Chloe/Zoe 3D Model for CakeInferno - Not Mobile Friendly!

SO this is going to be a long POST!

Back in August 2022 I was commissioned by CakeInferno to create an updated model for his fox character Zoe. Many of you are familiar with her, and while the animations with here are certainly some of the best the vore fandom has ever seen, her model definitely needed updating.

Unfortunately fans of Zoe were not happy with this and Cake and I ended up creating a completely new character - CHLOE! This was a very long journey covering about 2-3 months of sculpting and model work.

Cake worked with her rig, did a bit of extra sculpting, and created her fur texture. I did the initial sculpting, modeling, retopo, UVs and base textures ... And of course Cake has made some incredible animations with her that you can see on his Patreon ;3 https://www.patreon.com/c/CakeInferno/posts

Here's the whole breakdown from start to finish! I've kept a lot of these files secret but with Cake's permission I've been allowed to share these WIPs! Enjoy!

  The very first model pass. The goal was to do a complete makeover of her hands, feet, and head. Initially I was going to keep her torso as a reference, but decided instead to use a female base mesh to focus more on accurate anatomy. At this point, the model was no longer an update, but a completely new project.

 And this was the official 1st draft!
Once we had a pass on her anatomy, it was time to work on her mouth. And high-detail was the goal.

 

 These were the initial sculpts. Nothing fancy, no textures, just enough detail to make sure everything was in the right place and that her teeth looked anatomically correct and that her tongue and throat were the right thickness/depth.

 In total I probably spent over a week just working on her mouth and throat. Making her uvula bigger, adding more definition between her teeth and gumline...etc.
 And of course it had too look good from the inside too ;3

 In order to really get complex sculpting/texture work done I had to remove her body mesh. This was the final mouth model I made. Cake spent a bit of time with sculpting and texturing her throat too.

 The final results after textures and shaders were added! You can see a lot more in Cake's animations!
 

 The part everyone who makes 3D models hates - retopology and UVs lol.

But damn look at that slick AF topology. I'm quite proud of this but let's be real... only other modelers have any idea how important this is. For those that don't know, if you're going to animate something, the smoother and more even the model topology, the easier it is to rig and animate.

   Once UV's were figures out it was time to start texturing. My job was just to make sure her fur and pattern base colors matched the original Zoe model. I also loved her shorts and that collar too. But all this was scrapped... I admit I was quite upset that the fan reaction to these WIPs were less than positive. People don't like things that are different sure, but I didn't expect so many Zoe fans to dislike this new model. It was at this point Cake and I decided we'd take the project into a different direction. We bet that if fans could see just what we could accomplish but with a different character, then they would be a bit more receptive to a Zoe update in the future. And well... the final results blew people away. You could've had this lol... maybe one day ;3

 First thing we did was completely build a new story for the character, Chloe - She would be an Egyptian Djinn style character with a dark purple/gold color scheme. While Cake worked out the design details, I began designing her outfit. We settled on something that would be both easy to rig, and flattering for her form.

 
I honestly really love how her garment and bracelets came out, but I can understand why most people don't really notice them lol.
 

 And here we have the pre-final version of Chloe! Her design was pretty much complete at this point. Cake was going to work on her eyes, while my job was pretty much complete at this point. Now the model needed a Rig and fur textures.

 Between Cake and Disregard (https://www.furaffinity.net/user/disregard67  ) Chloe's rig began to take shape. The results were honestly amazing.
 And this was the first glimpse I ever got to see of Chloe coming to life. After 2+ months of modeling, words can't describe just how magical it is to see your hard work take on a life of it's own. To see her character finally realized. It was at this stage that Cake and I knew we made something incredibly special :3
  And here were the near-final fur texture results! Cake used a fur plugin called Yeti to give Chloe her amazing fur detail. It's arguably one of the more difficult effects to pull off. It's not some simple one-click and done thing. The fur must be painstakingly groomed and tweaked so that the models features don't get lost. I'm still blown away by these results.

And that my friends is the story of Chloe! Probably my favorite 3D project to date! Please check out CakeInferno to see her in glorious 4K animations - https://www.patreon.com/c/CakeInferno/posts

OH and P.S.

Cake kept asking me to make her boobs bigger... As Chloe might say, " Be careful what you wish for."