Covers.

Aussie Guards #1: Arrival

The first thing I did was select 3D character models.  [The creators are acknowledged at the front of each book, of course.]

Then I used Mixamo to put them into different poses.

After that I brought them into Unity and positioned them together and lit them.

Then I took screenshots and added text in Photoshop.

As you will see if you read the notes on each image, I realized Sam needed a scar.  At first I painted one on the 2D image but it wasn't very convincing so I made a scar and placed it directly on his model.  It's interesting, because actually it's an awful scar, but I have lit him so brightly, it barely shows in the images.

Then I got tired of Quinn not having enough clothes, so I used the UMA add-on to give her clothes in Unity and did the poses again.

And after all that, I decided her pose wasn't aggressive enough so I warped her in Photoshop.  As if Quinn has not had enough travails in life already!

So that is the process, or pipeline, as they call it in creative industries.

Naively, I thought that was the end of the creative process, but in fact it was the beginning.  After that I had to work on the text to make it clear and meaningful.  I don't think that process is ever ended, I have just given up for now.

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