COMPLETE 3D CHARACTER WORKFLOW

Workflows for creating a 3D characters from start to finish.

Sep 7, 202616 min read

🦝 COMPLETE 3D CHARACTER WORKFLOW

Workflows for creating a 3D characters from start to finish.

Fully Rigged Characters

Constantly updating annotations on how I approach 3D character creation.

Gather a LOT of references (separated between groups for each element). Highly reccomend using PureRef for this.
Try to have a main reference to work from, be it a concept art or photo
Write notes with planning on: details, information about the character, mood, story, color palettes.
Ideally make sketches for the front, side and top view
If you're making the concepts/sketches yourself, consider making a very rough blockout to use as a starting point.

In Zbrush:

Create the base shapes using separated primitives
Block in the anatomy. Focus on silhouette and proportions
Add simple base color as soon as possible to better visualize the final character
Separate clothing elements - as well as eyes - in different subtools for more control

Save backups as Tools! You can also load them up to use as a before and after comparison

Create patterns and simulate cloth over Primary Shapes avatar
Export clothes as .OBJ. Thin, Unweld, Quads
Zremesher in Zbrush
Sculpt extra memory folds, wear, and tear later if needed
Separate character pieces in a way where each piece don't have self collision, to avoid issues when baking

Export highest subdivision model to Blender and start manually retopologizing the model
Block out main features and landmarks first (wrist, elbow, waist, etc.). Add a loop going in the center of the model.
Fill out the gaps later.
Avoid making polygons too large from the start. Create large faces, then divide them with loops later. This will save you so much time and effort.
Create the interior of the mouth and eyes
Final check for n-gons before moving to the next stage

Import low poly model with UV's back to Zbrush
Project the higher res details on the lower res. Low res will have all the subdivision levels

Create a new blank texture in Blender for each texture set (for separation in Substance Painter)
Do the texture baking on Substance Painter using a high and low poly version of your model
Substance bake settings:

Iterate over your textures, and do tests on the render engine you're using. Do a first rough pass on textures, export to the target render engine
Alternatively, check textures on Iray

Static Sculptures

This thread will be constantly updating.

(Last updated: 14/09/2026)

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