3D Artist (2) 2009.pdf

NEW! FREE E-ON VUE 7 PIONEER + CONTENT WORTH $100
Practical inspiration for the 3D community
02
www.3DArtistonline.com
www.3DArtistonline.com
INSPIR AT IONA L GUIDES
Talented artists share their techniques
for creating amazing 3D images
RENDER
MODEL
&FREE DISC
WORTH $300
ISSUE 0I2SSN 1759-9636 £6.00
9 7 7 1 7 5 9 9 6 3 0 0 7
0 2
3D models worth $179
Safari pack and a car model
Gnomon video tutorial
Character animation lesson
ON YOUR
FREE CD
Behind the scenes
with the top trainers
Plus: Production focus on a Disney-style
animated short fi lm with Studio Lampion
Reviews: Gnomon video training,
Poser Pro, Softimage 7.5,
Genetica Viewer 3.0
inside
Create Fast & Furious-style cars
Sculpting
with Maya
• Step-by-step tutorial
Compositing
Add 3D to scenes realistically
• Your questions answered!
Monsters vs. Aliens
technology revealed
ESCAPE
STUDIOS
Stereo 3D
is here
• Feature
Top architectural
visualisation agency
reveals all
GRAND
DESIGNS
• Interview
• Step-by-step tutorial
Create a post-apocalyptic
city scene in a matte style
Matte painting
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
It’s a jungle out there.
Swing through it
DirectoryTM
Also in this series
The definitive review listings for iPad, iPhone and Android apps
www.imaginebookshop.co.uk
Bookazines
eBooks • Apps
iPad
Printed full colour large format book
Kindle
High street Kindle Store ImagineShop.co.uk App Store
HIGH
ST.
BUY IN STORE
Personal portfolio site
www.benedict1.com
Country UK
Software used CINEMA 4D,
Photoshop
Artist info
Benedict Campbell
Cover artist
If you want a stark vision of the
future, then go no further than
this compelling image from
Benedict Campbell. It’s a 3D
rendered model, but the eyes
are human and have been
grafted on using Photoshop.
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
2009
ISSN 1759-9636
Magazine team
Editor Duncan Evans
duncan.evans@imagine-publishing.co.uk
☎ 01202 586282
Editor in Chief Jo Cole
Senior Sub Editor Colleen Johnson
Sub Editor Sam Robson
Group Art Editor Lora Barnes
Head of Design Ross Andrews
Contributors
Carly Barrett, Mark Bremmer, Benedict Campbell, Christian
Darkin, Lee Davies, Julie Easton, Carlos Fueyo, John Haynes,
Lance Hitchings, Ryan Lim, Jie Ma, April Madden, Stefan
Minning, James Shead, Tim Shelbourne, Sarah Slee,
Sebastian Storz and Lin Wen. Special thanks to Escape
Studios, the visualhouse and Red Vision.
Advertising
Digital or printed media packs are available on request.
Commercial Director Ross Webster
☎ 01202 586418
ross.webster@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Head of Sales James Hanslip
☎ 01202 586423
james.hanslip@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Advertising Manager Michaela Cotty
☎ 01202 586441
michaela.cotty@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Account Manager Cassie Gilbert
☎ 01202 586421
cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Cover disc
Interactive Media Manager Lee Groombridge
Head of Digital Projects Stuart Dixon
Multimedia Editor Tom Rudderham
3DAxtrahelp@imagine-publishing.co.uk
International
3D Artist is available for licensing. Contact the International
department to discuss partnership opportunities.
International Manager Cathy Blackman
☎ +44 (0) 1202 586401
licensing@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Subscriptions
Subscriptions Manager Lucy Nash
☎ 01202 586443
lucy.nash@imagine-publishing.co.uk
To order a subscription to 3D Artist:
☎ UK 0844 249 0472
☎ Overseas +44 (0) 1795 592951
Email: 3dartist@servicehelpline.co.uk
6-issue subscription (UK) - £21.60
13-issue subscription (UK) – £62.40
13-issue subscription (Europe) – £70
13-issue subscription (ROW) – £80
Circulation
Circulation & Export Manager Darren Pearce
☎ 01202 586200
Production
Production Director Jane Hawkins
☎ 01202 586200
Founders
Managing Director Damian Butt
Finance Director Steven Boyd
Creative Director Mark Kendrick
Printing & Distribution
Printed by St Ives Andover, West Portway, Andover, SP10 3SF
Distributed by Seymour Distribution, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London,
EC1A 9PT ☎ 020 7429 4000
Disclaimer
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material
lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of
Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced
in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All
copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism
and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure all
information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change.
This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the
companies mentioned herein.
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
☎ +44 (0) 1202 586200
Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
www.3dartistonline.com
This issue’s team of expert artists…
Mark Bremmer
Mark is seeing
double this month,
and not because
someone clouted him
over the head either –
it’s stereoscopic time
Lin Wen
Do you like to go
fast? If you like
underground, urban
race cars like those in
Need for Speed, then
here’s your fi x
Sebastian Storz
Take a magical scene,
throw in amazing
detail and a fabulous
colour scheme and
then get Sebastian to
explain how he did it
Lance Hitchings
Lance runs a design
studio stateside, and
is also the chap
manning the Q&A
help desk for your
3D problems
Jie Ma
Witness the fall of
the capitalist
socioeconomic
system and then
follow Jie’s tutorial in
making it in 3D
Lee Davies
Lee is employed as a
character modeller
for a Dublin-based
company. He’s here
to answer your
character questions
April Madden
April is technical
editor on Corel
Painter Magazine
and a graphic artist.
We gave her a pile of
books to review
Julie Easton
Foraging through the
dustbins of the
industry in search of
news, it’s Julie,
deputy editor of
Advanced Photoshop
Stefan Minning
Fresh from fi nishing a
Disney-style short
movie, Stefan from
Studio Lampion gives
us the lowdown on
how it was made
Carlos Fueyo
Carlos comes clean
on what you need to
know to get into the
architectural vis
business in our
insider interview
Ryan Lim It’s Wilhelm the First
astride a giant
German steampowered
robot. Let’s
get steampunk with
this tutorial
Tim Shelbourne
When he isn’t
standing in fi elds
scaring crows, Tim is
doing a sterling job
explaining how to use
Vue 7 Pioneer
www.3dartistonline.com
Sign up, share your art and chat to other artists at
Every issue
you can
count on…
1 116 pages of
creative inspiration
2 Behind-thescenes
guides to
images and artwork
3 A CD packed full
of creative goodness
4 Interviews with
inspirational artists
5 Tips for studying
3D or getting work
in the industry
6 The chance to see
your art in the mag!
How time fl ies, unless you’re
rendering a texture-heavy scene with
a dozen different lighting schemes.
Yes, no sooner than issue 1 was out the
door and making the newsagents’
shelves groan under the weight of the fabulous 3D
contained within, we’re on to issue 2 already.
Expect the same mix of jaw-dropping imagery that
you normally have to buy a coffee-table book to
see, expert tutorials, industry features and
interviews. Don’t forget the Workspace area too,
where you get the lowdown on behind-the-scenes
training, top jobs and university courses. Oh, and
there’s the disc as well – enjoy!
Duncan Evans,
Editor
to the magazine and 116 pages of 3D goodness
4 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Not just for
dummies
A clear, comprehensive series for people who want to start learning
about iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Photoshop
Also in this series
www.imaginebookshop.co.uk
Bookazines
eBooks • Apps
TM
High street Kindle Store ImagineShop.co.uk App Store
HIGH
ST.
BUY IN STORE
INSIDE I S SUE TWO
Get
3D Artist
every month
Turn to page 10 and
subscribe today!
delivered direct to your
door and save 40%
02
Discover how these images were created…
76
It is a fi ghting robot
created for war, but
mainly used to protect
the emperor
Five-page behind-the-scenes
guide to the creation of this image
Create a
steampunk robot
6 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The D in 3D is not just
physical dimensionality, but
emotional dimensionality
Jeffrey Katzenberg from DreamWorks Animation. Page 34
GUIDES & T ECHNIQUES
Continued overleaf
There’s even
more inside…
Turn the page to discover the
interviews, reviews, industry
advice and more that we’ve
packed into this issue…
44 Behind the scenes:
Go for Speed tutorial
Six-page guide to making a Need
for Speed urban car scene
52 I made this: Robert Vari,
The Prince
Check out the shiny textures on
this lovable little frog
54 Step by step: Creating a
storytelling scene
Sebastian Storz with his magical
tutorial for The Awakening
58 I made this: Marco Rolandi,
Rail Haven
More ecologically catastrophic
futures revealed!
60 Production focus: A Night at
the Cathedral
How to make 3D models look like
a Disney animated short fi lm
66
I made this:
Michal Kwolek, Kids
What happens when the TV is
broken and the kids run riot
68
Behind the scenes:
Create a ruined city
Six-page guide to creating a postapocalyptic
future city scene
74 I made this: Adrian Moos,
The Trophy Room
The golf balls are fl ying in this
humorous lounge scene
76 Step by step: Steam-powered
German robot power!
How the Kaiser united Germany
back in the day – we think…
The Studio
Professional 3D advice,
techniques and tutorials
Video tutorial:
Maya animation
Direct from Gnomon, there’s a ten-minute
lesson in character animation on the CD
Free: Vue 7 Pioneer
Plus $100 content! Turn
to page 110 for details
Plus software, models and resources
worth over $300
Turn to page 110 for the
complete disc contents
60
68
34
54
3DArtist ● 7
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
INSIDE I S SUE TWO
We are doing a lot of work in the Gulf;
the majority is concentrated from our new
Abu Dhabi office
Robert Herrick discussing architectural visualisation. Page 28
See your
artwork here…
Create a gallery today at
Share your art, comment
on other artists’
images
11 The Gallery
Sumptuous images from around
the 3D world
22 Community
News, contests, artwork and
letters from the 3D community
28 Interview: the visualhouse
Discover the investment-crazy
world of architectural visualisation
34 Feature: It’s all stereo now
The top dogs in Hollywood are
barking up the stereo 3D tree
40 Interview: Red Vision
Behind the scenes with the TV
VFX responsible for Battlefi eld
Britain, Headcases and more
44 The Studio
A world of tutorials and insights
into quite marvellous images
82 Questions and answers
Got questions about 3D software
and practices? Pull up a seat
86 Review: Softimage 7.5
The fi rst version since Autodesk
took over gets close scrutiny
88 Review: Poser Pro
Easy-to-use character posing and
rendering package checked out
90 Review: Gnomon Character
Animation: Essentials
There’s a sample on the disc,
here’s the full product reviewed
91 Review: Genetica Viewer
Go create and fi ddle around with
high-res textures
91 Review: Xtrusion Urban
pack 3
A roundup of 3D models you can
use in your own compositions
92 Reviews: Books
A selection of the best 3D books
108 Subscribe today!
You don’t want to miss an issue
and it will save you lots of cash
110 On the disc
There’s good stuff on there – Vue
7 Pioneer for a start
96 News
Industry events, awards, courses
and news you need to read
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & education
98 Studio access:
Escape Studios
Possibly the fi nest 3D and VFX
trainers in the land revealed
102 Interview: Carlos Fueyo
What you need to know to get a
job in architectural visualisation
104 College course: Swansea
Metropolitan University
We check out the 3D Computer
Animation course
106 Worldwide student gallery
Course students show their work
02
Inspiration • Interviews • Reviews and more
8 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Learn in style
Also in this series Now available on
www.imaginebookshop.co.uk Kindle Store ImagineShop.co.uk App Store
Bookazines
eBooks • Apps
Discover more with the Book series’ expert, accessible tutorials for
iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android, Photoshop, Windows and more
The
Series
High street
HIGH
ST.
BUY IN STORE
iPad
Printed full colour large format book
Kindle
TM
Pass our knowledge
off as your own
Also in this series
Know more with world-leading features and tutorials on everything
from Mac OS X to War Of The Worlds
www.imaginebookshop.co.uk
Bookazines
eBooks • Apps
iPad
Printed full colour large format book
Kindle
TM
High street Kindle Store ImagineShop.co.uk App Store
HIGH
ST.
BUY IN STORE
Personal portfolio site http://
fox.cgsociety.org/gallery/
Country Poland, but I live in
New Zealand
Software used Maya, mental
ray, Photoshop
Artist info
Piotr Fox Wysocki
Featured artists
THE GA L LERY 11 pages of the greatest artwork from the 3D community
W E L C O M E T O
THE GA L L ERY
Get your artwork featured in these pages
Simply send it to the 3D Artist Gallery. Here’s how…
You’ll be missing out on a thriving 3D
community, but if you’d rather submit your
work by email or post, here’s how. Make
sure your image is at least 3,000 pixels on
the longest side, save it as a maximum
quality JPEG or zip it up as a TIFF and email
it to the address below. Please include your
contact details! If you’ve created a Pixarbeating
animation and want to see that
featured on the cover CD, then save it onto a
CD and post it to us. You can also send your
images on CD. The addresses are:
duncan.evans@imagine-publishing.co.uk
The Gallery, 3D Artist, Imagine Publishing,
Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill,
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
Email or post
1. Register with us
Check out the website below and click on Register. Choose a
username and password and you’re ready to go.
www.3dartistonline.com
2. Upload your images
Once registered, you can upload images to your gallery –
there’s no limits on numbers but check the size criteria.
3. Tell us about them!
Have an image you feel passionate about? Drop editorial an
email at duncan.evans@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Enter online
Hang your art in our online gallery
and get selected for the magazine
Comment on
more great
3D art…
Head straight over to
www.3dartistonline.com,
register and you can leave
comments for other artists.
Some of the people
featured here already have
their galleries, so get online
and join our club! Create your gallery today: www.3dartistonline.com
My wife and I had the
idea to model everything
in the highest detail, just
as though it were real
life. We used just Maya,
without ZBrush, so it
just for fun!
was hardcore modelling
Superb imagining
of a fi ctional
character with
great colour
and warmth
Fabricio Moraes
Bringing an alien
life form to life
with super
character and
expression
David Moratilla
Let your jaw drop
at the authentic
colours in this
all-action air
combat scene
Timohir Blajev
Charming and
engaging image
from Luis that
really does pack
a punch
Luis Arizaga Rico
Lino’s image has
an evil queen and
a bald cat – surely
two of our
favourite things!
Lino Masciulli
Down in the
depths, strange
characters peer
out from bottles
and canisters
Hamid Ibrahim
This image just
shows what you
can do with DAZ
Studio if you have
the skill
Anastasiya Igolkina
Can you work out
where the
headphones start
and the bikini
fi nishes here?
Jan Jureczko
Piotr Fox Wysocki Last Elf, 2006
3DArtist ● 11
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Lora Group Art Editor
It’s a charming image that involves alien
characters, but are they underwater or are
they breathing air? Hamid has played around
with the concepts here to give a surreal
feeling to the image
Artist info
Personal portfolio site
http://ihamid.cgsociety.org/
Country Maldives
Software used Maya,
Photoshop, mental ray
Hamid Ibrahim
Username ihamid
Work in progress…
THE GA L L ERY
12 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Most of the models were
shaped using polygons (apart
from the mushrooms, which are
NURBS surfaces). All the different
parts of the steam machine were
created separately, down to the
tiniest bolt, then arranged like a
jigsaw puzzle
Hamid Ibrahim The Rannamaari, 2009
THE GA L L ERY
3DArtist ● 13
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Artist info
Jan Jureczko
Personal portfolio site http://
yannek.cgsociety.org/gallery/
Country Poland
Software used DAZ Studio,
DAZ 3D Victoria 4 Model Pose,
Photoshop, ZBrush, 3ds Max
Jan Jureczko Maria, 2008
The character was posed and morphed
using DAZ Studio, and then sculpted with
ZBrush to add a more unique look. Maria’s hair
is a 3D model post-worked in Photoshop. The
scene was illuminated with an HDRI map and
one large area light placed above the fi gure
Ross Head of Design
Here’s how you take the DAZ Studio
and a standard model, use accessories,
create a style and pose and light it perfectly
to come up with something eye
catching and original.
THE GA L L ERY
14 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Artist info
David Moratilla
Personal portfolio site
http://dmoratilla.cgsociety.
org/gallery/
Country Spain
Software used Maya, ZBrush,
Photoshop, mental ray,
BodyPaint 3D
Username dmoratilla
Work in progress…
It’s all in the expression. To get such
character and expression into the face of
a non-human fi gure is a real triumph.
You can almost smell the smoke
from here
Jo Editor in Chief
David Moratilla Poker Master, 2009
I made this image as a way to
apply all that I had learnt in the past
few years. I wanted to create a highly
detailed character and give him some
personality. I tried to make this
image as believable as I could, and
spent a lot of research on every
element of the scene
THE GA L L ERY
3DArtist ● 15
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Lino Masciulli The Queen’s Portrait, 2008
The intention was to
create an illustrative rather
than a realistic image in
order to help convey the
character of the queen
posing for a portrait. As a
dark queen with a strong
character, an illustrative
approach seemed right
Duncan Editor
It’s an evil-looking queen with
plenty of cleavage and a hairless
cat. Fantastic, what more do you
want in a render? Oh yes,
the fur collar is sensational
Artist info
Work in progress…
Personal portfolio site
www.cardinal3d.com
Country Italy
Software used CINEMA 4D,
Adobe Photoshop
3D image:
Lino Masciulli
Concept and 2D:
Sara Spano
Username Cardinal
THE GA L L ERY
16 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Artist info
Fabricio Moraes
Personal portfolio site http://
fabmoraes.cgsociety.org/
Country Brazil
Software used 3ds Max,
mental ray, Mudbox and
Adobe Photoshop
Work in progress…
Lora Group Art Editor
Fabricio has taken a traditional
character and given it his own
exaggerated interpretation. We love the
armour and the expression on
his face
Fabricio Moraes Don Quixotee, 2007
I was inspired by an
antique Spanish statue that has
very strong lines in its form. It
was very satisfying to see the
fi nal image and realise it
became exactly what was in my
mind. It was great to get
references from classic
paintings, study them and
get a better understanding
of lighting and composition
THE GA L L ERY
3DArtist ● 17
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Duncan Editor
Great piece of polygon modelling for the plane, but the real success
in this image is the use of historically accurate textures and the
faded colour scheme that matches the era perfectly
THE GA L L ERY
18 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The piece was modelled in Silo, then was exported into
3ds Max for texturing and rendering with V-Ray. It took
about three weeks to make, using standard modelling
techniques (polygon modelling). The greatest
challenge was texturing the plane and the search
for appropriate World War II plane textures.
Another challenge was appropriate planes for
the background, colour-matching the planes
with the 3D models and realising my idea
of the mood in the image. The texturing
problems were dealt with through
hard work in Adobe Photoshop
Timohir Blajev Messerschmitt Bf 109E, 2009
Artist info
Timohir Blajev
Personal portfolio site
http://raylight75.cgsociety.
org/gallery/
Country Bulgaria
Software used 3ds Max, Silo
and Adobe Photoshop
Username: Xray
Work in progress…
THE GA L L ERY
3DArtist ● 19
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Anastasiya Igolkina Vanadisa, 2008
Vanadisa is a pretty young girl. Her textures
and morphs were created by Freja and Adiene
for use in Poser or DAZ Studio. I got her as a gift
from Sabreyn, my very good friend at
Renderosity.com, and decided to create a
portrait with her
Artist info
Personal portfolio site
www.renderosity.com/mod/
gallery/browse.php?user_
id=554889
Country Russia
Software used DAZ Studio,
Adobe Photoshop Elements
Anastasiya Igolkina
Username Igolochka
Work in progress…
Ross Head of Design
If you ever wondered whether you could
create something both different and striking
with DAZ Studio, here’s the proof that it’s
possible. Great colours, nice pose and a
brilliant use of resources
THE GA L L ERY
20 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Jo Editor in Chief
Completely charming and
engaging character study that’s
bright and cheerful, yet also
packs a punch
I Love KungFu Luis Arizaga Rico, 2008
This is a cartoon character
that I had in mind a while ago.
I was looking for a little
cartoon girl with a mix of
Western and Eastern culture.
I was also infl uenced by the
Japanese ‘super-cute’ fashion.
Round and clean shapes were
very important in this
concept. She was modelled
and rigged for animation
Artist info
Luis Arizaga Rico
Personal portfolio site
www.digital-rebel.com
Country Spain
Software used 3ds Max,
mental ray, Photoshop
Username: Arizaga
Work in progress…
THE GA L L ERY
3DArtist ● 21
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
02
First 3D fl ick ever
to open Cannes
Disney and Pixar’s fi lm Up will kick off fi lm festival proceedings
huge step for animation and further supports our belief that a
great animated fi lm is simply a great fi lm.”
Made by the same team who worked on Monsters, Inc., Up
is the 10th fi lm from Disney and Pixar. The fi lm is a comedy
about an elderly balloon salesman who fulfi ls his life’s dream
of going on a big adventure. He ties masses of helium
balloons to the roof of his house and then fl ies away to South
America. The voice talent includes John Ratzenberger (Toy
Story, WALL·E, Monsters, Inc.), Christopher Plummer (Twelve
Monkeys) and Delroy Lindo (Gone in Sixty Seconds).
Up is due out in UK cinemas later this year. Visit http://
disney.go.com/disneypictures/up/ to take a peek at the
fi lm’s trailer.
Disney and Pixar’s latest feature-length 3D
animation has been picked to open the 62nd
Cannes Film Festival in May. Animated movies
have been shown at Cannes in previous years, including titles
such as Dumbo, Shrek and Shrek 2, Over the Hedge and Kung
Fu Panda, but Up will be the fi rst ever 3D fl ick to actually start
the prestigious event.
The organisers’ decision to screen the 3D animated
adventure fi rst sends out extremely positive signals to the 3D
art community, suggesting that the fi lm industry now regards
animated movies as highly as motion pictures. Disney and
Pixar’s chief creative offi cer John Lasseter explained the
signifi cance of this to the website Variety, saying: “This is a
The latest news, tools and resources for the 3D artist
This is a huge step for animation and
further supports our belief that a great
animated film is simply a great film
John Lasseter Disney and Pixar’s chief creative offi cer
Previous winners
Palme d’Or - The Class (2008)
Grand Prix - Gomorrah (2008)
Palme d’Or - 4 Months, 3 Weeks
And 2 Days (2007)
Grand Prix - The Mourning
Forest (2007)
Palme d’Or - The Wind That Shakes
The Barley (2006)
Grand Prix - Flanders (2006)
Up will be presented in Disney
Digital 3D in selected cinemas
Discuss what you think of the
latest 3D animated fi lms and more
with other 3D artists at
www.3dartistonline.com
Carl Fredricksen and stowaway
Russell fi nd themselves exploring
South America in Up
22 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
News, tools and resources Community
NewTek is producing free live
demos of its 3D animation
products in action. The sessions
will be held every fortnight and
each will focus on one of the
company’s products. The fi rst
demos to hit the site were TriCaster
and 3Play.
TriCaster enables users to
produce network-style videos for
the web or video. Meanwhile, 3Play
is a program with instant replay and
slow-motion features to be used in
broadcasts or webcasts.
To watch the demos, head over
to www.newtek.com/demo and fi ll
out the registration form to select
which live demonstration you want
to watch.
NewTek demos
3DTotal, the popular online
resource for 3D artists, has
released a Creature Concept Design
eBook. It is written by Mike
Corriero and is intended to help you
make a feature of your creature.
The training guide presents six
chapters with over 50 pages of
information outlining the basic and
more imaginative aspects of
creating two-dimensional critters
in Photoshop.
The Creature Concept Design
eBook weighs in at 44MB, and can
be downloaded for £9.95 from the
3DTotal website now. For more
details, visit www.3dtotal.com, click
on books under the Products dropdown
menu, then select eBooks
from the Categories list on the lefthand
side. Find what you’re after,
give it a click and get all the
information you want!
A new eBook
from 3DTotal
New sites and changes to your
favourites – it’s all here!
Dean Field currently develops curriculum for the
computer animation school New Media Campus. “I really
like the challenge of capturing automotive design using
hard-surface modelling,” Field explains.
’66 Volkswagen took him three days to model all the
parts and an extra week
setting up materials and
lighting. The image was
created using Maya and
mental ray. “I wanted to
create an image that
people would look at and
smile.” That’s certainly
been achieved here.
Since designing the ’66
Volkswagen, Dean has gone on to
produce this image
Fancy foliage
SpeedTree 5.0 beta debuts at GDC
Seeking submissions
Vue maker wants to see your work
e-on software is on the lookout for recent commercial
projects by Vue artists for its 2009 showreel. If
selected, the work will be showcased at a variety of
shows and conventions, including Siggraph in August.
The submitted projects, which ought to have involved
Vue or Ozone, can be anything from fi lms to architectural
walkthroughs. Applicants should list any third-party
applications that helped create the work, but there are no
restrictions on what apps have been used alongside Vue
or Ozone.
If you would like to take part, then take a look at www.
e-onsoftware.com to fi nd details on the submission
process. The deadline for entries is 15 May 2009. Best of
luck, and if any reader does get selected then remember
where you heard about it fi rst!
●www.planit3d.com
Planit 3D
Planit 3D was created back in 2001. Offering a wealth of
freebies to its users, artists can choose from free
models, meshes, software, textures and even sound
effects. There is a wide range of interviews with artists,
companies and even the website’s staff members
themselves. Explaining why the site was created, Planit
3D’s founder Fitzy said: “I wanted my own resource
library that I could access from anywhere in the world.”
Its bustling forum contains all the usual topics, and
special free stuff is offered to its members. If you haven’t
done so already, we recommend you take a look.
co
Planit 3D is a
great resource for artists
A beta version of SpeedTree
5.0 was shown at the Game
Developers Conference. The
update hopes to offer chances
of creating better modelling
and rendering of trees and
other plantlife.
The 5.0 instalment will
enable users to guide and
prune branch shapes, and
even grow models around
imported meshes, such as
rocks. It also has built-in
support for NVIDIA’s PhysX
APEX Vegetation Module, too.
In addition to that, the levels of
detail on offer mean that you
can cram more trees in your
image than ever before. Take a
look at SpeedTree 5.0 on
www.speedtree.com.
We take a look at an artist who
enjoys capturing the qualities of
vehicle design
Dean Field
‘66 Volkswagen
3DArtist ● 23
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
02
The latest news, tools and resources for the 3D artist
Bike Shop Exterior
Alberto started out professionally in
the 3D industry back in 2004.
Specialising in environments and prop
modelling, he has been working on
Bike
Shop Exterior
in his spare time, which has
taken around two to three months.
Created using 3ds Max, V-Ray,
Photoshop and Shader Map Pro, Alberto
explains that one of his aims was to test
his texturing and lighting skills: “I set out
to do just one side of the street, focusing
only on the bike shop, but I started
branching out the scene to include the
building across the street.”
Raytracing reinvented
Computer graphics company Caustic Graphics claims it will
increase the speed used to create realistic 3D imagery
Thanks to Caustic Graphic’s new raytracing software,
it’s quicker and easier for 3D artists to produce images
20 times quicker with its new raytracing
software. What raytracing does is duplicate
the natural physics of light, which enables
the user to create realistic images by tracing
the path of light through scenes. It was
previously out of reach to designers and
animators due to high costs and demanding
system requirements.
The technology behind CausticRT is
expected to make it easier and cheaper for
artists to get from the initial concept to the
fi nal product. “Caustic puts the power of a
render farm, operating at interactive speeds,
on every desktop,” said Ken Daniels, CEO at
Caustic Graphics.
For more information, take a look at what’s
on offer at www.caustic.com.
We chatted with Alberto Hernandez, a 3D environment
artist from Los Angeles, and discovered what was his
motivation behind creating his Bike Shop Exterior image
Alberto Hernandez http://albertohernandezjr.com/
Free models online
Take advantage of high-quality models that
cost nothing more than a few mouse clicks
Free 3D resources
Not content with plugging its eBook this issue, 3D Artist
points you towards the rest of what 3DTotal has to offer
Web: www.3dtotal.com
3DTotal is a great resource for
artists, and its selection of 3D
models is particularly useful.
You’ll fi nd many different
categories to browse through,
ranging from humans to
mechanoids. There are also free
textures and tutorials on offer.
3ds Models
Collect your culinary creations from here
Web: www.3dsmodels.com
3ds Models features a small
selection of free homeware
models, including cups, cutlery
and kitchen appliances. If the
chrome toaster doesn’t catch your
eye – how about the free pizza?
Sadly, it’s only a model of one, but
it’s free all the same. Pay a visit to
www.3dsmodels.com to take a
closer look.
3d-animation
A wealth of freebies at your fi ngertips
Web: www.3d-animation.com.ar
When things sound too good to be
true, they normally are. Not here,
however. This website provides
the 3D community with textures,
tutorials and models that won’t
cost you a penny. If you want a few
basic bits and pieces for your
images, then www.3d-animation.
com.ar is a good place to start.
Caustic Graphics reckons that its new
technology, CausticRT, is expected to
make producing stunning 3D images up to
24 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
News, tools and resources ●Community
The Maya 2009 Service Pack 1
was released by Autodesk at the
end of March. Applicable to Maya
2009, Maya Complete 2009 and
Maya Unlimited 2009, it hopes to
provide various fi xes for the
program, totalling over 100,
including areas such as Rendering,
Assets, Modelling, Animation and
Rigging, Dynamics and Effects,
Python scripting and API. In order
to download this update, point your
browser to http://autodesk.com/
and get up to date!
Maya 2009
update released
mental images has launched two
editions of mental mill, which will
offer the 3D artist a whole new
approach to shader creation. The
Standard Edition of mental mill will
provide shader authoring features
and instant mental ray preview
rendering, while the Artist Edition
will help users to assemble shader
graphs from the library provided
and tweak the parameters. For
more information and to download
a free beta of the Standard Edition,
visit www.mentalmill.com.
mental image’s
mental mill
Software shorts
Get the lowdown on updates and launches
Capturing reality
Rakesh Sandhu is an artist with a passion for working on
lighting, as he feels it “brings life to everything.” His
project, known as Kid, is an incredibly lifelike short
animation that was created in just a few weeks. He based it
on an image he saw on Flickr, saying: “I liked the
composition of the image and the innocence of the kid’s
eyes.” A recent graduate of Vancouver Film School, Rakesh
is now employed by Anthem FX to work on modelling,
texturing and lighting. Rakesh’s next project will be a joint
effort between him and his friends; together, they’re
expected to produce an animation of a lizard.
Rakesh Sandhu is a 3D artist who
enjoys re-creating reality, and his
short animation Kid is proof of that
Rakesh Sandhu http://rsandhu.net/
Offers the largest capacity in a single-drive HDD
WESTERN DIGITAL 2TB EXTERNAL HDD
Create your gallery, browse the artwork, chat with
experts and artists and get tips and techniques at
www.3dartistonline.com
www.3DArtistonline.com Practical inspiration for the 3D community
03 What’s in next issue
Issue 3: on sale 27 May
Learn how this incredible image was created
For more issue 3 information,
visit www.3dartistonline.com
Western Digital’s My Book external hard drive
range can now hold even more data. The popular
product line offers users up to 2TB of stylish
storage, helping to alleviate both Mac and PC users
of their storage woes.
There are four models to choose from, and
depending on which one you pick, the ports on
them can vary from USB 2.0, eSATA, FireWire 400
or 800. The capacity gauge is available on all My
Books, which is great for those who like to keep tabs
on how much space is left. Meanwhile, the
SmartPower and Safe Shutdown features ensure
your fi les are as protected as possible.
For more on the range, visit www.wdc.com/en.
The broken armistice
over Albakin
Alexander Preuss «
Personal portfolio site
http://www.abalakin.de/
My Book’s Studio edition is
formatted for Mac use and
features automatic
continuous backup
3DArtist ● 25
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
02
The latest news, tools and resources for the 3D artist
Have your say
Write, email or
use the website
forums to get
in touch about
the magazine,
your problems
or triumphs
www.3dartistonline.com
REGISTER AT OUR WEBSITE, UPLOAD IMAGES, CONTRIBUTE TO THE FORUMS
Email the team directly
with your letter
3dartist@imaginepublishing.
co.uk
Log in, and leave your
comments on the forum
www.3dartistonline.
com/forum
POST TO:
The Editor, 3D Artist,
Imagine Publishing,
Richmond House,
33 Richmond Hill,
Bournemouth,
Dorset.
BH2 6EZ. UK
Send your
letters to…
Glue it up
The glue that holds the disc inside the magazine must be
changed. It destroyed the page it was stuck to. There goes
my pristine copy of the magazine! Other than that, I’m
enjoying browsing through it for now, and will give it an indepth
read later this evening. Oh, and try not forget us Mac
users when you put items on your coverdiscs in future please.
Mike R, forum post
Hmm, it does seem as though the CD in some copies has a
particularly strong hold on the page. We’ll have a word with the
suppliers and see what can be done. I guess it’s better for the CD
to hold fi rm than come loose, though… Don’t worry – we give
some love to Mac users on issue 2’s disc – see below.
Mac or PC
I feel, as this is a fi rst edition, let down because I’m a Mac
user. The cover and the inside said you were offering DAZ
Carrara Pro free. As a 3D artist using CINEMA 4D, Poser,
DAZ Studio and many other packages, I thought this would be
a good chance to try it out. Not until I got to the section about
Carrara in small print, did it say PC only! Being Mac based,
this is no good. I think you should make it clear on the front of
the mag. Although, I didn’t just buy it for Carrara but for the
illustration-based subjects created in 3D, not offered by other
3D mags. I’ll be taking a monthly subscription. Good luck!
Adrian Bibby, by email
Reply: Welcome aboard Adrian. Yes, we’re sorry about the loss
of the Mac version. We were supplied with it, but we couldn’t fi t
both versions on the disc. To avoid this kind of thing in future, we
are going to have a locked area of the 3DArtist website which
needs a code from the magazine to unlock. This will then contain
all the stuff that we’d got for you but couldn’t fi t onto the disc
that month. The good news is that the Vue 7 Pioneer program on
the disc this issue has both Mac and PC installs.
Generic workshops
Hi there, nice issue – but I was wondering if you will be doing
any generic workshops on making clothing and weaponry. By
this I mean instructions that could be used in most 3D
programs and not just the expensive ones. Making a sci-fi
gun could be done in simple stages with primitives, so it
could be made in 3DS, Maya, Hexagon, Blender, etc.
All the best.
Richard, forum post
Although the tutorials use certain programs, Richard, there
will also be lots of artistic tips that people can utilise in
whatever program they are using. We will also have more
specifi c tutorials that focus on one element – such as your
example of a sci-fi gun.
If you have a certain something that you are struggling with,
let us know and it can be incorporated into the Q&A area!
Set up your online gallery
01 Register your details
First click on the Join Now box in the top right corner. Fill in
your personal details – the ones in blue are mandatory. Think
of a good member name and a password. When you’re
happy, click Create User. You’ll be sent an email with a link.
Click this and enter your password to activate your account.
02 Log in
Your account is now created. Every time you
visit www.3dartistonline.com, enter your user
name and password to log in. If your PC or
Mac allows cookies you can store the
password and log on automatically. Click the
top left link to access your account. Now click
on Add New Image to add some images.
03 Upload pics
Fill in the title of your pic and describe how
you made it, what it was for. Pick a category
and navigate to the image for the upload. It
can be 1280 x 1024 max, and must be a
GIF, JPG or PNG. Hit Submit Image. After a
short delay while we approve it, it’ll be
added to the Gallery and your portfolio.
Mac users will fi nd
their needs well
catered for in future
26 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
We don’t keep
secrets
Also in this series Now available on
Learn the truth about iPhone, iPad, Android, Photoshop and
more with the Tips & Tricks series’ expert advice and tutorials
www.imaginebookshop.co.uk
Bookazines
eBooks • Apps
iPad
Printed full colour large format book
Kindle
TM
High street Kindle Store ImagineShop.co.uk App Store
HIGH
ST.
BUY IN STORE
Interview● The visualhouse
Robert Herrick, a graduate architect
with a passion for visualising
architectural 3D designs, founded
the visualhouse in 2003 with the direct
purpose of bringing fantastic
visualisation directly to fellow architects.
The aim of the company is to provide highquality,
reliable productions of 3D images
and animation for developers, advertising
agencies and architects. With this ethos in
place, the visualhouse has worked for some
of the world’s largest architectural and
marketing fi rms. The company has taken a
traditional and formal architectural
background and developed cutting-edge
technique to deliver ultra-realistic and
visually pleasing visualisations.
The visualhouse has a main offi ce in
London, but currently has offi ces in New
York, Shanghai and more recently in Los
Angeles, Chicago and Abu Dhabi. This
makes the visualhouse one of the largest
visualisation companies around. The
positioning of the offi ces was deliberately
targeted to be in the world’s major
architectural hubs so that they could work
closely with the clients themselves.
At the visualhouse, Herrick concentrates
its efforts on the architectural market, with
services ranging from photorealistic
verifi ed planning imagery to full-length
fi lms of new master plans in the Middle
East. Essentially, it acts as an external 3D
department for some of the world’s major
architects, attending to all their
visualisation needs.
3DArtist: What would you say sets
the visualhouse apart from other
architectural visualisation studios?
Duncan Evans talks to Robert Herrick about the world of architectural visualisation
and the work that the visualhouse undertakes within it
We’re completely different to most other
studios. We act as an extra addition to the
architect’s team, working with them from the
very start throughout the design process
Robert Herrick founder and owner, on the visualhouse’s work ethos
Company The visualhouse
Founded 2003
Company website
www.visualhouse.co.uk
Country UK, US, China
Software used 3ds Max, V-Ray,
mental ray
Expertise Architectural
visualisation
Client list KPF, Foster and
Partners, Candy & Candy, HOK,
David Chipperfi eld Architects,
Grimshaw Architects
B American Commerce
Centre for Architect KPF
mode
A American Commerce
Centre for Architect
KPF cityscape visual
A
B
28 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Visualising the world ●Interview
We moved
on to the large task
of modelling
the whole of
Philadelphia
in reasonable
detail. We
managed
to achieve
this in a
weekend
American
Commerce Centre
Client Kohn Pederson Fox
In early September 2008, Kohn Pederson
Fox Architects in New York approached us
with the American Commerce Centre
project. The scheme is in Philadelphia and
set to be one of the largest towers in the
States. KPF wanted a four-minute fi lm and
six still renders in a time frame of three and a
half weeks. Always keen for a challenge, we
readily accepted.
Myself and Christian Shoup (director at
the New York offi ce) were running the
project with a team of fi ve for the animation,
three for the still images and a team of four
modellers in our Shanghai offi ce. As always,
we began by receiving all the relevant CAD
drawings and information from the client.
This was then handed over to our modelling
team in Shanghai, who completed the
scheme model in a record 28 hours in high
detail. The model was then passed to the
client for comment and further
embellishment. Once the model was
resolved, it was handed over to the
animation and stills teams.
Because the still images were
photomontages, they were pretty
straightforward. Our in-house photographer
was able to get access to adjacent buildings
and achieve the desired compositions. The
lighting, materials and cameras were all set
up in 3ds Max and rendered out in V-Ray,
with fi nal Photoshop tweaking and fi nishing.
The animation required further thought,
however, after agreeing on the storyboard
and paths with the client, we moved onto
dealing with the context. In projects with
tighter time frames and budgets, we fi nd it’s
usually best to do everything in 3D. This cuts
out the need for helicopter footage, etc. So
we moved on to the large task of modelling
the whole of Philadelphia in reasonable
detail. We managed to achieve this in a
weekend. First, we concentrated our effort
into zones of detail, the area around the
tower and immediately around the paths
being the highest detail, the further
surrounding city being medium detail and
the suburbs being low poly. The low-poly
suburbs were relatively straightforward. We
used our own city-generation MAXScript,
which works in a similar way to Greeble but
actually generates road layouts and building
detail/textures, etc. For the more detailed
areas, we used a combination of OpenGL
extraction scripts from Google Earth and
manual modelling. The result was not only
fast but looked great. Once we had
confi rmed the camera paths, it was on to
rendering at our in-house render farm in
London. From there, it was compositing all
the passes in After Effects and Fusion. The
fi nal fi lm was then edited and the music we
composed was inserted.
3DArtist ● 29
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Interview●The visualhouse
C Blocked out top view of structures for Bahrain Water Gardens
Bahrain Water Gardens
Client HOK London
In June 2008, HOK London asked us to
work very closely with them on a new
master plan they were designing in Bahrain.
Our brief was to work with the design team
over the course of two months to produce
imagery and eventually fi nal visuals and an
animation of the proposal.
We began by modelling up the proposed
design and context, which helped the team
to make their decisions. Because we were
doing a wide range of animation and still
imagery for this project, we decided to use
mental ray as our primary render engine,
which worked out fantastically as Final
Gather maps are very fl exible compared to
V-Ray’s irradiance maps. As the team
developed their fi nal design in Revit, we
were ready to implement that into our
master model (containing the context).
From there, we simply animated the
requested cameras, embellished the model
with low-poly trees, cars, detail, etc, and
then moved on to the lighting. Because we
used MR with a simple daylight system, the
lighting was straightforward. For the
external night shots, we lit the buildings by
arraying invisible boxes on the building’s
fl oor plates with MR glow materials on
them at random quantities. This worked
well at giving a variation to the quality of the
facades. From here, we moved to fi nal
rendering and compositing in Fusion.
For the external night
shots, we lit the buildings
by arraying invisible boxes
on the building’s floor plates
with MR glow materials
c
D
30 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Visualising the world ●Interview
Robert Herrick: We’re completely different
to most other studios. We really do act as an
extra addition to the architect’s team,
working with them from the very start
throughout the design process. We
understand that fantastic visualisation is
not just reserved for fi nal marketing images,
it’s now a necessity in a project at all stages
in the design. In the current market,
architects need to keep their clients enticed
at all times. The visualhouse works with
them from the beginning to achieve this
visual consistency throughout.
3DA: Tell us about the technique of AVHSi.
What is it and why did you patent it?
RH: AVHSi (Accurate Verifi ed HDRI Stereo
Lithography Imagery) is the process of using
stereo lithography within a full Spheron
HDR image to produce co-ordinates of static
objects within the image. This information
can then be transferred via MAXScript to
3ds Max and create highly accurate 3D
camera locations for verifi ed planning
imagery. This is singularly the most effi cient
and cost-effective way of producing highly
accurate verifi ed imagery for planning.
3DA: You’ve worked with a lot of the bigname
companies in the industry. Who are
or have been some of your main clients?
RH: The visualhouse has an extensive client
list, but to name a few: KPF, Foster and
Partners, Candy & Candy, HOK, David
Chipperfi eld, Grimshaw Architects. Really,
the list is endless.
F Syria Hotel for Foster
and Partners room
visual
3DA: Your portfolio covers a range of styles,
from commercial, residential and
competition work to public and cultural,
sports and leisure, and specifi c building
types like bridges and tall buildings. Is the
approach different for each, or is it always
tailored to the project itself?
RH: We believe that each project requires a
different approach; sometimes the
straightforward photorealistic image isn’t
the best option to convey an unresolved
design. Over the years, we’ve developed a
wide range of styles that can be applied in a
number of suitable situations. Working with
such clients as Foster and Partners, we have
developed a style of abstract imagery that
works fantastically at setting a mood and
not revealing a detailed design, yet still
looks resolved.
E Vanari for Brigitta
Spinocchia jetty visual
Each project requires a different approach;
sometimes the straightforward photorealistic
image isn’t the best option
G Levera for Brigitta
Spinocchia villa visual
E
F
G
3DArtist ● 31
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Interview● visualhouse
3DA: What software did you use to model
and render most of your still and animated
projects with?
RH: Our primary software is 3ds Max used
with V-Ray and mental ray as the main
render engines. There is also a wide
knowledge of other 3D packages throughout
the teams in the offi ces. We typically get
models in DWG, Rhino, MicroStation, Revit
and SketchUp format from clients.
3DA: How many people typically work on a
project in-house?
RH: This really depends on the workload
and deadline, but typically directors run
projects, consultants (senior artists)
manage the workload and 3D artists help
throughout. As an example, a one-week,
four-image project would typically have one
consultant and two artists working on it.
H The envisiged lobby of the
American Commerce
Centre. Designed for
Architect KPF
The majority [of work] is concentrated from
our new Abu Dhabi office. But this is also a
declining construction market
H
32 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Visualising the world ●Interview
3DA: The Gulf States are the current
hotspots for architectural visualisation. Are
you doing any work there?
RH: Currently, we are doing a lot of work in
the Gulf; the majority is concentrated from
our new Abu Dhabi offi ce. But this is also a
declining construction market sadly,
however, we are always very busy there
with new competitions and current projects
for the wide range of architects we work
with directly.
3DA: How do you feel the global fi nancial
slowdown is affecting the market for
architectural visualisation?
RH: There is no denying the fact that there
has defi nitely been a huge slowdown in this
market. This is, however, only really
concentrated to the types of projects
involving marketing and the developer side
of things, which usually have much higher
budgets. The good news for us is that the
architectural side of things is still booming,
with architects tendering for new projects
left, right and centre.
Amazingly, the visualhouse has never
been busier. Because we work on an hourly
basis and pride ourselves on having a very
fast turnaround on images, it appears we’re
becoming one of the most effective
visualisation solutions for architects.
J American Commerce
Centre for Architect
KPF cityscape night
visual
3DA: What are the visualhouse’s plans and
ambitions for the company in the next
couple of years?
RH: Over the next fi ve years, we intend to
expand our teams in their current locations,
increase our client list to include all of the
world’s major architects and really work on
our overall brand to become renowned as
the world’s most capable, reliable and
effective visualisation company.
i The Leaf for Foster and
Partners after post
production visual
Ealing Arcadia
Client Foster and Partners
In September 2007, Foster and Partners asked
us to look at a tall residential tower proposed in
the contentious area of Ealing, London. The
brief was fairly simple: create a series of
external visuals to market and sell the current
design to the planners. Being that the building
was in a very low-rise residential area, our
composition choice was critical. We wanted to
sell the scheme but try and reduce the impact
as much as possible. After agreeing a series of
viewpoints with the client, our process was
straightforward. We took the original Foster’s
model and embellished it further in 3ds Max,
textured it, lit it and prepared for rendering in
mental ray. We chose mental ray for speed
reasons, as we were working to a tight deadline
(one week) and every second counted. The fi nal
render was very heavily embellished in
Photoshop (see the before and after shots).
We wanted to sell the
scheme but try and reduce the
impact as much as possible
I
J
3DArtist ● 33
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
3D camera rigs are the new secret
weapon in immersive cinematic
experience. Mark Bremmer reports
Fast-forward to today, and you will discover
that three signifi cant changes have culminated
in successfully bringing quality 3D to the masses.
The fi rst is much-improved optical knowledge
for both viewing and producing; the second
focuses on robust CG and compositing
capabilities, while the third is the conversion of
cinemas to 3D-friendly equipment
Feature●Double vision
Double
Double
vision
The anaglyph
presentation is
the result of a
two-camera rig
with the cameras
set apart like eyes.
CG allows for
perfect camera
placement
» Monsters vs. Aliens
DreamWorks’ newly released
Monsters vs. Aliens is the latest
foray into enhanced storytelling
with stereoscopic 3D
© DreamWorks Animation.
All rights reserved
34 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
t’s only within the last few years
that specialised cinematic 3D
experiences have been
transformed from an awkward
novelty into an immersive viewer
encounter. Gone are the visually
unsettling red-and-blue glasses. Movie
patrons are now enveloped in the 3D
experience by more advanced polarisation
methods that, while still requiring glasses,
produce vastly superior results.
Also new to the creation of a quality 3D
experience is actually shooting/rendering
for 3D production instead of merely
repurposing fl at 2D footage for 3D
effects. While special camera rigs can be
built for traditional fi lming, they are still
limited by the constraints of the real
world; however, CG is not. Computer
graphics have provided new effi ciencies
and capabilities when producing for
immersive 3D, and along with the new
capabilities come extra responsibilities for
creating fi rst-rate results.
Consequently, the new position of
stereoscopic supervisor has been created
for movie productions that want to
leverage this immersive capability. Recent
fi lms like Disney’s Bolt have taken 3D
viewing to a new and story-enhancing
level rather than simply using it as a
gimmick to periodically throw things at
the audience.
Developing 3D
The idea of creating 3D viewing is simple
and long known. Take two different
images of the same scene from slightly
different horizontal angles and only let
each of the viewer’s eyes see one of the
images. Hey presto, you have the illusion
of depth. In fact, creating stationary
images like this was done in the 1800s,
using special viewers that only showed
one image to each eye.
However, when you get to movie
screens, things get more complicated
because you must show both images on
the same screen. The traditional anaglyph
red-and-blue glasses were created in the
Forties to ‘hide’ left and right images from
each eye using colour. This worked but
was quite gimmicky, and usually had the
viewers leaving the cinema holding their
heads from a visually induced headache.
The anaglyph method is still used because
it is very cost effective for large audiences
and, thanks to much-improved production
methods, isn’t as painful to watch any
more. But there is a better way.
Fast-forward to today, and you’ll
discover that three signifi cant changes
have culminated in successfully bringing
quality 3D to the masses. First is better
optical knowledge for viewing and
producing; next is robust CG and
compositing capabilities, while the last is
cinemas converting to 3D equipment.
As to the fi rst of these changes, the
camera rigs are essentially set up like the
eyes in your head – left and right. The
distance between the two cameras is
known as the interaxial distance. Each
camera has its own cone or fi eld of view.
When both cameras focus at a set
distance, this target distance is called the
convergence point or plane. For the sake
of the 3D effect, everything beyond the
convergence plane recedes away from the
viewer and everything ahead of it
advances toward the viewer.
» Jeffrey Katzenberg
DreamWorks Animation
standard bearer Jeffrey
Katzenberg is one of the
biggest proponents of
immersive 3D viewing
» Bolt
Bolt is a new breed of
fi lm that carefully
integrates stereoscopic
needs from the very
start, providing a much
more immersive
viewing experience
© Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
I
Double vision ●Feature
3DArtist ● 35
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Rigging
Digital camera rigs allow for perfect camera alignment and interaxial
spacing that is impossible to achieve with actual cameras for a better
viewing experience, as the left-hand diagram shows. This ability
greatly increases the control over perceived depth and volume of
subjects. Multiple digital camera rigs can fi nely craft the 3D space
with fi nal footage being composited in post-production.
Real camera rigs suffer from slight alignment imperfections.
Asymmetric fi lm planes distort perspective, as shown on the right.
Because of the physical limitations of real cameras, even with
perspective adjusting lenses, there can be slight to signifi cant 2-point
perspective shifts that are visually unsettling.
Feature●Double vision
eliminating the colour distortion that
anaglyph methods force on viewers. It
does require some special projection
equipment in addition to the need for
viewers to wear glasses. There are other
technologies in development that don’t
require glasses (autostereoscopic) at all.
However, the entry price for those
technologies is still extremely high for the
cinemas since it requires highly
specialised – expensive – hardware
replacement. 3D movie growth has
exploded in the last three years,
suggesting autostereoscopic will no doubt
become more approachable.
The world of stereoscopy
Having an emotional connection for
entertainment media is a proven
generator of cash. Both movies and
videogames that offer emotional
connections fi nancially far outperform
those that do not.
This is where the world of cinematic 3D
is making some interesting inroads.
Cinematic 3D used to be a cheap trick –
make something reach into the audience.
The problem is that the items advancing
into the audience always had a rather fl at,
fake, cutout look. Well, this is no more.
CG has added a level of sophistication
that allows producers to add volume to
CG objects, creating a better visual
existence in the immersive 3D
environments. While not describing
exactly how it’s done, Robert Neuman,
the stereoscopic supervisor of Disney’s
Bolt, says: “We have a tool that allows us
New technology has fi xed a longstanding
problem in this method –
differently angled or towed camera fi lm
planes. When the focal planes are not
perfectly parallel, the subjects will slightly
keystone or bend inward at the polar top
and bottom of the shot. When two images
like this are shown, it becomes mildly
unsettling to look at. In traditional camera
rigs, this is now reduced by using
perspective-controlled lenses. In CG, it’s a
perfect camera adjustment.
While anaglyph glasses are still the
mass way to view 3D content, improved
methods pioneered by RealD 3D (www.
reald.com) are quickly being adopted as a
standard in cinemas. This polarisation
method allows viewers to use passive
polarising glasses for image separation,
RealD is the current
leader in cinematic 3D
viewing and projection.
Its passive polarised
glasses allow a truer
viewing experience
without compromising
colour as the anaglyph
glasses do
Bolt (top)
Disney’s Bolt was the
opening-night fi lm at the
fi rst 3D fi lm festival, 3DX
© Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
Monsters vs. Aliens »
© DreamWorks Animation.
All rights reserved
36 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Managing the complexity
Just when you thought you knew everything about CGI, stereoscopic 3D comes along.
This new capability requires extra planning to execute well. In fact, Z-Depth is now
part of the storyboarding process. The Walt Disney Studios used a stereo viewer
with Maya to head off production problems during the development of Bolt. To
prevent fl at 3D effects requires multiple digital camera rigs and additional
compositing. Need to know more? Digital Tutors (www.digitaltutors.com) is offering
stereoscopic training for Maya and After Effects.
to quantify what we call the roundness of
characters specifi cally, creating good
internal volume.” No longer does the
audience simply observe a fl at scene
before them – they become part of a real
3D space. The payoff of 3D immersive
viewing is summed up by Jeffrey
Katzenberg from DreamWorks
Animation: “The D in 3D is not just
physical dimensionality, but emotional
dimensionality. 3D won’t make a bad
movie good, but it can make a great movie
incredible.” That sentiment is driving the
3D industry aggressively.
At the time of writing, there are over 70
stereoscopic movies in production
worldwide, with Hollywood accounting for
about half of those fi lms according to
technology consultant Sarah Carroll, who
is head of continuous services for
Futuresource Consulting.
While CG is a better fi t for actual 3D
production for technical reasons, the
traditional fi lm market is not sitting back
and watching all the action. Music group
U2 released U2 3D in 2008, which has
brought in well over ten million US dollars.
The Jonas Brothers are currently releasing
their 3D concert movie, too.
Recent fi ndings by the industryrespected
Screen Digest relates that: “3D
screenings have outperformed their 2D
counterparts by more than double in
attendance rates and over three times in
revenue.” It’s this reality that is
accelerating not only demand for 3D
movies but also the adoption of viewing
technology to capitalise on it. Long the
bane of cinema owners, digital projection
and screens have been held at arm’s
length because of retrofi tting costs.
Called D-cinema systems, these retrofi ts
are occurring at an increasing rate
because of the profi t involved.
Even the print industry is taking note. A
highly specialised process called lenticular
printing that allows both the delivery of
about ten seconds of video or
autostereoscopic 3D is being used for
marketing materials worldwide, especially
Double vision●Feature
Apparently, Sony is exploring PS3 titles in
stereoscopic presentation. Some keen-eyed CES
attendees spotted Criterion Games’ Burnout
being played during the show…
Sony’s playing around
Sure, we expect to experience 3D viewing in the
cinemas, but how about coming from your games
console? The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
allowed Sony to show some 3D gaming in action – but
not really. While Sony representatives wouldn’t say
that 3D gaming was in development, they didn’t say it
wasn’t. On the screens for all to see were versions of
popular PS3 gaming titles, like WipEout HD, Gran
Turismo 5, MotorStorm and Burnout. Monitors to play
3D games on already exist from vendors like from
iz3D. Not big enough for you? Mitsubishi has models
up to 73 inches.
Beowulf 3D
Beowulf was one of the many fi lms
recent fi lms that was released in both
2D and 3D
© Sony Pictures, All rights reserved
No longer does the audience simply
observe a fl at scene before them – they
become part of a real 3D space
3DArtist ● 37
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Feature●Double vision
in movie cinemas. Particularly suited to
the print industry is anaglyph printing,
which has spawned novel and exciting
billboards and displays at trade shows, all
requiring the use of red-and-blue glasses.
Companies like Big3D (www.big3d.com)
show excellent examples of the 3D range
in printed form.
One of the most signifi cant catalysts in
technology development and adoption is
the multibillion-dollar gaming industry.
Companies like iz3D (www.iz3d.com)
already have 22-inch monitors for a very
modest sum that enable users to play an
expanding catalogue of 3D-compliant
games using polarising glasses. NVIDIA
(www.nvidia.com) and other computer
video card manufacturers are developing
enhanced support for both stereoscopic
and autostereoscopic solutions. At
January’s Consumer Electronics show,
Sony displayed a new 3D television that
uses RealD’s technology for gameplay on
the PS3. Levi Buchanan, IGN
Entertainment attendee at CES, summed
up it, as he said: “If deployed properly
inside games as a way to enhance the
immersion, such as MotorStorm’s depth of
fi eld, this could be an exciting selling point
for the PS3 in the future.”
The future of 3D CGI
The sun is beginning to crest the horizon
in the dawn of cinematic 3D, but not
without the requisite storm clouds, and
they would be standardisation. For 3D
artists, the methods of 3D creation will
continue to mature but are solid because
it’s based upon fundamental principles
that aren’t going to change. Not so with
delivery. 3D generates more content and
more content requires more storage
space and bandwidth.
In order to turn around falling DVD
sales and capitalise on emerging 3D TVs,
there is about a ten-year or less window
to leverage Blu-ray. The blossoming
content size for 3D takes up 35 per cent
to 200 per cent more room than a typical
Blu-ray title. And this is just for the
current passive polarisation option from
RealD. However, it’s expected that
autostereoscopic 3D will overtake the
current glasses-wearing stereoscopic
viewing in about a decade. If Moore’s Law
is correct, then it will probably be sooner
than that.
Senior technology consultant for
Futuresource, Bill Foster says: “Certain
studios had reasons for wanting Blu-ray,
because they were already thinking about
3D. But there has to be some technology
standard. You just can’t have anarchy.”
« Monsters vs. Aliens
DreamWorks Animation.
All rights reserved
» Avatar
James Cameron’s Avatar
will be released in IMAX
theatres
© Twentieth Century Fox.
All rights reserved
Monsters vs. Aliens
Over 2,000 3D-friendly screens will be
showing DreamWorks Animation’s
Monsters vs. Aliens
© DreamWorks Animation. All rights reserved
Up
Disney’s 3D fi lm Up is
going to open the
Cannes Film Festival
© Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved
38 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Double vision●Feature
High defi nition delivered via Blu-ray
was seen as a way to reverse declining
DVD sales. Now the hope is that 3D will
provide an additional assist. The studio’s
current business model is still to deliver
hard product for profi t. And why not?
Disney’s Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus:
Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour pulled in
over $70 million since its release in
cinemas. That fanbase can translate
directly into DVD sales.
In its report 3D in the Home: Market
Forecast and Assessment, Screen Digest
believes that the adoption curve for 3Dcapable
displays will be determined by
standardisation efforts for the content
delivery and compression. And, as if
echoing the Sony position at the 2009
CES, “the prevalence of early adopters in
games market means 3D games may
arrive in the home sooner than 3D movies
or TV programming.”
This industry is leading the charge in
purveying 3D and creating expectations
for it. But the cinematic industry is a
behemoth, embracing new technology
much in the same way the music industry
approached MP3 capabilities. It’s just that
the ability to make money from 3D isn’t
quite as abstract as it was for MP3s.
http://marketsaw.blogspot.com
http://www.3djournal.com
http://www.siggraph.org
http://usa.autodesk.com
http://www.stereo3d.com
http://www.3alitydigital.com
http://www.mtbs3d.com
http://www.poc.com
Links to the community
There are many 3D
communities, including…
The industry is embracing new
technology in the same way the music
industry approached MP3 capabilities
•Overall, 3D content will be slow
to proliferate due to the size of
the addressable market and the
incremental production costs
associated with 3D, as well as the
requirement for the industry to
learn a new visual vocabulary
•By extending the 3D premium
established in the theatrical
market across other distribution
platforms, the industry will
create an opportunity to
generate incremental revenue
• For 3D artists, it’s time to put on
some suntan lotion and get ready
for the full force of the threedimensional
daylight
Screen Digest
Screen Digest offers key fi ndings in its March
2009 report:
» Journey to the Center of
the Earth
This movie had an
excellent second run as a
3D feature fi lm
© New Line Cinema. All
rights reserved
3DArtist ● 39
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Interview● Pete Farrer
Duncan Evans talks to Pete Farrer and Antony Carysforth of Red Vision about
producing cutting-edge CGI technology on TV studio budgets
It was back in 1996 when Pete Farrer,
currently the chief creative offi cer at
Red Vision, decided to form the
company with a core of technical and
creative directors, who also happened to
be his close friends. They opened an offi ce
in Canal Street, Manchester, where they
were based for ten years before recently
moving to a newly converted Victorian
schoolhouse near Manchester’s Northern
Quarter. The studio includes custom-built
edit suites, meeting rooms, staff chill-out
areas and is a great light space in which to
work. The boardroom is at the top of the
building, complete with roof terrace and
fantastic views of the city.
Red Vision built a reputation as one of the
top broadcast computer graphic imagery
and visual effects studios in the UK. The
company is also the creator and innovator of
new techniques and innovations in CGI,
with such technologies as Red Legion for
large crowds and Infi nite Wave for realistic
seas. Red Vision also pioneered the use of
CGI in the most challenging areas of drama
documentary, fi lm and event reconstruction
for producers worldwide.
3D Artist: You were one of the fi rst to
introduce realistic virtual characters in a
documentary with Death on the Nile
(broadcast in 1998). How sophisticated was
the software available at the time and how
much custom programming did it involve?
Pete Farrer: This was one of our fi rst jobs.
We were using 3ds Max and the tools were
fairly limited. Death on the Nile was mostly
low-resolution instanced geometry,
animated using a handful of different
cycles. All of the programming was bespoke
for the job – one of our founder directors
wrote all of the necessary programming.
3DA: The work on Battlefi eld Britain won
you a BAFTA for Visual Effects in 2005, but
Red Legion has developed since then. What
The challenge for Red Vision was to evolve
a production process for the animation that
delivered a distinctive high-end animated
character style within the very tight
deadlines required
Pete Farrer chief creative offi cer at Red Vision on delivering animation for TV show Headcases
Company Red Vision
Founded 1996
Company website
www.redvision.co.uk
Country UK
Software used Maya, 3ds Max,
Red Vision, Infi nite Wave
Expertise Art, CGI
Client list Battlefi eld Britain,
Headcases, Ocean Odyssey, San
Francisco – Living the Quake,
Superstorm, The Great Sperm Race,
Titanic – Birth of a Legend
c The fi rm currently
employs 45 people;
however, the projects in
the pipeline for this year
mean that Red Vision will
be taking on a further 80-
120 artists
b One challenge for Red
Vision was to evolve a
production process that
delivered a distinctive highend
animated character
style within the very tight
deadlines required to allow
topical editorial to be
delivered within the week
a The reception to
Headcases has been
extremely positive. ITV
has had interest from
America, Europe and
India, so hopefully some
international versions
will be produced in the
near future
Seeing
B
a
40 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Seeing Red ●Interview
Selling Red Legion has been
discussed, however, it’s very much
a production tool, not a piece of
software for the end user
D Red Legion is a
production tool that
works with the Red Vision
pipeline. Here it was used
to control and move
rendering huge numbers of characters, we
needed to simulate and render even bigger
numbers of particles. So we basically came
up with a set of tools that gave us the ability
to render hundreds of millions of them. That
was all inside of Maya so integrates
smoothly with all the regular aspects of a
production. Infi nite Wave is really three
separate tools: one for generating the ocean
surface (with lots of artist control), a handful
of plug-in emitters to help generate foam,
splashes and spray, and then a bunch of
plug-ins and shaders for RenderMan.
3DA: What software does Red Vision use
and why that compared to the alternatives?
can you tell us about the capabilities of the
software and the situations, detail and
numbers it can now handle?
AC: In addition to armies and the like, the
software has had some enhancements that
allow it to handle insects and animals.
There’s also been some development on the
rendering aspects, such as the ability to
attach animated displacement textures to
animation cycles so that moving cloth-like
objects look more detailed without the need
for heavy geometry. In terms of numbers,
we’ve had it solving tens of thousands of
characters before now. Also, there’s been
lots of tweaking over the years, so it’s about
ten times faster now than it was on the fi rst
Battlefi eld Britain series!
3DA: Weta Studios developed the Massive
software system for controlling and
animating large armies for Lord of the
Rings, but then developed it further and
released it as a standalone software
solution. Can you see the same thing
happening with Red Legion?
AC: Selling Red Legion has been discussed
in the past, however, it’s very much a
production tool as opposed to a piece of
software for the end user, therefore it’d be
tricky to try and shrink-wrap it. The setup
and preparation time for any kind of system
like that is fairly intense – it’s hard to get
started until you have a whole bunch of
characters modelled and rigged at different
resolutions, plus animation or motion
capture cycles to drive those characters.
Also, Red Legion is very tied to RenderMan
for the rendering side of things, which was
an issue in the past from a commercial point
of view. RenderMan is a lot more accessible
these days, though, so perhaps it would be
okay. Never say never, though – perhaps
sometime in the future we’ll take another
look at turning it into a commercial product.
3DA: This theme of creating your own
software solutions continued with Infi nite
Wave, used for the impressive ocean shots
in Superstorm, the 2006 Emmy-nominated
Ocean Odyssey and Krakatoa. What can
you tell us about how Infi nite Wave was
developed and what it’s capable of?
AC: In many ways, Infi nite Wave was
similar in spirit to Red Legion. But instead of
F One of Red Vision’s
senior animators created
a nifty face rig that could
drive any lead character,
so the company created
only a single face rig for
the whole of Headcases
c
f
D
E Antony Carysforth, head
of R&D at Red Vision
3DArtist ● 41
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Interview● Pete Farrer
AC: Maya is used for the majority of things
at Red Vision nowadays. We still use 3ds
Max occasionally, but Maya is just easier to
pipeline on larger shows. Also, utilising
RenderMan from 3ds Max has always been
diffi cult, which is a shame really.
We’re also in the process of rolling out an
entirely new CGI pipeline based on a
product from US company Temerity (www.
temerity.us). It has developed an application
called Pipeline, which offers a node-based
approach to authoring an entire studio
pipeline. It’s very intuitive and cool because
many artists and technical directors are
already familiar with working with nodebased
applications, such as Maya and
Shake, but then we had to completely
customise it in-house for a workfl ow that is
more suitable for TV and the maverick
nature in which we like to operate.
3DA: Last year you signed up to do the
graphics for Headcases, which most people
were expecting to be a CGI version of
Spitting Image. Give us an idea of the
creative process that went into the
character design to start with. Were you
involved with this or did initial concepts
come from the writing side? How did the
modelling for the characters go? Were there
problems or disagreements with how each
character should be stylised?
PF: We started out mainly going down the
Spitting Image route and based our designs
in the same vein, however, when we had
produced some of the longer-form sketches,
we realised that we were not taking full
advantage of making it in CG. This was a big
turn, and when we introduced characters
like Amy Winehouse and Boris Johnson (the
dog), we started to evolve our own identity.
Using a unique blend of performance
capture, keyframe animation and a
specially developed animation production
pipeline, a signifi cant proportion of each
show was created and delivered within
three days of each transmission. We created
more than 108 celebrity alter egos for the
g Over 600 shots were
completed for the whole
series of Battlefi eld
Britain. The client was
keen to see the size of
all the various armies
represented as
accurately as possible
i San Francisco – Living the
Quake. This TV
programme mixed
documentary commentary
and dramatisation to retell
the story of the 1906
earthquake and fi re that
nearly destroyed the city of
San Francisco
h The original version of
Red Legion was quite
crude in comparison to
what the system can do
now. Here, an army is not
only more varied and
detailed than before, but
they can race over uneven
or steep landscapes
j Red Vision undertook the
special effects shots for the
2006 programme, which
was the 100th anniversary of
the largest quake to ever hit
an American city. Greenscreen
techniques were used
to mix live-action actors with
CGI scenes of destruction
k The Great Sperm Race
(2003). The programme
looked at new fi ndings in
evolutionary biology,
suggesting the female is as
promiscuous as the male.
Red Vision created scenes
featuring hundreds of
sperm-like people
g
j
k
i
H
42 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Seeing Red ●Interview
series, each existing in a world of visually
stunning digital locations and situations.
The series was the result of a complete
collaboration and everyone from the
executive producer to the runners were
involved. Red Vision also pioneered the use
of Pixar’s RenderMan technology in a UK
television series.
3DA: What was the time schedule to create
each episode and what problems did this
bring, considering you were lighting and
animating everything in 3D?
AC: We produced just under three hours of
animation for Headcases in around eight
months, which was around 2,000 shots in
total. There were a large number of hero
characters, which made things tricky given
the relatively short production schedule. It
was quite intense, as we didn’t start lighting
the shots until about fi ve weeks before the
fi rst episode was broadcast.
3DA: Red Vision has been mainly focused
on TV work, but you have a subsidiary
called Film Red. VFX for fi lms can be
tremendously resource-hungry in terms of
people and hardware, so what level of fi lm
work are you looking at here?
PF: We are delighted that Stephen Coren is
now Red Vision’s head of visual effects.
Stephen was VFX supervisor on Lord of the
Rings, The Return of the King and also 300,
among many more high-profi le feature
fi lms. His considerable reputation means
that we will be able to further develop our
subsidiary Film Red. We already have
several fi lm projects in our pipeline, which
we will start in production towards the end
of the year. One project is a fully animated
feature, but the other is a mix of live action
and VFX.
3DA: One of the projects you tackled was a
corporate video, commissioned by the Gulf
Aircraft Partnership. I would imagine that
this kind of project is highly profi table, but
does it entail signifi cantly less creative
freedom compared to TV or fi lm work? Do
you see Red Vision either moving more in
this direction, or perhaps launching a
subdivision for it?
PF: We had plenty of creative freedom – we
had a very good working relationship with
the client. We do not see Red Vision moving
more in this direction in the immediate
future, as we have a lot of other projects we
wish to concentrate on at the moment.
3DA: In 2006, you created the advert for
Mortal Kombat: Deception. That seemed to
be a step outside your normal comfort zone.
Why did you decide to get involved with
this? Also, game cinematics are always in
demand, so do you see Red Vision taking on
that kind of work?
PF: Nothing is outside our comfort zone. We
always like to satisfy our artists’ creative
ambitions and they said they wanted to do
the work, so we let them! It was a great
experience for all involved, but we have
moved on now.
3DA: Has the current global fi nancial
meltdown affected VFX work and
m Red Vision completed
over 350 shots for Titanic:
Birth of a Legend in the
end. A lot of effort went
into the ocean surface and
the wake generated by the
ship. Most of the shots of
the ship at sea were done
in 3ds Max
commissions? Are people being more
careful with their budgets and in turn
demanding ‘more bang for the buck’, as the
phrase goes?
PF: Although the global fi nancial meltdown
has not helped, we have been working
under budget constraints for many years!
Television budgets have always been
extremely tight and Red Vision has a
reputation for making the most of our
clients’ budgets.
3DA: So, looking to the future, what kind of
project would you love to get involved with?
PF: We have always excelled in science and
documentary work, however, we are open
to all types of CG and VFX work. We have
been in discussions with many drama
producers as well as animated feature
production companies. The talent base of
Red Vision is always opening up new
possibilities as and when the artists express
a desire to do something completely and
utterly different.
l During Titanic: Birth of a
Legend, there wasn’t much of
an issue with comparing it to
the fi lm. They were coming
from very different angles,
and the client was going for
something a little less
nostalgic than James
Cameron’s version
We have always excelled in science and
documentary work, however, we are open
to all types of CG and VFX work
l
m
3DArtist ● 43
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Create a
realistic
garage scene
This tutorial will show you how to create a realistic
scene in Maya and will then take you through a stepby-
step guide to producing a hand-painted look in
Photoshop CS3, so you’ll have an advantage if you have
basic painting skills. Although the lack of space prevents us
from giving car models the full treatment, this walkthrough
will go over the essential process of making a piece of wire
netting. Additionally, you will learn how to set Global
Illumination option, including introducing techniques of
photons and Final Gathering to generate a satisfactory result
of Maya in mental ray.
01 Create wire netting
If you create too many wire nettings, Maya may not be able
to cope and it can cause the system to slow right down. To
create the right amount of wire netting models, you need a
close shoot. If its position is too far from the shoot, try
making a plane and assigning the wire netting’s texture to it
with an Alpha channel of the wire netting’s shape set to
Transparence in the material’s attribute A.
When you draw the shape of the curve, don’t forget to
hold the X key for the Snap To Grids command. When you
want to transfer the manipulator to where you want it, press
Insert to switch to Pivot Point mode and hit X, C (Snap To
Curves) or V (Snap To Points) to where you earmarked.
Once you’re sure of its position, press Insert again to switch
the manipulator back to Normal mode. If you encounter
some transformation errors, don’t forget to delete the history
(Edit>Delete by Type>History).
Wen Lin is an enthusiast who loves both hand-painting and 3D animation
The realistic effect of the garage looks like it
has been painted by hand, but is actually rendered
in 3D
Go for speed 2009
Concept to…
The idea behind the image was to
create the kind of urban race cars
found in Need for Speed or Fast and
Furious, set inside a garage. The
fi rst task was to create a sketch
showing the composition
The studio● Create a realistic garage scene
3D artists explain the
techniques behind
their amazing artwork
Artist info
Personal portfolio site
http://coolen007.cgsociety.
org/gallery/
Country China
Software used Maya 2008,
mental ray, Photoshop CS3,
Combustion 4
Expertise Design, modelling,
texture, lighting, composing
Wen Lin
Software used in this piece
A The 10 steps in the screenshot follow the process of creating a
perfect wire netting
Wireframe
The scene was blocked out quite
roughly to start with, just to fi ll the
spaces. Then it was developed with
each part in turn until all the cars
and the scene were fully modelled
and in position
Maya mental ray Photoshop Combustion
4
44 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
02 Set Global Illumination for the interior
Moving on, we will create a Directional Light to generate the
shadow that’s similar to sunlight, as well as three Area Lights
with emitting photons to illuminate the whole scene B.
Start with setting the Render Using to Mental Ray and
uncheck Enable Default Lighting, then open up the Render
Options and under the Common section, go to the bottom.
Create one Directional Light and three Area Lights to light up
the scene, and then it’s time to set up Global Illumination. Go
to the Attribute Editor of the Area Lights and in the Mental
Ray>Caustics and Global Illumination section, turn on Emit
B Here are
several views of
the scene from
different angles.
The more
photons you use,
the more quality
you gain, but it
slows down the
rendering speed
Lighting,
rendering
and post
production
Behind the scenes: Wen Lin●The studio
Although the lack of space
prevents us from giving car
models the full treatment, this
walkthrough will go over the
essential process of making a
piece of wire netting
Photons. Also, in Render Settings (MentalRay)>mentalray
Options>Caustics and Global Illumination, turn on Global
Illum. Set the Intensity value to 0 for all three Area Lights, as
we’re just using them to produce a number of photons but
not for direct illumination. Then create a plane with an image
as a temporary background and go to its Render Stats. Also
uncheck its Casts Shadows, Receive Shadows, Visible In
Refl ections and Visible In Refractions, then rename your
lights and objects.
Now let’s test some GI solutions. There are three
important options from Area Light: Photons Intensity
(referred to as PI), Exponent (referred to as Exp) and Global
Illum Photons (referred to as GIP). From Render Settings,
3DArtist ● 45
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
there are two important options: Accuracy and Global Illum
Radius (mental ray).
03 Use Final Gathering with GI
After we fi nished setting up GI, we have to use Final
Gathering (referred to as FG) to acquire the best illumination.
First, go to the mentalray Options in the Render Settings
(MentalRay). Open the Final Gathering section and turn on
the Final Gathering option. There are three important options
we must know in this section, and they are FG Accuracy, Min
Radius and Max Radius. All three options have an awful lot of
impact on render time.
FG Accuracy is the amount of rays hit at the scene to
estimate the value of the FG. Min Radius and Max Radius will
collect sampling information from the surrounding light. It
will generate more details and perfect the rendering of your
image. You can calculate the values of the two, which is
based on scene units, by Measure Tools (Create>Measure
Tools>Distance Tool). The general rule is that the Maximum
Radius should be set at the 5-10% range of the scene’s size
(in Maya Units); the Min Radius should be set at 10% of the
Maximum Radius c.
04 Design textures and materials
In order to assign a Normal map to a shader in Maya, create
a File node from 2D textures, click over it to open up its
Attribute Editor and add a Normal map to the image name.
After this is done, click over the material you want to add a
Normal map to and open up its Attribute Editor, then drag
that File node to Bump Mapping. At the same time its 2D
Bump Attributes will pop up, so select Tangent Space
Normals in Use As D.
05 Set Physical Sun and Sky for exterior
We’re using Physical Sun and Sky to light up this exterior,
because if we used GI with FG to render this scene, it would
defi nitely take more time to complete e.
First off, make sure you have chosen mental ray as your
renderer. Roll down until you see the Environment tag, then
click on Create near Physical Sun and Sky. Maya will generate
a Directional Light, which is centred at the world origin, and
pop up the Light Attributes. Move the light to where you
want and rotate it to a suitable angle to illuminate the whole
exterior (all the options are default). Assign colourful
materials to the models and check Final Gathering, set the
Accuracy to 200, then assign a new lambert to the
foreground of the garage, which will be invisible. Open up the
Matte Opacity and set the Matte Opacity mode to Black
Hole, which takes the visibility off when you render it.
06 Adjust the Displacement for tyres
First, assign a new blind to the tyre mesh and create a fi le
texture for Displacement. Second of all, in File Attribute,
open up Color Balance and set Alpha Gain to 0.06. Next,
click on Windows from the main menu and follow
Window>Rendering Editors>mental ray>Approximation
Editor. Under the Displacement Tessellation section, you will
see Displacement, derive from Maya, then click the Create
button. Now when you create, the Attribute Editor for
mentalrayDisplaceApprox2 pops up. Under the Displace
Tessellation Quality, change Presets (Custom) to Fine View
The studio● Create a realistic garage scene
Designing the textures and
materials is a very
important part of the
process. You should form
a colour scheme based on
the different levels of hue
and saturation that are
present. In this particular
scene, we’re using a main
tone of yellow and green
on the garage.
Design the
textures
c (left) Some blurry noises
cleared away after adding FG.
The scene is shinier than the old
one, which is acceptable, but
the rendering time raised to
39:33. This is only a scene
without any textures, so if your
textures are very large, it will
spend more time than the one
without any textures
D This screenshot shows a
fi nal test image at 25 per cent
of the full resolution and all of
the options of GI and FG
e (above) The
environment ought to have
suitable shadow and diffuse
areas, with textures to be
added afterwards in
Photoshop
46 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Split the image
for rendering
You may well fi nd yourself asking why we
need to split the image into several chunks.
Well, large images require a solution like this
because of memory limitations. After that,
you just need to sew all the completions
together to compose a complete image in
Adobe Photoshop.
As a rule, we want to split the image into
four equal sections. To calculate these four
sections of the region, you must follow the
order of left, right, bottom and top. You will be
able to calculate the effective region from
(0,0) to ((Width-1) (Height-1)).
Behind the scenes: Wen Lin ●The studio
High Quality. After you’ve done this, a few options below the
presets will not be greyed out any more. As you can see,
there are two very important options: Min Subdivisions (the
default value is 0) and Max Subdivisions (the default value is
7). Increasing Min Subdivisions can make the displacement
effect more visible – try setting the value somewhere around
7. To achieve a higher quality, select the tyre mesh and press
Ctrl+A. After the Attribute Editor pops up, under the Shape
tag go to Tessellation>Simple Tessellation Options and then
change Curvature Tolerance to Highest Quality. Increase
both U Divisions Factor and V Divisions Factor to somewhere
around 8 and you will get a more precise displacement
effect. Finally, set the options to blind to make it look more
like the material of a tyre. You will then be able to apply this
effect onto the tyre.
07 Create the materials for cars
Create a new material and assign it to the car body. We’re
using Anisotropic as the main material of the car’s body,
which is a specifi c setting f. Next, connect a Sampler Info
node to two Ramp nodes, and then connect both Ramp
nodes to Anisotropy’s Color and Specular Color differently.
This will simulate a self-luminescence around the border of
the object, which will generate a more realistic effect.
08 Render cars in mental ray
As we’re using HDRI to render cars, this step will lead you
through setting the HDRI options to render the middle of the
car in the scene g.
f Connect a Noise node in
order to simulate dirt on the
tyre. It will take patience while
fi ne-tuning the various
materials’ settings until you are
content with them
G Create some bounced cards,
a form of additional lighting, to
illuminate the scene another way
Roll down until you see the Environment tag in mental
ray’s Render Settings, then click on the Create button near
Image Based Lighting. A sphere will be generated at the
world origin. Scale the sphere up to surround all the objects,
then add a fi le texture to it. The best fi le format is HDR. Note
that if your HDRI fi le type was Latitude/Longitude, you
would select Spherical in Mapping, while if your HDRI fi le
type was Mirrored Ball, you would select Angular in
Mapping. If your HDR texture can’t light up the whole scene
enough, go to Image Based Lighting Attributes where you
will fi nd Color Gain. Click on the white colour in the Color
Chooser and increase the V value to something like 2, 3 or 4
under the Sliders section. This will result in a greater amount
of illumination.
09 Set an Ambient Occlusion pass
Ambient Occlusion can be used to make your image more
realistic and enhance the details of shadows.
First, switch Display to Render Layer in the Layer Editor.
Select the objects you want to render and a plane as the
ground, then click on to create a new layer and assign
selected objects into it. Aiming at the new layer, hold the
right mouse button and select Presets>Occlusion. The
selected objects will then be coloured black. Select the
discretionary object, go to its uniform Surface Shader
Attribute Editor where you will see Out Color in the Surface
Shader Attributes. Click the arrow for the mib_amb_
occlusion attribute, then change the Sample value to 100. Set
the Spread to 0.8 and set the Max Distance to 30 H.
H We rendered the image
without Final Gathering, and the
rendering speed was faster
3DArtist ● 47
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Control layers
To get a better effect from each
blending mode, you can
control the opacity of the
layers by reducing or
increasing its value. If the
layer with the blending mode
applied to it is not clearly
visible, you could duplicate
this layer several times until
you are satisfi ed.
The layer mask is one of the most powerful
weapons in Photoshop. Essentially, they can partially
or fully reveal all of the image behind it
The studio● Create a realistic garage scene
10 Make an Alpha pass work on a
Color pass
Open both a Color pass and an Alpha pass in Photoshop,
then select the Move tool. Press Ctrl+Shift+A and drag the
Alpha pass over to the Color pass. To make sure the Alpha
pass fi ts above the Color pass and covers it, you could close
the eye of the Alpha pass and switch from Layers to
Channels. Select the blue channel and duplicate it as an
Alpha channel. Bear in mind that what you get rid of must be
black, and what remains must be write. Hold Ctrl, aim at the
blue copy (renamed to ‘Alpha’) and right-click it or press
Ctrl+Shift+D. Loading the selection in this way, you can
choose to invert it and get rid of what you don’t need I.
Alternatively, open one Color pass and one Alpha pass in
Photoshop. You must link the Alpha pass with the Alpha
channel. If this isn’t the case, then repeat the process in the
fi rst technique, starting at switching to Channels from Layers.
Select the layer of the Color pass that you want by choosing
Select>Load Selection. Set the Document to your Alpha
pass, while Channel ought to point at the Alpha channel of
the Alpha pass. Once the selection appears, select the
Rectangular Marquee tool and click the right mouse button
on it, choosing Save Selection to save as its Alpha channel. If
a black fringe (which may be generated by a black
background) clings to the edge of the object, you can tighten
the edge by following Layer>Matting>Remove Black Matte.
11 Compose multiple layers in Photoshop
We now need to compose all of the passes in Photoshop.
The main direct composing passes include the Color pass,
the Ambient Occlusion pass, the Diffusion pass, the
Refl ection pass, the Specular pass and the Shadow pass.
Each of these passes can overlay with blending modes in
order. The main indirect composing passes include the Alpha
pass, Z-Depth pass and the Motion Vectors pass, which
have to be worked with in a particular operation j.
This is just a simple fl ow demonstrating how to compose
multiple layers. If you have a layer with the Occlusion pass,
choose the Multiply blending mode above Color pass to add
shadow details. If you have a layer that looks like it is glowing,
choose the Screen blending mode to overlay it, which will
i If you want to make an
Alpha pass work on a Color
pass, you will need to get rid of
whatever you don’t need for
revealing subjacent layers
j The question is, which
blending mode is best suited to
the scene? If time permits, you
could try every blend mode to
look at each different effect on
a subjacent layer
help you to gain a good shining effect. If you have a layer with
the Refl ection pass, use the Color Dodge blending mode to
achieve a natural look, while the black background will also
be invisible.
12 Use layer masks to achieve
nondestructive editing
The layer mask is one of the most powerful weapons in
Photoshop. Essentially, they can partially or fully reveal all of
the image behind it. The biggest advantage of this is that if
you think the use of layer masks isn’t great somewhere, you
can permanently edit it under the nondestructive editing
area. Another key point is that you can draw a
semitransparent picture, which can make this layer partially
transparency rather than fully. When you feel the layer
masks are perfect, you can merge them within the layer k.
The colour white will reveal the image below, whereas black
will hide the image below. Simply hit the X key to quickly
switch between white and black, as the foreground colour is
white and background colour is black or the opposite state.
13 Duplicate layer masks to apply on
other layers
Start off by selecting the layer mask of the netting1_colour
layer. Look at the eye in front of the green area. Aiming at its
layer mask, hold down Alt and grab the right mouse button,
dragging it to netting1_occ (or whatever layers you want to
apply the layer mask to), then release the button.
14 Patching and composing the
main textures
As you look at the fi nal image of the 3D rendering back from
Step 5, you may be wondering how to achieve the effects of
k This explains the functions
of layer masks in terms of
wanting to get rid of the area of
netting1 in front of the pillar
48 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Behind the scenes: Wen Lin ●The studio
IlluminGalotbioanl
Global Illumination is meant
to add more realistic lighting to
your scenes. It is a form of
indirect illumination. The
distinction between direct
and indirect illumination is
whether the light rays from the
light resource are refl ected or
refracted by other surfaces in
the scene. Therefore you would
get the more realistically
illuminated scene if the
algorithms model diffuse
interrefl ection and caustics,
which are the important parts
of Global Illumination.
This particular scene
doesn’t need caustics. We want
an approximate realism of
refl ection and shadow but not
an absolute one, as this is not
an interior-decorated view
made by realistic renderers
such as V-Ray, Maxwell or any
others. The scene will use
Global Illumination (referred
to as GI) in mental ray.
l There are several ways to
process the textures, including
simply posting them where you
want. It is essential to collect
many of the various textures
the second image. Compared to the second image, the fi rst
one is really blank. Here, we will show you how to achieve
these effects l.
The fi rst thing to do is to imagine a fi nal effect you want,
which overlays the textures afterwards. Compared to the
original exterior, we’re after a more illuminating environment,
with much fi ner details of textures and a sense of visible
sunlight. After you have got this image in your head, start to
adjust the colour and brightness for the exterior.
After you’re done, look around for some textures that will
fi t your scene. It helps to catalogue all of the textures in order
to save time spent on searching, with categories such as
metal, wood, stone, wall, res, bricks and so on.
Pick some textures that fi t the exterior, then erase the
unnecessary areas with an Eraser or layer masks. Note that if
the textures you want to include are not in the desired tone,
you have to adjust their colour, hue, brightness and contrast
to match your tone, otherwise the effect with overlaying
textures will not good enough. We need to overlay textures
in Photoshop because what we have produced is a still frame
without any movement, and this way you can add whatever
textures to your work in Photoshop depending on your
experience and the fi nal effect you want. In order to overlay
textures to the image, you can set the layer to an Overlay
blending mode and set a reasonable opacity if the effects are
very intense.
15 Use Layer Styles to brighten or darken
your scene
When you fi nish rendering, the resulting Color pass,
Occlusion pass and any others will overlay each other in
Photoshop. Look to see if any areas appear unreal. This
would mean that some areas are too bright and some too
dark, because some details are invisible. We need to fi x up
these problems for a better effect.
Bring up the image without the textures, and you will see
the differences. Use Adjustment to adjust Levels, Hue/
Saturation, Curves, Brightness/Contrast and the like. When
you save and close the fi le, you can’t revert back to the
original image, so we’re working in a nondestructive
editing environment.
In order to light up the areas that you want, use the
Rectangular Marquee tool, Lasso tool or Pen tool to create
M We could exaggerate things by suggesting that the electronic
indicators emit green rays and hit the pillar, as well as a bit of light
from the open air
the selections you want to process. If you choose the Pen
tool, click on the right mouse button and choose Save
Selection. You will then see these selections around the
white circles above. After you’ve created a new layer, fi ll
these selections with any colour. Double-click on these
layers’ thumbnails to open up the Layer Style dialog box. In
the Default Blending options, set Fill Opacity to 0 under
Advanced Blending. After you’ve done that, the coloured
selection will disappear. Don’t worry about it, as you can
check Color Overlay in Styles. Right now, the selection will
appear in a predefi ned red colour. To brighten, change the
blending mode to Color Dodge then go to the Color Overlay’s
colour picker and set a lighter colour, such as light red, light
blue or light green. You can also see the result with Color
Overlay in real-time on the canvas, with more details
showing up. Cycle through the colours until you get the best
effect. To darken, change the blending mode to Multiply.
Then go to its colour picker and set a slightly dark colour.
Look at the result with Color Overlay in real-time on the
canvas until you get the best effect.
16 Use Layer Styles to create a more
natural look
In this work, we want to add some effects of the terminators
and bounced lights over the pillars to simulate a light effect
on those objects along the borders. So the pillar’s side closest
to the electronic indicators and open air will have slightly
yellow/green rays. There is a blue light on the other side of
the garage. We could continue the theme of exaggeration by
supposing that the light emits blue rays, hitting the objects.
Thus, the other pillar’s side will have slightly blue rays M.
Now let’s move on to use Layer Styles and a Gradient
Overlay to make the scene look more real. Use the Pen tool
to create the selections you want to process and save the
selection. After you’ve created a new layer, fi ll the selections
with any colour. Double-click this layer and then go to the
Layer Style menu. In Blending options: Default, set Fill
Opacity to 0 under the Advanced Blending section and
check Gradient Overlay in Styles. Then the selection will
appear as a predefi ned gradient.
3DArtist ● 49
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Create graffiti
on the wall
First, take a hard round brush
set to the Overlay blending
mode and paint the graffi ti
outline. Set a low opacity for
the stroke, and if you think the
outline is too light then you
can darken the layer once
more. Next, choose a lighter
colour over the outline set to
the Normal blending mode to
cover the texture of the
background. Don’t cover it all,
just paint at the corner of the
outline. Paint any shadows
from the graffi ti using a Hard
Light blending mode, then
simulate weathering to make
it older with the Eraser.
N Gradient Overlay has the
ability to replace Color Overlay
because using the Gradient
Overlay can vary the colours as
well as brighten and darken the
objects you want to process
The studio● Create a realistic garage scene
Wen Lin
Born in Fuzhou, China, I graduated from
the Beijing Film Academy and majored in
Computer Animation. My dream is to one
day work for Pixar.
ArtSisthowcase
Toilet’s gone After Effects This is a short fi lm animation I
worked on with my classmate. I was responsible for creating
the main characters, setting the lighting for all the scenes and
composing all the shots in After Effects. I love using a special
colour tone to great effect on a picture to get a special style
Next, open up the Gradient Editor’s dialog box. Set Angle
to 0 so it makes the gradient shape vertical with the
horizontal line. Switch to the Overlay blending mode, select
the market for the colour stop at the bottom left and click
over this market to set the colour you want. Set the light in a
yellow/green colour in order to simulate the bounced light
effect, then click OK. Select the market for the colour stop at
the bottom right and set the colour to dark grey in order to
simulate the terminator effect.
17 More natural looks
The Gradient Overlay blending mode is a powerful weapon.
Its function is the same as the Color Overlay, but the Color
Overlay is used to adjust the whole tone N. In this step, use
the Layer Styles for the footage with the Gradient Overlay
blending mode to create a better look for the wire nettings.
To do this, follow the instructions from the previous step, but
don’t create a new layer, directly double-click the footage
layer and choose Gradient Overlay. Set the Fill Opacity to 0
and rotate the Angle for a better look.
18 Use various brushes to paint the
details of the aging kit
Use a digital pen to paint on the digital tablets to create
interesting effects. We need some special brushes and our
painting
acquirement for
this. There are nine
special brushes. We
used them to paint
spots, stains, cracks,
dirt and so on.
First of all, fi t
some textures to the original objects. If that’s not enough,
paint some dirt or cracks and the like to boost up the visual
effects. When you use brushes to paint on your 3D work, it
makes your 3D work look hand-painted.
19 Use brushes to paint border details
Some 3D works look so unreal because, besides lighting and
shadow, the borders are very sharp when two or more planes
intersect. We need a round corner or a rough bevel to
replace those sharp borders o. As a rule, the borders are
o As you see, the fi rst fi gure
shows an object with sharp
borders. In the last one, there
are some details of aging kits
over the borders
replaced by highlights. Paint some uneven highlights on the
borders, then paint some shadows when you are sure of the
light direction.
20 Create car lights
Shining car lights are one of the most important features
when you’re looking at a picture of a car or playing racing
games such as Need for Speed. Here, we will show two ways
of creating car lights. All the lights are painted by
Photoshop’s tools.
The middle of the car’s tail-lights are really cool but can’t
be rendered well enough in Maya, so we’re going to use
Photoshop. Basically, we’re creating several refl ecting lights
with a type of blending mode to overlay the original image
and boost up the illumination of the tail-lights P. The right
side of the car’s headlight uses a glow for its lighting. Take a
soft round brush to paint glows with an Overlay blending
50 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Behind the scenes: Wen Lin ●The studio
s If there is no tangible result
then you can increase the value
of the Global Scale or Element
Scale or Outside Ramp Width
Rescuing Maya Highlighting the existence of lighting is probably my
greatest gain from my graduate work. I use lots of varieties of lighting
effects to show off what I want to express in combustion. I began to
realise that the existence of lighting could make your work lively, while
properly using contrast colour can add beauty to your work
The control table Maya This was an evolution of my graduate work. I used a new method
of producing images to make this work look more stylish. As at one point in this tutorial,
making some things become more dated is crucial to this effect, which can also add a sense
of history to the piece of work
mode, then apply either a Gaussian Blur or Motion Blur to
them. The beam of light is slender because we want to
emphasise the performance and vitality of the car. If you
want to make the glows more visible, you can duplicate all of
them (form a group from all the glows) again. If they look too
intense, however, lower their opacity to a reasonable value.
21 Create patterns over an object
If your objects are a little bit bland and lacking in details, try
adding some treated patterns to the objects.
To design the colour of the patterns, fi rst create a basic
colour for the patterns in a new layer. Next, open up the
Layer Style palette for the new layer before setting the Fill
Opacity to 0. After the Gradient Overlay checkbox has been
ticked, change the blending mode to Soft Light or Hard Light.
Finally, go to the Gradient Editor and set a good gradient
colour that is fi tting for your object q. As you can see,
adding patterns sometimes distorts your objects a little bit,
but they can also add beauty to them. This is how we make
them seem hand-painted.
22 Create smoke with a brush
Painting smoke is not easy, but it can be quickly achieved by
using a digital pen in Photoshop. Here, we used a soft round
brush to paint all of the smoke and a spot brush to paint
some spots over the smoke r. To use a soft round brush to
paint, fi rst design the smoke shape in your mind. Next,
choose a soft round brush with a reasonable diameter
according to your fi le size. Turn on Scattering and increase
the Scatter value to about 63%. You will then see a little bit
of evolution to the brush’s shape. For a smoke effect, set the
Opacity of the stroke to a low value, for instance 10% or less.
When setting the direction of the light resources, you
could paint highlights, mid-tones and smoke shading as
described in the fi rst fi ve steps. After fi nishing the basic
shape of the smoke, add some coloured spots over the
painting to make the smoke look more realistic, as in Step 6.
Increase the Scatter value to something like 704%, and then
you will get a brush shape that will give the effect of spots.
Finally, you could add some colours over the painted smoke
to lend your artwork a dreamlike effect.
23 Create light effects
Select a soft round brush to paint in Photoshop. Sunlight
resources should use warm tones, so choose orange to paint
the rays and lights to simulate sunlight with a Normal
blending mode and a low Opacity for the
stroke, then you can blur it or duplicate the
layer of light again if the effects are invisible.
The Knoll light factory is a powerful plugin
for After Effects, but we used it to add
light in combustion. Most of the plug-ins for
After Effects can be applied in combustion.
Start up your combustion and open your
work to Add Operator as a Composite for it.
Select the Operators tag to choose Knoll
light factory, then choose the AE LF Disc and
open up its Controls s. Move the light
source location to the place you want (for example, use the
Disc light’s halo to light up the scene). Finally, select File and
Save Image to export the image.
P
q r
Render time
Resolution:
4,290 x 2,442
10 hours
3DArtist ● 51
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I utilised the beauty and Z-Depth passes in
Fusion to make the depth-of-fi eld effect on the
fi nal image. Some colour correction fi nished off
the picture.
I added some details in Photoshop
after the render fi nished, like the
roots on the rock and the spider’s web
on the leaves.
The lighting work was very
simple, as I used a HDRI photo of a
nice sunset that generated the
as well
Software used in this piece
Comment
on this piece
Register with us today at
www.3dartistonline.com
to view the art and chat
to the artist
Incredible 3D artists take
us behind their artwork
Personal portfolio site
www.robertvari.com
Country Hungary
Software used Maya, ZBrush, Fusion, Photoshop
Username: SpotLamp
Artist info
Robert Vari
Mia material is a
useful shader in
Maya, and I have
used it on almost all
the models that I’ve
made. I also created
a Subsurface
Scattering shader for
the frog’s skin
Maya ZBrush Fusion Photoshop
shadows and specular highlights
52 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I made this… Robert Vari ●The studio
A little while back, I wanted to improve my
sculpting skills in ZBrush. Although I had a
very short time – only two days – to do
something, I decided that it would be better
to start with a simple yet interesting
character, like a frog. I started to model the
base mesh in Maya. I didn’t care about the
details, as it was a very simple model, almost
like a cube with four limbs. When I fi nished
the base mesh, I exported it into ZBrush and
then started to work on the details. After I
fi nished the character, I made the stones
around the frog in ZBrush as well.
The Prince
2008 I used mental ray for rendering, but to be
honest, it wasn’t easy. Due to the big
resolution and detailed textures during the
fi rst render, mental ray crashed. So I then
used a Maya script that separated the big
picture into four smaller pieces for rendering.
of the picture with more stability
After that, mental ray could render each part
I made a beauty
and a Z-Depth pass
for compositing
3DArtist ● 53
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
This tutorial is about mixing two
techniques together. The bigger of the
two is the 3D section, while the
smaller (but no less important) technique is
the 2D Photoshop part. With this CINEMA 4D/
Photoshop workfl ow, you have a lot of control
over the lighting, colours and mood. The
diffi culties within this picture were bringing
expression to the girl and the cat,
composing the different elements like
the books, the candles and other stuff,
and leading the eye to the focal point of
the picture. I tried to create a picture with
a cool story behind it.
Sebastian Storz is a 27-year-old graphic
designer. Browse through more examples of
his work at www.blattform.org
The studio● Create a storytelling picture
Create a
storytelling picture in
CINEMA 4D
Although I’m a big fan of environments, this time I created
The Awakening 2009 3D artists explain the
techniques behind
their amazing artwork
Artist info
Personal portfolio site
http://sebastianstorz.
cgsociety.org/gallery/
Country Germany
Software used CINEMA 4D
and Photoshop
Expertise 2D/3D environments
Sebastian Storz
CINEMA Photoshop
4D
Software used in this piece
02 Depth – Depth in a picture is very
important, so I chose dark elements in the
foreground to draw the eye deeper in the scene. It’s a
technique that’s used often in comics, as it also helps
to draw the eye towards the focal point.
01 Getting started – I usually begin
with the overall colour situation. In this
case, I chose a strong warm colour to contrast
against the cold. It’s important to remember
that the image is either cold or warm in
feeling, but it cannot be both. It’s not a
problem to have both in the picture, but one
should dominate, even if it’s just a little.
a storytelling picture with sort of an unrealistic comic style
03 Modelling – A good starting point when modelling a
face is a simple sphere and a disc object. I started to
arrange the vertices of the inner disc radius in the form of the
eyelid. Using Edge Loop Selection and Extrude, I expanded the
edges to get the polygons that I needed to build the rest of the face.
54 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Behind the scenes: Sebastian Storz●The studio
3DArtist ● 55
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The studio● Create a storytelling picture
06 The dragon – I used the box modelling
technique for the dragon, because I needed
less detail for this element. After that, I used a simple
Fresnel shader to get the shiny X-ray effect. All the
other elements for the dragon I did in Photoshop with
Motion Blur, Overlay layers and Photoshop brushes
(www.deviantart.com is a good website to get these
from if you don’t wish to do them yourself).
07 The candles – The candles are modelled out of a Cylinder primitive.
Just do some tweaking on the vertices and use HyperNURBS to get
the roundings. A simple way to get the sub-surface scattering effect on the
candles is a simple gradient in the Luminance channel. The render time is
much lower and the result is acceptable for our needs.
08 Decorative elements –
To build decorative elements,
download vector art and save them
out of Illustrator in the Illustrator 8
format. In CINEMA 4D, use Merge
Objects to get the vector as a spline
and extrude for this kind of structure.
09 The spell book – Just browse the
internet in order to get some images of
old medieval books, Celtic rune circles and other
stuff to create the texture of the book.
05 Poly-per-poly modelling –
With this simple poly-per-poly
modelling technique, I built the rest of her
body, including the cloth and the jewel
elements. The cat is done in exactly the
same way as the girl’s face, only you must
remember to build the cat’s body thinner,
because the hair has a thickness and the
cat could end up looking too fat.
04 Facial features and topology – Heading out from
the eyeball, I started modelling the girl’s face, trying to fi nd
loop regions that allow subdividing without adding too many
polygons in regions where I can’t use them and support the
topology of her face.
Modelling
Adding interesting elements to the scene
Sebastian Storz
From 2000 to 2003 I studied design at the
Karlsruhe School of Graphic Arts. In the
following years I used 3ds Max but
mainly Cinema4D. Today I work at an ad
agency and use 3D applications for
packaging and character designs.
ArtSisthowcase
Skyrays ZBrush (2009) Skyrays used a combination of
ZBrush and Photoshop to create, and took around three
weeks to fi nish
Render time
Resolution:
3693 x 2469
40 hours
56 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Behind the scenes: Sebastian Storz ●The studio
10 Lighting – The good thing about having all the elements
in different scenes and rendering them separately is that
the lighting is much easier and clearer to handle. The only thing you
must be aware of is that the overall light situation is the same on
every single element, and all the objects that drop shadows on
each other are in the same scene.
11 Post-production –
An important part of
my working method is to
render all of the elements of
the picture in layers. With this
way of working, you have
much more control of the
colours and lighting because
you can do a lot of tweaking
later in Photoshop.
13 Playtime – Once the elements are in place, you can start
playing with Levels as well as Hue and Saturation to set the
overall mood. Experiment with glows (for the candles) set to the
Overlay mode to get high-saturated, intense colours. From left to
right, the pictures in the screenshot show: a rough render; colour
tweaking and glows on an Overlay layer; painted candle fl ames.
Harvester CINEMA 4D (2009) This work of art was done using
CINEMA 4D for the modelling, Silo for the sculpting and Photoshop for
the post-production work
Deep in the woods CINEMA 4D (2009) I’ve tried to capture a fairy-tale feeling in this
picture. It’s rendered in layers in CINEMA 4D and composed it in Photoshop
12 Rough composing – On this screenshot, you can see
the rough rendered layers after positioning. As you can tell,
there’s a lot of work to do to get the elements to match each other,
fi ll black areas and defi ne the colour mood of the picture.
14 Edge defi nition – At
this point, you can start
to paint over some elements,
work out the contours and
defi ne some edges. I also like to
paint the light effects like the
lamp on the balcony, the glows
on the main character, light
edges on the cat and so on.
Basically, just make the picture
look even better!
15 Background – To
build the background,
I’ve used a lot of matte painting
techniques. The only thing that
is truly rendered is the palace.
Objects like the moon and the
mountains are photo
references (of course, having
been heavily painted over and
colour corrected).
3DArtist ● 57
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Incredible 3D artists take
us behind their artwork
Personal portfolio site www.marcorolandi.com
Country Italy
Software used 3ds Max 7, V-Ray, Photoshop CS
Artist info
Marco Rolandi
In the scene, the viewer
approaches a large city
from the harbour, where
the sea has been
replaced by an endless
maze of railway tracks
V-Ray was used to get the
dirt effects and to do the
rendering over a network. It
wasn’t used for Global
Illumination, which is its
usual task
58 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I made this… Marco Rolandi ●The studio
“From a technical standpoint, the image
was done in almost a week, collating and
perfecting objects that were already
modelled for a steampunk project I had
already started. I cannibalised all of the 3D
models I made previously and recycled all
the pieces in the most unsuspecting ways
in order to achieve a good result without
spending months remodelling everything
I needed.”
Rail Haven
2007
I tried to drive the attention of the
viewer across the image from right to left
and vice versa by using areas of brightness
and shadow, as well as positioning most of
the elements in the intersection of several
compositional lines
The image is a frame
of a longer animation,
the whole scene being
part of a steampunk
project I was working at
the time; something
that today has been
changed and matured
into a would-be movie
script (I’m still working
on that one)
Software used in this piece
3ds Max V-Ray Photoshop
CS
Photoshop CS was used
to composite the various
render passes together into
one image
3DArtist ● 59
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The making of A Night
at the Cathedral
Studio Lampion is a graphics and animation studio
founded in 2007 by computer graphics artists Stefan
Minning and Matthias Koenig in Berlin, Germany.
With their local and international clients, this small team
works on projects in the areas of animation, fi lm, design
and visualisation.
When we started preparing for the production of what
would become our animated short fi lm A Night at the
Cathedral, all we knew was that we wanted to create a
showcase project for our prospective clients and to develop
an effi cient pipeline for our future productions. It would have
to be an animated short fi lm of high quality and incorporate a
distinctive style, yet at the same time be as simple as
possible. As a start-up company with only two core artists,
we realised it would be vital to start out small and within
reason – especially considering the production would be 100
per cent self-fi nanced and that we would be working on it
alongside our paying projects for clients
While brainstorming for story concepts, we came up with
more than half a dozen plots in just as many different
settings, but soon realised they all had one thing in common
– they were too complex! So we took a step back and
Stefan Minning from Studio Lampion explains how he and colleague Matthias Koenig created a Disney-style
short fi lm in 3D but with a traditional 2D look
We were aiming to portray a painterly, traditional cartoon style,
and wanted to avoid the somewhat sterile look displayed by many
modern 3D productions
The studio● The making of A Night at the Cathedral
3D artists explain the
techniques behind
their amazing artwork
Artist info
Website
www.studiolampion.com
Country Germany
Software used PANDA,
AfterEffects, Photoshop
Expertise Modelling, lighting,
texturing, materials
Studio Lampion
PANDA AfterEffects Photoshop
Software used in this piece
Reference images
Many images were collected,
including one of the town of Boppard
on the Rhein River, which infl uenced
the style of the building models, a
statue, Cologne Cathedral and one of
its colourful stained-glass windows.
A
Production focus
60 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Production focus: Studio Lampion●The studio
critically analysed all the concepts we had come up with and
whether there was anything that could be simplifi ed so much
as to be realistic within our modest means.
After much deliberating back and forth, we eventually
decided to go with the medieval theme, as this undertaking
seemed reasonable after eliminating any dispensable
characters, settings and subplots. Moreover, we felt a strong
connection to the main character and had a vivid image in
our minds of what the resulting fi lm should look like. We
were aiming to portray a painterly, traditional cartoon style,
and wanted to avoid the somewhat sterile look displayed by
many modern 3D productions.
At this point in the process we had concepts for the
characters, the setting and a basic plot, which boiled down to
‘our bird-brained protagonist Belze is on a quest to steal the
golden statue of the Holy Mazioles from a medieval
cathedral and, of course, fails miserably.’
With the story’s plot taking shape, we decided to get a feel
for the fi lm’s atmosphere and surroundings, and did a lot of
research on medieval art and history a. Unfortunately, few
medieval structures remain in our town of Berlin, so we took
some time to travel to historic and inspiring places, such as
Cologne Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, Lyon and to visit
castles on the Rhein River. There, we took hundreds of
reference photos, many of which we later reused as textures
or details in our background mattes.
The various impressions gathered during these research
trips were incorporated into our concept art, which we drew,
painted, modelled and rendered in 3D to visualise our ideas
and to help defi ne the look of the fi lm b.
Around the same time we started sketching out ideas for
the protagonist Belze, our evil but not exactly brilliant thief.
Belze represents the archetype of the comedic villain – he is
sinister and wicked, yet clumsy and totally useless. In
designing this character, we were inspired by Disney villains
and also took some cues from the Monkey Island series.
His antagonist is Clara, a young lady playing the organ
during the night our story unfolds. She is a somewhat onedimensional
plot device in that she doesn’t have any motives
of her own, and is only there to react to what Belze is up to.
With the characters and story roughly laid out in our
minds and on paper, our next step towards the realisation of
this project was creating storyboards. You might say we
cheated a bit in this phase, as we did not actually draw most
of the storyboard sheets at all; instead, since we happened to
already have some early models of the characters and
The impressions gathered
during research trips were
incorporated into our concept art,
which we drew, painted, modelled
and rendered in 3D
Concept work
Storyboards formed part of the
concept work, like a panoramic shot in
the bell tower and the statue of the
Holy Mazioles. Early concept renders
were based on the impressions
gathered from our research trips.
B
3DArtist ● 61
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
environments under way, we used these to create mock
storyboards in 3D. This, of course, benefi ted us immensely,
as we are defi nitely better 3D artists than draftsmen, and
this way had more options and patience for experimenting
with the scenes’ layouts and getting perspectives to work
just right. Furthermore, we could keep working in these initial
scenes over the course of the project, and continuously
updated them to include our latest improvements in
modelling, texturing and animation. This workfl ow
streamlined our task of managing the huge number of digital
assets a 3D fi lm production invariably entails c.
The rig is quite elementary and based on one created for
an earlier animated short, Now That Takes The Biscuit, which
was similar in style to this fi lm. The rig lends itself well to
cartoon animation and features support for stretchy limbs
and basic squash-and-stretch effects, but does not offer
much in the way of fancy automation or dynamics.
While Belze’s face was rigged the traditional way using
blend shapes, we decided to go for a totally different
approach for Clara; her fl at and cartoon expressions would
have been impractical to model, texture and animate in 3D
d, so we developed a proprietary plug-in for Adobe After
Effects that projects the facial features onto her face in 2D.
For this to work, we needed to render out UV and ID passes
of her head so that our plug-in would know where to place
the eyes, mouth and nose. As these facial features were
hand-drawn and animated in 2D, it was easy for us to create
custom expressions depending on each scene’s specifi c
needs, and to time and animate them accordingly e.
At one point during the production we were considering
using mocap (motion capture) technology for our character
animation, but eventually came to the conclusion that it
would be cost-prohibitive and would also most likely work
against the cartoon look we had established for this fi lm. So
everything ended up being animated by hand in the
traditional 3D way. The biggest challenge here was properly
emulating the cartoon animation style we had used as our
reference. We soon learned that the way squash-and-stretch
animation works in 2D may look great but is unfortunately
physically inaccurate, and therefore hard to translate into our
meticulous world of 3D space and movement f.
Our solution was to animate as far as possible in 3D and
to afterwards emphasise the animation and squash-andstretch
effects using 2D tools, such as the Liquify fi lter in
Photoshop, on a frame-by-frame basis. This method became
feasible only due to our particular approach to shading and
lighting. Unlike most productions, where shading and lighting
are applied in a 3D application on actual 3D models, we used
an in-house solution to avoid this frustrating and painstaking
task. In this project, the shading and lighting were done in 2D
in After Effects using our proprietary plug-ins Normality and
Celulight. This real-time relighting solution enables us to
interactively shade and light animation sequences that were
rendered as normal passes from a 3D program beforehand.
We found several advantages in this method. All changes
are applied in real-time, making the process feel far more
Low polys and basic meshes
The character models in this fi lm consist of very basic meshes, with a polygon count
closer to last-generation videogames than most modern fi lm productions. We opted for
this route because it is well suited for our simple character designs. Their bold features
helped us to focus on creating strong silhouettes that are easily read and not having to
worry so much about getting the rig messed up or facing other technical annoyances.
d (left to right) The fi nal
composited face showing the
character’s facial features
added in 2D. Clara’s plain face
straight from the 3D renderer.
Her facial features applied to
her head based on the
positional information in the UV
and ID passes
c 3D character model of
our protagonist Belze from
the front and side with
overlaid wireframes (8,500
polygon faces)
The studio● The making of A Night at the Cathedral
62 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
E A UV pass was used to co-ordinate the
position of the eyes, mouth and nose
relative to Clara’s head, while the ID pass
distinguishes the individual facial features
by applying distinct colours to each area
As there is no appreciable delay
involved, this workfl ow lends itself well
to creative experimentation
Production focus: Studio Lampion ●The studio
intuitive and creative than hitting Re-render time and time
again in a 3D program. As there is no appreciable delay
involved, this workfl ow lends itself well to creative
experimentation. Best of all, we could view the character
animations within the context of the fi nal backgrounds in a
colour-corrected, composited environment, making it easy to
judge the quality and appearance of our fi nal shots.
To use Normality, a number of simple passes are extracted
from a 3D renderer that contains, for example, information
about an object’s surface normals and the scene depth
encoded in a 2D image format. The passes render in seconds
and require no tweaking, making the process totally fail-safe.
This image sequence is then imported into After Effects,
where Normality is applied to the normal pass. Once a light
has been added to the scene, Normality calculates the
shading right there in the compositing environment, and any
changes to the lights and shaders are made visible
immediately and interactively.
f
g The cathedral model
(12,000,000 polygon faces) is
split up into more than a dozen
blocks (visualised by colour in
this example)
f The character’s normal pass
is imported into a composited
environment in After Effects
e
3DArtist ● 63
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
What started out as a set of simple plug-ins for After
Effects has developed into a complex shading and lighting
solution over the years. The software is no longer limited to
mere diffuse or specular lighting. It currently includes
support for fake refl ections, refractions, Subsurface
Scattering, screen-space Ambient Occlusion and even a very
simplifi ed Global Illumination model, many of which were
used during the production of A Night at the Cathedral.
While part of the team was busy animating and shading
characters, others began creating background mattes for all
30 shots, which meant modelling a medieval cathedral and
its surroundings from the ground upwards. Obviously, a
cathedral and its interior is an enormous and highly detailed
scene, which can be quite a burden even on state-of-the-art
software and hardware. Consequently, the polygon count for
individual objects was kept as low as possible. To make
working with this 12,000,000-polygon scene bearable, we
split the cathedral up into more than a dozen blocks, each
pertaining to a specifi c area and could be imported on a
shot-by-shot basis g.
Wherever it made sense,
instancing was used in
order to reduce the scene’s
memory footprint. For
example, the side of the
cathedral is comprised of a
dozen identical instances
of a single wall piece that
are automatically repeated.
By doing this, we saved a
lot of memory H.
H Benches, stained-glass
windows, chandeliers and many
other complex details inside the
building use instancing to
reduce the memory footprint
To make working with this 12,000,000-polygon
scene bearable, we split the cathedral up into more
than a dozen blocks
The studio● The making of A Night at the Cathedral
Both the cathedral model and textures are basic in terms
of the techniques applied – just clean polygon meshes and
medium-resolution textures, including Diffuse, Bump and
Normal maps. Our trick to creating the painterly
backgrounds seen in the fi lm was Studio Lampion’s
proprietary non-photorealistic 2.5D renderer, PANDA (Paint
AND Automate). This tool automatically repaints scenes
using actual strokes painted by an artist by converting the
location and direction of these 2D brushstrokes into actual
3D space. It then becomes possible to automatically repaint
the scene from arbitrary perspectives. The brushstrokes
remain coherent over time to avoid the noisy fl ickering effect
that more simple 2D paint solutions may exhibit i.
After having PANDA create a painterly base for a shot, we
brought these background layers into Photoshop for a basic
cleanup and to add additional detail in 2D. Often, reference
photos of statues and ornaments we had taken in castles and
churches during the pre-production phase were used to
embellish the background mattes by fi rst extracting a
Normal map from the photo and then conforming the
colours and overall lighting to the background environments.
Finally, everything was brought together in After Effects
where we added special effects such as fi re, snow and fog to
the shots, and integrated characters and backgrounds by
making the lighting match using Normality.
64 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I The composited background matte after automatic repainting in
PANDA, hand-painting extra details in the far distance and adding
special effects such as candles and snow, with the other images
showing a wireframe render of the little shop outside the cathedral,
as well as the depth pass of the scene and the normal pass
Production focus: Studio Lampion ●The studio
i
Thanks to the software
developed at Studio
Lampion, its render times
for A Night at the
Cathedral were only a
fraction of what a full 3D
ray tracing renderer would
have required.
The production of A
Night at the Cathedral was
fi nished in November
2008 after about 11
months’ worth of work.
Studio Lampion is
currently refi ning certain
elements of the fi lm based
on the feedback that it has
received from its
screening audiences.
Keeping
on top
Thanks to the software
developed at Studio Lampion, its
render times were only a fraction
of what a full 3D ray tracing
renderer would have required
3DArtist ● 65
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
This picture was created for a contest on a
Polish CG website. The story is that after the
TV failed, the couple had to fi nd new
avenues of entertainment. Although they
were very cautious, they made a few
mistakes. Now they have not only a broken
television but also a whole bunch of new
problems. The side effects of a broken TV
are horrible!
Kids
2008
Texture,
lighting and
modelling
needs to be
supplied Incredible 3D artists take
us behind their artwork
Personal portfolio site http://kreska90.
cgsociety.org/gallery/
Country Poland
Software used 3ds Max, Photoshop
Username: _Kreska_
Artist info
Michal Kwolek
The carpet and fl oor textures
are pretty simple, but I wanted to
get that peeling, horrible old
wallpaper design for the walls.
This was created in Photoshop
Although the characters are fairly
simple, the idea was to make them stylised
rather than realistic. What was important
was getting the expressions of tired
resignation on the faces of the parents
66 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I made this… Michal Kwolek ●The studio
3ds Max Photoshop
Software used in this piece
Comment
on this piece
Register with us today at
www.3dartistonline.com
to view the art and chat
to the artist
There are also lots of
little things scattered
throughout the image
for you to discover
There are only two light sources in the image – the table lamp at the
side and the window in the kitchen. On this version of the image, the
white balance was set so that the light fi xed in the lamp gave a cleaner,
whiter light, which means the exterior moonlight then became very
cold, giving a blue cast over that side of the image
3DArtist ● 67
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Jie Ma 3D artist
The Ruins
The studio● Create a ruined city
Model,
texture, light
render and
post-process
Software used in this piece
Primarily, I am involved in scene construction, but
my work doesn’t completely depend on using 3D
software. Often, I like to use matte painting to
make my work funny and fast
Comment
on this piece
Register with us today at
www.3dartistonline.com
to view the art and chat
to the artist
V-Ray 1.5
RC5
Photoshop
CS3
3ds Mx 9
68 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Step by step:
Create a ruined city
Because I want this picture to appeal to its viewers
without using too many high-tech forms, I have
included easily recognisable elements from daily life,
such as buildings, roads, billboards, etc. In order to make
these mundane objects look interesting, the atmosphere
needs to be emphasised, which is the most diffi cult part of
this whole piece.
There are two things that need to be considered
throughout the creation of this composition. First, a good
atmosphere has to capture the light, shade, colours and
objects in the scene. Second, the sense of space and
proportion should always be emphasised. Remembering
these two points allows you to consider which effects will be
best suited to the scene while working on it.
I used 3ds Max 9 to put up most parts of the street, and
V-Ray to output the image. The lighting and material
systems were also done using the V-Ray renderer, which is
particularly powerful because it is simple, effective and fast.
When the 3D work was fi nished, I imported the rendered
image into Photoshop to make a fi nal adjustment and add
new elements. I didn’t want to use too many models in this
vista, so many of the buildings were composed in Photoshop.
Step by step: Jie Mia ●The studio
Easy-to-follow guides
take you from concept
to the fi nal render Artist info
Personal portfolio site
http://cutjie.cgsociety.org/
gallery/
Blog: www.reaperex.blog.
sohu.com
Country China
Software used 3ds Max 9,
V-Ray 1.5 RC5, Photoshop CS3
Expertise 3D modelling and
lighting and also painting with
Photoshop and compositing
images with a matte style
background
Jie Ma
3DArtist ● 69
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The studio● Create a ruined city
Once you’ve created a
building make sure you
save it and then try adding
a few details and save it as
a separate fi le. Add height,
put steps into the shape of
the building and without
much effort you’ve created
something that’s different.
The human eye will
recognise duplicated
objects almost
immediately an it will ruin
a scene, but you only have
to change a few details or
the textures for it to
appear different.
Save time
on building
04 The model of the vehicle was fairly
complicated compared to creating the
buildings. Because it is not in the immediate
foreground, you can make it how you like. With this
example, it was built with boxes. For the sake of
adjusting the outlines, don’t make too many polygons
at fi rst. You can add them in the picture-making
process – during which I only used the Move tool.
05 The more odds and ends there are, the more appealing the image
will be. A macadam road surface, streetlamps and scraps of paper
can all enrich the picture if you feel that your scene’s a bit too empty. Try to
avoid using an excessive amount of polygons for these.
06 Next up, I started making the ground using a
displacement map. For this you need a plane that has
plenty of polygons. Then fi nd a picture with a cement texture,
discolour it and increase its contrast in Photoshop. This creates the
texture of a cracked ground for use in your composition.
02 The
buildings
were put together
using boxes. On the
right you see the
house that’s the most
delicate to make. First
use a plane to make a
section of it. Build a
box according to the
windows’ outlines,
then complete them
through a Boolean op.
Finish by adding
details made up of
polygons like lamps,
bricks, steps. Create
the other two storeys
in the same way.
01 I began by drawing many sketches, and the one you see above is
the most similar to the fi nishing one. What was in my mind in the
beginning was just warm light in the afternoon, a light rail and several
shabby buildings, but I applied an adjustment later because I found it didn’t
work well if real objects were in the scene. The lighting of the sketch is
quite close to that of the fi nal picture – I didn’t want garish colours, so I
emphasised both yellow and blue for the moment.
Build a strong foundation
Start creating your houses and other elements
03 The buildings in the distance were much easier to create, as they
were formed totally from boxes. I tried to make these models simple
since they were the most distant objects in the scene.
70 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Step by step: Jie Mia ●The studio
07 The Displace Modifi er was then applied to
this plane in order to make the cement texture
effect appear. After that, I created several copies of this
part of the ground and then put them in the foreground
of this scene.
10 For the fi rst light, V-Ray’s VRaySun was used, which can imitate real sunlight and fi gure out
the time period of illumination according to the height of the sun. By adding VRaySun to the
environment, all things that can be refl ected in the environment do so accordingly. I set the illumination
intensity to a low level. The picture looks somewhat sombre after the fi rst instance of rendering, so
another light is needed to make the picture comfortable.
08 Weeds were added to make
the ground look deserted – I made
one blade of grass and copied it repeatedly.
Then I placed the grass, and odds and ends
created earlier, on the ground, plus the
stones that make up the macadam road.
09 Here, the
modelling part
ends. Once all the buildings
were placed into the picture
according to the original
sketch, I was pleased to fi nd
that the actual effect turned
out to be much better than I
initially expected.
Deserted city
Give it a wild, abandoned look
3DArtist ● 71
Jie Mia
Jie is from a small town in northeastern China. He
works freelance creating illustrations, animation
and 3D education scenes. He uses 3ds Max to make
most objects but then combines them with 2D.
Lighthouse, 3ds
Max, Photoshop
(2009)
This is a lighthouse in a
story I was creating. I
used 3ds Max to
determine the
composition screen.
Distant buildings were
created with 3D
software, and I also
painted the character
and the plants.
ArtSisthowcase
Port Evening, 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop (2007)
I wanted to create a large spaceship in the form of a
fl ying city. It was modelled in 3ds Max, rendered in VRay
and cleaned up in Photoshop.
New Year,
Photoshop (2007)
This work was
completed on the last
day of 2007. During
that period, my life was
very boring. Even
though there were
festivals, sometimes
people simply cannot
feel happy.
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The studio● Create a ruined city
13This is the picture that
was produced after
rendering. Making some late
adjustments, four fundamental
channels were created to make
quick adjustments to the light,
shade, colour and defi nition.
The sky wasn’t composed in a
3D program like the rest of the
scene because it can easily be
made in Photoshop.
Creating atmosphere
Clever lighting is a good start
Adding skies
Some 3D artist will create
every single element in a
scene which includes
background details and the
sky. However, if you have a
matte painting of a city scene
it can be used to fi ll out the
background without having
to model it. The same applies
to the sky. Why go to the effort
of creating a complete sky
when you can go outside with
a digital camera and
photograph one. Keep a
library of skies taken at
different times of the day and
match one to the lighting
you’ve used in the image so
that the shadows match up
with the sun position.
11 The second light consisted of a standard Target Spot in the left of the
picture. Beside it, two boxes were set up to create the effect of most of
the sunlight being blocked out by the buildings, causing long shadows. The
second rendering was much more satisfactory, as the relationship between the
light and shade in the depth of the image was better than before. There were
some dark, almost black areas, but it wasn’t a problem because the light and
shade structure was clear, while the rest could be revised in Photoshop.
12 Next, materials
needed to be added
to the objects. Smoke and
Falloff were mainly used for
this task. Smoke was used to
imitate stains, added into
Bump with the parameters
set to a fairly low level.
Objects like this appeared a
little shabby, but the map
was still brand new, so a
Falloff material was added in
the Refl ect channel that
could control the refl ective
part of objects according to
black and white colours. Four
maps mainly made up this
piece of work, namely Wood,
Cement, Leaves and Road.
15In order to perfect this building
down to the last detail, a refl ection
effect was added to the glass. Thanks to
the glass channel that was made earlier,
this was extremely easy. All that was
needed was to have the image materials
distributed in the glass selection.
14 The image was imported from
3ds Max into Photoshop. First, I
chose a suitable picture of the sky as the
background, then I added many of my
favourite pictures to the buildings. I didn’t
adjust the colour of the picture
immediately, but tried to see what other
elements were still needed.
72 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Step by step: Jie Mia ●The studio
19 I strengthened the lighting effect within the picture, staying with the highranked
gradual change of the colour from orange to blue. But the picture would
be very boring if there were only orange and blue colours, so I added a little green in the
connecting part of the two colours. I drew them slowly using a brush set to the Soft Light
blending mode.
Final touches
Subtle colour changes enhance the effect
18 Those areas that gave off light
were the best spot elements in the
image. Just a few details like these would
be enough to make the picture look airy. I
drew two lamps in the picture, both
emanating warm colours, although the
colour of the distant one was a bit weaker.
17 For the ground, an image featuring the texture of cement was put over the
uppermost layer and, by superimposing highlights, made to fi t the ground. This
improved the realism of the ground.
Render time
Resolution:
4,000 x 2,124
40 hours
16 Most of the buildings
in the distance were put
together using photographs.
No real thought needs to go
into deciding which ones
will be used, as they are
a minor element of the
composition. I decreased their
defi nition and saturation, trying
hard to match their colours to
the sky. Then I modifi ed their
light and shade attributes
according to the sketch relation
of the entire image.
20 Finally, I decreased the
defi nition of the foreground and
increased that of the farthest point. I also
displaced buildings I didn’t need, increasing
the depth. The shot shows the picture that
was achieved after a fi nal random revision.
I discoloured it, then added a few yellows.
3DArtist ● 73
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Software used in this piece
I never played golf but my father was a
passionate hunter, so it made completely
sense to me doing this one. During the
process I learned a lot about multiple
passes, backups and the untrustworthy
nature of computers since it crashed thanks
to the hi-res textures. Everything was
modelled in Silo which is my absolute
favourite package for 3D modelling and
designing characters.
The Trophy
Room 2008
Texture
and
render
After spending a lot of
time in search for
some good inspiration
for the main character,
I accidentally
stumbled upon Milo’s
father while watching
Disney’s Atlantis. He
seemed exactly what I
was looking for – a
warm, sympathetic
but still passionate
grandfather fi gure.
needs to be
supplied Incredible 3D artists take
us behind their artwork
Personal portfolio site
www.muhvieh.ch.vu
Country USA
Software used Silo, CINEMA 4D, After Effects
Artist info
Daniel Moos
Since the room is a well-kept
parlour, the textures mostly consist of
tileable patterns. Google’s image search
and especially CGTextures.com were
indispensable companions
After
Effects
Silo CINEMA
4D
74 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I made this… Daniel Moos ●The studio
This took me a while. I started doing the
lighting parallel to modelling the main
character. Luckily, no one will ever see the
fi rst few tests! After fi rst trying normal lights
only, I ended up just using a big area light for
the window and GI with an HDRI
3DArtist ● 75
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
This tutorial is going to show you how to make the
character from scratch. You will see each step and
learn the progress along the way. It all starts with
coming up with the concept, which in this case was to create
a giant robot, powered by steam and set in the era of
Germany’s Wilhelm I. From there, the tutorial shows the
preliminary sketches, the concept artwork and the sources
of inspiration. The better idea you have at this stage, the
more focused and detailed the fi nal model will be. We then
look at the actual modelling to get the shape of the robot
and then the textures and lighting.
Step by step: Create a
steampunk robot
Sung-Hun Lim works as a character artist at BioWare
Steam Wilhelm
the Great I 2009
I wanted to match the robot to
the timeline of the Industrial
Revolution (1760-1830)
The studio● Create a steampunk robot
Easy -to-follow guides
take you from concept
to the fi nal render
Artist info
Personal portfolio site
www.ryan3d.net
Country Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea
Software used 3ds Max,
ZBrush, Photoshop, Brazil
Expertise Character
and creature art for
videogame illustrations
Sung-Hun Lim
Creating the concept
Source as many images as possible
02 This is a rough sketch for Wilhelm
the Great, drawn in around fi ve
minutes. Here, I was aiming for a triumphant
pose after a landmark victory in war.
01 At the command of its emperor, this
steampunk robot is called Wilhelm the
Great. It is a fi ghting robot created for war, but
mainly used to protect the emperor. I got the
inspiration from Wilhelm I (1797-1888), who
was known as the fi rst German Emperor and the
King of Prussia. Under the leadership of
Wilhelm, Prussia achieved the unifi cation of
Germany and the establishment of the German
Empire. With Steam Wilhelm the Great I, I tried to
put a humorous spin on what force he used to
unify Germany.
The key to the thinking behind this is the
power of steam. Imagine that Wilhelm I had a
giant steam robot, which helped him make
waves in history. Speaking of which, I wanted to
match the robot to the historical timeline of the
Industrial Revolution (1760-1830), making it the
most powerful warlord during the Revolution. To
create a concept from this idea, I fi rst made a
reference chart using Google Images to gather
as many images as I could.
76 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Step by step: Sung-Hun Lim●The studio
I tried to put a
humorous spin on what
force Wilhelm I used to
unify Germany
3ds Max Brazil
Software used in this piece
ZBrush Photoshop
Model,
texture, light,
render and
post-process
3DArtist ● 77
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The studio● Create a steampunk robot
Colour and shape
Choose a colour palette and perspective
03 This screenshot
shows the detailed
version from scratch. You can
add more detail if you want.
04 The colour palette was formed from reference images that I prepared before. I got the
idea from the German Emperor, so the basic colour is a Prussian blue. A little red stripe is
going to be a highlight colour on the body
05 This
illustration
showed the
perspective of the
piece, but it’s hard to
fi gure out the
orthographic
projection. The front
and side images are
normally redrawn in
Photoshop using the
Copy and Paste
commands, while I
work out what the
best concept for the
front is in terms of 3D.
To come up with an
overall colour scheme for
your project, you need to
refer to your source
material. How colour has
been used has changed
throughout history thanks
to the dyes and paints
available at each stage.
Ensure your paint scheme
is historically accurate.
Prussian
Blue
78 ● 3DArtist
Sung-Hun Lim
Sung-Hun, who also goes by the name of Ryan, lives
and works in Canada as a full-time modeller ArtSisthowcase
Gigantic Egyptian Zombie 3ds Max
A gigantic Egyptian zombie for my client NDOORS for its
MMORPG game Cinematic
Pallantedes 3ds Max
This is Pallantedes from the Conan the Cimmerian book The
Hour of the Dragon
Viking Warlord 3ds Max
This is a Viking warlord for my client NDOORS for its MMORPG
game Cinematic
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Step by step: Sung-Hun Lim ●The studio
Begin modelling
Make your creation larger than life
07 At this point, grab the image that has just been drawn. Then use an Alpha
mask in order to remove the outline, and start the sketch base modelling.
08 We can make a prop from the image as well. The most important
aspect to consider is proportion, so check the size of the gun and
make sure that the character’s hand is able to grip it accurately.
09 This is the fi nal
version of modelling.
After this stage, you can play
with the camera distance, fi eld
of view and the size of the
render. This camera view was
chosen in order to check where
more time was needed for
texture detail.
Alternatives
You could just use the sketches
and drawings as reference
points and create the robot
from primitives on its own.
Start with the general shape
and add elements in turn to
get the proportions right
before starting to refi ne them
into the more detailed shapes.
10 Now move over to ZBrush and create a Detail Normal Map. Here,
we are going to use an Alpha mask and get a Normal Map ready
to diffuse and render.
06 The next
step is to
draw the silhouette
from the front, side and
back views. If you don’t
do it this way, you will
have to spend more
time creating it in 3D,
which can be more
diffi cult. Forming the
composition in 2D is a
fast way to fi x the scale
and proportion.
render time
Resolution:
2,250 x 2,922
6 hours
3DArtist ● 79
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The studio● Create a steampunk robot
Adding details
Sort out the lighting and the remaining fine details
11 Put the model OBJ fi le
into ZBrush. I made an Alpha
Map for ZBrush masking, which is
the easiest way to make detail
normal. This mark is really complex
to draw by hand, but if you can use
an Alpha mask, it will be easy. So
bring the Alpha image from
Menu>Alpha>Import and put this
image into the object (Tool>
Masking>Mask by Alpha).
Remember that this image detail is
dependent on Geometry
Subdivision, so we recommend
using over six levels (Tool>
Geometry>SDiv). After that, go to
Deformation and select Infl at and a
positive number. You can see that
the model is popping out. Add
more detail on the top and use
ZMapper to create a Normal Map.
12 We have
gone over
making a Normal
Map from ZBrush, so
we can use this to
make a Diffuse Map
from a Normal Map
channel (R, G, B) info.
Open the Normal
Map fi le in Photoshop
and you can see the
channel on the layer.
Copy the red channel
from Normal Map,
then paste it to the
layer, changing the
method from Normal
to Spotlight (80%),
and invert the image.
Follow the screenshot
for the rest.
13 For the lighting setup, three Point Lights were used, and then Brazil Light was
added for Global Illumination. Turn on the main light and the back light Shadow
Map, plus turn on Adaptive in the Area Light Options box. The Luma Server is key to
setting the lighting; it only uses Direct Illumination, which allows it to use illumination for
Point Lights, Area Lights and Sky Lights.
80 ● 3DArtist
14 Prepare each of the render elements for the composite. First, apply
the default material to the object, which removes all the texture info
from the object, then change the render setup for the scan line. Click on the
Render Elements tab and enable Z-Depth. Change the value by copying the
setup in the screenshot (get the near distance and far distance by Tape Helper).
15 Once you get all the elements that you want, start the composite with each of
them. Base them on the Diffuse Map, add Ambient Occlusion and use Photoshop’s
Lens Blur to make a distance setup. After that, you need change the colour for matching
background colours. In addition, add a Shadow channel layer set to Multiply, and an FX
mask needs to be added on the top of the screen.
To show up details on the
robot, you need to use a
number of Spot Lights.
These provide highlights on
the refl ective material and
give it a shiny appearance.
The image is also lit by
Global Illumination. When it
comes to rendering, a
number of passes need to
be made. These include ZDepth,
shade, diffuse, a
Shadow Map and Ambient
Occlusion. Once all the
passes are ready, they can
be composited together in
Adobe Photoshop.
Using three
point lights
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
It’s a jungle out there.
Swing through it
DirectoryTM
Also in this series
The definitive review listings for iPad, iPhone and Android apps
www.imaginebookshop.co.uk
Bookazines
eBooks • Apps
iPad
Printed full colour large format book
Kindle
High street Kindle Store ImagineShop.co.uk App Store
HIGH
ST.
BUY IN STORE
Lance is happy to answer
your questions on
anything to do with
rendered cars or Maya in
general. Here, he
explains how to
composite a car into a
real scene
Lance Hitchings
www.hitchingsdesign.com
The Advisors
Automotive Game design
John works on
characters for games at
EA in California so he
knows about detailing
low-poly models. Here,
he describes how to
come up with realistic
hair for a game character
John Haynes
zugok@sbcglobal.net
When compositing a render of a
3D object into any photograph,
your goal is to replicate the
composition and the lighting. In
order to do either, you need to start out
with as much data about the photograph
as you can. For your composition, you will
need to know the distance of the camera
from the focal point of the photograph on
all three axes, how far above, in front and
to the side, as well as details on the focal
length, f-stop, shutter speed as well as
fi lm speed.
For lighting, you need to replicate the
direct light, the ambient light and the
refl ections. The Physical Sun node creates
realistic sunlight and shadows; the IBL
(Image Based Lighting) node provides
some of the refl ections and creates
realistic ambient light (we’ll also use an
Ambient Occlusion render to provide
more ambient shadows), whereas the
ground refl ection plane creates the rest of
the refl ections.
01 Start with the
right resources
You’re going to need the following
resources: the photo you want to
composite into, a panoramic HDR image
of the same (or similar) scene and a photo
of the ground the model will be sitting on
a. In place of the HDR image, you could
use several photos stitched together for a
Your questions answered Have a question about the software you use?
Thwarted by creative block? Contact us and
we’ll help you get back in your 3D groove
?
01Start A
B
Need help fast? Join the I’m compositing a 3D object into a photograph of a
natural outdoor scene with lighting coming from the
sun, but the shadows don’t look realistic. Any advice?
Tony Morales Los Angeles, California, USA. Working in Maya
Creating shadows
82 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Your questions answered ●The studio
Characters Your guide
Lee works as a graphics
artist and is an expert at
creating fi gures. In his
spare time he creates
celebrity caricatures, but
he’d be delighted to
answer your characterbased
Maya questions
Lee Davies
http://leemale.cgsociety.org/
Duncan is your fi rst point
of call if you’re suffering
from a 3D niggle. As
editor of the magazine,
he can arrange to have
your problems sorted
out by talented and
professional artists
Duncan Evans
www.3dartistonline.com
panorama b. These photos should ideally
be taken at the same time as the primary
photo. Otherwise, something can be
cobbled together from stock images.
02 Set up your scene
Load your primary photo as an image
plane in your render camera, and compose
the scene to match the photo C. In
Render Globals under the Environment
tab, create an IBL node and map your HDR
image to that. Also create a Physical Sun
and Sky node, but in the Attribute Editor
for your render camera, break the
connection for the Physical Sky in the
Environment Shader slot. This will allow
the renderer to use the IBL node for the
sky instead of the Physical Sky. Set the Sun
Direction attributes to match the location
of the sun in the primary photo. Set up a
plane under your object to capture
shadows cast by the sun, then map the
ground image to a shallow disc or a plane
under the object to use for refl ections of
the ground.
03 Rendering
You’ll need three renders: your primary
beauty shot d, shadow render e and an
Ambient Occlusion render.
Hide the shadow plane for the beauty
shot. For the shadow render, set the
primary visibility of your 3D object to Off
f in the Render Stats tab of the Attribute
Editor. That way you’ll get just the plane
with the shadows. Create a new render
layer with the 3D object and the shadow
plane and choose the Ambient Occlusion
preset. Render this layer for the Ambient
Occlusion render.
04 Composite the renders
In Photoshop, the primary photo is the
bottom layer, then the shadows layer g,
the beauty shot and fi nally the Occlusion
render. Use the mask from the beauty shot
to break the Occlusion render into two
layers (the object and the shadows). The
fi nal step is to add a slight amount of noise
and blue to match the primary image h.
c
D
H
f
growing community at www.3dartistonline.com
Email the team directly with your problem
3dartist@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Post your worry on the Q&A section on our forum
www.3dartistonline.com/forum
Send us your 3D glitches and we’ll get them sorted. There are
two methods to get in touch with our team of expert advisors…
E
f
G
3DArtist ● 83
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
The best way to get good results
is to use a hairstyle that is
shorter and above shoulder
length. The polygon strips that
represent hair clusters are placed near the
top surface of the head, not connected or
penetrating the surface, and originating
near a parting in the hair. By using multiple
overlapping rows of polygon strips, the
depth of the hair can then be simulated.
An alpha representing the end of the hair
is placed at both ends of the strip to hide
the polygon edges.
The hair texture is straight and tiling and
can even be stretched along the length of
the poly strip. The polygons are used to
introduce the wave-like curve and fl ow to
the hair. Keeping the hair texture tiling
across the width of a poly strip allows the
texture resolution to be increased if it
looks too blurry or soft. Start with a lightcoloured
hair to see the hair texture more
clearly for adjustment. Using an advanced
shader for specular and Translucency will
help put the fi nishing touch to the hair and
help bring out the colour and sheen.
01 Make sure the character
has a bare skull or has some
extra volume to represent a hairstyle
that has a bit more volume from the
head. The volume should only extend
as far as the hairline. Using a hair
texture along with Bump or Normal
Maps to colour the cap will help to fi ll
in gaps between the hair poly strips.
02 Create a poly strip that’s
long enough for the longest
part of the hair. Make sure its UVs are
laid out evenly, vertical and not
diagonal. Starting at the front, proceed
towards the back along the side,
leaving enough room on top for a
second row along the hair part. Add
thin strips to represent loose strands.
03 Get a photo reference of
hair that’s straight and even in
texture. The pixel density of the
texture needs to be high across the
hair grain or width of the poly strip,
and can be very low with the grain or
along the length of the poly strip.
Create a jagged alpha edge at each
strand edge at the top and bottom.
I’m creating a female character for a 3D game so
it’s polygons and textures rather than hair or particle
systems. What’s the best way of designing this with
a modern hairstyle that looks good?
Suzie Spencer Glasgow, UK
Hair today
Your questions answered Have a question about the software you use?
Thwarted by creative block? Contact us and
we’ll help you get back in your 3D groove
?
This is the head with all textures and
various shaders applied. Use an
Ambient Occlusion map and
Translucency or Subsurface Scattering
to add more shading realism to the
surfaces. Ambient Occlusion maps
are critical for good surfacing, and
help add depth to surface shading
This is the head mesh showing all the hair poly
layers. The more polys used in the hair for curves
will make it look better. SubD smoothing is also a
good way to get smooth, fl owing curves
84 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Your questions answered ●The studio
Join the community at www.3dartistonline.com
Eastern promise
How can I model and sculpt a stylised
character with a hint of manga without it
being unduly Far Eastern in looks?
Thomas Meindorfer Frankfurt, Germany. Working in Maya and ZBrush
I am often asked whether my
characters are inspired by the
Japanese style, but I usually try
to avoid consciously adopting
any approach that doesn’t feel like my
own. My work may occasionally share a
similar theme (such as a sexy android),
but my methods have evolved over time
and stem from a range of infl uences. The
subject matter of a piece of work will
usually inform its overall appearance in
some way in terms of style.
If manga inspires you, collect a library of
reference images and material. Identify the
defi ning characteristics that appeal to you
most and consider how to interpret them
in a way appropriate to your natural style.
Typically, Japanese characters have
exaggerated physical features. Consider
how these attributes can be used to
emphasise age, gender or how you might
accentuate a particular theme using
costume or props.
If you really want to avoid cliché
territory, try focusing on just one or two of
these characteristics and look for
inspiration beyond a single art style. Over
time, this will help allow you to develop
your own sense of design, which will in
turn prove to be more rewarding in the
long run than simply ‘adopting’ manga.
Design
When designing the look of
your character, think about
the universe it will inhabit
and keep your designs
appropriate to that place.
Will your character be from
the past or the future?
Gothic, fantasy, sci-fi , human
or alien? Cute, sexy or any
combination of these?
While it is always
recommendable to rough out
designs on paper in the early
stages of a project, I fi nd that
working with ZBrush allows
me to sketch ideas in 3D
very quickly and
effi ciently, based on
a few base meshes
(heads, bodies,
etc) to use as
starting points.
The fi nal pose should
communicate
something of the
character’s personality
or mood to the viewer
Details
Using some of the basic brushes
(standard, move, etc), pulling a mesh
around can be fast and intuitive. Facial
features can be easily manipulated to
achieve a wide range of looks. Try
experimenting with the size and relative
position of features using a low subdivision
model until you achieve your required
look. Female characters are typically
defi ned by softer forms and rounded
curves, whereas a stylised male character
may contain more exaggerated angular
forms (ZBrush’s Flatten brush can be the
perfect tool for this sort of thing). Small
noise bump on top of the normal map will
add detail, while mild fall-off in the colour
slot accentuates the bump.
Attitude
Once you’re happy with a basic model and
have added any appropriate accessories
(costume, props, etc), spend time
perfecting your character’s facial
expression and pose. These factors
will be vital in communicating the
sort of personality and attitude
that you might expect from a
manga character, for example. A
dynamic pose will help lend
weight to a heroic character in
the thick of action, while a more
relaxed posture could suggest
any range of subtle
emotions. With a little
practice, ZBrush’s
transpose features are
great for posing a character
quickly without the need for
laborious rigging and skinning,
perfect for one-off illustration
purposes. However, be
certain to retain a default
posed version in case you
ever decide to revisit the
character for any reason.
Small noses, mouths
and large eyes on a
character’s face may
suggest a Japanese
infl uence
3DArtist ● 85
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Review l Softimage 7.5
Softimage 7.5 $2995
Softimage 7.5 is the most recent addition to the Autodesk
stable, but where does it fit into a world increasingly
dominated by Max and Maya?
At the end of last year, Autodesk
completed its buyout of
Softimage|XSI from Avid
Technology. This means one company now
owns the vast majority of the high-end 3D
graphics market. Houdini, LightWave and
CINEMA 4D are the only big players left
outside the Autodesk empire.
Autodesk Softimage 7.5 is the first version
of the software to be released since the
buyout – so apart from the replacement
of ‘XSI’ with ‘Autodesk’, what exactly
has changed?
Softimage was one of the earliest 3D
packages to be adopted for television and
film. Since then, it’s lost some of that ground
to Max and Maya, but along the way its
strong character animation and modelling
tools have gained it acceptance in the
games market.
The package has always traded off its
interface, which remains clean and
uncluttered – something it manages
primarily by making keyboard shortcuts
absolutely central to getting to grips with the
package. Its workflow is forgiving, with every
object storing a complete list of the actions
performed on it in a non-destructive stack.
Softimage has always put character
animation centre-stage. You are able to
create biped and quadruped rigs with a
single click, and there are even generic
characters provided as primitives. Skinning
and rigging are very fast, while animating
is intuitive.
Uniquely in 3D applications, Softimage
also comes with a built-in 2D compositor.
Softimage Illusion allows you to bring in your
rendered animation along with all its render
passes, combine it with other still and video
elements, add colour correction and other
effects and render out a finished movie.
Illusion isn’t After Effects by any means, but
it does avoid constantly switching packages
and workflows and reconstructing complex
sequences when all you really want to do is
put your 3D objects into a short video.
Aside from this, Softimage covers all the
basics for a 3D package, including decent
subdivision surfaces tools, very strong
particle and hair systems, non-linear
animation and dynamics, all of which have
kept up with Maya and Max pretty well over
the past few years.
The ICE system provides a flowchart view, allowing an exceptional level of
control, particularly over particle systems
Strong composition and tracking features
are a hallmark of the Softimage 3D package
Image courtesy of UVPHACTORY
86 l 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Softimage 7.5 ●Review
www.softimage.com
● $2995
OPTIMAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (PC)
● Windows XP/Vista
Optimal system requirements
Quad core processor
2GB RAM (4GB for 64-bit operating systems)
Essential info
7/10
Features .............................8/10
Ease of use ........................7/10
Quality of results ...........9/10
Value for money .............7/10
Our verdict
Softimage is
certainly worth
considering as a 3D
application, but the
upgrade from 7 to 7.5
won’t be a vital one
for most artists
Keeping it simple with the
brand new tools
The new Texture tools allow you to unwrap the UVs of
a complex mesh by simply selecting seams
Advanced options for hair
and fur rendering
Softimage offers users an advanced Hair and Fur
Rendering toolset
Create your own instant
generic primitives
You can even create instant rigged human characters
as primitives
Uniquely in
3D applications,
Softimage comes
with a built-in 2D
compositor
Softimage
continues to
make character
animation a key
part of its toolset
Final
Score
The good & the bad
✓ ICE (node-based
development tool)
✓ Strong character
animation
✓ mental ray 3.7 support
✘ Not a huge update
✘ Expensive
Version 7 was a big update, introducing
ICE (an advanced node-based toolset,
initially set up for controlling particles) as
well as upgrading materials and lighting
and colour rendering. Version 7.5 isn’t
huge by comparison. There are a couple of
tweaks and new features, but by and large,
nothing groundbreaking.
The brand new UV Unwrapping tool
allows you to take complex objects and
texture them much more easily than before.
Simply by picking a seam, the object can be
automatically unfolded to create a UV map
that not only gives even and unstretched
textures, but also makes enough visual sense
to allow you to draw onto them in a 2D paint
package. It’s a good system, which has
already been adopted by many 3D packages.
It’s a little overdue in Softimage, but will be
welcome nonetheless.
Users’ hopes that the popular ICE system
would expand to cover other aspects of the
package haven’t materialised, although there
have been a few tweaks to ICE, mainly to fi x
inconsistencies and ease workfl ow.
mental ray 3.7 is now fully integrated with
Softimage (version 7 included mental ray
3.6). The new version includes irradiance
particles, which are a new alternative to Final
Gather that saves render time by prioritising
lighting effects based on their importance
from the point of view of the camera.
So what does this release tell us about
the way Softimage is heading under its
new ownership? Well, it looks as though
Softimage’s character animation system
will eventually be integrated into Max,
but this doesn’t mean Softimage is being
wound down. Autodesk has already shown
with Maya and Max that it’s not looking
to merge all 3D applications into one.
Instead, Softimage will probably continue
to concentrate on what it’s good at –
and that means particles and dynamics,
fast modelling tools and strong
character animation.
3DArtist ● 87
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Review l Poser Pro
Poser has had something of a potted
history, going through various
hands before ending up with current
developer Smith Micro, which has made a
concerted effort to update and upgrade the
package. The result is Poser Pro now
supports a range of advanced techniques,
such as subsurface scattering, ambient
occlusion, HDRI lighting, data exchange with
COLLADA, network rendering and no fewer
than three types of clothing simulation.
However, installation is the first task at
hand, which goes smoothly up until the point
that you realise the Poser 6 and 7 legacy
content that comes with Pro doesn’t
physically come with it after all. You have to
download it from the Smith Micro site,
which, as it comes in at around 1GB for the
zip files, is a fair amount of time to invest.
Once downloaded and unzipped, the
content needs to be installed to the Library,
but again this has to be done manually –
there is no automatic installer.
The standard interface of Poser Pro
defaults to using one of the clothed figures,
which you may not want. So this can be
deleted and someone from the standard or
legacy libraries loaded instead. The key point
here is that the standard clothed figures
have the clothing locked to them – there’s
nothing underneath. You can change the
colour of the clothing but not much else. To
get creative, you need the conforming cloth
or the cloth dynamic system.
The options across the top of the main
screen offer post, material, face, hair, cloth
and the technical options of setup. There’s
also a tab for content that provides an inprogram
web browser for the Poser content
site. The starting point, though, is either the
default figure or to go to the Library, click on
Figures and select one from there. If the
figure is naked you’ll need to add clothes, but
some clothing works with some characters
and some works with others. Basically, if you
stick to the clothing types from each version
of Poser, you’ll be okay. If something doesn’t
work then it can be deleted.
Once ready, you can pull, twist and
manipulate the figure, or load a supplied
pose from the Library. Even with Limits
turned on, it’s still all too easy to twist the
figures into unnatural shapes. This should
have been addressed by now to make it
possible to stick to physiological limits, but
it’s still a fast and easy way to set up a figure.
The Material tab is where you get down
and dirty with your image and really change
how it looks. This is where SSS, ambient
occlusion, IBL for lights, atmosphere,
advanced shadows and bump maps can be
added. It’s the use of bump maps that can
make a big difference, as age lines and
wrinkles can be created. If you want to avoid
the same kind of skin texture each time, this
is the section that needs your attention.
The other problem with Poser models is
they have the same physical characteristics
as renders from anyone else using the
Poser Pro $499
Take everyone’s favourite pre-rigged character rendering
and animation system, and pump it full of industry
standards. Duncan Evans checks the results
Clicking on the
Plus sign let’s
you add
additional
content to
the Library
Hair parts can be
grouped together so
that alterations are
made to all of them
at once, or individual
clumps can
be targeted
The Growth controls
affect hair length and
how much variation
there is between
strands for a more
natural result. There
are also controls for
moving and pulling
hair into new shapes
Here’s the really
clever stuff that allows
you to tweak the hair
dynamics to the
conditions of the
image you’re
compositing it into –
including how damp
the air is!
The Hair Library contains a number of styles
and also types of hair. The older types can’t be
modified by the Hair engine, but the new
strand-based ones can
88 l 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Poser Pro ●Review
program. Enter the Face department. While
this isn’t quite ZBrush, it does allow dragging
and manipulation of the face, and each
element has a slider adjustment to change
the appearance. There are even general ones
for ethnicity, age and gender, though these
can’t be pushed too far before they become
grotesque caricatures. The clever thing is
that your own front and side view photos can
be loaded and wrapped to the model.
Hair is another system that has a lot of
fl exibility when using actual hair sets rather
than hair-fl avoured skull caps. The length
and style can be adjusted and tweaked to get
a unique look. However, it’s the cloth system
that really stands out. As mentioned, there
are three types: fi xed clothing, conforming
clothing that fi ts to the shape of the subject,
no matter the position (although it’s limited
to being used on the character type it was
designed for), and fi nally, dynamic clothing.
www.smithmicro.com
● $499
OPTIMAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MAC)
● Mac Intel or Power Macintosh 700MHz
(1.6GHz or faster recommended)
● Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
● 1GB RAM min (2GB recommended)
● OpenGL-compatible graphics card with at
least 128MB RAM
● 600MB free hard drive space for installation
OPTIMAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (PC)
● Pentium III processor 700MHz (1.6GHz or
faster recommended)
● Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2), Windows
XP, Windows Vista
● 1GB RAM min (2GB recommended)
● OpenGL-compatible graphics card with at
least 128MB RAM
● 600MB free hard drive space for installation
Essential info
7/10
Features .............................8/10
Ease of use ........................8/10
Quality of results ...........7/10
Value for money .............7/10
Our verdict
Great features,
plenty of advanced
technologies, but
it does feel a bit
messy at times
Material tab
The Material tab is where you can really change the
feel of a render by tweaking the skin textures. Not only
can the colours be modifi ed, but advanced techniques
like subsurface scattering can be used
Face modelling
While it isn’t ZBrush, it is fairly easy to change most
aspects of the standard models supplied by drag and
drop actions on points on the face or by tweaking
sliders for individual elements
Hair system
The new hair system allows for lots of fi ne
adjustments to the strand-based hair pieces. The
older types of hair can’t be changed with this, but here
the hair can almost be combed
This is the new and exciting system, which
creates a 30-frame spread of images. The
initial position of the cloth fabric is created on
frame 1, then dynamic simulation is applied
leading to the end frame. This gives all kinds
of realistic ripples and pulls. If you want a still
image, you render the fi nal frame, otherwise
carry on and animate with more frames.
There’s no doubt Poser Pro has come a
long way, and in recent years has had a lot of
new functionality added, but the downside is
there are too many systems at work. It all
needs cleaning up into a more coherent way
of working, with supplied content being
confi gured to that system. The other
problem is the default rendering options
don’t give ideal results, so you need to get
into the textures and technical aspects to
come up with more realistic results. But the
point is it can be done, and the basic
system saves a lot of time in the process.
Cloth
dynamics give
all kinds of
realistic pulls
and tugs
Here’s one I
rendered earlier.
The default
three-point
lighting system is
easy to arrange
to give shadow
and colour to
the image
Final
Score
The good & the bad
✓ Plenty of pre-rigged
characters to use
✓ Advanced texturing
technologies
✓ Poser people exportable
to 3ds Max, Maya,
CINEMA 4D
✓ 64-bit rendering engine
✘ Legacy content in messy
download and install
✘ Characters still deform in
unnatural positions
✘ Default skin textures
need work
3DArtist ● 89
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Review roundup l Gnomon Character Animation: Fundamentals
Gnomon Character
Animation:
Fundamentals $49
Part one of a three-disc set from The Gnomon Workshop, with the others looking at
lip-syncing and acting as well as mechanics and emotion
www.thegnomonworkshop.
com
l DVD or download
Optimal systems
l Any
Optimal system requirements
l If you can play a DVD or a MOV file, then you
will be able to play this!
Essential info
8/10
Features..............................7/10
Ease of use.........................8/10
Quality of results............8/10
Value for money..............8/10
Our verdict
A well-presented
tutorial with
technical and
creative instruction
well balanced
Final
Score
Nowadays, video tutorials are ten a
penny. The software to create them
is freely available, and since YouTube
it’s pretty hard to tell whether what you’re
about to watch is actually an intelligent
professional production or a simplistic halfhearted
attempt.
Gnomon’s tutorials are a cut above the
rest, however, and this one is professionally
produced and informative. The sound is
clear, Chris Kirshbaum’s delivery is
confident, and although staring at a mouse
pointer for half an hour while
someone describes the best way
to avoid popping knees is never
going to make for a riveting
cinematic spectacle, this is an
animator who knows what he’s
doing and is comfortable
explaining it. He manages to
speak in considerable detail and
show you how to solve practical
problems without getting bogged
down in the minutiae of which
buttons to press.
As for the content, this is part
one of a three-disc set, and it
covers two animation jobs. The first, a
bouncing ball, gets the viewer used to the
Maya interface and particularly the Curves
editor. The second, a walk cycle, is a much
more involved and subtle piece of animation,
covering topics like style, characterisation
and personality, and showing you how to
achieve these using Maya’s tools.
Most users, if they have any interest in
character animation at all, will already know
how to animate a bouncing ball before they
buy the tutorial. However, the first lessons
do provide a useful introduction to the
presenter’s methods.
The walk cycle tutorial, spread over six
20/30-minute lessons, will be of use to
most animators. It’s full of really practical
tips in both the creative and the technical
aspects of animation. Whether you’re
working in Maya or in another package, you
should get something from this tutorial.
At $49 the cost isn’t huge, and if you’re
going to be doing a lot of character
animation, the whole day that it’ll take you to
thoroughly work through these nine lessons
will probably save you far more in terms of
time, money and frustration in the long term.
This tutorial is
professionally
produced and
informative
The tutorials are
professionally
produced as well
as informative
The tutorial on
the bouncing ball
will be familiar
ground to most
aspiring animators
90 l 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Genetica Viewer, Xtrusion Urban pack 3 ●Review roundup
Genetica Viewer Free
A worthwhile freebie with the option of going for more
The Genetica Viewer is a free package
allowing you to load in libraries of tile-able
textures created in Genetica’s own gtx
format, mess with them in a whole range of ways
and then export them as JPEGs for use in
whatever 3D application you favour.
The point of this is that Genetica’s textures aren’t
just photos. They’re a series of masks, scalable
drawings and procedural maps that combine to
produce the texture – and crucially, you have
control over how that combination works and what
parts of it you output.
In other words, a stone fl oor image may be made
up of stone and mortar colour, and bump maps,
stone shape maps, dirt maps and a range of other
effects mattes. So you can export whichever you
like at whatever resolution you like, and import
them into your 3D app to turn into an extremely
controllable material. You can use the stone shape
as a bump map, use the dirt maps to control shine,
etc. What’s more, because the images are tile-able,
you can add almost infi nite detail.
So, why is it free? Well, in the end, it’s about
getting you to buy the software for designing textures
yourself in one of its three versions ranging from $149
to $899. But what’s on offer free is well worthwhile,
whether or not you go for the full package.
The Viewer package is a bit clunky but perfectly
usable. There are a good range of controls (you can
adjust the hue, contrast, scale, etc of your texture).
You can also export the full image or each map
separately, depending on how you plan to use them.
An impressive range of textures are bundled with
the Viewer. These cover all the usual brickwork,
metals and architectural textures, as well as some
more specialised textures like medieval buildings,
landscapes, liquids and even whole planets.
There’s a tendency for scalable textures to look a
bit too clean, but these, used with care, can create
impressively realistic effects. What’s more, each
texture can, with a little knowledge of your own 3D
app’s shaders, produce a whole range of materials.
Genetica Viewer allows you to export the various maps
used in a texture separately, so you can construct
materials from them in your 3D application
Xtrusion Urban pack 3 $150
Solve your empty space problems with a bunch of characters
Scattering a few low polygon people
around can turn a dull fl ythrough or a
lifeless street scene into a dynamic and
believable environment.
But modelling humans is a time-consuming
process, and if you’re primarily interested in the
scene itself, it’s distracting. A selection of boughtin,
pre-textured characters can be the answer, so
we took a look at three different instant crowds
available through turbosquid.
Urban pack 3 from Xtrusion ($150) includes four
characters in casual clothes. Each is around 3,500
faces, includes a 1,024 pixel texture map, and is a
single mesh in a standard reference pose. These
are useful characters, if a little similar to one
another, and are surprisingly realistic, but you do
need to skin and pose them yourself.
Alternatively, at $120, Picture Factory’s
Archipeople offers a slightly less realistic set of
characters (three women and three men), but
provides each one ready to use in four standing,
walking and sitting poses, with fi ve different
colour schemes.
Geometricks’ 12 humans pack retails at just $99
and provides 12 very distinct fi gures. Geometricks’
characters are provided in fairly neutral modern
dress, and come in at around 2,500 polys with a
single texture for each character. They’re not preposed,
but you don’t have to add bones to them
either – each fi gure comes as a hierarchy of linked
limbs, so you can simply rotate them to pose the
character. Because they’re only designed for use at
a distance, this rather robotic form of posing works
fi ne and allows you to use each character in any
way you like.
Overall, Urban pack provides the most realistic
characters we looked at – the scores are for this
package. Archipeople offers the most instantly
usable fi gures, and Geometricks offers the most
fl exible set of models.
Features .............................7/10
Ease of use ........................6/10
Quality of results ...........8/10
Value for money ..........10/10
Our verdict
It may be a little
slow, but is a useful
addition to any 3D
modeller’s toolkit
7/10
Final
Score
www.spiralgraphics.biz
7/10
Final
Score
Features .............................7/10
Ease of use ........................7/10
Quality of results ...........8/10
Value for money .............6/10
Our verdict
These are useful
characters, if a little
similar to one another,
and are surprisingly
realistic, but you do
need to skin them
www.turbosquid.com
Urban pack’s characters are realistic
but need to be posed
3DArtist ● 91
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
So you’ve got the 3D skills to
make an animation happen.
Confi dent in your modelling
abilities, you assemble your rushes and
set out to impress prospective
employers – only to be rebuffed when
the way you’ve presented your plot
doesn’t make the fi nal cut.
Storylining is sometimes ignored
when you’re learning 3D animation, as
there is so much in the technical fi eld
for you to master that it naturally takes
a back seat. Even if you’re approaching
3D animation from the most technical
perspectives, however, the ability to
present a good story in a way that will
grab your audience’s attention is a key
skill. It doesn’t matter how pretty your
rendering is if those who are watching
it can’t follow the action effectively.
This is where Directing the Story comes
in. It is a creative guide to the art of
creating the storyboards used to plan
and drive your movie, and it takes in
much that can be left out of purely
technical courses of study.
The book itself is presented in
something of an author’s conceit: the
tale of The Arabian Nights, which to
Disney story artist and Gnomon
Workshop tutor Francis Glebas is the
paragon of storytelling, is woven
throughout the book in many of its
examples. It’s full of these, providing
some great guidelines to getting it
exactly right.
But the storyboards aren’t just used
to show you how it should be done.
Glebas provides examples of audience
reactions in the same format as he
takes you through the basics of
reception aesthetics – understanding
how your work makes the viewer react
– and much more. You’ll learn how to
make the viewer’s eye go where you
want it to on the screen, how to use
well-known storyline motifs (the
building blocks of plots) to convey and
enhance meaning as well as the visual
short cuts to demonstrate them
effi ciently and effectively.
The fi nal aim of this book is, of
course, to help you create clear,
workable storylines full of impact and
put them in the right format to sell
them or get a job in the industry. But
even if three-dimensional animation is
your hobby and this isn’t your aim,
Directing the Story is a fascinating book
full of useful information about
producing great storylines, and it
should defi nitely fi nd a place on all
animators’ bookshelves.
Review roundup ● Book reviews
Directing the Story £22.99
Learn how to create effective plots and storyboards for your 3D animations
AUDIENCE REACTIONS
This set of storyboards documents the
audience’s reaction to a plot, showing the
various impacts that visual storytelling has
on the viewer
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The book encourages readers to
constructively critique methods of
storytelling in order to implement it
effectively and effi ciently
EVEN MORE CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The book ends with a critique of itself,
demonstrating the concept of linked story
arcs – the book itself and the tale from the
storyboards throughout
PLOT DEVICES
A key element of Directing the Story is the
examination of classic plot devices, which
are called motifs, and how the audience
understands them
AUTHOR
● Francis Glebas
PRICE
● £22.99 / $39.95US
PUBLISHER
● Focal Press
ISBN NUMBER
● 978-0-240-8107-8
info
VISUAL STORYTELLING
A lot of the important
information in the book is
presented in memorable,
easily read storyboards
92 ● 3DArtist
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Book reviews ●Review roundup
Digital Modelling for Urban Design
The theories behind urban planning with a touch of 3D icing
Architecture and urban
planning have been
revolutionised by 3D design
just as much as animation. Digital
Modelling for Urban Design may sound
like a technical manual on the subject,
but this is another book that aims to
accompany technical know-how with
insights into cultural theory. In this
book, however, complex subjects are
surrounded by academic jargon.
Despite claiming to be a synthesis of
modelling techniques and the theory
behind them, this reads like a
pretentious dissertation on the
semiotics of architecture, and there is
little focus on the practical application
of 3D modelling to this industry. This
book is not for newcomers to urban
planning and certainly not for would-be
3D designers – it’s a trendy mix of
cultural theory with the slightest dash
of digital design, which looks clever but
isn’t spectacularly relevant.
Learning Autodesk Maya 2009 £45.00
Does exactly what it says on the tin
Finally to a technical tome with
some real benefi ts for 3D
modellers of all kinds.
Autodesk’s Maya software is one of
the industry leaders in the fi eld, and
the one program with which most 3D
artists are expected to display some
profi ciency. That’s the aim of Learning
Autodesk Maya 2009, and that is what
it delivers.
It may not have a clever cultural
hook like the others reviewed in this
issue of 3D Artist, but it does have a
logical, practical progression through
learning the latest iteration of Maya.
You’ll need a minimum amount of
fl uency with the software before
embarking on the tutorials in this book,
which are designed to teach you your
way around the program and what you
can do with it, as well as enabling you
to produce tangible results.
For those learning Maya or wanting
a refresher as they invest in the latest
version of the software, Learning
Autodesk Maya 2009 is nothing short of
an essential investment.
TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
Much of this book is, in fact, made up of
traditional theories of architecture and not
must-have 3D skills
ABSTRACT PHILOSOPHY
A few gritty urban photos and Zen muses are
included to ensure that owning this book
impresses your girlfriend
CULTURAL THEORY
AND URBAN DESIGN
This book’s mere nod
to 3D comes in the
form of these boxy
little abstract models
accompanying highfl
ying theoretical text
BODY MODELLING
This subject – bearing in mind that it is the aim
of most 3D modellers – is covered early on in
order to give you an overview right from the
very beginning
TECHNICAL TRICKS
As you progress through Learning Autodesk
Maya 2009, you’ll move into learning and
understanding more complex modelling
technologies within Maya
BACK TO BASICS
This book starts simply, with polygons and basic meshes, which is ideal
for Maya and 3D design beginners
AUTHOR
● Brian McGrath
PRICE
● £27.99
PUBLISHER
● Wiley
ISBN NUMBER
● 978-0-470-03478-1
info
AUTHOR
● Marc-Andre Guindon
PRICE
● £45.00 / $69.99US
PUBLISHER
● Wiley
ISBN NUMBER
● 978-1-897-17752-5
info
£27.99
3DArtist ● 93
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
To order your copy or set up a subscription online visit www.imagineshop.co.uk
www.advancedphotoshop.co.uk
Every issue includes / Free CD / Insightful interviews
/ Skilful tutorials / Latest products reviewed And much more…
ON SALE NOW!
2 BRAND NEW VIDEO
TUTORIALS
PLUS: BRUSHES, TEXTURES & MORE
Issue 56 includes:
• Matte-painting techniques
• Mixed-media montages
• Pen tool masterclass
• Design websites in Photoshop
• In-depth interviews and insights
• Project les and extras on the disc
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion and education
Fascinating Bloom
Soa Lee «
Personal portfolio site
www.soanala.com
3DArtist ● 95
inside
Carlos Fueyo
Industry news
All the latest news and events, shows, products
and updates in the world of 3D
094 News
100 Insider interview
Each issue we ask an industry pro how
you can get a job like theirs. This time it’s
Carlos Fueyo from Insomnia3d, a Miami
architectural visualisation company
Escape Studios
Want to get some learning and then a job with the
major players in CGI and VFX? Then you need
to go to a place like Escape Studios. We fi nd out
what it has to offer the aspiring 3D artist
096 Behind the scenes
To advertise in workspace please contact
Cassie Gilbert on 01202 586421 or cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
I N DU S T RY ● E DUC AT ION ● R E C RU I T M E N T ● C A R E E R S
Escape’s animation
course gave me the intensive
hands-on approach I needed
Afonso Salcedo, now
working at Pixar,
acknowledges what
Escape Studios did for
him. Page 96
Swansea
Swansea Metropolitan
University has an
animation course that
aims to teach you the
fundamentals of getting
things to jump up and
down on-screen. Julie
Easton checks it out
103 Uni Focus
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Escape Studios has introduced a new course
aimed at those wishing to fi nd a job in the
games industry. The new classroom-based
course will look at how to create realistic models and
environments for games, and is being taught by
Simon Fenton, former lead artist at Sony Computer
Entertainment London.
The course will cover software including Maya,
Photoshop, ZBrush, CrazyBump and the Unreal
engine, and lasts 12 weeks. At the end of the
programme, students will be better equipped with
the skills needed to fi nd a job in the games industry
and will come away with a personal demo reel of
work completed.
The course kicks off on 30 March and will run fulltime
from 10am to 5pm at Escape’s London
headquarters until 28 September.
“Escape’s goal is to focus on teaching the skills our
students need to be successful in real production
environments,” says Simon Fenton, the course
instructor. “Junior games artists don’t write code or
design levels, which is why we focus on teaching
students on how to model, texture and light
according to a brief. We also give them a sound
grounding in artistic principles and an
understanding of the technical limitations a games
artist has to work under on a daily basis.”
“This is the perfect course for students interested in
learning the fundamental skills required to pursue
and secure a job in the games industry,” says Paul
Wilkes, recruitment director of Escape. “Escape’s
games course helps students compile their work onto
a demo reel, and our recruitment team helps them
tailor that reel for specifi c job applications.”
The course costs £8,500, no prior knowledge of the
applications is needed but a basic understanding of
3D and Photoshop is recommended. Visit www.
escapestudios.com/en_GB/training/courses-main/
games.html for more information.
Escape Studios
offers new
games course
Students to learn essential skills for fi nding jobs
in the industry
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & educationNews
96 ● 3DArtist
b The course will cover the
essential skills of lighting,
texture mapping and
modelling over 12 weeks
a Simon Fenton,
formerly of
Sony Computer
Entertainment
London, is
going to be
teaching the
new games
course at Escape
a b
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Elliot Animation, a Torontobased
production facility, has
dramatically increased the
complexity of its latest animated
series without breaking the budget
through the use of Craft Camera Tools
for Gamecaster’s virtual camera
control system, GCS3.
The software and hardware bundle
was developed by Craft Animations AB
and Gamecaster, and is being put
through its paces for a new children’s
animated series called Rollbots. Rollbots
is a new 3D animated children’s series
from Amberwood Entertainment, and
has recently premiered in Canada.
Craft Camera Tools for GCS3
eliminates traditional keyframing
methods of virtual cameras in 3D
Elliot Animation
benefits with Craft
Camera Tools
The production facility uses the technology on its
Rollbots animation series
animated scenes, enabling complex
camera movements much faster than
before. Instead, the system enables
users to work with animated scenes in
the same way that they would shoot
live action, looking through the camera
viewfi nder and panning, tilting and
zooming in real-time with the same
controls as a real camera. “We estimate
that completing these complex shots
traditionally would have added an
additional $600,000 in costs to the
production,” says George Elliott,
president of Elliott Animation (www.
elliottanimation.com).
Craft Camera Tools works with
Gamecaster’s GCS3 virtual camera
control hardware, coming together as
an intuitive and superior bundle. The
reduced costs involved means that
there is more room for experimentation
and development in productions.
Product information and pricing can be
found at www.craftanimations.com
and www.gamecaster.com.
We estimate that completing these
added an additional $600,000 in costs
complex shots traditionally would have
3DArtist ● 97
d The Elliot
Animation team
were able to
experiment more
in production
using the Craft
Camera Tools for
GCS3 bundle pack
To advertise in workspace3D please contact
Cassie Gilbert on 01202 586421 or
cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
c Rollbots is a new 3D animation
children’s series soon to air in
the US. Rollbots makes the most
of complex camera movements
without breaking the bank using
the latest technology
Substance Air in final
stage of beta
Allegorithmic’s texturing middleware
solution for better productivity
Allegorithmic has announced that its Substance Air
technology is entering its fi nal stage of beta and is
due to launch this month. The texturing middleware
is designed for the development and distribution of
online games, reducing the size of downloadable
applications and providing a better solution for
advanced user-generated content.
Key features of Substance Air include the ability to
generate detailed graphics that fi t in a small fi le size,
unique user-generated content features, a brand new
runtime engine, a fl exible authoring tool and a
complete range of training and support solutions.
To fi nd out more about the software, visit www.
allegorithmic.com.
DreamWorks buys
rights to Dinotrux
Yet-to-be-published children’s book to
become CG fi lm
DreamWorks Animation has optioned rights to an
upcoming children’s book called Dinotrux.
The 32-page book, written by Chris Gall, is set in a
fi ctional prehistoric age where the world is ruled by
part-truck, part-dinosaur creatures. The deal was
reportedly for a mid-six-fi gure sum to enable the
studio to create a CG-animated fi lm with title
characters as talking creatures. The Dinotrux
characters come from a range of species, including
Craneosauraus, Garbageadon as well as
Tyrannosaurus Trux.
Chris Gall is a commercial illustrator and Dinotrux
will be his fourth title, due out in June.
c d
NEWS ● WOR K SPACE
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
In the classroom, Escape Studios can be as high
octane as the effects its tutors create for the
movie, TV and videogame industries. Each
lecturer still freelances in their specialist fi eld,
giving students the benefi t of their fi rst-hand
experience on big projects like The Dark Knight and
The Da Vinci Code. It’s not just vicarious storytelling,
either, as students even get the opportunity to work
with their mentor on some of the biggest names in
movies and gaming after they’ve completed their
chosen course. In just a few weeks – sometimes days
– Escape Studios aims to transform the student from
amateur to pro, and it recognises that the best way to
do that is to put them on the cutting edge of 3D design,
with all the pleasures and perils the industry entails.
Full-time classroom courses range from two days to
12 weeks in duration, and by the end of that time
Escape Studios aims to have set the student’s feet on
the path of the professional. Classes are small,
boasting a strictly regulated population of just 12
students apiece. In this small-scale environment,
there are plenty of opportunities for collaborative
projects, and crucially, the tutor has time to devote
attention to each student. The opportunity to work
with Escape Studios’ team on such an intimate level
is sure to do wonders for a student’s design prowess.
But don’t think you can walk in there with no
knowledge at all and come out as 3D’s answer to Orson
Welles. Students are pushed hard at Escape Studios,
as animation tutor Jeff Pratt says: “Anyone who wants
to get into animation needs to have a wide variety of
skills. They should have an in-depth knowledge of the
principles of animation, be a good actor and
storyteller, able to communicate visually (ie able to
draw), have an understanding of anatomy
and know the software inside out.”
While these are the skills Escape
Studios aims to hone in your time there,
you’ll need more than the cash for tuition
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & education Feature
Escape Studios has trained many people who’ve gone on to work
on household names. Afonso Salcedo trained in animation and is
now a lighting director at Pixar – his most recent project was Cars.
Nicole Gabriel of EA is now a world artist, creating the
environments for market-leading videogames, and credits the
industry links and experience she built up at Escape Studios for
giving her the opportunity. Phil Radford trained in Maya and now
creates graphics for BBC News. Meanwhile, recent students Pilar
Seijo and Nick van Diem show how students can produce
fl awlessly professional work in just 12 weeks.
98 ● 3DArtist
Where can you train in 3D in the classroom and
online? April Madden looks at the great Escape
Escape Studios
a Pilar Seijo produced this
Donnie Darko style
visualisation after he completed
the 12-week Character course
b Also trained on the
Character course, Nick van
Diem created this Doomladen
monster
a
Escape Studios is a hotbed of
industry specialists training a
new generation of designers
www.escapestudios.com
Function of studio The studio
specialises in Maya, ZBrush,
RenderMan and 3ds Max, as
well as vocational 3D courses
Country UK
Key people
Nick Savy
Course speciality
Characters
Lee Danskin
Course speciality
Visual Effects
Jeff Pratt
Course speciality:
Animation
Escapees
b
Famous
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
I had the most talented and patient
tutor who could never help enough
Jeff Pratt
Jeff studied Mechanical
Engineering and spent eight
years at NASA as a shuttle
systems engineer in Kennedy
Space Center before going into
animation. Since then he’s
worked on Pixar’s fi rst fi ve
movies. He was an animator on
Toy Story and its sequel, also A
Bug’s Life and Monsters Inc,
and was a modeller on Finding
Nemo. Since leaving Pixar he’s
taught animation, at Expression
College in San Francisco, and
now at Escape Studios.
Lee Danskin
Lee’s 3D career began as a
developer on Maya, and he’s
now rightly recognised as a
Maya Master. His fi rst feature
was the remake of Lost in
Space, and he then went on
to work on the James Bond
fl ick The World Is Not Enough
as well as The Da Vinci Code
and X-Men: The Last Stand. He
also worked on awardwinning
commercials for
Volkswagen, Guinness and
BMW before joining Escape
Studios in 2006.
Nick Savy
Nick originally specialised
in audio, working as a sound
engineer in the Eighties.
Working with games
developers at Sega, Psygnosis
and Sony as a musician and
game artist, he made the
jump to 2D and later 3D
graphics and started
designing. Now a leading CG
character designer in games
and movies, his most recent
credits include Batman
Begins and Harry Potter
And The Chamber of Secrets.
He now teaches the fulltime
Character course at
Escape Studios.
Simon Fenton
Trained in Fine Art, Simon
started his career in game
design at Bits Studios and
started working with CG. After
ten years at Sony – where he
worked on characters,
environments and animation
on nine titles, including Total
NBA 97, The Getaway: Black
Monday, Kinetic and Kinetic
Combat – he freelanced for a
while, creating virtual interiors
for museums. He then joined
Escape Studios, where he now
heads up the Games course,
teaching students everything
they need to know about the
world of videogame design.
Tutor profiles
3DArtist ● 99
c Many students work
together on pet projects
after completing their
course at Escape
d
To advertise in workspace3D please contact
Cassie Gilbert on 01202 586421 or
cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
c
WOR K SPACE ● F E ATUR E
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
and a bucketful of enthusiasm to get into one of the
nine classes housed in the heady environment of
Escape Studios’ Shepherd’s Bush campus. As Lee
Danskin, Escape Studios’ training development
director and Visual Effects course tutor, states: “It’s
vital to have an open mind and passion for your work.
A grounding in traditional media is an advantage,
and a good knowledge of photography is particularly
useful for people wanting to get into visual effects.
Basic computer literacy and image-manipulation
skills are always benefi cial for any student.”
So before you choose to take on one of the studio’s
courses, a little revision is in order. Courses range
from the general specialities of Animation and Visual
Effects to Character Creation, Games Design and
Compositing, and there are specialist programmes in
Maya, RenderMan, ZBrush and V-Ray. Some of these
can be taken over a few days, such as V-Ray and the
week-long RenderMan Fundamentals programme.
Others, like Maya and ZBrush, can be taken as
Escape’s Animation course gave me the intensive
hands-on approach I needed
evening classes. The rest are a full-time 12-week
commitment to gaining enough knowledge, expertise
and experience to get a junior job in the industry.
For the industry
Escape Studios’ industry links are strong, with tutors
having worked on a lot of big-name, big-budget
games and fi lms. Most courses are based on realistic
expectations of what you need to know and do to
work your way up in the industry. So a Maya Core
course specifi cally for use as video tutorials (with
added online support) in design studios is available
in addition to the full-time classroom courses and
online tuition you can get from Escape Studios.
Doing it online
If you haven’t got time for a full course, and the studio
you work for doesn’t plan to cough up the fees for the
Maya Core course, you still won’t miss out. You can
also train online with Escape Studios, and while you
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & education
d Classroom students are
taught in small groups of 12
to maximise the time they
get with their course tutor
e Game Design is just one
of the courses that are on
offer from the wide range at
Escape Studios
Feature
100 ● 3DArtist
f An emphasis is placed on
creating realistic, natural-looking
effects in Escape Studios’ Visual
Effects course
D
E
G
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
won’t be able to cover the more sexy topics of
Animation and CG Character creation straight away,
these online courses provide the perfect foundation
for those who want to move on to more demanding
classroom tuition but don’t yet have the necessary
skills. All you need is a login, which you’ll receive on
payment of your tuition fee. These courses are
considerably cheaper than the full-time and evening
class equivalents, so they’re a great way to see if
Escape Studios’ training is right for you (and you can
even take a sneak peek at some of them on the
website so you know what you’ll be getting).
Unlike the intense environment of the classroom,
the online courses give you the chance to learn at
your own pace. The login for your course lasts for a
year, so you can fi t tuition around your work, choose
how much you study in a given session, and when
and where you study it. The courses are mainly
software-specifi c, designed to enable you to achieve
the skills you need to take on any of the full-time
courses on offer at Escape Studios, or just bolster your
CV and improve your industry prospects. They include
Camera Tracking for VFX, a ZBrush Foundation course,
six standalone modules of the Maya Core program (or
a bundle of the lot), Visualisation with 3ds Max and a
RenderMan course based on Pixar’s courseware for
its industry-leading program. This is particularly
relevant to Animation students: course leader Jeff
Pratt worked on Pixar’s fi rst fi ve feature fi lms and
maintains strong links with the industry-leading
animation studio. Whether you’re an industry
veteran who needs an update or a young student
hungry to learn all Escape Studios can give you, one
or more of its online courses can make an ideal base
for further study or professional development.
You’re not going to be looking at YouTube-like
levels of pixelation in video tutorials or have to set an
ancient VCR for a weird-hour Open University
programme. Course materials are supplied in lavish
HD video so you can get up close and personal with
the material. And these courses don’t consist of just
passively watching TV. You get access to a specialist
tutor, and can email and message them with
questions and ask for advice at any time. At Escape
Studios, online courses are defi nitely not the poor
relation of full-time classroom-based programmes of
study. They build a great foundation for furthering
your prospects in a range of 3D programs and skills.
Training for academics
It’s not all about Escape Studios’ in-house courses
either – it recognises that other institutions can
benefi t from its expertise. A new wave of animation
and game design courses have brought 3D into the
more traditional avenues of academia, and many arts
courses are now offering modules in computer-aided
design. For this reason, the Maya Core courses that
Escape Studios specialises in are also available to
colleges and universities for tutors and lecturers. So
whatever, wherever and however you learn it,
Escape Studios is spreading the 3D love worldwide.
j Courses cover animation, visual
effects, games design,
compositing and softwarespecifi
c programs
h Students can produce highcalibre
3D work across a
range of disciplines after a
course of just 12 weeks
3DArtist ● 101
h
J
g Classroom courses are a mix
of lectures and practical
learning in the student’s
chosen subject
To advertise in workspace3D please contact
Cassie Gilbert on 01202 586421 or
cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
WOR K SPACE ● F E ATUR E
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Carlos Fueyo is the project manager at
Insomnia3d, based in Miami, Florida. He
describes himself as “wearing as many hats as
the job requires.”
3D Artist: What kind of course did you do at
university, and was that helpful in getting into the
architectural visualisation industry?
Carlos Fueyo: It all really started about 11 years ago
when I was introduced to AutoCAD in architecture
school. Soon after, I realised that I could use 3ds Max
instead, and the love affair with CG began. From
there I began to get jobs by word of mouth, and later
Insomnia3d developed into a personal lab for
animation and 3D art, which also provided its
services to clients in many different areas.
3DA: For today’s generation of students, what is the
kind of educational grounding they should be
looking to undertake to get a fi rst job in architectural
visualisation or interior 3D design?
CF: The most important thing is dedication. You
really have to enjoy what you are doing, and I think
that once you can achieve that then the rest will fall
into place. If you encounter a problem or a challenge
and that disposition is there, it does not matter how
long it takes to surpass that challenge; eventually,
you will do it.
Research has also played a huge part in my career.
I still spend countless hours
doing light and material
studies and experiments,
so that when the time to use
it comes, I will be prepared.
3DA: How did Insomnia3d
come about, how was the
company set up and what
was the objective?
CF: The company was
formed about fi ve years ago
in order to formalise the relationship with clients a
bit. Some clients will always try to take advantage of
a freelancer just because they think he/she will take
anything and at any price. But the real reason was to
establish Insomnia3d as an experimental studio that
would research different techniques in order to recreate
life as realistically as possible.
3DA: What tools do you use at Insomnia3d?
CF: The main software I use is 3ds Max, which has
amazing capabilities and an endless array of tools
and options. I am always trying to learn new
software, whether it is a new rendering engine or a
fl uid simulator. I believe that staying up to date on
new technologies and tools is a must in this industry.
3DA: What are the key skills required to work in
today’s architecture visualisation and interior 3D
design industry?
CF: It is my opinion that not too many architects and
designers understand the importance of
visualisation and what it can do for them and their
business. This translates to an industry that lacks a
consistency in rates and quality. Many of us have had
to deal with clients that, due to the lack of knowledge
of the process involved in creating these images and
animations, do not see it fi t to properly compensate
the work, which drives the freelancer to either lower
the rates in order to receive the commission, or turn
down the job and become part of that client’s black
list. This, I think, is driving the quality of the work
down in some sectors of the industry and forcing
talented artist to settle for less. So I am hoping that
with a more educated client base and a joined
professional community, all of the required skills
will be talent, experience, knowledge and vision.
Within my output of the industry, attention to
detail and the ability to use all the available tools to
create groundbreaking images and animations are
two of the most important skills. Also, the ability to
change perspectives and points of view. I think it is
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & education Interview
Istanbul Resort Projects Woods
2009 The Miami River 1930
2008 Projects Woods –
Elektroprivreda Building
(Lebbeus Woods)
2008 Istanbul Resort
2008 High-Line Art Institute
2007 PS1 Design Proposal, New York
Carlos Fueyo has worked
on many projects to date,
including the ones here
102 ● 3DArtist
Each issue, 3D Artist fi nds out how the top people
in the 3D industry got their jobs and what you
need to know to get a foot in the door
Carlos Fueyo
A 3D visualisation of a Royal
Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL)
gallery made in 3ds Max
Insomnia3d Studio, Miami
Job Project manager,
Insomnia3d
Education Bachelors and
Masters in Architecture
Company website
www.insomnia3d.com
Biography Born and raised in
Asturias, Spain, I moved to the
US in 1996 in order to pursue an
Architecture degree. I have
always been involved in the
arts, whether it is watercolours,
photography, architecture or
CG, and always strive to better
my work.
About
the insider
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
essential to reinvent
yourself and your work;
after all, “the only constant
is change” (Heraclitus).
3DA: Do you think the
major software packages
have advanced as quickly
and make life as easy as it
could be for design work?
CF: There has been an
amazing advance in processing power and video
card technologies. Every year we have a processor
that is 20 per cent faster that its predecessor, and can
calculate and render scenes faster than ever.
I think the software packages are trying to keep up
but are not quite there yet, as I still see a lot of
compatibility issues every time new hardware comes
out. But I am not going to be a whiner and will admit
that software packages have come a long way as well.
A year ago, you would have to unwrap a spline or a
sweep in order to properly texture it, when now UV
splines make it a snap to create sweeps and splinebased
geometry to which a texture map can be
properly applied, even when modifying the base
geometry. Other simple concepts, like proxies, light
portals and an infi nite number of others, are
defi nitely making it possible for the artist to produce
more, faster and better. In addition, you have a
variety of plug-ins from companies like nPower,
dRaster, and RandomControl (among many others)
that continue to raise the bar, providing specialised
tools that facilitate the artist’s job.
3DA: What would be your dream project to work on
at Insomnia3d?
CF: Well, my dream job for Insomnia3d would be a
fi lm, creating detailed designed environments that
help tell a story. I’ve had the chance to work on some
intensive animation work in the past year, and I can
only hope that Insomnia3d continues to grow to the
point where it could handle major motion picture
work. But stepping out of the clouds, on a more
realistic and near-future basis, I would love to work
on a television ad. It would be an amazing
opportunity to experiment with telling a story in
such little time. I am currently working on an inhouse
project, which is intended to create a short
animation (an automotive advert) that resembles the
quality of a large studio project, minus the render
farm and the staff. Hopefully, this will open the door
for future projects of the sort.
I’ve had the chance to work
on some intensive animation
work in the past year
There has been an
amazing advance in
processing power and video
card technologies
3DArtist ● 103
Devivian Rear
a PS1 MoMA holds a yearly
competition to design the
outdoor area of the remodeled
school that it’s now a museum
for new contemporary artists.
This was a quick model for a
design based upon Bruce
Nauman’s work after studying
some of his pieces.
To advertise in workspace3D please contact
Cassie Gilbert on 01202 586421 or
cassandra.gilbert@imagine-publishing.co.uk
ART + Habitat 3
a
This was a residence designed by
Florida Architecture Firm, Bali
Designs, in 2005. This is a
perfect example of Arch Viz
importance to the Architect.
Since the Architect had an
intimidate Visual feedback to this
design, he was able to see what
he liked and change what he did
not by observing the future
project from any angle desired.
WOR K SPACE ● IN T ERV IEW
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
BA (Hons) 3D Computer Animation
Swansea Metropolitan University
The best course and freshest talent from universities around the globe…
Course details
Tel +44 (0)1792 481010
Web www.smu.ac.uk
Duration Three years
Fees Full-time undergraduate programme at SMU for
UK and EU students 2008/2009 = £3,070
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
180 points from at least two six-unit awards or one 12-
unit award, grade C or above in English/Welsh
language at GCSE, together with passes at grade C or
above in another four approved subjects OR BTEC
National Diploma or Certifi cate in relevant academic
subject OR Foundation Diploma, plus one A level or
AVCE in a relevant academic subject OR appropriate
Access course
The 3D Computer Animation
course at Swansea
Metropolitan University runs
at four different levels: BA (Hons),
BSc (Hons), HND and MA. Graduates
of the School of Digital Media have gone
on to work for some high-profi le clients,
including Warner Bros, Aardman and
EA Games, so it’s no wonder that the
course remains incredibly popular
among undergraduates.
The BA (Hons) course covers a wide
range of techniques and software,
beginning with an introduction to
design, modelling and rendering
within 3D. Previous experience is not
expected, so the very basics are taught
in the fi rst year of study, focusing on
lighting and visual studies. The second
year of the course moves on to
character animation and the fi nal year
is project-based, as well as introducing
the concepts of business, marketing
and self-promotion in order to help
students to fi nd careers in the industry
after graduation.
One of the key elements of the course
is that it is orientated towards students
who want to fi nd jobs in the fi lm
industry. As such, it has close links
with Swansea Animation Days (SAND),
now an integral part of the programme
calendar. This event hosts key
animators and international speakers
from well-known companies like
DreamWorks, sharing insider
knowledge on the industry. Promoted
as a networking opportunity for
graduates, it is essential for those
pursuing a career in animation,
modelling and texturing. In 2008,
nearly 2,000 delegates from around the
world made their way to the Welsh city
for this event.
Past graduates have gone on to some
very prestigious roles, including Jenni
Eynon, who graduated in 2007 and was
immediately snapped up by specialeffects
company Double Negative. One
of her fi rst post-production projects
was The Dark Knight. In a SMU press
release, Jenni explained how the
course has helped her in her new role:
“Although a lot of the work at Double
Negative involves proprietary software
and a lot of learning on the job, the
skills I acquired at Swansea Met have
been invaluable. The broad, generalist
nature of the 3D Computer Animation
course at Swansea Met helped prepare
me for this role.”
To fi nd out more about the course
and the university, take a visit to www.
smu.ac.uk. For showreels of past
students’ work, you can see these at
www.vimeo.com/smu/videos.
Having industry-led tutors with great
background knowledge and experience has
helped immensely with studying and on my
final animated short
James Spratling third-year student
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & education Uni focus
104 ● 3DArtist
B Dark Yoshi
» Jordan Davies
Time taken: Two weeks
Maya, Photoshop, Silo
Created by poly modelling and mental
ray. “We use Maya mainly, which is
new to me, but I’ve picked it up quickly
and fi nd it no problem to use. Every
day I learn something new.”
A Caveman’s Haircut
» Jordan Davies
Time taken: Six hours
MonkeyJam
This shows a clay model and a polystyrene cave. “After
watching Toy Story for the fi rst time, I fell in love with it
and thought this is what I wanted to do when I grow up.
I really would like to see my work broadcast around the
world and enjoyed by the people who watch it.”
A B
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
3DArtist ● 105
D Alpine Adventures –
Children’s Bedroom
» James Spratling
Time taken: Seven hours
Maya, Photoshop and Illustrator
“The scene was produced through Maya, the
lighting was done using Global Illumination and
it was rendered using mental ray. Kate Jones
created the fabric designs in Illustrator.”
C Façade
» Timothy Bailey
Time taken: 10 hours
Maya, Photoshop
“This model was created
completely in Maya 2008 for my
modelling assignment. Based on
reference photos of a real building
and modelled for an asset in a
second-year SFX animation, it was
rendered using mental ray with an
Ambient Occlusion texture.”
D
We study films and the history of animation,
audio and visual techniques and even some stopmotion
animation
stop-
Jordan Davies second-year student
WOR K SPACE ● UNI FOCUS
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
Check out the 3D galleries of students from courses and universities all around the world
Global student galleries
Welcome to the new Global
student gallery section in
3D Artist where we take you
around the world to see what is being
created in the land of learning. Each
issue we’ll select the works of a few
individuals who have produced
interesting, exciting or just plain
excellent work and showcase it here.
Do you think your portfolio is good
enough to appear in the Global gallery?
Well, for a start you must be a student,
whether that’s full time, part time, by
mail or online. All are equally valid.
Also, if you graduated from a 3D
graphics course within the last 12
months then that’s great as well. In the
fi rst instance, get in touch with editor
Duncan Evans (duncan.evans@
imagine-publishing.co.uk), preferably
with a link to your portfolio so he can
have a quick look at your work. List
your name, what university you went
to and the course you did or are doing.
Inside guide to industry news, studios, expert opinion & education Uni focus
106 ● 3DArtist
A Papal Palace
» Cory Neill
Maya, Photoshop
“This scene was based on the Papal Palace in Viterbo,
Italy. I added some damage to it as the building itself
looks like it was meant for defensive measures. Water
and various plant growth was included to make it
become more connected with nature.”
C Interior bathroom
» Adrian Cristea
3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop
“This is a bathroom, which evolved from
another earlier work, using different
arrangements and colours.”
B Mickey Mouse
» Adrian Cristea
3ds Max, ZBrush, V-Ray, Photoshop
“The inspiration for this image was a
Mickey Mouse toy I bought from a toy
shop. This is my tribute to the fi gure.”
B
A
C
Personal portfolio site
www.ady.cabanova.ro
University website
www.spiruharet.ro
Country Romania
Software used 3ds Max, V-Ray,
Photoshop, ZBrush
Artist info
Adrian Cristea
Adrian is 30 years old and
graduated from the Spiru
Haret University in 2008
where he specialised in
Geography and Tourism.
© Imagine Publishing Ltd
No unauthorised copying or distribution
3DArtist ● 107
d Lincoln Cathedral
» Cory Neill
Maya, Photoshop
The reference for this image was
the Lincoln Cathedral located in
England. It is one of the many great
pieces of Gothic architecture. I gave
it a slightly dramatic mood by giving
the camera a wide-angled effect
low to the ground as well
as creating strong shadows.