Download Make a Creature with Character by The Gnomon Workshop

This three-hour workshop includes the complete manual on how to make a Creature with a Character with a personality that can be adjusted based on the film or a computer game. Originally from Wellington, New Zealand and now working for Weta Workshop and having worked for Marvel Studio, Ian Joyner took his time to explain his design process, focusing on plausible joints, origins, and The Story.

The Make a Creature with Character class starts by showing how to find references using the free tool called PureRef and then creating a short character description to give direction to the piece. Ian chooses a space-pirate, bounty-hunter concept for this project and with clay modeling software known as ZBrush, he begins with a sphere. By blending animal and human traits, he more closely examines some of his favourite tools and brushes and gives tips about the entertainment business as he sculpts the head and torso of the character.

Subsequently, he plays costumes and their appearances in Photoshop and then turns them into 3D. Taking advantage of the mask option of ZBrush, he builds the character’s armour as a single structure. He also demonstrates where KeyShot comes in: “rendering images which are further tweaked in the Adobe Photoshop for colours and designs.” Blender also comes into play for retopologizing the hard-surface armour parts, and for this purpose, a brief introduction of ZBrush’s retopology tools is also given.

After the sculpture is done, Ian brings the character into KeyShot for visualization and then goes back to Photoshop for post-rendering touch-ups. The last step transforms the design into a glossy, streamlined model resembling a movie or video game concept and is ready to be shown to a client or director.

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