Breakdown: Modeling & Texturing Realistic 3D Girl with Bow

Introduction

Hello, I'm a self-taught 3D character artist currently studying Game Graphics in Korea. I do character modeling based on PBR rendering.

I played Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 and became interested in video game development. Since then, I have studied 3D Art and created a portfolio.

I studied on my own – I learned the entire process of 3D modeling through internet lectures and improved my skills through the community or YouTube.

Ansuz

I made the concept myself. I first heard the word Ansuz in the Japanese cartoon "Full Metal Panic!" I found that it was a Nordic rune character that means "transmission, message, signal." Focusing on "transmission," I wanted to create a character with a strong will that wants to change history with modern technology.

It was inspired by the costumes of medieval archers and images of Persian desert warriors. Rather than following someone, I designed the face by applying elements after finding a nice image of a soft face.

This personal work was a research process for more realistic skin expression. It was a challenge to grow even more than in my previous work. And I wanted to express the story of the character through texture.

Modeling

First, I collected and organized various references as much as possible for the concept. Using ZBrush, I set the overall body silhouette and scale ratio, and the texture of various meshes was created as quickly as possible. I made the costume and backpack using Marvelous Designer. To express natural creases, I retouched what I made in Marvelous Designer once again in ZBrush. The bow and various accessories were made in 3ds Max.

In this work, various stories, such as scratches and partial destruction, were included as much as possible, even in high poly in ZBrush. The leather was torn, the inner layer was exposed, and the edge was damaged due to wear and tear. After producing the high poly like this, I was able to obtain good normal and ID maps and achieve much better quality when working on textures in Substance 3D Painter.

I made the hair by developing a hair card production plug-in using Maya's XGen guide. It uses the Sweep Mesh tool to convert the guide into a curve.

Topology

Overall, it was re-topologized with 3ds Max. The overall shape was made to appear in detail, and the fingers and knees were retopologized while paying attention to the flow of the shape in consideration of rigging and skinning.

To make the chain mail on the left shoulder more detailed, I added topology using alphas and a piece of chain.

Texturing

For the eyes, I purchased scan data from Texturing XYZ. The hair was created using Fiberhop. Thanks to Marmoset's good shader system, the hair could be easily expressed in good quality.

Clothes and weapons were textured in Substance 3D Painter. When working on textures, I always look at various references for the process of corrosion and damage of materials. In addition, the generator function of Substance 3D Painter was used to make the textures more detailed.

The skin is the most difficult texture. Even people who have not studied 3D can easily spot issues with it because the skin is the part we actually see the most. I tried to eliminate the awkwardness by making most of the maps for various skin references and scan data to resolve this uncanny valley.

Lighting

The rendering was done in Marmoset Toolbag; I tried to use minimal lighting. In addition, when setting up lighting, I try not to use it without purpose and attempt to express it based on the 3-point and Rembrandt lighting techniques. The key and rim lights use a wide angle of spot light to illuminate the object as a whole, and the rim light reflected from the back also uses directional light.

I set up the lighting to express her soul in the character's eyes. I adjusted the value of spot light's shape to create a great scene.

Adjust post-processing to suit the character's atmosphere. For example, if the character should give off a warm image, set the temperature and color tone, and to express an intense image, use sharpening, expression, and cold temperatures.

Conclusion

Overall, it took 6 months. I think it took a considerable amount of time because I studied a lot and tried new things. The biggest difficulty is the doubt that I would be able to finish this work as I aimed.

When I made the final render, I think I learned the patience and perseverance to go back and solve problems if it was not the result I aimed for. When I was a beginner artist, I focused on programs and skills. However, if you want to become a better character artist, you must not neglect the basics, such as human anatomy and detail observation. Above all, I think the passion for character modeling is the most important. If you have this passion, I think you can definitely become a better modeler than you were yesterday. 

Seok Jiung, Character Modeler

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine