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Believe it or not, but the incredible portrait of Zuko, the iconic villain-turned-hero from Avatar: The Last Airbender, attached above is not a hand-painted 2D illustration as one might assume, but rather a 100% 3D render produced by a brilliant Character Artist, Mani Salguero.
Driven by the idea of creating a "dynamic visual 2D/3D feeling", the author achieved the character's unique visual style by blending shaders, hand-painting textures, masks, and fresnels, resulting in a truly exceptional interpretation. As stated by Mani, the character was modeled in Maya, textured in Substance 3D Painter, and rendered with Arnold, with XGen having been used to recreate Zuko's shaggy hairstyle.
The artwork is based on an incredible illustration by Athena Dela Victoria:
We highly encourage you to visit Mani Salguero's ArtStation page to check out more of the artist's awesome character models.
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This project includes assets, maps, materials, Blueprints, and effects created in the Unreal Engine. Each asset was created for realistic AAA quality visuals, style, and budget.