Creating a 3D character design from scratch

Think of family traditions, and what comes to mind is probably pretty wholesome and uncontroversial: baking pies, going fishing, or watching TV in the evening. But at Zajno, we sometimes like a little more of a risk. How about a guy who wants to make a tradition of hunting, but isn’t sure if it’s one his family will share in? That was a starting point for my shot idea. Fortunately, Bogdan was on hand to help me finalize it with the light, color correction, Quixel Bridge models and rendering.

I decided that my aspiring hunter would be an Irish redhead named Joe, 43 years of age, married with 3 kids. Joe doesn’t go to the gym, preferring a quiet dram of his own homemade whiskey. His clothes make no secret of his passion for hunting: a cap, Barbour jacket, gloves and hiking boots conspire to keep even the harshest elements at bay. As we encounter Joe he’s about to bag a couple of ducks for dinner, and is feeling pretty pleased with himself – but we’re not sure if his family feels as comfortable with his hobby as he does.

I worked on the concept in Procreate, modeled the character in Cinema 4d, and made UV-unwrapping in RizomUV. Altogether it took us 40 hours to create Joe from scratch – definitely more time than Joe spent harvesting his Sunday roast. Big thanks to Michael for guiding me through Joe’s creation.

What’s your family tradition, and have you tried to visualize it? If so, I’d love to see!

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