3D Generalist to Master of Likeness in 12 weeks

My name is Ludovico, I'm a 3D Generalist, animator and technical artist at Studio Evil, a games studio here in Italy. I've been in the industry for the last 8 years and am really passionate about any kind of 3D topic.

I chose Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury to be presented in Unreal Engine because he is iconic, has got strong distinctive facial features and has little to no make up.

I already have two jobs and a family so choosing to sculpt Nick Fury wasn't a matter of loving the character but more to ensure I completed the process in the 12 week period.
Sculpting a bald character meant I wouldn't have to spend so much time grooming but I did get a chance to explore all the different grooming tools available.

He was the perfect choice for a project where I could spend just a few hours a week, meet the deadline, stay positive and on top of things.

It would be difficult to highlight specific milestones during the creative process becuase it really was a continuous learning path.

Before starting the course, I didn't expect to rely so heavily on observation and eye-balling. In the past when trying to reproduce something in 3D I have relied on a box modelling approach.

But in this case starting from a sphere and focusing on my judgement has really helped me to gain more self-confidence.

Aside from the challenge of anatomy, I really tried at all times not to experience frustration from challenges. I wanted this program to be a pleasure and not an extra stress. I just focused on what I could learn. Sometimes you just break your likeness and I needed my mind to be ok with that.

The student community were great, many problems were solved by talking with other students and instructors, mainly tips and tricks about how to properly use tools in Zbrush.

All the tricks about porosity and detail transfer were gold, the deep dive into facial anatomy was so rewarding. The biggest learning for me was that as far as you call your likeness done, you feel the need to start a brand new one to better understand all this detail with a brand new mindset and a fresh outlook.

I've built a real nice new portfolio piece but I have also gained a much deeper knowledge of Zbrush tools which really has an impact, aside from the Likeness topic, on my daily job.

Many of these essential practical tips came from the meetings with other students in my study group. Especially, tackling the breaking of symmetry in a non-destructive way has always been a big challenge in my character creation pipeline.