WHAT IS LOOK DEVELOPMENT?
Look development is about building worlds and characters by creating the color, textures, and materials for everything you see in the final rendered images. Look Development artists collaborate closely with each other and also with various other art and technical teams alongside Visual Development. Lighting artists also collaborate with them as we rely heavily on this department.
How does LookDev work?
The look development process starts with reference images and a model that has defined shapes, but may not have all the details. A LookDev artist or shading artist adds displacement and/or procedural geometry to finalize the shapes before adding all the color, textures, and material properties through layers of masks and expressions.
Why is it so important? As we can see in the images above, lighting reacts completely differently based on the material the object is made of. For example, if an object has a material with more metalness or specularity, it will bounce more light and reflect more, just as if an object is white it will bounce more light and if it is black it will absorb more light. This is especially accentuated in PBR (Physical Based Rendering) projects.
That is why as Lighting artists we must have at least some knowledge of Look Development, since on some occasions we will probably have to do the LookDev of some projects, especially if they are personal projects, freelance commissions or projects in small studios.
| And what about Grooming? Grooming is the process of creating, designing, styling and maintaining the hair, fur or plumage of characters. Depending on the company, they are called Grooming artists or CFX artists, the latter also create the characters’ fabrics and their simulation, both hair and fabric. The hair is also very important for the final look of a character, although it is a much more technical process. |
| LOOKDEV AND GROOMING MENTORING At The Lighting Lab we have launched new Look Development and Grooming mentoring sessions to help you take your skills in these departments to the next level. If you want more information about what you will learn, about the syllabus, schedules and prices, you will find them in our mentoring section. Below you can see some of the work of the mentor, Mani Salguero: |
