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Concept
This 3D model was part of an assignment to create a treasure chest for a video game.
The polycount had to be under 10k tris and only 2 materials were permitted for texturing. The focus was on learning the proper pipeline: Blockout, HP Sculpt, Retopology to LP, Baking and Texturing.
A skin-like outer material with hands pressing against it from the inside, yearning to be let outside.
My plan was to mix organic matter, flesh and blood with delicate and dainty porcelain or ornamental designs. I initially started out with very detailed, dragon-themed feet and a pagoda-themed top of the chest but scrapped that design in favor of easier retopology later down the line.
Making Of
I started with the blocking of the general shape of the box, then traced over a rendered image to finish the overall design. I got started on modeling a lowpoly hand that I then rigged in Maya.
I created several different hand and finger positions for the hand on top of the treasure chest as well as for the hands inside.
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I then sculpted the details of the chest such as folds around the hands on the inside and around the buttons and the hand on top of the chest.
Post zbrush.
After the blockout came the retopology and subsequently the UVs. I used X-Ray vision and the Quad Draw Tool in Maya to get the lowpoly version as close as possible to its highpoly counterpart.
Retopologized to 9876k tris.
Texturing
I used moss to make the wood appear aged. I added blood on the skin-like outer material and a flesh material on the opening to make it feel more "alive".
To give the body of the chest a skin-like translucency, I combined the texture maps from Substance Painter with Maya material presets.
I then staged and lighted the box in Maya.
