Hi there again!  Malanjo, from Portugal (Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro) talking to you again!  Before I start this Making of, I want to thank Lynette again and to all the 3DTotal team for the invitation to create this Making Of for you.

So, another character, another journey...

After I saw this concept by DOC (inspired by Kroenen from the ‘Hellboy’ movie) (Fig01), I started to imagine something creepy, but also cool at the same time.  The design of the character grew day by day, and into the 3D stage.  I was constantly trying to push the levels and create the design directly in the 3D process, just to be different, to play with the imagination a little and to push my own skill levels.

I will divide this Making Of into 2 parts:
Character Development
Environment Development

I started with the modelling of the head, because as I mentioned in a previous Making Of: if the head is OK then the rest of the design should come out easily (Fig02)!  I was constantly looking for a low-resolution geometry, using the poly-by-poly modelling technique.

The next step was to model the rest of the body, always changing lots of things, watching references and experimenting, etc.  I created the character in a pose, because it was a good exercise for the mind.  A character in a pose gives more personality and dynamism to your scene.  Here's the wire of the character, along with some close-ups (Fig03).

Remember to always have good geometry and a low poly count.  You can optimise your mesh using an editable poly modifier (3D Studio Max) or the ‘retopologise’ technique in ZBrush.  With this piece, I used an editable poly modifier.

For the lighting, I used V-Ray (with GI) for my primary render.  Here you can see the light rig, as well the render settings (Fig04 – 06).