The 5-hour workshop begins with a sketch — in this case, a concept based on macro photography of a silkworm. The drawing is taken as a rough idea for a 3D model into ZBrush, where all further design decisions are made. Babak reveals some of his favorite ZBrush tools that help him divide up models and maximize efficiency, and he discusses his decision-making and design choices throughout the process.

With the ZBrush model complete, Babak shares his ZBrush PolyPainting techniques and the process of exporting maps for further texturing work in the industry-favorite 3D painting tool, Mari. He discusses the other maps required for shading and reveals how they are generated and facilitate more shading possibilities.

In the final stage of the 3D creature creation pipeline, Babak takes the painted creature into Maya to set up an effective lighting environment. He shares his V-Ray shading network and discusses the power of RGB masks, and reveals how lighting can dramatically enhance the sculpted details of 3D models. He also shares a simple fur workflow before rendering out the final result using V-Ray for Maya.