MAKING A DIGITAL FACE (Part 5)
Thanks for all the support on the previous parts!
For a more in-depth look on the creation of this character, check out my new post on Texturing XYZ: https://texturing.xyz/pages/making-a-digital-face-sefki-ibrahim
Here I'm talking about the hair. Creating the ponytail hairstyle was difficult, not only because I'm so new to XGen, but because this hairstyle exposes the hairline. Trying to capture the natural growth of the hair from the scalp as the hair is pulled back was my biggest challenge and there's a lot I learnt from the process.
I would have liked to have spent more time on the ponytail and add more flyaways to the hair. For me, the results still feel a little too clean in some areas.
My biggest tip is to study reference images throughout and have patience...lots of it!
I used Xgen guides to build the shape of the hair. Multiple XGen descriptions were used to create this hairstyle; this shows only 50% of the guides used
The head part of the mesh was extruded from a duplicate and uv-mapped. This provides a high-resolution surface for painting hair masks
Building the hair
When studying hair I observed that hair forms in clumps. I used the clump modifier in every description to recreate this look
A 'groomable spline' description was added to blend the main hair to the mesh. This gives the hair a more natural progression at the hairline. Also, notice how the hair clumps at the base here
Baby hairs and flyaway strands were added all around the scalp
Peach fuzz guides were also dotted around the face; peach fuzz hairs are generally unnoticeable so should be kept thin and short
Final groom in viewport
It's important to taper the hair at the start and at the end, otherwise the result looks uncanny
Adding noise and clump modifiers to make the hair feel more natural and messy
Applying Arnold's hair shader. Hair is transmissive, so as light passes through, the hair should illuminate
Render pass
Studio lighting pass
Hair close-up
Lighting/Beauty Pass