Lilith Aensland - Soul Reflect (Breakdown)
- Tahldon
- Feb 23
- 5 min read
This project is actually my third 3D hand-painted model as I've done another one that I will showcase at some point later on. With each model that I complete, I try to create new objectives for what I want to learn.
I have always been a huge fan of Lilith from the Darkstalker's series. My top three favorites from the series are actually Lilith, Q-Bee, and Hsien-ko, in that order. I've a fondness for a lot of the designs in the series, but these are the ones I tend to enjoy looking at the most. Don't ask about Felicia, everyone likes her and it's a given! Anyway, the biggest thing that stuck out in my mind about Lilith was her "Soul Reflect" fireball pose:
Her "Soul Reflect" pose had a great silhouette that really stuck out to me, and I wanted to see if I could re-create it in my 3D hand-painted style with some artistic liberties. Since I have only done a few models, a big thing I was curious about learning were alpha textures. I have seen other 3D artist use them and I was eager to give it a try. Lilith's shoulder feathers were a fantastic use case for this, I felt.
Another portion of the character I was curious about was creating wings, as I have not entirely done so before, but I wanted to try it and see how it would do. Fortunately, Lilith had four of these, plus the bat. Her official concept art from Capcom was a huge help with determining her particulars as many artists have their own interpretations of her wings and outfit.
This project took quite a bit of time as well, somewhere along the lines of 6 months due to the sheer number of life things I had happening throughout its duration. I was in the process of finishing my master's degree, transitioning jobs, and things of that nature. Though, I felt that this project took less time to do than Fuka did, in terms of actual time worked! This felt pretty good and boosted my confidence by a ton.
As opposed to using nearly every tool in the drawer as I did with previous models, this time I only used the following applications:
3DS Max: I modeled the character in her entirety in 3DS Max, also using the app to create the props as well. All modeling was done in this app.
RizomUV: Once the character was modeled, I used Rizom to complete the cutting and organization of her UV Maps. I highly recommend this app as it is incredibly efficient for UV Mapping.
Cinema4D: Cinema4D's BodyPaint application is what I've found that I enjoy texturing the most in. It just works so well for my brain, my eyes, and my fingers. I am aware that this app can do so much more than just painting in, but for now, I am sticking with just the one function at the moment.
Akeytsu: After trying to rig her in Blender for over a few weeks, I found myself going back to Akeytsu and in a short time, I had her rigged and posed already. I'm aware that Akeytsu has not been updated in some time, but as far as simple posing and keyframe animations, it works for my uses.
Marmoset Toolbag 4: All of my renders and turntable videos were created using Marmoset Toolbag 4.
I started modeling Lilith from a singular cube in 3DS Max and continued to iterate on her, bit by bit and eventually got her to the point that I preferred. Being a bit of an anatomy junkie, I meticulously measured her proportions to make sure they were the way I wanted them to be.
I was happy with modeling her body and wings; then came the texturing.
I'll admit that I was uber intimidated by the leather components she had on. I have not hand-painted leather before, so it involved a ton of research on the glossiness of the material, while still trying to maintain a balance within the realm of hand-painting. That balance came with adding a gradient along the body and clothing as well. The bats came along well as I ended up hand-drawing it and adding it along the leggings.
One tidbit I will add is that I actually modeled her teeth, tongue, and mouth, also. It wasn't until after I had completely rigged the model that I learned how to do blend shapes / morph targets for a model. There is a ton of vTuber related 3D model material out there and I tripped over some. I tried to retro-actively add some morph targets for her in 3DS Max, but I learned that it's likely a good idea to do that before rigging the character in total. So that will be something I will look forward to trying in my next model before importing it to Akeytsu for rigging.
Overall, I feel I accomplished my goals well with the character and even got the primary pose out for her in conveying her "Soul Reflect" pose. I'm incredibly happy with the model and learned a ton. I ended up with 5 texture & UV maps, which is a far cry from the 2 that I had with Fuka!
Additionally, I have to thank some great friends of mine for their advice and guidance in giving me feedback on my model.
Those artists gave me tons of feedback, draw overs, and advice that I took to heart and wrote into my notes (I always take notes on everything, highly recommended). Those artists are Stoff and Nohzro. Please take a look at their work and websites if you ever get the time! They are great 3D Artists who have worked in the games industry and have had a wealth of knowledge to share with me.
Until next time, my friends! I have plenty of other ideas I'd like to bring to fruition. My next model will be one of my own original characters! This concludes our Lilith Aensland - Soul Reflect (Breakdown)!
Also, if you would like to check out any of the games with Lilith in them, check out Capcom's Fighting Game Collection. All of the Darkstalkers games are there!
Credits:
Fighting Game Move Lists - YouTube
Lilith Aensland Concept Art - Capcom
Comments