Character Sculpt
Project goals:
To learn and explore the breadth of features and tools available in ZBrush.
To execute a concept model of a semi-real character and achieve a consistent narrative.
Design process for the mechanical arm. I started by making a loose sketch of the bones following the stylized thickness of the character’s arms and then I sketched mechanical landmarks off of the skeleton. It was important for me to understand the basic frame underneath the armor so I can concept sculpt a more convincing machine. Some joint and piston placement was inspired from real documentation of biomech prosthetics, that I then exaggerated the size and appearance for my character.
Process of the Body
ZSphere armature:
I decided to make a detailed ZSphere armature as it helped me work through proportions early on in the process.
Adaptive skin from ZSphere result.
Blocking out major body volumes with nitial anatomy turnaround pre-crit.
During continued adjustment of the anatomy post-critique, I sketched out the forms of the clothing and created proxy models for the hair.
I made a custom alpha for the boot treads and used the “Make 3D” workflow. The initial mesh was very sharp with stair stepping, so it took some clean up and custom poly group cutting to get the tread where I wanted with soft edges.
Early work on the rig and pose
Troubleshooting Transpose Master lead me to use the previous pose as a guide for a ZSphere rig.
Inner frame of arm as functional mechanical parts.
Process of the Props
In preparation for finer tertiary details I’ve been working on alpha stamps for the prop handle. The substance designer file was built based on Leon Fotevski’s Diamond Knurling, but updated and altered for my needs.
Update: 3/26/2023:
In this portion of the blog I am reworking the sculpt and fully retexturing it in substance painter. During my final SCAD quarter I made certain design sacrifices to finish it for the class, but I have been left unsatisfied. Now that I can look at this piece again I want to take this project where I originally intended for it.
My personal annotation of the major things I want to address. Not annotated are minor fixes on other subtools.
These are the old textures I rushed for the class, but now I’m considering this previs textures to inform my reworked sculpt. This was textured and rendered in Marmoset Toolbag originally, but v2 I want to render in Unreal Engine or Arnold for Maya.