Reimagining Edgar Gravenor From Evil West in Maya, ZBrush & Arnold

Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Giancarlo Penton. I am a 3D Character Artist and recent Game Design graduate from the University of Central Florida. Currently, I am an Associate QA Tester for Gunfire Games, working on Remnant 2. 

Throughout my life, I had never thought about becoming an artist. I had never painted, drawn, or sculpted, but one thing is for sure, I loved playing video games. I was initially studying Archeology before I found an interest in Character Art. I was first introduced to Game Design in my sophomore year of college. After that, I started experimenting with a variety of game-related fields, such as concept art, environment art, animation, and even programming. Through trial and error, I finally found my love for Character Art and never looked back.

The Edgar Gravenor Project

This project was made as a final for a university course taught by Nicholas Hunter, who also has a fantastic article on his Ornate AK-47. I knew this was going to be a challenge because I work full time for Gunfire Games and had other coursework. Therefore, I could only do this in the little spare time I had. With that in mind, I wanted to make a realistic character portrait. In every character I do, I always try to improve my skills in some way. For this project, I focused on pushing my texturing and sculpting skills. I found this concept art by Artur Chochowski while scrolling through ArtStation, trying to find a new character to create. As soon as I saw this concept, I was instantly inspired.

References

The most crucial step in the process is gathering references. I always start my characters by building up a reference board using PureRef. Next, I find images on Google of real-life references or even ArtStation projects that match the quality bar I am trying to achieve. Though my board updates throughout the creation process, gathering references at the beginning helps to get a general direction on where to go in any project. 

Sculpting

All my high poly work for this character was done in ZBrush. From hard-surface to organic sculpting, I feel more efficient when focusing on using one software rather than jumping back and forth between programs. My high poly workflow is to keep everything as low as possible for as long as possible and only subdividing when needed. This sets an excellent foundation for the rest of the character. 

As for all my projects, I always start with a base mesh; I purchased mine from the ArtStation store. Having a base mesh at the start helps me speed up the beginning process of creating a character.

Unfortunately, there is no shortcut or magic potion to sculpting realistic anatomy. Understanding the human body entirely takes time and a lot of practice. I am still learning every day. So, when it comes to the head, I avoid subdividing it up for as long as possible. I find the correct shapes and forms in the lowest subdivision before subdividing. Reference is critical here. I used one of the Displacement Head maps from 3D Scan Store to create the micro pore details. When adding micro pore details to the head in ZBrush, I followed a great tutorial by Senior Character Artist, Jared Chavez.

For making clothes, I avoid using simulation programs. I like the challenge of trying to sculpt clothes from scratch. This makes me look up more references and push my knowledge further into how clothing is made and how shapes and forms fold on each other. For example, when making the leather jacket, I made a mask of the general shape and extracted it. Once I got the shape I liked, I then DynaMeshed that and started playing around with different forms. When creating the folds, I only use the Standard and Pinch brushes. This is a tedious process; I went through many different jacket iterations before being happy with the result. 

The leather straps and belts were straightforward to make. Again, like the jacket, I made a simple mask on where I wanted the leather strap to go and extracted that. Then, I ZRemeshed it to where it was low enough to be able to keep the shape. I used Dynamic SubD to preview my mesh. This is a great tool to use because it lets you quickly move and adjust your model without adding actual SubDivisions. The high poly, for me, is the longest part of the process. However, through many iterations, I was pleased with the result.

Retopology

All my retopology and UV work were done in Maya. I used the initial low topology from my block out as a starting point. I used those meshes for most of my low poly model and adjusted them using the Quad Draw tool. There were certain areas, like the leather jacket and leather straps, I had to retopologize by hand. As for the smaller bits in the model, I used the Auto Retopo tool in Maya. The goal is ensuring the silhouette is still readable. When it came to polycount, I had no polycount budget; at the end of the day, I was aiming for high fidelity. 

Texturing

Texturing is the most enjoyable part of the process, in my opinion. Now you can see your character come to life. The key to great textures, again, is a reference. I can’t stress this enough, but having good references will lead to success. Working on his skin was the most tedious part of the texturing process. Minor adjustments could make or break the realism of skin textures. I enjoy making my textures from scratch. Creating the skin textures on my own gives me absolute control and the most creative freedom. 

I started the head textures by making my Sub Dermal folder, which houses the color fill layers underneath the skin, such as red and purple. In these fill layers, I add multiple layers of noise to add complexity and variation. Then, I block those colors out on the head before creating the dermal skin texture. Afterwards, I created a Dermis folder with all my dermal skin properties, such as skin color, skin variation, sun damage, lips, oiliness, etc. At this point, I am constantly looking at my reference to make sure it matches correctly.

For some extra detail in the textures, I always create my own SSS map and export a specular map. It’s not necessary, but it gives some additional detail to the model. I added some discoloration fill layers for the scar tissue to ensure it looks like a scar. Also, I added some extra SSS to those specific scarred areas as well.

I gather Normal, Height, and Toughness textures from Textures.com for my leather and metal materials. They have a vast library of photorealistic materials that greatly helps all my character projects. I used a few of their leather and cloth materials for this project. Once I import them into substance, I add these maps to their own fill layer for complete control. A cool trick I learned is to use the Contrast Luminosity filter to help adjust the height, normal, and roughness if it becomes too intense. 

From there, I create 2-to-3 variation layers on top, which include a difference in color, roughness, and height of the material. I then add my edging, again with variations that I add subtly. Too much edge highlighting can make the model look too CG.

On top of all the material sets, I always had a dirt/dust fill layer. This gives the materials an extra “push” and sets them into reality. I try not to overdo this too much because I don’t want my textures to look too noisy, but with subtly, it can go a long way. 

Hair

I first start by creating scalps for all my hair meshes. This makes it easy to organize and paint masks on as well. I then made XGen descriptions for all my scalps, referring them to the specific hair I wanted them to hold. For creating the scalps, I duplicated my head mesh, masked the faces that would house the hair guides, and deleted the rest of the mesh. I did that for each scalp except the dreads. I knew going into this project, the make-or-break moment would be the dreads. Thankfully, I used a course by Senior Character Artist Tomas Sackmann to help me climb over the mountain of creating dreadlocks. 

When creating the dread scalp specifically, I used the EP Curve tool in Maya to make the initial curve shape. Then, once I am happy with the curves' placement, I use the sweep mesh tool to create the scalp for the dreads. After creating my descriptions for each of my scalps, I go through each scalp mesh, placing and shaping the curve guides as best as possible. I use the modifiers to adjust the hair size, shape, and volume. Once I was happy with the result, I used the Convert XGen Primitives to Polygons feature and exported that out. 

Rendering

Final renders were done in Marmoset Toolbag and high poly clay renders in Arnold. Marmoset Toolbag makes setting up shaders and lighting super easy. In addition, its plug-and-play rendering function, friendly UI, and ray tracing make it one of my favorite renders. The lighting for my Marmoset scene was very straightforward. All that was used in the scene was Studio HDRI from the Marmoset library, one rim light for the character, and one rim light for the gun. Also, I tweaked the camera post-effect settings.  

To add more spice to the skin texture, I turned on secondary reflection in the skin shader. This just gives that skin texture the extra push of realism.

I also created a custom hair shader in Marmoset to mimic the way hair behaves in real life. I enjoy using Arnold for my high poly renders due to how simple it is to use and how high the render quality is. First, I imported the high poly mesh into a scene and added my hair. Then, I created a simple backdrop from a plane. When rendering in Arnold, you only need to work with two shaders, aiStandardSurface, and aiStandardHair. I applied the aiStandardSurface to my mesh, backdrop and the aiStandardHair to my hair model. Finally, I imported a Studio HDRI from PolyHaven and adjusted it to my liking. 

Conclusion

Overall, this project took me over a month and a half to complete during the little free time I had, most of that time going to the high poly sculpt. The most challenging part was the XGen creation, especially for the dreads. Trying to find the right shape and most natural layout took me a long time to figure out. 

My advice to any new character artist is to be consistent with your work. Consistency is the key to being great at anything you do. Constantly create things you love and always push your limits. Look at other artists and figure out what they are doing. Be open to criticism, learn something new, and constantly challenge yourself. One of my favorite quotes from Napoleon Hill is, “Strength and growth only come through continuous effort and struggle.”

Thank you for your time and for reading this article, feel free to send me a message on ArtStation for any questions, comments, or if you just want to say hello. 

Giancarlo Penton, 3D Character Artist 

Interview conducted by Theodore McKenzie