Character Projects Portfolio

Human Anathomy Practice (Male)

This was the first project I did when I started my studies at Animum last April.

The objective was to learn how to study anatomy and gain vision to face new and different challenges starting with the one we are most familiar with: Human anatomy.

First I made an Ecroche in ZBrush and used it as a base to create a Low Poly Animation Mesh in Maya, which would also serve as a Base Mesh to convert the model into a High Poly Naruralized Human. As the High and Low no longer matched I had to make a projection using ZBrush.

Finally, we studied the movement of the facial muscles and the expressions they could produce, so as a final part of the task I represented some expressions like fear and anger.

The references for the project were given by the school, except for the facial expressions that were the result of searching for pictures on the internet.

Criature

In this project I was looking for a creature that I found interesting and where I could focus on a completely different anatomy.

This creature looks like a mixture of different animals because of its physical characteristics. It has reptilian scales, feline anatomy and certain characteristics of marine animals. It is a fantasy animal that captivated me so I decided to take it to the 3d world.

I found the Concept Art on which I based it searching on Pinterest. I don't know which artist it belongs to, but at the bottom of it appears the name of the videogame Skyforge and the name of the company ALLODS.

So thank you very much to the artist and the company for creating this beautiful creature and allowing me to practice my skills with it.

Before starting with the details, it should be noted that the development of this character is intended for an audiovisual production.

Well, this Creature has caused troubles. It has been difficult to interpret some parts of his anatomy but very rewarding at the same time.

I started creating a Base Mesh in ZBrush using ZSpheres. Step by step it evolved and I got a very detailed High Poly model so I created an Animation Mesh on Maya. Then as in the previous project I had to make a projection of the High mesh on the Low mesh so that it would adapt well to the shapes.

Once the sculpting and retopology process was finished, I deployed the UV maps in seven UDIMS. The number was given by the school.

To finish with the process of creating the character, I had to texture it. For this I used Substance Painter and many of its infinite options. I tried to create in the skin different shades distributed in layers that give a more realistic look to the character.

Finally, once finished I prepared a scene in Maya where I made a Render of the character.

Cartoon Character

As the name of the project indicates, the goal was to create a character with Cartoon characteristics and move away from realism to experiment with a different style.

For this project I also found the Concept Arts that inspired me on Pinterest.

Digging a little I discovered that I have to thank Katie Jin or Astella at Artstation for the wonderful concepts that have served me as a reference.

First of all, this project is prepared to be used in an audiovisual production. It was created based on those standards.

Unlike the previous projects, in order to practice something different, I decided to create the Base Mesh directly in Maya with the intention of using it also as an Animation Mesh, so I looked for many references to rely on.

After creating that mesh, I created the High Poly in ZBrush and added details and clothes, which by the way was the first time I did it, I had never put real clothes on my characters before.

I projected the meshes, deployed the UVs in three UDIMS by indications of the school as well and finally textured. To my surprise I followed pretty much the same rules as when texturing in realistic style, the layers on the skin, the variety of shades and textures, etc.

The last thing left was to prepare a Maya scene to render an image of my Cartoon girl and that was it!

In the middle of this, we learned that in animation facial Kayshapes are used to make it easier for the 3D Animators and it is the task of the Character Creators to create those Kayshapes. So in the following images you can see the ones I created (separated by zones: mouth, eyebrows and eyes).

However, even though I was satisfied with the final result of this character, I feel that I was wrong. I focused almost all my attention on the shapes and the Base Mesh and I forgot to look for clothing references, for the modeling and texturing of this one. I think that because of this, my Cartoon girl loses some credibility... but I learned my lesson! In the next and last project so far I will show it to you.

Videogame Character

To complete the master's degree, the objective of this last project was to create a character with the necessary characteristics to be part of an XGen Videogame but keeping in mind the capabilities of the consoles and taking into account the restrictions of creating a character for this purpose.

Personally I like to keep in mind that there hasn't always been as much freedom in terms of performance as in recent times, so despite having a high polygon limit, I couldn't help but end up saving polygons.

On this project I must thank Sohee Kim Concept Artist and Illustrator, whose concept I used as a reference I found on Artstation. It fascinated and irritated me in equal parts!

This time, I explored the internet thoroughly and took my time to find references to help me. Once I was satisfied with my research I started sculpting my Exiled Princess (said by the author of the Concept).

I started creating a base mesh with ZSPheres for the body and once the main shapes of the body were defined I started to create SubTools that would form the clothing pieces and accessories. The result was a pretty consistent Base Mesh.

The next step was to focus on the detail of the face, that although it was changing during the whole process it was important to define it well from the beginning. That was what the professional who was giving us the lessons said and he was absolutely right.

So it was evolving and having more and more details. When I finished detailing and defining the High Poly sculpting I did the retopology in Maya of both the character and the weapon and deployed the UVs in three UV Shells leaving a space for the hair by planes, which was the last thing I did and placed on the model.

This time texturing in Substance Painter I was very "careful" with the clothes, generating details and shades in all the garments.

To finish the process of creating the character, I created hair to form locks in ZBrush. From this I took an image which I retouched with Photoshop to define the hair color and get the alpha channel. Then I placed the strands one by one and by blocks on the head of the character to get the hair you see in the render... So much hair! I can't say more.

Finally I used Marmoset to get the final capture of the project.

And again even though I am satisfied with the final result, I like to see what I can improve for next time so here is my self-reflection again.

I see that the edge of the sword is not as reflective as it should be, it seems that there is something that can be improved in the material.

On the other hand, I had never done hair by planes so this was the first time experimenting with a method, for the next time I will try another way to do it that is more comfortable and hopefully with better results.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all the professors and professionals who have accompanied me during this master, from whom I have learned a lot and whose tips and advice have made me see beyond.

I would also like to thank my family and my partner who are always there supporting me and giving me strength when I need it.

And finally I want to thank you, whoever you are, wherever you are and whatever you do, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to see this publication which is the effort of an intense year, full of ups and downs, losses, sacrifices, happiness and illusions.

I wish you all the best,

Alyka.