Modeling and Texturing a Fan Art of Alice from RAID: Shadow Legends

Introduction

Hello! My name is Dahye Han. After graduating with a degree in Industrial Design and working as an Advertising Designer, I became interested in character modeling because I wanted to create characters based on the things I love. This inspired me to pursue serious study in the field; I mastered the fundamentals through both online and offline courses and built my skills by referencing a wide range of materials. Since then, I have been honing my abilities and developing a portfolio based on what I have learned.

RAID: Shadow Legends Fan Art

I've always enjoyed unique character designs, and I was drawn to the captivating and dark atmosphere of the original artwork, which led me to begin working on it. My goal was to present the character more vividly by maintaining the familiar traits of Alice from the original work and the concept shown in the actual game, while also using realistic textures and material rendering.

Modeling

Most of the work was done in ZBrush. Using ChatGPT to create references for the facial structure and overall form, I began the work based on those references. Subsequently, I utilized ZWrap to map realistic skin textures from scan data onto my model and manually added details where necessary to achieve a natural skin texture.

I used the MetaHuman Eyeball as a base and made some adjustments to the albedo. For the Cornea, I adjusted the Transparency and Refraction values to create a convex, moist appearance. I also separated the mesh to create a Tear Line, allowing for natural reflections and highlights on the eye surface under the lighting.

I first established the overall silhouette and major volume of the hair using ZBrush, then brought it into 3ds Max to create the hair cards. To achieve a full, voluminous look while minimizing the number of polygons, I utilized the rotation and crossing features of the hair card. I built up layers step by step, starting from the base, to match the density and shape of the hair, resulting in a natural-looking hairstyle.

I first used Marvelous Designer to establish the overall shape and natural folds of the clothing, then brought it into ZBrush to add finer wrinkle details and refine the overall form.

Retopology and Texturing

For the retopology, I maintained an even polygon density while avoiding unnecessary polygons, and carefully considered the form and deformation of areas such as folds and joints when constructing the topology. I used 3ds Max for retopology, and 3ds Max together with RizomUV for UV unwrapping. I also ensured high UV resolution for detail-critical areas such as the face and clothing, while reducing resolution for less important areas to allocate the UV space more efficiently.

The textures were primarily created using Substance 3D Painter, with a focus on distinguishing each material's texture through variations in surface roughness. For metals, I adjusted the brightness and saturation in certain areas to blend various hues within the main tone, and applied different Metallic and Roughness values to ensure natural variations emerged depending on the lighting.

Because so much leather was used across the design, the most difficult part was varying the type of leather and its surface texture. I applied subtly different pattern details to each type of leather and made extensive use of Anchor Points to link previously created textures and masks across different layers, thereby efficiently expressing the materials' details and variations.

I used Ornatrix to create the rabbit fur. While alpha-based hair patterns could have been used, I chose to create the fur direction manually, considering the growth direction and flow of the fur in each area for a more natural appearance. I then baked the fur and layered it using a shell-based approach, adjusting the Opacity during rendering to control the fur density and volume.

Lighting

I used Marmoset Toolbag for the rendering. To create an atmosphere that matches the concept of Dark Alice, I referenced lighting from the film. I positioned a key light to emphasize the three-dimensionality of the face and form, and used a soft fill light on the opposite side to subtly highlight the darker areas.

I also utilized a rim light to ensure the hair and the character's silhouette were naturally separated from the background. In post-production, I added subtle noise and did some retouching to enhance the overall quality.

Conclusion

The most challenging part of this project was figuring out how to effectively translate the concept and intent established during the modeling process into the final visual result. I experimented with and compared various production methods, which involved a fair amount of trial and error. Although it took some time, the process helped me understand the strengths and weaknesses of each method, allowing me to build a foundation for making faster decisions about which approach to use and how to set the direction for future projects.

Although I still have a lot to learn and continue to study, one thing I have considered important since I first started learning 3D is not losing sight of the initial direction throughout the entire process. Rather than focusing solely on perfecting each individual part from the beginning, I believe it is important to first establish a clear concept and direction for what I want the character to convey. As the work progresses, it can be easy to lose that direction while adding new references and elements, so I made a habit of checking the original concept and intent throughout the process to keep the overall direction consistent.

I am still learning and growing through this process myself. Even when you struggle or go through trial and error, those experiences ultimately become your own. I hope you can enjoy the learning process and continue creating work that reflects your own ideas and style.

Dahye Han, Character Artist

Interview conducted by Emma Collins