DEVLOG 5 - Sculpting
After importing my model into Zbrush as a new tool, I split the sections of my model up into different polygroups so that I could isolate certain areas to add detail to without other parts of the model getting in the way. For example, I combined legs and arms on separate body groups [dynameshing them to make them smooth] so that I could add in the wrinkles without the neck and waist fluff getting in the way.
I usually start at a lower poly count then work my way up adding details with higher poly counts later on so that I can easily get big details down first. You can see this especially on the trousers, below you can see the larger details like the knees and the big wrinkles, which I will later smooth and refine further down the line.
This technique is also similar to how I made the neck fluff. The base mesh I made on maya had the very rough, low-poly shape of the fluff which I then built upon in ZBrush with the Move tool. At this stage, again, It looks quite rough and jagged, however when I have all of the basic details down, I will refine my shapes at a higher resolution to make it look a bit more polished.
At this stage, This is how my model looks zoomed out a bit. The colours on my sculpt represent the different polygroups present on my model.
Here's the turnaround of the model at this stage of the process. This took me roughly 2 hours to get to this point, most of that admittedly was getting used to Zbrush again after not using it for a while.
I then moved on to modelling the face, You can see the helmet looks a little different here from my previous screenshots. I found that there was two issues with the previous appearance of the helmet, those being that:
1- the helmet of the model was far too small in comparison to the rest of the face's proportions, Looking at my reference it was quite different to what I was hoping to model. I also thought the smaller helmet may be at risk of blending in with the face at such a small scale. Looking at how other tabletop miniature companies make the proportions of their models [heroforge in specific] many of their outfit elements are created they are at a slightly bigger proportion in comparison to the body beneath it, this is so that when printed, details are retained and isnt too thin that they become brittle.
2- The old helmet was also far too smooth, It completely lost the shape I had originally made.
To rectify this, I quickly remodelled my helmet base in maya, imported it as a new subtool, then transformed it to the correct location. With its bigger size I think this looks a lot closer to my reference, and should hopefully print a little better in comparison to my previous design.
I also noticed that there was a gap between the upper torso and lower body, To fix this, I dynameshed the two polygroups together. This did remove the wrinkle details I had previously made however they were easy enough to add back in.
I also masked out the area where her shirt neckline and belt would be, then used the inflate deformer to create the appearance of raised clothing elements. This is different to how I would make clothing on a model suited for a videogame. For a game, i would use the extract function to create a new subtool containing the meshed out area which has been expanded a little. This is great for making clothing however for a sculpt that will be printed, you want all of your subtools to be combined at the end so you do not get any internal islands. This is why I chose to inflate the mesh instead so everything remains connected, the only thing I did was increasing the thickness of a certain area.
You can also see in these screenshots that I had begun to model the face, however as you will see later on I scrapped how this looked and started again. This is simply because I just wasn't happy with how it looked, I thought I could do a better job and so I left that for next time to have another go at. Below is the turntable of how the model looked at this stage, which was after another 2 hours of work.
Below is the zoom in of the face which I flattened out to start a fresh. I think this was the best decision even though it took a lot of time to re-sculpt the face. It just didn't look right and I really wasn't proud of it, I didn't want to print out something I wasn't 100% proud of.
Following a similar technique to the neck fluff, I turned my attention away from the face to the belt fluff which I sculpted using the move tool. I also thickened it slightly using the inflate tool to ensure it wasn't too brittle to print.
Here's that same technique demonstrated on the Gauntlets fluff.
And another turnaround showing off how the fur details look on my model.
My next step was to smooth out the helmet to get rid of the face lines that remained from my maya model. I had to be careful not to overdo it and end up with something that looked more fleshy than metal. I used the pinch, flatten and smooth tools to attempt to make a more rigid and sharp appearance. I also sharpened some of the edges of her waist gem to make that more angular too.
And heres another angle showing off the smoothed helmet and sharpened neckline of her suit.
Going back to the face, I added more clay to the jawline and sharpened it using the flatten and smooth tool. I think this is a much better base to work from .
I really struggled with the mouth, I worried I had made it too big in comparison to the rest of my model, but remembered back to how heroforge make their models with quite exaggerated facial expressions so that they are better picked up by the final print. On top of that, I think I was just a bit thrown off by the fact that Stag doesn't have a nose or eyes for reference, so it does look a little out of place when zoomed in, But when zoomed out I think it looks a lot more in proportion.
For reference here is a model I made on heroforge a while ago, You can see the goblin [the one in the front] has quite an exaggerated facial structure and other elements of her design like the fluff on her body. This is so that when they are printed out, the model retains as much of the details as possible.
The image above and below showcase more blocking out of details that I sharpened and polished later on.
Here's the face all polished, I also made the hair tufts a little sharper with the pinch tool just to differentiate them from the main face structure.
And here's the arms with their muscle mass added and the gauntlets present. I made the gauntlets in the same way that I defined the neckline, that being using the inflate tool and pinching the edges.
The cape was very fun to sculpt, and very simple too. I only used the clay buildup, pinch, and dam standard brushes to achieve the texture, then smoothed the shape out to get it looking more polished. I also increased the thickness using the inflate tool as a precautionary. I think out of all areas on my model, the cape might be the section that might pose issues when printing, so increasing the thickness of it might help my chances of having a more successful print.
Using the blockout and some visual references, I sculpted in the fingers of my model. I have to say all the fingers are the same size, I was trying to figure out how to fix this whilst still using my maya base however I think I would have needed to consider this when I first made my base mesh. I know now to fix this issue in the future but with this sculpt, I'm not overly worried about it as she's going to be quite small and you may not even be able to notice it. Obviously if I was making this for a client I would absolutely fix this issue to ensure my work is as free from as many mistakes as possible.
To save time, I used the subtool - duplicate, then the tool - deformers - mirror function to mirror the hand subtool I had made to the other side of my model.
As you can see, my first attempt was less than successful.
I fount that to fix this issue I had to hide the hand hand - split hidden, then use the tool - deformers - mirror function. This time it was much more successful and I was quite pleased that I had managed to troubleshoot that without having to search up what to do.
Here is how that looked in the end, This saved me so much time and the symmetry of the hands makes the model feel a bit more finished in my opinion.
At this point, I consider my main sculpt to be finished, I'm happy with the level of detail, I don't think its too detailed that things will get lost in the final print and I also think its not too simple that it looks unfinished. Regarding the nunchuck handles, I think I may try to have them print solidly then use a small drill bit tool to drill the appropriate diameter hole for me to place some wire through. I think this is the best option as I don't know how thick the wire is that I plan to use, and as I'm unfamiliar with chitubox I can't guarantee that those measurements for the hole will be accurate when I print out the model due to scaling.
Importing into maya-
I remembered to dynamesh then decimate my model before bringing it into maya as an FBX [I made that mistake the previous week and it crashed my pc due to the size of the model]. I dynameshed my model so that all of my subtools and polygroups would be combined and I would reduce the likelihood of internal islands within my model. Here is how my model looks in Maya.
Base-
As an extra bit of detail to my model, I decided to decorate the base with a brick texture. I used the VDM technique of adding texture to my model as it saves the most amount of time compared to drawing details from scratch. The first image is my VDM, then the image below shows how I added additional details to refine the shape of the brick. Again, I decimated my base and brought it into maya. I'm not sure if i should print my model and base separately so for right now I'm going to leave them separate and do some research to how other companies make their minis. I heard printing separate from the base then gluing on later gives the print a lower chance of failing, however I have also seen videos of people printing their mini's with the bases attached, I think this is something I need to look into the pros and cons of just to decide what will result in the most successful print.
This is my model on the base. I am so happy with how this looks and I'm really hoping that I can get my model to successfully print.
Renders-
I also took some renders in maya to show off my model from various angles.
Next steps -
The next step of the process is to research if I should print the model separate or attached to the base, then bring my model into chitubox to begin adding supports and checking for any issues. I hope that I will be able to print my model before Christmas, but I am also anticipating there will be issues to resolve in Chitubox as this is the first time I have ever done something like this.
Here is how my trello looks now that I have finished sculpting my model.
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