Shinobi Cat

Breakdown of my First Project: Shinobi Cat.

The choice to create a Shinobi Cat character may have been influenced by several factors, including my creative preferences, interests, and inspirations. My main inspiration was my cat as a pet, making him the central character of my First Project. Knowing how sneaky and stealthy he can be, and my love for the Japanese culture, I decided to give him the characteristics of a ninja. Hence, I present to you the Shinobi Cat, which is equally cute and deadly.

I searched for a reference of a ninja cat and ended up with this perfect reference of a ninja cat made by the Animation and Visual Development Studio CANOE. It showed all of the characteristics that I was looking for in my character.

For my ZBrush Workflow, I started by importing basic 3D primitives as my starting point. Using the ZBrush’s sculpting brushes I managed to shape and detail my model, focusing on proportions and primary forms. I continued to refine my sculpting by adding intricate details such as the kimono, collar and belt.

I wanted to add something more to my character, so I decided to make him a little more intimidating. As a ninja, he has to have something to cover his face, but knowing that the character is a cat I didn’t want to hide the teeth that are a characteristic of an animal cat. I ended up making a mask and putting some bandages on the arms of my character.

The ZBrush workflow was both challenging and rewarding. The biggest challenge was the sharp teeth. Because of the material of the mask which was cloth, I couldn't put the teeth directly on the mask. What I did is with the option Mask in ZBrush I masked the form of the prosthesis for the teeth on the mask and with the extrude option I made the prosthesis. After that, with a simple sphere, I made one tooth and with the Pinch brush, I pinched one of the points so it had the natural shape of a sharp tooth. With the Standard brush I outlined the place where the teeth begin, and I also with the Standard brush I put some volume on the mask so that I could get that cloth material. Overcoming the learning curve and improving my tools and techniques was fun. The process breathed life into my character, giving him a unique personality and developing their appearance.

After that, I exported my 3D model from ZBrush and imported it into Maya. I performed retopology to create a cleaner and more animation-friendly topology. Retopologizing in Maya enabled me to reduce the overall polygon count while maintaining the visual quality of my mode. Also, it helped me create my UV maps easier.

I used Maya to create the sword which was the weapon of choice for my character. I began with the blade of the sword starting with a simple polygon cube and using extrusion, scaling and beveling to shape it into the desired blade form. After that, I created the hilt and the guard of the sword using additional polygon primitives, like cubes, spheres and cylinders to model the grip and the pommel of the sword. I added some fine details and bevels and some additional components to the blade.

For texturing my model I used Substance 3D Painter. I started by importing my 3D model into Substance Painter and baking my model. For the body, I used manual painting. I first started with a base color for the body and then added a white layer for the face, hands, and feet and a darkish gray color from the base color for the patterns on the arms and the legs. For the hands and the feet, I also used the Smudge option just so the colors can have a more natural feel. For the hands and the feet, for the ears, I also used different colors and used the Smudge option.

For the Clothes of my character, I used Smart Materials. For the kimono, I used the Fabric Synthetic Dots Smart Materials. Also, on the other parts of the clothes, with the option Black Mask, I added the generator Curvature. On the teeth, I added the Filter Blur and also added a slight green curvature so that I could put a few more effects like venom on the teeth.

In the end, I used the Marmoset Toolbag to render my character.

The process of creating my first Project at the M3DS Academy, like my character, is an enchanting tale of courage, cunning and the endurance of a small but mighty warrior who using stealth, skill and a heart full of bravery embarked on an adventure like he have never been on before.