Week 1 - Proportions and Skull
Week 2 - The Nose
The above image shows the exterior anatomy of the nose. There are three main pieces of cartilage that define the shape of the nose, the lateral cartilage, the greater alar cartilage and the septal cartilage. The fibro-fatty tissue also plays a large role in the shape of a nose.
This persons nose has a very defined point at which the nasal bone finishes and the cartilage begins. They also have very defined fibro-fatty tissue, this is accentuated by the alar cartilage.
This person has a very acute columellar-labial angle; the angle formed by the bottom of the nose and the top lip. They also have a very defined ridge between the alar cartilage and the lateral cartilage.
The videos below show the sculpting process of three noses. The first of which used the above image as reference.
The images below are breakdowns of the three sculpts seen above. I identified the main anatomical parts of the nose covered at the beginning of this section.
I am pleased with the results of the nose sculpts. I feel that I have included all of the anatomical parts of the nose in each sculpt and produced several distinct variations.
Submitted Final Sculpt Image:
Week 3 - The Mouth
Structure of the Mouth
The above image shows some defining anatomical features of the mouth. The philtrum is the small divet above the upper lip and below the nose. The node is a small divet that appears on either side of the corners of the mouth, the marionette lines begin in the corners of the mouth and form 'lines' down to the chin. The vermillion borders are where the tissue of the lips end and become normal skin. The pillars of the mouth are two muscles that stretch from the lower lip down to the chin. The mental crease is the crease that appears between the lower lip and the mental protuberance (chin). The mental protuberance is the chin, this is shaped by the tip of the lower jaw. The orbicularis Oris is a muscle that surrounds the lips and stretches around the mouth, this muscle has no connections to bone, it crosses and attaches to other muscles at the Modioluls (node).
The videos above show the sculpting of two mouths.
The images below are breakdowns of the two sculpts. I have identified the main anatomical parts as mention previously.
I am pleased with how the mouth sculpts came out. I feel that I have included all of the anatomical parts of the mouth, with the correct proportions.
The image below was used for reference on the above sculpt.
Submitted Final Sculpt Image:
Week 4 - The Ear
The above image shows the main anatomical parts of the ear. The Helix is the outer shape of the ear, it forms a number 9 shape. The Antihelix is the main shape of the inner part of the ear, it forms a 'y' shape. The superior and inferior crus a raised parts on the tips of the Antihelix. The triangular fossa is a triangle shaped depression between the tips of the Antihelix. The Tragus is a small lump that covers the entry to the Auditory meautus, the Antitragus is a small lump opposite the Tragus on the end of the Antihelix. The lobe is a fleshy part at the bottom of the ear, this can either be attached to the face or hang freely. The Scaphoid fossa is a depression that runs the length of the Antihelix and separates the Antihelix from the Helix. The Intertragic notch is a small notch that separates the Tragus and Antitragus.
The videos below show two ear sculpts.
The images below are breakdowns of the above sculpts. I have identified the main anatomical features of the ears.
I am pleased with these sculpts. I have incorporated all of the anatomical parts of the ear in each and created two differing variations.
Submitted Final Sculpt Image:
Week 5&6 - The Eye
The above images show the main anatomical features of the eye. The Medial Canthus and the Caruncle define the inner corner of the eye, while the Lateral Canthus defines the outer corner. Another defining feature of the eye are the superior and inferior palpebral crease, these are mainly caused by the Tarsal plates. Tarsal plates are cartilage plates that make up the structure of the eyelid. The Infraorbital furrow defines the transition between the eye and nose. The bottom image shows how these structures sit on the skull below.
The videos below are of the sculpting process for two eyes.
I am pleased with the results of these sculpts. I feel that I improved with the second sculpt, especially with the anatomic accuracy, such as the Medial Canthus and Caruncle area.
The images below are breakdowns of the anatomical parts of the sculpts.
Submitted Final Sculpt Image:
Practice Head Sculpt
Villain Sculpt Assignment
Initial Ideas
From the start of this project I decided to design a character in the cyberpunk art style. This style can be characterized by cybernetic/robotic elements added onto normal characters, I believed that this would be challenge and could result in an interesting an eye-catching final piece.
Before starting to sculpt my villain I gathered a range of images of other cyberpunk characters, I did this to gain an idea of how to indicate a cyberpunk theme on a normal character. The main parts that stood out to me were the addition of large mechanical/robotic elements onto the head, this is a very direct way of indicating the cyberpunk theme, another idea that I liked and wanted to include in my design was the idea of panels of skin. This isn't as a direct way of indicating a cyberpunk theme as large robotic pieces but results in a very interesting and eye-catching result.
Throughout the sculpting process I referred a lot to this artwork, in particular the facial features and structure. This artwork has a very tough and strong look to the character, this is something that I wanted to replicate, the sculpt displays a lot of very strong masculine features and structures, especially the superciliary arches and mental protuberance. I also referred to the artwork below for the tough look of the character.
The below artwork heavily inspired the skin panels I included in my design, the panels breakup the normal structure of the face, this results in a slightly uncanny feeling when viewing the artwork.
Anatomy of Fat Pads on the face
Gaining an understanding of the fatty structure below the skin allowed me to create a more realistic and characterized design.
Sculpting & Texturing
The above video shows the sculpting process in ZBrush. The video and images below show the final sculpt.
After finishing the sculpt the next step was to texture the head. The final sculpt was very high poly, at around 2.1 million polys, before anything else could happen the model had to have its poly count reduced. This was done using the decimation master plugin in Zbrush, this reduced the poly count around 350k. With the new lower poly model it could be unwrapped, this was done with the UV master plugin in Zbrush, once unwrapped the model could then be exported as an FBX file, this file could then be opened in Substance painter.
The above image shows the final Substance painter document. You can see the layers used in the 'LAYERS' panel on the right hand side. The skin is made up of a base colour that is a basic, beige skin colour, it then has a red, yellow and blue layer added above this. The various colour layers all have a mask applied, this allowed me to paint certain areas using a brush with an alpha applied to give a non uniform, more natural effect. The red areas are painted where blood is found close to the skin, this is across most of the face but is particularly strong on the lips, nose and cheeks, the yellow colour is found where bone is close to the skin, this is because there isn't enough space for blood to be close to the surface of the skin. The blue colour is found where age and tiredness needs to be shown, for example around the bottom of the eyes. The images below show how these layers combine.
The metal panels are created in a similar way to the skin, there is a base metal colour with a mask applied that limits the material to certain panels, there is a bronze metal material above that which has a mask created using an organic brush to add patches of wear. Finally there is a layer that only affects the height channel, this is applied using a mask that was created using a scratches alpha on the brush. The final two layers in the document are skin damage and wrinkles, these are created in the same way as the scratches on the metal material.
Rendering
The three images above were rendered in Maya using Arnold. The images below show the render setup and how the eyes were modelled.
FACS Animation
FACS stands for, Facial Animation Coding System. This is a way of breaking human emotions down into individual 'Action Units', these Action Units focus on small parts of the face that move when humans emote. These Action Units can then be combined in various ways to create different emotions, the above image shows a list of Action Units and the combinations to create various expressions.
To apply this technique to the sculpted head the 'Layers' feature in ZBrush needs to be utilised. The layer system allows for the creation of non-destructive alterations to a mesh, this allows for the creation of multiple Action Units in the same file, this data can then be exported into Maya using the GoZ plugin in ZBrush. When exported into Maya the layers appear as blend shapes, these can then be animated. Above you can see the list of Action Units; labelled AU. Below is an example of how the Action Units can be combined to form emotions.
When imported into Maya the layers are changed into Blend Shapes. An editor is opened when this happens, this allows for control of the individual Action Units.
When in Maya the Model can also be rigged, this allows the whole head and neck to be animated so that the character can move around, this adds an extra layer of life to any final animations. The rig is quite simple and is made up of 7 joints, one at the base of the neck, one at the base of the head, one just below the middle of the head, with one for the chin and both cheeks, and finally one at the top of the head. (See below).
The blend shapes and rig can then be animated in unison to create a final piece. As previously mentioned the ability to move the head adds an extra layer of life and realism to the animation. Below shows an example of how the blend shapes are used in conjunction with the rigged model.
Below is the final animation and a handful of still images, they have all been rendered using Arnold.
