Echoes of the Battlefield

Introduction

These characters were crafted during my studies at M3DS Academy, showcasing my dedication to mastering the art of 3D character creation. I extend my gratitude to my instructors at M3DS Academy for their invaluable guidance and support throughout these projects.

My Inspiration and References

I drew inspiration from historical European and Mongolian warriors for Arshul's character design. Utilizing a mix of real-life references and 3D models, I ensured authenticity in outfit details and set a high-quality standard for the project.

Arshul represents the culmination of my skills in character designing, modeling, sculpting, texturing, and rigging for AAA game development. Rendered in Real Time, this character demonstrates my ability to create highly detailed and dynamic game-ready assets.

ZBrush

In ZBrush, I put a lot of effort into shaping the character. Starting with a basic blockout, I could easily make changes whenever needed. Then, I added lots of details to make the character look realistic. Some parts like the weapons were made in Maya, and I used Marvelous Designer for the clothing folds. The final sculpt had around 140 million faces in the high poly version, but I worked exclusively with devisions and layers so that my computer can handle that much topology.

Sculpting

In sculpting the head, I began with a simple sphere in ZBrush, refining it gradually to form the character's features. To add expression and texture, I wrapped the head using Wrap 3D. My objective with the facial features was to instill a sense of fear and menace in the character's appearance.

For the hands, I focused on intricate detailing, as they were the only visible skin besides the face in the entire model. Using ZBrush, I meticulously sculpted each finger and knuckle to ensure realism and expressiveness

Brushes

To achieve realism in my sculpt, I relied on a variety of brushes, including the Orb Brushes, ZBG Creature brushes, Seam Brushes, and Skin Brushes. These brush packs have helped me a lot in achieving the desired result

Retopology

For the retopology process, I initially decimated the entire mesh to reduce its complexity. Then, I manually created a low-poly topology using Quad Draw in maya to make big faces to hurry up the process. This allowed for quick retopologizing while preserving overall shape. Afterward, I added subdivisions to refine the topology, ensuring optimized geometry without sacrificing detail. This workflow allows me to do retopology a lot faster than usual.

For cylindrical forms like the ropes, I utilized ZRemesher to generate optimized topology since Zremesher works very well with simple cylindrical forms.

Importantly, I ensured that there were no unnecessary inside faces, prioritizing optimization for game development. This approach later translated to easy UV cutting and low topology count.

Texturing

I textured the character in Substance Painter, using a combination of procedural tools and brush painting techniques. Each texture was meticulously crafted layer by layer, without relying on the presets provided by Adobe Substance Painter. 

Floral Designs

In Adobe Illustrator, I crafted elaborate floral patterns, which were then textured onto the capes of the character model as carefully carved designs. This meticulous process added depth and elegance to the character's attire, elevating the character's importance.

Rigging

After completing the texturing phase, I began working on the rig, which involved two unsuccessful attempts initially. I used the Unreal Engine 5 character for the rigging process, followed by tedious weight painting to ensure smooth and realistic movement. Throughout this process, I worked on two different computers, working with Studio Library to ensure that updates on the pose made on my personal computer were automatically reflected on the workstation at the academy.

Easteregg

While creating the threads one by one during my texturing phase, I Noticed That I can write letters that will be subtly noticeable. So I decided to write the word "Rookies", referencing the name of the competition.

Lighting

In the final phases, I posed the character in Maya and then exported it to Marmoset for lighting. Using darker shadows and strategic lighting, I gave the character a vibe of a dangerous, evil warrior, enhancing their menacing presence.

Additional breakdown images

Bujar demonstrates the same skillset from my previous project, but additionally it showcases my ability to implement hair cards, sculpting anatomy for non-human characters and creating a neutral face while keeping his menacing and dangerous look

The textures are exported as low for the Marmoset Viewer

Zbrush

I made the body in zbrush following anatomy references for horses which helped me a lot into shaping him with good proportions. Next I added a simple blockout of all the assets I planned on adding to the horse design, drawing inspiration from countless of refrence images

After completing the blockout of the assets, I prioritized finishing the body before proceeding with the individual assets. This approach minimized the need for adjusting each of the assets, as any changes made to the body would require me to move all the components attached to the horse. Thus, by focusing on refining the body initially, I saved a lot of time in doing so.

For some details in the harness I utilized the Surface > Noise function and selecting a surface that I like located in the lightbox. Also in addition to the previous brushes I mentioned in the character project, I used the wood brushes and Belt Buckle Brush to create additional details.

Retopology

For the retopology I used my same method of working. With quad draw, I create big shapes to just get the form of the object, and then by adding a subdivision I get a great mesh density. Also, I try to incorporate ZRemesher as best I can, for example the simple cylindrical shapes make great topology with minimal time spent.

This workflow is very efficient for me, because I save a lot of time and plus have a very easy time UV Unwrapping the mesh since the inside faces are already deleted and it up to me to just use unfold.

texturing

I began by texturing the horse's body separately from the assets, to ensure that it wouldn't be affected by the bake in Substance Painter from the other assets placed on top of the body.

After completing the body textures, I imported the whole file together and started working on the textures for the rest of the model, making sure to take my time and not rush this phase.

Easteregg

I included a little easteregg on the first medal so it has the rookies symbol.

Hair Cards

After texturing in Substance Painter, it was time to create the hair cards. I worked in Fibershop to create hair cards suitable for the horse's mane and tail.

Rigging

Right after finishing with the hair cards, I began working on the rig

Floral Designs

To fit more with a traditional origin, I designed floral patterns in illustrator to implement in the final project

Lighting and Rendering

The complete lighting and rendering of the Horse was made in Marmoset

Additional Breakdown Images

PolyKnights showcases my ability to create realistic 3D characters with minimal polygon counts, ranging from 2k to a maximum of 10k faces. These couple of smaller character projects highlight my efficiency, with each character taking no more than 20 hours, and often around 15 hours on average. Many artists today overlook the importance of polygon count, but this project proves that low-poly characters can still be detailed and visually appealing.

Zbrush

To be efficient when creating a 3D character, it's best to start from an already made base mesh.

For my PolyKnights project, I used the base mesh from my previous character, Arshul. By reusing this mesh, I could save time and maintain consistent proportions. I then adjusted and reworked the detailing to make sure it wouldn't be the exact same mesh, giving each character its unique look while speeding up the modeling process.

Retopology

After finishing with ZBrush, I move to Maya to create a very low-poly character. Following the same process as in my previous projects, but this time I am not adding any subdivisions, keeping it very low in polygon count.

Notably, the model contains no unnecessary inside faces, allowing for easy UV cutting and game ready topology.

Texturing

To speed up texturing, I took advantage of the smart material presets available in Substance Painter. However, I ensure to customize and refine these presets to suit the specific aesthetic of the project.

Opacity

Additionally, I used opacity layers to make the mesh edges unnoticeable, effectively masking the low topology count. This technique adds torn effects, hanging threads and additional details and enhances the overall visual quality of the character.

Rigging

After the texturing process, the rigging part was very easy. The low topology and edge loops placed in the correct spots ensured proper deformations, making the rigging process smooth and efficient.

Thanks for the attention and good luck to everyone at the competition!