After achieving a solid result with a studio scene in Unreal Engine, I decided that Azreal deserved a more dramatic environment. I spent some time integrating him into different environments from Fab, modifying the layouts, and comparing the results. I ultimately ended up rendering him in the Dark Ruins scene from Quixel Megascans.
For the facial animation, I utilized the MetaHuman pipeline, conforming my custom-sculpted head to the MetaHuman body and rig.
I animated the face using mockup video footage imported into Unreal Engine via Live Link Hub. The tracking had a few errors, so I baked the animation onto the MetaHuman Control Rig and adjusted the keyframes manually. Of course, all of this was accomplished with the help of my friends and the incredible 3D community, who generously share their knowledge through tutorials every day.
Conclusion
Creating Azreal was quite challenging for me, as I had to use several software programs for the first time. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process; every step in the pipeline has its own unique rewards and challenges. I love creating armor, clothing, and faces. My goal was to design a character with elaborate details while keeping the polycount optimized for a real-time game asset.
I learned so much throughout this journey. Learning Unreal Engine, rigging, and creating hyper-realistic shaders for the face, cloth, and armor were definitely the biggest wins for this project. Incorporating animation also brought a lot of life to the character, which was a huge challenge for me since it falls outside of my main specialization.
Looking back, there are many things I could have executed with better efficiency and higher quality, but I suppose that growth will be visible in my next project. I’m happy to be here, and thank you for reading through!
