Tutorial: Mari - Node Based Texturing for Characters
Welcome to my latest Tutorial: Mari - Node Based Texturing for Characters
This in-depth tutorial will go over my node-based texturing workflow in Mari. This process has been iterated on for the last couple of years, tried and tested in a feature film production environment.
We will begin with a demo of my custom template specifically designed to visualise your textures to the highest quality within Mari. From there we will texture the skin, apply makeup and texture the costume. We will apply these maps to some shaders in Maya where I explain the importance of keeping shaders simple without over complicating them. I will also be providing a bonus chapter where I show my technique of sculpting within Mari and explain the benefits of using this technique.
I will be providing both the custom template for you to start from, as well as the wrinkle brush which I have depeloped specificaly for sharp wrinkle detail on your characters.
If you don't own a copy of Mari, you can always use the Non-Commercial version found on their website Mari Non-Commercial.This version isn't as robust as the full version, but you should still be able to produce some solid work with it for your portfolio. I have even created a sperate template just for this version of Mari.
I have recorded most of the texture process, just leaving out some slight tweaks I made in between chapters, but I make sure to go over the changes in the following chapter explaining my thought process and showing exactly the changes that were made.
Resources:
- Custom Mari Template
- Custom Mari Template Non-Commercial
- Mari Wrinkle Brush
Chapters:
Bonus Chapter - Intro to Mari
Chapter01 - Applying vFace maps
Chapter02 - Template Overview
Chapter03 - Initial Texture Scene Setup
Chapter04 - Texturing the Skin
Chapter05 - Skin Specular Roughness
Chapter06 - Baking Utility Maps to Refine the Skin
Chapter07 - Makeup
Chapter08 - SSS Mask
Chapter09 - Texturing the Metal
Chapter10 - Texturing the Costume
Chapter11 - Final touches
Chapter12 - Sculpting wrinkles in Mari
Programs Used:
- Mari
- Maya
- Arnold
Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the tutorial.