In this tutorial I will cover some of the interesting steps of this project. I will cover modelling and rigging in general, texturing, working with complex hairs, rendering and compositing. I will also share a few tips and tricks as I show the working process!(Fig.01)
Fig.01
Modelling and Rigging:
The first step (as always) was to get a good reference. My friend Ella, who is actually a model, was kind enough to pose for me to get all the references I needed. Setting up good references for modelling (and for texturing later on) is an important step to make sure it is done correctly. It is quite impossible to take a "perfect photographic reference" because the camera will always have a certain perspective distortion. Also, the front and side images can never align perfectly, so I did my best to set them up correctly based on elements like the eyes, nose, lips, and ears. For these reasons, these images only served as guidelines while modelling. (Fig.02 - 05)
Fig.02
Fig.03
Fig.04
Fig.05
Even though this project is about a head portrait, I decided to go all the way and make a full body first to save work for my next projects. To maximize my flexibility for later on, I went ahead and made a quick rig for the model. I used Biped for bones and did a quick skinning (it’s not perfect but it's good enough for initial posing; I'll probably use ZBrush to fix badly deformed areas). (Fig.06 -09)
