Fox Avatar for VRC - A few things to note

Just about done with the fox model for VRC so it can get rigged.

I did learn a few things from this model that I did not see when I was working on the wolf. Since I heavily rely on Normal maps you need to make sure it captures all the information correctly.

To create a normal map in substance painter (which I highly recommend for texturing) you will need 2 models of the same model. You will need a high poly model with all the details (for example I had fur details on the tail and a few areas around the body) and a low poly model which the high quality model will be projected onto it. This method has helped a lot keeping the model "looking" like it has more info when it is actually a lower poly model. I did notice issues with seams when you transfer the character to substance painter I wanted to bring up.

When you transfer the character to substance painter and you have not UV mapped it in blender or Zbrush it will do an automatic unwrap. The biggest issue I have seen with this is the messy way it creates seams. A lot of the time it creates seams in areas you may not want shifting things around a bit. The fox has a split around the eyebrow ridge and side of the cheek. Not very noticeable in these renders but it is seen if you are right up almost clipping into the character. Not a make or break for texturing but something you may want to keep in mind specially when doing normal maps.

So I plan to either UV unwrap via Zbrush/Blender or create poly groups to allow Substance painter to interpret the model better. I accidentally transferred over the character to get painted to start with with poly groups (not where I wanted them as I accidentally did this) but realized that SP keeps all the information and unwraps based on the poly groups from Zbrush. I will do a test transfer of one of the heads and divide the sections into polygroups where I want them and see how SP interprets the seams in the texture. If I am loosing you by now, no worries will be explaining this in another post soon. 

So what happens now? The fox is still missing the final texture for the claws, hair, jaw set and tongue. Once I have that done I will be able to get this model rigged and ready soon. Along with the wolf I am trying to get all these together before opening the VR chat tier :).

Next animal to model will be a large cat (will be used for a tiger, puma, leopard, jaguar etc) and a variation of a sabertooth too.