Making Of 'Crazy Zombie'

Introduction

Hi, my name is A. Martín Puentes Rivera (Max) and I would like to thank Jo and the 3DTotal team for their invitation to me to write a few things about the making of my image Crazy Zombie.

This work is part of a personal project: a character design test in high resolution and rendered in mental ray with 3ds Max.

Modeling & Texturing

I started modeling a simple mesh in 3ds Max (Fig.01). I had a clear concept in my mind for this character, but it was also fun for me to experiment during the modeling process.

Fig. 01_head_modeling

Fig. 01_head_modeling

After modeling the initial mesh, I was happy with it and so I went on to use the basic 3ds Max tools to unfold the UVs.

I exported the models as .obj to ZBrush, as Subtools, so that I could add detail and refine all the model parts (Fig.02 - 03).

Fig. 02_zbrush_sculpting

Fig. 02_zbrush_sculpting

Fig. 03_sculpting

Fig. 03_sculpting

I used these brushes for sculpting: Standard, Clay, Clay Tubes, Pinch, Move and Smooth.

For head, I painted the texture base in ZBrush with Polypaint, and after I exported to Photoshop for retouching (Fig.04). The same process was used for other parts of the character.

I used Decimation Master, to reduce the number of polygons, and after I exported the models as .obj to 3ds Max.

Fig. 04_texture_head_zombie

Fig. 04_texture_head_zombie

Shading & Lighting

Once the basic textures were done, I put a standard material onto the model and started with lighting in Max (Fig.05).

Fig. 05_lighting

Fig. 05_lighting

I used one skylight (hdri environment) and five omni lights with area shadows. The render was done with mental ray.

I created the materials for rendering with mental ray. I used SSS fast skin material for the head, gums, tongue and toy bear. For the other objects, I used standard materials with a mix of textures that I painted and prepared in Photoshop (Fig.06).

Fig. 06_materials

Fig. 06_materials

Composition

In camera options I added Depth of Field (mental ray) for rendering. In Photoshop, I merged, the render image, Ambient Occlusion (in multiply mode), and center interest layer in normal mode) to add more atmosphere to the composition.

After this I played with the levels and the transparency in Photoshop to get the final image (Fig.07).

Fig. 07_passes

Fig. 07_passes

Conclusion

In the near future, I hope start with mesh retopology, and apply displacement maps and the normal maps, to get a new version of this character prepared for rigging and animation.

Thank you for your time, and thanks again to 3DTotal for the support!

Cheers!

Fig.08 - Final Image

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