Creating a Realistic Head in Blender – part 03 – Skin Texturing

by Kent Trammell

Hello and welcome to this tutorial series on creating a realistic head in Blender 2.6!

This is a complete tutorial series explaining the creation of a realistic human portrait with Blender. The entire process will be covered from base mesh modeling, detail sculpting, texture painting, hair growing and styling, sub-surface scatter shading, and compositing. Some of the more time-consuming tasks will be time-lapses with commentary like modeling, sculpting, and texture painting; the other parts will be mostly real-time.

 

In part 03 we take you through the texturing process by image sourcing from various references. The texturing process is greatly simplified by using a projection technique with the help of the BProjection add-on by Krantz Geoffroy:

Add-on available here: http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/3D_interaction/bprojection

 

DISCLAIMER: We cannot redistribute the references used in this tutorial due to the license, but we can use them under Fair Use laws for educational purposes. They’re not available for commercial use, though.

Note: This series has been previously available on Kent’s Vimeo channel but he has kindly permitted us to repost them here in order to reach a greater audience. All parts will be available on Blender Cookie very soon, while part 05 will be available exclusively on Blender Cookie.

Creating a Realistic Head<>>

You must be logged in to upload images. Register

Discussion

72 Responses to “Creating a Realistic Head in Blender – part 03 – Skin Texturing”
  1. Rigs Juarez
    Posts: 16

    Thank you !!!!

    #
    1
     Jun 20, 2012 at 12:52 pm
    • John D Smith II
      Posts: 234

      I’ve noticed that a number of people on various sites have been wondering how to do the Proxy Object thing, but no one has answered. After two years of wondering myself, I finally found it! Apparently, the only source was buried in the Durian Blog. The Director explained linking for a similar but different reason. Anyway here it is. 1.Make your HighPoly model a group, then do the same for it’s LowPoly version. 2.Link them both into your Scene file. 3.Make each a Proxy Object from the object menu or Control+Alt+P. 4.Put them on separate layers. 5.Restrict viewport visibility for the HighPoly, and restrict Render visibility for the LowPoly version. Voila! You see Low and render High! There is more to it than that but that will help a LOT when doing very large scenes and you would like to see where everything is, but your viewport is crying and refusing to budge. Very easy, but who would have guessed it had to be linked in? lol Peace

      #
      1.1
       Jun 21, 2012 at 8:12 pm
      • Peter Utinek
        Posts: 80

        one of recent tutorials of david ward on YT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUcpgDVBLDQ

        #
        1.1.1
         Jun 22, 2012 at 1:16 pm
      • Sebastian
        Posts: 7

        it also works for meshes with skeletons, if the high and poly object are children of the armature. You can link the the low+skeleton group, and if you link the high poly group, it will follow the movements of the skeleton.

        However, why you say that you need to proxy the objects? I thought it was only useful when you want to edit it locally, like the skeleton, but I don’t see much use for background objects

        #
        1.1.2
         Jun 25, 2012 at 11:18 am
    • madolo
      Posts: 1

      k … im kind of new learning this all altogether … and im really getting fra becuase i just down loaded the Blender 2.63, im a toatal begginer and cant find the tutorial for blender 2.63 … please kindly foward it to me … please ..!

      #
      1.2
       Jul 2, 2012 at 2:30 pm
  2. olson
    Posts: 24

    Thanks for this, really enjoying the whole series. Good job :)

    #
    2
     Jun 20, 2012 at 12:52 pm
  3. Juan Nicolas Gomez
    Posts: 146

    Yaaaaaaaaayyyy! third!

    #
    3
     Jun 20, 2012 at 1:35 pm
  4. Sophie Pette
    Posts: 10

    Can’t wait for more.
    You are doing a great job!!! ;)
    Where did you learn this?

    #
    4
     Jun 20, 2012 at 2:16 pm
    • M
      Posts: 8

      Yeah! I’ve got the same question, and how many models have you done to reach this perfectin? Very good job!!!

      #
      4.1
       Jun 20, 2012 at 2:58 pm
  5. Donald1
    Posts: 42

    That was simply amazing!

    #
    5
     Jun 20, 2012 at 2:21 pm
  6. J Houtz
    Posts: 2

    Awesome Tutorial! I have always had a hard time with textures. Thanks!

    #
    6
     Jun 20, 2012 at 2:40 pm
  7. riftmaster
    Posts: 32

    Does anyone else think the model looks a tiny bit like Griff Rhys Jones???

    Great job, by the way. Looking forward to the next part

    #
    7
     Jun 20, 2012 at 3:57 pm
  8. Mikael
    Posts: 3

    To be completely honest I was slightly disappointed and felt somewhat mislead that the texture painting was more copypasting than painting.

    #
    8
     Jun 20, 2012 at 6:33 pm
    • Jonathan Williamson
      Posts: 2962

      Projection painting is just one of many ways to do the texturing process. In the end only the result matters, and what that result is being used for. In a case like this, projection painting is a great technique and yields great results. Other times hand painting might be more suitable and desired.

      One of the best things to remember in CG is that there are always many different ways to do something but in the end only the result matters. The techniques used will always differ a bit from artist to artist.

      Cheers,
      Jonathan

      #
      8.1
       Jun 20, 2012 at 7:15 pm
      • Mikael
        Posts: 3

        I understand there are more than one way to do most things and that all that matters is faking the end result convincingly. It’s just that considering the detail work in the sculpting in the previous parts it seemed somewhat cheap to take this approach especially in a semi-timelapsed series. I was expecting a similar approach as was used in the sculpting, i.e., using multiple references and creating a suitable blend between them.

        I’m not contesting the validity of the approach, just voicing my opinion from a learner’s perspective.

        #
        8.1.1
         Jun 20, 2012 at 9:16 pm
      • Mikael
        Posts: 3

        And to expand on that last post, the motivation behind those expectations is the fact that there’s already a bunch of sculpting tutorials around but I haven’t yet run into one about faking realistic things (especially a face) with Blender’s texture painting starting from scratch.

        #
        8.1.2
         Jun 20, 2012 at 9:30 pm
      • Kent Trammell
        Posts: 190

        @Mikael: If the result looks cheap to you, then that is a problem and you should take more time with it. But if the method seems cheap while the result looks good, then that’s the best job we can do as cg artists right? The reason I put more effort in the sculpt is so I don’t have to put as much effort in the textures. If the wrinkles are more prominent in the sculpt instead of the texture then it’s more physically accurate and will yield a better render.

        I think a big reason you don’t find many (if any) tutorials about faking a realistic facial surface with hand-painted textures is because that technique isn’t used too often. I’ve seen a select few examples of this but they’re few and far between. It requires significant painting-skills to achieve. Admittedly, I have very little to no skill in painting. I’d recommend studying tutorials about facial painting in photoshop or gimp :)

        Thanks for watching!

        #
        8.1.3
         Jun 21, 2012 at 4:43 pm
      • Soren Madsen
        Posts: 25

        @mikael:
        Here is a link to a series of 9 videos dealing with painting a skin texture. The artist is using ZBrush, but the workflow is interesting. (it’s a demonic head, not human, but the approach should be similar..) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7ddpVVPXag&feature=BFa&list=SP16BEF9812ADACEB5

        @Kent Trammel: Your tutorials are absolutely awesome and very inspirring. Hope to see more pro-level stuff from you in the future.

        #
        8.1.4
         Jun 22, 2012 at 6:24 am
  9. Beven
    Posts: 8

    your final really does look like the actor from house :D

    #
    9
     Jun 20, 2012 at 11:05 pm
    • riftmaster
      Posts: 32

      it does look a little bit like Hugh Laurie

      #
      9.1
       Jun 21, 2012 at 1:44 pm
  10. bert van den bosch
    Posts: 121

    Is part 5 only for citizens??

    -bert

    #
    10
     Jun 21, 2012 at 3:41 am
  11. euma12
    Posts: 12

    My browser says that the website with the addon is unsafe.Why is this?

    #
    11
     Jun 21, 2012 at 3:47 am
    • Kent Trammell
      Posts: 190

      I believe there’s an issue with Blender’s wiki…it’s perfectly safe as far as I know

      #
      11.1
       Jun 21, 2012 at 4:51 pm
    • euma12
      Posts: 12

      Ok I did made the svn.blender an exception but when I clicked to the link instead of downloading the py file I saw a huge piece of code.From what I understand I have to convert this code to a py file.After a search I can’t find any results solving my problem do u have an idea?

      #
      11.2
       Jun 23, 2012 at 5:33 am
      • Kent Trammell
        Posts: 190

        Copy all your code from the browser, then in blender’s text editor, paste the code and save it as filename.py

        Then install the .py file you just saved as an addon

        #
        11.2.1
         Jun 23, 2012 at 8:55 am
      • euma12
        Posts: 12

        Awesome,THANKS :)

        #
        11.2.2
         Jun 23, 2012 at 1:04 pm
  12. Jokayo
    Posts: 59

    the expression on the picture , I wonder what he is looking at ! great job

    #
    12
     Jun 21, 2012 at 3:20 pm
  13. Ivan Cherganov
    Posts: 27

    Definitely will go through this tutorial series) Awesome! Thanks)

    #
    13
     Jun 21, 2012 at 4:27 pm
  14. alexander maximus
    Posts: 107

    thank you man :) thats all i needed to know :) you rock :)

    #
    14
     Jun 21, 2012 at 4:50 pm
  15. beowulf71
    Posts: 26

    Great tutorial!

    Anyone tried this feature on Mac?

    #
    15
     Jun 21, 2012 at 5:16 pm
    • Jonathan Williamson
      Posts: 2962

      It was recorded on a Mac ;)

      #
      15.1
       Jun 21, 2012 at 6:44 pm
      • beowulf71
        Posts: 26

        Seriously!?!

        I must have miss somethings, I’ll try to figure it out.

        #
        15.1.1
         Jun 21, 2012 at 6:53 pm
  16. Pavel Vlasov
    Posts: 7

    Haha! Hello guys! New member here! From Soviet Russia!
    So once again! Hello everyone. Great site, great lessons and great community from what I can see.

    And thanks for the lesson. Well done Kent! Looking forward for the upcoming videos. ;)

    #
    16
     Jun 22, 2012 at 11:08 am
  17. Niklas Hagstrom
    Posts: 19

    I am okay with speeding up the vids when working but please dont speed up when you are explaining how the tools work. Can you do a short tutorial how you set up the projection painting i didnt get that. Its like using spotlight in zbrush but even better?

    #
    17
     Jun 22, 2012 at 2:11 pm
    • Kent Trammell
      Posts: 190

      A focused Bprojection tuturial is a must for sure. Good idea!

      #
      17.1
       Jun 23, 2012 at 8:58 am
      • Niklas Hagstrom
        Posts: 19

        Thank you for that, i cant find where to find the bprojection download, the link seems to be broken?

        #
        17.1.1
         Jun 23, 2012 at 9:20 am
  18. Dmitry Mozzherin
    Posts: 19

    This series is my absolute favorite tutorial for blender, thanks again Kent! The face texture you use is lit really great for the task — almost no shadows or highlights. How would you make a photo like this? What are underlying principles of getting a photo of an object with no or very little shadows/highlights?

    #
    18
     Jun 22, 2012 at 10:33 pm
    • e K
      Posts: 56

      I’d guess that the best way to do this would be this: use multiple lights. I mean you should lit your object from right and left, and (maybe) front. In this case light from right would cause shadow on left side, but that’s why left side is lit as well. front light would take care of eye shadows (again maybe). Also I think you should take pics with no blitz (if that’s the right word) that should reduce amount of highlights. Since I’m not really a photographer I have no ideas what lights you should use. Hope that helps.

      #
      18.1
       Aug 9, 2012 at 5:37 am
  19. ghansham chandel
    Posts: 83

    I cant remember the last tutorial for blender game engine.I am requesting you a tutorial for adding logic bricks to a car.And its approximately 3rd request for these same tutorial.Is there any chance for that tutorial… please reply me soon… blither way its long time pass seeing David he was my favorite.

    #
    19
     Jun 23, 2012 at 12:51 am
    • Jonathan Williamson
      Posts: 2962

      Hi ghansham,

      This is a tutorial we’d like to do at some point in the near future. However, more likely than not we will gear the tutorials towards the Unity Game Engine as the Blender Game Engine is not as up to spec as the Unity engine. The Blender Game Engine is much better for visualizations and such

      #
      19.1
       Jun 23, 2012 at 10:44 am
  20. ghansham chandel
    Posts: 83

    As regarding for this tutorial more than you i salute to blender software team, that guys are simply best…..

    #
    20
     Jun 23, 2012 at 1:11 am
  21. ghansham chandel
    Posts: 83

    As regarding for this tutorial more than you i salute to blender software team, that guys are simply best…..

    #
    21
     Jun 23, 2012 at 1:11 am
  22. Jay
    Posts: 3

    This tutorial series is excellent and I really appreciate the nod to animation-friendly topology and workflow. The Kara tutorials by Jonathan got me into Blender (from 3DS Max) for character art and now this series by Kent is pushing me right along. Thanks for the quality learning. I’ll be becoming a citizen again before year’s end.

    #
    22
     Jun 24, 2012 at 5:17 pm
  23. Marcus
    Posts: 9

    Great time-lapse! These are so interesting watch, I’ve watched them serveral times! ^^ Theres only one BIG problem for me, I’ve still no idea of how to download a script and use the addon in Blender. Is there any good in-depth explanation?

    #
    23
     Jun 25, 2012 at 1:22 pm
    • Simon
      Posts: 3

      Hi Marcus, it’s quite simple. Download the script: https://svn.blender.org/svnroot/bf-extensions/contrib/py/scripts/addons/space_view3d_paint_bprojection.py

      Then in blender open up the user preferences (ctrl+alt+u). Go to the Addons tab, then click on the ‘Install Addon…’ and browse for the .py that you just downloaded. After selecting it you’re going to see ‘Paint: BProjection’ appear on the top of the list. All you need to do is check the little checkbox on the right to activate it. (I suggest that you do this with a blank blend file and click the ‘Save as default’ option after you installed it. That way you wont have to activate the addon everytime you open blender!)

      #
      23.1
       Jun 26, 2012 at 1:23 pm
      • Marcus Halskov
        Posts: 9

        Thanks alot! But the link is somehow broken for me, so it’s only a massive script showing up, this means I’d have to save the script manually, by copy- pasting it in a Python script writing program, but it doesn’t save it, as a .py, only as an unknown file. What should I do to save it as a .py?

        Thanks for your response, it’s nice to see helpfull people like you!

        #
        23.1.1
         Jun 26, 2012 at 2:42 pm
      • Simon
        Posts: 3

        You can just right click on the link and then ‘save link as…’ If you can’t download the file directly you can just copy paste the code in any text editor and save it or rename it as ‘space_view3d_paint_bprojection.py’.

        #
        23.1.2
         Jun 27, 2012 at 12:09 pm
      • Marcus Halskov
        Posts: 9

        It says i should look in the console for now, like it knows what I want, but nothing happens. Any suggestions?

        #
        23.1.3
         Jun 27, 2012 at 12:41 pm
      • Simon
        Posts: 3

        Hey Marcus, I have errors as well when trying to use the addon so I’m afraid I can’t really help you. Maybe you should have a look at the bprojection thread over at blenderartists.org and post about the issues that you are having: http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?248870-BProjection

        #
        23.1.4
         Jun 28, 2012 at 3:11 pm
  24. Timothy Downs
    Posts: 2

    Great tutorial.
    Can you mirror this method of texture painting? If so would it be something worth doing and then going back in to add in the details?

    #
    24
     Jul 2, 2012 at 9:32 am
  25. Kent Trammell
    Posts: 190

    David Ward has a great work-around for symmetrical texture painting: http://cgcookie.com/blender/2011/04/21/tip-symmetrical-texture-painting/

    My only caution is that too much symmetry kills realism. Notice that when I painted the extreme left side, I projection-painted with occlude/cull/normal off which projected my strokes through to the right side (ie symmetry). But from the direct front I suggest you not paint symmetrically since there will be a more obvious seam down the center of the face. Hope that makes sense…thanks for watching!

    #
    25
     Jul 2, 2012 at 3:03 pm
  26. Joshua Maule
    Posts: 281

    I was wondering if anyone knew of a good resource to find source images of faces for the painting?

    #
    26
     Jul 4, 2012 at 2:19 am
  27. marumaru
    Posts: 3

    Hi, when I bake it for the first time after checking “Bake from Multires” Blender gives me this: “Multires data baking requires multi-resolution object”
    I’m not exactly sure what this means.. could anyone shed some light? I just uncheck the option and continue as per the tutorial will I still get the same/good results?
    I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to this, texturing is my worst area.
    But up until this point your videos have been totally cool and super helpful, very easy to follow. Thank you!
    Hopefully I can resolve this.

    #
    27
     Jul 9, 2012 at 4:58 am
    • Kent Trammell
      Posts: 190

      The object that you’re baking needs to have a multi-resolution modifier on it. In part 2 I sculpted on a multi-res mod which gives the user the ability to store and manipulate subdivision data per level. You can bake on non-multires objects, just uncheck that option in the bake settings.

      Hope that makes sense…check this out for baking help: http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/06/30/normal_maps_blender_2_5/

      Thanks for watching!

      #
      27.1
       Jul 9, 2012 at 11:57 am
  28. Mike Terlouw
    Posts: 18

    Kent,
    Thank you so much for this tutorial and pointing us to the BProjection addon, which is what my question is about:

    How in the world do you get this thing enabled? I d/l’d the text of the script, copied, pasted and saved it as a .py file on my desktop (did this using notepad++), then put it in my addons directory of the most current svn of blender 2.63a (which I got from buildbot this afternoon on July 18, 2012).

    Then in user preferences, I tried to enable it, and it remains greyed out, and I can’t click the box to activate it. I tried some of the other solutions suggested, by copy/pasting and saving from the text editor, and no workee…

    Does anyone have any ideas? I am going crazy when it comes to using scripts and python, and I don’t want to waste time learning it. My project is being held up because I can’t texture my models properly, and this is just the tool I was looking for.

    Your help, or the help of anyone reading this post, is greatly appreciated. More than you know.

    Mike

    #
    28
     Jul 18, 2012 at 3:21 pm
  29. David Gonzalez
    Posts: 5

    I’m having problems activating Bprojection as well. I’ve the file in the appropriate folder, the header even shows up in my toolbar, but when i click the arrow nothing drops down in the options for Bprojection.

    #
    29
     Jul 28, 2012 at 11:13 pm
  30. DeNapes
    Posts: 2

    can anyone tell me a good website, where I can get a decent picture for bprojection

    #
    30
     Sep 8, 2012 at 12:20 pm
  31. eamon driscoll
    Posts: 13

    First Thanks for the Tut’s !!!! Awesome really. However, When I bake my MultiRes it’s all noisy and the creases and wrinkles are light grey. It doesn’t look like your bake. Do you have any idea why that’s happening to me? I’m trying to make a model of Obama.

    #
    31
     Oct 9, 2012 at 12:44 am
  32. DeNapes
    Posts: 2

    Thanks jonathan!
    Very useful

    #
    32
     Nov 2, 2012 at 5:51 pm
  33. Levi SRocha
    Posts: 11

    I do not quite understand … installing and using the bprojection … would be really cool … if had a tutorial focusing on it!
    this is a great series … but it would be even better … if at least in the main points had not timelapse! but overall on this … its perfect!
    congratulations Kent Trammell!

    #
    33
     Dec 27, 2012 at 12:34 pm
  34. FourtyNights
    Posts: 2

    Strange. I can’t change the position of the 3D cursor in the Texture Paint mode by left clickinig the mouse, in order to add detail to right areas for the model like you do. I have to tab out to Edit mode instead to do that. Let clicking paints to the image I’m painting from, instead of changing the position of the 3d cursor?

    #
    34
     Dec 30, 2012 at 7:55 am
  36. Joel Schmidt
    Posts: 24

    hi kent i have blender version 2.5 and the projection paint link doesnt work

    #
    36
     Feb 14, 2013 at 3:04 pm
  37. Joel Schmidt
    Posts: 24

    hi kent i have blender version 2.5 and the projection paint link leads to an empty page

    #
    37
     Feb 14, 2013 at 3:05 pm
  38. drocket60
    Posts: 8

    Hi,

    The link is to the animated book series :(

    #
    38
     Feb 23, 2013 at 1:58 am
  39. Joe Manns
    Posts: 28

    Can anyone tell me how I can apply this to a hand? And where I can get a good texture for the palm and back of hand.

    #
    39
     Mar 21, 2013 at 4:30 pm
    • Alex Telford
      Posts: 454

      Take photos of your hand on an overcast day – So it is natural colors, and extract the information from there.
      -Alex

      #
      39.1
       Mar 22, 2013 at 5:19 am
  40. Manja Milivojevic
    Posts: 2

    I’m quite new in blender(2 weeks) so maybe this is a noob question..
    I’m having problem with uv unwrapping.
    I did everything like in tutorial but something went wrong(http://s23.postimg.org/v617530p7/image.jpg).. when i apply uv map on my model there is some faces missing(http://s16.postimg.org/9erzpsf7p/image.jpg).. don’t know why.. so I did CTRL+N and i got if filled(http://s15.postimg.org/41zz7n63v/image.jpg) but then in my sculpt mode my model go crazy(http://s8.postimg.org/fzydhkec5/image.jpg)

    don’t know what i’m doing wrong.. also, can’t do anything later because when i try to bake it everything is flat..

    help, i’m lost

    #
    40
     May 7, 2013 at 8:37 am

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.