Breakdown: Dark Warrior With Mace Crafted Using ZBrush & Substance 3D

Introduction

Hi! I'm Juan Martin Zunino, a 24-year-old artist born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I started my journey into 3D 4 years ago, and now I work at Collider Craftworks, an art development studio specializing in AAA character creation.

Ever since I was a child, I have been drawn to characters and creatures, and I used to draw them often. But drawing wasn't my strength, and I tended to get very frustrated whenever I drew. As a result, I chose to give it up in my teenage years.

I have been playing video games since I was 5 years old, and they are a very important part of my life. That's why, after finishing school, I began exploring digital art programs, such as animation and multimedia design. However, these programs weren't exactly what I wanted; they didn't give me the satisfaction I was looking for. But thanks to them, I discovered ZBrush and immersed myself in courses and mentorships that eventually led me to become a character artist for video games.
 
After that, everything changed for me, and I continued studying and practicing everything I could to improve my 3D sculpting skills. Most of these skills were taught to me by my mentors, Diego Viegas, who introduced me to 3D art and unlocked a thrilling new world for me, and Juan Novelletto, who showed me the specific path to becoming a character artist, which became my dream and life goal as an artist and professional. I am deeply grateful for their guidance; without them, I wouldn't be where I am today.

The Mace Knight Project 

The project began as a continuation of my studies to become a character artist for AAA video games. I have always been greatly inspired by dark fantasy and the art of games such as Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Diablo, and God of War, among others.

With the help, teaching, and guidance of my mentor, Juan Novelletto, who also assisted me with my first game-ready piece, Swordsman, I was able to create this artwork of which I am really proud. The goal was to create a character for video games, starting from a 2D concept done by Kim Min Jun and following the whole pipeline, with the intention of having a solid portfolio piece to showcase my skills and break into the industry as a character artist.

References

Like every artist, I believe that references are a key aspect in the creation of any project. That's why I take the time to search for images that help me visualize the construction of what I want to achieve. I usually assemble my reference sheet with the 2D concept I want to model in the center, and around it, I place the rest of the images, which often include pieces from other artists that inspire me to attain a certain mood or design, as well as images of real objects to understand the construction of what I want to model. In this case, I included various references for armor and some leather pieces as well.

Construction

The character is primarily made up of armor with no visible skin. I started with a base mesh in A pose inside ZBrush, from which I built the blocking. This process was quite iterative. Using the mask lasso, I masked parts of the body, and with the extract tool, I extracted different meshes that, with the help of ZRemesher, allowed me to establish a solid foundation for building each piece of armor.

Once I have all the extracted pieces placed roughly in their position, I start adjusting proportions using the Move brush and the Gizmo. Then, with ZModeler and Dynamic subdivisions, I start modeling each piece little by little, going back and forth several times until I am satisfied with the result. This part of the process often takes me a lot of time as I explore the construction on the go and try to ensure that the object looks good. Also, whenever I get stuck and don't know how to move forward, I turn to my mentor and colleagues for help to continue, and they show me how to solve technical or artistic blocks.

I believe that acknowledging our limitations and reaching for help and feedback is very important to learn and improve.

Once the blocking was finished and I practically had all the pieces modeled, I started adding in the details, such as the ornaments and the various skulls that the character had all over his body. The ornaments and skulls were added using IMM brushes, which I edited for my convenience. The skulls and ornaments on his right shoulder pad were mostly sculpted by hand, as their design was much more complex than that of the other pieces. That shoulder pad was the most challenging piece of the character to create. Not only the high-poly but also the retopology was pretty complex.

Simply put, the entire character was modeled inside ZBrush using the workflow of Extract – ZRemesh – ZModeler – Dynamic Subdivision. Except for a few pieces, like the mask of the helmet, for which I had to build the base inside Maya, drawing a silhouette with Multi-Cut over the helmet that could later be extruded inside ZBrush and maintain a shape similar to that of the concept. The leather gloves and pants (which are covered by the skirt, strips, and chainmail) were created in Marvelous Designer. I used this program to practice cloth simulation, as I believe it's essential, and it's a program that I find quite challenging. So, I took advantage of those pieces to create something decent and gain some knowledge within the program.

Once the entire character was modeled with dynamic subdivisions and the pieces looked good, I applied the subdivisions and added the details with layers and morph targets using alphas of metal, bumps, and scratches.

The mace and shield were modeled at the end, once the character was finished, so that I could build them in a way that was consistent with the final design of the character and integrate them more easily. They were done following the same workflow as the character, but it took a lot less time.

Low-Poly, UVs & Bake

Once I decided that the high poly looked good enough, I prepared the file to start the retopology in Maya using Quad Draw. I separated the entire character into 7 parts: Top, Mid, Skirt, Buckles, Strips, and Bottom, which would help me generate different texture sets and assemble the character in parts for better organization.

Each part of the model was a group of subtools; for example, Bottom included the pants, greaves and shin guards, feet, and everything connected to them. Thanks to this, I had the option to apply Merge Visible to each group, thus generating a separate, decimated mesh with all the subtools corresponding to that group merged together that I then imported inside Maya. This allowed me to perform a continuous and neat retopology of each complete group. When I had the full retopology of the character, I started separating and extracting each low-poly piece that matched the high-poly subtools in ZBrush.

Once I extracted each piece that corresponded to the high poly and ensured that the nomenclatures were correct between the low poly and high poly objects, I could start creating the UVs inside Maya.

The retopology was a challenging process, as it was my second attempt at a complete character, and some of the pieces were quite complex to work out. But fortunately, it didn't take me as long as I expected, and I was able to solve it ahead of schedule. The project was far from perfect and could be improved, but the goal was to learn and make progress, as it is my second full character, so I always did what my mentor told me without getting too stressed about the technical aspects.

Once I finished with the UVs and applied the materials to each group, I started the baking process. This part of the process is one of the most challenging ones for me personally, and it takes time to organize the file and correct the small errors that may appear in the bake.

I carried out the Bake in Marmoset Toolbag, I believe it has great potential for this stage as it allows you to separate the different objects into groups, thus avoiding many unwanted projections. Due to hardware limitations, I had to split the baking file into two because the complete character was too heavy and was causing issues. So, the upper half of the character was in one file, and the bottom half was in another one.

When I corrected all the small errors in ambient occlusion and normals that appeared, I could move on to the most enjoyable stage: texturing.

Texturing 

The texturing process is one of my favorites, as it allows me to play around a lot, and the character starts to look incredible after all the work that went into it.

First, I analyze the 2D concept and aim to differentiate the various materials and the color palette. Once I distinguish the materials to be used, I begin applying base materials to the model, thus creating a sort of texture blockout.

This blockout gives me an initial snapshot of how the character will look, allowing me to start refining and working on each base material by adding subtle layers of detail, ultimately creating a more complex material. I'm always looking at references from other models and real objects. This helps me achieve a material that is both believable and also aesthetically pleasing. Personally, I prefer it to be a bit more artistic and beautiful than purely realistic while still maintaining a game-res look. That's why I try to base my work on real objects, to capture the material's realism, but I take certain creative liberties and play with the software to give it an artistic and personal touch.

An example of how I worked on the textures could be leather. At this stage, storytelling comes into play, where I create the textures considering my character's background. Given that he is a dark warrior, likely evil and ancient, I looked for references to worn and old leathers, as that is what this character would wear.

Leather typically has three distinct layers. One would be the polished leather, which is usually darker and shinier, almost greasy. Then, in the memory folds, it tends to lighten since that's where there's the most movement and friction, causing it to crack a bit and become rougher. Finally, in areas like the edges and places with a lot of wear, you find raw leather, which is quite opaque and lighter.

Just like with the leather, I did the same with the other materials, keeping in mind the same points of interest and working in the same way.

Lighting & Render

After finishing the textures and seeking feedback from my mentor, I moved on to the final stage. Rendering and lighting are also some of my favorite stages, as it's when the character starts to look truly amazing. Before starting the render, I take the character model to ZBrush to pose it into T-pose.

I used Marmoset Toolbag 4 for the render because I believe it's an excellent program for this stage. It's super versatile and allows you to set up your scene in a practical and tidy way while also giving you a lot of control over lights, camera, and exposure. One thing I really like about Marmoset is that it allows you to update your character's textures in real-time, helping you make adjustments on the go.

For the renders, I always start by choosing a good HDRI to provide a solid base to work from. Once I have the HDRI, I usually lower the brightness significantly so that it illuminates subtly. This allows me to start setting up lights manually. I typically use the classic three: Main Light, Fill Light, and Rim Light. I start by placing the Main Light, pointing from above but at an angle and with strong brightness, creating interesting shadows and illuminating focal areas such as the head and torso.

I tend to use the Rembrandt technique, as it creates a certain mood and makes everything look great. As soon as I finish positioning the Main Light, I place the Fill Light on the opposite side, filling in the shadows so they aren’t too dark and deep while exposing the details that the shadow hides. Then I apply a Rim Light, always positioned behind the character and with a lot of brightness. This allows me to give the character a light edge, separating it from the background. It enhances the silhouette's readability and makes it look appealing. Finally, I added a few more lights. These are focus lights, which typically direct attention to areas of interest and add some illumination to spots that the main lights don't quite reach.

Once I'm satisfied with the lights and shadows, I start rendering the images and preparing the presentation for my portfolio. I usually don't apply any post-processing, as I prefer the render to be as true to the original design as possible, allowing people to see it for what it really is.

Conclusion

This project took me 5 months to complete, practically working 4 to 8 hours a day, almost every week. It's far from perfect and has many technical aspects that could be improved, but the goal of the project was to learn the entire pipeline and create a beautiful portfolio piece to gain visibility and secure a job in the industry as a Junior Character Artist. I’m very proud to say that I achieved that. The entire project was a challenge, as it was my second character and significantly more complex than the first one I created. Each part of the process was unique and presented its own set of difficulties. However, with persistence and determination, I was able to finish it.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my mentors, Diego Viegas and Juan Novelletto, once again. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am today, nor could I have achieved this, which for me is a dream come true. We must be grateful for every teacher we encounter, as without them, everything would be much more difficult, and they are always willing to lend a hand to help us grow.

Also, I want to thank 80 Level for giving me this opportunity. I hope this is helpful to someone.

Juan Zunino, Junior Character Artist

Interview conducted by Amber Rutherford