This is where your character really starts to come alive-with details and textures. Now that we've got the basic shape of our character, it's time to add some personality. And once you are, it's time to move on to the next step-adding details and textures. The key is to keep refining and iterating until you're happy with the shape. Zbrush character sculpting for video games is a process, and it's okay if your character doesn't look perfect right away. But remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. This will give you more polygons to work with, allowing for more detailed sculpting later on.Īnd there you have it! You've sculpted the basic shape of your character. Subdivision: After blocking out the basic shape with Dynamesh, it's time to add more resolution with subdivision.

It's like a digital clay that can be endlessly reshaped without losing quality. It's a tool in ZBrush that dynamically re-meshes your model, maintaining a uniform polygon distribution. Dynamesh: As you reshape the mesh, you might notice it stretching and distorting.Just focus on the big picture-head, torso, arms, legs. Move Brush: Use the Move Brush to push and pull the mesh into the general shape of your character.Once you have your base mesh, you can start blocking out the basic shape of your character. Just pick one that closely matches the basic shape of your character. The good news is, ZBrush comes with a variety of pre-made base meshes, so you don't have to create one from scratch. It's like the wireframe skeleton of your character. This is a low-poly model that you'll use as your starting point. Starting with a Base Meshīefore you start sculpting, you need a base mesh. But don't be fooled, it's more than just pushing and pulling digital clay around. Our journey into zbrush character sculpting for video games starts with something seemingly simple-sculpting the basic shape of your character. It might sound like a lot, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, you'll be creating characters that are not only visually stunning but also game-ready.

We're talking about sculpting the basic shape, adding details, retopology, polypainting, and finally, posing and exporting for the game engine. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 169.When it comes to zbrush character sculpting for video games, it's all about mastering a handful of key techniques. He has also worked on various freelance projects for rapid prototyping, product design and architecture. Titouan Olive is a freelance 3D artist working as a lead character artist on videogames and animated films. Your character is now finished and ready to play his part in the circus! But, of course, there are still many things you can do with it if you want to - posing, rendering, creating a new topology, and animating are some of many possibilities - it's up to you to decide where you want to take the character from here

Repeat this operation on the side of the jacket and on the lower parts of the trousers. Open Deformation in the Tool menu and play with the Inflate slider to create a kind of bevel. Now, mask the top border of the jacket and invert the mask (hold down Ctrl and click the canvas). Add a reddish tone to the cheekbones and on the ears, and clean up your painting job if you need to. Paint the rest of the body using the same techniques, trying to match the patterns and lines in back and front views.