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This is The General, a low-poly character design based on the feel of Old-World British Navel military. I created The General using Maya, Zbrush and Photoshop. I gathered reference materials from the internet and compiled a comprehensive library of media that I could draw from at any time.

I began making the base meshes in Maya that I could export to Zbrush for detailing later. Here are a few screen shots showing the Facial Blend Shapes, the Rig I created and the Bind Pose (same as the Base Mesh).

This was the final Zbrush, Hi-Poly model that the Normal, Ambient and Cavity maps were generated from. I think it stands at about 51milllion Polys… which is about all my Macbook Pro can handle before it wants to roll over and die.

These are some closer shots of the Hi-Poly, Zbrush models of The General’s weapons. I researched the style of weapon used during this time period by the British Navy and came up with these designs. These are slightly more elaborate than the samples I found in my reference, but it was an artistic decision to do so.

Here is the Base Mesh created in Maya. I can optimize the weapons further by removing some of the edge loops along the majority of the straight, extended parts like the blade, sheath, rifle barrel and so forth. I created them intentionally straight so it would not effect the UV’s if I did so.

Here are the maps I created for The General, excluding the Cavity Maps. I only use the cavity maps for this type of work to subtly enhance the Color Maps where needed.

This character was heavily inspired by Gears of War and the works of Vitaly Bulgarov. I created most of the base mesh pieces in Maya and some were created using Zspheres. Everything was brought to Maya for Uvs, before being shipped off to Zbrush for detailing. Here are a few shots of the final work.

The rig I created facilitated proper motion of the tubes that are attached to portions of his armor. It’s a little confusing to look at, so I included a few shots to help make things more obvious.

Here is the weapon I made, again inspired by Gears of War.

Here is the Zbrush Hi-Poly model that the Normal, AO, and Cavity maps were generated from.

Here is a shot of the Anatomy I created, before I was certain what the armor would look like.

And finally, here are some of the textures used in these renders.

Low-Poly Character Work In Progress

Here is a Wire-Framed Render from within Zbrush

Hi-Poly Full Front Render with Wings Spread

Hi-Poly Mid Distance with Wings Folded

Hi-Poly, no wings or hair, armor is completed but no compositing here

This is the Hi-Poly Mesh completed, pre textures, lights, etc…

Some initial outfit sketches to get a sense of what I wanted this warrior angel to look like.