Recreating Arya Stark From Game Of Thrones As Realistic 3D Character

Introduction

Hello, I'm Ali Fırat. This is my second interview published on 80 Level. I'm a 3D Character Artist based in Turkey. I hold a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, and my journey in the visual arts began with digital illustration. Over time, this interest evolved into the world of 3D, and I've been working as a Character Artist since 2020. The last three years of this journey have been spent working professionally.
 
I consider myself largely a self-taught artist. Throughout my learning process, I've focused on continuously improving both my technical skills and artistic perspective. Discovering new things, challenging myself, and progressing a little further with each project are my biggest sources of motivation. Every new character offers a unique opportunity for me to grow both technically and creatively.

Getting Started

For quite some time, I had been planning to work on a new likeness project. Just like in my Viking (Ingemar) project, I wanted to create a strong character, but this time I also wanted it to be someone beloved worldwide, a face that audiences already felt connected to.

That's why I decided to reinterpret Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, a series I really love. Arya is an ideal character for exploring different versions, thanks to her strong presence and character development. At the same time, she was a perfect choice for turning my entire workflow into a complete educational course. Throughout the process, I had the chance to reinforce my existing techniques, experiment with new methods, and freely explore different aspects of the character. Overall, this project was both highly instructive and enjoyable, contributing to my growth in technical skills as well as concept development.

Workflow

To ensure that the VFace textures fit perfectly onto the character's head, I began the process by modeling directly on top of the VFace base mesh. Since this mesh is designed to align precisely with the displacement and albedo data provided by Texturing XYZ, starting from it helped prevent potential texture distortions later on.

One of the main challenges during this stage was that the VFace base mesh is not perfectly symmetrical. To adapt the form to my character while preserving symmetry where needed, I relied heavily on the Move Topology brush, using it alongside the topology symmetry feature. I also used several supporting brushes, primarily Standard and Move Topology, and occasionally Clay Buildup to refine the shapes. My goal here was to create a form that stayed faithful to the character's identity while remaining compatible with the VFace displacement information.
 
After establishing the primary shapes, I brought the model into my Maya scene to verify the accuracy of the result. I tested the VFace albedo and displacement maps to check texture alignment, structural consistency, and overall integration. This verification step was essential because even small proportion mismatches or UV misalignments can create major issues once the workflow moves forward.

Once I was confident with the result, I prepared the model for the MetaHuman process and transferred it into Unreal Engine 5. Using the Mesh to MetaHuman feature, I converted the head into a MetaHuman. This granted access to blendshapes, a functional rig, and flexible posing options, significantly speeding up the production pipeline and giving me far more control over facial animation later in the process.

After applying the displacement map to the model in ZBrush, I continued refining it by adding extra details. At this stage, the head was nearly at the level I wanted, so I was ready to move on to working on the armor and clothing.

The clothing pieces were created using a combination of Marvelous Designer, Maya, and ZBrush. In the first stage, the fabric pieces were simulated in Marvelous Designer, achieving a realistic look with natural folds and drapes. After the simulation, each piece was imported into Maya for retopology, resulting in a clean and optimized base mesh that facilitates further editing. UVs were then unwrapped in preparation for texturing. Finally, the meshes were sent to ZBrush to add surface details and fine fabric textures. The total polygon count of all meshes is 145K tris.

I believe that the sense of realism largely comes from natural elements: a genuine gaze, a dirty and greasy face, worn-out clothes, and even small details that reflect a character's daily life, all of which make a character feel alive and believable. For this reason, I carefully consider every element throughout the character design process.
 
As with the Viking Project, achieving a natural and realistic appearance was a top priority for me. To this end, I applied blood and dirt effects in multiple layers on the character's face and clothing to convey the marks of time and life experiences. These layers helped me present the character’s story and life journey to the viewer in a more convincing and immersive way.

The clothing and armor were similarly hand-painted entirely.

These images show how the character's hair, fur, or fibers were shaped and controlled in XGen. In the general settings, you can find basic parameters such as density, length, thickness, and randomness of the strands. Modifiers are used to control the direction, curl, gravity effect, or stylized shape of the strands. These images help to understand the groom process both technically and visually.

Two main materials and their associated textures were prepared in Hypershade: one for the character's head and the other for the clothing. For the head material, various maps (diffuse, specular, subsurface scattering, etc.) were used to capture skin and subsurface details. For the clothing material, diffuse, roughness, and normal maps were carefully adjusted according to the fabric type. The overall approach was quite similar for both materials, aiming to achieve a realistic and visually consistent look.
 
Rendering was done using Arnold. Scene lighting was set up with an HDRI from the VFace pack and two area lights to provide balanced illumination.

Conclusion

I spent approximately 170 hours on this project. The biggest challenge was maintaining the character's likeness while achieving a natural and believable appearance. Throughout the process, I focused carefully on detailed texture work and lighting adjustments to ensure the facial expressions and clothing details were realistic and convincing.

To learn more and see the full process, click here. Thank you for your interest.

Ali Fırat Doğan, 3D Character Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine