Fantasy Creature Texturing & Look Dev

Mari, ZBrush, Nuke & Houdini Workflow with Sohrab Esfehani

In this workshop, Sohrab Esfehani, Senior VFX Artist at Important Looking Pirates, walks artists through the full process of texturing and look development for a photorealistic, film-quality fantasy creature. With over 20 years of experience working on films including The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, Sohrab shares his professional techniques using industry-standard software, Mari, ZBrush, Nuke, and Houdini, to create blockbuster-worthy results. 

This 6-hour workshop begins with reference gathering before launching Houdini, where the scene is initially structured and basic shaders are applied. From there, Sohrab details the skin texturing workflow using Mari, from the initial setup through various stages of adding color, including how to use ZBrush for creating surface details. He also dives into the process of setting up realistic skin shaders in Arnold, within Houdini, and details how to approach complex fur patterns and designs using advanced layered, probability-based shading techniques.

As well as covering the technical side of texturing and look dev for film-quality creatures, Sohrab also discusses the art direction involved in such a project and explains how he approaches developing creatures or characters into believable and relatable results that will feel as though they truly belong on-screen. By completing this workshop, the goal is for artists to develop the confidence to apply the practical ideas and techniques covered to their own creature and character projects.