Innehållsförteckning för November 2021 från 3D World

This issue’s cover is adorned with a wonderful cel-shaded science fiction render, which plays in the style of classic anime like Akira. Not content to just show you the awesome art, we teamed up with the creator to bring you training to help you build your own cel-shaded masterpieces. Elsewhere we turn to Hollywood, to see how the team behind Those Who Wish Me Dead went about their world-burning visual effects. If you have been following along with our series on award-winning studio Blue Zoo, then you’ll be pleased to find the next instalment here, along with our regular Q&A panel answering your CG woes, industry insights, and more. Plus, to help you make the right investment we have rounded up a selection of the very best ultrawide monitors for…

SOFTWARE ZBrush, Photoshop, KeyShot Marcus Whinney is a senior character artist at Ndream Studio and has more than eight years of experience in 3D art. Exploring references and creating something that no other artist has made before was a highlight of Whinney’s process on this fan art of Batman’s fearsome foe Killer Croc. When it comes to his personal concept work, Whinney tries to use as many default brushes as possible so that those who watch his videos and tutorials can follow along. “My main block-out brushes inside of ZBrush are the Move, DamStandard, ClayBuildUp and Smooth. Once I get the overall shape and silhouette the way I like it I then move onto using more specific brushes to get the finer details,” he adds. For this model, Whinney wanted…

SOFTWARE Blender, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Photoshop, Marmoset Toolbag To create this charming ode to the classic arcade game Metal Slug, Brazil-based 3D artist Marcos Motta spent around two weeks using a modern workflow that consisted of bevel modelling through Blender-based shaders. “The great advantage of this workflow is that I can bake it into a normal map, without actually modelling,” he explains, “and that I have perfect bevels without spending hours in hard-surface topology with crazy Booleans. I can simply bake the rest of the maps in Substance, using my normal map as high-poly mesh.” Motta strove not just to translate the SV-001 design from 2D to 3D, but to imagine how the design would look today, with flashy colours, stylised shapes and more. “The workflow is really simple,”…

“They would ask for different areas of the forest to be on fire depending on the shot,” remarks Rouleau. “It’s not like we could say, ‘We’ll just build this portion of the forest and we’ll be set.’ Every shot had a different request for where the fire needed to be. We had to build the whole thing in CG and in some instances, we would keep 95 per cent of the actual forest that they shot and only have a small portion of CG. Then in another shot it would be the opposite. We would have 80 to 85 per cent CG forest on fire and then we kept foreground elements and the actors, but everything else is a replacement. It was so shot by shot that we had to…

I am an illustrator and concept artist specialised in visual development and marketing illustration, currently working at Quantic Dream. amirzandartist.com Coming from a stylised illustration/painting background with an appreciation for retro sci-fi, manga and comic art, I am always looking for a way to achieve those aesthetics through 3D, breaking away from the realism that usually sets the bar for the way we use these software, with a fresh approach that can be in sync with my own personal taste and the way I actually used to paint and sketch. There are many ways to create and develop toon shaders and a variety of different styles to explore, and sometimes it can appear complex, but in this quick step by step I will take you through a simplified process that…

Mike Griggs is a veteran content creator who has a passion for explaining the process of digital content creation to new artists. www.creativebloke.com Redshift from Maxon is one of the most popular and versatile render engines available to artists today, with features such as super-quick render previews and reliable animation rendering. Redshift is a ‘biased’ render engine, allowing a great deal of artist flexibility to achieve the desired look, which may not always be ‘photoreal’. Redshift is available for a wide range of host applications and platforms, all accessed through a single Redshift licence. Redshift also offers pathways to share materials between applications through Redshift’s own file types. This makes it easy for an artist to get the most from their investment in money and time in Redshift and the…

Hatana El Jarn, Leeds Glen Southern replies Most VR creation tools now feature a way to export your models and often a texture option in the form of vertex paint to allow you to use it in other programs. There are many new and exciting VR modelling programs available like Adobe Medium, Kodon, Gravity Sketch and very new ones like ShapeLab VR. Most of them allow you to export what you have created and simply import it into programs like Blender or ZBrush to make a more usable model or texture map. If you want to use your model for something like a game or VR/AR experience, you are going to need good topology and also UVs to enable you to create a texture map. Vertex paint is where each…

1 Gather strong references Creature FX is not centred around reality, but it’s always useful to look at relevant references from the real world. For the horn meniscus build up and initial tear, for example, we looked at people with body modifications and piercings under the skin and analysed how the skin stretched and reacted. We also analysed liquid simulations, establishing how blood, a thicker liquid, might trickle out of incisions. 2 Concept is key One of the main things we learnt was how important thoroughly designing the art is in advance. Having a well thought-out goal from the beginning will save the tedious process of hundreds of CG iterations and give you something concrete to work towards. 3 Approach with caution Some of the more basic methods are usually…

SOFTWARE Blender, Substance Painter, Unreal Engine 5 “I ALWAYS WANTED TO CREATE A GOTHIC ENVIRONMENT THAT ALLOWS THE OBSERVER TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND THE STORY” 3D environment artist Efe Kaan Güney spent ten days creating this atmospheric scene. “I always wanted to create a Gothic environment that allows the observer to see and understand the story,” he explains to 3D World, “and I enjoyed making the landscape and lighting.” Güney tried to make his own landscape material and terrain, so opted to use a texture atlas for the trees and modular pieces for the log houses, castle and bay. Creating realistic foliage and vegetation presented a particularly tough challenge for Güney, as he knew that he would need to maintain that optimised and realistic look in all his 3D models.…

SOFTWARE Cinema 4D, Octane Render, After Effects CG artist and Metrograph Studio art director Irakli Kurashvili spent a day of his free time crafting this idyllic lake environment. Kurashvili drew on his 13 years of experience as well as his love of nature to bring the environment to life. “Nature inspires me most of all,” he tells 3D World, “chaos and order in the same place within it. I like to observe every little bit.” He also took inspiration from art: “I like the aesthetics of classic paintings and wanted to merge them together with modern CGI techniques.” Since his inspiration arose from classic paintings, Kurashvili used the ACES workflow to make sure all the colour information was present. “I found this workflow works best for achieving realistic and painterly…

SOFTWARE Maya, V-Ray, ZBrush, Mudbox, Mari, NukeX, Substance Painter, Marvelous Designer “I BROUGHT THE MODEL INTO MARVELOUS DESIGNER AS A MORPH TARGET TO HAVE THE SHIRT SIMULATE AND SIT NATURALLY” Modelling, texturing, lookdev artist and 3D generalist David Kwahk recently graduated from Gnomon – School of Visual Effects, Games & Animation and is busy looking for his first job in the industry. Kwahk created this emotive piece for a demo reel class at Gnomon taught by Miguel Ortega. The piece is based on a concept by concept designer Xiaoyu Huang. “My favourite part was working on the kid’s expression and body language,” Kwahk recalls. “What really struck me when I saw Xiaoyu’s painting for the first time was how he portrayed a sense of normalcy in what would otherwise be…

Generally, the master shot is the key shot. The shot that's taken as a reference for all the others to come. It's a good visual reference for junior artists but also for anybody. If you work in a team, rather than just using pretty words, you want to actually show what you want to achieve. That’s the shot that everything else should be coming from. When you work in production, with maybe 15 other people, just the visual reference won't be enough but you need to create it to build a solid structure that the team can copy over. When I build the lighting shot, for instance, before I even start putting lights in and giving creative input, I have to set it up technically. So render settings, AOV passes,…

Arcturus builds tools for next-generation content, authoring technology to build immersive experiences with live-action performances in 3D. arcturus.studio Volumetric video captures reality as it really is, but instead of having a fixed point of view, you can examine a performance from any angle. For users looking to record a performance in three dimensions, volumetric video offers realistic capture with 6DoF – if you have the right tools. You can record nuanced performances without needing to rely on artistic interpretation, or worrying about bumping up against the uncanny valley. With the right capture system, you can record the world with all the fidelity of film, and still take full advantage of both classic and cutting-edge 3D tools. This tutorial will introduce the basics of working with volumetric video, and highlight how…

Arielle is an associate product manager for Katana Lighting at Foundry. Her previous experience includes a set dressing and pipeline artist on animated films. foundry.com/products/katana Learning a new tool can often be challenging, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to determine which features are the most important for your workflow. If you’ve worked in a studio environment before, you’ll be more accustomed to different software, tools and features, but even so, you may find yourself in a similar position as I was – struggling to build my own projects from scratch. It all boils down to the basics. No matter how experienced you are, these are easy to overlook, especially when you’re eager to get started quickly. While this may sound trivial to some, pulling yourself back to the…

character-modelling.com Anna Schmelzer is a freelance character artist and digital sculptor. HAIR CREATION WITH HAIRNET I wanted to put the HairNet add-on for Blender to the test with this project. The main idea of this add-on is to create a hairstyle driven by mesh shape with limited necessity for further grooming. I was very pleased with how much control over the hair strands I had with this workflow. I sculpted the shape of the hair in ZBrush and brought the meshes into Blender to attach the hair system, and then used the standard settings to fine-tune the look.…

Can you tell us how your career in motion capture got started? I grew up just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In high school I took broadcast journalism classes and decided that I wanted to work in the film industry. I attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, studying film as an undergrad student and visual effects as a graduate student. I took my motion capture courses at SCAD, and upon graduating, I started working at Giant/Profile Studios. Eventually, I was able to be on a live set. My first foray was in Brisbane, Australia, on the set of Thor: Ragnarok. What advice would you give to those looking to get started with motion capture? While not absolutely required, a foundational understanding of 3D animation and character rigging is very…

PRICE £335/$359 COMPANY Anycubic WEBSITE anycubic.com Anycubic has risen to the top of a seemingly vast number of companies making 3D printers, due to the consistent quality and value of its products. FDM printers won’t be going anywhere for some time, as the benefits over resin-based machines are clear; they are quieter, easier to use and don’t produce unpleasant fumes. This means that companies like Anycubic are still pushing the boundaries with new machines coming to market all the time. The Vyper is a low to midrange machine in terms of cost, but does ship with some features you’d pay more for from the competition, and they are features you want too. Unpacking the printer is a cinch, as it comes in two main sections that are half connected and…

Missing an issue of 3D World? Fill the gaps in your collection today! ISSUE 277 OCTOBER 2021 LUCA • We explore the gorgeous underwater visuals of Pixar’s Luca • Inside Blue Zoo: Part 3, how to overcome the challenges of storytelling on a budget •Behind the scenes of sci-fi drama Intergalactic • How to sculpt fan art in Blender with polygon modelling • Downloads Free models and textures, files and more! buy//com.futurenet.3DWorldMagazine.217 ISSUE 276 SEPTEMBER 2021 LOOK DEV LESSONS: NAIL YOUR STYLE • Inside Blue Zoo: Part 2, a special behind-the-scenes look at the company’s unique animated projects • Take a deep dive into the world of indie film production • Discover how the fantasy universe of videogame Unbound: Worlds Apart is brought to life • Downloads Free models and…

SOFTWARE Blender, Cycles, Photoshop “I MODEL THE CHARACTER AS IF IT WAS AN ASSET AND THEN PARENT THE LIMBS TO EACH OTHER TO FORM A FAUX RIG” Freelance concept artist Connor Sheehan spent roughly four hours creating this epic image, having modelled and conceived the characters separately. Sheehan particularly enjoyed creating a functional piece of fantasy armour for his character, which was inspired by modern-day military gear. “The characters were created in Blender using something I like to refer to as a calamari rig,” Sheehan tells 3D World. “I model the character as if it was an asset and then parent the limbs to each other to form a faux rig. For example, fingers to hands, hands to forearms and so on.” In this way, he treats his characters like…

SOFTWARE Maya, Quixel Megascans, Arnold, Substance Painter, Nuke, After Effects Lookdev, lighting and texture artist Kevin Durán created this adorable image during his first month at CineLight Academy, where he’s currently learning new techniques and perfecting old ones. The project took four weeks, with layout, texturing, lookdev/lighting and compositing taking about a week each. “I enjoyed being able to train my eye to better capture and represent my reference in a 3D scene,” Durán explains. “It was super entertaining to create the textures of these characters using the LEGO format and putting the project together little by little, bringing them to life.” Few simulations were used to bring the image to life, Durán explains that he only simulated the cape using Marvelous Designer because he found that it was the…

SOFTWARE ZBrush, Mari, XGen, Maya, Arnold YEAR CREATED 2019 LOCATION France I am a student in 3D/VFX with two years of CG experience. I love modelling and texturing creatures and animals. I created this orangutan to challenge myself by reproducing an animal that I particularly like. My main goal was to make it as real as possible. Anatomy was essential to study with a lot of references. I spent a lot of time doing research and getting inspired by other artists. I think that learning how things are working for other artists/studios is great to help motivate you to keep pushing your work further. www.artstation.com/martinusandizaga The Rookies is a platform to help digital artists get discovered without having to compete with professionals for attention. You’ll get to the front page…

1. FOCUS ON YOUR KEY SHOT When I was a lighting and compositing artist I found my best results were when I spent time making a really nice key still image. It was much easier to render one frame and comp it, then get it approved by the leads and directors, than it was to render a load of sequences. Make your key shot as bulletproof as possible and use that as a template for the rest of your shots in the same sequence with the same lighting conditions. You'll find it a lot easier to adjust only lights based on the angle of the camera in the shot than setting up the same scenario over and over again. 2. TRAIN YOUR EYE There’s a lot you need to go…

“We would block out where the fire was going to be and how fast it was moving throughout the whole sequence prior to running any simulation,” explains Arbuckle. “It was part of the system that we created but the layout department helped us with that. They would go through, especially in the all-CG shots where the majority of the frame was going to be our CG forest. We would have a version that told the story of the progression of the fire so that when it got to the effects department, we already had a guide of where it was supposed to be.” Story timing was more important than realistic continuity. “We would get the blocking and layout of it approved to some degree, and would go ahead and show…

wessel.artstation.com Wessel Huizenga is a passionate and hard-working archviz artist with a background in creating game environments. He is able to create optimised archviz scenes using Unreal Engine. LIGHTING For this project, I wanted to put the focus on setting the right mood. I aimed for a warm and comfortable look; to achieve this, I wanted to go in the direction of either a sunrise or sunset coming into the room. One of the most important things was to find and gather references, I can't recommend it enough. I found a design by BodesStudio that I stuck to. I made some reference images for the lighting by googling sunset and sunrise images and taking photos of my own room. I achieved the result by working iteratively on the lighting, keeping…

Felix Stief is a self-taught 3D artist. He is the lead environment artist at Studio Syro and has produced a wide variety of sets for their original series Tales From Soda Island. www.instagram.com/stieffelix FOLLOW THE VIDEO https://bit.ly/3D-world-arcturus For this tutorial, lead environment artist Felix Stief will be demonstrating how he uses Quill to make an illustrative outdoor scene directly in VR without needing any other software. Quill is an intuitive, artist-friendly VR painting tool that allows the user’s unique style to come through and generate illustrative hand-made scenes without requiring any sort of 3D background. The software can only be used in VR and artists ‘paint’ by drawing geometric 3D strokes in the air around them. Quill will come naturally to those with a 2D illustration background because it’s more…

Jeff Smith, Florida Pietro Chiovaro replies Creating an environment in Unreal Engine 4 is similar to building environments in any 3D software, but there are some key points to consider to help bring realism to your project. In the following points, I will share some of the key elements for the proper organisation and creation of an environment in Unreal Engine 4: Always start working parallel to one of the horizontal axes, this will make the building process faster and possible corrections easier. If possible, use a Scale value of 1 for the object – the closer to this value the better. Have the stage or map centre on the world location 0,0,0, this will make movement and location of assets through the environment easier. Use the Unreal mannequin as…

andres_zambrano.artstation.com Andres Zambrano is a 3D character artist with a passion for CG art and games. SCULPTING DETAILED SCALES IN ZBRUSH I approached the scales by first using the HD Geometry feature within ZBrush in order to get enough polygons to sculpt small details on a large unified surface. I decided to sculpt the scales by hand in order to avoid the repetitive look one can often get from relying on alphas. I blocked out the direction and pattern of the scales with a standard brush that was using Alpha 39. Then I went with the ClayBuildup brush to add volume to each scale individually. Finally, I added some noise with the NoiseMaker and some alphas to create surface imperfections.…