Raptor Knight
This is a project I've been wanting to do for a while--essentially a reinvention of the first character I ever created in 3D, waaaay back in 2018. My initial goal was to do a nice looking character to show my artistic growth over the last 5 years, but the scope got larger and larger until I was doing a character, groom, rig, cloth simulation, and a small environment!
Overall though I really enjoyed the creative process with this character, and want to send a big thanks to Peter Kerkvliet for the animation and Matt Jamoom for his help getting the cloth to work properly.
Modeled in Maya, sculpted in Zbrush, retopo'd in Maya. Grromed in Xgen. Cloth from Marvelous Designer. Textured in Substance Painter/Photoshop. Rendered in Arnold. Tail feathers made using Quixel textures.
Costuming reference, including historical late medieval portraits, modern day costumes, and film/game art
Reference for the medallion and halberd
Reference for plumage, anatomy, and sculpt
Sketches from the reference that formed the initial concept for the character. Left is the first draft, right is a more refined and distinctive character design that I adhered to more closely by the time I modeled the character.
Zbrush images of sculpt refinement on clothing after being built in Marvelous
Body Sculpt details
Sculpt of helmet, halberd, armor, and medallion. Medallion image was generated in Zbrush using Basrelief feature.
Final shot, showcasing environment and character. Responsible for all aspects except animation. Animation by Peter Kerkvliet. Special thanks to Matt Jamoom for advice/troubleshooting on the cloth sim.
4k+ render of the full character
Light rotation/closeup renders of final armor and clothing
HD turntable + light rotation
Comparison of the newest and oldest versions of the character concept