The Secrets of Sephiroth's Character Model

Laura's Character Art Classes: outgang.studio
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This video is a breakdown of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 Remake. We discuss his design, his textures, his low-res and UVs and more.
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00:00 Introduction
00:36 Sephiroth's Design
04:04 Hair Breakdown
06:45 Low-Res
10:00 UVs and Textures
12:32 Why Sephiroth's Head is Separate from his Body
16:52 Conclusion

[@Outgang]

A Huge thank you to everyone who has supported me on Patreon! I have decided to close the Patreon to focus completely on creating content over at outgang.studio. Thank you once again for those who pledged!

[@kalimbalove1912]

From a fashion perspective, his design is actually timeless. All black leather, sleek cut coat, it might not look 'interesting' but this look will stand the test of time. That's why he's still so popular after 25 years.

[@dartbrider]

We need a Final Fantasy VII: Sephiroth game. Most likely a prequel where we play as the man himself.

[@xxreyoxx]

I've been wanting that or something with Jenova and The Cetra.

[@TheTribute410]

It would be amazing welding the destructive power of Sephiroth

[@thogameskanaal]

Would love to see that happen and would play it for sure. In all likelihood, the remake will do it's fair share of fan service with future episodes, so I don't think Square Enix would plan something like this anytime soon.

[@Blizzy1293]

I want that but I feel like so much around him has been established that the story for that game likely have to be non canon to be new.

[@bloomblock2768]

Theres just one problem: What enemies are we going to face off agains? I mean, Sephiroth Is THE most powerfull being on Final Fantasy 7.

[@MikaMausArt]

I love that you decided to wear a black leather jacket, matching his character design ahah! Square put Laura in part 2 please?

[@Outgang]

My life would be complete.

[@vykroft]

And then we'd get Laura doing a character breakdown of Laura. Absolutely bonkers.

[@NaitomeIya]

She could be an NPC who would give a sidequest!

[@DestructionBomb]

One thing I just now realized with Sephiroth's model is the smaller details of his attire where it's tough to view it in-game as he was a character that mostly appeared in cutscenes until way later in the game where you can sorta "in-game take a look at him" to speak instead of like having to pause here and there just to see how his outfit looked, specifically his belt because Inside FF7R with the main cast you could see the Materia you slotted in on their weapons (A good example is Cloud's buster sword). Which by the way, a detail I wasn't sure if they'd add in FF7R but was one of those things that I was curious about is what happens if you can actually see the Materia equipped and visually apparent. With Sephiroth, you could possibly see his Materia slotted on his belt including the feather-like accessories he has equipped. He might potentially be the first character in FF7R where you can actually see it being equipped on an attire/accessories rather than the weapon. The main cast are the only ones that show Materia on their weapon if I remember correctly. Course for anyone who's new to the series, Materia is those glowing orbs/jewels that enhances you when equipped and able to do things such as magic, and FF7R is the game where you can now actually see them visually stand out when equipped for the very first time. Then again, I might also be making a stretch here as some of those different colored jewels are smaller than others so it might just be an aesthetic type of thing for the character itself. Thank you for the video and I hope you have a wonderful amazing day.

[@Outgang]

I was wondering about those too. They look like materia but their colors are different than the red/green/blue/purple ect. that we usually see in the game. I don't know what they are.

[@vincentgraymore]

Well, Red XIII also has materia in his collar. Sure he might not be classified as main party in part 1, and it will probably be his "weapon" slot (instead of hair clip) for the next remake parts, but it is not a weapon in any traditional sense. But as someone said "locking someone up with materia is like locking up someone with a gun". You also have the fact that you upgrade weapons, but the weapons do not gain many additional physical slots for every materia unlock, meaning Materia still needs to fit somewhere else realistically in the world.

[@kaihedgie1747]

The first time Materia was seen "equipped" outside of gameplay was in Advent Children with Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz but in their cases, they absorb the Materia into their bodies. During the last scene with Yazoo and Loz, their fading bodies causes the Materia inside their arms to become visible

[@pixbstudios]

That's really interesting that they cut the character head from the body and also they have same triangle count. Now i can imagine Tifa's face turning into Sephiroth or Barrett's face using blend shapes

[@blyat8832]

Oh no, don't give anyone ideas

[@pixbstudios]

@@blyat8832 i did not gave an idea.

[@blyat8832]

@@pixbstudios idk, I think you saying having Tifa's face turn into Seph's or Barrets seems like an idea to me

[@pixbstudios]

@@blyat8832 i Don't think thers anything offensive in that.

[@blyat8832]

@@pixbstudios I didn't say it was offensive did I lmao

[@FEARkingpin]

Been following this series for a while, I really like the way you review these models Laura! You make things easier to understand by being informative and funny at the same time! looking forward to more of your contents!

[@Outgang]

Thanks D!

[@jeffhampton6972]

This is so much fun, and incredibly informative. Thank you for making it! And for the humor as well, those scene cuts are on point.

[@Outgang]

Cheers Jeff!

[@Phantomyre]

I'm surprised Sephiroth is more low res than the other characters. I'm sure Aerith is low as well but this is surprising. The belt is really cool though. That face tho

[@lulyz419]

Thank you so much for these videos, it's really interesting to see how these characters are made, and sometimes I get new ideas while watching :)

[@aaroncarr3413]

That emblem from his tummy, is the key chain from the murasamune from kh1, cementing that everything he did in kh happened in before the events of ff7r...

[@Zettaiz3r0]

Love there series there, Laura! This is very helpful stuff to get an idea of how to consume art critically!

[@marcusk9483]

really enjoying these videos. Thank you for the time you put in them

[@Outgang]

My pleasure! They're quite fun to do.

[@jacquechoi]

Great breakdown Laura! :D You're creatings such an amazing resource for everyone!

[@Outgang]

Cheers friend.

[@meilin_]

I was searching for a tutorial while working and find your channel few month ago, and completely fell in love in it!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!! Plz keep coming, I'll never feel boring looking at this🥰

[@Outgang]

Thank you mEiliN!

[@Zaites]

When I was doing my last work for university, I wondered why to have the head separated from the body, even though I asked the teachers, they expalined about the easy way to move the head, however I suspected that was not the entire true, since the bones can do the same thing if you do it correctly no matter if the head and body are the same model or not, same thing for UV, we all know we can do different uv maps for each face of a model if we want, so that was not a good explanation at all. Now I know the real reason, that is good to know. Laura thank you very much to keep up with these videos, the explanations clarifies a lot of things to me, I really appreciate all of your work and I hope someday I'll be able to be like you💜

[@anass155]

True professional! Thank you so much for the information that you share with us ❤

[@Niosai]

These videos are fantastic. You're very good at breaking this stuff down to people who aren't in the industry and/or don't understand how this stuff normally works. Great stuff 😁

[@Outgang]

Thanks Niosai!

[@MissyMona]

Oh pleassee do one of the lady characters next! I've always wanted someone to breakdown Final Fantasy 3D models. You're amazing for doing so!

[@biano3d]

wow, great series again, love see those wireframes and RGB masks working on...thanks for sharing

[@grayfox8904]

Oh yeah, lets go! I like your outfit and the setting you are on, it seems like you are in a sneaking mission! Keep up the good work Laura! :-)

[@Outgang]

Thanks GrayFox!

[@GrandeGio95]

this channel is outstanding, a perfect blend between 3D Art and Videogames

[@gaelkerchenbaum]

Fantastic video. Thanks Laura!

[@tenguagustus]

Awesome character breakdown Yeah, during the retopo stage on my own works, I always need to keep reminded to put extra polygon on the accessories to match the body topo XD

[@lbernal8199]

omg I love your jacket im obsessed 0.0

[@Stubbs2501]

Very interesting stuff, really liking this series, btw I've never used Patreon before, but I couldn't sign up fast enough after you appealed to my inner shipper:)

[@ROKMO]

Again! greaaat break down!! very insightful

[@Outgang]

Thanks Rok-mo!

[@Kotakesei]

wow maybe there's less to say about this model in isolation but the pipeline analysis was super interesting ! thanks for that !

[@Anths_art]

i have break down whenever i see sephiroth's characters model knowing I cannot taste this man 👁👁

[@Outgang]

I'd guess he's somewhat sour.

[@marcusmartins6759]

Amazing. Thanks a lot for all information. Thanks, thanks and thanks.

[@pipahouse]

great review!

[@david18cruz1989]

that chonkyroth actually looks cool.

[@vd8189]

I laughed so hard when saw the MASSIVE Sephiroth :D Great video as always, Laura!

[@TheSatzy6699]

Love the content of this channel 😻

[@Outgang]

Thanks Satzy!

[@paleblood5188]

Is there any chance you can do a character breakdown of Aloy? I am amazed how they modeled Aloy's underarm

[@nihalsingh6327]

Omg please LOOOONGER SEPHIRPTH DETAILS MOOORE OMG THAAAAANK YOUUUUUUUU !!!!

[@YaronElaouf]

Laura you are amazing!!

[@llamazolt9291]

Just found this video through algorithm recommendations. Now I won' sleep thinking about bald Seph XD Thanks, that's super informative! I find it hard to get info about how Squenix does their models. I really wanna study more of that.

[@NatoShinobi]

Loved it 😩. And you’re so prettyful 😭

[@OsirisMawn]

Dint kid yourself

[@stephaniepere4728]

I would like to see you do Aerith's character model

[@AdrianFerrufino]

massive sephiroth was truly nigthmare fuel

[@ThousandBlade]

FINALLY！！！ Sephiroth episode!!!!!

[@jannatuluddin2121]

It’s very interesting watching these videos. I hope you do Aerith and Red 13 next and hopefully other games.

[@wallarious1605]

Hello, I've watched all your character break downs. Amazing job btw. I just wonder how they managed to attach the head to the body seamlessly. Especially despite having 2 different UVs they still got the complete match of the normal maps. Is there a technical trick to do so? If you know it would be great to learn...

[@tanjaborngraber]

Hi! Thx that you share your knowlegde and Talent with us. How did you get the models? Kind regards

[@MattQVSTheWorld]

I wouldn't be surprised if a similar head sharing method was used for the NPCs in the game just with a lower poly count. I'm still impressed when randos on the street have accurate(ish) facial animation instead of the Muppet-y lip flaps we were getting in games before.

[@Outgang]

Yeah that's almost certainly what's happening.

[@emilysmith7972]

If there's a way to get a closer look at characters from other Final Fantasy games, please do! I'm obsessed with this character breakdown series even though I know nothing about character modeling or video game creation in general. It's made me look at the games I love in a different light :)

[@rosedragon3498]

Omg i love him

[@Evergladez]

I can't wait until you can break down the street fighter 6 models their muscles being able to flex is sure to make it interesting.

[@rulix36]

ANIMATED NORMAL MAPS

[@Evergladez]

@@rulix36 oh wow thanks never heard of that before.

[@ripkaylizzle2170]

These videos help me to make vr characters for people on both pbr and non pbr textures to get the best optimization possible. My favorite texture to do are pbr textures like these ff characters. Now that i know how to combine more details and maximize texel density, even my anime pbr models look so detailed that it brings something new to the table for the vr community of vrchat and vtuber worlds and its fun to see peoples reactions when they see my models realizing that professional game model detail is absolutely possible to have in their possession to use as they please with their own character design.

[@Elaril03]

Hi! I know this is not likely to be seen due to the video being a few months old, but I'm trying to put this Sephiroth model into UE4. I have the model and the textures but I don't know how to correctly plug the various textures into the material correctly. I have been able to figure out some of it using prior knowledge but some of them I just cannot figure out. Do you know how I should set it up or where I can find the information to do so?

[@PeterSatera]

Regarding the head, how it has the exact count for each character. It's a used method which conforms a base mesh to sculpt, which has been preUV's. ( Such as, WrapX)

[@BigHeadClan]

Never before have I wanted to subscribe to a patreon as much as I do now. Lol

[@WannabeMarysue]

Thank you for showing us what the child of Barrett and Sephiroth would look like.

[@lightcer5339]

So I've done this hair process you mentioned at 6:19 actually but this type of data gets stored into the mesh normals themselves after transferring normal data from the sphere to the hair mesh. But how they went about baking that into a texture sheet is what rattles my brain. Looking at the sheet itself, it looks like how you would store light bake information but this time it is with normal data. Could we be mistaking this UV set as the lightmap sheet?

[@Outgang]

It's not hard to transfer the normal info to a normal map instead of the mesh normals, it's just a texture bake away and I could see why they'd choose to do that. I've seen cases of mesh normals reset by people down the pipeline and baking out a texture instead has an element of safety to it. Mind you, I'm just making educated guesses as to how the texture is used. I could be entirely wrong and the normal map is used for other purposes.

[@inmalopez8692]

Could you have a mor in-depth video about the unifying the normals for the hair and get that fluffy realistic hair?? That's interesting but I find it difficult to understand how the process is done 🙏

[@RareBirdGames]

Awesome video! You should do Donathan from Sinfeld next

[@cloudshines812]

To be honest, I would’ve loved having FF7 Remake Sephiroth’s outfit as an alt for Smash Bros. I really love how sinister those snake eyes are…

[@Zev_Reef]

I'll be trying that baked egg normals for hair

[@cesardavid5925]

how do you obtain these models? it could be amazing compare the evolution of a character model, like kratos from god of war, comparing the old models vs the newer ones, or compare the game models vs the cinematic models. thank oyu for your awasome and informative videos they really breakdown a lot of the "misteries" of the quality they have

[@spooderderg4077]

I think they use gildor's unreal engine extraction tool on the pc version. Not quite sure though.

[@RockSprites]

Fucking terrifying when you suddenly r i p p e d BArret's f a c e o f f though.

[@Outgang]

You mean Seph right? Check the Tifa video, there's a worse one in there.

[@catboysephiroth560]

The head textures are so unbelievably cursed when they're not shown on the models lmao. This was a fantastic vid, I was going to school for animation until my mental health got in the way, and I was having a really shit day. This made me happy though. Very very cool.

[@Outgang]

Glad the video helped you our Cat. Thanks for the compliments.

[@TamanLinkin]

now we need WIDE sephiroth.

[@MythSkull]

Waiting for best girl Aerith

[@vicc19]

6:20 hey I can't find the link, pls ^^ Very interesting analysis thank you

[@Outgang]

Sorry for that, that's a terrible oversight. Here's the link, the hair talk is around the 15 minute mark: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3nQiI2brp6lb8k

[@kermitwithamustache3885]

Can you break down Noctis' character model from Final Fnatasy XV?

[@FXPearStudio]

My personal feedback of your videos: content is AWESOME. I think using only the external camera will make more pleasant to watch. The computer angle feels weird. But that is just me. I'm also content creator am I'm struggling with this thing of talk to a camera. Yea, external feels more comfortable and only 1 angle. I'm subbed no matter what :)

[@Outgang]

Cool FX, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@benimo6]

Something that I find interesting here is the eyebrows/lashes geometry. There's small planes for the eyebrows and the eyelashes look like they havent been baked either. Is that a common thing with games nowadays? And won't it be harder to rig things with having those unbaked?

[@Outgang]

Hi Benimo! The skinning can be transferred from the head to the eyebrows in a few clicks. The eyelashes just inherit the skinning value of the polygons to which they're attached which is simple to do.

[@benimo6]

@@Outgang Oh okay, I thought so, thanks for clarifying that. Besides that though, its still interesting to see they leave the (potentially generated?) eyelashes without baking them and left the eyebrows with smaller planes. Wonder why that was. I'm just wondering these things because I'm in the progress of wanting to create a high-end character like this. Anyways cool videos as always :)

[@aaronsupertramp]

where did you get all those models from FFVII Remake (not only Sephiroth but also Tifa, Cloud, Barret, etc)? Did you model them? bought them? I am interested in getting them if possible :D Great breakdown series by the way!

[@Outgang]

Thanks Aaron! I'm keeping my mouth shut on where the models came from because I don't want to piss off Square since I don't know if they'd appreciate me sharing the info.

[@aaronsupertramp]

@@Outgang Thanks for your asnwer! I thought they were available in some sites to download, but since that's not the case, there is no problem. I really appreciate your character breakdowns! :D

[@yuurgh]

Good video👌

[@NaitomeIya]

I always thought having the head separate from the body is just a leftover technique from games where players can change their characters' outfits. It didn't occur to me that it was a hack for easy texturing and rigging.

[@Outgang]

You're on to something too. In the case of swappable heads/outfits, it's common for the neckline to be in the exact same position for that very reason.

[@Faizaud]

So when you hover over this video in your feed for that preview play, the subs say "I'm waiting...clown". Made me lol

[@Outgang]

lol

[@mcha3028]

Hi Good video 👍🏻 Outgang have a discord ?

[@Outgang]

Yup! The link is in the bottom of the video description ^^

[@BaldurShadow]

Would love to see you do someone like Yennefer from Witcher 3.

[@Outgang]

We're about to move on from FF, but I haven't decided what's next yet.

[@spittingame4241]

Laura, out of all the Final Fantasy 7 characters you worked on, which one was your favorite?

[@Outgang]

I didn't work on any of them haha. People who know me know I have a huge crush on Balthier from FF12.

[@spittingame4241]

@@Outgang I was talking about in your break down videos hahaha 🤣 I remember Balthier from Final Fantasy 12😏

[@michaeldychiao13]

I wish we had an Aerith breakdown. Her hair looks pretty heavy, and I wanted to know what the tricks were for that

[@Outgang]

Just lots and lots of polygons!

[@dimasvian4330]

fans of FF7 Remake graphic 🙌.. hope i can reach some kind of that quality too.. good videos!

[@SweetLitzLM]

im curious to see the hair model 🤨

[@anida.m2952]

I hope the next one is Aerith!

[@kirara2516]

Funny you should mention boy band regarding Sephiroth. Considering his very first short-lived English Voice actor was Lance Bass of N*SYNC.

[@joseluispcr]

Could you do it for aerith? She have the best hair

[@ItsJusGeral]

🔥💙

[@LPandbeyond]

I LOVE THESE VIDEOS can you do yuffie please

[@akechijubeimitsuhide]

How long he spends combing his hair every morning, I wonder :D

[@MadaxeMunkeee]

16:42 Gigchad Sephiroth!

[@espada9000]

What about secret to the female characters models like Tifa, Jessie, and Scarlet?

[@Outgang]

There's a breakdown of Tifa on my channel ^^

[@avtpro]

Your humor is getting me. lol. And your double entendre. lol. Good to see you having fun. And don't worry about losing subs because of not liking his monotone wardrobe. Really subs are far, far more forgiving. You have to really, really piss them off. Believe me I know. I've done it. ha. It's not so bad.

[@Outgang]

How'd you piss off your subs? I really want to know haha.

[@ViewportPlaythrough]

16:43 that awfully looked like angeal tbh... now thats meta...

[@VertexCarver]

Blendshape SephBert; NOOO!~ Plz my eyes can't unsee that! hahaha! xD

[@NatoShinobi]

Urrrghhh my fav

[@jamesgravil9162]

"Wear black all the time - who does that, really? Who does that?" Darth Vader: *"ahem"* Ringwraiths: *"..."* Voldemort: *"Don't mind me."* Maleficent: *"Um..."* Batman: *"I'm an anti-hero, not a villain."*

[@cloudshines812]

Batman is a straight up hero

[@jamesgravil9162]

​@@cloudshines812 I guess it depends which version of Batman you're thinking of.

[@Outgang]

The joke is on me, I wear black all the time :)

[@caffeineravine4404]

Sephiroth’s design not that interesting? You’re doing an entire video on him.

[@Outgang]

I'm full of contradictions

[@SD_simma]

Is that her real voice?

[@Outgang]

Yes

[@chadtheall682]

im definitely one of the people who want to bend over to receive sephiroths masamune 😰

[@vaccaciao]

This Spongebob has a huge katana for bikinibottom.

[@Outgang]

I have something special in mind for Spongebob which requires time to put together :)

[@sanddry738]

I gotta admit I sort of miss Sephiroth’s older hair design. I feel smash bros has the one I like the most. Still I feel otherwise it’s a good design with interesting little details

[@yoshaosaxofonista]

im confused

[@merabatehodaifa999]

is that hojo

[@ivanmendoza8418]

Do Aerith's ♡♡

[@Matschaak]

I modded my Face into FF7