Hippo

This was my submission piece for my university brief, "Saddled Animal," with a 25,000-triangle budget. My primary goal for this project was to deepen my understanding of hippo anatomy to improve the retopology and unwrapping process. I focused on deformation loops and their placement to optimize the model for rigging.
The hippo was sculpted in ZBrush, while the bridle was modeled in 3ds Max. I handled all retopology in 3ds Max and experimented with Rizom UV for unwrapping, aiming for a more efficient and effective layout—especially for the bridle. Afterward, I brought everything into Substance Painter for texturing.
I’m really pleased with the final result. This was my first time sculpting an animal, and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process. This piece was heavily inspired by https://lnkd.in/d9ujxEeu

This is a link to my blog if anyone's interested in the process and BTS as well as other projects I have completed in my first year of uni. https://lnkd.in/dRTRAWth