Multiplying Assets from a Single Concept
Most character designs I make can be broken down and multiplied into many assets. Through personal projects like this, I can devote my passion to studying the subject and meticulously isolating and designing each component into its functional existence.
Arms like these are inspired by robotics companies such as Boston Dynamics and Open Bionics, as well as robots like Asimo.
Concept artists know a little about a lot, and mech design has been a treat to learn.
Most of these start by replacing every joint that would normally bend in the body with a ball joint or a hydraulic system. Essentially, it converts the human body into a machine.
Techniques used:
I used ZBrush and a human arm template instead of sculpting it from scratch, then I skinned it as a hard surface. This ensures realistic proportions from the get-go, and it becomes a quest of turning each finger into a hydraulic, each joint into a ball point or hinge system. Essentially, I try to envision which mechanism in real life this human anatomy point converts to, if it were a machine, and translate man to machine using digital sculpting techniques.
Usually, Zbrush isn't a software that you'd want to make such a project on, it's best suited for sculpting organic subjects, such as plants, creatures and others, because it very much feels like real clay or plasticine; however, I became used to it and once you get used to the software, I find it faster and more efficient than any other quad-based modeling tool.
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