Troll creature was sculpted in ZBrush, starting from a primitive base shape. The design is based on human anatomy and various image references, with exaggerated proportions to create a stylized creature, for fine surface details, displacement maps were created in Mari using XYZ Texturing Maps, then applied in ZBrush to refine the skin texture and enhance the final model.
Part of the modeling process while creating clothing for the Troll character in Autodesk Maya.
The Troll creature was textured in Mari, with the base color (albedo) and XYZ displacement maps providing realistic skin detail. Main volumes were sculpted in ZBrush, while fine surface details were driven by Mari displacement maps. This approach preserves high-resolution textures while keeping geometry efficient.
Workflow breakdown for texturing the small Trolls. Displacement was sculpted in ZBrush and exported at multiple resolutions, low-res mesh for the base and high-res mesh to bake maps like normal, curvature, and more, the video also shows albedo creation, from base dermal skin to fully detailed textures.
Final render from Autodesk Maya using Arnold Renderer. Skin detail was created with Texturing XYZ maps, combining zDisp, mDisp, bump, and micro detail within RGB channels using Nuke or Adobe Photoshop, with subtle subsurface scattering for added realism.
A breakdown of the Troll creature’s texture maps, base color (albedo), displacement, roughness, and specular. Rendering was done in Autodesk Maya with Arnold Renderer, and selected maps were adapted for Unreal Engine.
Facial expression test for the small Troll character using live performance capture with Live Link Face in Unreal Engine.
Deformation test for the Troll creature, showing how the rig responds to movement and poses in Unreal Engine.