Head Render

This is my last project in the Character Look Development course at SCAD. I decided to only do the entire head from the neck up so that I can spend a lot more time getting the textures just right for her. I used a SSS shader on her skin and painted a color map in order to get the desired "Final Fantasy"-like skin. I then put it into a world that she would naturally be found in and lit it up the best I could to match the image. The finished look has blown out hair that looks like a rough wire brush. I ended up adjusting the file and came up with something softer. I found that the two lights that are in the scene magnifies the wire look in the hair. I will be re-working the hair over the next month, along with texturing her entire body. Here is my final project:

Mask Render

In 3D, the "Mask" is the eye section of your face; as if you were wearing a small mask. It covers from your edges of your face near your ears, the eyes, part of the forehead, and the bridge of the nose. For this project, I had to texture the eyes. I had to create the cornea to mimic a real eye in order to get the "wet" look in the eye like we all have in the real world. I feel like I accomplished this task about 90%. It seems like there could be a little less bump on the iris and more on the sclera (the white part of the eye). I then began texturing the face to help contribute to the eye color and bump. Here is what the "Mask" of Lakena looks like:

Hair Render

As previously mentioned in my "Hair" blog, I attempted to create realistic hair with the dynamic hair tool in Maya. I styled the hair using Clump Curl, Cutting, Twisting, and Thinning hair in order to get a more modern hair style. The hair is still in progress because the color is not exactly right. I am plan to use another method for hair within Maya to get the French Braids that is shown in the sketch of Lakena.

Hand Render

The first project in the class was to texture either the hand or the ear. I decided to go with the hand since I was not entirely comfortable with the UVing process. After I UVed the entire hand and sewed the proper seems, I began texturing the hand using BodyPaint 3D. The program is amazing in regards to bringing the model between it and Maya and keeping the textures. It was much easier with this process to get the correct look for the hand that I wanted. Below is the video that shows the UVs, UV Grid, Texture Map, as well as the final look on the model itself.

Desired 3D Character Look

As previously mentioned in my "Look Development Research" blog, I wanted Lakena to look like she could fit into a world similar to those found within the Final Fantasy video games and movies. I researched a few of the companies', Square Enix, most recent video games since they had the look that I was aiming for. Here's what I found:

Weapon

When I was younger and came up with the character Lakena, I new right away that she would be an archer. I have always been fascinated with the sport and new she would be perfect for it. I originally had her with traditional long and short bows and then gradually changed to her using crossbows for the most dire situations. In today's society, we have a few more types of bows and so I decided to give her one similar to the image below.

The above image are the three types of bows that she would use in various situations. She would usually wield the one on the left of the image (which is similar to the larger image above this one).

Clothing

Lakena's style had to work well both as an archer and for an elegant evening at a palace somewhere. I had some issues with the warrior look because there seemed to be so much yet so few things to choose from to try and be original with. I settled with a combination from the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess and some other miscellaneous images.

For Lakena's elegant side, I found that to be easier. Something that would be fitting for her usual environment (the forests), yet also something that would be worn during the Renaissance. I found a dress that was recently made a couple years ago (the emerald dress below). The only alterations that I would change for Lakena are the arms. I would love it if she were to have ruffles near her wrists (as seen on the white dress below).

Make-up

After finding my desired variations of an olive skin tone, it was time for me to think about make-up for Lakena. I asked my fellow classmates and friends about what make-up should she wear. I should them the image of the eye make-up that I was leaning towards and everyone seemed to agree that it could work as long as the colors were earthtones. From there, I went back to my research to look for women who wear earthtone make-up and see how it looks like on them. Here's what I found and really liked:

Skin Complexion

Skin complexion was something that I knew straight away for Lakena, olive-toned. I saw her being able to blend in to various environments and thought that an olive skin tone was the perfect choice for her. I went online and had trouble picking some women who had the right overall color in various lighting situations. I ended up taking a break and watched one of my favorite shows and saw the leading actress, Nina Dobrev, and thought "That's Lakena's color right there!" Immediately, I went online and grabbed as many images of her I could find in different lighting. Here's what I found:

Hair

Originally, Lakena was going to have French braids starting from her temples and then end at the small of her back (just like the image below).

 

After looking at the concept decides and the lack of knowledge about dynamic hair, I decide to go with a combination of hair styles from the images below.

The image above is the image that I favored most, but I felt that it had to be wavier and with less product.

Eyes

The eyes took me no time at all to decide on the color: Greenish Blue (something close to the image below).

I then had to make a choice about make-up. Back in Medival times, women didn't wear make-up, but I felt that if she were to dress up in a gown (see clothing for gown) then she'd have to have something around the eyes to enhance the the color. After research of various make-up applications, I decided on the image below for the make-up around the eye.

Face

For the face, I decided on a broad range of actresses who had a bone structure similar in to my character model.

Look Development Research

I wanted Lakena to have the look of a character from the video game Final Fantasy. I didn't want something Photo-Real or almost as close to it. For this task, I researched both video game characters similar to my desired look as well as real life women.

Character History

Name: Lakena 

Age: 18  Hair: Wavy Brown  Eyes: Light blue with flecks of green.  Time Period: Medieval  Background:        Lakena is a girl that was trained from birth to protect nature and all its living creatures. In the beginning of her early years of training, she also did as she told without question. It was until she met someone who made her question her role and those who gave it to her. Her family was murdered by an evil King who wanted to rule her entire kingdom. She was taught by watching men and women practice for a war that is still brewing. As she grew of age, she ran from the kingdom in search of a way to get stronger and to find out how her kingdom could have become corrupt over night. This is when she refused to be told what to do and she ran. That day forward, she was literally a force to be reckoned with. She is described by many as a mercenary for hire, although she never was for hire. She did everything by her gut feeling. Although she was tough, she had a heart of gold. She used that heart in her many fights with her trusted weapon, the bow and arrow. With strength of nature behind her and a desire for truth, her aim never missed.