Part 4: Everything will be sculpted
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Like I pointed out in the previous post I learned zbrush prior to this project. When starting the pre production phase I started developing the art style for Rune Mages. One major matter I wanted to achieve was that Everything in the game will be sculpted. If Everything is sculpted then the art style is much more coherent than if only a couple of objects would be sculpted (this of course depends). As I am aiming for stylised realism I have used PBR materials but with a Blizzard-esque style of sculpting. Here is my step by step workflow to achieve all of this: I create a base mesh in 3DS Max which I then import into Zbrush. In this case I am creating a wooden roof for one of my house modules.
I then subdivide the mesh a couple of times to give me an adequate amount of polygons to sculpt on. Firstly I sub-d without smoothing for about 3 iterations, then I switch to smoothing.
After that I use the Standard brush with a small size and begin to sculpt out where I want my planks to go.
Once I am done with that I start using my AJ Polish brush to soften up all edges, giving the model that stylised look. I also switched matcap from the standard gray to MatCap White Cavity. This is useful as it lets you see more of what you are doing.
I then add scratches using the standard brush. This effect really helps Selling that the surface is made out of wood.
Lastly I like to add a couple of ”slashes” from the AJ brush set. This helps giving the model a bit of variety. I also start moving topology around with the ”Move Topological” brush. I do not want to push it too far, but giving the planks a slight buldge helps sell the stylised look even more. That’s how I sculpt all the Wood for Rune Mages. See you in the next post!
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