Create Realistic Head

1. I start to build my mesh in Softimage XSI. Not to High resolution mesh but with all of the essentiel line to make the animation and texturing better. 2. The UnWrap, I prefer the traditionnal uv in xsi for base just for a head, a normal cylinder is prefer to start that. When I found some point a bit strechy, I export my head inside a head's UvLayout.



3. Preshape and detailing in Zbrush. I really like Zbrush to create some really fast form and test to make my shape better. The first step is the research for the best form. After that I start high level detail for little crease for bump. After this step, I extract displacement map from Displacement Exporter 3 and a Cavity Map from the version 2 of Zbrush. A little technique is nessessary for that.



4. Before I create my lighting, I select some nice texture from the 3dsk.com sit and I use the new Zproject tools to apply my map, Really nice pour fast and precise application. Photoshop and Zapp Links for make all corrections. With this map, is possible to create and decline all of the rest of the map nessessary for the texture and shading.



5. This is the time to make the creation of Bump map, specular map and reflection map. For optimise the effect of a realistic character, a good bump is nessessary, the bump and Displacement is a modeling representation. On this surface contact with the light define is the head look realistic. You add a specular and reflection to reflect all of effect on your environment. You have two kind of specular on a face, a big one and a smaller one.




This kind of phenomen is inside the SSS fast skin shader node. If you add some reflection at your specular, this is possible to recreate nice skin shader.
6. The maps, some maps is nessessary inside the SSS fast skin shader to make the cool skin. I used some map to create my effect: Diffuse, epidermal, subdermal, bump, speculaire, reflection, overall and Back Scatter map.


7. The SSS Fast Skin Shader: This complex shader is perfect to create nice skin effect. If you want cool tutorial about that, visit : http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/tutorials.html

Alex Alvarez is my reference to create nice shaders. This is my XSI shader tree:



In this Rendertree, I add an incidence for accentuate the reflection effect on the border of the face.

My sss shader tree in details:





Lighting - My lighting is a complex rig of many different lights to recreate an outdoor ambient, one sun for recreate really nice rim light on back border of the head.

In real life, the reflection is create with the object all around the people, Sky, ground, cars etc... For this reason I insert a sphere in constant with spherical uv's and I put on my sphere color, a Environment map with real and natural outdoor details and cool variations. Like that.



This map is primordial to creation nice reflexion on all of this object of your scene. HDRI map is not really nessessary but cool for little highlight. I prefer to add specific little grid with image in transparency for create specific reflection.



I drive all of my light with the coloration possition I have for my Light. The light is not too intense maybe 0.3 max cause I have around 40 light with Area for my ambient. A bit longer for the render but if you settup your BSP tree is possible to uptain nice render in good time laps!




Sun & Ambient:



Ambient Light Rig:



This is a little looking of my head technique, hope you like and understand. If you have any questions, write it to me. Special Thank's to Jaime and Ryan from Pixologic for your help! And thank's to my collegue Yannick Gaudreau from Hybride for your light help.