Tutorial: Fantasy Creature Texturing & Look Dev
The Gnomon Workshop has released Fantasy Creature Texturing & Look Dev, a guide to texturing workflows for visual effects, recorded by Important Looking Pirates’ Sohrab Esfehani.
The workshop provides over six hours of video training in Mari, ZBrush, Houdini and Nuke.
Master VFX-industry-standard workflows for texturing CG creatures
In the workshop, Esfehani sets out his complete workflow for texturing and look development on a fantasy CG creature suitable for use in movie and broadcast visual effects.
He begins by gathering reference material before setting up the scene in Houdini, and applying basic shaders.
Esfehani then textures the creature’s skin in Mari, progressively adding color, and using ZBrush to create fine surface details, then working on displacement and roughness textures.
He also explores look development workflows in Houdini, setting up skin shaders using Arnold for Houdini, then using probability-based shading techniques to generate complex fur patterns.
As well as the technical aspects of the work, Esfehani discusses the art direction involved in a project like this, focusing on how to develop believable, relatable 3D characters.
About the artist
Sohrab Esfehani is Senior VFX Artist at Important Looking Pirates. He has 20 years of experience in the industry, and has been working in VFX since 2013, starting with Guardians of the Galaxy.
Studios he has worked at include Framestore, MPC, Cinesite, DNEG, and Scanline VFX.
Pricing and availability
Fantasy Creature Texturing & Look Dev is available via a subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, which provides access to over 300 tutorials.
Subscriptions cost $57/month or $499/year. Free trials are available.
Read more about Fantasy Creature Texturing & Look Dev on The Gnomon Workshop’s website
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