Kuma Project: Character Creation

This is a character that I have had an idea for many years.  Since I first started I have learned different workflows for everything from modeling to texturing. As a result the characters design has changed a lot compared with his very first model.  
    

Currently work is being done on the body and facial rigs. Finishing touches are being done on the texture maps. I have also been experimenting with fur. 

Current Mesh rendered with Maya Viewport 2.0 in real time.

Black and White Shader

This has been a trail and error experience for me that started back in school. I wanted to achieve a similar shader look as was used in the movie Renaissance. Using Maya's ramp shaders I created harsh cut offs between black and white and grey's based on brightness levels. However after further experimentation I noticed that this method caused lighting anomalies. Shadows and light would sometimes appear reversed. I ended up switching to a method that used a shader map to look up the black or white value on the ramp and then apply it to different levels of the specularity of the objects in the light. This way lighting and shadows acted much more naturally. I also had a lot more control over the threshold value of where the light jumps from black to white.
Bump maps were being used to apply textures to objects which also attributed to the increase in the number of shaders being used in any particular scene. Later on outside of classes further experimentation ensued during which I noticed the fatal flaw with the way the material reacted to lighting conditions. Now with the current shading map texturing with bump maps has been dropped in favor of shading network simplicity while rendering. One shader is used and higher levels of geometry are used for detail.

Multiple variations of the shaders were made that allowed for black, white and grays and different material types.

Test render with tileable bump maps applied to Surface

Initially I intended to use bump and normal maps for finer details. Render and load times increased due to complex shading networks and texture files. 

I removed the texture map inputs and added a white outline to accent edges in dark space for the materials final iteration.