A portrait from photos

Level

Advanced

Time

3 hours

Version

Shapeaway 4.0

You need

Three or more photos

You’ll make

A portrait bust that matches its photos, coloured from them

Files

Photos of the person: front, both sides and a three-quarter view at least, in even light, without a wide-angle lens

Ask first

Only sculpt real people who have agreed to it, and get their permission before sharing the result.

Photos

Take, or ask for, photos from the front, both sides, a three-quarter view and from above, in soft even light. Step back and zoom in rather than holding the phone close, which distorts the face.

Match the cameras

1. Block out a head and neck in clay at Fine or Ultra, roughly the right size.
2. Refs › Photos: add the photos.
3. For each photo, Match the camera: mark the eye corners, nose tip, mouth corners, chin and ears on the photo, then the same points on the sculpt, and Solve. Six or more points per photo.

Sculpt the likeness

1. Look through the front photo with the overlay as an outline. Grab and Move the silhouette to match it.
2. Repeat for each side and the three-quarter view. Each view corrects the others.
3. Refine features one at a time: eyes (use Objects › New eye), nose, mouth, ears. Keep checking through every photo.
4. When the forms match, Add detail for skin texture with the Pores and Skin stamps.

Colour and hair

1. Project all matched photos with Remove lighting on. Touch up seams and areas the photos didn’t see with Paint from photo or plain paint.
2. Groom hair, brows and any beard as separate grooms.
3. Give the face the Skin finish with some subsurface and oil, and light it with the Studio preset.

Next: A game-ready asset.