Dia De Los Muertos

Monday, August 3, 2026

PLATFORM

Social

Various

Client

Industry

Automotive

CLIENT

Legacy Production Company

INDUSTRY

Spec Work

The most recognizable motif of Aztec civilizations is the Calavera, or decorated sugar skull. On October 31st, Dia De Los Muertos brings out a celebration of the spirits.

We put a lot of research into the origins of the makeup that is typically applied during this celebration. The usual elements were a starch white face, deep set painted eyes and a tooth-like effect over the mouth. We found many inspirations from the other cultures that celebrate a similar day, spanning from Asia, Europe and South America.

Concept & Development

The design that we wanted to execute was much less traditional in the sense of the modern interpretation and more based on the high level of detail you will find on sugar skulls as a decorative piece. We must give the model a lot of credit, sitting still in a chair for 8 hours is a tough day. Using 3D Scanning technology, we captured a 360 degree bust of the model both before and after the makeup and jewelry was applied. The level of detail that we were able to capture allowed us to apply completely accurate lighting to the face in post. One of the goals of this project was to allow for CG manipulation in post.

Interaction & Experience

Challenges

Outcome

We found that some of the more finer details were difficult to capture, but overall the face shape was all we were looking to build. Using Autodesk ReCap, we were able to take a set of 80 6K photos and composite them into a working model. One of the goals of this project was to allow for CG manipulation in post. We found that some of the more finer details were difficult to capture, but overall the face shape was all we were looking to build. Using Autodesk ReCap, we were able to take a set of 80 6K photos and composite them into a working model.