3D Modeling Portfolio

P.A. man

I created it during the Advanced Production Modeling course with Nina Tarasova at Animschool. In this course, we mostly focused on creating a stylized character with a proper topology that could be rigged and animated. And I am happy with how this guy turned out in 3D. Software: Zbrush, Maya, Substance 3D Painter, XGen, GIMP, Arnold. P.A. man 3D model based on the amazing concept art by José Manuel Fernández Oli.

Sculpting and Retopology

I sculpted the body in a neutral position in Zbrush and subsequently retopologized in Maya. Throughout the entire process, I focused keenly on anatomy, shapes, and proportions.

Quick Rig and Posing

Wireframe

UV mapping

I unwrapped the UVs for the posed version of my model because I initially had no plans to animate this character in the future. However, looking back, I regret not unwrapping the UVs for a neutral pose instead. During the texturing and grooming stages, I encountered difficulties since I couldn't use a symmetrical tool and had to paint and groom both the left and right sides separately. However, making mistakes is an integral part of the learning process and gaining experience, isn't it? :)

Additionally, I applied a checker shader to the model to identify and eliminate any distortions.

Texturing

The most challenging aspect was the process of texturing the skin. My primary goal was to accurately capture the design and emphasize the character's exhaustion through textures. The difficulty was that the character's face contained a combination of blue, yellow, red, and brown areas, requiring me to seamlessly blend these colours together to achieve an organic appearance and avoid harsh transitions. Furthermore, I created SSS masks for the face, lips, and nails, in order to achieve the desired subsurface scattering effect.

Grooming

Since I modeled his hair with clean topology, I utilized the same mesh to generate hair in XGen using the Tube grooming. Additionally, to create facial hair, arm hair, and fabric piles on his pants, I strategically positioned guides and applied various modifiers to achieve the desired effect.

Final Renders

Treehouse

I created the Treehouse model during the Environmental Modeling class with Koji Tsukamoto at AnimSchool. My main focus for this course was to learn how to model organic objects. To achieve the end result of this model, I leverage several tools, plug-ins, and software: Maya (modeling), ZBrush (sculpting tree trunks, rocks), XGen (grass, moss), Bifrost (smoke), Easy Treez tool (foliage), Arnold (rendering). Amazing concept art by Yang Junchao.

Getting Started

First, I explored the design and broke up the complex concept into small blocks that made my life easier in terms of focusing on separate parts. I tried to understand the shapes and realised that this design has mainly soft, wavy lines and transitions. Thus, I kept that in my mind during the working process.

Next, I blocked out the main shapes using simple geometric figures such as cubes, cylinders and spheres to match the concept art. I changed it several times before I found the right forms.

Modeling and Sculpting

The roofs were one of the tricky parts of this model because they have undulated shape from all angles, and taper towards the top. In that case, I created a basic shape of the roofs, which reflected the concept, and using a free tool - MopKnit tool, I created an unfolded flattened version. I also modeled a few roof tiles. Using the MASH tool, I made roof tiles on the flat unfolded version then I used the Wrap deformer and transferred the roof tiling to the original base shape.

All tree trunks were sculpted in ZBrush. The main brushes I used for sculpting the trees were CurveMultiTube, DamStandard, ClayBuildUp, hPolish and Slash1. I remeshed the Dynameshed models using the ZRemesh tool to get the nice and less dense mesh, but I lost some sculpted details after that. I wanted to show tree structures and thus exported Normal maps of each tree's trunk and connected them to shaders in Maya.

Speaking about topology, I tried to keep it clean and simple for all objects:

XGen and Bifrost

I made grass and moss in XGen and applied different modifiers such as Cut and Noise to make them more natural. I divided large areas, for instance, the ground, into several parts, which gave me more control over it and allowed me to create variety.

Using multiple cubes and the Volume Noise deformer, I modeled a simple shape of smoke based on the concept art, then applied the Bifrost plug-in for Maya. With this plug-in, I transformed it into realistic smoke.

Lighting and Rendering

To bring the scene to life a little more, I played with the light settings and applied different temperatures to light sources.

I was wondering how the Treehouse model would look in the night lighting, and so I experimented with settings and created the Moonlight version for fun.

Cruella De Vil

One of my favourite projects is Cruella De Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, designed by Disney (Marc Davis). I love her accessories, her stooped and slender physique, and her whimsical black and white hair. The process of bringing her to life was an absolute joy, as I had the pleasure of creating her during the ZBrush class led by Charles Ellison at Animschool. Software: Zbrush, Maya, XGen, Arnold. 

Sculpting Process

Texturing 

I didn't spend much time on texturing Cruella. I unwrapped the UVs and painted the skin and other details in ZBrush. My focus was to highlight only two things through textures: her dress and fur coat lining. Obviously, Cruella adores natural fabrics and expensive clothing. Therefore, I aimed to create a silk shader for her dress and a velvet shader for the coat lining, emphasizing her dedication to luxury and wealth. By watching YouTube videos and experimenting with aiStandardSurface shader settings, I managed to achieve good results.

Grooming

Grooming Cruella's clothes and hair was the most challenging and stressful aspect of this project for me, mainly because it was my first time using XGen. I worked consistently to create hair and fur for the neutral pose initially. Then, using the Blendshape tool, I transferred the hair and fur to the final pose. I made sure to keep the XGen collections and descriptions well-organized, which greatly facilitated my workflow.

Final renders

Thanks for reviewing my projects! And I would like to express my gratitude to Animschool and all my instructors for their significant impact on my growth as a 3D Artist.