This interview with Ayrton Diaz was published on Maxon.net and has been republished here with permission, courtesy of Maxon.

3D character artist Ayrton Diaz was compelled to create a project that would set him apart and carve (sculpt!) the path to greater opportunities. In this interview, Diaz walks us through how he combined the ZBrush and Adobe Substance 3D bundle with additional tools in his workflow to breathe life into “The Guardian,” the detailed character he created while learning the AAA videogame workflow at Zombie Art School. 

Every character has a story, but exceptional characters wear the details of their history right on their sleeves. “The Guardian,” offers textured elements alluding to a hidden past. Tapping into the recently released ZBrush and Adobe Substance 3D bundle, Diaz created an eye-catching piece that encompasses the unlimited creative possibilities in the world of digital sculpting. 

What draws you to character design?

Diaz: I love science fiction, pop culture, film, and video games. Growing up, I spent hours playing computer games like “StarCraft,” “Warcraft,” and “Age of Empires.” I was always fascinated by everything that could be created on a computer. Later, I became very interested in film, photography, and art direction. I love creating characters. Through them, I can tell stories and imagine they have a life and something to say. That’s why I pay a lot of attention to every stage of production. Every detail, texture, material, pose, and environment reveals something. 

Take us through your character design process and the tools you used.

Diaz: First, I gathered references in PureRef to guide the project. Once I had an overall vision, I started the blocking phase in ZBrush, establishing all elements and broad shapes that define the character’s presence and what they convey. I used Marvelous Designer to simulate all the garments, then went back to ZBrush for the final sculpt.

I began working on details that are visible at a mid-range distance and then started adding more definition like pores and scratches. When simulating garments, I polished shapes, refined wrinkles and seams, and added fine detail. I adjusted intensity and size to create wear and damage. Once the character’s outfit was finished, I moved on to detailing each object individually.

I did the low poly in Maya, where I created a game-ready, optimized retopology using Quad Draw, and used RizomUV to unwrap the UVs. Baking and texturing in Substance Painter was an enjoyable stage of the process where I played with tonal variations to add contrast and richness, using stronger tones to add storytelling elements like stains, dust, sun, and damage.  

Finally, I set up the lighting, prepared the scene, and rendered the final images in Unreal Engine.

Throughout the process, I constantly moved between different software, which shows how they all work together in my specific workflow.

What ZBrush brushes or techniques did you use to create such striking detail?

Diaz: For certain elements, like the straw cape, I used a few steps to get the detail right. I treated the straw elements that fall over the shoulders like hair cards (game-optimized hair). I sculpted several straw variations in ZBrush, changing shapes and quantities in small groups, and placed simple rectangular planes on top for projection. I brought everything into Substance Painter, baked the straw details onto the planes with opacity enabled, and refined the tips and edges of each straw to make them more visually interesting. Finally, I brought these polygons back into ZBrush along with the character and duplicated them around the shoulders.

When it came to the straw hat, I started modeling in Maya but it was made of radially symmetrical pieces that needed some breaks and imperfections to make it feel more natural and used. I moved the asset into ZBrush and used the large Move brushes to break the symmetry of the main silhouette, shifting some of the strips, breaking geometry, and adding a sense of wear and irregularity.

Overall, the finest details were made with the most basic tools. ZBrush has brushes that are like the ABCs of digital sculpting: the Standard brush, DamStandard, and the Move brush. Other than playing with alphas and intensities, you don’t need anything more than these brushes to start creating impressive details. I don’t feel like there are special techniques, but rather a correct and intelligent use of what we already have.

How long did it take you to complete this project from start to finish?

Diaz: The whole process took around four and a half months. The most time-consuming part was the high poly in ZBrush. Detailing all the clothing and objects took about a month and a half.

For information: 

Maxon + Adobe

ZBrush

Ayrton Diaz