Hello and welcome to Making of Inarius: Part 1
I've been a huge fan of the Diablo franchise since the original game was released back in the late '90s. Even after all these years, I'm still amazed by the art and design of the series, especially in the latest installment. Diablo II holds a special place in my heart, and Diablo II: Resurrected was a fantastic surprise - I enjoyed it greatly. Hey Blizzard, any chance you could resurrect the original game as well? I still remember playing the first Diablo with my sister on the PS1. It was such a great experience, especially facing The Butcher. He was the first boss, but honestly, he was the scariest!
Professionally, I work as a modeler for VFX, primarily focusing on hard surface modeling. However, last year, I decided it was time to broaden my skill set and dive into the organic side of modeling. I've always been keen on transitioning into character art, and now feels like the perfect time to embark on that journey. Over my career, I’ve created several digital doubles, and I plan to apply that knowledge to my character development process.
Over the past year, my main focus has been on anatomy and improving my skills in ZBrush. One of my major projects was a fan art piece of Lilith, which was an incredible learning experience. This time, I’m aiming to create a production-ready model of Inarius.
I genuinely believe that the angelic designs in the Diablo series are some of the coolest in any game - especially the wings! My primary reference for this project is the concept art of Inarius by Will Murai. While I do love the cinematic version of Inarius from Diablo IV, I feel that it lacks the royal golden look of the armor seen in the semi-stylized concept art. My goal for this project is to develop a hyper-realistic model of Inarius while maintaining the essence of the concept art.
Concept Art
Pipeline & Tools:
- Maya – For blocking and preparing a subdivision-friendly base model
- ZBrush – For sculpting and displacement map creation
- Substance Painter – For texturing
- Houdini – For wings creation, look development and lighting
- Redshift – My main rendering engine
- Nuke – For compositing and grading
Preparation & References
When it comes to gathering references, I keep things simple but efficient. My go-to tool is PureRef – it's a lifesaver for keeping all my images organized in one file. I like to sort my references into different categories to stay organized and inspired throughout the creative process.
- Original concepts: The original concept and my main source of reference.
- Fan art: Artwork created by others that sparks inspiration.
- Real-world references: Images from the real world that help guide my designs.
- Inspiration: A collection of random elements that I find interesting and might want to implement into my models.
This system helps me stay organized and ensures that I always have the right visual inspiration at my fingertips.
Blocking
For blocking, I use Maya as it is my primary 3D modeling package. I started with a generic male base mesh but had to adjust the leg proportions to match the concept art. My workflow involves initially blocking out all components using the crease tool, ensuring they work well together before converting them into a SubD base.
For elements that require more extreme sculpting, such as the shoulder pads, side guards, and belt, I will retopologize a new base mesh after sculpting the faces, as achieving those shapes purely through displacement maps on a planar surface would be challenging. The gloves are not part of the blocking process at this stage, but I will revisit them after completing the main sculpt and posing.
For now, the fabric will be a plain solid piece. Later on, I will use an opacity map to introduce the damage. If that isn't enough, I will make changes at the geometry level later on.
Creased blocking vs SudD Base
UVs
For UVs, I follow the production workflow. First, I set the global texture density, making sure all my UV islands have the same resolution across the entire model. In VFX, we are less limited by UV space compared to games, and we utilize the UDIM workflow, which is a system that allows us to assign multiple textures to a model by organizing them into a grid of numbered tiles, starting from 1001. I use the vanilla Maya UV editor to handle all my UVs.
Additionally, I split some UV islands that have multiple materials on a single mesh, as this helps me make selections more easily later on. I organize my tiles based on a 'Center Left and Right' approach, which allows me to easily mirror the left side of the model to the right and offset the UDIMs if any model adjustments are needed.
The blocking phase, along with the subdivision base, is now complete. The next step is sculpting. I'll be posting my progress here and on my Twitch channel, so stay tuned!