3D Modeling and Texturing Behind an Atmospheric NPR Animation

Introduction

Hello! My name is Rain Rouhani, I'm a 2D and 3D Character Artist who loves creating engaging, stylized characters. Storytelling is one of the most important aspects of my work. I prioritize the meaning of colors, shapes, and composition in order to create a compelling story and an appealing design.

I studied biology in high school in Iran, but my heart always wanted to tell stories. After finishing high school, I left for Paris to study in an animation program at Atelier de Sèvres. Later, when my studies were over, I decided to stay for another year to do daily observation drawings in the streets of Paris. I was making sketches of people and buildings, trying to capture every single moment. 

The next station was Viborg, where I focused on classical drawing and visual storytelling to deepen my understanding of anatomy. When I returned to France, I heard about Gnomon School in Hollywood, and I knew that was the place where I wanted to broaden my toolset and become a 3D Character Artist. During my time at Gnomon, I noticed how having a strong foundation in traditional skills was necessary to create a powerful 3D artwork.

The Sound of Hope Project

Sound of Hope is the original concept I had the pleasure of transforming from my initial 2D idea into a completed 3D artwork. It tells the story of a young jazz musician's solitude as he roams the streets of Paris, accompanied only by his trumpet.

The project was created in collaboration with Sasha Honcharova, who took charge of the hard-surface modeling aspect, such as the car and the buildings. Sound of Hope held particular significance for me as it pushed me beyond my comfort zone, urging me to explore unfamiliar techniques I had never used before. Additionally, learning to collaborate and rely on one another to bring our collective visions to life was a fantastic experience that taught me about the importance of teamwork.

We separately gathered our references. I picked references and sketches of the project's character designs, while Sasha collected references to Parisian architecture, textures, and various car models from different time periods. Later on, we showed our progress to each other to ensure everything worked cohesively.

Concepts

I started the process in my sketchbook, playing around with different shape variations to find the right fit for the story. I enjoyed incorporating my 3D knowledge into my 2D visual development workflow, which helped me to develop a clear design vision. I jumped to ZBrush to do some quick shape variations to see how they worked in a 360-degree view. I also explored several iterations of the character's hair and costume before deciding that his long hair, beard, and casual outfit best portrayed his youthful and disheveled nature.

3D Modeling and Texturing

I repurposed a character I had previously created for another project; it was in an A-pose and had clean topology and UVs. This allowed me to save a lot of time, so I could focus on the design and gestures of the character. I painted the character's skin in Substance 3D Painter and used high-resolution face scans to add details. Since it is a stylized character, I had to tone it down a lot and keep it simple, but at the same time with a hint of complexity and realism. 

I applied my traditional painting expertise to add color to the face with broad brushstrokes. For example, I used purple under the eyes, incorporated a faint amount of green in the jaw area, and then blurred it, so it blended well with the skin tones. Through my studies, I noticed that skin had more cool color tones than I expected, such as green, blue, or light gray. Adding these subtle but impactful colors brought the character to life, and it was so crucial for me.

I created the clothing in Marvelous Designer and textured it in Substance 3D Painter. I thoroughly studied references to create realistic curly hair. I started the grooming in XGen, but I wanted to try new software, so I applied to Yeti for all the grooming, including the rats. 

To emphasize the trumpet player's loneliness and longing for connection, I used warm and cool colors, along with the silhouette of a dancing couple and a pair of rats forming a heart with their tails. As the viewer's gaze drifted away from the trumpet player, the character became immersed in his isolated world, while life and connections unfolded in the surroundings.

As for the camera movement, I was searching for something that could lead the viewer's gaze through the scene and show everything from the grand setting of Paris to the very intimate stories hidden in the details of the scene. The shot was purposefully framed in a way that harmoniously blended the foreground plane's microcosm of its details (the rats, posters, …), the midground telling the story of the main character's solitude, and the background that served as a juxtaposition to his narrative.

I aimed to capture the jazz player amidst the beautiful city of Paris with the Eiffel Tower sparkling, emphasizing that life around him was vibrant. To achieve this, I had my camera set up in Maya, and then I rendered a single frame from Maya that was three times the size needed. I imported the camera animation from Maya to Nuke, thus eliminating the need to render over 300 frames directly from Maya, which would have been time-consuming. 

I started the compositing process off with a color correction pass. I had the beauty Render from Maya which was a visual reference point allowing me to work quickly towards my goals in Nuke. I needed to add fog, rain, and water drops and animate the light inside of Nuke. I comped a video element for the fog, and the rain was created with particle effects inside Maya. Additionally, video footage of rain was added to the simulated rain elements, which worked harmoniously. Lastly, I added water dripping down where it made sense and animated the light flickering on the Eiffel Tower using the grade node in Nuke.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work on this project. It helped me immensely to improve my 3D toolset and fulfilled my dream of seeing my own 2D concept come to life. While working on this piece, I received mentorship and guidance from Miguel Ortega, Tran Ma, Max Dayan, and Beau Janzen, whom I appreciate for their guidance and invaluable critique! Another big thank you to Sasha Honcharova for the collaboration and support. 

Rain Rouhani, 2D and 3D Character Artist