Character designer Rob Corcoran explains how he created Space Marines for a Warhammer game.
Working on Warhammer projects is a dream come true for Rob
As a young boy Character Artist Rob Corcoran was a massive Games Workshop fan, so getting the chance to work on a Warhammer project was a dream come true.
We caught up with Corcoran to see how he created these stunning Space Marine characters for Warhammer 40,ooo: Deathwatch, a strategy game released by Rodeo Games.
These intricate images took hundreds of hours to complete
"The main bulk of the Space Marines were sculpted in Zbrush. Some of the extra ornamentation was created in Maya, along with the weapons. All elements were painted in Zbrush with a few details and finer work carried out in Photoshop.
As this was for a game, the textures, including normal maps were then baked onto lower res models. I used a combination of Zbrush and XNormal for this. PBR textures were created in Photoshop. Unreal 4 Engine was used to render the scene."
How long did it take to create?
"Hundreds of hours from start to finish, if you take into account all the individual pieces that needed constructing. Many of the Space Marines have unique backpacks and gear, plus individual uv layouts and materials, not to mention the work on the weapons. The scene was the culmination of all that.
As with most pieces in games this was also a collaborative effort. Ben Murch set up the lights and Will Evans created the gorgeous backdrops, as well as posing by our animator Chris Knott."
What was the most enjoyable part?
"Honestly, absolutely everything. This was a dream come true working on the project. If I had to pick out anything it would be when I was creating the PBR materials and applying them. At that stage the models really come to life.
Being around other professionals who excel at what they do is always a massive inspiration. Groups of like-minded people tend to bounce off each other and it creates a sort of storm of enthusiasm."
Having spent his whole career in games, Corcoran has designed plenty of interesting and unsusual characters. Head over to his ArtStation portfolio to see more of his impressive work.
Dom Carter is a freelance writer who specialises in art and design. Formerly a staff writer for Creative Bloq, his work has also appeared on Creative Boom and in the pages of ImagineFX, Computer Arts, 3D World, and .net. He has been a D&AD New Blood judge, and has a particular interest in picture books.
Creating the John Wick-inspired mocap for SPINE - and why just Unreal Engine 5 isn't always enough
