Game Arts - High Poly Asset

Project Overview

The final outcome of this project is to create a high poly asset based on a real object or realistic concept with the aim of having a near identical replication of the chosen reference. Using both Autodesk Maya 2016 and Zbrush to achieve this goal.

Choosing the Reference 

Choosing the correct object to replicate was a matter that took me a while to decide. I noticed many of my peers decided to model a high poly weapon, namely a gun, and whilst this was an interesting concept that could of led to me creating a popular video game gun such as Half Life 2's gravity gun in the end I felt that a weapon might be too generic. As a modeler I feel rather lack luster and wanted to try push my skills as far as one could. Therefore after much searching I settled on a fantasy half mask. With its organic shapes I felt this would be the challenge I need to improve my modelling skills. Reference image shown below.

Modelling - The Face

During class we had been shown Maya 2016's modelling toolkit. Specifically the Quad Draw function. I felt this to be a very strong tool and one I enjoyed using a lot. But for creating the mask it felt much too 2D and was a struggle to create the depth I wanted to begin the modelling process. Therefore I felt the best path to take was one of extruding with a concentration on edge flow. The image below shows my starting point, keeping the eye socket closed to begin with allowed me to concentrate on the topology for the time being.

From here I just kept extruding and bulking the face out a bit at a time using the front view as my main reference point but referring to the side views as needed. Eventually I managed to get the general shape correct yet I felt the edge flow to be a bit messy and the face feeling very rough.

Modelling - Smoothing

Before continuing with the model the topology needed to be cleaned and sorted in a nicer fashion. It wasn't too off but enough that problems could arise in the future if not cleaned now, at a point in time where it would be easier. The first step of doing this involved using the sculpting tools within Maya itself utilizing the grab and smooth functions to move the edge flow into better positions. Yet this wasn't enough. The next step was to take the model in Zbrush and remesh it using the inbuilt function within the program. This led to a much nicer edge flow

Modelling - The Ear

I was advised to duplicate the ear of the Zbrush example and to use that as my starting point to retain good edge flow. Once this was done it was just a matter of moving vertices back and forth until they were in the correct area. Since the mask has an elven kind of ear the points at the top had to be pulled right back.

Modelling - Mirroring

The next step was a simple one of mirroring and connecting the two halves together to create a combined mesh to finish the facial section of the mask of.

After that smoothing was the natural next step as a means to check how the edges are flowing and to check for any issues with the mesh. Luckily there were none.

Modelling - The Branches

The branches above the mask are the next section to be tackled and an area i'm a tad confused with. At the moment i'm just modelling it maya but on a separate layer so if it turns out Zbrush is a more effective tool for this I can just swap to it.