3D character stylization: model, texture, details

Original author: Kirill Tokarev
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A stunning 3D artist, Luana Bueno, spoke in detail about the creation of her low-poly fan version of Eloy from Horizon Zero Dawn.


Introduction


My name is Luana , I'm a 3D character artist from São Paulo. I moved here six years ago because I won an Anhembi Morumbi college game design training.

I first met with 3D in college, but at that time I was already engaged in concepts and illustrations in my group, then I did not have the opportunity to deeply explore this area.

When I first saw the hand-drawn model, I realized that I had found a job that I want to do.

For a long time I worked in advertising, and in the evenings I studied 3D. After that, I worked for some time as a modeler for the RoVr VR game.

Now I'm freelance and working on my portfolio.

I can confidently say that it’s more pleasant to study 3D when you have a company of friends who can help and make the trip more interesting. They are like mana potions, restoring my energy when I overcome every obstacle.

Production


I started the project by collecting many references: Eloy herself, actresses or models that I thought would help me sketch out parts of Eloy's face or create a texture. It was important to say this because I see that many people start a project without using references. I can say with confidence that if you collect good references, then the probability of success of the project becomes 50% higher.

There are various programs for organizing references. I use Pure Ref.

Here is my reference board. At the beginning, she was more streamlined, but in the process of working on the project, I moved the images.


I started by creating a blank in ZBrush . This blank is very rough and is needed only as a basis for future retopology.

Note that I did not go into details because I knew that these details would be implemented in the texture.


Having finished the workpiece, I exported .obj to Maya and started retopology. At this stage, it is important to select the references for the correct topology. The topology must follow the correct polygon loop; you need to imagine that perhaps the character will be animated in the future.



Ready topology:


Proportions


Before starting the project, I imported the reference into Photoshop and created the necessary linear guides that should help me with the modeling.

This is an important concept study process. I analyze the proportions and the number of accessories worn on the character.


In fact, all the details were drawn on the texture. A model is a simple mesh created in Maya with a silhouette and shape that I needed to create a good texture picture.

Texturing


We start with UV: although the model is a bust, I decided to divide it into two UVs, one for the face and clothes, and the other for hair, fur and other parts that required transparency. I made this choice because I needed a high resolution texture.

Thanks to my friends, I learned to be very picky about how my UVs are organized; they are very demanding and made me critical of my work.

Creating clear and ordered UVs has already become an integral part of my workflow, and it’s very simple. The artist is required only not to stretch the texture in some areas.



Let's move on to the textures. In hand-drawn textures, I like the fact that it is not technical understanding that is important in them, but observation and perseverance. We have to work with many tools, but when it comes to texture, we are the only ones left and the completely gray model, waiting for life to be breathed into it.

The goal of this project from the very beginning was to improve my freehand texture painting skills. I did not bake any cards that could help me draw.

I started by applying basic colors to the entire model, and then improving it part by part. The first part that I noticed was the face.

As a reference, I used the work of an artist named Pug.

Here is the linkto his school’s blog, which has several works created by him and his students. I hope that these models will be a source of inspiration for other artists who draw by hand.

Note: I do not know Chinese, so to understand the blog, I also had to use a translator. But it was worth it!


As for the head, I drew each hair separately. This sounds like crazy work, but it was worth the effort - I learned a lot from painting and redrawing many areas.


When working with textures, there are no secrets or magic brushes with which you can get the perfect texture. You just have to do and redo it, while over time you will inevitably achieve a good result.

Work with 3D-Coat


Almost all of Eloy was painted in 3D-Coat . This is the perfect tool for texturing hand-drawn patterns. I use a flat view (hotkey "2" in 3dCoat), which gives me full control over the picture.

To create a wicker jewelry on my neck, I used Photoshop. I tried to draw it by hand, but I couldn’t manage to make it homogeneous, so I found an image of a weave similar to Eloy's decoration and in Photoshop I applied it directly to UV, and then used it as a model for drawing in 3DCoat.

After rendering the textures, I set the opacity map in Photoshop and adjusted the hair color.

Difficulties


Before this project, there were no human characters in my portfolio, and I realized that I would inevitably have to study anatomy and freehand drawing. Anyway, I would have been forced to do this, and for this, the right time had just come.

I really wanted to make a bust of a female character with a different hairstyle and a few details.

I started looking for concepts that I might like, but I could not find them. Once in a conversation, my friend Alex mentioned the game Horizon and then I realized that I would simulate Eloy.

I knew that starting with a bust of such a complex character would not be easy, but I was not very worried about the complexity, I just took it and did it.

Most of all I was bothered by neck ornaments and hair. I solved the problem with jewelry much faster than I could have imagined, and the progress made by the model gave me more confidence to continue working.

With hair, everything turned out to be a little more complicated - when I started drawing the texture, I saw that the mesh did not behave very well, so I returned to Maya and redid the workpiece, after which I opened the UV-scans again. And even after these changes, I had to redraw the hair several times until an acceptable result was obtained for my eye.

What makes this model interesting? To complete each part of it, I had to overcome myself as an artist. I know that this is not only my work - every review I received from my friends helped me to complete Eloy and step by step to make her even more real Eloy.

Luana Bueno , 3D character artist.

Interview taken by Kirill Tokarev.

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