eyes first as this process is simple. I started by deleting the right eye to eliminate half of the unwrap process, using symmetry later to replicate the unwrapped eye.

With the remaining eye, I hit the planar map button to establish the 2D format.

I then double clicked the middle row that splits the front and back of the eye, the former exposed to the viewer.

Converting these edges to a seam allowed me to have the faces separated once peeled.

At this point I asked my tutor for help on why it looks jank and it turns out I forgot to turn it to an editable poly.

With the mesh converted to a poly, the unwrap was complete, with the front face packed in using the pack tool and the back scaled in the corner.

Next, I worked on the head by selecting the object and applying the unwrap modifier. I then hit planar map to apply the entire mesh to the 2D format.

In edge selection, I started applying my seams by selecting the ear loop, eyes, hard cutoff at the neck, and the middle parting from the back of the neck to the forehead.

Selecting everything and peeling the selection now gave me this result, a face spread flat made possible to paint on.

Following this, I selected the bottom edge loop and aligned it horizontally for a straight line, followed by the vertical curves which I aligned vertically so the edges fit the unwrap's box.

I started custom relaxing the newly changed area so it's still even.

At this point I realised the middle seam running down the back was too far down and affected the spread, being split too far to paint cohesively. I had to restart the whole process but it's okay because I knew what to do and I unwrapped everything in half the time!!

This is the final unwrap product, Ioannis pointed out that the triangle on the ear's loop is a little dodge but not crisis-worthy so we'll leave it be.

Dev Log Evaluation:

This session was a swift success as I took my spare time last Thursday to finish retopologising the head so I could already unwrap this week. We need the unwrap done by this Thursday but I've already got it done so I'm satisfied at how on track I am. The process was a cake-walk too, as my familiarity with unwrapping grew in the past two blocks, as cumbersome as it felt in the first. I have gone from leaving the lesson in tears from the utter overwhelming confusion felt learning it, to already finishing this blog post in the lesson due to my efficiency in unwrapping now. I'm ready to learn baking next session!!

Baking:

For this session, we aimed to bake our mesh to apply textures next week. I'd start by exporting my low poly and high poly meshes respectively.

Prepping for the export, I checked all the smoothing groups were on 1 and made a new material for the head and eyes so it's one solid colour per mesh. Next, I exported the low poly models, followed by the high poly and imported the low poly into a new substance painter scene, at 2048 with the unreal engine 4 version checked.

In the baking tab, I added the high poly export to the documents so the low poly uses the high poly mesh as a reference in baking; I checked the mesh name mode so the LP and HP exports are used for the bake with the naming conventions renamed to match mine.

After the bake was complete, I went back into 3Ds Max and used the symmetry modifier to add the other ey, which will automatically be baked once re-imported with "Ctrl+Shift+R".

With the mesh reimported, the scene was looking like this. My tutor checked it and said it looked good; the neck was slightly janky but that won't be visible or affect my grade so it's chill - now I'm ready for textures.

Dev Log Evaluation:

This session was pretty easy, I'd already used substance painter but only to apply materials rather than bake with low and high poly meshes, so I was treading new ground and succeeding. For next session, I'll aim to create some unique hand-painted textures such as drag makeup for the sake of learning to paint extravagant details rather than something safe and easy. This will also help me next block in creating my popstar character who likely wears an abundance of makeup.

Week 24

Texturing in Substance Painter:

This week, we moved onto the texturing stage; we'd be using substance painter to build up layers of colour that combine to achieve a semi-realistic appearance of skin with variation in hue and consideration of blood beneath flesh. In this session, I'd be establishing the skin to create a canvas for myself to add more flamboyant makeup onto. Starting with a realistic base will create ease in adding makeup later on.

To begin, I added a fill layer with a solid, deep red to establish the undertone of skin achieved through the blood underneath.

I then added a roughness modifier at around 0.6 for a subtle matte sheen.

I added a new fill layer with a darker red with the "black and white spots 1" texture on a fill layer clipped to it; this gave me extra variation in texture.

At this point, the seams were showing so I set the projection to "tri planar" which cleaned it up and unified the texture.

For the final step in the subdermal group, I added a purple fill layer and used the mold brush to add some cooler areas like in the undereye, nostril fold, and lip corners for slight hue variation.

In a new group labelled "Skin", I painted over with a beige colour lightly to not create a solid layer, but have some of the underpainting show through to achieve the slight inconsistency in skin.

I then added a new fill layer at a low opacity with the same beige to unify the skin and smoothen it very slightly.

Starting on the colour zones, I added red to the middle of the face, applying a blur modifier and lowering the opacity greatly.

I applied yellow to the forehead and blue on the jaw, blurring and lowering the opacity for these too.

This is how the head looks with these colour zones, while the left screenshot shows the head without the colour zones; this demonstrates how the hue variation can add plausability through such a simple step.

Adding a new fill layer with a dark brown, I added a height modifier at 0.09 so my application of moles have a little buildup in height. I blurred this too so the edges aren't so hard and out of place.

For the lips, I added a new fill layer and filled them in with a warmer red, blurring it for some softer edges. On a new fill layer, I used a darker red to line the lips and blurred them out. Since the sculpt didn't feature these small details, I added a height modifier and drew some lines to create the grooves in the lips and added a strong blur.

Before I do any makeup, I added a dark, cool brown where the lashes would lie to establish their shadows. I also used a soft pink on the waterline.

With that final step complete, my establishment of the skin texture was complete and I was ready to move onto adding makeup.

Dev Log Evaluation:

I was ill on Monday so I completed this on Wednesday during the self-directed, meaning I had less help than usual. Thankfully, it wasn't too challenging and was mostly a case of picking the right colours and blurring the correct edges - I got this done in around 1h30min, so I need to prep myself for when I do makeup tomorrow, ensuring I have enough time to create an aesthetically pleasing texture that feels plausible and set in realism.

Overall, this process was easy to understand and I got it done independently so I feel ready for the next session, since it'll be mostly the same stuff, just with a large variety of colours.

Week 25

Painting the Makeup:

With the subdermal layer and skin painted with subtle makeup for vibrance, I could begin working on a more unique makeup look.

Before I got to work, I whipped up a janky little mood board to gather ideas of dramatic clown/sad jester makeup with white face-paint, tears and expressive eyebrows to get an idea of what I'd paint on my model.

I started by using the mold brush at a large size and medium opacity to paint a layer of slightly inconsistent face paint.

I duplicated this layer at a much lower opacity just to fill the makeup out a little more, leaving a thick layer of paint that retains a little inconsistency.

On a new layer, I painted some eyebrows with the soft default brush, as if painted with coloured eyeliner.

I added the classic clown-like diamond eye makeup with tears at the bottom, along with a new warm red fill layer which I used a soft concrete brush to add blush on the cheeks and nose, at a lower opacity for the cheeks.

I used the symmetry tool and drew on some puppy eyeliner to accentuate the sad jester vibe of this makeup, using a very deep, dark brown rather than black for warmth.

I turned off symmetry and made the wings a little uneven for more plausability.

I used the mold brush at a very low opacity to create slight smudges; I later removed the gaps in the eyeliner because it took away from the shape in Engine.

With the eyeliner complete, I added a new fill layer to add heart-shaped lipstick with a matte texture. I added a darker layer above this for lip liner, using the soft default brush to line the lips and blended the inside.

In a new photoshop file, I created an alpha sheet for the lashes with variation in size for individual clumps, along with two rows that'd line the lashes as a foundation before individually adding any.

Week 26

Eyelashes and Eye Textures:

Imported as a targa file, I applied the lashes as a material to a plane primitive to cut out and stick onto the eyes in 3Ds Max.

This is how it looked with the lashes compiled.

Rendering a UVW template from the eye unwrap, I took it into photoshop and started texturing the eye; I started with a base colour and a deeper colour.

I blended it out with a chalky brush which helps the slight bloodshot effect eyes sometimes have.

On a new layer, I added a dark brown iris and deepened the colour on a clipping layer.

Following this, I used the Gaussian Blur filter to achieve the soft edge irises have, followed by a bright orange for highlights in a ring shape.

I added some smaller scratchy lines to imitate the streaks eyes have.

Next, I added a very deep brown for the pupil and gave it a slight blend.

With the eye complete, I took it back into 3Ds Max and applied it to the eye meshes.

With help from my tutor, I added a new fill layer with a colour close to the skin tone with the values adjusted using a levels layer. I added a layer above this with the face paint colour and a concrete cracks effect that I'd use to paint where I wanted the cracks to be, at a low opacity so I could intensify it in areas that often pose the most wear when applying makeup.

This is how the cracks looked - a very subtle effect, but it adds to the realism of the model.

Week 27

Importing to Engine:

With all of the textures complete, I was ready to move to Engine to finalise the project by adding lighting for the beauty shots.

To start, I exported the textures from Substance Painter and combined the Meshes in 3Ds Max to export those too.

I started by making a new level in a new Engine scene and navigating the project settings so the new level would be the immediate start-up point for convenience. I also turned off auto exposure to set up my own lighting.

tick offfff srgb

no auto exposure

After setting up folders for meshes, materials and textures, I imported the head mesh.

I set up the material for the head texture making sure red went to ambient occlusion, green to roughness, and blue to metallic in the AORM texture. The normal and base colours are self explanatory.

This is the material for the eyelash alphas, which I checked as masked so the black areas would be transparent.

I added a subsurface profile so the shadows feel more dynamic, matching the skin tone a little.

In its settings, I turned down the mean free path so the shadows wouldn't be bright orange, feeling a little more natural.

At this point, I tried to make my own lighting which was alright, but needed stronger cast shadows to heighten the dramatic nature that fits the jester makeup.

At this point my tutor stepped in to help by adding a spot light with a tinge of warmth, followed by a rect light at the side to imitate a rim light, followed by a cool blue light at the back by the black walls I added so it wasn't a void. This allowed a soft gradient to appear behind the head for extra visual flair.

Dev Log Evaluation:

This block was certainly interesting. I feel lucky for being able to actually resonate with the retopology process, as foreign as it felt to initially learn. I found it almost therapeutic to retopologise the mesh and look forward to tackling a torso and clothes too, next block. Learning to paint makeup in substance painter was fun and felt simple, so I'd like to try some more dramatic makeup or tattoos, piercings, etc to challenge myself more next time. I did a decent job doing interesting makeup but I want to try more next time. My time management has improved with game production this time and improved my ability to set up lighting in engine since I got help from my tutor doing lighting - I was able to learn a lot from that. I'm feeling ready to tackle next block!

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