Designer, Modeler
2021 - 2022
K41
Description
Personal project where the goal was to create a 3D model for VTubing use. For anyone unfamiliar, VTubers are online entertainers, typically streamers, that utilize virtual avatars, effects, and environments.
The
Design
Phase 1
K41 has visual elements inspired by a few series I adore, most notably the long ears and facial markings are influenced by World of Warcraft's Blood Elves. Despite this, she is not meant to exist in any of these series.
I nailed down her physical traits early on. I love red hair and often pair it with blue eyes, but I wanted something different and chose green. As for her markings, I naturally gravitated towards clean, mark-free faces but I knew I wanted something unique with K41 and I wanted the markings to be near her skin tone.
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Her initial outfit was based off of one I drew for another piece and it was a cute place holder. I abandoned it later on.
1-1
2-1
Phase 2
Honing in on her fantasy origin, and wanting her main outfit to feel magical, I reworked her look completely.
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The length and shape of the dress, with the corset was pulled from the initial design. As someone who typically adores symmetry, I went for the opposite and made her gloves and leg pieces different from their partner. I found this made the design interesting without becoming too busy
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Her shoes were a big obstacle for me. My initial design on the left felt weak, looked too casual and disconnected. After I nailed down the outfit in the sketch below, I pulled elements directly from the outfit and put it towards a heeled boot.
2-2
The
Model
3-1
3-2
Phase 3
The entire modeling process happened in Blender. I used some of the previous sketches for reference to build K41 from scratch. I had a lot of fun creating her body, and making sure everything was proportional. Creating the clothes took tweaking and it was after this point I changed her left thigh accessory to be a pocket/pouch.
4-1
4-2
Phase 4
Texturing each piece took a lot of revisions and I originally left the gold pieces to a built-in texture; however, when porting into Unity the gold hardware was left as a solid yellow and wasn't what I wanted. Because of that I went back and textured it all myself and I'm glad I did.
5-1
5-2
Phase 5
Taking time to pose K41 in 5-1 was fun, especially playing a bit with the light to make her glowing eyes and gems really pop!
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As for 5-2, while the image is simple, it offers a great view on the detail I put into her eyes.