Game Production

Pictures gathered of Elizabeth Olsen's separate costume portrayals.

Prop Consideration.

Beginning in Zbrush, I took advantage of our permission granted to using a base mesh, which I found in Zbrush's own selection of meshes. It had a decent amount of sculpted detail already, so I Zremeshed the model and reduced the resolution so I had a much more neutral base to work with and customise.

Next, I blocked in the general silhouette of the hair in two parts. I used the snake hook tool on a sphere to drag out the shape freely for the back portion, followed by using the primitives tool on symmetry mode to add in two more spheres to represent the sides of the hair which I adjusted with the snake hook. I kept in mind the pushed back position thanks to the placement of the tiara.

Due to the remeshing I applied to the base at the beginning, the hands became warped and essentially shrivelled. To fix this, I dragged out a duplicate of the original mesh and masked off the hands, extracting them to attain just that area. This way, I'll be able to reattach them to the body with dynamesh along with adjusting them to have longer nails much like claws, feeling more witchy.

Finally, I blocked out some of the clothing. I used the extract tool on the selected area of the torso and added some thickness, followed by the polish by features tool to clean up the edges. It's also important to mention that I gave some slight definition to her upper arms since that is the only exposed area other than the head. I wrapped a sphere around her waist to begin the belt wrap, but it ended up pretty messy so I scrapped this in favour of a different method. Finally, I used the insert primitive tool to place some eyes on the face.

Last session, I used a sphere to block in the belt wrap which wasn't shaped to my liking so I tried a different approach here. I used a ring primitive and scaled it upwards to stretch it vertically. Next, I masked out the middle section and split off that area so the belt wrap was parted. I entered ZModeller and used the close hole feature to fill in the gaps leftover.

Next, I progressed on the top by changing its shape using the move topological tool, followed by sharpening the corners with the pinch tool. This meant it was ready to be masked out so I could start on the collar details. I used the mask pen to accurately draw out the ideal shapes, followed by separating the mask's polygroup and isolating it, deleting the hidden parts.

With that process complete and an isolated shape, I began cleaning up using the polish by features and ZRemesh tools in conjunction until I achieved this look.

For the leggings, I repeated the same polygroup process and ZRemeshed it for a clean result. In ZRemeshing, I turned up the resolution so I had more to work with when masking out details.

I started with the pointed rings on the leggings, followed by the stripes as the thinnest extrusion which meant it could be left til last.

Adding detail to the top started with rims on the edges to suggest a hem, followed by the streaks down the torso. 

With the base chestplate done and the middle sections complete, I went in depth with the topology tool to fill out the rest of the panels section-section, gradually building it up to completion.

Finally, the chestplate was complete with each intricate detail considered. For the small divets, I used a combination of edge loop editing in ZModeller and the dam standard tool.

The back required less attention as it had less detail already and would be covered by hair partially.

In making the glove, I found the extract tool to work better in getting its uniform shape wrapped around the arm, especially since it doesn't have such hard surfaces. I followed this up by using extract and Zremesh to attain the clean stripes and arrows on the gloves.

(Back)

(Front)

In starting the hair, I increased the subdivisions for a cleaner mesh to work with.

I then utilised the scribe standard brush to emulate the larger streaks of hair in the overall uniform shape.

I also made sure to use this brush inversely to have both concave and extruding strands for a varied impression of depth, following the contour of this shape so the hair flows correctly.

In developing the cape Will blocked out for me, I used Zmodeller to extrude the polys which gave it a sense of thickness, followed by masking out the edges and extracting them to get the thicker rims of the cape. Finally, I used the standard brush with a soft alpha to get subtle inflation that mimics soft clothing folds.

In developing the tiara, I used my old work that used the clay build up tool to mark where I needed to implement indentations, following this to create a cleaner result. For the major dips in height, I used the clay build up tool again, compounded with the slash tool for the smaller lines. Finally, I used hPolish to define the plane separations further and clean up the edges.

I found that the work I did on the hands weeks ago was a little too extreme; I agree that she should have bony, malnourished looking hands to achieve that witchy appearance but it was to the point that they didn't look like fingers anymore. I rectified this using the inflate tool.

Due to the previous issue of the fingers being too skinny, I decided a good way to exaggerate their appearance was with long, sharp nails. Therefore, I blocked in these nails using Zspheres which I scaled vertically for a lengthier look, duplicating them and fitting them to each finger. Finally, I mirror and welded them over to the other hand.

I started by importing the head and eyes to Max after decimating to help the file run easily, starting the retop without it feeling so daunting. Starting small!

I began the standard protocol by choosing to draw on surface, picking the correct high poly after cloning it and removing any topology, increasing the offset slightly.

My approach was similar to previous blocks, starting with the major deformation loops of the face, followings guides on sketchfab where I tripped up.

Following this, I filled in the areas between the major loops, using the relax tool to soften these polys and clean up the edge flow. 

Next, I closed the inner eye sockets by scaling the border selection inwards to fill in that area of geometry, finally using step build to cap off the central space.

I expanded my work outwards from the face loops, filling out the cheeks, forehead and jaw.

I imported other head pieces like the tiara and hair so I could see how the retop was looking and if it reached all the edges where it wouldn't be seen or necessary to add topology.

This is the final result of the retoplogy of the face! It perfectly expanded to the edges of the tiara and hair. This means I can move onto the neck.

I decided to tackle the neck in less of a manual method, by extending the bottom edge.

Next, I used the connect tool to add extra loops with proportional distance between them.

Finally, I used the conform tool to wrap this new geometry around the sculpt, and relaxed it where it warped in this process.

I then used the symmetry modifier to mirror over the topology, speeding up the process and halving my work time by completing the other side this way.

Toggling weld seam within the modifier and increasing its threshold helped to close any holes in the center, although leaving some strange topology.

I used the target weld tool for these areas of excess topology, giving me a clean result down the middle, meaning I could move onto other areas of retopology!

Next, I tackled the crown by building up the topology from the center, adding triangles where curves occur so I can reduce the topology and shrink it to the sharp edges. I finished this by using the symmetry modifier to mirror it over, welding the central loops.

The eyebrows were a simple task, adding quads to fit the silhouette correctly, then adding a swift loop in the centre for some extra depth, followed by shelling the inner faces so it became a proper 3D mesh.

In my second attempt at the crown, I retopped with a lower poly goal in mind to start with an optimised base and begin to add detail to it. I followed the borders as Will suggested.

I also used the triangles technique as Will showcased, to add curves and soft edges effficiently and then shelled the whole crown for thickness. Some areas like the upper spike had to be thinner, so I used the move and conform tool to fit it back onto the high poly properly.

Finally, I used the symmetry modifier and target welded the open ends in the middle. This result is not only much more efficient for the budget, but also looks and flows much better!

I remembered my feedback of starting small instead of retopping with intricacy and lots of tri's, so I captured the major planes of the hair's shape so I could add swift loops later on to capture the smaller details and soft curves.

Given its slight asymmetry, I chose to still use the symmetry modifier compounded with the conform tool to fix the old topology into the new spot since it wasn't a drastic change. This ended up with about 1k tris, which I can definitely increase later.

The hair had a less detailed section due to its relative simplicity, although I was rather pleased to see their use of sculpted hair instead of hair cards which I expected due to Dishonored II's touch of realism in texturing. Although, they do somewhat utilise them, but in a way of converting these hair strand alphas to brushes in Painter to easily block in those strands.

The shoulders/upper arms have the most skin exposure on this model, so I chose to begin with the joint of the shoulder for its slightly unique splitting topology. Before that, I filled in the chest and arm's loop to follow from there.

Next, I expanded out from the chest loop that continues to the arm, being able to fill in the underarm and armpit which could be difficult do to the awkward pinched space, but tackling this area first eased the process which I followed up with the rest of the arm.

Finally, I filled out the chest-to-neck area (including the backside) to finish this component.

With the chest/arm area symmetried over, I was able to start on the hands; I started with the loop on the wrist to establish the amount of topology continuing down the hand, which I followed up with the 1-3 deformation loop to increase topology closer to the thumb, along with marking out the palm section of the hand in blue, which continued for another 2 loops.

After filling out the palm, I worked on the deformation loops that'd increase topology to accommodate for the fingers, of which I retopped just one. I started with the joints and filled it out from there, followed by duplicating this area for each finger and using the conform tool to reshape it to each one. Finally, I welded the open edges together to form one unified mesh. With that, the hand was done!

For the nails, I added two rows of polys that would reflect the curve of the nail, shelling this for a 3D mesh and repeating this process across the rest.

Since the arms beneath didn't have topology, it was important I maintained the animation-based geometry on the elbows for the sleeves as they will have to bend the same way; therefore, I started the sleeves with this element.

With that the sleeves were complete, leaving the outer stripes to retop.

It was important the topology of these also matched the underlying sleeve's pattern of topology so they don't disconnect in movement.

To speed up the top's retop, I took a cylinder with a decent amount of loops and tapered it the vaguely match the silhouette with the FFD 4x4x4 modifier. Next, I used the conform tool to wrap it around the shirt, removing any warped faces.

Finally, I extended the already established topology to fully fill out the shirt and complete this area. It shrinks inwards oddly at the top but this area is completely covered by the chestplate so it doesn't matter.

From here, I worked on the top's hems and the pieces of the chestplate too extruded to combine it with the main plate. I used the process of retopping, then using the shell modifier to fill out the areas beneath.

The shoulder plate required the conform tool for where the shell modifier extruded in a different direction.

The final piece of the chestplate's separated piece was this diamond, which followed the same process.

The belt buckle didn't change shape extremely, so I was able to place a cylinder on it to accommodate for this section. 

For the major chestplate, I followed the grid pattern of the top so it would move and bend in a unified manner, using a deformation loop in the middle going upwards to be able to properly fill out the top area with all its holes.

The retop and shell process was used on the stripes, making sure they align with the wasitcoat's topology too.

Finally, I covered the back part starting with the coat itself, and then the stripes to finish the entire upper half of the retop.

In beginning the bottom half of the body's retop, I started on the hip area of the leggings by filling out the upper thigh loop, and splitting off the topology in the middle, finally filling out the sides. From here I would be able to start the legs.

In filling out the leg, I started with the deformation loops necessary for animation in the joints of the knee, bridging the loops of the thigh down to this area, using connect to proportionally add more geometry and finally using relax and conform to get a clean result. I then repeated this process for the lower leg.

I made sure to match the loops of the boots to the leg so they deform similarly without clipping.

I followed the topology down to the base of the shoes, stopping at the heels.

I used shift and extrude on the border left previously to get the topology of the heels.

On this final border, I used the cap tool to fill out the bottom.

After that, I used the cut tool to remove any ngons. Next, I did the same for the top of the boots, cutting to one vert in the middle and creating a loop where the legs fit in.

In tackling the stripes, I made sure to follow the grid so they would bend in the same way as the clothing they extrude from. For the top's stripes, I followed the grid and used swift loop to add faces representing the extruded one on the stripe itself. With the new loops, I selected the middlemost faces and extruded those to get a quick, clean result.

Completing the cape required a low poly mindset, filling out the edges first and then adding to the middle. Once this was done, I was able to add swift loops where it was necessary and would assist any animated movements. After this, I retopped the hems at the edge to finish this area.

The head was fairly simple, given that it already is an easy process. However due to the hair being static and covering the neck, I didn't even need to add a seam there.

The eyes were a simple case of adding a seam in the middle and peeling, giving the exposed size all the UV space.

Areas like the eyebrows and nails were also a case of adding a seam in the middle and giving space to the exposed sides that the player would see properly.

For the hands, I manually added the seam by double-clicking edges that ran along the fingers, and connecting it in between. From here, I unwrapped both sides and relaxed the side that starfished so the appearance wasn't so extreme and distorted.

The hair does have cutoff points which automatically had seams applied, although I elected to add extra seams where major separations occurred in the hair so I could customise these sections with better agency, along with having this split so distortion didn't occur.

Many minor meshes such as the shoulder plates and cuffs on the sleeves required simple unwraps of the distinct faces, with minor areas receiving straightens as their shape don't wholly matter.

For areas of the body, I made sure to place seams in areas that weren't so easy to view as a player. For example, I placed the seams separating the shoulders (as seen above) where the top and chestplate would cover them. The collar already hides the split nature of the neck and chest. The leggings required a split down the middle to separate both legs, with seams in the inner legs to split the legs themselves.

I unwrapped the boots by splitting the sides, separating the very top and then the heels.

Starting with the skin, I applied a new fill layer of a deep red base colour with positive roughness for a matte read.

I added another on top with a darker red colour, applied on a generated map of dirt spots for variation.

Finally, I painted in some dark purple for some cooler hue variation in areas like the eyebags, corners of the mouth and nose.

After the subdermal layers were complete, I painted over with a new fill layer that featured a matte peach skintone. I used a noisy brush so I could gradually build up this layer instead of a completely flat layer.

Since Wanda is a young woman, she only needed very subtle pore work; I completed this by adding a human skin smart material on a normal layer with a black mask, then painting it in with a soft brush.

For the lipstick layer, I added negative roughness for a slight sense of glossiness, followed by a new height layer that I painted stripes onto to emulate the bumpy texture of lips.

Next, I built up a few fill layers with increasing darkness towards a deep maroon to represent Wanda's magic-stained hands.

I used these same layers to build up the eyeshadow, too. After this, I added a new fill layer with colour and height selected, painting in her moles. The height helped to perceive their slight bump.

For the eyes, I added fill layers with the roughness turned way down to imitate their reflective nature thanks to their layer of water protection. After painting the eyes, I realised they were.. off.

Instead of repainting each layer, I rotated the eye meshes inward within Max and reimported the meshes which fixed this issue.

Starting the hair, I added a fill layer with the base colour.

Next, I implied ambient occlusion with the use of a darker, warmer layer on the edges of the hair mesh, and a lighter yellow layer to imitate lighter areas.

Finally, I added a height layer and painted in the impression of hair strands using a rake-like brush.

In recreating the patterned armour shirt, I started with a base colour. Next, I grabbed a hexagon pattern and applied it to the normal map, scaling it to squish it.

For the metal chestplate, I had the base red colour with a metal channel toggled. To get it to appear more grainy, I added a noise map to the roughness channel.

Next, I repeated this process with a black version, applying this to the collar and stripes.

For the purple colour variation, I added a new fill layer on the overlay blend setting, painting in the right areas.

Finally, I implied some extra ambient occlusion using a darker red.

I re-applied the metal texture I made to the tiara.

Reusing the black metal, I painted in the crevices.

Finally, I added in painted AO.

The buckle and leggings cuffs were a simple silver metal layer, made using the channel settings. For the leggings themselves, I made a base colour layer with negative roughness for a shiny appearance. To imitate their shiny nature and sense of woven spandex, I applied a fabric pattern to the roughness channel which used the white areas to add lots of roughness, with the black shining. This helped their dynamic reflectivity.

The cape's cloth read required positive roughness which I used a cloth map for, along with painted ambient occlusion on the edges.

I did make an alpha sheet, utilising emissives which I learnt from blog task 1 but I ended up scrapping them..

After setting up my textures and materials, I wanted to add a subsurface profile to the skin.

This is how it looked with it first applied, feeling very saturated and intense.

I hit a perfect middle ground once turning down the intensity.

For the pose on the far left, I manually edited it using Engine's skeletal editor. When I imported the Mixamo pose, it came with the skeleton so I was able to edit it and change her stance! I forgot to screenshot this, but the image above shows what it looked like - the far left contains my custom pose, the middle is Mixamo's, and the far right contains the neutral A-pose.