For this unit we started creating a boot to learn organic modeling but we switch fast to a more good looking idea. We decided to create a mask using Maya and Mudbox.
We started by importing a head asset, where we would then learn how to do retopology using the quad draw tool.
Once we have completed half of the face we proceed to mirror the geometry so we have both sides identical. And we end up we a full-face retopology. That now we could send it to Mudbox and start building up our mask from there.
Before going to Mudbox I had to do some research and decide what I was going to model. At the time I was playing a game called Ghost of Tsushima and the main character wears a mask, and I decided to model that mask. You will see one mask different from the rest, that is because we had to model a full face mask, and the one I wanted to model was only half of it. So I research and found a good fit that would go well with the othermask.
Now we can dive in to Mudbox. Is a similar program like Maya but specific for sculping models. This is how my mask looked the first weeks.
I was focusing more on the lower part of the mask, at the same time that learning the program, because even though I had experience with Maya and other software like zBrush, Mudbox had a different way of working than zBrush.
At this point we were ready to put some more detail to the mask, what we did was go back to maya, to generate with basic shapes the horns and teeth of the mask.
So here we created the horns and the teeth and now we are ready to send them back to Mudbox and dive into all the details that we want to add to the mask.
We can see on the right image that it was the first reimport from Maya with the horns and teeth and on the left a more detailed mask with some work on it already. It starts to look how I want it to look.
Here it has already a bit more details and for the last step of details I’m going to add some more and we would be ready to paint it.
So, now that we have our mask painted and finished, we can send it back to Maya and start playing with the lighting and render settings to get a real good looking mask and have some cool renders.
We set up all the lighting and settings and now we are ready to render a small animation, that took about 12-15 hours of rendering.
And for the final result, here is the video of the small animation: