Creating Real-Time Persian Female Warrior Character With Modern Design Elements

Introduction

My name is Juhwan Jeon, and I'm currently working as a 3D Character Artist in Seoul, South Korea. I became interested in 3D art at a young age because I loved animated films and was fascinated by evolving graphics technology and realistic visual detail. That interest eventually led me to major in Film and Animation at university. At the same time, I was also a passionate gamer, and over time, I realized I was more drawn to real-time characters and interactive visuals in games. That naturally led me to pursue a career in game character art.

I especially want to work on story-driven RPG projects where the main characters I create play an important role in the narrative and overall world of the game. In general, I'm heavily inspired by modern game cinematics and K-pop music videos. Whenever I see stylish visual direction, trendy presentation, and high levels of detail, it motivates me to create something at that level myself.

The Persian Female Warrior Project

One of the biggest inspirations for this project was Jibaro from the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots. I was fascinated by the character's visual presence, especially the layered ornaments, detailed accessories, and the balance between beauty and danger. After watching it, I wanted to create my own female warrior character that combined intricate hard-surface designs with a realistic and attractive appearance. My goal was to create a character that could feel both elegant and powerful at the same time.

I also wanted to experiment with integrating AI technology into parts of my workflow to improve efficiency and explore new production methods. Rather than using AI for direct asset creation, I mainly used it to support certain stages of the design process. Although the initial inspiration came from Jibaro, the project gradually evolved into its own Persian-inspired character and visual direction.

Workflow

To speed up the reference gathering process, I started from the work of an AI artist I had been following for a while and further developed the design using AI tools to establish the overall visual direction. For parts that required more historical accuracy, especially armor pieces and ornaments, I gathered additional references from real Persian accessories and historical designs. I also experimented with extracting decorative patterns and material ideas from AI-generated images to support the texturing process.

For the workflow, I first established the overall silhouette and proportions using simple low-poly geometry, then gradually replaced each area with more detailed high-poly meshes while maintaining the original balance of the character. Most of the hard-surface parts were modeled in 3ds Max, while ZBrush was mainly used for surface refinement and weathering details. For clothing with natural folds and fabric simulation, I used Marvelous Designer before refining the final shapes during sculpting.

Focusing on the Small Details

For many of the ornaments and armor pieces, I redesigned parts of the original concept with more intricate shapes and layered details to give the character a richer and more believable appearance.

Most of the accessory pieces were first created in a flat layout before being bent and adjusted to fit the character. This workflow helped maintain consistency across the different ornament designs. For the Persian-inspired elements, I gathered references from ancient Persian accessories, jewelry, and armor designs, then reinterpreted them in a more stylized and cinematic way.

Texturing

Most of the texturing work was done in Substance 3D Painter. I focused on separating materials such as metal, fabric, leather, and gemstones to create stronger visual contrast across the character.

For some decorative patterns and gemstone details, I experimented with extracting texture ideas from AI-generated images and compositing them into the final materials. I also added subtle dust and sand buildup to make the character feel more natural and grounded.

One important part of the workflow was constantly adjusting the textures between Substance 3D Painter and Unreal Engine 5, since materials never look exactly the same in both programs. A lot of time was spent balancing the overall material response and final visual quality.

Presentation

Since I'm primarily a Character Artist, my main goal was to keep the character as the center of attention throughout the presentation.

To achieve that, I kept the environment relatively minimal and used simple desert backgrounds to support the character visually without distracting from the design. For the final presentation, I created three main compositions and used different lighting setups for each shot to add visual variation while keeping the overall presentation clean and focused.

My main priority was making sure the sculpted forms and material details remained clearly visible, so most of the lighting was focused on showcasing the character as clearly as possible.

For the three cinematic shots, I experimented with slightly different lighting setups and moods while keeping the overall presentation simple and clean.

For post-production, I mainly used subtle adjustments such as sand effects, contrast, vignette, and bloom. I wanted the final result to feel as close as possible to a direct Unreal Engine 5 render.

Conclusion

Since I worked on the project while also having a full-time job, the overall production took around seven to eight months. One of the main challenges was learning how to integrate AI tools into my workflow while still maintaining my own modeling quality and artistic direction.

I also wanted to study Unreal Engine 5 more deeply, especially for real-time presentation, lighting, and rendering workflows. Through this project, I learned a lot about balancing technical efficiency with visual quality.

I think persistence and patience are some of the most important qualities for a 3D Character Artist. Improving your skills takes a lot of time, repetition, and attention to detail. Even though new AI technologies are evolving very quickly, I still believe strong artistic fundamentals are essential. Learning how to properly sculpt forms, understand materials, and create believable details by hand will always remain important. In the end, I think the best approach is to combine solid fundamentals with new technologies rather than relying entirely on one or the other.

Juhwan Jeon, 3D Character Artist

Interview conducted by Stephanie Almogabar