3D Character Artist Portfolio - Coline Laclau-Pussacq

I'm going to start by talking about the project that most marked my year 2023: my graduation film, "No Bird's Land".

The 9 of us made this short film. My role was very versatile and I touched on everything: pre-production, modeling, texturing, set dressing, lighting and compositing.

Texture and Groom

What I'm most proud of is my texture and grooming work on the 3 characters. Our concept was so 2D that we had to figure out how to treat the textures and plumage in 3D. After an intensive research phase, I found the texture and plumage that pleased the whole team, while remaining faithful to the desired stylization.

Compositing

I also really enjoyed the compositing phase. In this film, compositing is very important: there's mist, smoke and a very dark, heavy atmosphere. Contributing to the compositing allowed me to have a real impact on the visual aesthetics of the film.

Here are a few breakdowns of shots I worked on :

And we change the mood completely with a more modest short film, made during my third year of 3D. The 4 of us made it, and my role was mainly in pre-prod, modeling, texturing and lighting. Unfortunately, there's not much back-up for this project, but here are a few images plus a few extracts :

I've done every aspect of the rooster, and the texture of the girl

We had a decor rich in objects, here are a few examples. I did every aspect of the tepee space. I textured the bed area. 

Here are a few shots from our short film :

Before talking about my more recent projects, I'd like to finish with a project that marked my school career. In third year, we were challenged to push realism to the limit, by creating our double in 3D. It was a very difficult exercise. Trying to be realistic can quickly lead to what we call "uncanny valley".

Tesselation - Occlusion - Albedo - Displace - Lookdev :

You have to analyze every inch of your face, right down to the fuzz covering your skin.

The hardest part is the eyes. Even if you spend a lot of time on them, it's very hard to give them that spark of life.

And now, Light please ! 

My very first project after graduating was a rather simple sitting girl (inspired by one of my friends). The main aim was to familiarize myself with the ZBrush software.

This photo inspired me. At first, I wanted to model both girls because I liked the way they interacted, but in the end I only did one. However, I think I'll model the second one one of these days.

I start by making the base of the girl, and modeling the bag in Maya :

Then it was time for me to explore and discover Zbrush:

After the not-so-fun phase of retopology, and unfolding Uvs , comes the time for textures. And here's the Lookdev: 

Then I continue in my quest to learn, (first I learn the basics of Blender by following this famous donuts tuto for those who know), then I'd like to explore 2D shaders so I make this little project: a peony field in a 2D style. 

And finally, the final touch (why else do 3D?), camera movement and wind in my peonies, please !

I liked the result of the peonies, so I'm keen to continue exploring 2D shaders. But this time with Arnold.

I had just seen the animated film "Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years" and loved the graphic treatment! Here are a few examples I've picked up, there's this scribbled look that I think is brilliant to adopt with 3D.

I start with this quick sketch of a pumpkin child :

I didn't get the same result as my refs, but since the aim wasn't to imitate them completely, they inspired me and I like the end result :

The pumpkin child looks like something out of a comic book...  Zombilenium perhaps ?

After that, I was looking to make an image that I would enjoy making and that would be an asset to my portfolio.

Inspiration  

Gradually, an image took shape in my mind: a little girl standing on a dragon. She's tiny compared to it, but despite her young age she looks powerful, and she's looking right at us.

To begin with, it's not very conventional, but I didn't make any sketches. I had a clear image in my head of what I wanted to achieve.

I selected visual references on several themes, the framing, the type of dragon, the child's face, her attitude and so on. I used PureRef for this step.

Modeling and Sculpting

I started by sculpting the dragon's head in ZBrush, and for the dragon's body I continued on maya. Then I made a very simple Rig so that I could put it in position.

The child

To start with, I used the "Yu-Lon" rig, which I placed on the dragon. It took me a while to find the right position for the child, as each different positioning gave the image a different intention.

Once I'd validated the pose, I detached the head from the rest of the body and resculpted it in ZBrush. However, I decided not to touch the rest of the body because it suited me. Once the head was finished, I welded it back to the body. We finally have the girl's identity.

To this, I add two long braids, which give life and movement to the image. Then for the clothes, I opted for something simple. A dress, which I simulate in Maya with Ncloth, to match the wind in the braids, and to keep the dynamism.

Texturing

All the texturing was done in Substance 3D Painter, with frequent transitions between Substance and Maya. It took me some time to decide on the texture for the dragon's skin. Initially, I aimed for a crackly and realistic texture, but it started to lose its clarity. Upon revisiting my initial references, I noticed a preference for a simpler and smoother texture, commonly found in AI-generated images. I embraced this simplicity and opted for a less dense texture.

Compositing 

And now, onto the final step: compositing (which I did in Nuke).

Compositing was a rather gratifying part of the process, as it quickly became possible to significantly improve the image.

Without going into detail, here's a screenshot of my Nuke tree and a Before/After compositing :

Animation

At this point, I decided to create two formats: an image and a video. The movement possibilities in the image were limited due to my constrained rigging skills, but still feasible, so I decided to give it a try. 

For this project, I was lucky enough to be able to talk about it in more detail in an article for the rookies. So if you'd like to find out more, I invite you to read it - it's available in "discover"!

And the latest project is this little Redhead confronting the teddy bear king. What I love about this image is the expressiveness of the little girl. An expression that I sculpted directly. I had to dive back into the groom, not the easiest part, but I enjoyed it all the same.

I'm going to show you my different wip, it's rather fun to watch. You can see I've come a long way.

First step: position the character. Model his clothes. Then I do a sculpt pass on his face to give him more personality. 

The second step is to create the hair. Then I re-sculpt the face to give it a more playful look.

Third step, creation of props, Uvs, texture, then environment. It finally looks like something! 

Fourth step: finding the background. After a few quick edits, I finally opted for a blue sky. It was the simplest choice, it highlighted the silhouettes of the characters and I liked its cartoonish quality.

And finally, a real Breakdown :

This is the lookdev of the girl and the teddy bear:

I'd like to thank everyone who has made it this far, spent time reading me or supported my application.

I love all aspects of 3D design, being able to create something from a simple idea. I like the generalist side because I like to dabble in everything, but the further along I get, the more I try to see what I'd like to specialize in. First, with my graduation film, I had a real interest in texture and compositing.

And now that I'm no longer a student and every project I do is on my own initiative, I realize that the part I enjoy most is modeling and texturing. In particular, I love creating characters. It's like bringing them to life. I think that professionally, I would thrive as a character artist.

Although finding a job is a challenge at the moment, I'm optimistic about the opportunities that will come my way. I'm proud to submit my portfolio to the Rookies Awards 2024, in the hope that it will generate interest. It's my pleasure to share my passion with you, and I hope you enjoy it!