Massive overhaul to character models coming! (Patreon)

Hey everyone, this is going to be a bit of a long post about what I have planned for the next couple of months. TL;DR: I'm planning to revamp my character creation process, which will improve the quality of my existing models, help me make future models faster, and in the process i'm going to give away some free tools for blender artists! Since there will be a lot of learning/work involved in this, I won't have the time to post normal art for the next 2-ish months, but it will be well worth it in the long run :)

The long version:

I'm working on revamping my character creation workflow, which will greatly improve both the visual quality and the user-friendliness of my current/future models. This is happening now largely because some new features have been added to Blender that weren't there when I started making models, such as hair node groups and VDM brushes.

The largest update will be that I am going to start using the hair nodes system instead of the old particle hair system. This new system unlocks so much potential, and once I get accustomed to it I'll hopefully be able to create hair almost as realistic as life itself. The only limitation with the geometry node hair system is that hair physics isn't implemented yet, however this will definitely come in a future update to Blender.

I'm also currently working on making procedural realistic body hair generators (eyelashes, eyebrows, vellus hair, pubic hair, and possibly arm and leg hair). Since they are fully procedural with no hair sculpting involved, anybody can add these to any model with minimal effort, while also having tons of customizability. I'll be releasing them for free (probably on open3dlab/smutbase) once finished, and I hope that this will help a lot of model makers out!

I'm also going to be using mesh wrapping to project my character model's facial geometry directly onto the geometry of the gamerip model. Effectively, this will mean that my models will be a better likeness of the video game models. This will also cut down on the time it takes me to make models, since I won't be spending as much time tweaking small aspects of the face (which has been my method so far).

My new models will also be using a multires sculpting + VDM brush workflow for the vagina and anus instead of it being geometry on the base mesh. As you know, this part of my mesh was definitely lacking in detail, and this will fix that issue while also allowing tons of customizability with different brush options. Myself and S.H.X are working to port some free nsfw zbrush VDMs to blender, along with a free guide for how to use them effectively. The one limitation to the VDM method is that they have no shapekeys - you would have to add these manually via sculpt/edit mode if you want to animate them opening/closing.

I will also integrate the clothing directly into my Blender models so that the end-user doesn't have to rig and texture it themself, and I will also add a UI to make my models overall easier to use.

I'll be posting periodic updates of my progress with all of this on my twitter, and more in-depth behind the scenes stuff will be here on my patreon tiers 2-3.

Also, thanks for 25k followers over on twitter! I really appreciate all of your support (especially if you read down this far!) <3