The following is aspiring 3D artist Aitziber Azkue's breakdown of how she created a 3D scene from Xu Zhen's 2D illustration, "Fish".
PREPARATION
For my Think Tank Foundations Final Project, I had five weeks to transform a 2D scene into a 3D masterpiece. I browsed ArtStation, Pinterest, and Instagram for inspiration, seeking a scene with personality, mood, and a character in focus. I fell in love with Xu Zhen's “Fish” illustration, a beautiful, mystical scene with a perfect balance of character and grace.
As a newcomer to 3D art with only eight weeks of training under my belt, I dove headfirst into Xgen–relying on online tutorials and sheer determination. I sketched the hair flow over the concept before trying Xgen for the first time, sculpted a fish, gathered extensive references, and made a flexible schedule with weekly renders to monitor progress and maintain motivation.
BLOCKOUT
Translating a 2D scene into 3D requires precision and attention to detail. Camera matching in both Maya and Zbrush was crucial. I started with a basic sculpt of the face and blockouts for clothes and hands using lofted curves and simple geometry, evolving into a modular blockout for posing without compromising proportions. The Model Opacity setting in Maya and Zbrush ensured my cameras were aligned, and revisiting this step periodically helped immensely.
MARVELOUS DESIGNER
Marvelous Designer was key for creating the clothing. Despite my initial inexperience, I refined the robe blockout iteratively to match the dynamic elements of the concept. I relied heavily on sculpting to ensure the folds were where I needed them, even if they didn’t match real-life fabric behavior.
SCULPTING
With the blockout complete, I focused on sculpting the face and body, ensuring the model looked good from all angles, not just the primary camera view.
The crown saw several iterations, evolving from basic planes to detailed petals in Zbrush. Initially, I used a petals IMM brush, but the meshes were too dense, so I Zremeshed a few petals, duplicated, placed, and sculpted each one individually.
After sculpting in Zbrush, Maya’s sculpting tools on the low poly model were crucial for achieving likeness. I adjusted her face and robe in Maya countless times during this journey, even on the day I did my very last render.
MATERIAL TESTING
Material testing in Maya provided some valuable insights. Quick renders helped me understand channel values and lighting effects. Inspired by my phone’s nighttime mode, these black-and-white renders were instrumental in blocking out the scene’s lighting. I also tested different skin materials to understand their behavior and to prepare for texturing.
TEXTURING
Texturing in Adobe Substance Painter was rewarding despite frequent adjustments when comparing my results from Substance Painter in V-ray for Maya.
The texturing of the face and crown was particularly satisfying, though time constraints meant some compromises given I hand-painted most of my textures. I later referenced this scene in my Xgen project to avoid errors in my groom and to have the best performance possible.
GROOMING
Creating the hair with Xgen was challenging yet essential. I created the groom using hair guides and modifiers, dividing it into eight different descriptions, including three for the “hero strands,” to maintain meticulous control.
This non-destructive approach allowed fine-tuning specific parts without disrupting finalized areas. Eyelashes and eyebrows, each with their own base mesh, were comparatively straightforward.
Working on a scene without textures meant quick IPR renders, which helped me adjust my Xgen descriptions quickly, with almost immediate feedback.
LIGHTING
Weekly test renders were critical for refining the lighting setup. When done texturing, I referenced my original texturing scene into my Xgen project to prevent any dips in performance.
Adjusting the hair lighting involved fine-tuning shapes, sizes, intensity, and colors. Lighting the face required careful tweaking to avoid unnatural highlights.
Hair lights (left) and face lights (right)
Lighting the fish was the most complex, requiring multiple lights for accurate reflections. A V-ray Blend Material combining volumetric fog, Normal and Displacement maps, and a versatile texture for Specular color and Albedo, brought the fish to life. The water-like material's success hinged on these elements, including a brushstroke pattern Displacement map and clever use of Color Balance settings in the V-ray shader.
Fun fish maps: (from left to right) Normal, Linear (multipurpose), Albedo (multipurpose)
Fish lookdev: before fog and displacement (left); With fog and displacement (right)
(From top left to bottom right) Fish lights, full scene lighting
FINAL STEPS
In the fourth week, I focused on fine-tuning lights, fog, and textures, then submitted my first version of the project!
After four intensive weeks, I took a brief break before making final tweaks for the Think Tank Scholarship Competition.
Minor adjustments to hair strands, lighting, textures, and hair shaders brought the project together in the fifth week. I wanted to see how far I could push myself using only 3D tools, limiting post-processing to three specific adjustments in Photoshop: vignette, fog color, and contrast.
(From left to right) First version, Render pre-post, Render with post
This project, despite my initial inexperience with most of the tools, made me a more patient and meticulous artist, ready to tackle future challenges in the industry. The experience of working through each stage, from preparation to final render, provided invaluable lessons and solidified my passion for 3D art.
I’d like to thank everyone at Think Tank Training Centre and the team at Autodesk for the opportunity to showcase my work. I can only hope to inspire both current and future students: transitioning to 3D art can be daunting, as I experienced first-hand after leaving a previous job to pursue this passion. But remember, we all start somewhere—discipline and determination are half the battle!
Want to see more from Aitziber? Check out her Artstation profile or connect on LinkedIn.