Major Project | oliviacurrie

Major Project

From February 05th – May 24th.

15 weeks.

Major Project Brief Template:

Project Goal:

To develop a hyper-realistic art style character that follows the current game industry pipeline from concept to creation. The character must be ‘game ready’ by the end of the project which means it would be fully optimized to be passed on to riggers and animators next in the studio line.

The character should follow the concept art used, create a sense of character and believability, have accurate anatomy, fully optimized topology, detailed texturing, apply hair physics for a realistic render and be posed on a turntable suitable for a final show reel.

This major project is based around creating a high quality portfolio for character art that covers all the desired aspects game studios look for when hiring. I researched the key points that recruiters and character artists look for when reviewing portfolios and based my project around this.

Portfolio Needs:

Follow a concept created by someone else, shows you can follow a brief.
Develop your work in the style of the desired studio your applying for i.e. hyper-real, hand painted, stylized.
Include wireframes.
Include multiple angles showing off your work.
Quality over quantity. Don’t rush work.
Make sure pieces are posed and rendered with good lighting to make subject more visually interesting.
Make the portfolio easy to view on ArtStation and/or YouTube, no custom websites.
Create realistic deadlines.
Take work in progress shots to gather feedback before final pieces.
Showcase accurate anatomy.
Understand clothing, how fabric drapes and weight. Marvelous Designer is a plus.
Combine characters with props such as weapons or interactive objects.
Place characters on interesting turntables/ground with great detail that match/convey characters narrative or personality.

Below information is taken from the official Rockstar North webpage on what they look for in potential artists.

https://www.rockstarnorth.com/

Portfolio References and Inspiration:

Praveen Natarajan, Lead Character Artist at Playground Games- https://www.artstation.com/paladinpraveen

Marcus Whinney, Senior Character Artist at Ndreams Elevation- https://www.artstation.com/mlw_creative

Colleen Larson, Senior Character Artist at Naughty Dog- https://www.artstation.com/colleen

Gustavo Mederios, 3D Character Artist at Blizzard Entertainment- https://gustavomedeiros.art/projects

Kerry Scane, Junior Character Artist at Jagex- https://www.artstation.com/k_scane

Meng Guan, Principle Character Artist at Playstation London- https://www.artstation.com/mengguan

Robin Benes, Creature and Character Artist at Creative Assembly- https://www.artstation.com/tes3d

Ali Noori, Senior Character Artist at Keos Masons- https://www.artstation.com/aliinoori

Artist Inspiration:

Artwork by Jean Zoudi based on a concept by Eve Ventrue:

Artwork by Jean Zoudi fan art of Melenia from ‘Elden ring’.

Artwork by Colleen Larson, Riley from ‘The Last of Us: Part 1’.

Initial Planning:

Image taken from Siamak Roshani at EdgeLoop YouTube channel. youtube.com/c/siamakcgm

Concept Art

Identify the type of character.
Identify iconic elements.
Research accurate anatomy.
Understand character story.
Identify if the character would be customizable. (Parts will need to be made separately if so).
Understand how the character would be viewed as this will tell you how much detail required. (i.e.. top down characters require less detail).

Create Proxy Model

Blocks of shapes and colour.
Define basic silhouette and proportions.
Use colour to identify detail and contrast.

Topology

Topologize proxy model as this is the low poly model used later.

High poly sculpt

Sculpt details and full character design.

UV maps and Texture Baking

Unwrap the high poly mesh and create UV maps.
Bake the details from the high poly mesh onto the low poly Proxy model from earlier.
Make sure to create maps using natural clothing seams.

Texture Painting

Paint textures onto model in Zbrush or Substance Painter.
PBR workflow.

Look Development

Apply shaders for different surface materials.
Identify any changes that may be needed for the character to be game ready.

This list was based off videos produced by Character Artists and Game Studios talking through the character pipelines within games.

Video by Riot Games. Game Studio. Available here:

Video by Siamak Roshani, Character Artist. Available here:

Video by Maxon Zbrush at the 2023 Zbrush Summit featuring Blizzard Entertainment Overwatch Team. Character Pipeline. Available here:

Portfolio critique video by Jared Chavez, Senior Character Artist at Firewalk Studios. Available here:

How to make a character art portfolio for film and games by FlippedNormals. Available here:

Guerilla Games 2023 Zbrush Summit- Creating the Characters and Machines of Horizon Forbidden West. Featuring Arno Schmitz and Lennart Franken. Available here:

Blizzard Entertainment 2023 Zbrush Summit- Diablo IV Game and Cinematic Character Modelling. Available here:

The Character Art if Horizon Zero Dawn by Guerilla Games. Zbrush Summit 2017. Available here:

Industry Insight with Colleen Peck Larson Senior Character Artist at Naughty Dog. Available here:

Resources recommended to me by Praveen Natarajan for improving Character Art:

Trigon – Great resource for learning basic skills and good practices of characters for games https://www.youtube.com/@TriGon_Art
Arrimus 3d – Superb collection of tips and tricks to improve 3d modeling https://www.youtube.com/@Arrimus3D/videos
Michael Pavlovich – Extremely versatile and innovate character artist https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelPavlovich/videos
The Dwarf Warrior – Wingfox – Really good paid tutorial about the full character pipeline https://www.wingfox.com/c/8248
High-Low Poly Texture Pipeline – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcGAMSkRsQY&list=PLhphbo2gS6Vx0K9NiaI9K9FwzxNwT3-Jm
Optimum Facial Topology – https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=IwXN1pfiSBU

Advised to avoid using Zremesher when aiming for functional topology. Once a decent body and head block out is made (proxy model) then export the mesh out to an external software such as Maya or 3DS Max to do manual retopology.

Separate objects by material for clean texturing. Only combine elements during the low poly stage by retopology or manual reduction.

Basic Time Line:

Week 1: Finding a concept and reaching out to artist for permission.

Week 2: Research references and anatomy relating to concept.

Week 3: Developing base model (male or female base body).

Week 4: Create proxy model. (Ready for Pre-viz).

Week 5: Retopologize proxy model.

Week 6: Retopologize and start high res model.

Week 7: Sculpting high res model.

Week 8: Sculpting high res model.

Week 9: Sculpting high res model.

Week 10: UVs and baking textures on to low poly model.

Week 11: Texturing.

Week 12: Texturing.

Week 13: Creating hair.

Week 14: Creating hair.

Week 15: Posing, Lighting and Rendering.

Problems encountered previously were mostly related to retopology as this is an area I am not confident in, therefore I have dedicated more time to this as I will need the learn the techniques as well as apply them the to model.

Another potential issue could be generating hair which is not something I have much experience with, however I felt it would help push my project further and will be a valuable skill to learn for the future. Therefore dedicating some time to this to enhance the model is important.

I originally planned to generate the clothing in Marvelous Designer however due to the time constraints already being tough, I felt it would not be wise to learn a brand new software for this project. Instead I will focus on improving my sculpting skills with Zbrush.

Gantt Chart:

Potential Concepts (undecided):

Concept will be created in hyper-realistic art style.

Resources for Specific Skills:

A course in generating hair in Maya –

A course in retopology in 3DS Max –

UV maps, Unwrapping and Cutting based off seams and creases –

Creating a Leather Belt Lowpoly, Zbrush and Maya –

Facial Topology for Animation –

Zbrush pose tool –

Posing with Character Creator –

Retopology for AAA Game Characters –

Cloth simulation and creating stitching along a curve –

Week 2 Presentation Slides:

Proxy Model Process:

Aim: To create a base character with the overall shape and anatomy present that animators could then use to begin animation tests with so they don’t need to wait on the full character completion. The Proxy model should have form, definition and be anatomically correct using as few polygons as possible.

Example of proxy model being used for animation testing by Oscar Antonio Campos:

I began the modelling process using ZSpheres to create the basic shape and anatomy of the female character. I chose not to add toes or details to the feet as I know that they will be covered with footwear late in the sculpting process so there was no need for them.

Once the general shape was made with the ZSpheres I converted it to a PolyMesh3D. I then went through the different parts and made sure the topology was decent and the lines were running straight, this makes retopology a little easier later on.

I then used the move tool to refine the model better so it had more accurate anatomy and overall shape. I used the inflate tool to join the carpals and metacarpals together to form the palm of the hand.

I then applied 1 sub division to add a little more topology so I could refine the shape even more and add some basic face structure. This model will be the proxy model that I then retopologise for my lowpoly render model.

References:

Concept Chosen

I decided on this concept by Eve Ventrue as I really liked how it was inspired by the game The Last of Us which is one of my favorites. I also liked how the character wasn’t stood clear and center as I felt I could be more creative in how I design and show the character. I also chose this as it pushes my skills but it also achievable as some of the other concepts had fur and complicated hair styles which I was not confident with.

Defining the head:

I used the clay build up and move brushes to add more detail to the face, focusing on the anatomy of the skull and facial features.

Once I had established the anatomy of the head I could used the smooth brush to see what the result would look like. I then worked on making it look more like the concept art by adjusting the structure of the face, jaw line and features such as the nose and mouth.

Finished 1st pass head model:

I then focused on separating the different polygroups on the face to help the topology. Creating separate polygroups for each of the different parts of the face such as the eye sockets, round the mouth, jaw line, temples, nose and cheeks.

I then did the same thing for the rest of the body before merging the head and body into one subtool again. I created a polygroup for the Metacarpals on the hands to remove the defected topology. I created separate polygroups for the waist, chest and shoulders as well as the feet. I made sure each finger had 3 polygroups for the joints.

I then Dynameshed to merge the subtool and remove any fractures. I then used Zremesher to create a basic lowpoly topology with 3 subdivisions. The highest subdivision at 469,000 and the lowest at 29,000. I used the duplicated model at 1.2 million points to Project the details on to the lowpoly model with the correct topology.

Retopology

I started with the head as I felt this would be the most tricky part to topologise. I used the squares to create loops around the mouth, eyes and ears for animation purposes.

Lowpoly model in Zbrush showing the new topology compared to the polygrouped model. 19,000 tris/polycount.

Previz:

Inspiration Mood Board

Concept Art

Clothing Mood Board

Environment Mood Board for Narrative

Pre Viz Presentation:

Hand Topology re-do:

I re-did the topology on the hands as the first attempt had too many triangles and used too made Quads so it didn’t merge well with the arm. Finished topology is seen below.

Final Topology for Proxy Model:

Creating the UVs in Maya.

I drew the cuts along the seams I needed to separate the model into texture sets. I then flipped and stacks those that could use the same texture set such as front an back of arms and legs. I then arranged the UV shells and imported the new UVd model into Zbrush to check it would morph, which it did. It did increase the polycount to 90k instead of 45k which I was unsure of.

High Poly Sculpt

Phase 1

I then started my high poly sculpt to start plotting out the bony landmarks of the female character. I also added eyeballs and started adding more detail to the face so it resembled more of the concept character.

Next I extracted a t-shirt on the model to start as a base layer. I wanted to get an idea of the overall fit on the body before adding more layers and details.

I then had some problems with further extractions so I took a break and moved on to creating the finger nails. I plotted out roughly where the knuckles and joints would be first so that I could line up the nail beds. I used the damstandard to carve out the shape then the move and inflate tools to shape the nail.

I then went back to making the clothes starting with the trousers. I wanted to make some slightly loose fit trousers in a moveable fabric that would be tucked into her boots. The concept sketch only shows the bottom part of the trouser leg so I could use some creative license here. I used the layers to separate all creases, folds, seams and movement so that I could adjust later until I liked the result.

I then moved on to the coat. I masked out the basic shape on the base body and extracted. I then used the move tool to elongate the hem and sleeves as well as adjust the overall shape. I then used the damstandard brush and pinch tool to create the seams where it would be stitched.

For the hood I masked and extracted the general shape from the coat. I then used the move tool to position the hood and create the head hole. I then used standard and inflate the create the creases and folds as well as the depth.

I used the move tool to pull out the collar on the coat and moved into points to create the lapels. I positioned the end of the hood underneath so you couldn’t see the edges.

Model viewed below:

For the high neck I extracted around the neck using the mask tool again. I then used move tool to position under the coat and around the neck. I then used the standard and inflate to create the folds and wrinkles where the fabric has bunched up. I used the move tool to stop it looking symmetrical.

Model viewed below:

I then started working on the boots to get all the main pieces of clothing on the model. I used a reference of a shoe sole on a plane then masked out the shape and extracted. I used this for the sole and added thickness using dynamic thickness. I then used 2 spheres to mask out the front toe box and heel of the boot. I used the move tool to shape it around the foot. I then used a cylinder to create the boot upper. I used the move tool to blend it with the other parts and then added creases and seams using the standard, damstandard and inflate brushes.

Finally I used a plane with dynamic thickness applied to make the strap of the buckle. I used the Zmodeler to create the shape. I then made the buckle in Maya as I could have more control of the edges here. I brought the buckle model back in to zbrush and applied to the side of the boot and used the move brush to position the strap through it. I finally used another plane with dynamic thickness to make the part in the middle of the buckle that threads through the strap. Used the transpose and move brush to position everything together to make the boot buckle as an extra detail.

Model viewed below:

I then went back to the coat and started adding details such as creases and buttons. I found some more references to help me when placing the creases as well as a reference of a button with emblem as shown below.

Coat References:

Button Reference:

I used the damstandard to plot out the design on the button which I made from a flattened sphere. I then went over the design with the standard brush to lift the design. I then duplicated the buttons and placed on the coat.

I used the standard and move brushes to add creases and folds to the coat to make it look more like a trench coat.

For the belt I used the same buckle and strap from the boot and added it to the main belt which I sculpted out of a sphere. On the sphere I deleted all the top and bottom faces to just keep the ring, I then applied dynamic thickness and zremeshed. I used the damstandard brush to add details around the edges and belt holes.

Hair

Once the clothes were made I moved on to hair. I knew I wanted to make realistic hair in either Maya or Unreal Engine however I knew this wouldn’t 3D print. So I decided to sculpt a hair base that could be used as a map for the real-time hair and also be 3D printed.

I started with a sphere and used the snake-hook and move brush to create the larger strands of hair. I then masked the ends and duplicated to get some smaller strands I could then place around the head and face as fly-a way’s. I used the damstandard brush to add hair separation all over.

For eyebrows I also wanted to create some sort of base ready to place the hairs on later. I wanted to get the overall shape and see how it looked on the model so I masked out the shape I wanted and extracted. This allowed me to see how the brows would look and can be used as a guide later on.

Test Import

I then took the lowpoly subtools and imported them into Maya to check they worked and the scales were the same. The lowpoly model in Maya is shown below (this was not the projected details version).

Research

I then went away and did some research into the next steps of my project such as adding XGen hair and texturing in Substance Painter so that I had material ready to go as well as a basic understanding of what I would be doing next.

References for skin and hair textures:

Test Rigging:

I took the model into Maya to put a test rig onto it to see how well it posed in a basic pose and if there was a lot of deforming. It worked pretty well with only minor deformation. I did an overdramatic pose and a more simple pose to get a good comparison of the deformation and stretching.

Texturing

Substance Painter texturing:

I imported the model with the UVs in to Substance Painter to test how the texturing worked. Using my reference image I started placing textures and generators onto the clothing to get a result close to the reference.

Texturing in Poly-paint

I textured the skin in poly-paint in Zbrush firstly as I felt more comfortable using this method. I knew I could refine in Substance later on if needed.

Applying the textures in Maya:

I applied all the textures to the different geometry and using the Quick Rig Tool to create a simple pose for the model. I then applied a HDRI to test the model.

I then downloaded a woodland rock asset from Megascans to use as a base/floor. I then removed the HDRI and applied area lights for a softer lighting. Below is the first render test.

Here I changed the floor base to something flatter than could be viewed from any angle. I also changed the lighting using Arnold area lights to brighten up the character and add shadows and contrast.

Issue:

I noticed that when I converted the highpoly body to the lowpoly its created some strange distortion on the face which looked more unnatural. A lot of detail and shape gets lost making the character look less realistic and natural.

I created the eyes in Maya to create realistic eyes that allow light to pass through and reflect. I created the eyelashes in Zbrush using cone shapes made thin and curved and then duplicating and arranging on the top and bottom lids.

Change of Direction:

Due to technical issues with my laptop I was no longer able to open Maya. This meant I needed to change my plan and create/render completely in Zbrush. Unfortunately this meant all the texturing I did in Substance Painter and the rigging in Maya would no longer be able to be used and would need to be re-done in Zbrush.

Below are the final sculpts before texturing:

Lashes, Eyebrows & Hair:

My next steps were to create hair lashes and eyebrows. I decided to use Zbrush’s FiberMesh function for this. So I masked out the areas around where I wanted the hair to grow from and applied the fiber mesh. I then adjusted the quantity and length until I was happy with the outcome. I used the move brush to comb the hairs on the brows upwards and the lashes to curl. I used poly groups to add clumping to the lashes.

Lashes and Brow renders below:

I applied the same approach to the hair using FiberMesh. This time I masked the hair line using a reference to get the correct hair line shape and applied to fibermesh. I started with a bright blonde to make it easy to view as I adjusted. I kept the length short and applied a slight twist for curl.

I then started adding length by pulling the hair with the move brush. I masked the hair in half and applied separate polygroups so I could move the hair into a middle parting. I then continued grooming with the move brush to get the shape I wanted.

Here I started making smaller polygroups to clump sections of the hair and to create face framing strands arranging with the move brush.

I then added move length with the move brush to match closer to the reference image. I continued clumping and arranging the hair to look more natural adding waves by moving the direction of the clumps.

Finally changed to colour to a dark brown and added some turbulence for a messier look. I then separated individual strands into polygroups and used the move brush to create a few fly-aways.

Polypainting the skin texture and eyes:

For texturing I used a mixture of poly painting and spotlight painting. For the skin I applied layers of bright yellow, blue and red first and then applied varying shades of peach and pinks on top to create a natural shade. I used the colour theory below to aid my technique.

I swatched the colours on the body that would be hidden later so that I could swatch the colours I had used again if needed.

For the eyes I did a base layer with polypaint then found an iris image with I spotlight painted on top for more realism as my brush couldn’t get small enough.

I then used the spotlight texturing technique to texture the clothes. I found high quality texture images online and projected them on to the separate parts of the model to create realistic fabrics and wear. As shown below.

Textured render pass test 1:

Turntable:

For the base/turntable I made it from a cylinder which I resized and increased the polycount. I then spotlight projected a stone texture image on top of it. I then used the Damstandard brush to add the cracks to make it look more realistic.