Musician's Portrait

[RockinAkin]

It's been a while since I've been able to post some personal work, so I'm proud to present my latest project here!

I created this project during some downtime to experiment with photo-realism and to modernize my personal workflow.
The subject is very loosely based on the cuban jazz musician Compay Segundo of Buena Vista Social Club fame.

Modeling was done with ZBrush and Maya and a bit of 3ds Max, Texturing with Mari, and Lighting/Shading/Rendering with V-Ray in Maya.











I've also been toying with the idea of sharing some of my source files with the CG Community that has given so much over the years.
So very I'm pleased to be releasing the raw ZBrush .ZTL file of this project free to all for educational purposes!

You can download the model from the 'Files' section on my website: CGGallery.com

As always, any questions and critique are welcome!
I've also been keeping an eye out for interesting new career opportunities, so feel free to get in touch.
I hope you enjoy my work - thanks for taking a look!

[MoonDoggie]

Very nice. The skin shader isn't there yet. You're using a VRayMtl currently, try it with VRayFastSSS2 . Model and textures are really great though!

[glorybound]

Well, I'll be seeing this one on all the "can't believe it's not real" posts around the web. I wouldn't know where to start with something like this.

[MoonDoggie]

Start with a sphere is ZBrush and start modeling . It's really easy.

[MoonDoggie]

The only other small critique I have is the mustache and eyebrow hairs are all the same thickness (which looks a bit too thick), and they need tapering at the ends.

[RockinAkin]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

The skin material is a VRaySSS2 material, but I was careful to keep the SSS effect subtle. I feel anything more than what it had now would make the skin look too waxy or glow in certain places. There's still definitely room for improvement though, and I'm eager to try out the new skin shader in upcoming versions of V-Ray.

[glorybound]

I see a lot of these, but I fail to understand their purpose. They look really cool, and really show the artists talent, but are they for any practical use? They are typically fictitious, and rarely in context. Just wondering.

[stevesideas]

I would have thought these were projects to increase understanding and push your skills. There are plenty of game artists that use zbrush and produce full characters using exactly the same methods and then output the models to a game engine. All the details can be captured with displacement, normals and shaders. I would say anyone looking to get a job in character design/modelling would be showing there skills by producing these types of busts etc.

Edit: Sometimes its just about art for arts sake. Go with your passions

Thanks for the model by the way. Really nice of you to share. The model is fantastic !

[Nicinus]

I see a lot of these, but I fail to understand their purpose. They look really cool, and really show the artists talent, but are they for any practical use? They are typically fictitious, and rarely in context. Just wondering.

It's art, man. Besides, digital human characters are the holy grail in the movie industry.

[glorybound]

Okay. I didn't think about game engines. I am not a gamer, and I haven't played a game since PacMan, so I think of games being low-poly. Plus, it's art!

[RockinAkin]

Hahaha, yep - It's purpose was basically for the challenge, to learn some new tools and workflows, and to balance out all of the stylized / cartoony personal work I tend to gravitate towards.

My girlfriend who's a professional Photographer / Retoucher took a shot at color grading my render into an old Black & White photo version, and I really liked how it turned out, so I thought I'd share it as well.



I've got a turntable rendering now, and will post that up when it's done as well. Thanks everyone!

[glorybound]

it looks like an old black and white to me!