Making of 'The Counterattack'

The Counterattack

The Counterattack

Emerson Silva takes us through the processes behind his creation, The Counterattack, inspired by Illustractor Studio artist Edil Araújo.

Step 1: Concept

It all begins with choosing the concept, and this time I chose a concept made by the great artist Edil Araújo from Ilustractor Studio. With his 2D concept in my hands, I analyzed and searched for references that would help me determined the types of textures I would work with.

The original 2D sketch by Edil Araújo

The original 2D sketch by Edil Araújo

Step 2: Base Mesh

Every time I create a 3D illustration, I make the base mesh in 3ds Max. I use the symmetry as much as I can and then I make the pose, so I don't need to worry about setting up a rig. In this project, my base ended up by being very simple, so I could see good balance and proportion between elements.

This shows the simple blocked 3D base

This shows the simple blocked 3D base

Step 3: Sculpt

After I made the base mesh in 3ds Max, I began the sculpture in ZBrush. At this point, I really started to see the general shape and atmosphere of the project better, and was glad to see the character become more real.

Emerson's model started to gain a distinct character

Emerson's model started to gain a distinct character

Step 4: Retopology

When I thought the mass and volume of the sculpture were the way I wanted, I began retopologizing the mesh using ZRemesher on each item (without worrying about edge loops and animation). I then passed it back into 3ds Max to map. After the mapping was finished, I added the final details and made final adjustments in ZBrush.

The character was retopologized using ZRemesher

The character was retopologized using ZRemesher

Step 5: Textures and Materials

As I had already searched for and found references at the beginning of this project, I already had something in mind about what to use. I'll often find that even after trying several times it doesn't end up as cool as I imagined it would be, but it's good to have some options in mind and test until you feel satisfied about the result.

For the skin, I painted a texture in Photoshop mixed with some photo textures and I used the shader VrayFastSSS2, using the Normal map generated in ZBrush.

These show the character's skin shader and texture

These show the character's skin shader and texture

Step 6: Textures and Materials 2

For all the others objects I used VrayMtl, and always with a bump map. After some trials and test paintings, I had my finished model ready to go to the next step.

This is the texture and shaders ready at this point

This is the texture and shaders ready at this point

Step 7: Hair

Making the hair was always a big problem for me, but after a lot of studying I started to adjust to Ornatrix, and now I always use it in all my projects. I'm still not good with hair, but now I can make characters that aren't bald!

Emerson uses Ornatirix to create the hair for his character

Emerson uses Ornatirix to create the hair for his character

Step 8: Grass

I added some more elements like trees, rocks and grasses into the scene. I made the grass with Auto Grass.

The grass was made with the Auto Grass plug-in

The grass was made with the Auto Grass plug-in

Step 9: Light

In this project, I used V-Ray lights. Something I really like to do is use three or more points of light. Whenever I can, I also use a Back Light, because I really like the effect.

In the light settings, the biggest challenge is to control the intensity of light without losing the shadows you want.

This image has three V-Ray lights to create a well-lit environment

This image has three V-Ray lights to create a well-lit environment

Step 10: Render

For rendering, as you might have noticed, I used V-Ray again. I used it with a Gamma setting of 2.2, with the Frame Buffer and GI activated. I usually give the GI Environment a low value.

Well, now it's time to render to get to the final result!

This shows the settings used to create a good render

This shows the settings used to create a good render

This image shows the effect of those settings in the previous image

This image shows the effect of those settings in the previous image

Step 11: Post production

In the post-production work, I worked with the great artist Carlos Sá in Photoshop, and we tried to see if it was necessary to have more vivid colors. For that, we tested some of the various options in the hunter's layers. We duplicated the layer and selected the Overlay mode on the upper layer, and we then saturated some parts of the skin and clothing textures. The main goal was to make it more distinct by making the darks and lights more harmonic.

From high resolution photos of clouds, sky and birds, we built a background that was in harmony with the hunter scene. We tried, in these fusions, to work with shades by integrating the elements in a way that made it impossible to see which parts were photo illustration and which were 3D render.

After this fusion, we did the final necessary retouches for the final render. We spent more time on the hunter's face and we worked on the shades of the skin using color adjustments. In some parts of the hair and the goatee we added fur, and with digital airbrushing we could create a better connection between the hat and the hunter's head, making it look more natural. We also added fur on his hands.

All that was missing was to make the rain of bird's 'dirt' falling from the sky. We illustrated those areas with digital painting and put the traces in to show the movement. In some areas of the hat, we added white splashes and details that could give more credibility to the scene. Lastly, we painted the smoke that goes off the shotgun using an airbrush.

Adding the final touches

Adding the final touches

Step 12: Final Image

And after all these processes we had our final image.

The final result

The final result

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