I am Mun Hou, a 3D artist based in Singapore. I graduated with a diploma in Digital Media Design (Animation). This is my 3rd third time participating in Art War, as I look back, I have improved a lot.    

Story and Concept

After the theme of Art War 5 was announced, I immediately started brainstorming. I love anime, red, foxes, and demons. With this in mind, I decided to create a high school fox girl with her demon partner and gave them a backstory. 

In summary, Ghosts began to terrorize Japan in the future. Kaname required Hime’s help by exchanging her life for the power of the demon. They become partners and they lead a team of Anti-Ghost Elite (AGE) to fight against Ghosts and to bring humanity back. 

As my idea became clearer, I went to look for references. I then proceeded to sketch out my characters. Since I wanted Hime to be mysterious, I gave her a traditional bamboo cap hat with a veil to cover her face. 

Modeling

I started sculpting in Zbrush and brought it over to blender for retopologizing. I normally use the shrinkwrap modifier with the snap mode outside the surface and an offset of 0.03. 

UV and Texturing

For UV, I always like to pack them into different parts such as head, hair, outfit and armor for UDIM painting in Substance painter. My workflow in Substance painter is to use fill and then paint the mask. This method is non-destructive and allows me to make any future adjustments easily. 

Rigging, Posing, and Environment

I rigged them by following a tutorial video. After posing, I designed a diorama for them based on the back story. The diorama served as a sanctuary. It has a Torii gate and a great cherry tree.

These are my procedural texture workflow. For water, I used Voronoi textures to create a grayscale water surface effect before colours were added onto it. 

As for water colors, I chose them while referencing a real-life photo. I then added a rim that blends into the skydome and a bright spot where my characters are. 

I duplicated the water and moved it downward for it to become the ground. 

As for the night sky, I started with a base gradient and added procedural stars by using noise texture. I made sure to have a variety of colors of stars to break the consistency. I added in a milky way by painting the mask directly from the camera view and then colorized it using a color ramp. A moon and clouds were then added.

A cherry tree, torii gate, and a few props such as stone lanterns and paper umbrellas were added. In order to have a more mysterious cherry tree, I added a glowing boundary. 

Compositing, Lighting, and VFX

I spent a lot of time compositing. This is the last stage where I have to make sure everything looks right. I made sure the scene is not overcrowded and it appeals to the audience. Visual effects like particles such as cherry petals and water sparkles were added to make the scene look more impressive.

Render using Eevee

Behind the scene with all the lights

For compositing, I did some color correction, added a vignette and slight lens distortion. 

Here’s a close-up of Kaname and Hime. 

Hoshizora Kaname the Anti Ghost Elite

Follow Mun Hou here:

Website

Sketchfab