3D Reflection 9

This session started with an edit of the UV map of the face. Instead of putting seams around the eyelids, I collapsed the holes in the low poly and did a lot of adjusting so that the shape around the eye matched up with the high poly. I also had to re bake my model four times, as the eye area was very messy. I exported the lop poly eyes alone, leaving out the high poly as I thought this might help to improve the bake.

The results were a lot cleaner after editing the shape around the eyes and only importing the low poly eyeballs. Whilst the process was very challenging and lengthy, it would ensure that my model would retain a better quality in the long run.

Then the model was imported into substance, and I started by baking my mesh maps and working on the skin first. I used a base mask for the skin, and heavily edited the layers to suit my purposes. I used a lot of reference, including the original character model from The Witcher 3 and the stylised model by Julen Urrutia. The skin needed to be pale but realistic, and I wanted to show blemishes such as darker and lighter patches, to make the character look more weathered and closer to the source material.

Next on another layer I added scars. I used a blend of heights to bring out the scars, as well as adjusting the roughness levels to show the shiny surface of scar tissue. I then went on a layer underneath to add reddish and purplish patches so that the scars blended nicely into the skin.

The next stage was to texture the hair. Some areas of the bake created shading issues, but this was rectified just by painting them as normal. I used subtle grey tones as I did not deem it necessary to use dark lines when texturing the hair.

Finally I textured the eyes, by masking out areas that needed to be painted separately and then using reference heavily to achieve the correct tones and colours. I used mainly warm yellows and dark browns to add depth. I also used a lower roughness value to achieve a shiny effect. I was impressed by the depth that I could get by using a gradient of colour.

Compared to Urrutia, my texturing is a lot more realistic and detailed, but it still works as a stylised piece due to the proportions and shaping in Zbrush. I still have to render the piece, but overall I enjoyed the texturing process, especially overcoming the baking issue around the eyes. I plan to render using Marmoset next.