Realism Study - Skin Texturing BTVS (Marmoset and Unreal)

Foreword: This is a realism skin likeness texturing study. I wanna mention that the hair is only a placeholder.

After BTVS commissions and fanart in 2D I gathered a big visual library in my mind for likeness. After starting to learn 3D I wanted so see how I can convert my likeness studies into 3D. I wanted to have somewhat of a golden thread. I did sketches, concepting, illustrations, animations and now wanted to have examples in 3D too. So I did 2 busts and now these likeness renders. Though the hair is more of a placeholder atm. Working on a material in unreal though ;)

For this project I used diverse medias to see different outcomes. Which also helped me to learn more about Unreal and Marmoset too. I also tested Metahuman in UE5 out of curiosity to see how it would treat my sculpt and to study its node system for a few materials. It can be a good base tool in terms of topology and its instant rig and animation system, but only to get a good feeling for how the current handmade sculpt could look while being animated. But it can't replace an artist's skill and eye.

The tricky part in the end was the wrinkle placement, because it is a 90s show. Cameras were still grainy and the 90s loved to shoot with softness filters. As nuanced as wrinkles can be, they have a lot of impact on the likeness. It was a fun challenge though. Placing wrinkles and pores is one of the most fun parts. For me it is where the character comes to life.