Indoril Ordinator Mask

This small project was undertaken to demonstrate an ability to creature human faces (though in this case it is stylized and slightly grotesque) as well as some familiarity with Zbrush.

Though completed only recently (April-May 2008), it is based off some basic groundwork I had done in early 2006, as part of my larger Oblivion project. The Indoril Mask is a reproduction one of the more noteworthy and distinctive pieces of character equipment to appear in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, but reimagined for the high-res game art of today.

I started with some simple reference sketchings to use within 3dsMax as guides. The basic head shape was modeled out in 3dsMax, and in this process, certain details were also better established, like the crest and plume.

Finer details were worked out in Zbrush, particularly the facial ridges. The concept I had in my head was that this mask was constructed of formed rigid plates, assembled together into a whole. Thus I wanted the ridges to appear as though they marked where two plates join or overlap. The fabric folds of the cowl were also sculpted in Zbrush.

Finally, normal maps were generated and then it all went into Photoshop. In addition to creating the diffuse map and gloss map, finer details were added to the normal map, such as subtle texture overlays, pieces of gold adornment, and general accentuations of important features, like the plate ridges.

The textures for the plume, meanwhile, was produced entirely within Photoshop. It didn't make sense to sculpt out individual hair strands in Zbrush when it could all be handled in a more streamlined fashion in Photoshop.

With the production work completed, I decided to take it in-game. The model was exported, some necessary compatibility tweaks were made, and behold, the Indoril helmet is functioning inside of Oblivion. Here are some screenshots.