3D modeling is a complex and demanding discipline, and it has only become more challenging as the industry has evolved. Today, 3D artists are expected to create work that is not only visually impressive but also technically precise and efficient.
Fiona Ng is a professional 3D artist who has worked on AAA games and high-budget film and television productions. She has worked as a character artist and modeler at Sony PlayStation and Scanline VFX, and her specialty is modeling, texturing, and look development for realistic characters and creatures.
She has also published a number of articles on the Rookie website, and these articles provide a fascinating look into her creative process and technical expertise.
Fiona’s articles discuss complex technical processes, such as using Zwrap for topology projection, leveraging tools like Mari for texture painting, and implementing Xgen for hair and fur grooming.
Her willingness to explore advanced technical solutions to improve efficiency and quality is evident in her published work, and that’s why we’re going to take a closer look at some of these articles.
Fiona Ng
We’ll also be sharing Fiona’s comments on the articles, as well as her thoughts on the current state of the 3D modeling industry and where it’s headed in the future.
Let’s get started.
Mastering tools for creative excellence
To remain competitive in the fast-moving world of games and film, Fiona emphasizes the importance of staying current with new tools and technologies. “The industry is evolving very quickly, and both companies’ and audiences’ expectations are getting higher each day,” she explains, underscoring how companies are always searching for faster, more efficient ways to deliver high-quality results. For her, it’s not enough to create beautiful art—working within pipelines and mastering technology is essential to maintaining efficiency on large productions.
Tools like Zwrap are particularly valuable for streamlining repetitive tasks, such as projecting topology across meshes. This not only ensures more consistent results but also frees up time for Fiona to focus on the creative aspects of her work. “I seldom sculpt facial pores from scratch anymore,” she shares, noting how pairing Zwrap with scanned data from resources like TexturingXYZ produces high-quality skin textures much faster. For personal projects, Fiona also gravitates toward Mari for its ability to handle large files and UDIM counts, as well as its procedural workflows with node graphs. Xgen, another favorite, allows her to refine her grooming skills—an area she continues to focus on as part of her passion for creating lifelike characters and creatures.
From concept to reality
In Fiona’s Undead project, advanced tools like Zwrap and Mari played a pivotal role in refining her workflow and elevating the final result. Inspired by a ghoul concept by Sebastian Kowoll, Fiona embarked on the project to explore techniques for painting realistic skin. She began by sculpting the character’s head in ZBrush, referencing anatomy books, photos, and 3D scans to ensure accuracy and believability. “Instead of retopologizing the sculpt from scratch, I used Zwrap to project a pre-existing topology from one of my base models,” she explains, a step that saved her significant time and ensured clean, symmetrical topology throughout the process.
To achieve lifelike skin details, Fiona turned to Mari, where she mixed displacement maps from TexturingXYZ and refined the texture further in Mudbox. The non-destructive nature of Mudbox’s layer system allowed her to adjust fine wrinkles and pores with precision. Utilizing Mari’s node graph, she found it an efficient way to keep her work organized. “I painted several region masks for more flexibility during lookdev, allowing me to fine-tune gloss values without back-and-forth adjustments between Maya and Mari,” she notes. This structured approach enabled her to maintain control over every detail, resulting in a polished and realistic final render.
Where art meets precision
Taking a flexible approach, Fiona balances artistic vision with technical demands by tailoring her workflow to fit the specific needs of each project. “When it comes to personal projects, art always comes first,” she explains, noting that fewer technical constraints allow her to explore techniques freely and focus on refining her artistic skills. However, in larger productions, technical precision becomes paramount, as her work must integrate smoothly with other departments like rigging and animation.
In these collaborative settings, Fiona emphasizes the importance of aligning both artistic and technical goals with the broader project vision. “There is a time limit and a strict schedule to stick to,” she shares, underscoring the need for efficiency. To meet deadlines without compromising quality, she relies on non-destructive and procedural workflows that allow for quick adjustments.
By automating repetitive tasks and optimizing her processes, Fiona ensures that she has enough time to focus on the artistic aspects that bring her work to life. “It’s a lot about problem solving and finding creative solutions to work more efficiently,” she adds, reflecting her commitment to both technical excellence and creative expression.
Perfecting digital details
A deep understanding of how hair, fur, and feathers behave in real life serves as the foundation of Fiona’s approach to grooming. Mastery of tools like Xgen is valuable, but she emphasizes that “knowing the ins and outs of the tool will only get you this far if you do not have a solid foundation and understanding of how hair works and its characteristics.” Observing real-world examples is key, and she relies on extensive reference images to accurately recreate those details in digital form. Before using Xgen, Fiona prefers to start with a quick sculpt in Zbrush, where she defines the “volume and the flow of the hair,” a step that helps reduce guesswork when creating guides, ensuring a more natural final result.
Alongside grooming, maintaining clean topology is essential to the overall success of her models. “Having clean and good topology flow is especially important when working in production,” Fiona explains, as poorly structured models can create problems for rigging and animation teams. In film and TV, where assets are rendered offline, models can be more detailed, but game characters require strict optimization for smooth real-time performance. “Game characters require much more optimized polycount and texture spaces,” she notes, underscoring how different specifications demand careful strategic planning to align with each project’s unique requirements.
Efficient tools help Fiona manage the demands of retopology, streamlining the more tedious aspects of the process. This approach allows her models to meet technical requirements without compromising artistic quality, enabling effective collaboration with other departments. By optimizing both grooming and topology workflows, Fiona achieves the precision needed to bring her characters to life while maintaining production efficiency.
Tools in harmony
For Fiona, integrating multiple tools into a cohesive pipeline is essential for maintaining both speed and quality in her work. “No single tool can handle every requirement perfectly,” she explains, which is why understanding the strengths of each software package and matching them to project needs is critical. She regularly uses a range of industry-standard tools, including Maya, ZBrush, Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, Xgen, Vray, and Unreal Engine, ensuring her workflow aligns with what studios commonly adopt, making collaboration with different teams more seamless.
Fiona also prioritizes tools that streamline processes by automating repetitive or technical tasks, freeing up more time for creative work. “By keeping an open mind to new technologies, I can streamline processes, allowing me to dedicate more time and effort to the artistic and creative aspects of my work,” she notes. This adaptive approach helps her maintain flexibility in ever-evolving production environments, ensuring that her pipelines are both efficient and capable of supporting high-quality output.
Turning skills into real-world results
Staying ahead in the fast-evolving 3D industry requires Fiona to actively engage with a variety of resources and communities. “I follow a lot of industry leaders on socials to learn their tips and tricks,” she shares, and frequently explores other artists’ work on platforms like ArtStation to stay inspired. Additionally, she values hands-on learning through workshops and industry events, where she gains insights into best practices and new technologies. While she is open to new tools, Fiona carefully considers their impact before integrating them, noting, “Some tools have steep learning curves and could complicate existing workflows, so it really depends on the potential value they bring in the long run.”
One tool that genuinely excites her is the new ZBrush app for iPad. “It makes 3D sculpting so accessible and affordable,” Fiona notes, imagining a future where artists can seamlessly transfer projects between desktop and mobile platforms, sketching freely whenever inspiration strikes.
Fiona has carved out a distinct space in the 3D art world through her relentless pursuit of innovation and mastery, redefining the relationship between creativity and technology. Her contributions to digital workflows have enhanced efficiency, setting new benchmarks by seamlessly integrating tools like Maya, ZBrush, Xgen, and Mari into cohesive pipelines. She emphasizes that staying open to new technologies streamlines processes, freeing her to focus more on creative elements rather than repetitive tasks. Her forward-thinking approach is reflected in her enthusiasm for emerging tools like the ZBrush app for iPad, which she sees as an opportunity for artists to work with greater fluidity and spontaneity. As she continues to explore new tools and platforms, Fiona’s vision extends beyond her own work, helping to democratize 3D art and inspire future generations, fostering a future where technology and creativity evolve in harmony.
