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3dworld.creativebloq.com June 2015 #195
zbrush modelling Add detail to your armoured characters with NoiseMaker
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Robot design The secret behind Chappie’s success
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228 pages of pro tutorials
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june 2015
photoreal
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Hair & skin
Nick Gaul shares his complete process for ZBrush and V-Ray 3.0
Communit y In Focus
in focus
The making of Troll Gunner and his Crew Albert Ramon Puig shares techniques for simulating the look of a dry brush painted miniature
B Albert Ramon Puig Albert works at Gameloft Barcelona as a 2D artist and UI designer. He’s selftaught with experience in advertising and media. albertrp.weebly.com
y drawing on his childhood love of fantasy miniatures, Spanish artist Albert Ramon Puig began creating Troll Gunner and his Crew, and in doing so devised a technique to replicate the dry brush painting style of miniature modellers. “I used the ZBrush polypainting technique, because it was like painting real miniatures,” says Albert, who searched for ideas and techniques that would help simulate the look of a real-life Warhammer miniature. This led him to discover the tutorials of Pablo Muñoz (Pablander), who shared
his process for setting up lights and rendering in ZBrush, to give the model the look of feeling like wet clay or soft, sculpted lead. “All of my 3D skills are self-taught, based on tutorials,” Albert explains. The artist says he’s always been inspired by the art from the 80s and 90s, by artists such as Paul Bonner, Frank Frazetta and Syd Mead. Albert shares the background to Troll Gunner and his Crew: “On the other hand,” he adds, “I am inspired by Warhammer and Rackham miniatures, Blizzard games such as World of Warcraft and Starcraft. Moreover, I have been
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influenced by sci-fi movies such as Alien, Outland and Blade Runner.” With these influences in mind, gathering references for Troll Gunner and his Crew, Albert’s first task was fairly easy. “I started by looking for fantasy references, miniatures and sculptures, such as Warhammer and Rackham miniatures. After this process, I jumped into ZBrush to start the scene. From the beginning, I decided to make the entire project in ZBrush so I didn’t need to do a baking process. For example, there’s no need for UVs.” See more of Albert’s work at FYI www.albertrp.weebly.com
the scene 1 Figuring The model is divided
into three groups: the troll, the base and the turret. I started with the troll climbing the slope, because everything else depends directly on him. Starting from a sphere, I created the basic shape of the head, and thereafter I built the entire body by using ZSpheres.
Vital Statistics
Software ZBrush, Blender, Photoshop Country Spain Production time Two months
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feature Chappie VFX
ag e m I o tudi eill s N X VF tor n c w e r o i h cree d s s r r ve e a nd ilve s oos , i s co e of M a s e d i s h n t p g i ed des n us ha p , to eale C d 2D ere the ’s 3D s, a e i N t a e p w in d el c re ht sto g en e t a t , w h i c h g e En g 3 D m o c a l y r u W , i d a e r s o ou B t r ac t r Im p pie e fir br o C h a C h a p p i o i n t f o p r o v e d l d t h e p to b e o p s i p in a n d t a r t i n g N e i l l a a to b u e d t h e m i t a t i o n ’s r p t s m e w i op En g e l c e o h l n s m h n l W t k a r to ot io d s. O es s m k a t of Weta Wd othe timteure b u il e n t t h e m i s p ro c f a r a s m e o l h s s T a B we fea ks ou s.” re abl o un
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t s we o s i t r a y the t as true t t i l e d The fi ve was jus ance ie h m c r a o f o r t e inal p g i r o the
k in io n orn epts ar kamp’s ppie’s v e r s o u t a ny g c con ill Blom t 9, Cha tandin n o ir s e c of N t Distri tle man uristic t u t t i u b l h f e g e e i d ssiv of th . fits r tale a repre atically Elysium o o -t t m d o e n g a h up t s g ine me istric t 9 t Neill’ was i g e e En r a g D k h a t o h s ’ o it w Im in w ork flo ngine t th Weta isor, i w E D pe r v u s e The Image rmed w s own 3 e al s o e th V FX A d ll’ in efor uilt. “It s in a vey, a an hough. nd Nei ge Eng ging b r t l a l e b r e a sH a ll y Ima n, w ios W ent t a c te e rig ie – Chri esig ere ac tu he char anges,” stud ly dif fer Chapp oose – that th otion. d e m h l r M th sw e e t s ig n c tota epts fo robot nsuring l-to-life ed 3D s d o n r s io n to s e e t e c h b a s e t i c a l ve c h a n c e o m e d con n of th esigns, e of rea eta star n variou w hic s g i g o m d in r f prac Neill a d make , desi ed 3D d in a ran aland W appies nal e e t fi h fo rc s ig n amm g ave p a c e a n e s . crea d result New Ze esize C robot’s o li c e r e p ro g r g e d d e , u p s l n f i i n u e l i t d D g s n e 3 th c k nd 2 0 wo and o - le film y co a ni s nt ving n ba Ba r r e m e c h b e r a t e d s a m e t w e r s h o r t pm e n The ing arou r, recei up. o l e i i i h v a t a T is l the ’s earl prin s of we the legs sset de f the m mpared s p p pie e on e a s Cha lm, tak lomkam bot. stag n from rom an e, one o ppie co proce fi B p g g a v i h in “F pec ti the was in d Tem des t uild on C n pers rences s this b e’s asse built that Vaal a a n e e i a f w r f w g i t , n m d Te of sium ge E lysiu n to E alls Ima “On Ely sed of f poo r a y c . n b r re Poon O s Bar superviso els. roid y eta,” h W or Barr of the d cal mod he’s sset t i a e r n w e is a r vis rsions s , wh ac t i Barry e Engine ts such a u pe s pr e c g . s e 3D v kshop’ e a k j r o m a r I D at np th or Zero ed o n aW work ium and rry-poo Wet Elys
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Number crunch: PipelineFX's Qube! render stats How long? It took 95 million CPU minutes to make 1,000 VFX shots for Chappie. That means‌ It's the equivalent of one computer working nonstop for 2,000+ years. machine power The 500 machine render farm was used to create a mix of fight sequences, hard-surface character creation, live-action animation, comps and lighting tasks.
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Tutorials Create a photoreal portrait
Maya | V-Ray 3.0 | ZBrush | Mari | Mudbox | Marvelous Designer
learn how to Create a photoreal portrait Nick Gaul explains how to get more from your modelling and rendering to create a lifelike portrait, based on Game of Thrones' Natalie Dormer
I Artist profile Nick Gaul Nick works in New Zealand at Weta Digital as a senior modeller. He’s been in the industry for almost 10 years, and has worked on titles including Avatar, The Adventures of Tintin, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the last installment of The Hobbit trilogy. pinterest.com/ nickgaul/my-work/
n this breakdown tutorial I’ll cover my steps and workflow for creating a digital portrait. I’ll try and point out some key things I find important and cover some of the technical aspects that go into it – pointing out which applications I use for certain parts, and why. You’ll get a good overview of how to use V-Ray as a renderer and I’ll provide some insight into how lighting and shading works within it. But remember many of the techniques can be applied to other software. First I’ll discuss the process of lining up a model to reference and how I work between applications, such as ZBrush and Mudbox, to further refine my model. There are quite a few software packages out there, and I try and utilise certain
ones for their ease of use in particular areas of the process. One good example of this is the use of Marvelous Designer, which is specifically designed for generating and simulating realistic cloth, based on patterns. The rest of the tutorial will get into using Chaos Group’s V-Ray rendering engine. I find V-Ray to be an excellent tool in generating an image because of its ease of use and its accuracy as a renderer. I’ll try to breakdown how I use shaders within V-Ray to create skin, cloth, hair and eye shaders, as well as explain how I use certain V-Ray lights to create the scene. I’ve also included various resource files in this issue’s online Vault, where you can access my high-res mesh (plus cloth and hair) and my lighting
scene, as well as a layered shader to play with. Before starting the project, I always make sure I have enough photo references collected. When doing a likeness it’s critical to get as much reference material as possible, and as high-res as you can find. For this piece I chose to use Natalie Dormer as my muse for the project. I decided to pick a photo (by Matt Sayles) that has an interestingly posed face and use this as my main reference, while using some others for different angles. It’s always good to try and get a good side profile and other three-quarter profiles. Now, let’s begin the tutorial and I hope you pick up some new techniques and inspiration. For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw195
Mixing apps Nick uses both ZBrush and Mudbox for sculpting, but prefers building forms in ZBrush and recommends the Clay Build brush
1 Start your sculpt Topics covered References Texturing Lighting & shading Hair & skin Rendering
Start with a generic model – something basic and neutral. Before lining up the model to reference, block out the model by freehand sculpting. You want to really focus on the main forms of the face and proportions. For the mouth, I often break the lower and upper parts into their own polygroups so I can easily shape both top and bottom lips. Polygrouping by masks makes it easier to get in and isolate a specific area to work on. 3D World June 2015
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2 camera Lineup
In Maya, use one image to match the face pose and multiple other angles to verify the face. Export these to Mudbox to sculpt the mesh and details using Maya’s FBX export. In Mudbox, refine the line-up by A-Bing your image to your line-up image. When importing your camera into Mudbox go to Transformations>ObjectList>Camera> ImagePlane. Set Scale from 1.5 to 1. Tick LockPan, Rotate and Zoom found on the Camera Transform.
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photoreal results Nick shows how to achieve better render results using V-Ray
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Tutorials Detailing characters
Maya | ZBrush | noisemaker | Photoshop
Add detail to your character sculpts Jong-Keun Kim explains how to add complex detail to this warrior's armour using alpha masks and ZBrush's NoiseMaker plug-in
I
n this tutorial, I will explore how to add complex details to a digital character in ZBrush and Photoshop. The basis for the tutorial is this warrior character, which is based on an inspiring piece of concept art by Dean Holdeen (www.holdeen.com). The first thing that I considered was how to translate the concept into 3D. I created the character by speed sculpting in ZBrush, then brought it into Maya to retopologise – good topology and edge flow are important for character models. With the base model completed, I began to add details. ZBrush
Artist profile Jong-Keun Kim Jong-Keun Kim majored in industrial design in South Korea, then moved into the games industry. He currently works as a character artist at Gameloft in Montreal. www.sites.google. com/site/jkkimcg
is very powerful for this kind of work. By using Alphas, Masks and the NoiseMaker plug-in, you can achieve fantastic results. By working in Layers, and adjusting the Layer Intensity, you can adjust the effect of individual details. Once the detailing is complete, I will explain how to set up lights, and explore some useful techniques to use when working with ZBrush’s BPR (Best Preview Render). Finally, I will explain how to use multi-pass rendering in order to generate the render passes necessary to create the final image. We will render several
passes, including surface colour, reflections, ambient occlusion and z-depth. I imagined the warrior had just returned from a battlefield with the bloodstained weapon. I will show you how to achieve this final look in Photoshop. The walkthrough printed in the magazine provides an overview of the process, but you will need to experiment with the techniques set out here for yourself. In the download accompanying the tutorial, you can find my base mesh to help you get started. For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw195
Expert tip
Use ZTools If you don’t have enough RAM to work on the entire model in ZBrush, split the different body parts (head, arms, body, legs) into separate ZTools.
1 Base model
Topics covered Modelling Rendering Post-production
The first step is to sketch the overall form of the character in ZBrush. The topology of the model doesn’t need to be perfect at this stage, because it isn’t going to be the final mesh. When you’re happy with the overall shape of the character, optimise the model using Decimation Master. This enables you to export a lower-poly .obj file that you can import into Maya and retopologise.
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2 Set up UVs
Before you can create high-resolution detail on the model, it needs UVs. Plan how the UVs will be laid out before you begin, considering how they will be used in ZBrush. We will be using ZBrush’s Surface Noise feature to generate patterns, and the direction of the UVs will dictate their orientation. When you are finished, save the UV unwrapped model as an .obj file and import it back into ZBrush.
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warrior armour The complex details were added using ZBrush and Photoshop
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Tutorials Rendering interiors
V-Ray | Photoshop
Techniques to Render realistic interiors Fernando Gasperin offers tips and advice to create convincing photoreal scenes for arch-viz
O Artist profile Fernando Gasperin Brazilian Fernando is owner of Blackhaus, a specialised studio creating highend digital sets. He’s worked for seven years in the CGI industry and specialises in lighting, post-production and photographic direction. blackhaus.com.br
Topics covered Modelling Composition Lighting Texturing Rendering
ver the next few pages I’ll try to cover the concepts, techniques and insights used for the creation of the Reflection Project by Blackhaus, based on my personal experience. When it comes to a realistic approach there’s no secret formula that guides us through the process of creating compelling and convincing realistic images. Achieving these is a result of different areas of expertise and a lot of observation. To be able to create realistic images you should have a good understanding of what you are creating. Observe the world that surrounds you, perceive how your subject works, how the light embraces it and understand the shape of it – that’s really essential. After this initial observation you should be able to organise your main references for the project. I tend to base my search on great photographers who have similar images to those I’m looking to achieve. This helps me along the process when judging my lighting, materials, composition, and so forth. As a personal choice, I try to keep my workflow as close as possible to the traditional photography concepts, as it gives me real flexibility translating my photography knowledge into 3D spaces.
Thanks to V-Ray this ‘knowledge transferring’ is very smooth. You have basically all the parameters you’re used to in your dispose, with the benefit of being able to handle several issues much easier than a photographer would face with a real location. For this tutorial, I plan to focus on the kitchen shoot development, and I’ll try to give you an insight into what helped me during the creation process. You can also download a video of the final project from this issue’s online Vault. I hope you enjoy! For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw195
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Adding realism To give your rendering more sense of realism, you can add post-production ‘lens imperfections,’ to help mimic reality. For example, in Photoshop you can use Lens Correction to mimic chromatic aberration effect
watch The video www.creativebloq.com/vault/3dw195
1 Concept design
The Reflection Project started as a case study to improve my skills as an artist and show our capabilities as a studio developing our main services (images, interior project and video). The entire concept was built around Scandinavian and Brazilian design for the interiors and an American loft apartment for structure. From the start, I was looking for a photorealism aesthetic, then I tried working with real scale models and references to guide me through the process. 3D World June 2015
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2 References
The reference step is one of the most important in your creative process and it’s essential when pursuing photorealism. This step will guide you through the process of creating materials and textures and showing visually how light works, as well as a lot of imperceptible and important details that help you enhance the sensation of realism in your scenes.
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education Advertorial
Pearson College London Choose a programme designed with and for industry at this top educational facility
We combine studio-based project work with intense tuition to help students develop their craft Dr Ian Palmer, School of Creative Industries
Pearson college LONDON Student projects
Nigel Timms Nigel’s first project, created in Maya, was a model of an orrery of the solar
Francesco Giugliano & Brett Bone Maya and Nuke were fully utilised to bring project ‘K’og’ to life.
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Zlaten del Castillo ‘Castle in a Head’ was created with Maya, Mudbox, Photoshop, RealFlow and Nuke.
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Qualifications offered
vital statistics
Undergraduate
location Shepherds West, Rockley Road, London, W14 0DA number of students 1,507 graduates since 2009, 141 current students website pearsoncollegelondon. ac.uk/creative
Dr Ian Palmer Deputy Vice Principal for the School of Creative Industries, Dr Ian Palmer has also been a chair and board member of many TV industry panels. Follow Ian on Twitter €@dripster
Degrees BA (Hons) The Art of Visual Effects* BA (Hons) The Art of Video Games* BA (Hons) The Art of Computer Animation*
College alumni have gone to work on blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy
These programmes are also available as four-year Integrated Masters. * Subject to validation.
I
f your goal is to become a world-class creative, Pearson College London has everything required to set you on the right path. Established in 2012 and having acquired leading visual effects academy Escape Studios a year later, Pearson College London provides top quality, industry-led education to the next generation of visual artists. The college boasts some hugely successful alumni, with ‘Escapees’ having worked on video games and blockbusters including Interstellar, Gravity and Guardians of the Galaxy. Designed with the industry, the range of courses on offer here ensures your first step to a successful creative career. “We’ve started with a blank sheet of paper and been working with industry leaders, including artists from Framestore, Double Negative and Sony, to design something truly fit-forpurpose to develop the next generation of movers and shakers,” says Dr Ian Palmer. “From the beginning of the programme, we combine studio-based project work with intense tuition to help students develop their craft, and to reflect how people will work in the industry,” continues Ian. “With regular input from current professionals, both in terms of briefs to work to and in feedback sessions to help shape their practice, students will begin to feel part of the industry from the day they set foot in the studio.” Pearson College London offers full degrees and shorter, more intensive courses in film, video and games, making CG and VFX training accessible. One student taking full advantage is Nigel Timms. Currently studying
open days
One of the best ways to apply to Pearson College London is to attend an Open Day, says Dr Ian Palmer. “For all our programmes we’re more interested in applicants showing us what they can do and having a real passion for the subject rather than formal qualifications alone. For our undergraduate courses we expect people interested in studying with us to come to the one of our applicant days. This works in two ways: it’ll give people a chance to meet some of the tutors and experience the way our programmes work to see if it’s right for them, and it gives us a chance to see how they work in a creative environment so we’re sure they will benefit from our unique programmes.” For more information on Pearson College London Open Days visit www.pearsoncollegelondon.ac.uk/opendays 3D World June 2015
3D for Visual Effects at Pearson College London, Nigel is now halfway through his 18week training programme. “I essentially left my previous career working in radiology to make a big change,” Nigel explains. “And the length of the course at Pearson College London meant I could accelerate this change by cramming in a lot of new information and practice into such a short space of time. Also Escape’s main reason for keeping the courses short – namely to stay up-to-date with in-practice workflows and techniques – made sense to me. Escape also has great links with industry partners and that’s sure to be a benefit when the time comes to start looking for work.” No matter what the course, each and every student has access to the latest industry software releases and top-quality workstations. “We work closely with the software developers to stay ahead of the game, with our tutors getting access to prerelease versions to make sure we’re ready when there’s a major change in the feature set or user interface,” Ian continues.
A focus on the future
While the focus at Pearson College London and Escape Studios has traditionally been on post-production, the staff are also very aware of keeping with the times in this evolving field. “As the industry moved towards a more integrated approach, with CG being an essential element throughout the production, then so have we,” says Ian. “We’re still very much about the ‘art’ side of the industry at the moment, hence the BA/MA degrees, rather than the programming. But, of course, this ‘art’ gets produced in a highly technical environment, so the students live and breathe the technology.” Whether it’s a degree or a short, intensive course that you’re looking for, Pearson College London has something for everyone. “With Escape Studios’ 14 years experience delivering the best VFX and CG tuition in Europe, combined with Pearson College London’s expertise in developing academic content and programmes, we have developed degrees that offer something new and innovative whilst delivering what the industry needs,” Ian concludes. To learn more about the courses on offer visit FYI www.pearsoncollegelondon.ac.uk 85
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Postgraduate Degrees
PG Cert / MA Visual Effects Production (3D) PG Cert / MA Visual Effects Production (Compositing) MA Game Art*
* Subject to validation.
Short Courses Full Time
Compositing for Visual Effects – 12 weeks 3D for Visual Effects – 12 weeks Advanced Compositing for Visual Effects – 18 weeks Advanced 3D for Visual Effects – 18 weeks Advanced Video Games Art Production – 18 weeks
Part Time
Compositing for Visual Effects (Evening Course) – 20 weeks Producing for Visual Effects (Evening Course) – 2 weeks Introduction to Houdini (Evening Course) – 4 weeks Motion Graphics (Evening Course) – 12 weeks 3D Foundation – 30 weeks
Online
Compositing for Visual Effects – 40 weeks 3D Foundation – 30 weeks 3D for Visual Effects – 60 weeks
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