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paint a 3d crab model in Adobe Photoshop
Issue 135
discover
artella The project from the mind of Carlos Baena
master
Jump into 3D
Learn the best way to start your CG journey
Zbrush
modelling Create stunning masks that you can 3D print!
School’s out
Schoo 22
l’s out 3D Artist has gathered an array of self-taught creators to share their advice and insights for learning on your own terms
A The Smoking Frog, an image on which Natalia Freitas was responsible for sculpting, retopology, UV mapping and texturing
s 3D art becomes an increasingly prevalent part of modern society, the software behind it becomes democratised; it’s now easier than ever for someone to teach themselves the processes and techniques behind 3D artwork. Even so, knowing how to get started can still be a daunting prospect. It is for that exact reason that 3D Artist has assembled three self-taught creators to tell their success stories and share tips for how you can stay ahead of the curve. From practical advice on how to sharpen your skills to encouragement on maintaining a healthy mindset, each artist has wisdom to share. Whether you are just getting started on the road to becoming a 3D artist or you’re stuck someway along, it’s time to get inspired.
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Expert advice from industry professionals, taking you from concept to completion
All tutorial files can be downloaded from: bit.ly/3DA-135
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Maarten Verhoeven Kitsune, 2019 Bio I’m specialised in digital sculpting and concepting with ZBrush, for 2D images as 3D rapid prototyping. Being a digital sculptor I work on many different types of projects including concept sculpts, creatures, props, toys, collectibles and fine art.
Software ZBrush, Meshmixer, PreForm
Learn how to • Use Sculptris Pro • Use ZRemesher • Amp details • Hollow out models • Perform Boolean actions • Set up for print
Concept I’ve been doing several tests with these head sculptures and after a trip to Japan I decided to create a ‘kitsune’ half mask. Fascinated by storytelling and cultures from all over the world, this is my take on this mythical creature. It’s always nice to be able to show your art in the physical world to an audience, as the response is more positive than purely showing a 2D image on a screen.
Create a kitsune 3D print Discover how to bring digital dreams and nightmares into the physical realm through 3D print and paints!
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n this breakdown I’ll take you step by step along the path of how I created a ‘kitsune’ 3D print, inspired by Japanese folklore. I’ll try to give an insight into how I typically go about these types of personal projects. So, let’s take a look at how you can take your digital sculpts to 3D print. We will start from a sphere in ZBrush and prep it to make a digital print-ready file on a Form 2. Once the 3D print is done we will take a quick look at how I paint and present my final small art pieces.
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Start simple, be prepared For me, it’s always important when starting on a new personal project to be clear to myself on what I want to create. We start by looking for images that might inspire us and some texts if we want to base our designs on an actual mythical creature, just to get an idea of how people have visualised such a thing throughout the centuries. Feel free to explore the typical shapes and forms that make up our sculpture. In this case the input was a kitsune or Japanese fox, so the features that we need to explore are very straightforward: nose, snout, ears etc. 01
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Sculptris Pro My favourite weapon of choice in ZBrush for the past two years has been Sculptris Pro. It gives us a way to quickly develop shapes without being held back by geometry restrictions. Just try to get your big shapes in at this stage, nothing too fancy, as it’s a blockout. We are looking for the big facial landmarks, ears, snout, eye sockets. I never sketch out anything on paper. For me personally as a 3D artist, it’s a bit of a waste of time when you’re working in a 3D package; why would you try to discover shapes in 2D? It will take up double the work and not everyone can perfectly translate 2D to 3D.
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Refine the blockout So, once we are happy with the first big shapes, I would say it’s time to now refine the blockout. In this stage of the sculpt we use mostly broad strokes to get all our volumes in there. I tend to do this with the ClayBuildup brush but I switch out the alpha, as the square alpha somehow always feels rough when we are building up shapes; for smoother transitions the round one works better (Alpha 06). And on the proportions, to be honest I tweak these right up until the end of my sculpting stage, but I make sure that I’m happy with the first features before pressing on with the next step, which will be adding details. 03
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Sculptris limitations
your
free Downloads from bit.ly/3DA-135
• Tutorial screenshots
One little note when you start pulling out shapes. While sculpting in ZBrush with Sculptris mode on, I would suggest not going over 1 mil polys on a single subtool, as I’ve noticed that it drag down your sculpting abilities a bit and creates some lag on your strokes. And to be honest, that’s the last thing we want while we’re trying to be fast in our shape explorations. I would suggest to only use medium and big brush sizes in the first stage, and later on you can refine spots on your sculpt if necessary.
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Make Board Game Miniatures
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9000
Hector Moran Vargas (Hec) Miniatures for Men In Black/Ghostbusters: Ecto-terrestrial Invasion, 2019 Bio Originally from Mexico, Hector studied computer animation in the US, then moved to Europe to work in the games industry. After seven years of studio work he started working as a full-time freelancer and has been doing so for around seven years.
Software ZBrush, Marmoset, KeyShot
Learn how to • Use groups for ZRemeshing with better results • Refine a base mesh • Match the character to refs • Pose the character • Refine the pose to match concept • Refine and finalise for print • Present renders to client
Concept The idea is simple. I’ve been able to match required art styles of projects before, so the plan here is the same: take Derek Laufman’s concept art and match it as close to 1:1 on the main angle while making all other angles look good.
Make board game miniatures Learn how the miniatures for Men In Black/Ghostbusters: Ecto-terrestrial Invasion were created
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iniatures for board games and collectors have been booming thanks to advances in 3D printing and crowd-funding platforms like Kickstarter. In this tutorial you’ll learn how two of the miniatures for this game were created. This project consisted of 21 figures based on concept art by Derek Laufman. While the IPs involved are separated by time of creation and different visuals, they are both humorous takes on the paranormal subjects of aliens and ghosts. We’ll cover the full process with two of the figures from scratch. The main focus is on matching and interpreting concept art in an appealing and effective manner. Characters in cartoony styles can be deceiving in that they look simple and easy, but it takes some practice to become proficient at matching art styles and interpreting or designing on the fly any aspects that are not fully shown in the concept art.
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Start with the body I start out in ZBrush by first placing the concept art into the grid as a model sheet. I then mould a DynaMesh sphere into the rough shape of the head. The body gets pulled out of the head, first with the neck, then the torso. The rough shapes of the arms and legs are done next. For hands I sculpt one single digit that later gets duplicated and merged with the body.
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Group the body Once the rough shapes of the body and the head are in place, the fingers are merged to it, and I start grouping segments of the body based on joint areas. The torso is split into upper, lower, pelvis and neck. I make mask selections on the face that will later become radial eye and mouth loops. The whole body gets grouped in a way that will facilitate good results for the ZRemesher feature to provide a workable base mesh for subdivisions.
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Refine Once the basic DynaMesh of the body is turned into a subdivision mesh, it’s easier to refine the forms. Before subdividing the ZRemeshed body I inspect it for problematic geometry that I could quickly fix with the ZModeler tools. The refinement is mostly done by using the Damian and Orb Cracks brushes to create deep, sharp cuts and crevices. This specific art style calls for a lot of sharp, chiselled shapes, so the Pinch brush and the hPolish brush are also pretty handy for that. 03
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Build your own asset library 02
your
free Downloads from bit.ly/3DA-135
• Tutorial screenshots • Accompanying videos
For this project I only built the non-human characters from scratch since some of them were unique aliens that called for it. After several years freelancing I’ve built myself a pretty substantial library of base bodies, clothing, sculpted hair styles and props. If I’ve built something similar before to something I need now, I search my hard drives for an asset I can modify or repurpose. Many of my base bodies have handmade topology that has been tweaked and improved upon through the years. This saves a lot of time and has allowed me to take on the full cast of figures for games like Street Fighter.
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