Lonan is the second 3D character we modeled in ZBrush, during the summer of 2013.
We made a previous attempt of modeling a “realistic” male character in ZBrush in 2010, but it turned out to be a total disaster, partly because we had no idea of human anatomy, and partly because the guide we were using, "Anatomy Drawing School" by Andras Szunyoghy, is not a good resource to learn how to model correct anatomy.
Szunyoghy's book is perfect in so many ways, IF one already knows a little bit of anatomy, and one knows what one is doing. But for beginners, this book can be very misleading. We wish we could share that first character we did in 2010 following Szunyoghy's book, to illustrate just how misleading the text can be, but it's too embarrassing, so we better not.
When we modeled Lonan in 2013, we were willing to spend as much time as necessary to get it right.
Lonan, 2013 - Male anatomy model following Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy by Madeleine Scott-Spencer.
Textures made in ZBrush following Madeleine Scott-Spencer method, 2013.
We browsed the web, looking for alternative learning resources, and we came across the book "Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy" by Madeleine Scott-Spencer.
This book is FANTASTIC, and it helped us so much to understand how to make the male human form in ZBrush.
In her book, Madeleine covers all the steps necessary to make a character from start to end.
Her book does not teach anatomy per se—so if one is trying to learn all about the muscles, etc… one should probably get something else, like “Classic Human Anatomy” by Valerie L. Wilson—but it has enough information to learn the most important stuff and get all the muscles looking right.
Following Madeleine Scott-Spencer’s teachings, we modeled a decent body for our character, and painted some nice looking skin textures, all in ZBrush.
But Maddie’s book doesn’t just cover how to make the anatomy and the skin; it also teaches the principles of modeling cloth for costumes, and very useful techniques to re-mesh the models for easier rigging.
We cannot stress enough how useful this book is, so, for those interested in working as a 3D artist, do yourself a favor and get a copy! 📖
In the image below, you can see the props that we modeled for Lonan in ZBrush and Maya. Everything was textured either directly in ZBrush, or in Photoshop using image references (there was no Substance yet).
Same as with Lyhn, we've rescued Lonan from our old files to use him for our test project "The Photoshoot".
Of course, the old textures we did in 2013 are no good any more, so we've re-textured him using Photoshop (with photos of one Mr. Matsumoto, as earlier mentioned in our Realistic Humans in 3D post) and we've made him PBR ready.
Now he's rigged with Rigify, shaded with Principled Shader, equipped with our latest eyes and mouth props, and he looks swell.
For "The Photoshoot" project we have also revamped his old pants, shirt and boots and upgraded them to PBR so we can pose him and make him look chou kakkoi~~ 🤤
Soon, we'll be able to see him in the role of steamy photographer in srpgen's "THE PHOTOSHOOT"! 🍒🍑❤️
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