3DTOTAL.

COM eBooks Series

Chapter 01 | Ears
Page 04

Chapter 02 | Eyes
Page 08

Chapter 03 | Hair
Page 12

Chapter 04 | Hands
Page 16

Chapter 05 | Feet
Page 20

Chapter 06 | Skin
Page 24
Chapter 01 EARS
Ears Chapter 01

Ears
Software used: Maya

The human ear can be a complicated object to

model given its intricate folds and subtleties.
Ears can actually give a lot of personality to your
characters; tiny ears on a long face can make
a person appear goofy, thick cauliflower ears
on a hard face can add an extra level of detail
to a rough character. In order to pull this off an
understanding of the human ear is needed. I
will show you the basic steps I take to create
a human ear, which can later be translated to
most realistic or stylized characters.

I commonly use the edge extrusion method

to build my base models and game assets
(Fig.01). This begins by creating a grid with
no subdivisions, then grabbing an edge and
duplicating it using Shift + Right Click > Extrude
Edge and moving this new edge to a desired
location. For the ear begin by building the shape
of the outer edge, curving it into the center of
the ear and to the tip of the lobe.

Once that shape is blocked in, select most of

the edges on both sides of the newly created
strip and duplicate and extrude them inwards
to create the anatomical part of the ear known
as the helix. Make sure to leave enough open
edges to begin building the ear canal and the
bulk of the lobe (Fig.02).

Select two edges from the tip of the lobe and

the end of the helix, press Shift + Right click >
Bridge. This will add a few subdivisions that will
eventually become the tragus and will, in theory,
connect the ear to the head. Then create the

basic curve using edge extrusion; this will be the off the antihelix inner rim and extruding the
foundation for the antihelix (Fig.03). edges inwards. I try to let the helix melt into the
canal as much as possible, leaving the hard
The next step is to fill in the canal section, edge more towards the helix as it comes out of
creating a rim which will eventually expand into the ear (Fig.04).
the antihelix and antihelical. Do this by closing

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 Chapter 01 Ears

Here is where things start to get busy, at least

in terms of mesh density. Fill in the outer
ear, trying not to think too much about clean
topology. This creates the bulk of the ear, and
will create the basic shape of the antihelix
(Fig.05).

To create the antihelical fold, select a few of the

edges towards the top right of the ear, running
down to roughly just above the beginning of
the tragus. With these edges selected, connect
them with just one edge and cut that edge into
the mesh, creating a floating point in the center
of a polygon that can later be closed and made
into quads. This will create a nice shape for
our antihelical fold. Then select the faces in the
center of this valley and pull them in, refining the
shape as you go along to smoothly follow the
antihelix (Fig.06).

At this stage the key anatomical parts of the ear

have been created so we can start to clean up to close off two of the edges running towards corners which keeps the mesh nice and clean
the topology. When doing this, avoiding triangles the lobe using the same technique noted above, and will mean it will subdivide without pinching
isn’t necessarily a requirement. It is best to using the Shift + Right Click > Split Polygon tool. when using smooth (Fig.07).
place them where skin will fold and create a Then I created a floating point in the middle of
crease when smoothed out. For my ear I chose two faces that will later connect to pre-existing Next begin refining the ear’s shape and build
out the back of the ear where it would connect
to the side of the head. You may notice that
the helix of this particular ear model is a touch
too fat, so grab the edges of the outer rim and
brought them together. Also give the ears more
of a point; in previous steps you will notice that
they were just a little too round which can give a
less realistic, cartoony feeling (Fig.08).

I really want to give the look of an attached

lobe for this particular ear, so we’re going to
bridge the edges that would be on the bottom
of the lobe to the edges on the side of the

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Ears Chapter 01

head, extending up to the helix which received canal, creating a ridge just before the theoretical Edge. This will make all of the edges smooth
the same treatment. This makes the ear look connection to the head. evenly when subdivided and can help avoid
as though it melts into the head. Also at this errors if exporting into other applications. Hard
point you should select the outer edge of the From here, I recommend making sure that none edges can be useful for retaining crisp edges
ear, extrude it inwards (towards where the of your edges are marked as hard edges to without adding a ton of geometry, but generally I
skull would be) and then fold the edges in to avoid display errors. Select all of the edges of reserve this for inorganic items (Fig.09).
create the back of the ear. From here continue your model while in Edge mode and press Shift
the process and create the reverse side of the + Right Click + Soften Harden Edge > Soften The last step is fairly straight forward. Select the
ear mesh and then navigate to Polygons > Edit
Mesh > Smooth (Options) and set the level of
Smooth to 2. This subdivides the mesh multiple
times, adding more geometry, and gives you a
better idea of what the ear will look like when
sculpting in ZBrush – or it could even be used
as a target for a Normal map (Fig.10).

Gavin Goulden
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.gavimage.com/
Or contact them at:
[email protected]

www.3dtotal.com page 7 Chapter 01

Chapter 02 Eyes
Eyes Chapter 02

Eyes
Software used: Maya

Arguably, the eye is the most important part in

selling a character. “The window to the soul” can
add so much personality to your character and,
in terms of video game graphics, can take more
than just a textured sphere to be believable. In
this tutorial, I will outline how I make eyeballs
for the hero and main characters in games, and
show that the human eye isn’t as easy as a
primitive sphere.

The first step we’ll take, like any other part of

human anatomy, is to research how the part is
actually constructed (Fig.01). There is no need
to go deep into medical research; rather just
find out how the visible part is constructed. In
this case, we will be focusing on three major
anatomical parts (cornea, pupil and iris) and
selling the look with three different sections of a
model.

Create a sphere with a decent number of

subdivisions (Fig.02). There is no hard rule in
terms of what the number will be. I used 12
divisions, but the major goal is to not have an
object so jagged that you can clearly see hard
edges when looking at the eye.
your model the eye will have depth and catch The next step will be to duplicate this model,
Next, grab the center of the eye and begin to light just like its real world counterpart. To make scale it up slightly and basically reverse the
move the first few inner rows back to create a life easier for yourself, rename this mesh in the shape of the inner eye. Take the center rings
concave shape (Fig.03). The iris and pupil of outliner to something more appropriate such as of the eye and move them outwards to create
the eye are actually set inwards rather than just “geo_innereye.” a bubble (Fig.04). This will be the piece of the
being flat and spherical. By replicating this in eye that catches reflections and will act as

www.3dtotal.com page 9 Chapter 02

 Chapter 02 Eyes

our cornea. The more geometry you add and

the more you refine the shape of the cornea,
the more accurate the reflections will be and,
therefore, the more “realistic”. However, in a
game environment your budgets may not allow
you this luxury. If you do edit the geometry
heavily, just be sure to keep the cornea area
roughly in the same place as the pupil and iris.
Both shells should be nearly occupying the rotate and will most likely stay static or squish sourcing your texture as many photos will have
same space and stacked on top of each other. and squash with the eyelids when they animate lighting information that you do not want in your
At this stage, it is also safe to remove the back (Fig.06). final diffuse texture. I simply created an off-white
rows of polygons from the eye as they will never background and add a slight discoloration
be seen and can add more to your budget for no It is important, due to the layered alphas that we around the edges with a Grime brush. The
purpose. are using, that all of the layers of our eye do not pupil is a black circle in the texture with the
touch each other but still remain close to one iris surrounding it. To create the iris, I selected
After you have these two layers, the next step is another. You don’t want the eyeballs to have a color and painted details with brighter and
to create a “cap” that will help blend the eyeballs too much depth, but due to technical reasons darker shades fanning out from the center to
into the head (Fig.05). By this stage you will the planes cannot intersect (Fig.07). Since each create the banding. We will be using a Specular
most likely have a character’s head eagerly layer has varying transparency and specular map to create the specular color. So, when
awaiting eyes. I used a basic game model values, one layer poking through the other light shines on this section, a different color is
head that I had kicking around. I began by would be extremely noticeable. At this stage I blended with the base diffuse color. I think a
grabbing the polygons of my character’s eyelid, create a simple Blinn material for each eye part, hotter, contrasting color to the iris creates a nice
duplicating them, and moving the bottom row of name the material accordingly and assign them effect. Simply take the iris layer of your texture,
edges down to meet the lower lid. to their respective models. duplicate it, give it a black background (you do
not want the eye whites to have this effect) and
Add geometry to conform this cap object to the The next step is to dive into some texturing. adjust the hue and saturation to your liking.
eyeball, giving it a rounded shape. Intersect the First, we will focus on the inner eye by creating
edges and the corners with the eyelids. Unlike the eye whites, iris and pupil (Fig.08). For For the eye UV map, I planar mapped the
other parts of the eyeball, this section will never the iris texture, I would recommend not photo entire eyeball (generally using Best Planar) and

www.3dtotal.com page 10 Chapter 02

Eyes Chapter 02
adjusted my UVs as needed. Keep the outer
edge of your iris in line with your iris texture and
line up the outer edge of the model’s pupil with
the texture.

The outer eye section making up the eye’s

cornea will be full transparent. You can achieve
this by moving the material’s Transparency
slider to the extreme right or by creating a black
texture that will drive the model’s transparency.
Generally, black means “off” and white
means “on” for grayscale textures used for
transparency, gloss, etc. This section will control
reflections, so we can adjust the specular power
and color. I used a high valued specular roll off again used Best Planar and tweaked the final a sharp edge dividing the eye and skin around
and low eccentricity to give sharp results and UVs to be straighter and easier to work with. the eyelids. Since this section never moves, it
a bright blue color. I set Reflectivity to a lower I exported the UVs and began texturing. The will also be able to replicate the muscle tissue
number (0.223) and used a photo of a horizon Diffuse map can be a simple “bloody” color. surrounding the eyeball itself (Fig.10).
for my Reflected Color, which is what will be Feel free to add details and grit depending on
reflected on the surface (Fig.09). In games, the effect you’re going for. The real work goes Gavin Goulden
there is usually a common Reflection map for into painting an Alpha map for your texture. For more from this artist visit:
levels that will give a similar effect. Generally, this portion will be fully transparent http://www.gavimage.com/
with the exception of the corners. The intention Or contact them at:
The final step is to create a texture for the cap is that we will fade the muscular, bloodshot part [email protected]
portion of the model. For the UV map, I once of the texture into the corners of the eye to avoid

www.3dtotal.com page 11 Chapter 02

Chapter 03 hair
Hair Chapter 03

Hair
Software used: Maya

Hair has long been the bane of many game

artists due to the technical limitations of alpha
sorting, texture resolution and triangle counts.
Needless to say, video game hair takes lots of
pre-planning and communication between art
and tech. In this tutorial I will outline my basic
workflow for creating a character’s hair using
alpha planes – a common method used on
many hero and focus level characters.

Most of the time if a character isn’t going to be

speaking in a game, or they are just going to
be shot at from a distance and forgotten about,
you won’t spend much time on the hair. Most
likely they will have “helmet hair” – a hairstyle
just modeled into their head. This is to save
on rendering power that can be used more
efficiently elsewhere, such as for the main
characters and environments (Fig.01).

For more important characters or for a character

you want to give more attention to (perhaps for
your portfolio) they are usually given a hairstyle
with alpha planes (basically, a series of grids begin doing this by roughly sketching down what Once I have a design in mind, I break it down
surrounding the head to give a more interesting sort of hairstyle I would like my character to into workable chunks called the “hair cap”,
silhouette and believable look to the hair). I have (Fig.02). “thick chunks”, “medium chunks” and “facial
hair.” Then I quickly lay out these sections
on a texture sheet and model planes to them.
Basically, modeling out the actual chunks and
assigning their UVs to the predefined texture
space. This saves a ton of time when it comes
to texturing and unwrapping as everything will
already have been done for you (Fig.03).

Even though the hair planes are now textured,

I will usually model in a flat rendered mode to
clearly see the edges of my planes and get a
better idea of where they intersect and rest. With
alpha information visible, it can be hard to tell
exactly what is going on in a complicated head
of hair and, besides, you can always switch
the materials on and off to check how the final
product will look.

www.3dtotal.com page 13 Chapter 03

 Chapter 03 hair

I begin my texture by painting out the hair

manually in black and white, using 8-bit alphas
(fully blended alpha, not binary) in the form of
the chunks I had determined, and then apply
color using this black and white image as a
mask and an alpha mask. The actual diffuse
texture shouldn’t have these hair strands visible
to avoid MIP mapping issues. I generally avoid
using photos for textures when it comes to
game hair. Using the alpha plane method can
mean it’s hard to extract an alpha mask from the
image and also the flow of the hair can conflict
with the direction you want your alpha planes
to be. However, for an extra level of detail I
sometimes add a hair photo source on top of my
hand-painted diffuse texture to give some color
variance (Fig.04).

Next I begin to build out from my character’s

head. Generally I’ll start with the bigger chunks,
if not a whole piece encompassing the skull to
avoid any holes that might show up. Keep in
mind that each plane added is another element
that taxes the rendering engine, so they must be
used wisely. Starting big and then going small
allows you to cover much more surface area
and then add smaller detail planes as needed,
and also allows you to scale back if things get
out of hand or when creating level of detail After the bigger patches are laid down, I begin object is both in front of and behind another
models (Fig.05). placing smaller chunks of hair that will add depth plane, it can get confusing and lead to errors
to the character’s hairstyle (Fig.06). Trying as some game engines won’t be able to detect
In this case, much of the detail has been painted not to go too overboard with small details, I’m which one is correct.
onto the underlying head model saving me the looking to get as much mileage out of as few
hassle of patching holes that would show a bald pieces as I can for rendering purposes. I also This character has a bit of scruff, so adding
head. So the goal here is to add depth to the try to avoid intersecting geometry as this can some facial hair could be a nice touch (Fig.07).
very rough hairstyle underneath. confuse the rendering engine in the game – if an I follow the same methods as above, just at

www.3dtotal.com page 14 Chapter 03

Hair Chapter 03
a smaller scale and not being too meticulous
about covering the entire surface. You can most
likely get by with a few sparse patches to blend
in with the face – just to give that extra hint of
depth. Keep in mind that facial hair will need to
animate with the face, so try to keep the roots
of these alpha planes close to or intersecting
edges on the face that will move as they will be
easier to weight.

Most game rendering engines get confused

when an alpha plane tries to overlap itself – like
with long curly strands (Fig.08). It will not be
able to tell what part of the object is in front
and what part is in the back, leading to some
ugly results (usually, seeing through the entire
character). Most of the time that type of style is
avoided, used sparingly or modeled in without
using alpha information – basically a very
detailed shell with little to no alpha information.
So, always try to keep your alpha planes fairly
clean and don’t worry too much about twisting
detail into the actual model.

Maya has a similar problem when rendering

hair planes and may require you to physically
break off some of the planes if you have joined
them with others. Basically, Maya will try to
draw the entire plane first and then the head, or
something to that effect. If you split the objects, items – again though, each object is an added For the most part, I tend to work symmetrically

it helps the render engine order them properly burden to the game engine, so be modest as it makes the entire process much quicker. If

as they now can be processed as individual (Fig.09). the mirrored look is way too obvious, it can also
be skewed in the end by adding a few accent
planes to throw off the eyes. Adding just a few
rogue strands of hair or taking a few strands
that you have already made and offsetting their
rotation or position can add to the hairstyle’s
realism (Fig.10).

Gavin Goulden
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.gavimage.com/
Or contact them at:
[email protected]

www.3dtotal.com page 15 Chapter 03

Chapter 04 hands
Hands Chapter 04

Hands
Software used: Maya

Hands can tell you a lot about a character. For

example, a barbarian might have a meaty paw
or a mobster might be missing a finger. Such
subtle details can really add to a story. In this
tutorial I will show you my basic process for
creating a human hand.

When it comes to hands, I treat them as if they

are an entirely new object. Rather than working
from a character’s wrist to the fingertips, I begin
by building a finger. The first step is simple:
make a cylinder and delete the end (Fig.01).
Add a few edge loops around the finger to retain
mesh fidelity when it becomes subdivided. This
initial piece can be as complex as you need it to
be. Some artists are fine with a four-sided finger,
where as I like to go a little heavier and have need a protrusion and push the center loop out the nail geometry to create the mass near
around eight edges. just a touch. Changing the silhouette ever so the cuticle. As a warning, adding this type of
slightly in this way helps get rid of the “sausage geometry on a base mesh for sculpting can lead
From here I use the edge extrusion method to fingers” look. to problems, as it requires more geometry in a
begin building the rest of the finger. Rather than concentrated area. If your intention is to sculpt a
modeling the finger straight, try to give it a slight I decide to put fingernails in my fingers by hand, it may be better to just leave the fingertips
curve. This will give the finger a more natural selecting faces near the tip of the finger and blank and sculpt in this detail.
feel and help you visualize the bends (Fig.02). insetting them with a bevel. After this I grab
For the knuckles, I cut into the faces that will the edges closest to the nail base and overlap Next I take the finger that I created and
duplicate it three times. In general I keep the
finger that I created as the middle or ring finger
then adjust the different fingers’ length (Fig.03).
You’ll notice that the fingers on a human hand
are not the same length. In this example, I
am creating the right hand, so the fingers will
increase in length from the pinky to the middle
finger with the index finger’s tip lining up with the
last knuckle on the middle finger.

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 Chapter 04 Hands

After this I fan out the fingers as if they are

stretching apart by rotating each one. Much
like the step above, I also stagger the fingers to
offset the knuckle placement. You’ll notice that
when you make a fist, your knuckles are not
perfectly in line. I connect the base of the fingers
to create the thin webbing that would stretch in
between the fingers near the knuckles (Fig.04).

To give the hand a little more life, I like to bend

the fingers slightly at the knuckles, as if there is
a little tension. This helps set landmarks on the
fingers for sculpting and makes the fingers look
less “boring”. At this stage I also add in more
loops for the webbing near the knuckles to retain
the model’s shape when it becomes subdivided
(Fig.05).

Next, I will begin building the fingers into the

hand by making the knuckles and connecting
them together. I try not to go too overboard
here, basically fanning out the border of
the finger at the knuckle and joining it with
the webbing geometry created earlier. This
creates a loop around the finger at the knuckle
which helps isolate each finger and defines
the knuckle protrusion. If this hand were to
be weighted in a game scenario, the palm is
generally weighted to one bone with three
bones for each finger. So, I tend to model with
that in mind, leaving a defined edge that would
be dominated by the hand bone with enough
geometry between the hand and first knuckle
on the finger to retain the shape when bending
during animations (Fig.06).

Using the edge extrusion method I begin to build

out the palm and back of the hand. As with the
fingers, you usually don’t want perfectly flat and
straight. I try to show the meat of the hands by
forming pads on the outer edges with a dip in
the center where it is mostly flesh on bone. For
the back of the hand, you mostly want it to be
rather flat (as in not defining veins, knuckles
and the metacarpals) but to curve down toward
the palm slightly on the inner and outer edges
(Fig.07).

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Hands Chapter 04

From here I continue extruding edges to build

out the back of the hand to the wrist (Fig.08).
On the palm I try to start the edge loops for the
thumb as soon as I can. The thumb will affect a
large part of the hand as it has a wide range of
motion that requires it to collapse and compress
on the palm and back of the hand. Defining
the flesh that creates the base of the thumb
reaching into the center of the palm can be
greatly beneficial for this deformation. I also try Next I create the thumb. I try to make the base tip to the hand by bridging edges. I divide the
to keep the same edge running down the center of the thumb have the same number of edges thumb with a few edge loops, creating a taper
of the fingers, as if it were cutting the finger as the fingers so that I can duplicate a fingertip, from the hand to the knuckle (Fig.09).
in half, into the thumb. This helps define the move it into place, and easily connect it to the
webbing and muscles between the index finger rest of the hand. By duplicating the faces of a Finally, we connect the hand to the rest of the
and thumb that will do most of the stretching fingertip, I can modify it quickly to create the arm. The key part to keep in mind is how the
and squashing as the hand spreads apart or broader tip of the thumb, as well as the more hand tapers into the wrist and how the heel of
makes a fist. bulky knuckle. From here I connect the thumb’s the palm drops down from the inner forearm.
From here, I extrude edges out of the wrist and
continue to the elbow area, usually defining the
subtle twist and bulk of the muscles that the
forearm would create. Of course, if I already had
an arm created I would simply stitch the hand to
the arm (Fig.10).

With these steps in mind, the same principles

can be carried over to nearly any humanoid
creature. Even the most grotesque monster
usually has similar anatomy to that of a human,
as it’s something that we can all relate to and
understand.

Gavin Goulden
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.gavimage.com/
Or contact them at:
[email protected]

www.3dtotal.com page 19 Chapter 04

Chapter 05 feet
Feet Chapter 05

Feet
Software used: Maya

The feet can be an overlooked on many game

characters because people assume that the
viewers will not pay attention to that area.
Though this can be true as it certainly isn’t a
focal area like the face, it can be an opportunity
to add an extra touch of personality to your
character – what type of footwear your character
has and even the anatomy of the foot (clawed
feet, webbed toes, broad toes, protruding
ankles, etc.) can tell a story.

The first step we’ll take is to block out the part

of the body that will lead into the ankle and,
eventually, the foot (Fig.01). This doesn’t have
to be just a cylinder; adding a taper to where
the calve muscle would fade into the ankle
can add a nice touch to the character model
profile. Usually at this stage in character work,
you would already have a formed leg that
would dictate how the foot would connect to the
body, but for the purpose of this tutorial we will
assume it is a bare female leg, leading into an
arched pose as if the character were wearing
heels.
tree trunk-type appearance and, generally, isn’t show you. The first method is to just create a
From here I use the edge extrusion method to appealing or interesting. The heel usually fans clump of toes that roughly have the silhouette of
begin fanning out the foot to where the heel, out slightly from the ankle. each individual toe. This is helpful in situations
ankle and top of the foot will begin to take shape where you do not need every toe to move
(Fig.02). At this stage I’m not getting into too Here is where the foot really begins to take independently or spread apart. In a game model
much detail – I just want to rough out the basic form (Fig.04). I build out the top of the foot by situation, it also saves on your triangle budgets
area. I generally work on the right side first and extruding edges outwards. I then create a ring and more often than not won’t have the bones to
simply mirror the model over to create the left from these polygons that will define the base support it (toes are usually controlled by a single
and add asymmetrical details if needed. of the foot, the metatarsals and where the toes “toe” bone.) I start by extruding the inner corner
connect. I connect the edges of this section and of the foot to form the big toe which will help
Next, I move onto the heel. Again, this will be the base of the foot to create the arch. I also dictate the angle of the foot, the length and size
an arched foot, so the edge flow will be slightly create extra edges for the ankle at this stage of the other toes and define knuckle protrusions.
angled in that direction. I try to have multiple and begin forming the bone protrusions there.
edges defining where the bottom of the foot will Generally, the ankle isn’t aligned – meaning that From here I begin defining the other toes,
be, which helps for sculpting and deformations the outer ankle is usually lower than the inner degrading in size until the pinky toe (Fig.06).
(Fig.03). I also try to terminate edges as a four- ankle. I’m keeping all of the toes connected but still
sided polygon on either corner of the ball of the extruding the tips of the toes to give an illusion
foot. Avoid simply extruding edges straight down Now we will begin to build out the toes (Fig.05). of depth. I try to keep support edges running on
to define the back of the foot; this can lead to a You can go two ways with this, which I will top of the toe as well as through the mid section

www.3dtotal.com page 21 Chapter 05

 Chapter 05 Feet

to help retain shape when subdividing the mesh. an evenly distributed mesh for sculpting. Now
Feel free to add definition to the knuckles to that everything is in place, I refine the shape of
show how the toes would curl in this type of the foot more, pushing in the inner foot to define
pose. the arch more, squeezing the toes together for
a more feminine and less broad appearance.
I continue this process by creating the last two I also add edge loops where polygons may
toes (Fig.07). The tips of the toes become less have become too long and distorted, which will
apparent here as the toes will curl into the foot lead to an uneven mesh when subdividing and
more rather than being spread out for balance sculpting.
like the bigger ones. I also define the balls of the
feet at this stage, adding fatty mass to where the The second method would be to create separate toes. I keep the same general edge flow for
toes join the foot. This padding can really help toes that could move independently (Fig.09). both methods, including defining the knuckles
define the shape of the toes and helps build a I start the process much in the same way as and the curl of the toes. This means you handle
base for this particular character’s foot to rest before. Just instead of connecting all of the toes, each toe individually, which can be useful for in
on – rather than just having her stand straight you create the sides of each toe by connecting depth sculpts that will have the toes posed or
on her toes. the top and bottom surfaces. Using this method splayed for characters that have the budget for
I tend to fan out each toe as it will be easier to this sort of detail.
This is the completed foot using the “paddle” sculpt or rig for deformations. I also add some
foot method (Fig.08). I’m not overly concerned webbing in between the first and second toe as Of course, you can always add footwear to
about topology for deformation, but rather want there is usually larger spacing in between these your character instead of just having bare feet.

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Feet Chapter 05
Even though things like shoes and boots are
completely different from human feet, they do
still follow the same principles. Adding edges
that define bigger shapes like the ankles, foot
arch and where the toes meet the ball of the foot
can be helpful during animations, and hints at
the anatomy lying underneath the clothing.

After modeling the foot it can be used as a guide

for creating footwear, which not only makes the
process go by more quickly, but can also be
used as an anatomical guide for where details
such as laces and piping should go (Fig.10).

Gavin Goulden
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.gavimage.com/
Or contact them at:
[email protected]

www.3dtotal.com page 23 Chapter 05

Chapter 06 skin
Skin Chapter 06

Skin
Software used: Maya

Skin can be a very complex issue when it comes

to game art as you are basically trying to get
as much as you possibly can with very limited
resources. Most games do not have true Sub
Surface Scattering or the ability to get into fine
details such as peach fuzz and multi-layered
shaders due to the cost. So we need to cut window. If you click on this, you can access it’s final appearance (just be sure not to go too
corners and fake as much as we can as cheaply properties and assign your Xoliul shader. Simply overboard as the skin will start to look like rock)
as we can. In this tutorial I will show you some click on the folder icon next to Shader File and (Fig.03).
of the tricks that are common in many of today’s navigate to the .FX file you downloaded in the
games through the use of viewport shaders. previous step. Once the file has loaded in then In the Material Properties tab, scroll down to
you will see a roll out of options that will begin bUseNormalMap and enable it. This will tell the
The viewport shader that I will be using in to fill in. material that a normal map will be factored into
this tutorial is Laurens Corijn’s “Xoliul Shader the final look of the model. Slightly below that
v1.5” for Maya. It is compatible with any When it comes to skin, at least in video games, specify which normal map you will be using.
version of Maya beyond Maya 2008 and is it all comes down to two-dimensional textures. Depending on how you baked your normal
fairly easy to set up. Download the files from Though that may sound obvious at first, each maps, the green channel may need to be
his website, http://www.laurenscorijn.com/ map plays a vital role in creating our skin’s flipped/inverted. This can either be done in an
viewportshader and make sure that you have appearance. To begin, I start with a normal map external application like Photoshop or flagged
“hlslShader.mll” enabled in the Window > – a texture baked down from a higher resolution in the material. So, if your model looks a little off
Settings > Preferences > Plug-In Manager model to a low resolution “game” model. Each when you apply the normal map texture (as in it
within Maya. After that you will need to enable RGB channel represents a direction for faked looks as though the model is receiving lighting
Hardware Texturing in your scene to display Hlsl lighting to create an illusion of a model having information incorrectly) the green channel may
materials properly (Fig.01). more detail. For this example, I have a head just be wrong.
that I have previously created both the high
The next step is to create an Hlsl material in the and low resolution assets for. Generally, I use Another step you will need to take is setting up
Hypershade menu. Open Rendering Editors > normal maps to fake bigger forms like general a quick light rig for your model (Fig.04). I use
Hypershade and navigate to Create > Materials smoothness, hollowing cheeks, wrinkles etc. one to three point lights as that range is fairly
> Hlsl Shader (Fig.02). This will create what But adding a fine layer of stubble and surface accurate to how many dynamic lights could be
appears to be a solid green ball in the materials detail can really add a lot to your skin’s affecting the model in a game engine. First I

www.3dtotal.com page 25 Chapter 06

 Chapter 06 Skin

create my three point lights and move them into

position; usually a strong backlight behind the
model, a key light off to one side (in this case,
it is on the right-hand side) and a fill light on the
opposing side. In the material properties you
can list the number of lights that will be active in
the scene; right click over “light1_Position” and
select a point light in the scene. After you select
a light you will also be able to set the intensity
and color of the lights that are being used (light map, the SpecularColor option basically Occlusion map (more or less a 2D texture that

properties in the actual Maya scene are ignored, becomes void, but you can then control the has lighting information baked into it). For this

so, if you want a strong blue light you will need actual specular intensity and how glossy the material, I use it at a low setting to brighten the

to specify that in the material, not on the actual surface is. If you have drastically different skin (Fig.08).

light). surfaces on your model, you can also create a

gloss map that will control how glossy different Depending on the game engine, it may be

Next I add a diffuse map. This is basically just surfaces are (Fig.06). required to pack the Light map, Specular map

the color of the skin and, in this case, heavily and Gloss into one texture. This is as simple as

photo-sourced from well-lit images (Fig.05). For Next, I enable HalfLambert, which will fill out copying each texture into a specific channel (for

current generation games, good diffuse textures the model and make the shading less harsh. example: Green = Spec, Blue= Gloss, Red =

will have a very limited amount of lighting This technique became popular in Valve’s Light map).

information baked into them and, for skin, will Team Fortress 2. With too strong settings it can

have very little pore detail as that information lead to cartoon-like results. I also increase the Next add a fresnel, sometimes referred to as

is handled in the normal and specular maps. HueAdjust values to fill out the skin with nice red a rim shader, to your skin. This can add a lot

Like the normal map application, scroll down to tones (Fig.07). to your character as it will pop the model off of

bUseDiffuseMap and navigate to your diffuse the environment. Some game engines will use

texture. You also have the ability to color tint From here I add a light map. This doesn’t have a a dominant light to drive the color of the fresnel

your skin texture with the ColorDiffuse option. flag but instead just needs a texture plugged in. as well as control its intensity based on lighting

You can also specify if the diffuse map has an Light maps are usually the same as an Ambient conditions. In this case, I use a near white color

alpha channel that will be used, which I will

cover in a future step.

As you can see, the skin is way too shiny. To

remedy this, I use a colored spec map, which
will drive the color of the lighting information
reflected from the skin. I usually use a slight
blue for the skin and roughly the color of the hair
for the hair spec. After plugging in the specular

www.3dtotal.com page 26 Chapter 06

Skin Chapter 06
simulating sky lights and keep the values fairly
low. FresnelPower in this shader is actually the
spread/falloff along your model with FresnelMult
actually being the intensity (Fig.09).

Finally, I use the alpha from my diffuse texture

(mentioned earlier by enabling bUseAlpha) and
mask out the fresnel effect under the skin and
under the nose as it can lead to weird results
(Fig.10). This is a step that is on a model per
model basis as not everything needs this type of
masking.

Gavin Goulden
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.gavimage.com/
Or contact him at:
[email protected]

www.3dtotal.com page 27 Chapter 06

 3DTOTAL.COM
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The aim of this 198 page eBook is to provide both an efficient and methodical approach to creating characters
that can encompass both organic and mechanical components and equip artists with the knowledge to learn
techniques used by industry professionals. The series provides an in depth account of creating a character from
the concept and base mesh stages through to the final detailing and high poly sculpt. It will as its subject adopt
the theme of an alien humanoid in battle dress, partly clad in armor and carrying weapons.

Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platform: ZBrush | Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF | Pages: 198
Images from 3ds Max + Vray version of this eBook
3DTOTAL.COM
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This five part series will focus on the topic of setting up a variety of lighting rigs that reflect natural lighting at
different times of the day and manmade interior lighting. Each of the chapters will use the same base scene as
a starting point, and will show a step by step guide to finding a lighting and rendering solution that best reflects
the desired lighting situation. The tutorials will explain the type of lights used and how to set up the parameters
along with talking about the different methods of tackling the subject. The manipulation of textures may also be
covered in order to turn a daylight scene into night scene for example.

Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Original Scene by: Viktor Fretyán | Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF
 3DTOTAL.COM
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Using 3ds Max and Photoshop this eBook teaches you how to create a fantasy scene inspired by real world
architecture, and how to correctly and effectively use reference photos of your chosen source of inspiration to
get stunning effects quickly and easily.

This eBook provides and instructs a great system to creating 3DStills in the quickest way whilst still getting great
results!

Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platform: Suitable for all 3D software | Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF
 3DTOTAL.COM
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The aim of this eBook is to show and explain how you might tackle rigging your 3D character for animation. The
six chapters within this eBook will give help and advice to novices and experts who are looking to build on their
rigging skills or approach rigging for the first time. The series gives a detailed step by step guide as to how to
approach rigging but also shows us how to tackle common problems and issues that regularly occur even in a
professional environment. The artists will be reflecting on working in the industry as well as talking us through
their individual approaches to creating the best rigs possible.

Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platform: 3dsmax and Maya | Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF
 3DTOTAL.COM
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This e-book provides a detailed account of building, texturing and lighting the interior of a Gothic Church based
upon a concept painting. The ebook is available in five different platforms. Chapter two however is dedicated to
creating a gargoyle in Zbrush – the focal point in our scene. Here the author will start by creating a rough body
form using ZSpheres and move through the numerous sculpting phases and modeling the details for each part
of the character, highlighting the various brushes and tools used throughout.

Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platforms: 3ds max, Cinema 4d, LightWave, Maya and Modo.
Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF | Pages: 47+