AXEW- 3D Character model and VFX composite.

AXEW- 3D Character model and VFX composite.  

I am excited to submit my recreation of the beloved Pokémon character Axew. This project was designed to take me through the VFX pipeline. Two years ago, I had never touched Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter or Nuke. I started this project in September 2023. In these months I have learnt so much about the VFX industry and have grown ever more eager to learn more. Thank you for reviewing my submission to the Rookies 2024 and enjoy this project breakdown showing how I created the final shot and 4K renders.

Learning ZBrush

After gathering an abundance of references of similar work in creating a realistic style Pokémon, I opened ZBrush for the first time. I used this block-out stage to learn the UI and the different tools ZBrush had to offer. Amongst all my attempts to create a simple block out, I settled on this attempt to take forward.

Defining the character

After the block-out stages, I defined the character's shape and muscle placement. Lastly, I sculpted the character's scales on a high Poly version of the mesh.

Modelling the eyes

I got to a stage in ZBrush where I kept adjusting things because the character didn't seem right. I decided to take a step back and work on a different element of the character. I discovered that for this model, the eyes would play a key role in bringing this character to life. After researching various approaches to modelling eyes, I chose to bring the character into Maya and model the eyes in four pieces, the cornea, retina, sclera, and iris. I decided on this workflow rather than applying a flat texture to a sphere because I wanted the final lighting to react realistically within the eye.

UV maps, UDIM set up.

After I textured the model in Subscene Painter and added an Mgear rig, I moved on to the animation stages. I exported a 3D camera track of the chosen shot from Nuke and brought that into Maya. I animated Axew getting off the train, set up the lights and an HDRI image to get light reflections on the character that matched the original plates. AOVs were exported from Maya and into Nuke for the final composite.

Thank you for taking the time to look through this project. I have included the final composite and showreel that goes through my workflow.