Khan Noonien Singh (2025)
I wanted to challenge myself to create a game ready character of the great Khan Noonien Singh, superbly portrayed by the immortal Ricardo Montalban.
The major challenge besides the skin detail was capturing all the tiny electrical elements and intricate wiring across his sash, communicator and necklace into a optimised contiguous mesh for each object.
There is a unique sense of order to these accessories despite the chaotic madness of its wearer.
Substance painter was incredibly useful in their texturing process.
Khan also comes with a bowl, pair of forceps and pair of slimy Ceti Eel babies.
This is my humble tribute to the greatest anti-hero of Star Trek's golden years.
Disclaimer:
Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan production is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made 3D model.
Blend shapes were refined using zbrush face tools for character creator 4
Posing was done using zbrush pose tools for character creator 4
Real time render.
Character was rigged and weight painted using a combination of maya and character creator 4.
Cloth and hair simulation was added for realism.
Animation sequence is motion capture data from character creator 4.
This sequence was used to correct skin weights and resolve any clipping issues.
Character creator allows for seamless integration into unreal 5
Realtime Render - Wireframe comparisons
Body was sculpted in zbrush and hi res sculpt was wrapped with character creator neutral mesh.
This was done to allow for full character compatibility with the Reallusion product family and interoperability with Unreal Engine 5
Boxers are stock assets available in character creator and applied to preserve dignity.
Hair cards are created using GS curve tools.
Xgen was used to create the hair textures.
Bracer Face:
High Poly details were sculpted in zbrush and then baked onto single contiguous low poly baked mesh.
Special consideration was given to the details beneath the glass window, which were also captured into the single contiguous low poly mesh.
Necklace:
Necklace is made of 3 parts.
All components are meticulously crafted and wiring was manually arranged and linked.
Lowpoly is optimised to capture maximum detail in the bake while maintaining a near contiguous mesh.
Sash to Pack link:
Sash was carefully linked to the pack.
Lowpoly is optimised to capture maximum detail in the links in bake while maintaining a near contiguous mesh.
Pack with Straps:
A single contiguous mesh with delicate curves of the straps where necessary.
The upper area is covered by the hanging vest and is not seen and some liberty is taken with the design in that region.
Fur uses hair card textures.
High poly sculpt - body
Hi res details were sculpted in zbrush using skin detail brushes and scanned displacement maps.
High poly sculpt - body with all accessories and clothing
Hard surface accessories were created using zmodeler and 3Ds Max subdivision modeling.
High poly sculpt - arms
High poly sculpt - hands
High poly sculpt - legs
High poly sculpt face close up
High poly sculpt - shirt
High poly sculpt - necklace
High poly sculpt - communicator
High poly sculpt - sash and pack
High poly sculpt - glove
Polypaint Color assignment to create Color ID map for use in substance painter
UV layout 2
UV Texture Sets for clothing.
Multiple objects were combined to maximize texture space usage.
UV Texture Sets for accessories.
UV Texture Sets for body.
Body textures are derived from character creator body mesh and divided into Head, Arms, Body and Legs
Character Reference
Communicator Reference
Necklace Reference
Wire Sash Reference