Last Hunter
Introduction
Hello everyone! My name is Andrey Ermakov.
I'm a 3D Character Artist. While I don’t have formal work experience in major game studios, I have worked with various indie studios. My immediate goal is to join a major studio and work on AAA projects.
Project
It means a great deal to me that GamesArtist.co.uk chose to feature my work, “Last Hunter”, and gave me the chance to present it to you. I’m very grateful to you all for that.
I’ll try to share tips in every section.
Goals
My primary goals in creating this project were to:
- Demonstrate my current skill level in my portfolio.
- Put into practice everything I’ve learned over the past two years while studying 3D character creation.
- Go beyond my usual focus on the technical side of character creation by placing greater emphasis on the artistic aspects.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the workflows and standards used in major game studios.
Inspiration
The project is based on stunning concept art by Ulysses Graphics. These are explorations for a role-playing game setting based on mythical horror tales.
My own inspiration came from personal life experience and the “zeitgeist” that many of us are feeling right now. “The last of the hunters, trying to survive in a changed world but not losing hope” is how I would describe this character.
I am also very happy that this concept uses a lot of different materials for the objects, such as leather, metal, bone and fabric, which I tried to make look quite realistic.
Tip: To find a cool concept, sort 2D concepts on ArtStation by number of likes or by date. You can also find plenty of great ideas on Pinterest.
Tools
- Sculpting: ZBrush
- Modelling and retopology: Maya / Blender
- Clothes, backpack, bags, gloves, laces and weapon wrap: Marvelous Designer
- UV unfolding and packing: RizomUV
- Skin detail projection: R3DS ZWrap
- Hair: XGen, GS CurveTools
- Baking and rendering: Marmoset Toolbag
- Texturing: Substance 3D Painter
- Texture map correction and post-production: Photoshop
Tip: Don’t learn any software until you’ve analysed the pipelines used by major game companies by looking at their job openings.
Blockout
What is the most important thing during the blockout phase? That’s right, it’s thinking!
The blockout serves as the foundation for the entire 3D model. It is crucial to consider how all the objects relate to one another. Most importantly, you must define what each element of the character actually is, what function it serves, what material it’s made of and how it would behave according to real-world physics.
During the blockout, you need to account for how each piece of equipment or gear actually functions. While this may seem obvious to an experienced artist, I hope it proves helpful to those just starting out.
Many artists prefer to start blocking out fabric in Marvelous Designer right from the beginning, but I like to do an initial, basic blockout in ZBrush to get a sense of the overall layout.
In the next stage, I create the fabric in Marvelous Designer and run a simulation that includes the objects from ZBrush. This allows the fabric to react to elements like armour and straps.
I now make all my objects exclusively in ZBrush, and the ZModeler tool and Boolean operations with objects often help me with this. Any sculpted object can be quickly reduced to the desired mesh density using ZRemesher.
Tip: Break your blocking phase into at least two stages, using only the most basic shapes during the first stage. This will prevent you from getting bogged down in unnecessary detail and wasting time.
Cloth Simulation
In my previous work, I often used a technique where, instead of actual wrapping, I’d simply use a jumble of rings designed to look like fabric. But starting with this project, I’ve decided that’s enough. From now on, I’ll be creating all fabric elements with a high degree of realism, preferably using Marvelous Designer.
Somehow, our brains can still detect a “fake” even within otherwise realistic objects. It’s akin to the “uncanny valley” effect, and our brains can pick up on that same phenomenon in everyday objects, too.
Tip: To ensure that fabric and objects interact correctly in Marvelous Designer, convert objects to very hard fabric and freeze them.
As for belt buckles, how do you keep the fabric from slipping out of them? Simply create the buckles out of fabric directly within Marvelous Designer and define their thickness using the appropriate settings.
High Poly
Like many artists, I try not to overload the high-poly model with textures that don’t affect the object’s overall form. I prefer to add smaller details, such as stitching, minor scratches or fabric pilling, during the texturing phase.
This approach allows for better control over the detailing process and ensures that nothing gets distorted or “warped” during the baking stage.
Tip: The secret to impressive work lies in fine detail. It’s precisely these details that catch the viewer’s eye. Decimated objects consume more PC memory than those composed of quads.
Make use of Layers, the Morph Target brush and mesh duplication. These tools will greatly assist you in managing the creative process when adding detail to your objects.
Retopology
Retopology is another stage of the workflow that deals exclusively with technical aspects. It is crucial to consider how a character will bend during animation.
The importance of character animation is taken into account throughout the character’s creation, even from the concept stage. Specifically, the placement of details and objects at the character’s joints must be considered to avoid creating a nightmare for the animators.
Similarly, during retopology, one must account for mesh density at the joints to ensure that the textured surface does not distort or “drift” when stretched during animation.
The method I developed for myself speeds up retopology in a truly fantastic way. After many attempts at performing retopology in various software packages, I’ve settled on an ideal combination: Blender with the RetopoFlow, Bsurfaces and F2 add-ons, the Shrinkwrap modifier and the Snapping feature.
I use RetopoFlow exclusively for creating edge loops. I don’t use any of its other functions. Once you have the basic topology mapped out, go into Sculpt mode in Blender and smooth until the mesh appears to be sinking into the underlying mesh.
At that point, duplicate the Shrinkwrap modifier and apply one of the instances. This effectively reprojects the low-poly mesh onto the high-poly object, allowing you to continue your work or keep smoothing without any issues.
Tip: In Sculpt mode, use the Relax Pinch and Relax Slide brushes. They are excellent tools for working during retopology.
The Mirror modifier in Blender works exceptionally well. Simply enable the “Clipping” option, select the vertices along the edge loop at the seam, and pull them as far as possible in opposite directions until they merge.
UVs
Working in RizomUV is incredibly straightforward, and I’m going to show you a simple way to make your process even faster. You might need to reassign a few hotkeys, but believe me, it’s well worth it.
All the hotkeys I use are highlighted in yellow in the image below, while the tools I used to make the edges of the UV islands perfectly straight are marked in green.
Tip: Pay attention to the orientation of character components. They should all align with the same coordinate system.
Otherwise, when you apply textures, the surface patterns may end up facing in different directions across various UV islands.
Texturing
Texturing is the second most important stage, following the high-poly phase. Through texturing, you can either elevate a mediocre high-poly model or completely ruin a character, even one with an exceptional high-poly base.
This is where you need to apply your best skills. A keen eye for the real world is precisely what will enable you to create truly outstanding textures.
During the texturing process, you will frequently need to export your textures and check how they look in Marmoset or in game engines. It is essential to ensure that the way textures are displayed in Substance is as close as possible to the final result.
To achieve this, set the Tone Mapping to ACES (or load your own custom colour profile) and use the same HDRI environment map in both Substance and Marmoset.
In my work, I tried to avoid making the character excessively dirty, dusty or blood-stained, as I didn’t want to obscure the full detail of the textures I had applied.
Some other artists suggested that I should add more dirt and blood, but in my view, this character makes an effort to take good care of his belongings so that they might last as long as possible.yer stack, create a black fill layer with maximum roughness. This will cover any gaps or empty spaces in the textures on the layers above.
Tip: To ensure your textures look realistic, don’t just pick colours at random from the palette. Instead, use the eyedropper tool to sample colours from real-world objects.
Pay close attention to the roughness value whenever you apply a new colour, as both roughness and colour are the primary factors that determine realism.
At the very bottom of your layer stack, create a black fill layer with maximum roughness – this will cover any gaps or empty spaces in the textures on the layers above.
Final Presentation & Lighting
I typically pose my characters using standard tools in ZBrush.
I set the HDRI lighting to a very low intensity so that it only subtly influences the overall scene.
I made the floor on the stage using a simple extrusion of a paving stone texture through displacement. I used a custom-painted alpha mask to create a falloff towards the edges. The fog is also a texture, applied to an inverted sphere.
For lighting, I employed a classic three-point setup, supplemented by additional lights in completely dark areas to ensure that details across the entire character remain visible.
Tip: For each angle, create a separate camera and a dedicated lighting folder. This ensures you don’t lose the specific views you’ve set up.
If, a few days later, you decide you don’t like some of the renders, you can easily switch back to the exact view and lighting configuration you need.
You can also split the Marmoset viewport into two windows: one for your active workspace and the other for the final view, with all light icons and gizmos hidden.
Conclusion
In closing, I’d like to say that the main secret to success in learning is to complete as many projects as possible with one key condition: each subsequent project should be better than the last.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that spending six months or a year on a single project equates to growth. It is far better to complete 5 or 10 projects in that same timeframe, ensuring that each one is an improvement over the previous one.
I want to thank the entire team at GamesArtist.co.uk, as well as everyone who took the time to look at my work.
I hope to find work in the game development industry someday, and I’d be happy to meet everyone on LinkedIn and ArtStation.
And if you share my contact information, thank you very much!
Tip: To have endless motivation to work, you must have a goal that is higher than your field of activity. Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of two things: dedicating my life to creative work in video games and changing the world for the better.
Now I have a nearly finished book that tells a very powerful story. And by combining a profound narrative with a video game, who knows what might happen?
That is my dream.
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