I was searching for inspiration for a submission to the 2024 reallusion 3D character contest when I stumbled upon a free model of roller skates from Adobe. This sparked an idea.

I've always wanted to create a Roller Derby character because there's so much creative freedom with this concept. Since the model comes from the Substance library, it has excellent UV mapping. However, after cleaning up the model for use in Character Creator, I realized that its 96K polygon count was a nightmare for weight painting and far from ideal for animation.

While weight painting, I noticed that the model was fully detailed on the inside, which is insane. I had no choice but to rebuild it to make it far more usable. At least now I have a great starting point for a lighter model, and it's nice to get back into some hard surface modeling again.

I really want to switch entirely to Blender, but my muscle memory from using C4D is still holding me back...

I reduced the polygon count from 96k to 32k, making it much more manageable. To retain detail, I modeled it to be subdivided. Next, I need to unwrap the model, and then I can finally get creative. For additional inspiration, I created a Pinterest board to better guide my creative process.

Alright, UV unwrapping isn't the most fun part of 3D modeling, but thanks to RizomUV, it's manageable. Here's the result:

With this new model, the weight painting process went much more smoothly.

• Straps for the helmet, with plans to enhance it with a Roman plume or similar decoration
• Kneepads, hand protection, and elbow protection.
• A top and shorts.
• Tattoos and wounds from the Jam.

I reviewed the helmet model and wasn't satisfied with the overall design. The way I had modeled it was prone to shading artifacts.

As you can see, the mesh lacks enough support edges to hold the shape properly. The only option was to start over.

Now, the helmet retains its shape and looks much better.

I wanted the straps to stay unfastened to emphasize the character's carelessness. I also wanted the straps to "flap" around as shown in this clip. 

Unfortunatly I need to spend more time perfecting this effect. Like stated earlier in the thread the shading and colors are still in rough concept phase. 

I've made some progress on the texturing, which was a welcome change from modeling. I've also altered the body shape to be more masculine. This is what's so awesome about Character Creator—you can make changes on the fly without breaking the entire rig. I really think it's starting to convey the concept.

Another design pass on the skates. Maybe they are still too sweet...

I've made the breast a bit smaller to fit better with the overal character.

In Substance Painter I tried to create some band aids for the character but I felt so limited by either my knowledge or the possibilities. After a while I decided to create a band aid shader in Substance Designer and utilize those instead. It's a simple setup and I have to restrain myself from going overboard with sliders and tweakable parameters.

The result was way better.

I did another pass on the textures and fixed the teeth up.

I am aware that the process is quite technical and yields the expected results. However, as I mentioned earlier, I wanted to take a more extreme approach. I had the idea of giving the character a Roman helmet mohawk. This sparked further inspiration for the character, leading me to steer in a Mad Max direction, which feels like the right path to take.

I created the wrist protection part and worked on the details of the pants. After much postponement, I have finally started working on the kneepads, although they are still in the early stages.

The knee pad model is done and textured.

After finishing up all the assets and parts I could start the animation process. Since it is animation I will share the last part as a video. Enjoy