Project Leaf Cutter Ant (Acromyrmex Heyeri)

My goal for this project was to create a realistic 3D model of my favorite insect, the leaf-cutter ant. As with any project, I began by gathering references, focusing on the ant's detailed anatomy to ensure accuracy and realism.

Next, I moved into the sculpting phase, where I used ZBrush to block out the basic shapes with ZSpheres. From there, I sculpted a detailed version of the ant, closely following my reference materials to capture its intricate anatomy.

Once the sculpt was complete, I used Maya’s Quad Draw tool to retopologize the model over the high-poly mesh. After UV mapping, I imported the model into Substance Painter to bake the high-poly details onto the low-poly version.

I wanted to add a unique touch by incorporating hair on the feet and body. To achieve this, I used Blender’s hair system to scatter hair cards across the mesh and added clumped hair to the feet for extra detail.