Making Arabella

Hello again everyone!

I'm posting this time to show off our new Arabella NPC. This release I had a bit more time than usual so I wanted to show off a bit of my process of how I usually create a character from scratch - all the way from concept to in-game asset, enjoy!

So we've had this great concept for me to refer to...



Looking at this I block-out all my low poly geo in my favorite tool: ZBrush...



From here, I'll subdivide this geo into literally millions of poly's, and begin the process of sculpting the high-res detail...



Then I'll UV the geo and run it all through another favorite tool called Substance Painter to get my base textures (for example, Arabella's armor normal and albedo texture maps)...



Finally, I hook up all the textures in-game and tweak and polish until I'm happy with how the NPC looks in our environment (this is how she will look to you guys in the game)...



So anyway, there is a quick look into how I tend to make characters when I have a good concept to go off of.

I hope you guys love it. Have fun and I'll see you guys in game!

 

Very cool! Looks great so far, keep it up!

P.S. Can players get hooded cloaks like that too, possibly? It looks amazing!

 

I seem to recall that Arabella is at least partially based on @Lord British's wife Laetitia. That concept art does capture a bit of her, especially her smile.



Look forward to seeing her in-game soon!

 

Overall, excellent work! The sculpt is very nice, as is the texture work.

However, being me, I can't help but give some notes

The fingers are a bit wonky in the final version, they are feeling a bit rubbery from the side view; and the cloak could use some more cloth-like folds painted in, especially in the lower half.

And the concept design itself feels a bit derivative.

But those are minor nitpicks. Nice job!

 

the cg sculpt actually looks a lot more like her than the concept does

 

Love seeing the process like this! Great work @UglyFist

 

Great work!!!

 

It is wonderful to see the steps in this process. Thank you for displaying them, UglyFist !

I hope that Arabella has one voice actor who does the character's voice throughout all our interactions with her. You have laid the base for a very intriguing NPC.

 

Need to bring back Pen of the Avatar, and do a session in zbrush showing your process. I need to grab substance painter one of these days, looks like a fun tool.

 

Thanks everybody. You're too kind...
It was a fun task - I was happy to have a concept this time. I'd love to show you guys some video of some ZBrush action. And yes, Substance Painter is too much fun and way handy.

Anyways, so I finally had a minute to put Arabella up on Sketchfab so y'all can take a look in 3D space.
Thanks again you guys.

https://sketchfab.com/models/7683417e7ea7441da0975c4b776f1e4e

 

Great work. Would also love to see the process. It looks fun. I model 3D survey data and geologic terrains, not people. I think I'd rather do this instead.

But yes, very minor constructive criticism. 1. The bottom of the cloak is not natural looking. 2. She needs an underskirt to that armor. Sketchfab made this obvious.
Again, great work.