My projects so far
In this entry, I try to explain without going too much into detail, how I worked on my latest 4 proyets. All of them but the last one were made during my studies at Animum.
In 2020 we all got our lifes changed drastically. I decided to get the best of the situation and, isolated as we were, I started studying 3D Arts online at Animum Creativity Advanced School. Since then, I specialized on Character Sculpting. I am so proud of myself, because I can see how far I got and how hard I worked.
All that you see has been created using Autodesk Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter and Marvelous Designer. It has been rendered in Arnold and any hair has been created on Xgen. Enough said, walk with me in this marvelous journy through my 3D learning adventures!
(I am still a very newbie artist, so I am getting in touch with many different styles, from realism to stylized).
ABSURDNESS
Absurdness was my first big proyect. A base mesh was created on Maya, then sent to ZBrush for further sculpting and detailing. There was a lot of coming forward and backwards, as, at the moment, it was a very difficult concept to interpretate.
I started doing the most basic shapes, and I kept finding my way to place important landmarks of the anatomy. On the meantime, I was also practicing on Marvelous designer to make the pants - that was a little luxury that I wanted to afford, as I think it is a wonderful tool.
From there, I did the smaller detail, and then it was only to texturize and pose!
When in Substance Painter, I just took inspiration from the PBR skin painting that we already studied. Mixing a lot of colors in a way that make sense to form an alien looking skin. For example, I imagined that such creature would have green blood; so the meatiest parts would have a green shade. Otherwise, a darker blue for the parts with folds and yellow-ish tones for bony landmarks.
And so, it came to happen (after some Photoshop composition) that I rendered my first Character: Absurdness!
ANGRY PIPPI LONGSTOCKINGS
Since the early stages of the production of this cartoon character I knew that I wanted to implement some XGen. So, I grabbed my tablet, my pen and my Softwares and I got to it!
I already had some experience with Character modeling, so creating the base mesh wasn't so hard this time. What was really challenging was being forgiving with the High Intensity Detailing. Although that gave me a better understanding of what kind of details you want sculpted and which ones you want to control more freely on the texturing part.
During the shading part, it was very important to respect certain concepts from the realistic renders, but stylized to please the intention of the character. Through this period it was very important that nothing seemed too plain, but neither too complex (otherwise we would have a very unpleasant result). I found that keeping that type of balance was a very entertaining practice.
Afterwards, it was time to use XGen, feared by many and adored by all. I find grooming a wonderful exercise that I always enjoy. I converted my hair blocking into Nurbs and from there to guides for the pigtails, to make it seem geometrical - and it was a total success!
As for the general groom I was looking to break her highlights. In that way, it matches that chaotic energy that she irradiates. Noise modifiers are very important, as much as the stray percentages. Those two make a groom look more realistic (that's what I learned)
FISTY
She is a fighter, and so I focused on making her as tough as I could. from the basic anatomical shapes to creating all her gadgets, it took me a good time to do it keeping my limitations in mind.
After some corrections, she was on full display. Then, it was time to create the animation mesh and make it so it would fit the requirements. Definetely one of the most difficult parts.
As a final part, I made her hair with planes and curves, using GS CurveTools and HairStrand Designer (although I switched to XGen later, for better control over the strands). Real time hair is something that I definetely want to explore more, as I barely had time and the process of grooming haircards is very interesting to me. Here is the final results.
MALE BUST
Before we finish this route around what I have been up to since the last edition of The Rookies, I wanted to show my latest project. Every 3D Artist always says how important it is to practice anatomy. So I got to work on some facial anatomy on this proyect. Back to the basics!
It is a convination of XYZ alphas, some skin brushes from ZBrushCentral and 3DScans.
I also put an special enphasis on the render. I wanted to make it well lit but giving it a certain mood. I think the way I found to have this balance between shadows and lights, and the beauty of the highlights on the dark skin is one of the things that I am the most proud of.
So, this has been my contribution to The Rookies Awards 2022. I hope you like it, and I hope that next year I get to participate with more and better projects.
Until next time, José María.
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