In this lecture, Vitaly Bulgarov shows his process of creating a fully rendered 3D design for production-oriented pipelines. Using the example of an alien bust, Vitaly goes through the main steps of creating a sci-fi character design from scratch. He begins by making a quick bust sketch in software: ZBrush®. He then creates a detailed suit design in software: Xsi® using the block-out as a guideline for the proportions of the alien bust.
By doing this, Vitaly shows the techniques and tools he uses to create complicated surfaces like multi-layered metal plates, rubber pads, tubes, and attachments. Solving design on the fly, without making any preliminary sketches, he builds a fully detailed mesh for the helmet and suit, explaining why certain design decisions are made. Once the model is complete, Vitaly takes it into KeyShot® for raytrace rendering and then brings the renders to software: Photoshop® to finalize the design, push the overall look and bring more personality to the character by adding final textures and detail enhancements.
