Innholdsfortegnelse for 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes Volume 2 Revised Edition i 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

Ever wish you could quickly and easily create 500,000 objects in a scene but have it remain only 250KB in size? How about Avatar-worthy CG forests, a fully functional complex character rig or your own customised HDRIs for perfect lighting? Well, it’s not just wishful thinking: someone’s developed a solution to all of them. Whether you’re an animator, TD, modeller or texture artist, exploring the world of software scripts, plugins and add-ons is the ultimate way to see an immediate improvement in your workflow. With them, you can cater whatever 3D software you use towards helping you get better at exactly what you do best – and use shortcuts for what you do worst. Some will even help you do things you wouldn’t even know existed. Best of all, most…

“Discover how to develop, pose and use render passes to make this master of vampires in ZBrush” James Suret reveals his fantasy design workflow in a number of steps Starting from just a 3D sphere, in this tutorial we will create a posed and detailed character bust by roughing out the bust and then sculpting the organic forms and features. We will also make use of the readily available Insert Mesh feature to build the character. Later we will move on to editing these and then resculpting them so that they fit in to the design. After posing the bust we will use polypainting to create basic materials and textures for the model. Finally, we will take the 3D renders into Photoshop to finish the composition by adding lighting effects…

Step by Step Easy-to-follow guides take you from concept to the final render Sérgio Merêces 3DArtistonline Username: smereces Personal portfolio site www.sergiomereces.com Country Portugal Software used 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop Expertise Sérgio specialises in lighting, rendering and post-production Learn how to ✓ Model ✓ Use lighting and materials ✓ Utilise the Forest Pack plugin ✓ Render with V-Ray ✓ Work in post-production Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots • Tutorial videos • Leaves pack filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 Concept I begin all my projects by searching for good references that I can use for modelling the assets or for inspiration. For this I use sites like Google Images and Flickr. “Learn how to create a 3D zen garden with 3ds Max tools, a V-Ray render engine and then do the postproduction in…

Timucin Ozger After I completed a rig for the tornado with Bend Deformers, Skeleton rigs, constraints and so on, I started planning out the particle system. I wrote a little script to make particles run down the base shape of the tornado and go around it by using the UVs of the surface. This way I could control how fast the wind swirls and climbs up and down, which is based on linking UVs as goal positions with creation expressions. These particles were used for emitting the main smoke effect. I have also added several forces to keep the tornado wind in the centre and gave them some Swirl forces. After several tests, I believed the particle system was going to be sufficient so I cached all the particle layers…

Scott Eaton Scott is an artist, character supervisor and anatomy instructor from London, UK. He is a classically trained sculptor who has taught anatomy to digital artists for over a decade. He worked on film and commercial VFX, and as lead modeller on numerous films. He has taught anatomy to studios such as Industrial Light & Magic, Valve, Framestore, Ubisoft and others. Torso Studies ZBrush, Mental Ray (2014) Study of the articulation of the shoulders and back from Scott’s digital figure sculpture online course. Mermaid Study ZBrush, Mental Ray (2011) Unused mermaid concept sculpt taken from the film Pirates Of The Caribbean. Hephaestus ZBrush, Mental Ray (2009) Digital sculpture of the Greek god Hephaestus. Hephaestus was the crippled blacksmith of Mount Olympus, shown here in repose at his forge.…

“How can I build a Turbulence Generator in order to create various fluid simulations in Houdini?” Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots • Video tutorial • Scene files filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 Impressive fluid simulations don’t necessarily need a huge number of particles in the project to look realistic. All you really need is a complex nexus that is made up of a reasonable number of particles, including specific attributes that can be easily accessed in the UI. These attributes drive the turbulence of the whole simulation flow, but they can be used for any kind of fluid simulation. This is particularly useful, even if the Collision geometry doesn’t have very interesting shapes. This tutorial will explain how you can create a sustainable Turbulence Generator that can be used in combination with…

“Create a vehicle based on F1 cars and hot rods – and infused with sci-fi influences – to create a futuristic racer design” Igor Sobolevsky fine-tunes a sci-fi hot rod Designing vehicles is fun, but this can also be challenging at times. We will need to figure out appealing forms, size relationships and details that are fantastic and yet rooted in reality. This design has been based on a combination of F1 cars and hot rods as these vehicles tend to have wonderful exposed areas that give us a view of the awesome mechanical elements that make the machine work! For this tutorial we will follow a design process that can be used for other models. We shall explore modelling in Maya, Rhino and ZBrush to produce specific elements. We…

“MODO is an amazing tool for character exploration work, and its deformers enable quick manipulation for this purpose” Warner McGee has been a freelance Illustrator and character designer for over 20 years. Character creation is his passion Step by Step Easy-to-follow guides take you from concept to the final render Warner McGee 3DArtistonline Username: Warner McGee Personal portfolio site www.warnermcgee.com Country USA Software used MODO 801 Expertise Warner specialises in making characters for games, toys, animation and print It’s frustrating to create a well-modelled and textured character only to be limited by the rigging of the character. In this tutorial we’ll remedy this problem by bringing a character to life using MODO’s deformers. We’ll use deformers to enhance the character’s expression and bring personality to the surface. We’ll get started…

James Suret I am currently a full-time web developer and freelance 3D artist. I am constantly developing my portfolio with the aim of working as a concept artist in the games or entertainment industry. My main focus is creating original creatures and illustrations, as below. The Maw of the Sea ZBrush, Photoshop (2014) The last stand against a giant monster. This piece was sculpted in ZBrush and the paint and effects were completed in Photoshop. Victory ZBrush, Photoshop (2014) A female cyborg displays her war banner on the battlefield. The cyborg was sculpted in ZBrush as a digital maquette. Alien Cyborg ZBrush, Photoshop (2013) A 3D character concept of an alien cyborg. This was sculpted in ZBrush with composition and effects done in Photoshop.…

Sérgio Merêces I’m from Portugal and I live in a beautiful city called Évora. I have been working on 3D visualisations for the past ten years and have worked on national and international projects for both architectural and non-architectural practices too. Over the years I have focused my skills on the creation of unique images for architecture. Seattle Lounge 3ds Max, V-Ray (2013) This image was a personal interior 3D Render I did for a space redesign in Seattle. I used 3ds Max for the 3D and render, then I went on to complete the post-production work in Photoshop. Unesco Offices 3ds Max, V-Ray (2014) Another architectural piece, the above image was a project commissioned by the client Domaine Public Architects. This 3D visualisation was a project for the new…

“How can I make a 3D animation look as if it’s been drawn by hand, using Maxon’s Cinema 4D?” Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots • Video tutorial • ‘The Counter’ animation • Scene and texture files filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 The Sketch And Toon function in Cinema 4D enables you to give your 3D animations a simple but incredibly complex-looking hand-drawn or painted look. What’s fun about this tool is that it will enable you to create your own signature style, so you can become the kind of artist that you’ve always wanted to be. In this tutorial we will take a look at the basic workflow of this powerful tool. Over the next few steps you will learn how to create Sketch materials and set up a very simple scene.…

“How can I quickly block out a 3D environment in Maya while maintaining a strong composition?” Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots filesilo.co.uk/bks-677 Everybody has their own preferred way of doing things. Like everything else in CG, there is always more than one way to do any one thing. In this tutorial we’re going to go over how to quickly block out a digital set in 3D using Maya, walking through the workflow that I like to use. The first thing to do when starting any project is to gather together a series of reference images that you can refer to as you work. If you make sure that you have a fairly clear idea of how you want things to look, it will come in handy, so keep…

Igor Sobolevsky I am a designer working in the fields of industrial, concept and graphic design. I enjoy applying industrial design processes when building various types of sci-fi equipment. Here is a look at some of my favourite designs. Airlock One Maya, KeyShot, Photoshop (2014) An airlock of an Aurora Mining Corporation outpost on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. Infiltrator ZBrush, KeyShot, Photoshop (2015) This is a humanoid drone, designed for surveillance and intelligence collection. BFT 0109 Maya, Rhino, KeyShot, Photoshop (2015) A large expedition vehicle designed to handle long missions in various rough environments.…

“Bring a detailed legend to life in just a few steps” Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots • Maya & Mudbox files • Video tutorial filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 When creating a sculpt, building it up in a generic T-pose usually simplifies the sculpting process, and among many things helps to ensure that all the limbs are in proportion. However, this also makes for a stiff-looking character. In this tutorial, we’ll look at how you can go about adding a bit more life to a sculpt whilst still being able to go back to the default T-pose, as that is how you would want to pass the model should it need retopologising and rigging for animation. There are many ways to pose a sculpt. For example, in Mudbox you can add…

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE BOOKAZINE AND CREATE GREAT 3D ART FREE TEXTURES, MODELS & ASSETS FOR FUTURE PROJECTS THIS EDITION’S COMBINED RESOURCE SIZE: 13GB Go to: filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 YOUR BONUS RESOURCES ON FILESILO WITH THIS BOOKAZINE, FREE AND EXCLUSIVE FOR 3D ART & DESIGN TIPS, TRICKS & FIXES READERS, YOU’LL FIND OVER 17GB OF INCREDIBLE RESOURCES, INCLUDING… • All the files you need to complete the tutorials in this bookazine • Over 14 hours of video tuition on Maya, 3ds Max, After Effects, ZBrush, Blender and much more • Models, textures and other assets for developing your 3D artwork • Many more goodies, including a 3D printable monster bust and Humster 3D vehicle assets FILESILO – THE HOME OF PRO RESOURCES Discover your free online assets A…

“Create ghostly characters in 3ds Max using environmental textures and the FumeFX plug-in” Source files Tutorial files: • 3ds Max & After Effects files • Video tutorial • Concrete texture • Tutorial screenshots filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 Similar to hose you see in films like Harry Potter, or in various videogame cinematics, in this tutorial we’re going to take a look at how you can make a ghostly effect for characters. This can be achieved by using FumeFX and a number of tricks, resulting in an ethereal character that wouldn’t look out of place in a triple-A game production or in a Hollywood film. To add to the overall effect, we’re not only going to focus on creating the smoky, ghostly character, but also on adding effects into the background, such as embers…

Gleb Alexandrov Gleb is a professional artist and creator of educational blog at CreativeShrimp.com. He actively participates in the Blender community by sharing tutorials and his experiences of art making. He is a fan of open-source software and community-driven projects. When not rendering weird things, he is writing a book about digital lighting for artists. The Ice on Winter Evening Blender, Cycles, Photoshop, (2015) Creating a believable ice and light interaction in 3D can be extremely difficult, but also quite rewarding. This image became the basis for the tutorial about creating Ice in Blender, and also the second chapter of Gleb’s upcoming ebook about lighting (www.creativeshrimp.com/createrealistic-ice-lighting-book-02.html).…

THE EXPERTS MIHNEA BALTA www.nextlimit.com RealFlow/Maya plug-in developer DIONYSIOS BOULOUTZAS www.dioplast.co.uk FX TD at MPC in London ADRIAN GRAHAM www.autodesk.com Principle user experience designer at Autodesk ERIC KELLER www.bloopatone.com VFX artist, animator, teacher and author, working for Digizyme Inc LEE LANIER www.BeezleBugBit.com Professional computer animator and VFX artist MARCUS NORDENSTAM www.autodesk.com Product manager at Autodesk, founder of Exotic Matter and co-author of Naiad TIMUCIN OZGER www.timucinozger.com Senior Houdini/Maya FX technical director CHRISTOPHER PUCHTA www.christopherpuchta.com Senior FX artist based in London, UK DAN WARDER www.djwarder.co.uk Senior FX TD for film, television and commercials ANDREW WONG www.sidefx.com 3D software developer at Side Effects Software If there’s something anyone – from a lead character artist to a senior game cinematics animator – can agree on, it’s Maya’s universal appeal. “It’s not quite to…

You spend hours, weeks, even months on a model, so don’t make the mistake of rushing the lighting job – thinking that the quality of the 3D means that the decoration of it won’t matter. Not only will you be failing to show your work off in the best possible way, but you’ll also be missing the opportunities that light can bring to further set the mood, define your character and tell your story. In short, as Dieter Coetzee puts it, “Lighting can make or break any art piece.” All of which is why professionals dedicate a serious amount of time to the lighting phase (or work with artists who specialise in it). Reynante Martinez says: “I usually divide the labour on a project into four primary aspects: modelling,…

“How do I sculpt believable scars onto my real-time character using ZBrush and Maya?” Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 Scars are often used as a storytelling device in most character designs. They get you to question everything about the character. What events led up to them getting that gruesome thing? What did they do to deserve it? What personality might they have? So it is important to think about what you are doing and if your character even needs scars in the first place. As we are going for realism we need to be able to answer these questions to add depth and believability to our character. We are going to make our scars using ZBrush, Maya and Marmoset’s Toolbag 2. Scars can originate from many different…

“How do I add realistic textures and details to perfect my fantasy vehicle?” Source files Tutorial files: • Tutorial screenshots filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 Last year 3D Artist and Humster3D organised the 3D Vehicle Render Challenge. The winner, Jochem Aarts explains the process behind his Hotrod Speedshop award-winner, “Like a lot of people, I like nice cars. Especially the big American ones from the Fifties and Sixties. So when I read about this competition I just had the feeling I should go for it. “The goal was simple: create a render with a car. The rest was up to the competitors. Although it sounds very simple, it’s pretty hard because there are no guidelines or rules. Just make a cool-looking render, and may the best render win. You can use any technique, as…