Eye Catching : Tutorial on Character Eye Expression

For those people we love, we relate to them by making deep and meaningful eye contact. When we look at someone we care about, we focus on their eyes and the rest of the world becomes a blur.

It is the same when crafting our 3D characters in scenes. Feeling connected to those characters provides powerful and memorable artwork and that connection is largely determined by the character's eyes how they are lit and how the eyes are expressed.

Too many renders portray flat and dead looking eyes and will make the whole character (and scene) soulless!

Have you struggled with:

Lighting your character's eyes?

Too much or too little reflection in the eyes?

Having a character's eyes fix exactly on your camera?

Getting the eyelids, eyebrows, and eyelashes correct as part of the expression?

Finding a good shader for the eyes?

Working with the camera and depth of field for the eyes?

Understanding catchlights?

Setting the eyes to match the mood or emotion of a character?

In this community workshop video, 7 DAZ Studio artists shared their best renders, tips, and resources for bringing their 3D characters into vibrant life by making their eyes stand out. In the video, we discussed the above topics either in terms of inside DAZ Studio or by using postwork to liven up the final render.

Tutorial Workshops Hosted by Digital Art Live

We've been connecting, educating, and inspiring digital artists in our weekly live webinars since 2013. Look out for our community live workshops at the Digital Art Live website and our other tutorial products in the Daz 3D store.