Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 120 i 3D Artist

We didn’t expect ZBrush 4R8 to come after 4R7. We also certainly didn’t expect the next one after that to be ZBrush 2018, the new nomenclature for Pixologic’s phenomenal tool. With new features like Sculptris Pro, Project Primitive and PolyGroupIt, ZBrush has never looked more exciting especially as it’s a free upgrade for all existing users. So we gathered a bunch of beta testers to talk new workflows, getting the most out of the new version and to talk in-depth about creating more efficient art. Check it out on page 30. As well as this, we’ve got a step-by-step guide from our cover artist Nelson Tai on creating pro hard surface vehicle designs with ZBrush 2018 on page 38, as well as an expert review from Pablo Muñoz Gomez on…

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Models in VR will never be high quality due to budget constraints. CG - There are virtual reality solutions that can provide full, photorealistic immersion without the detail limitations of a game engine, including lightfields and point cloud solutions like Nurulize. Spending time in virtual realities could satisfy a user’s social needs to the degree that they withdraw from our physical society. CG - We can’t turn off our biological need to interact IRL. Even smartphones, which can be isolating, haven’t stopped that. Social VR just provides another way to connect. VR will never be viable outside of video games. CG - Architecture is already adopting VR at a huge rate. We recently surveyed 5,700 architecture professionals and 50 per cent are already using it, with two thirds planning work…

01 Get started The starting point was DemoHeadFemale in LightBox. I inserted a sphere, then DynaMeshed it in low-res to explore shapes. Main brushes used at this stage: TrimDynamic, ClayBuildup, HPolish, Move, MaskPen, selectLasso and ClipCurve. Dam_Standard was used to define different parts of the helmet. It’s helpful to use StoreMT to easily undo or erase the lines with the Morph brush. 02 Try out PolyGroupIt I used the new PolyGroupIt feature in order to easily PolyGroup parts. To do this, you simply click on areas where you want a new PolyGroup, and the plugin will be able to define that new group based on the sketched lines. The PolyGroup selection can also be refined with the slider. Simply enable ‘Extend’ to remove any gaps between PolyGroups. 03 Find new…

01 Using Project Primitives When working with Project Primitives, try to break things into various SubTools. Don't try to project all in one; it will just cause a very dense mesh and in some cases be difficult to work from. Marlon R Nuñez 02 Customise your setup Customise your UI to have easy access to your favourite tools. Sculptris, Snakehook and PolyGroupIt are in my UI’s bottom tray now. Set a hotkey for Sculptris Pro Mode! I have it set for Opt/Alt+S to easily turn it on and off. Nelson Tai 03 Tessimate, plus Masks Use the new Tessimate feature in combination with Masks. You can mask or unmask the areas of the model that need to be tessimated or decimated to avoid a general effect and then tweak just…

One of the best methods of using studio lighting is via the fog box. This gives you a depth and you can control the depth with fog distance, which also brings a mysterious feeling to your scene. Adding a little blue tint to fog colour will create more contrast with our yellow dog texture. You can also export your alpha channel with your final render elements, and easily change the background colour in post. But first, it is important to get the best result with the fog background colour.…

Prism is a new tool for pipeline management, compatible with Houdini, Maya, 3DS Max, Blender and Nuke made by FX TD Richard Frangenberg. The tool was made to enhance creativity for artists while it takes care of the technical aspects in the background. Additionally it can be used with media playback tools such as RV, DJV and VLC. Deadline and Pandora can be employed for submitting to the farm and Shotgun for project tracking. Users will be able to utilise the tool in managing scene files and exchanging data with other scenes, even across different applications. A variety of other features are also included with the release. You can find out more about the free tool and download it at prism-pipeline.com.…

Cosplayers are inspired makers: wildly creative, eager to learn and always pushing the limits of materials; they are early adopters who are excited to get their hands on new processes of making. And with 3D printing getting more efficient, less expensive and overall more accessible by the year, our community of ecstatic cos-makers have a new set of doors to open and explore their craft on a whole new level. Fundamentally, the pliability of 3D modelling and printing provides makers the ease to rapidly design accurate, durable and overall more consistent parts that can be easily iterated upon and custom-fit to the wearer. But the deeper power of the process can be seen in how the technology pushes those who use it and the new avenues it provides to the…

“The magnitude of work on the design and animation side was actually quite manageable,“ says Tan when asked how her team managed their time inside such a small window. She continues: “Due to the nature of our portion of the job and our tight-knit team, we also had flexibility in the design workflow and tools to explore and change things as we went fairly nimbly.“ Tan has some very simple advice when it comes to animating a project with a tight turnaround. “The key was to get the animation roughed out quickly so we could focus the remaining time refining and supporting the 2D team toward the end. Positivity and teamwork really make all the difference.“…

NELSON TAI artstation.com/nelsontai  Nelson is a concept designer at FATface in Hong Kong. He lends his expertise to our feature on ZBrush 2018 on page 30 and teaches us how to create stunning vehicle designs on page 38. 3DArtist username ntai FARID GHANBARI renderburger.com  Farid is a CG generalist at 3FX Inc, and this issue he has returned to 3D Artist to give us a masterclass on rendering and on V-Ray. You can read his techniques on page 54. 3DArtist username Farid DANIEL THIGER artstation.com/dete  Daniel is lead environment artist at Bungie. His expertise has seen his collaboration with Allegorithmic for their Signature Series. Learn from his excellent texturing skills on page 46. 3DArtist username danielthiger LUCAS STRINGHETTI lucasvfx.com  Lucas is an art director and VFX artist with a strong…

1. STAMP WORKFLOW Being able to import custom objects and use them in a kitbash fashion is a powerful and quick way to build up a piece while also retaining a personal design language. 2. RESOLUTION MANAGEMENT Keep in mind which layers will require more resolution. Base layers can be at the lowest level, while smaller pieces require resolution levels two and above. This will ensure nicer renders without having to deal with retopology. 3. LEARN TO WORK WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS There are many tools and functionalities still missing in VR. I work in additive/ subtractive mode constantly. Working in conjunction with layers makes this easier. For example, if I want to design some custom, hard-surface objects, I start with the base object at a medium to high resolution, then…

01 New SnakeHook brushes The new SnakeHook2 brush was very handy, as it can extrude across the normal from the surface. This along with Sculptris Pro saves a good amount of time during the sculpting process. 02 Separating the mesh By dividing the mesh in various pieces, I got enough polygons to be able to re-create the displacement maps from Texturing.xyz. It is important to keep the seams from the geometry clean. 03 Sculptris Pro During the blockout process it was very handy to add more detail in areas like the eyes. This in conjunction with ZRemesher allowed me to control the mesh density. 04 IMM Curves features Thanks to the new features such as elastic and liquid, it is faster to place straps around any object.…

NELSON TAI 918Z, 2018 Software ZBrush, KeyShot, Photoshop Learn how to • Design vehicles in ZBrush • Use new ZBrush 2018 features (Project Primitive and PolyGroupIt) • Use ZBrush techniques for hard-surface designs Concept I wanted to design a car and explore the possibilities of ZBrush 2018’s new features in the design process. The iconic Porsche 917K was the main inspiration for this piece. Using ZBrush for designing vehicles is a fun way to explore shapes and form. We are going to use new features of ZBrush 2018 to help us define the shape of the car. Project Primitive will first help us get the rough shape of the car, then a combination of techniques with DynaMesh sculpting, ZRemesher and deformers will help us further refine the shape. PolyGroupIt, Booleans…

DANIEL THIGER Compass Watch, 2018 Software Substance Designer and Marmoset Toolbag Learn how to • With minimal modelling, create intricate geometry for your renders • Create hard surface shapes and details in Substance Designer • Create stunning product renders in Marmoset Toolbag • Set up and use parameters to drive the positioning and rotation of shapes • Create logic to step through an atlas texture based on parameters Concept Create high-quality product renders without hours of modelling work by using procedural workflows to maintain flexibility on all aspects of the design. Quickly and iteratively play around with a selection of material types and colours. The style of the artwork is photorealistic, with inspiration drawn from the different types of design and materials seen in watches. Exploring the possibilities of utilising…

If a painter wants to create a beautiful painting, then first they need a well-designed base drawing with some nice details, then gradually add colours to it. In the CG world we have exactly the same story. A CG artist first needs a great model with some enhanced details, then they just need to add the textures and lights to it. This is really important at this stage. One of the most common mistakes that a CG artist makes is thinking that a great rendering process equates to great texturing and lighting, but even before you go into this, it is the modelling that can grab the attention of the viewer.…

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Aardman Studios and DigixArt have announced their collaboration on 11-11: Memories Retold, a narrative-driven adventure that takes place during the first World War. The project promises to be an experience unlike anything before, with a unique painted visual aesthetic. David Sproxton, co-founder and executive chairman of Aardman says: “Engaging audiences with compelling stories through animation is at the heart of what we do at Aardman. With this project we want to produce an emotionally rich experience with a distinctive visual identity that reflects the sentiment of this narrative. 11-11: Memories Retold is truly an exciting step for us as it marks the first time that Aardman has collaborated on a game of this scale, and we’re delighted to see this come to life.” “ 11-11: Memories Retold…

Shogun 1.2 The latest update arrives with 11 new features and improvements. Mocap teams can now add and record up to two HD SDI video camera devices for easy overlays of 3D footage. Blackmagic cameras and capture cards are also now supported. Users will also have the ability to create custom skeletons from meshes with improvements to Shogun Post. Rebelle 3 A set of new features includes ultra-realistic papers featuring hot press, cold press, rough, Japanese, canvases and more. To adapt to the new papers a rewritten watercolour simulation code has been incorporated, making it more realistic than ever. Elsewhere, a new ‘DropEngine’ enables more realistic paint drying and dripping. Rebelle 3 is $89.99. Trapcode Suite 14.1 Red Giant has released a free update to its suite of 11 tools.…

LIGHTING The lighting of a shot is one of the most important elements to making a CGI look photoreal. HDR Light Studio gives us the creative freedom to accurately position lights that illuminate the desired parts of the bike. We ‘solo’ each of the lights as they are placed to see the exact reflections of that source, building up lights that show the form beautifully. James Elderton wonder-vision.com James is the MD of Wonder Vision fusing art and tech to move people Software SolidWorks, 3ds Max, Maxwell Render, HDR Light Studio, Photoshop TriumphMotorcycles Tiger1200 , 2017…

Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork MODELLING It was important to me that my model is similar to the real Einstein. The biggest problem I had was the references. I could not find any photos in good quality, and even tried to find out the form of his face from videos. I applied the wrinkles by hand. Basically, I did not use any scans or photos; all the folds had to be exactly the same as the original, and, of course, to find textures that had the same wrinkle shape, I would have to scan the real Albert Einstein as well. Alexander Beim lotusart.de Since completing his training as a multimedia producer in Frankfurt, Germany, Alexander started working as a 3D artist Software ZBrush, Maya, Substance Painter, Arnold,…

Incredible 68-page Blender eBook Download our free Blender eBook special! 3 Premium CGAxis models A collection of images to use in your work HyperGrass library pack sample Grass assets courtesy of Vertex Library! Log in to www.filesilo.co.uk/3DArtist Register to get instant access to this pack of must-have creative resources, how-to videos and tutorial assets The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future! Secure and safe online access from anywhere Free access for every reader, print and digital Download only the files you want, when you want All your gifts, from all your issues, in one place Free for digital readers, too! Read on your tablet, download on your computer…

Help keep your design options open by retaining duplicates of your SubTools before making major changes. It is more convenient and efficient than saving multiple versions of your ZTL file. Even duplicates of the SubTools you use for Boolean operations are worth keeping. ZRemeshing the Boolean SubTools and using ZModeler can easily enable you to add additional parts to the design. This car design uses this technique to add the rubber seals around the windows or the headlight gasket.…

One of the most powerful abilities that V-Ray Rect lights has is the Directional parameter. This is probably the best thing to focus on and emphasise on during the lighting. Besides that, you can get stronger shadows in Directional, which can add more detail to your rendering and make it much more interesting. In order to achieve the best result, we recommend that you play with the Directional parameter in V-Ray Rect light to experience different types of light focuses and see the effect of soft and harsh shadows. You will notice that a more directional light mode will require a less intense multiplier.…

ENVIRONMENT FOG I love to add fog when I work on environment scenes because it makes scenes more atmospheric. I used V-Ray environment fog and created five different fog render passes in Maya. I set each fog colour to blue and orange to create realistic sky and sun rays. I also added god ray fog to highlight the main character. Jiwon Park artstation.com/jiwonn Jiwon Park is a BFA Animation & visual effects student at Academy of Art University Software Maya, V-Ray, ZBrush, Mari, Marvelous Designer, Nuke ScooterTrouble, conceptby NikolaiLockertsen,2018…

I could have completely unwrapped the shoulder straps. However, since the straps would move around as you picked up the bag, I wanted to make sure that the normal map was fairly neutral so that the geometry could bend without breaking the tangents. I chose to model the straps straight and bend them in Maya to a default T-pose. For the contact points of the straps, I hid the top ones within the seams of the fabric and the top handle. The bottom straps have the plastic clips to connect to, and are then connected to seams in the fabric.…

A 3D layer in Clarisse can contain one object, hundreds of objects and even complete shots. Therefore it makes a lot of sense for fast pre-visualisation to keep important visual elements separated in their own 3D layers for adjustments based on the director’s feedback. Each 3D layer can have its own renderer and camera assigned, followed by layer visibility options for corresponding lights, geometries, shadows, global illumination and raytracing elements. Instead of plain light linking artists can use these capabilities to enhance the compositing in Clarisse by deconstructing the elements for rendering.…

Framestore has announced the promotion of James Razzall to president, North America advertising. Razzall previously held the position of managing director at the company’s LA office, where he will continue to be based in this new role. He has been rising through the company’s ranks since 2000, proving an integral part of their expansion in the US. Razzall says: “I am very proud of what we have achieved in the US over the last 15 years. Our amazing team bridges the gap between advertising, technology and entertainment perfectly and our three creative hubs are constantly being challenged to come up with innovative ways to tell stories and present beautiful imagery. The work speaks for itself and is testament to the people we have at Framestore, and I am truly honoured…

• No hands or feet: you don’t have to worry about planting the feet or animating a foot roll when walking, or have characters holding things. • Use narration: this eliminates the need for lip-sync, and you require fewer actors. • No superfluous, dangly things like loose clothing or tails: these can be time-consuming to get them to look natural, and simulation can be expensive. • Animate at 12fps: this mimics a stop-motion aesthetic and saves on frames to polish. • 2D mouth shapes: helps ‘sell’ the stop-motion frame rate to the viewer. • Just one location: limits assets builds, and employing simple textures helps here, too.…