Game Production

Using the clay build-up tool, I sculpted the nose, following my references closely and made sure to frequently rotate so the model was correct from each angle.

Next, I added cheekbones, the implication of lips, a sharper chin and implemented a jaw.

Next, I brought in a sphere and placed it in the eye socket.

I used the mask lasso tool to draw out the upper eyelid.

I hit the extract button at a very low thickness to cause a thin extrusion in this area emulating an eyelid.

I soloed this object to have a better view when fixing it.

To polish the unpleasant topology, I toggled the wireframe and hit ZRemesh with "Half" selected so the topology in the eye isn't heavy in topology. 

I repeated this process for the lower eyelid and used the move tool at a low intensity to fix the shape to better fit Silver Lining's eyes.

Before changing anything, I masked the head so I could only affect the body.

I scaled the body on the x-axis to create a  slightly smaller frame and used the move tool at a large size but low intensity to drag the torso down for length as the belt marks the cut-off point.

Next, I used the clay build-up tool and smoothen to imply the ribcage's subtle protrusion. I made light strokes on the arms to imply muscle groups such as the shoulder's deltoids. I'm placing a large focus on the arms rather than the torso because its covered up and the arms are exposed, so they need a level of detail.

I added some light sculpting on the midsection to show abs, suggesting the physical fitness of Silver Lining.

The eyes felt scuffed so I redid them, following the reference closely. I then mirror and welded them to fill both sockets.

I worked a little more on the face at a higher subdivision level, adding some dam standard lines to add definition to the lips. I also brought in a sphere and stretched it on the x-axis to add length, using the flatten tool to capture the initial shape necessary for sculpting.

I started by subdividing the face and smoothing the details so I'd have more polys to work with in creating the detailed version.

My tutor helped with thickening the eyelids by masking a section of the eyes and duplicating the subtool, squashing the eyes so the mask leaves it with a semicircle. From here, I had the shape of eyelids made with modular building without hollowness or a lack of thickness.

I used Dynamesh to merge the eyelids to the face.

All done!

I used clay build-up to establish the bumps of hair leading to a spot I marked at the back where the ponytail would start.

I used dam standard holding alt to add sharper bumps.

This was followed by the normal dam standard at a smaller size to imply strands going inwards.

Next, I brought in a new sphere for the pony and stretched it out with the scale tool, using "Bend Curve" with a few axes to start messing with the shape before adding detail.

I tried again at a larger size since I wanted to maintain the comet silhouette from the 2D design.

This is where I left it before the lesson ended.

I started by dragging in a sphere and scaling it to a roughly correct shape.

I used the move tool to get the "tuft" effect.

Next, I used clay build up to imply strands.

This was followed up with dam standard to add strength to these thick strands.

I employed bend curve for the next set of tufts.

Following the same process as before, I was left with this result.

In the previous session, I stayed late to sculpt most of the large ponytail strands, leaving me with this result today.

I used clay build up to imply larger strands within the subtool and used dam standard to define these strands for the final touch.

Although daunting, I decided to tackle the collar as the first part of the clothing stage as the most difficult part. I took what I learned from my tutor's demonstration and started by moving a sphere into position, followed by the bend curve tool to warp it into the shape of a wrap-around collar.

I used the move tool to refine this shape, and flatten to attain the thinner form fabric takes.

Move infinite and pinch helped me block in the spikes.

Here's the final result of the block-in after some refinement.

Next, I used the mask pen to draw over the top face of the collar and extracted it.

I cleaned up the edges with "Polish by Features" but the corners still need attention.

I attempted to redo the collar, this time at a higher thickness so it'd be easier to retop and adjust while sculpting. The very thin, faceted edges caused difficulty in sculpting.

Here I carried out another few polish by features for a cleaner result, as shown by the before and after.

I used the same process of the move tool to maintain the silhouette, followed by pinch to add sharpness to the corners. For finishing touches, I added a clean line of dam standard where the transition of colour occurs in the collar.

I Zremeshed the subtool and continued to use polish and polish by features for this clean result. Next, I subdivided to add the smaller details.

I used clay build up around the edges to build slight height on the seams, followed by dam standard to define these areas.

I masked and extracted the sleeve next, changing the design from the sleeve wrapping around the middle finger on a ring to just a sharp edge ending at the knuckles. This maintains the silhouette but is much easier for me to sculpt.

I used clay build-up to add slight clothing folds - since it's latex, they're quite tight and small.

I started on the belt by masking the bottom of the torso and extracting it at a decent thickness.

This was followed up by inverting the clay build-up tool to create slight concavity in the belt.

For the arm cuffs, I extracted it at a decent thickness on the arm, only needing one since I could duplicate the other.

I cleaned up the edges with polish by features and moved the cuff into the correct place, before duplicating the other one and using the move tool again to get the correct position.

For the final details, I used the extract tool repetitively to get each strap on the back; I did these separately so the layering is visible.

Final result!

I brought in a cube primitive first, rotating it to make a diamond.

Next, I used the lasso tool to get rid of the middle section.

I was initially going to make the zipper like I designed with the initials written inside, but it was too complex so I stuck to this four-pronged star shape since I wanted to leave ZBrush by this session.

For the last details, I sculpted in the hand's tendons and blocked in nails with some spheres, followed by mirror and welding them over to the other side.

With the Zbrush model imported to 3Ds Max, I was ready to begin the retop process; I would start by choosing the "Draw On: Surface" option and the offset at 0.03 so I can see the retopped model slightly above the original sculpt.

I started with the eyelid loop, counting 8 on the top and bottom, followed by the mask and muzzle to establish the first loops that would help fill in the face.

Eyelids: Yellow

Mask: Green

Muzzle: Blue

This was followed by the nose, where I started with the nostril.

I used border select on the inner nostril loop, holding shift while scaling inwards to attain new loops, followed by capping the hole and using the cut tool to complete this area.

From here, I created the deformation loop that would account for the tip of the nose, followed by curving down to the edge of the nostril, and filling in the inner area.

With the nose and lip loop complete, I just needed to fill in the face.

Complete!

I changed the inner area to grey to differentiate from the loops.

From here, I added the loop surrounding the ear and built up to the scalp, then filling in the empty area to complete the head, as the scalp would hide the cranium and therefore prevent going over budget.

For the ear, I started with the outer loop that depicts the first fold of the ear, looping inwards and towards the hole.

The ear I sculpted didn't have much depth so I had a hard time following the retop model of the ear, I freestyled some of it, leaving it rather dense, but still functional.

With the head complete, it was time to start on the body! I began by creating the first loop extending from the jaw to create the neck which I'd proceed to follow down to the shoulders.

Filling the shoulder in allowed me to make the arm with ease.

The body was easy peasy, it was just a continuation of the already established rows.

To ensure my topology was clean and followed the sculpt's contour, I used the relax brush to even out the polys and followed it up with the conform brush to ensure the retop was still matching the sculpt.

Just the hands left to do on the body.

I followed a sketchfab reference of a hand retop to help with mine, starting with the loop that covers the palm and the loop to begin the thumb. After this, I added its joint to then filled in the surrounding loops, followed by the rows wrapping around the thumb.

I created some deformation loops to increase the density in the fingers, followed by selecting the border and holding shift to extrude a new loop, rather than meticulously placing verts. This gave me the knuckle loop to build fingers off of.

I started with the joints, connecting the faces between them.

Next, I added the rows around the previously made areas.

With the backside complete, the hands were done!

I started by creating a loop at the base of the strand and extending it to the top, leaving space for the tips.

With border select, I used the cap tool to fill in the hole at each end.

I followed this up with the cut tool to remove ngons, moving the central vert to match the start and end of the hair strand.

For the belt, I added three rows of faces along the outer face. I used border select and scaled inward to get the top and bottom faces.

With the edge select tool on both edges, I used the bridge tool which automatically connected the inner face at a much lower poly rate since it wouldn't be seen.

After a little use of the conform brush to ensure matching between the low and high poly, the belt was complete!

I only made two loops when retopping the shirt, starting at the strap on the neck. Further down, I added a deformation loop to increase topology since this top would be smooth and form-fitting, needing density within the retop.

The lashes were made in Zbrush by using the move tool on a sphere to warp it into position, making a thick and dramatic lash-line akin to the Overwatch style.

The head was simple, requiring a seam at the base of the neck, around the ears, and down the back of the neck to unwrap the head flat.

The eyes were simple, requiring a seam along the middle where half is hidden within the head. The exposed side would be much larger since it's actually visible. I only unwrapped one eye, using symmetry to get the other one as it would have the unwrap effect on it too.

For the hair, I selected an edge that would be the least visible on each strand, converting it to a seam and then wholly unwrapping it. This process was repeated for the rest of the hair pieces since they're essentially the same.

That left me with the hair unwrap complete!

The hands required a seam to separate the arm and a singular seam running across the middle of the hand to separate the inside and outside face of the hand.

Each body and clothing part just required seams on each side to split and lay them flat, or a seam running along the transition between major faces like the collar. This is the largest texture sheet in terms of quality so I was able to pack lots of parts and maintain their quality once I paint.

Since each accessory was made in 3Ds Max as a low poly mesh, their unwrap was simple.

To begin my paint, I started with a subdermal layer for the skin. This would begin with a dark red fill layer to account for the blood beneath the skin.

I followed this up with a darker red layer using the mold brush to add texture, which added variation in this underlayer, making for a realistic start to the skin.

To cleanly paint fixed areas, exclusively the skin, I'd make a new folder with a fill layer and a black mask clipped to it. With that, I chose the polygon fill tool to select specific parts of the mesh on my unwrap sheet to paint on. With that complete, I was able to cleanly paint on only selected areas.

In experimenting with brushes, I found one called "Chalk Bold". I used this at a low opacity to build the scar's shape, layering it to allow a fade at the edges. I reduced the roughness slightly so the scars were reflective, as burn scars tend to be. I also added a height map which sold the plausibility of the scars as they hold volume in the scar tissue.

Following this, the eyes needed definition in their silhouette, so I began on the makeup. I used a deep, warm purple aligning with Silver Lining's colour palette for the base eyeshadow. I added a blur filter to the paint layer to soften the edges and make the pigment appear smudged. I added to this with a darker purple to line the eyes and emphasise them further.

This screenshot shows the finished eyes. I was aiming for a piercing effect, creating intimidation with her spiteful glare, and I aimed to communicate that through the painting of her eyes. Since she's blind, I used a light blue as a base as I referenced photos of clouded eyes caused by blindness, mixed with artistic stylisation for visual allure. This unstable, intimidating gaze is supported by the makeup being smudged, and the star/comet-shaped scars combining to create a flow akin to streams of tears dragging the makeup down which adds to her character dimension, feeling emotionally erratic and not just spiteful and violent, but internally full of grief and melancholic despair.

I started with light blue for the base, blurring the edges slightly as they appear in real life.

I darkened the edges on a new layer.

Used a lighter turquoise for a central gradient, drawing focus inward.

For the darkest colour, I added the area around the pupil that helps define it, and subtle streaks to imitate the pattern found within the iris.

Adding the pupil, I used a very light blue to imitate the cataracts occuring in her condition of blindness. I used this same layer at a lowered opacity to add some highlights in the streaks.

For a final touch, I put some saturation in the cloudy pupil.

Since I had some free space from the neck to the top, I added a tattoo of my character's villain alias abbreviated - Silver Lining. I made the font rather fancy to reinforce her materialistic and superficial nature.

I duplicated this layer and added a blur filter to depict the bleed that occurs with tattoos.

I didn't want the hair to just be monotone, so I added a black mask and filled in a pink hue at the hairline to show the purple hair dye fading at her roots, with the blonde coming through as seen in the strands. I supported this idea with odd streaks of blonde showing throughout the ponytail for some hue variation.

Base colour has its RGB connected to base colour, Normal's RGB goes to normal, AORM is a little different. Red goes to ambient occlusion, green goes to roughness, and blue goes to metallic. 

From here, I exported all the low poly meshes in 3Ds Max. When I imported it, I selected "Combine Meshes" so it'd all unify. Dragging the materials onto Silver Lining ensured the configuration was correct and no errors occurred, meaning it's time to setup lighting and rigging!