We have a TO DO list where we planned all the things we’ll need to model and shade to create the illustrations for "THE WILDERNESS."
Our first task was to design a medieval-style dress for Blaze, following certain lore guidelines from our story. We aimed to be as accurate as possible when it came to the materials and colors of the props to match those used in the Early Middle Ages. Even though the story is set in a fantasy universe, we want it to feel as familiar as possible.
Our TO DO list is pretty overwhelming 😅, so when we modeled these props, we tried to be fast and efficient. We took the opportunity to experiment a little with Substance Painter. We created the clothes geometry entirely in Blender, with minimal detail, and attempted to add all the wrinkles and finer details directly in Substance, skipping the ZBrush sculpting process altogether.
The production of these assets went quite quickly, and the result is good enough for a background character, but we’re not entirely happy with how it turned out 🤔.
EDIT: Nowadays, what we just said seems silly, because the latest version of ZBrush has a cloth simulator, and it looks super easy to get great results without too much struggle ✨.
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The highlight of this method is that we could add detail and texture the model simultaneously.
We added damage and dirt to everything, just to make quick progress, and we figured once it’s rendered, it would look good anyway. Honestly, Lyhn is the worst model we’ve made so far, but she still looked fantastic in THE PHOTOSHOOT, all thanks to the lighting, poses, and other effects, so we’re betting these fast-shaded models will do alright, too.
Once the model was done, we took a few closeup shots with studio lighting and glare to showcase on social media.
We also designed Blaze’s silver locket quickly. The geometry is very simple, with all the details added directly in Substance. For the chain, we made it as low-poly as possible and simply painted it as a flat loop around Blaze’s neck. It looks awful, but it renders super fast 😅
For the shoes, we used photo references and textured them in Substance Painter using leather materials from Substance Source. For the socks, we just grabbed another material from Source.
We’re fully aware that in medieval times, socks didn’t magically stay up by themselves LOL, but we didn’t feel like modeling any ribbons or ropes to hold them in place. It's a fantasy universe, so we can do whatever we want! 😆
Now the models are available on our Sketchfab for you to check out. Many of them are free, so go ahead and take a look!
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