Hylian Shield - Finished

The project is finished. I have imported my shield into a scene I constructed from Unreal assets, and have it lit and composed very nicely, and produced these final renders. I really love how the atmosphere and environment of the scene gives the object some context and makes it feel part of a world. This is by far the most satisfying thing I have made on the course so far, and I am really proud of the final product. It took a lot of work but it was definitely worth it, as I have produced my best work so far, and I hope to carry on working to this high standard.

Hylian Shield - Quixel Texture Pass

After creating my maps in xNormal, I was able to bring my low poly model into Quixel and begin creating some high quality textures. This was the most time consuming part of the entire project; I spent upwards of 25 hours on this part since Quixel was giving me so many problems. I eventually got my textures to work correctly and appear as they should so I could begin texturing my object. Once it was working smoothly I really enjoyed this part as it is very satisfying seeing the model take on a highly polished and detailed appearance. I applied a wooden texture to the back of the shield which gave it a very realistic aesthetic which I love, and the rest was a combination of different metal materials coloured and adjusted differently. Quixel is a great tool I would definitely use again as it has produced some of my best work. Now to get it into Unreal and light it in a scene.

Hylian Shield - zBrush Modelling

Have to say I'm really happy with how the shield is looking now that I've added all the high poly detail in. The majority of the detail was sculpted by hand rather than using stamps and alphas as it removes the repetition that can sometimes occur. I did use an alpha for the wood and it created a really impressive texture which I'm fond of. I also imported an image of the Hylian crest and turned it into an alpha so the shield would have a faint impression of the crest like it had been painted on. I'm thrilled with how it's looking as it looks very authentic and exactly how I imagined it.

Hylian Shield - Maya Modelling

For my 'Triple A Game Asset' project, I have chosen to model the Hylian Shield from The Legend of Zelda. It is mainly my love for the game series that made me want to model the iconic shield, but I also wanted to see how it would look in a realistic aesthetic, since most of the games are highly stylised. I searched for some references to use, and found a physical metal version of the shield that somebody had made, so I used that as inspiration. I began by modelling the low poly model in Maya, using Quad Draw for a bulk of the complex shapes. The curved surface of the shield proved problematic at first, however once I'd worked around it by bending a flat plate the shield really started to come together. I'm really liking how it looks at the minute and I'm looking forward to pulling it into zBrush to add all the details.