Base Modeling: Props
I first got as many refs as I could about the clothing and accessories used by pirates. Google images is a great help in this and you can easily find hundreds of images on almost any subject. Just be sure not to use any of the images directly in textures cause then you may be violating copyright laws.
I used simple primitives and curves to layout the various parts of the sword and the pistol. then I used these as a guide to create more detailed models.
Environment
I decided to put the 3 pirates into a 'can-boat.' Basically a raft made of odds and ends that the pirates have found in their voyages. So the boat has an old tuna can as a base, along with pieces of wood as the mast and an old rag as the sail.
To save render time and keep it within the 'toon' theme I decided to do the island in the background as a single mesh rather then adding separate trees and foliage. In ZBrush I started with a plane and used the standard and flatten brushes along with masking to create the basic form. After this I used a noisy alpha with the bulge brush to quickly add some treetops to the island. Finally I colored the island a mixture of browns and greens for the texture.
The main parts of the scene being done, I named and parented everything and made XSI models out of them. Now I could import them into my master scene and they would keep updating themselves as I made changes to them. This let's you compose, light and render stuff while your meshes are still being worked on, so that you get a much better idea of how much detail to add where. eg there is no point in spending days working on a part of a mesh that will end up being hidden behind a box or something.
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