3D Reflection 25 - Experimenting with Fibermesh

I did more work on the eyelid shape and the eyeball, creating an indent for the iris. I will create another layer to make the shiny effect on the outside of the eye.

I then masked out the eyebrows, as I planned to try out fibermesh for the first time. This was a fun experiment as I was able to experiment with different hair types and analyse the way hairs were structured when making eyebrows. However, for the final version I opted to sculpt the hairs as it would speed up my process, and I could learn how to sculpt accurate realistic eyebrows that would take up less tris.  I will make sure that I create a realistic appearance in substance painter too.

 Sculpted brows

3D Reflection 24 - Making the Pharaoh's clothes

I made the layers of clothing by extracting and using the transpose tool to shape and position them. I started with the two skirts, long and short. Initially I used the symmetry tool to create folds, but it looked inaccurate compared to real life folds. I was basing my fabric off of thin Egyptian linen, which would have been widely used at the time our game is set. Therefore I needed to make accurate folds, and so I turned off symmetry and applied layers, and then I used the dam standard tool using the sub and add functions to create a creased effect. I also added another layer to use the crease brush on a large scale. I applied creases near the top of the long skirt and smoothed them out towards the bottom where there was less tension in the fabric.

I then created an over gown as was visible in my concept. This was challenging and took several attempts using difference methods. The first was to mask out a vest shape and then mask out some sleeves, but on my reattempt I decided to make a kaftan shape as it was truer to the original concept. However, I decided that I preferred the pharaoh without the over gown, due to several reasons. The first and main reason was due to time constraints - I knew that this would be difficult to rig well in the time that I had, and thought that I would achieve a better appearance without it anyway. I also preferred how the pharaoh looked without it as more of the clothing layers were visible.

The next stage was to create the royal Usekh and double crown. In hindsight, I should have made the usekh in 3DsMax and then imported it into Zbrush for a more accurate and cleaner shape, as well as making it lower poly. Despite this, I was pleased with the result in Zbrush, as I was able to use a leather texture brush and hand stitching embedded in the seams. 

The crown in contrast was fun to craft in Zbrush and ended up being a clean shape.

I created some beetle subtools that would decorate the usekh and necklace. I also created some metal beads that would be wrapped in coloured cord to place between the beetles, and a snake dressing on the crown. I made the false beard the same way to the statue, but I lowered the poly count for a cleaner shape and then remeshed it to apply more detail.

This is the final character sculpt, both with and without the over gown. If this was part of a major game perhaps the over gown could be on or off in some scenes.

3D Reflection 23 - Making the Pharaoh's body

I started making the character in Zbrush, basing it off of my concept stages for the digital project. I was making the pharaoh character, who I wanted to be of a mesomorphic body type and average fitness, in order to contrast against the royal guards and ectomorphic body type of the messenger.  I began by using Zspheres to stretch out the rough limbs and skeletal structure of the body before turning it into a mesh.

I then began blocking out the anatomical shapes, using 3D body scans as reference for correct proportions. 

Before using the reference I struggled a lot with trying to achieve the correct proportions, particularly withe the size of the head and the hands and feet. However, once I used the see-through function in Zbrush to align the model up to the reference I was able to attain the correct posture and proportion.

I created the hands using a similar method to the false beard from the Osiris statue that I made previously. I then sculpted them individually and remerged them with the hand, and used the projection function with Zremesher to make them smooth into the hand. I did the same process with he toes, which was length but resulted in an anatomically correct appearance.

After receiving feedback from my tutors I decided to work more on the face, particularly on the lips which needed more depth. I used the dam standard and pinch tools, as well as clay build-up to create a more accurate sculpt of lips. I also used the layers tool for the first time, in order to make pores and wrinkles, and to fix the eyelid shape as it was too flush against the eyeball with no waterline before being fixed.

Overall my first experience making a character body from scratch was difficult but a heavy learning process. I liked the outcome as it showed that I could produce an character that follows correct anatomy from scratch.

3D Reflection 22 - Making an Osiris statue prop in Zbrush

I used much reference of existing ancient Egyptian statues of Osiris, god of the underworld and judge of the dead. He would be placed in the L-shaped tomb area of my section in the level. The model  was supposed to be worn and in some places, crudely carved and worn away. As well as this, the majority of the detail would be in the texturing.

Reference to begin sculpting

From my references, I found that the proportions of the face were more squat and pushed together, as well as being quite expressive. I tried to show this on my sculpt. I found it difficult to achieve the correct shapes at first, and so it took several attempts before I finally created a face I liked.

I also had to create a false beard. I did this by masking off a part of the chin and extracting a new subtool from this. I then worked on adding the carved details.

The next challenge was creating the hands and crook and flail which is symbolic of the god Osiris. I chose toe create it as part of the body to emphasise the appearance of the carved piece of stone, rather than separate objects. This is also a more accurate historical method. I used the clay build up and dam standard brushes to create the raised surfaces. I also reduced the poly count to make more accurate and even carved in areas, before raising the count again using Zremesher. I applied the carved detail to the crook and flail and the necklace areas using the subtract function for the dam standard tool and finally I used the pinch tool in some ares to make the engravings thinner.

I like this model as it was simple to make and will be an effective use of symbolism in the tomb room when retopped and textured.