This draft was mainly regarding which rendering setting I was using, either Unreal Engine or Marmoset Toolbag, as well as learning the best method to pose her.
I ended up using a basic white material with a subsurface scattering setting over the edges, which utilizes the depth to allow for a nice ice-y look.
Shoutout to one of my students, who upon seeing the last render, knew what she had to do:
Test Printing
Even though her main sculpt is complete, I do want to find time to properly key her full body pose (above) and get it printed. Being able to do some test prints helped me identify key issues I would have with the full body, such as how incredibly fragile the fingers are and how more objects than expected need to be solidified to others.
All of these critiques were labeled as 'critical critiques,' meaning they are fixating on small details that may or may not be worth changing in the grand scheme of the project.
Feedback from Noah Hunter
Regarding the last version
There are features that are too soft currently, like hair chunks, eyebrows, transition lines from lip tissue to not-lip-tissue (idk the anatomy of that part), and earring hone points could be sharper. What if one of them was chipped and missing the point? What if her horns had a couple that were splintered? That could break silhouette and symmetry and be more interesting.
Regarding the final version
How are the vertebrae attached to the character? Wouldn't it read better if the vertebrae had some interaction with the cape?
The fingers on them also look very thin, especially if you are going to print them.
HAIR PROCESSING
Another attempt down, this project has made me learn two things:
1. A big portion of Zbrush tutorials regarding hair focus on longer styles OR entirely simplifying the shapes so much that they don't break off whatsoever.
2. Everyone has a different method for hair, and no one is 100% right.
This caused a lot of problems for me, since regarding Purah's design, her hair works best as a short, messy design, notably longer than her first form, but not extensively so. I took a lot of inspiration from arcanegold_'s character Maple, who has a very similar hair design, minus the horn protrusions.
I was able to talk with Roanna (@Roanna_0) on Twitter about her character Naiá and how she did the hair as a reference. It ended up being one large piece of geometry at the back with sculpted in lines. Although this wouldn't help with Purah's as much, it helped give a visual as to the different subtools in the final product.
Progress of the different variations of hair from final to sketch (left to right).
For the very last version of the hair, I tried something new; I remembered using Dave Hasan's stylized fur IMM brush in my Kakx sculpt to add texture to the fur. One of the main issues I was having with the hair was the lack of volume; as one friend put it 'her hair has the resemblance of a wet cat.'
So I took the hair design of a previous version and overlayed a few IMM brushes in specific sections to create pieces of geometry that pull out from the main body while not flattening the hair itself.
Additionally, my favorite artist, Mark Lambert made a return to the scene with his very simple but extremely helpful dynameshing and ZRemesher process.
ICE TEXTURING
One of the last things I did was a brief check/polish of any props in the scene; this included adding a light amount of tertiary detail and adding secondary detail to any overly smooth shapes, especially the antlers.
I used Hossein Hatami's VDM ice brushes as a good base, especially the ice shards, which worked really well in adding volume and variation to the horn sheaths.
FINAL SCULPT
It's very interesting to me to see how the reference board for this project has grown over the time working on it. I'm a big fan of adapting projects if they are or are not working. This project has been a great example of what does and does not work and how to pivot and take time on it.
Final PureRef
Starting PureRef
PRINTING
While trying to get a license for Reallusion's Character Creator (please JR get us a license), I realized I was hard blocked by wanting to pose Purah before I could begin posing. However, I was reminded of a creator named h3LL Creator who has a vast library of popular media characters for people to print, specifically how they have both a full-body print and a smaller 1/2-body or bust for around $5-10 per month.
Example with Mollymauk Tealeaf from The Mighty Nein on Amazon Prime.
I decided to make her pose in this instance a bit more complicated, using a relatively hidden part of her design, her ice knife, to surround her. This weapon is a part of some integral moments of her character during the campaign and helped convey her design without many of her other tools.
One adjustment I will be making as soon as I get Character Creator is a slight edit to the pose, which is based on KamuiCosplay's Xalatath Cosplay pose. In this Kamui keeps both of her shoulders straight since the camera is on a lower angle and looking up to her. Since Purah is the opposite, looking up past the viewer's straight-on eye level, I'll be adjusting one arm slightly higher than the other to create more varied sight lines and asymmetry.
In terms of the half-body, it is five pieces in total: a base, the body, and the three swords. The swords have their own keys into the base, with the body carving out its own key in the middle. I do want to test out a secondary version, since one has already been requested by my party member, where I insert a key for the body into the base and reduce it in the cylinder of the body.
I'll be looking at h3LL Creator's outlines for these models as shown below.
SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
For these projects, and because I want to get more statues from creators similar to h3LL Creator, I decided to get my own printer. I ended up going with an Elegoo Mars 5 due to my good experience with FIEA's Saturn 5, although the price point is too high for me at the moment.
As mentioned a few times in this section, I'm trying to get my hands back on Reallusion's Character Creator 5 since my trial expired in January. Unfortunately it seems I'll have to buy my own subscription; however, they do have a pretty large discount for individual student licenses (60% off). Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, I'm still waiting for approval after sending documentation.
I am unsure if the facial anatomy was passed over/no 'done yet' but it feels very basic. You have the larger features a placed well like. But the underlying anatomy is not all that there. Hence the 'Anatomy of an Illustrator' It makes Purah look more like a doll than an actual person.
Much of these anatomical facial anatomies are outlined in red. Things like the nasal labial fold, some of the cheek bones, and brows. and sides of the skull. In yellow are parts that I feel are misplaced or miss applied. Like I think your Zygomatic/Cheekbones are off and the plan change to the sides of the face are off.
That and your brow and nasal bone. The 'Illustrator Anatomy' part come in. Where you have that 'the line of the brow runs into nose' stylistic tech. But the place where the eyebrows and the browline meet are often on the same plane, not above it. That and her nose is this broad tube. IF this is what you want to do, fine. Push that. But it looks like it's something you are doing unconsciously out of habit.
Purple is because it feels like the horns are PLACED and not GROWING out of the skull.
1) I don't like how the 'Dress(?)' out later just sits like that. It feels like there's not a lot of consideration as to where it goes/interacts with the belt.
2) I don't like the hand anatomy. It feels overly smooth and the pinky is dinky. This feels like the 'Illustrators Anatomy' is happening.
3) The dark blue on a less dark blue doesn't look great. There's layering but it's not hightlighted. On the top, Purah has some 'embroidery(?)' that highlights it. I'd try something like that. Both of your concepts listed have something similar going on.
4) I like the 'Inverted Ribcage Dress' but the skeleton anatomy isn't there. (See Image)
5) Arm anatomy is missing some elements. Like Wrist bones, and elbows. "Illustrators Anatomy"
The 'Antlers' look good from the front and back, but not that interesting from the side.
From the side angle, try pushing the bend
And 'Twist' the antler shape to show the inner scoop from the side a little more. Say... 15-30 degrees?
These look a little plain
Clarification on Illustrator Anatomy:
Your anatomy is very simplified and it makes me think you learned anatomy through illustration, where you learned it through various techniques to simplify forms in order to get work done rather than the 'correct anatomical structure' that is needed for higher level artistry. It's becoming more apparent where you are compensating for a weaker base now that you are going into 3D character art. This is normal for artists.
From Caden Peterson
A lot of this critique focused on fine-tuning the planes of the face so they are less sculpy and based in Illustrator anatomy. This included:
(Pink) Polishing the plane of the glabella (between the eyebrows)
(Green) making the eyebrows larger and sit lower on the face
(Red) Adding fat deposits underneath the eyes to better blend out the nose
(Purple) Adding fat deposits underneath the lips for better definition
(Pink - Left) Rounding out the chin
HAIR PROCESSING
This was a second attempt at hair modeling, utilizing a base primitive sphere to move tool and place into position, as the curve tools were not working out in a 3D space for the hair. I will be working on another pass of this hair.
First version of the hair is down in the bottom left corner.
Feedback:
Feedback from Caden Peterson:
Immediately, I think this is secondary. I see very little primary. I think you're starting too small too fast. Here is a video:
Later in a seperate call, Caden and I were looking at the art of Mark Lambert as we discussed miniature figure painting and 3D printing. Mark Lambert is specifically a favorite creator of ours, as he focuses primarily on primary and secondary detail and only utilizes movement brushes and zmodeler to get his sculpts how he wants them
This side conversation ended up being incredibly beneficial, as Lambert had a specific resource for how he designs the hair, including a modified hair strand IMM brush and a step-by-step walkthrough for the specific process. LINK
The biggest takeaway from this guide was not the guide itself but the existence of the Bend Curve tool which allows me to make modified curves and move the mesh with multiple editable points for
Cloth Folding
Part of the sculpt that I have struggled with the most is the design of the bottom skirt; originally I was referencing the design of The Winter Queen, as shared in my last post. However, I found that the symmetrical design didn't fit her, especially with the large number of props that started to adorn the skeleton.
One of my friends mentioned making their own Ren Faire skirt with a metal hook to hoist the side of the skirt upwards, saying that the asymmetry would work well with the layers
I heavily referenced Kirill Senzu's Clothing and Accessories tutorial to create large folds and drapery in a complex area without overwhelming the viewer with noise. Utilizing the large shapes on the front
Final sculpt of the two layers. This idea blends the idea of the layered skirt with some softer undertones to break up the design. It also serves as heavy shape language without controlling the design in terms of detailing, juxtaposing heavy shape language with resting eyes and thin/sharp shape language with a lot of extra adornments.
I utilized Alexandra Jackson's Ruffle IMM brush to achieve the wave on the base skirt and a simple process of dynameshing & ZRemeshing to blend the two together. For the spine I used Dystopia Interactive's Spine Curve Brush to isolate a flat section and the Bend Curve deformer to put it into place
I forgot to mention it in my last update but; G_Pouraskar's 202 Leather Brush Straps IMM and Fred Taylor's Stylized Rope IMM brushes has been extremely helpful in making many of the cords, bags, and latches for this project -- Adding the right amount of utility for any D&D character
also one more note for this section: I was reminded of the GIO soft brush for ZBrush; it feels like a mix of Dam Standard, Pinch, and Polish features all together. For large swaths of cloth I found this incredibly helpful
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