FMP Blog 4 - Clothing and prop blockout

General / 23 January 2021

This post will be about my blockout workflow for the clothes.

I had a few challenges when importing into Zbrush. At first I didn't weld the patterns together which resulted in a fragmented imported model. I then changed it to welded single mesh and from here I could group the objects into polygroups in Zbrush.

I remeshed them to make the topology much better and easier to work with. On export from Marvelous I quadrangulated it so that I could create a neater mesh. I will come back to the shirt at the detailing stage to make the fishnet pattern.

For any parts that were remeshing weirdly I used remesh guides. I did the same for the trousers also.

The jacket was fairly efficiently remeshed and when I upped the sibdivision levels I was able to work on it with very little distortion in the details.

I edited the jacket slightly using the move brush to square off the shoulders a bit and adujst any clipping. I will add thickness using ZModeler.

Using Zmodeler and selecting the loop on the edge of the jacket, I added in a zip. I added the other half of the zip to the other breast side of the jacket.

I edited the position of the zip components using polygroups selection.

The gloves were also remeshed, and I adjusted the positionto avoid minor clipping around the knuckles area.

I had to adjust the position of the pockets a bit as after adding in a belt base, I saw that it covered them up mostly. Later on I actually deleted one of the pockets and remirrored it as I found that the position was off a little.

I pulled out the chaps at the hips to match the slihouete of my concept. The chaos are made from a thick leather which would enable the rigidity that appears here. I used a lot of reference to consider how the thick leather material would be able to maintain certain folds and poses.

I then started the boot blockout, using a remeshed cylinder and pulling it out, then remeshing it again and adding divisions once I was happy with the basic shape.

Using what i learnt from the first project of the year, I ensured that the sole of the boot adhered to the anatomy of the foot, particularly with the shape. I needed to represent the instep accurately.

I added a heel using a cylinder that I again remeshed and positioned in place. I am not happy with the shape of the boot tip yet but this is something I will revsit at the detailing stage.

To take a break from sculpting, I moved into 3DsMax to model myhardsurface components and props. I started with the spike studs that will appear on the gloves and shoulder.

I made the shoulder pad using a modified rectangle that I shelled out.

I then copied the spikes over in rows.

I made a round stud that would have multiple purposes in the model, e.g. along the lapel of the jacket and on the belt.

I also made a quick cross earring. I tapered in the ends slightly as I liked this a bit better than the rigid straight angles of regular crucifixes.

This next prop was very challenging to make but it was a cool learning process. I needed to make a zippo lighter and while there were several styles that were slightly different, all of them share the same features. I started by blocking out the base shape using a rectangle and then extruded out edges for the top component. I used shell and subdivided the top part to make a gridded section, then I deleted squares systematically and turbosmoothed it by smoothing groups to create hollow circles.

This is the final high poly lighter.

For the hairspray can and holster I firstly made the can, and then duplicated the outside faces along the main body and then shelled them. This ensured that the holster sat flush against the can. I left a little gap to add in the leather straps and shaped the holster components according to my ref. I added in the leather straps later on in zbrush.

I made the beltbuckle using a modified cuboid and then used turbsmooth for a smooth curved shape.

I tested my new props in Zbrush and I really liked how it was coming together.

I made a curve brush using the stud mesh, and placed large studs along the edges of the chaps.

I placed the earring and played around with the position. This might move once the hair is in place.

At first I added in the spikes of the choker in my concept but I found that I really didn't like how they looked. There were too many spikes around this area and it needed a bit of breakup. I decided in the end that I would use the studs along the choker instead.

I created a thin piece of fabrich that would be tied around the leg. I eventually will add a knot and alpha strands.

The rolled portion of the sleeves was made using a remeshed cylinder. I added in some basic folds at this point to see if it would look good as a softer material.

The chaps needed some thickness so I added this using zmodeler.

The belt on top was made using the curve snap strap tool and remeshed.

I had a chat with my mentor about proportions for fighting game characters and found that regardless of style, characters often had larger hands for stronger impact.

Even though it looked strange at the modelling section, once the character is posed it had a much stronger appearance.

With this in mind I edited the size of my character's hands, and also edited the size of the wrists to match. I made sure that it didn't look too disproportionate once I was finished, and checked it with one of my tutors.

This is how it looks so far! Next I will be discussing my detailing process.