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Character building
Create a personality-packed figure for your scene
01
CONCEPT
When you want to build a character in Dreams, it helps to prepare well.
I recommend using reference material, so search online for images of elements
that you’ll be sculpting for your character. I often do pencil sketches or digitalpaintings of ideas before sculpting them. You can also design concepts directly
in Dreams and skip the ‘traditional’ part of concept design. That’s what I did for
the character in the following steps. Here are a few other character sculpts I did.02
BLOCKING OUT THE CHARACTER
I usually like to sculpt characters in as few pieces as possible to begin
with. Some creators prefer to add a puppet to the scene and sculpt directly on
that, but for me I find that it breaks the free flow of creation a bit.Start out with the basic Clay tool, with mirror guide turned on. Begin laying down
shapes. You can use a combination of stamping and smearing. Don’t worry about
details at this stage, and don’t be afraid to make ‘mistakes’ here.(^03)
MIRROR GUIDE
The mirror guide in Dreams is very powerful and can save you a lot
of grief and sculpting time. You’ll find it in the Guides tab. In Dreams you have
two different mirror modes: Regular Mirror and Clipped Mirror. In the example
above, the Regular Mirror is enabled for the left sculpt and Clipped Mirror for
the right. Notice how the spherical clay shape at the top of the sculpt is clipped
at the mirror plane.
(^04)
REFINING THE CHARACTER
After the concept phase, you should have a clear idea of where you’re
going. Now it’s time to refine your sketch. Use your shapes sparingly, as every
stroke and action you take has an impact on the Thermometer. If your sketch
consists of too many actions, it might be a good idea to make a new sculpt next
to it and recreate the model. I usually use the Stamp tool, as it’s more controlled
and thermo friendly than using Smear. It also allows you to use Soft Blend.