Creating a 3D Model of an Orc Inspired by Lord of the Rings in ZBrush

Introduction

Hi! My name is Renan Menendes Carobelli. I'm a freelance 3D Character Artist from Brazil. I started at 3D art as a 3ds Max teacher. Then, I got some certifications from Autodesk and started thinking about becoming an artist. I lost my job, so I had the opportunity to study more and try to find someone to teach me. It all started when I met Rafael Souza's Anatomy Classes. This was the start of my career as an artist, and everything changed when I took Kris Costa's classes at Fly on the Wall course. From that moment, I started to see a way to define myself as an artist. Also, I got other very good teachers, Gilberto Magno and Bruno Shepard. Each one helped me to improve my skills.

I contributed to some NFT projects, created characters for advertisements, some toys/action figures, and for DJ Alok's Show.

Inspiration & References

The Orc Warrior started as a simple exercise. I was giving some Blender classes in another city. I was living in a hotel and needed to start modeling some stuff to take the time. So, I got a concept of the Orc and liked the result. When I finished the classes, I decided to continue this project and apply a little more study to it. I wanted to model a human-form creature, to be less attached to anatomy and have a space for stylization. The Orcs from The Lord of The Ring Movies and Warcraft Cinematics were my inspiration, first for realism, second for stylization. Usually, I start with a basic idea with very few concepts, and then, as I work, I spend some time drawing an overlay in my modeling screenshot. I keep finding more references and adding stuff. As I wanted to go simple, I decided to study facial expressions using blend shapes and creating a UI in Maya's viewport to drive each one.

Modeling

I started with a basic sphere and tried to find the basic shapes, aiming to make the head match the proportions at every angle. When I got a good amount of shapes, I brought the geometry to Maya and made a retopology, created the UV space, and then got back to ZBrush. At this point, I work with both Maya/Arnold and ZBrush, going back and forth between a simple light scene and the ZBrush sculpting. With this, I can control the behavior of shapes with the shadows.

When I end the day, I take a screenshot of the modeling and make some considerations. Usually, I use Milanote to keep track of the project and write the tasks and objectives. I used ZBrush, Maya, Arnold, Photoshop, and Substance 3D Painter. I created the skin details "by hand," using some brushes and layering all changes. The eyes were made with an Iris mesh, an Eyeball mesh, and a simple Pupil mesh. I made some changes to the shader to add more options for effects, like the color of the eyes and the size and shape of the pupil.

I also created a base project for the eyes and teeth. It helped me spend less time creating and spend more time modifying to match the project. As for the hair, I made it using XGen, but I created a base hair mesh and brought it to Maya to control the volume.

Retopology, Unwrapping & Texturing

I use Maya for retopology and UVing. My UVs are square-shaped to optimize the use of space. My retopology follows some wrinkles and has more polygons on the face and fewer polygons on the rest of the body.

All the textures were made in Substance 3D Painter. I brought all the meshes with the open mount to see the teeth, and I used the same HDRI that I use in Maya with ACES. To create the skin, we need to understand how the skin behaves, and this is challenging when we have a greenish skin character. I start with a base color, an AO, and a Curvature. Then, I started to add colors with different brush profiles. After that, I added color variation, dirt, dust, and most variation factors as possible to make a rich skin detail. Always export (overwrite) the files to make a fast update at Maya and test the render. The tattoos are very simple, but we need to find a good image of them and prepare them in Photoshop as a mask, load them as stencil masks in Painter, and use some references to match the intensity of the layer. The white painting on the face needs to have different intensities, like uneven paint.

Lighting & Rendering

I completed the rendering using Arnold Render in Maya. I used a simple light system consisting of a Key Light, a Back Light, and a Sky Light at a very low intensity. I also created another scene with only one HDRI, with a more distributed and even light and a light gray background. I rendered an EXR file with an ID and Depth AOV. I set up everything in Photoshop and made some post-production using the Camera RAW filter.

Conclusion

This work is a portfolio project. It took me one month and a half to finish it. Usually, it takes me more time for portfolio projects. The greatest challenge was to create a driven blend shape UI and system. This was what I learned from this project. My advice for beginning artists is to never give up, be humble, and learn with other artists.

Renan Menendes, Character Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine