For a second-year specialist project I focused my studies on learning how to texture. I chose the leaf-tailed gecko as the topic of interest; a fascinating species only found on the island of Madagascar.
There are a few types of the gecko; each with a different style of natural camouflage. After a render tests, I centred on recreating a ‘mossy’ flat-tailed gecko.
'Leafy' texture test: for leaf-disguised gecko.
Lizard texture test.
'Mossy' texture test: for moss-disguised gecko.
Additional texture test
I wanted to develop the creature with a ‘cartoony’ style, whilst recreating some convincing textures. The model was created in Maya and posed within Zbrush, which was then subdivided and sculpted. I altered the Zbrush displacement map in Photoshop to achieve the final result.
Eye render test with image-based lighting
Final eye with reflections
An initial test for combining image-generated displacement with sculpt displacement.
A still of the final result!
'Making of' video:
Disclaimer: I do not own the musical soundtrack or real-life flat-tailed gecko photographs and video footage used within this video. If the copyright holders wish for me to take down this video, please contact me and I will do so immediately. Music: ‘Sailor Village 2’ from Croc 2 (Argonaut games).