WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:03.323 Hi, I'm Julian Caspar and in this video I will 00:03.335 --> 00:06.380 show you the workflow of creating stylized 00:06.381 --> 00:09.379 characters in Blender based on my experience 00:09.391 --> 00:12.860 in film productions at the Blender Animation Studio. 00:13.320 --> 00:18.120 If you find this topic interesting, visit the Blender Cloud, where I go into far more 00:18.121 --> 00:23.320 detail by giving a step-by-step tutorial course on the subject. 00:23.800 --> 00:26.933 This tutorial is in a way a brief version 00:26.945 --> 00:32.500 of the full course, so be aware that I'm not going to dwell on any details. 00:33.460 --> 00:36.740 There's a link in the description, but let's just dive straight in. 00:37.180 --> 00:39.774 The full character creation workflow is often 00:39.786 --> 00:42.160 not very linear and can include different 00:42.161 --> 00:45.900 steps based on the type and style of the character. 00:46.520 --> 00:51.020 In this case, I'm giving a somewhat idealized, simplified workflow. 00:51.760 --> 00:57.020 As the very first thing, it's necessary to know what the character is supposed to be. 00:57.380 --> 01:02.520 In this case, it's not going to be overly 01:02.521 --> 01:03.521 cartoony or realistic, but sort of a mix of both. 01:03.720 --> 01:09.760 This way the style is abstracted enough to not be uncanny, 01:09.761 --> 01:12.920 but also not too detached from reality to still feel grounded. 01:14.020 --> 01:19.200 Apart from that, you should have an idea of who your character is supposed to be. 01:19.201 --> 01:23.479 Nail down individual points like ethnicity, 01:23.491 --> 01:28.180 gender, age, time period, occupation, attitude, 01:29.120 --> 01:30.120 and potentially more. 01:30.660 --> 01:33.720 Really nail down who you want to create. 01:34.720 --> 01:37.441 Then before this leads us into doing some 01:37.453 --> 01:40.520 first concepts, it's good to do some research. 01:41.180 --> 01:46.240 This step might make you re-examine your character, but 01:46.241 --> 01:47.840 it also should inspire and guide you on creating it. 01:48.300 --> 01:51.440 There need to be references on the character itself. 01:51.920 --> 01:55.180 Maybe you have an actor in mind as an inspiration, for example. 01:55.600 --> 01:57.552 You should also gather references for the 01:57.564 --> 01:59.720 style you want to use, which are likely going 01:59.721 --> 02:01.840 to be artworks by other people, which is okay. 02:02.540 --> 02:05.600 Then there are also references on the technical execution. 02:06.200 --> 02:12.480 If you want to go for a fur coat, then find out how other people tried and succeeded 02:12.481 --> 02:16.360 before you, which is going to save you a lot of trial and error. 02:16.990 --> 02:20.076 And of course, you should always include 02:20.088 --> 02:25.440 references from real life, like anatomy and fabric behavior and more. 02:26.100 --> 02:30.440 Know how real life works before you recreate and abstract it. 02:30.900 --> 02:36.720 Once you have all of it, display it onto a collage, ideally nicely organized in size 02:36.721 --> 02:40.620 and groups, based on importance and categorization. 02:41.000 --> 02:47.340 My personal recommendation is using PureRef on a second 02:47.341 --> 02:48.540 monitor, phone display, or even printing it out on paper. 02:49.440 --> 02:52.480 Now it's time to work on the design of the character. 02:53.260 --> 02:58.100 The ideal scenario is to work from an existing concept before going onto 3D. 02:58.380 --> 03:02.520 This might be your own drawing, or someone else's, 03:02.521 --> 03:03.521 with their permission and credit of course. 03:03.620 --> 03:07.900 I have to admit that in my case I didn't work from any drawing, but I can highly 03:07.901 --> 03:12.720 recommend you do so, since it will save you a lot of time throughout the process. 03:13.480 --> 03:16.490 The concept should embody a lot of the preparation 03:16.502 --> 03:19.921 from before and serve as a reference for the model. 03:20.380 --> 03:25.340 It's good to start off the 3D sculpting with some simple blocking, which means 03:25.341 --> 03:29.020 laying out the overall proportions with simple shapes. 03:29.760 --> 03:31.986 This can be done by creating and placing 03:31.998 --> 03:35.540 cubes, cylinders, and spheres, and sculpting them roughly into shape. 03:36.280 --> 03:41.340 From here on, you add more definition and detail over time, step by step. 03:42.000 --> 03:45.960 It's okay to keep the shapes very planar and rough 03:45.961 --> 03:46.961 for now, until the overall shapes are set in stone. 03:48.080 --> 03:50.160 Definitely keep multiple objects around. 03:50.620 --> 03:53.660 You don't need to sculpt everything from one object. 03:54.220 --> 03:57.460 Also make good use of symmetry options to save time. 03:58.260 --> 04:02.520 To not really worry about running out of geometry to 04:02.521 --> 04:03.860 sculpt on, there are helpful tools in sculpt mode. 04:04.440 --> 04:10.160 One is dynamic topology, which is enabled with Ctrl D, which creates and removes 04:10.161 --> 04:13.400 geometry dynamically while you are sculpting. 04:14.120 --> 04:17.980 In the options you can further define things 04:17.981 --> 04:18.981 like the resolution and the remeshing method. 04:19.440 --> 04:24.440 There's also the new voxel remesher that remeshes the entire object almost 04:24.441 --> 04:30.520 immediately with the shortcut Ctrl R based on its volume alone, which is a much 04:30.521 --> 04:34.040 faster and reliable method with much better performance. 04:34.760 --> 04:37.920 It even remeshes intersecting objects if you merge them. 04:38.900 --> 04:44.861 You also don't actually need to use that many brushes to get the first sculpt going. 04:45.040 --> 04:49.500 Simple draw, crease, smooth, and grab brushes are usually enough. 04:50.440 --> 04:54.420 Once everything is roughly where it should be, it's good to finally merge 04:54.421 --> 04:59.420 the separate objects, either with the boolean modifier or by just joining 04:59.421 --> 05:02.840 them and remeshing everything with the voxel remesher. 05:03.360 --> 05:07.700 Afterwards, you can paint the objects with vertex colors to get a better 05:07.701 --> 05:10.400 impression of how the character will look like. 05:10.880 --> 05:14.920 This is very helpful, but also remember to turn the colors off from time to 05:14.921 --> 05:18.540 time since they can obscure the actual shapes of the sculpt. 05:19.240 --> 05:23.540 You can even paint in things that are not there like eyebrows and 05:23.541 --> 05:26.660 eyelashes to keep things fast and flexible for now. 05:27.120 --> 05:31.800 For the hair, you can again use separate objects or extract geometry from a 05:31.801 --> 05:37.320 mask or by using the skin modifier or even curves 05:37.321 --> 05:39.660 to create separate hair strands or ponytails. 05:40.080 --> 05:42.460 Afterwards, add vertex colors to those as well. 05:43.080 --> 05:46.560 If you don't have a strict concept art to follow, you can continue to 05:46.561 --> 05:52.121 Polish the head sculpt or create design variations before settling on one of them. 05:52.260 --> 05:56.240 Just make sure that you increase the resolution and Polish for the final 05:56.241 --> 05:58.960 head sculpt until you are happy with the results. 06:00.100 --> 06:04.580 Different mat caps or even your own custom ones can 06:04.581 --> 06:05.980 help you see surface imperfections more clearly. 06:07.140 --> 06:10.960 And don't worry about losing the vertex colors at this 06:10.961 --> 06:12.700 step since they can always be repainted afterwards. 06:13.360 --> 06:16.580 They just serve as a pre-visualization right now anyway. 06:17.300 --> 06:20.780 And again, keep references on the side, especially when sculpting things 06:20.781 --> 06:24.720 like hair, which can be very tricky to pull off if you're not used to it. 06:25.420 --> 06:28.340 For the rest of the body, it's basically the same thing. 06:28.680 --> 06:32.580 Starting with basic separate objects to block out 06:32.581 --> 06:33.880 the proportions and shapes is a good workflow. 06:34.580 --> 06:38.860 Also try using the mirror modifier with a custom 06:38.861 --> 06:40.340 mirror object that serves as a center axis. 06:40.700 --> 06:45.080 This way, you can easily keep the entire body 06:45.081 --> 06:46.980 symmetrical no matter the transforms of each object. 06:47.740 --> 06:51.900 Also, don't forget to apply the scale with Control-A 06:51.901 --> 06:53.980 of your objects to avoid weird brush behavior. 06:55.480 --> 06:59.760 It's good to sculpt the character in a resting pose, like a T-pose, with 06:59.761 --> 07:04.200 very straightened and angular limbs, or in an A-pose, which is more 07:04.201 --> 07:08.540 relaxed with, for example, 45-degree arm angles. 07:10.000 --> 07:13.940 The T-pose is a better resting pose for later rigging and animation, 07:14.160 --> 07:17.780 while the A-pose will give you more accurate deformations in the. 07:18.420 --> 07:21.880 If the character is leaning more towards a realistic style. 07:22.800 --> 07:26.720 Keep sculpting and refining the proportions and shapes 07:26.721 --> 07:29.280 until you are happy before joining everything together. 07:30.200 --> 07:34.020 For the clothing, it's again good to extract new objects from masks 07:34.021 --> 07:38.600 and refining them further by adding folds wherever there 07:38.601 --> 07:40.860 should be compression and stretching in the fabric. 07:41.880 --> 07:47.520 Vertex colors will again help you with your impression of the 07:47.521 --> 07:51.800 If you decide to change the overall proportions of the character, 07:52.220 --> 07:54.920 it's easier to merge all the objects of the 07:54.921 --> 07:56.880 body together and adjust everything together. 07:57.700 --> 08:00.700 Just be careful about any modifiers you might have still active. 08:01.580 --> 08:04.320 Afterwards, you can split them into individual 08:04.321 --> 08:06.380 objects again with a shortcut P in Edit Mode. 08:06.880 --> 08:10.380 You can again create variations of the outfit, but extracting them 08:10.381 --> 08:13.320 via masks is not the only option to create them. 08:13.660 --> 08:16.080 You can also, for example, box model a shirt, 08:16.081 --> 08:20.580 subdivide it a bit, and shrink wrap it back onto the 08:20.581 --> 08:22.720 sculpted body and continue defining it from there. 08:23.380 --> 08:27.060 Keep adding more sculpted parts of the outfits until everything is there. 08:27.360 --> 08:32.000 Some objects can remain a bit rough until you get to the final polishing later on. 08:33.820 --> 08:35.740 Before settling on the design completely, 08:36.260 --> 08:38.820 it's a great practice to test the current 08:38.821 --> 08:41.080 one and see if it can be tweaked in any way. 08:41.560 --> 08:44.180 This is also important for the later rigging and 08:44.181 --> 08:47.080 animation to have a style guide already at hand. 08:48.080 --> 08:49.920 Before work can start on that, 08:50.040 --> 08:52.800 it's important to have a better mesh to work with 08:52.801 --> 08:55.740 instead of the highly dense sculpt of the head right now. 08:56.120 --> 09:01.380 I can recommend to either roughly remodel the head manually from a subdivided cube. 09:02.080 --> 09:05.200 that you snap back onto the sculpt with a shrink wrap modifier, 09:05.900 --> 09:10.160 or to use the new quad remesher in the Object Data tab to the side. 09:11.040 --> 09:14.080 Just make sure to have enough overall density 09:14.081 --> 09:16.880 and place the geometry a bit more accurately 09:16.881 --> 09:20.280 around the eyes and mouth with some manual modeling. 09:21.260 --> 09:24.600 Also make sure the eyelids have three to four 09:24.601 --> 09:27.380 edge loops on them to be able to close them too. 09:27.900 --> 09:30.340 Add an inner mouth and some teeth and a tongue 09:30.341 --> 09:33.640 that closely represent the later polished result, 09:33.641 --> 09:36.180 but it's okay if they're a bit rough for now. 09:37.140 --> 09:41.540 To get most of the sculpted detail back, you can add a multi-resolution modifier, 09:42.100 --> 09:43.460 subdivided a couple of times, 09:43.900 --> 09:45.220 and add a shrink wrap modifier. 09:45.760 --> 09:47.880 Shrink wrap the original sculpt onto the new one 09:47.881 --> 09:52.240 and apply it and you will have the detailed version on the multi-res layers. 09:52.840 --> 09:55.100 Just make sure to not shrink wrap any geometry 09:55.101 --> 09:57.560 that wasn't there in the original sculpt, 09:57.920 --> 09:59.840 like the inner mouth and inner eyes. 10:00.440 --> 10:02.400 With a vertex group and some white painting, 10:02.820 --> 10:06.480 you can exclude parts to be shrink wrapped by adding it to the modifier. 10:07.800 --> 10:12.520 Add some shape keys, model and sculpt on each one to get different facial movements 10:12.521 --> 10:16.440 and mix and merge them however you like to create various expressions. 10:17.280 --> 10:20.000 Be careful to only work on the base resolution, 10:20.380 --> 10:22.100 not any of the multi-res layers. 10:23.300 --> 10:25.700 For this task, you essentially only need 10:25.701 --> 10:31.020 the grab and smooth brushes to move stuff around and relax areas a little bit. 10:31.480 --> 10:33.160 Start off with the basics, 10:33.660 --> 10:35.920 like closed eyes and an open mouth. 10:36.500 --> 10:39.960 You can create the same shape keys for multiple objects 10:39.961 --> 10:44.660 and either animate them together or even hook them 10:44.661 --> 10:46.780 up via drivers so that they all slide together. 10:47.380 --> 10:50.080 From there, work your way up with simple smiles, 10:50.640 --> 10:54.560 angry shouts and very stretched and compressed expression tests. 10:55.700 --> 11:00.300 This will inform you if the current proportions work well or need to be tweaked, 11:00.320 --> 11:04.840 but by the end, you should have some appealing expressions to show off as well. 11:05.360 --> 11:07.640 Like always, references are important, 11:07.880 --> 11:12.040 even if you're just filming yourself to know how a face is really supposed to move. 11:12.800 --> 11:16.580 You might realize the eye shape doesn't really work with all the expressions 11:16.581 --> 11:21.760 or that the eyebrows are too high by default or the teeth are too low and small. 11:22.460 --> 11:24.980 Just tweak those areas until it looks right. 11:26.000 --> 11:29.840 Just make sure to always get some feedback from friends or coworkers 11:29.841 --> 11:34.700 before moving on to the next big step or if you're in an actual production, 11:35.120 --> 11:40.240 sign it off like all the other steps by an art director or whoever your superior is. 11:41.400 --> 11:42.740 To make it all look even better, 11:42.860 --> 11:44.740 you can add some additional asymmetry 11:44.741 --> 11:47.800 to insert more character and appeal into each 11:47.801 --> 11:50.280 expression and you're done with the general design. 11:51.300 --> 11:53.560 From here on, the task is to create 11:53.561 --> 11:57.480 the actual production-ready asset and finalize the style. 11:58.660 --> 11:59.980 The sculpted character so far 11:59.981 --> 12:03.340 is sadly impossible to rig and animate in any production, 12:03.700 --> 12:05.680 so the model needs to be cleaned up. 12:06.020 --> 12:07.920 This is where the retopology comes in. 12:08.520 --> 12:10.840 Retopology is about creating a version of the model 12:10.841 --> 12:13.720 that has the lowest necessary amount of geometry 12:13.721 --> 12:18.540 with the same shapes as the original one, especially when subdividing it. 12:19.040 --> 12:23.120 Just create a new object and either start from a 12:23.121 --> 12:26.800 simple base object or just poly model it all the way, starting from the face. 12:27.360 --> 12:30.360 Make sure to use a mirror and shrink-wrap modifier 12:30.361 --> 12:35.280 and enable face snapping in edit mode to keep things close to the original sculpt. 12:36.000 --> 12:38.200 From here on, it's all about extruding, 12:38.440 --> 12:43.620 ripping, cutting, filling, and merging geometry to get the topology you need. 12:44.280 --> 12:47.440 There are a few things that make up a good retopology. 12:47.960 --> 12:49.940 The edge flow is very important, 12:50.200 --> 12:53.580 which is the direction of the loops that are going around the surface. 12:54.220 --> 12:58.560 These are all made from quads, which are faces with four sides, 12:59.020 --> 13:02.080 and they're led into different directions via Poles, 13:02.480 --> 13:06.800 which are vertices with less or more than four connected edges. 13:07.400 --> 13:09.880 But never go above five connected edges. 13:10.220 --> 13:12.720 Otherwise, they might become really visible. 13:13.420 --> 13:15.540 It's very much a puzzle where you need to create 13:15.541 --> 13:19.020 an efficient and very functional version of your objects 13:19.021 --> 13:22.020 that supports any sort of movement, compression, 13:22.380 --> 13:25.980 or stretching that will happen with it once it gets animated. 13:26.920 --> 13:29.400 For example, just like for the expression tests, 13:29.700 --> 13:35.040 it's good to add some extra loops on the eyelids since 13:35.041 --> 13:36.680 these will have to close too and need that extra geometry. 13:37.360 --> 13:40.380 Joints need a minimum of three edge loops 13:40.381 --> 13:42.760 to be able to bend while keeping their shape. 13:43.400 --> 13:46.860 If you want to exaggerate a crease somewhere in the face for certain expressions, 13:47.240 --> 13:49.880 also have a minimum of three edge loops ready, 13:50.200 --> 13:52.820 like at the laugh line or between the brows. 13:53.580 --> 13:55.440 Using the Subdivision Surface Modifier 13:55.441 --> 13:59.180 will smooth the entire result, so be aware of stretching. 13:59.780 --> 14:04.840 That's why you should mostly rely on evenly sized quads all over the place, 14:05.040 --> 14:08.740 especially on areas that will deform a lot or very curved. 14:09.560 --> 14:12.180 Creases and hard surfaces are an exception usually 14:12.181 --> 14:15.720 since the former needs more density to stay sharp 14:15.721 --> 14:19.840 and the latter doesn't need any extra loops to deform well. 14:20.540 --> 14:23.000 It's generally a good practice to start from the face 14:23.001 --> 14:26.780 and to retopologize each limb separately from 14:26.781 --> 14:28.820 there and stitch them together afterwards. 14:29.820 --> 14:32.400 Make the loops generally follow the shapes 14:32.401 --> 14:36.680 and muscles of the body to support the direction they will deform to. 14:37.360 --> 14:40.720 Make sure that most loops lead back into each other. 14:40.960 --> 14:44.000 You don't want some loops to spiral all over your objects. 14:44.800 --> 14:48.360 At some point, you will have retopologized everything that was sculpted, 14:48.361 --> 14:51.960 which is when you will have to model things that weren't already there. 14:52.580 --> 14:54.860 But first, add a Multi-Res Modifier, 14:55.340 --> 14:56.820 subdivide it a couple of times, 14:57.220 --> 14:59.400 and apply the shrink wrap over it. 14:59.680 --> 15:04.260 Then click on Apply Base and get rid of the Multi-Res Modifier too. 15:04.800 --> 15:09.300 Now your retopology will have the same volumes as the 15:09.301 --> 15:11.900 original sculpt when adding a Subdivision Surface Modifier. 15:12.800 --> 15:15.220 From here on out, you can model in some inner eyelids, 15:15.221 --> 15:18.520 inner mouth, Polish the already existing teeth, 15:18.740 --> 15:22.100 gums, and tongue, and model in some proper eyes. 15:22.800 --> 15:23.960 When you get to the clothing, 15:24.080 --> 15:28.180 you can duplicate parts of the body to have a good base to start from. 15:28.600 --> 15:33.740 This is also the time to add some more definition to roughly sculpted objects 15:33.741 --> 15:38.500 or adding seams and nice pockets to pants and other details. 15:39.360 --> 15:44.180 Once it's done, make sure to have the asset in the 15:44.181 --> 15:47.280 correct world scale, like roughly 1.7 meters in my case, 15:47.500 --> 15:49.460 and it's time to go to the next step. 15:50.580 --> 15:54.820 Just like the topology is the first step to some good rigging and deformations, 15:55.320 --> 15:59.140 the UV maps are the first step to good textures and materials. 15:59.640 --> 16:01.800 Just imagine you take some scissors 16:01.801 --> 16:05.280 and make multiple cuts on your cleanly modeled character, 16:05.820 --> 16:07.360 unfold it onto a flat surface, 16:07.800 --> 16:09.220 and place an image on top. 16:09.840 --> 16:12.840 This flat, unfolded mesh is a UV map, 16:12.841 --> 16:15.880 and that's how texturing a digital model is done. 16:16.820 --> 16:20.880 To achieve this, you can select edges in edit mode and tag them as seams. 16:21.460 --> 16:24.740 These edges will be the cuts on the UVs. 16:24.980 --> 16:27.480 Once you have them placed, you can unwrap your mesh 16:27.481 --> 16:30.620 and the UV map will be visible in the UV editor. 16:31.520 --> 16:33.320 By enabling the stretching overlay, 16:33.700 --> 16:37.820 it will be more visible if the UVs are less ideal in certain areas. 16:38.620 --> 16:43.380 Also already using the UV map to add a color grid texture onto the model 16:43.381 --> 16:46.660 will also show the distribution of the UV space better. 16:47.760 --> 16:53.400 The goal is very much to place just enough seams to evenly 16:53.401 --> 16:55.400 lay out the mesh with minimal amounts of stretching. 16:56.240 --> 17:00.280 But just like it's impossible to create a perfectly flat map of the earth 17:00.281 --> 17:03.520 without some areas being a bit bigger than others, 17:04.080 --> 17:06.420 some imperfections will be hard to avoid. 17:07.180 --> 17:12.000 Also try to avoid placing too many seams that are in the face, for example, 17:12.180 --> 17:13.760 since under certain circumstances, 17:14.280 --> 17:16.920 it can be easy to spot the seams. 17:17.640 --> 17:19.600 Hide the seams as best as you can. 17:20.240 --> 17:22.600 Once you have your UVs nicely unwrapped, 17:22.860 --> 17:24.920 it's time to adjust and organize them better. 17:25.300 --> 17:29.680 They should be laid out in a way where they take up as 17:29.681 --> 17:31.940 much space as possible from the one by one UV space. 17:32.700 --> 17:37.080 Having them placed in a symmetrical way can also be very helpful later on. 17:37.520 --> 17:42.780 Make sure the UVs are generally having the same scale unless you 17:42.781 --> 17:45.420 want some UV islands to get more texture resolution than others. 17:46.060 --> 17:49.800 It's a bit like packing your luggage and making sure 17:49.801 --> 17:51.520 everything fits in perfectly without getting all messed up. 17:52.040 --> 17:53.900 For areas like the eyes and lips, 17:54.360 --> 17:59.000 it can also be helpful to select that geometry and projecting it from the view, 17:59.620 --> 18:02.760 smoothing them out a bit and stitching them back to the rest. 18:03.560 --> 18:06.080 Whatever makes the UVs more evenly distributed, 18:06.880 --> 18:09.540 if you start adjusting UVs like this in detail, 18:10.100 --> 18:13.400 remember that you can pin UV points with the shortcut P 18:13.401 --> 18:17.300 so that they don't move when unwrapping those UVs again. 18:17.820 --> 18:21.920 Also make sure that none of the UV borders are too close together 18:21.921 --> 18:26.280 and that no UVs should ever overlap unless you know what you're doing. 18:26.840 --> 18:31.440 You can also use UV sculpting tools for wider smoothing and grabbing of areas, 18:31.441 --> 18:35.260 but be careful not to cause too much stretching with it. 18:35.261 --> 18:41.520 Scale some areas with proportional editing enabled to get some 18:41.521 --> 18:43.420 more evenly sized UVs at the cost of some more stretching. 18:43.960 --> 18:46.420 It's always a bit of a balancing act between the two. 18:47.300 --> 18:49.140 For the clothing, it might also be important 18:49.141 --> 18:52.940 to have the UV maps laid out in neat rectangular patches. 18:53.500 --> 18:55.840 This way, it's very easy to just slap on 18:55.841 --> 19:00.440 some fabric patterns without having them distorted or go into weird directions. 19:01.100 --> 19:04.260 Just pin the borders of the islands and enable live unwrapping. 19:04.261 --> 19:07.520 Then adjust the borders to be as rectangular as possible 19:07.521 --> 19:11.100 and the rest in between will automatically conform to it. 19:12.420 --> 19:15.380 And keep comparing it to the grid texture in the 3D view. 19:15.700 --> 19:19.220 This will be a good reference on how distorted the textures would be 19:19.221 --> 19:22.180 and how much texture resolution each area gets. 19:23.020 --> 19:25.480 Go through all the different objects with these principles 19:25.481 --> 19:30.020 and you will have some clean functional UVs to texture in the next step. 19:30.820 --> 19:33.860 To get the character some colors, we need to add textures. 19:34.680 --> 19:38.980 Add a shader editor in the interface to edit the node-based materials 19:38.981 --> 19:44.260 and an image editor to see and paint on the textures in a 2D view. 19:44.840 --> 19:46.120 Also as a pro tip, 19:46.280 --> 19:48.980 enable the node wrangler add-on in the preferences. 19:49.880 --> 19:54.300 I can recommend to just use the default principle BSDF shader in the nodes 19:54.301 --> 19:58.500 since it has basically everything one would need during the texturing. 19:59.260 --> 20:01.200 Then start out with the basic colors. 20:01.700 --> 20:04.560 Do this by adding and painting on image textures 20:04.561 --> 20:10.620 or vertex colors and plugging the node outputs into the base color of the shader. 20:10.940 --> 20:14.280 Most nodes can be freely mixed with the mix 20:14.281 --> 20:16.440 RGB node and each have their own advantages. 20:17.100 --> 20:19.680 Use the material preview mode in the viewport 20:19.681 --> 20:22.340 which displays everything you're working on. 20:22.700 --> 20:26.820 Control shift click on any node to see that output directly. 20:27.580 --> 20:32.920 Start out with most primary colors and then mix in secondary colors. 20:33.420 --> 20:39.240 You can also then start mixing in ambient occlusion or cavity 20:39.241 --> 20:41.780 inputs, patterns, noise and specific painted in details. 20:42.380 --> 20:48.240 Just blend the nodes together either by using screen to 20:48.241 --> 20:51.400 brighten, multiply to darken or mix to blend between two inputs. 20:52.380 --> 20:54.640 Also make sure to paint on the Alpha channel 20:54.641 --> 20:57.620 which is the transparency on an image texture 20:57.621 --> 21:02.200 to use as a mask by plugging it into the factor afterwards. 21:03.240 --> 21:07.460 The well aligned rectangular UVs for the clothing will really become useful now 21:07.461 --> 21:10.940 since images like clothing patterns can just be 21:10.941 --> 21:12.820 slapped on top and they will immediately align. 21:13.560 --> 21:17.700 Extra details like stitches can always be painted separately on top afterwards. 21:18.960 --> 21:22.020 Definitely keep all of these influences in the color 21:22.021 --> 21:25.180 as separate nodes because once you are done, 21:25.420 --> 21:26.880 it's time for the shading. 21:27.620 --> 21:33.100 The other most used inputs in the shaders apart from the base color are roughness 21:33.101 --> 21:36.840 to define the glossy shine or the lack thereof, 21:37.220 --> 21:39.340 metalness if the surface is metallic. 21:39.940 --> 21:43.680 and normal to add fake high frequency details. 21:44.040 --> 21:46.000 that we didn't model in already. 21:47.120 --> 21:50.140 If you want parts to be transparent like glass or ice, 21:50.480 --> 21:51.700 you can use transmission 21:52.100 --> 21:56.700 and to just make them use fade away or just completely disappear, use Alpha. 21:57.260 --> 22:01.080 You can also use specular to tone down the glossy highlights 22:01.081 --> 22:04.300 but if you want to have it really realistically accurate, 22:04.620 --> 22:06.400 increase the roughness instead. 22:07.320 --> 22:09.120 Plug your individual nodes from the color 22:09.121 --> 22:14.940 also into color ramps and hue saturation value nodes to 22:14.941 --> 22:17.320 change and then remix them for the other inputs of the shader. 22:17.560 --> 22:21.840 Try to keep everything organized well enough by clumping nodes together, 22:22.180 --> 22:24.240 framing them or even grouping them. 22:24.660 --> 22:28.200 Change the lighting conditions and test how the materials react. 22:28.740 --> 22:32.800 Adding additional lights and rotating them around manually can also help. 22:33.660 --> 22:38.320 In case of the skin, it's also good to add subsurface scattering or SSS in short, 22:38.660 --> 22:42.040 to give it that waxy look like the light is shining through. 22:42.700 --> 22:45.880 To give a nice fake hair look on modeled hair, 22:46.200 --> 22:50.540 I can recommend the anisotropy shading which adds 22:50.541 --> 22:52.000 a directional distortion to the glossy highlights. 22:52.720 --> 22:57.220 Turning the anisotropy to one by itself is not really going to look convincing 22:57.221 --> 23:02.480 or even good since it just adds a spherical pattern based on a world axis. 23:03.160 --> 23:05.820 You need to create a second UV map, 23:06.460 --> 23:11.100 add it as a tangent node and plug it into the tangent input of the shader. 23:11.900 --> 23:15.160 The orientation of the UVs will then influence the direction 23:15.161 --> 23:18.400 of which the highlights will be distorted towards. 23:18.860 --> 23:24.320 So all hair strands need to be laid out as flat as possible and aligned vertically. 23:24.760 --> 23:29.100 Now the shiny streaks are going horizontally across the surface 23:29.101 --> 23:32.380 instead of the fixed spherical direction of before. 23:33.120 --> 23:35.200 To fake individual hair strands of hair, 23:35.320 --> 23:39.240 you can paint a black and white texture with small value 23:39.241 --> 23:42.300 differences and plug it into the anisotropy rotation. 23:42.960 --> 23:47.820 Adjust that same directional map with a color ramp and plug it into the roughness. 23:48.360 --> 23:50.020 Add color and you're done. 23:50.620 --> 23:54.200 Keep testing and tweaking your materials in both Eevee 23:54.201 --> 23:57.020 and Cycles and optimize it towards the render engine 23:57.021 --> 23:59.780 you want to use later on for the final rendering. 24:00.460 --> 24:01.080 Once you're happy, 24:01.200 --> 24:04.960 you might have a hugely complex nonsensical node tree. 24:05.480 --> 24:09.400 This can be then simplified by only looking at the necessary inputs 24:09.401 --> 24:16.320 that lead into the shader and baking everything down into a set of image textures. 24:17.380 --> 24:20.040 Just make sure you have Cycles set as the render engine. 24:20.041 --> 24:23.360 You Control Shift clicked on the part of the node tree 24:23.361 --> 24:26.760 you want to bake and select an image texture node 24:26.761 --> 24:30.060 where you want to bake it to and it should work. 24:30.500 --> 24:31.960 To speed up the baking process, 24:32.140 --> 24:34.140 set the samples to something pretty low, 24:34.500 --> 24:37.200 go absolutely overboard on the tile size, 24:37.620 --> 24:41.740 set the bake type to emit with a generous margin and click bake. 24:42.560 --> 24:43.740 Ideally, once you are done, 24:44.000 --> 24:47.320 your character should look good whether you use 24:47.321 --> 24:49.740 Eevee, Cycles or just material colors in the viewport. 24:50.540 --> 24:53.940 Just like we wrapped up the original design with some expression tests, 24:54.320 --> 24:58.700 this is the time to put everything that we made so far to the test with a full pose. 24:59.260 --> 25:02.920 This is to see if there are any last adjustments that should be done, 25:03.080 --> 25:04.840 like tweaking the proportions of the body, 25:05.140 --> 25:06.480 fixing stretching, et cetera. 25:06.940 --> 25:11.260 Of course, it's also great to not present the character in the current resting pose. 25:12.100 --> 25:16.580 The Rigify adding in the preferences can really help to get some rough poses going. 25:17.440 --> 25:21.700 Add a basic human meta rig and adjust the placement, size and orientation 25:21.701 --> 25:24.320 of the bones in edit mode to fit the character. 25:25.000 --> 25:28.340 Don't forget to enable X mirror to save yourself some time. 25:28.920 --> 25:32.140 Once you're done, click on generate rig and there it is. 25:32.380 --> 25:37.740 Select your character, then the rig and with control P 25:37.741 --> 25:39.860 parent the objects to the armature with automatic weights. 25:40.700 --> 25:45.040 With this done, you can do some exploration in the 25:45.041 --> 25:46.980 overall pose, experiment and see what you want to go for. 25:47.320 --> 25:48.740 Since the rig is pretty procedural, 25:49.200 --> 25:50.340 there will be issues. 25:50.860 --> 25:52.760 If some deformations are outright broken, 25:52.940 --> 25:56.560 you can manually go into weight paint mode and paint out some issues. 25:57.000 --> 26:00.240 Make as many poses as you want until you find your favorite in the end. 26:01.400 --> 26:02.640 Don't forget to look at references 26:02.641 --> 26:05.320 and even make references from yourself if necessary. 26:05.760 --> 26:09.300 I recommend to have a second viewport to the side 26:09.301 --> 26:13.940 and set the shading to be completely black, maybe with some dark gray outlines. 26:14.600 --> 26:17.800 This way you can see if the silhouette is readable enough. 26:18.540 --> 26:20.360 The pose can then be tweaked towards 26:20.361 --> 26:23.720 a single camera angle or any perspective you want to render. 26:24.400 --> 26:29.460 Make sure the pose is dynamic enough with differences in angles, 26:29.461 --> 26:31.700 enough asymmetry and whatever else you have in mind as well. 26:32.840 --> 26:35.140 In this example, I wanted something comfortable 26:35.141 --> 26:39.860 and confident, not a super happy victory jump or something like that, 26:39.861 --> 26:43.280 but something way more contained and down to earth. 26:43.760 --> 26:46.580 Have an idea in mind of what kind of pose you want. 26:47.340 --> 26:49.720 Then apply the armature modifiers as shape keys 26:49.721 --> 26:53.300 and then you do essentially the same thing as with the expression tests. 26:53.740 --> 26:56.700 Add more shape keys for various non-destructive fixes 26:56.701 --> 27:01.000 in the deformations and keep comparing it to the original resting pose 27:01.001 --> 27:04.040 because the proportions shouldn't change, of course. 27:05.140 --> 27:08.720 This is very easy when animating all shape keys to zero 27:08.721 --> 27:12.940 on one frame and enabling all shape keys on the next one. 27:13.280 --> 27:15.680 Creating variations this way is also a good opportunity. 27:16.520 --> 27:19.280 If you notice that the arms actually look a 27:19.281 --> 27:20.700 bit weird in length or the hands are too big, 27:21.100 --> 27:25.020 now is the time to make last changes before committing to the end result. 27:25.700 --> 27:29.900 Also sculpt an expression that you like and Polish it until you're happy. 27:30.840 --> 27:33.120 From here on out, you can play some lights, 27:33.500 --> 27:36.000 a nice environment and render a final image. 27:36.001 --> 27:39.020 Render multiple angles or even a turntable 27:39.021 --> 27:41.500 to show as much of the character as possible. 27:41.980 --> 27:45.380 A so-called Clay render is also good to show off the model itself, 27:45.700 --> 27:48.180 where it's rendered colorless in diffuse gray 27:48.181 --> 27:51.700 with only the bump and normal information at most from the materials. 27:52.580 --> 27:56.000 Add wireframes on top as well to show off the clean topology you created. 27:56.680 --> 28:00.240 Render those also as turntables and you have a complete 28:00.241 --> 28:01.560 character for production that you can show off. 28:02.300 --> 28:04.240 From here on, there are of course more steps 28:04.241 --> 28:06.840 like doing an actual rig for the animation, 28:07.220 --> 28:09.720 animation testing and the rest of the production. 28:10.400 --> 28:13.900 But in terms of finding and developing the design and style of the character, 28:14.300 --> 28:16.580 these are the steps you need at the very least 28:16.581 --> 28:19.480 to create a complete stylized character workflow. 28:21.060 --> 28:23.580 If you're interested in more educational Blender content, 28:24.080 --> 28:27.000 a huge asset library of all the Blender open 28:27.001 --> 28:29.420 movies or you want to support these projects, 28:29.840 --> 28:32.520 head on over to the Blender Cloud and say hi in the comments. 28:32.860 --> 28:36.960 You will also find a fully rigged version of this example character called Rain 28:36.961 --> 28:39.840 and various files from the creation process. 28:40.720 --> 28:42.800 I hope to see you there and thank you for watching.