IвЂ™m using the Orb_Cracks brush by Michael Vicente (Orb) to create stylized folds, trying to keep the balance between large, medium, and small details. IвЂ™m not using Marvelous Designer to create the clothes for my stylized characters as I want to keep everything simple and sculpt only those folds that are necessary (they will be located in the areas that are bending and in the areas that add a nice touch to the silhouette). Often, I receive a question about the folds. Once IвЂ™m happy with the shape, I add thickness either using the QMesh function of ZModeler brush or Edge Loop > Panel Loops in the Geometry panel. IвЂ™m using this tool a lot for modeling the clothes, accessories, and hard-surface elements.

The ZModeler brush is also very helpful at this step and you can add or remove the edge loops, mask them, and so on. IвЂ™m simply masking those parts that I donвЂ™t want to deform, and then I extend and scale up other areas, like the skirt and the sleeves. IвЂ™m using the Move brush a lot to give the dress the desired shape. I applied Polish (in the Deformations panel) and ZRemesher (Geometry panel) to the extracted shape with a very low Target Polygons Count (I set it to 0,5 - 1, it makes it much easier to manipulate the shape).

I turn on Double in the Visibility panel to make it easier to work with. Then I hide the inner polygroup and Delete Hidden, so that I have only the top side of the shape. To create the dress, I mask the part of the body and use the Extract function to create a new shape. You will be able to project the created details on your low-poly mesh later on. DonвЂ™t be afraid to Dynamesh and ZRemesh your model at this step as you will run out of resolution at some point. I used my low-poly mesh as a base in ZBrush, divided it several times in the Geometry panel, and used Move, Clay Buildup, Pinch, and Inflate brushes to change the proportions of the character to make her look as closer to the concept as possible. The perfect option is when you already have a good base mesh with clean topology, UVs, and sometimes even with a rig.ДЇor this particular project I used one of the stylized female base meshes that I created earlier, but it needed some adjustments further on since we had a relatively large budget of polygons for the main characters (around 30k). When developing a model for games, we usually have quite rough deadlines, so there is not too much time to start a character from scratch, noodling with spheres and simple shapes. The hardest thing here is not only to transfer all the details into a three-dimensional world, but also to improve the character even more, making her expressive and clearly depicting her personality from the very beginning. Once the concepts are ready and accepted, we can move on to turning our 2D drawing into a 3D model. Gathering references and creating concepts in Procreate This way it will be much easier to feel the characterвЂ™s personality and make her match the initial description not only in static, but also in dynamic and movement. I made several examples of the outfits to choose from, and I also created a map of facial expressions and emotions for the animator. For this purpose, I usually use my iPad and the Procreate app as I really like the natural feeling of their Pencil, Charcoal, and Ink brushes that are perfect for sketching.

Then I moved on to sketching and creating the concepts. For this particular character, I was looking for the references of people who had similar appearance and facial features, references of hairdos with curls, and a lot of images of outfits of the 1920s. For this purpose I usually use PureRef вЂ“ a helpful little program that keeps all your pictures neat and organized. Before I even started sketching, I gathered a large moodboard, collecting the most appropriate images. At the beginning of the project, I was given a detailed description of the character followed by a number of references about the style, outfits and personal details of our Lady Detective.

Creating stylized characters pdf