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3dworld.creativebloq.com December 2015 #201
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showcase The best digital art from the CG community
Azid Artist Mohammad Hossein Attaran Software ZBrush, Photoshop While working as a freelance CG artist, Mohammad Hossein Attaran challenged himself to create this haunting, wraith-like figure. “I wanted to test myself and see if I could make a mechanical copy of a real human portrait,” he explains. “But it had to contain all the facial features and emotional aspects. For this reason I chose a female photo I thought was beautiful.” Taking a month to complete in his spare time, this project involved one of Mohammad’s passions: mecha art. “I see the world with a mecha filter in front of my eyes,” he says. “I enjoy creating mechanical characters and objects and then presenting them in a nice composition.” Azid went through several interpretations, originally starting out with an ethnic mechanical look. Based on feedback from friends, Mohammad also adjusted the proportions to make her appear more youthful. Balancing the mechanical and the emotional was one of the main challenges for Mohammad. “My goal was to express her character, so I didn’t want to drown her in the mechanical world,” he reveals. To get around this, Mohammad decided to revamp her wardrobe, adding some fabric to her clothing, to give her a “spiritual and unworldly dimension.” Marvel at Mohammad’s work by visiting FYI his website at www.mhattaran.com
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I wanted to test myself and see if I could make a mechanical copy of a real human portrait
3d world view “I can really see the mecha influence in Mohammad’s work. His figure is the perfect balance of a mechanical and emotional look.” Ian dean
Editor
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feature artist porTfolio James Meet the Kuartist
Artist portfolio
JAMES KU
The seasoned digital artist tells us he’s as happy creating vicious warriors as he is cartoon goldfish‌ 3D World December 2015
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James modelled the main character, Booker DeWitt, for the BioShock Infinite game commerical
O artist Profile James Ku is an LA-based artist who worked for many years at Blur Studio, and manipulated the pixels of characters including Batman, Gandalf, Master Chief and The Simpsons. www.jameskuart.com
Vital Statistics
Job Title Freelance lead character artist notable credits Assassin’s Creed Unity, Batman: Arkham Knight, Elder Scrolls Online, Bioshock Infinite, Dark Souls II, Star Wars: The Old Republic Country USA
ne image shows the crying face of a small, smudge-cheeked boy. The next shows Lucifer himself; a gigantic threeheaded embodiment of all evil. Both images are part of James Ku’s portfolio and demonstrate his eclectic style. James is a seasoned lead character artist who has molded the features of heroes and villains from many of everyone’s favourite, greatest latter-day game franchises. Play has always been central to his art. “I‘ve been drawing since I was a little kid, playing with Lego and trying to make toys that didn’t exist. When I was a teenager and discovered software that can create things virtually, I was hooked. My high school took part in a robotics competition called First. One of the big sponsors was Autodesk; they gave each school a copy of AutoCAD and 3ds Max 1.0. That was when I first discovered software that could create 3D forms for engineering and later art.” An inspiring summer internship at a local game studio failed to lead to a full-time job: “They decided not to offer it to me because my skills were not good enough. This really felt like a failure for me and it hurt. So I re-doubled my efforts, made new artwork and created a new demo reel, which got me my first full-time job at a small studio in Boston. So my advice to others would be, don’t give up. If you have a dream, chase it.”
Be a Pro
That dream has so far seen James prove his worth on games – and adverts for games – as disparate as The Simpsons Ride, Far Cry 3, and the two hinted at above, Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Dante’s Inferno. Does the switch from cute to horrendous provide a challenge? “It’s one of the things you quickly learn in the commercial CG art industry. At Blur Studio, where I worked for many years, different clients come to us all the time. Sometimes it’s sci-fi like Halo, sometimes fantasy like Elder Scrolls, sometimes cartoony like Goldfish cracker commercials. Being adaptable to different styles and keeping your own ego in check are important aspects of being a professional artist.” Going freelance means even more need to be flexible, but James knows his business by now, and remains eager to learn more: “I use pretty standard tools: 3ds Max, ZBrush, Mari, V-Ray and Photoshop. I have been learning
goldfish season 6
Maya and Arnold, and have used Marvelous Designer and KeyShot a little bit. I would say some tools which are on my list to learn are Substance Painter, Nuke, Marmoset Toolbag and Quixel’s DDO.” It’s the ‘lead’ part of James’s job description which remains paramount, and all CG is the work of a great team: “The biggest challenges I‘ve faced come from managing the character team at Blur. A leader is only as strong as the support of their team. How do you get artists to change their work without hating you? This is difficult, perhaps some supervisors don’t care
Being adaptable to different styles and keeping your own ego in check are important aspects of being a professional artist and get dictatorial, which is destructive in the long run as the good artists who can get work anywhere will abandon the team. Making great characters is hard, but you can do it yourself with practise. This other stuff requires another kind of thinking and dealing with people. For me the solution starts with thinking about credibility, empathy and humility.” “I don’t really like to look at a lot of CG art,” James concludes, on a more creative note. “I feel that the input/output cycle can start to get derivative and stale if that’s your only resource. I’ve always loved sculpture and paintings. I love Cellini and Canova’s sculpture, I love the skin rendering of Bouguereau and Leighton. Pinterest is a great resource for this.” Find out more about James’s work at FYI www.jameskuart.com
Assassin’s creed unity
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Artist insight
Being organised When you’re part of a whole team working on one character, you have to know what you’re doing Working in production you almost always get a concept illustration you need to follow. Depending on the concept, I might start in ZBrush and use ZRemesher/ manually retopologise or start by poly modelling the base mesh in 3ds Max or Maya. Everywhere I’ve ever worked requires a clean, deformation-friendly mesh, with nice topology. Whether I make that mesh first or sculpt then retopologise depends on the concept. Then I generate UVs and output displacement and normal maps. I send the base mesh and a semi-dense version into Mari and create colour, reflection, gloss, bump, and so on. Afterwards I build shaders with V-Ray. I’ll either do a quick rig in Max or pose it with ZBrush for final rendering. I render with simple HDR lighting. In production, I don’t like to use HDRs that are too colourful: I want my renders to reflect what other artists will see when they put the character in scene and hit render.
Injustice: gods amongst us
l e o af p
feature Xxxxxxxxxxx Making the Halo 5 cinematic
f a i t h
343 Industries and Axis set a new standard
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The opening cinematic for Halo 5: Guardians undoutedly sets a new standard for game cinematics
for video game cinematics with the Halo 5: Guardians opening movie, Ian Dean jumps in to find out how the two studios worked together he first time I saw Greg Towner’s pre-visualisation in a complete run, I just smiled – I knew we had something that was going to be incredibly fun that fans would love,” says 343 Industries’ cinematic director Brien Goodrich, who, from the outset knew they had hit gold with their Halo 5: Guardians opening cinematic. “After Axis did a first render pass, I wanted to cheer – the initial material and lighting worked, the early snow and FX simulations – you could see how this was going to come together.” That gut instinct for something great has kept 343i and partner cinematics studio Axis in the A league for some time. That and hard work, creativity and long nights. Making a modern cinematic for a video game is akin to a Hollywood blockbuster, “we basically use the identical
technology and crew to capture our actor performances and stunts as the biggest Hollywood productions,” reveals Brien. It’s no surprise then to discover the team all have experience of the big screen. Brien has a history
tackle a single camera move on that kind of scale before…” Which brings us to Halo 5’s opening cinematic, a bombastic single camera move that tracks a team of Spartan’s leaping from a dropship, through clouds and past mountain peaks, between giant ships and onto snowy slopes where machinery explodes around them as they battle to the bottom. It’s Hollywood in scope, scale and execution and sets a new standard.
The brief was both detailed and ambitious… It's good to embrace things which are just the right level of scary One shot
Debbie Ross, executive producer, Axis in feature film VFX, 343i’s lead animator Greg Towner worked on the Transformers series and Axis’s Stu Aitken, creative director on the cinematic, has experience as a director and CG supervisor. “That being said,” quips Brien, “the opening cinematic is a beast and I’m not sure any of us had tried to
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“The brief was both detailed and ambitious! We knew from the start that we would have the challenge of a massive one-shot action sequence in the snow and that was a huge attraction,” says Debbie Ross, executive producer at Axis, adding: “It’s good to embrace things which are just the right level of scary.”
Tutorials Model a game character
Follow The video If you see the Play icon, use the link
ZBrush | 3ds Max | Photoshop | xNormal | QUIXEL DDO
concept a character for video games Sergey Romanenko shows how to create a real-time game character from concept to visualisation
I Sergey is a 3D character artist from Ukraine who works at Gameloft. He has four years’ experience in game development and is passionate about ZBrush sculpting. www.bit.ly/201-sergiro
choose wisely Make the most of useful apps, such as PureRef (www.pureref.com) to organise your reference images and artwork
I begin by covering my approach to stockpiling reference images and learning the character’s background. I then create a 2D sketch, transfer the whole concept into three dimensions and refine with ZBrush. Using various tools and brushes I will go on to create the character’s hard surface armour elements in ZBrush. Next I will generate the retopology, with consideration for all animation mesh properties. Then using the UVLayout, I will create an unwrap. With the characters prepared, I simultaneously bake over 100 objects using the xNormal and the Unreal Commander. This is
1 RESEARCH AND REFERENCE Topics covered Concepting Sculpting Baking Texturing Visualisation
followed with quick assembly of the baked textures into texture atlases with the Photoshop scripts. After this, I will generate the necessary textures in Quixel’s DDO, finalising them manually. I will use the Transpose Master ZBrush plug-in to create the character’s pose and Marmoset Toolbag 2 to visualise it. I hope that my techniques will be of use to you when creating your own character. For more information on some of the key steps be sure to see my video walkthrough downloaded from this issue’s online Vault. For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw201
© DC Comics. All Rights Reserved
Artist profile Sergey Romanenko
n this tutorial I am going to share with you my process for designing and modelling an original character, in this case my fusion of Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor from DC Comics. For me, the main challenge was creating a mix of two characters while at the same time maintaining the recognisability of both to the full extent. As this is an imagined character for a theoretical game I have chosen not to limit my polygon count when developing the concept model, as I want my character to look great in the finalised image and game engine. Here I am going to highlight all the techniques to achieve this.
I start by researching the character’s background and look for plenty of reference material. I select those that provide me with the character’s nature, colour, texture and details. After selecting the most fulfilling materials, I create a reference list using PureRef. It’s very convenient, with a significant amount of images and provides amazing features such as the Always on Top function and Opacity, allowing you to work directly under the necessary reference. 3D World December 2015
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2 START TO CONCEPT
This character is a combination of two opposite shapes; the lively and flexible Harley Quinn and the massive, iron-clad Lex Luthor. I start my concepts by making a couple of character sketches in Photoshop, paying attention to the silhouette and line art. I then start emphasising details on the most successful one. When creating a concept, I combine the digital painting and photo compositing techniques and try to create a functional and memorable shape.
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original character This fusion of Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor combines the visual traits of both DC characters
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Tutorials Create a robotic bust
Follow The video If you see the Play icon, use the link!
ZBrush | Substance Designer
Sculpt and texture a real-time robotic bust Ruan Ji and Jorge Lescale team up to create a realistic mechanical character for use in video games
W Artist profile Ruan Ji Ruan is a senior 3D character artist at Kojima Productions. He’s worked on Metal Gear Solid 5, Uncharted 3 and Killzone 3. www.darkmummy. artstation.com
ith this tutorial I will demonstrate the workflow for developing the base concept of a sci-fi character, sculpting the basic shape and adding fine details to the complete level. Then I will hand over to my colleague and friend Jorge, who will explain his workflow for creating shaders and textures for this character. He will be using the advanced texturing tool Substance Designer, which is a key tool when working on real time video game models.
My aim is to train my hard surface modelling skills and to explore the different brushes and tools within ZBrush. So you can follow my progress to pick up some new techniques. I am intending to create a character portrait that is completely mechanical. This is not going to be a sci-fi pilot or a futuristic military helmet with a person’s head inside. Much of my 3D work for video games is based on organic characters, such as human faces, bodies or clothing, with some creature modelling. So I am intentionally trying to steer
clear of the common helmet idea in order to allow me to explore something drastically different that develops my work in a familiar but new direction. Also, without a person’s head inside the ‘head’, it allows more freedom to build something with good depth and a unique shape. All the step images and more can be downloaded from this issue’s Vault, and I’ve included the final ZBrush model for you to download and use. For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw201
Artist profile Jorge Lescale Jorge Lescale is an environment artist for Kojima Productions. He worked on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. www.artstation.com/ artist/lescale
1 refine the shape Topics covered Texturing Modelling Layers and effects Detailing meshes
Many artists start their sci-fi mechanic design based on existing objects like vehicles, engines, soldier or astronaut helmets. I develop the concept out of a very organic, common subject – the human skull. The skull naturally has a very menacing look and is very mechanical from a certain perspective. So very quickly I get an interesting shape by refining the big shape of the zygomatic arch bone and nasal bone, as well as the orbit of the eye socket. 3D World December 2015
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2 use zremesher
You can clearly tell I am heavily influenced by the basic construction of the skull. The base mesh that I use is a default human face. I don’t pay much attention to topology at this time, I just keep using ZRemesher and the Project tool to get enough of a polygon and decent topology, which follows the big shape.
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organic inspiration The aim was to create a character that was completely mechanical
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3d maker Artist interview
artist interview
Model for mass production 3D artist Michael Jenkins talks through how to create models for casting in metal, resin and plastic
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Michael Jenkins A Seattle-based digital sculptor, Michael models and engineers for 3D print and resin, metal and plastic production. www.michaeljsculptor.com
hen it comes to mass production, 3D print artist Michael Jenkins knows a thing or two. Michael works as a digital sculptor and engineer at miniature wargame production and publishing studio Privateer Press, making model heroes and monsters for the tabletop games Warmachine and Hordes. His job is to sculpt highly detailed and complex game models. It’s also his responsibility to ensure that the models can be mass produced and distributed to players and hobbyists around the world. “Modelling for mass production means creating a product that’s intended to be reproduced on a large scale, from the moment virtual clay hits the monitor to sending the .stl to the printer,” he explains, adding that the artistic and sculpting side of modelling is often “divorced” from the production side – which can cause problems. “A typical hurdle that modellers face is, once they realise their vision artistically, they pass their creation to a production specialist who tells them that it can’t be made. It might cost much more than expected to
produce it with the intended fidelity, or the intended fidelity won’t be achieved,” he says. “Understanding and taking into account production needs while modelling a product helps to align the artistic side with the production side from the get-go, making the process more predictable and efficient.” Michael has been creating miniature figures professionally
entirely digital workflow. However, his inspiration remains the same as ever: “I make cool stuff for fun games.” Michael does his sculpting and engineering work, from start to finish, in ZBrush. “I use the B9Creator to pre-prototype before sending the files to a bureau for final prints. Final prints are done by Paul at VisionProto,” he adds, “typically on an Envisiontec printer.”
Understanding the difference between what a model looks like on a monitor and what that object looks like as a 3D printed object can be a learning curve for the past eight years. An avid tabletop gamer and hobbyist, he started experimenting in his early teens by converting existing pieces using traditional materials. As his tabletop armies became more personalised, he increasingly began sculpting original pieces from scratch with life-changing results.
Words of wisdom
Game creators soon noticed and offered to pay him for his skills. Since then, he’s adapted to new technologies and transitioned to an
So what advice does he have for any new 3D modellers out there? “What you see isn’t always what you will get,” he warns, adding: “Understanding the difference between what a model looks like on a monitor and what that object looks like as a 3D printed object can be a learning curve, especially the smaller you go with your 3D prints. Translating complex forms into models that read as small-scale 3D printed objects takes some artistry.” For more Privateer Press models FYI go to www.privateerpress.com
Michael’s final Swamp Gobber figures, complete with rusted hooks, axes and swords
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TIPS for mass modelling
Simplify and 2 exaggerate
ZBrush is capable of making digital models with nearly infinite details, but this can be problematic for production. Features and details quickly disappear the smaller a model is scaled, so a model that looks great on a 30-inch monitor may not look so great as a 3D printed scale model. Creating small-scale models means making choices that simplify and exaggerate parts of the model in order to communicate the intended design. The final model of this gun ended up being about 15mm in length, which required a little simplification and exaggeration of the 2D concept.
How Michael sculpted and engineered Warmachine’s 25mm-tall Swamp Gobber River Pirates
from the pros 1 Learn Find people who know more than
you and learn as much as you can from them. I’m not an expert in production or 3D printing, but I know people who are. By asking questions and listening to experienced professionals I know enough to communicate effectively, get moving in the right direction and ensure that we get the best results. These guys are professionals and have a lot of experience, so when they’re not looking, I try to eat their brains and absorb their powers.
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3 real-world 3 Use references
Photograph metal, resin and plastic models you like with controlled size reference and bring them into ZBrush. If you have digital versions of models that have been successfully 3D printed and produced, bring those in too. Modelling directly next to examples of successfully produced models will help prevent adding too much detail or creating features too small that it washes out in production. Standing at a towering 25mm, I sculpted the Swamp Gobber River Pirates next to existing Gobbers in the Warmachine and Hordes ranges to ensure I got it right.
Efficiency is 4 an art form
The more pieces you need to assemble a model, the more it will cost to produce it. This idea might seem like small gains, but small gains on a large scale add up. From materials, mold space, and even packaging, less is typically better. However, knowing how and where to balance production and artistic considerations will ensure that you remain in control of the final product. By aligning the pose of this model to a plane we were able to cast all the bodies in this kit as single pieces.
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5 Pre-prototype We rely on the skill, experience and expensive machines of a print
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bureau to produce our final 3D prints. However, we pre-prototype our models in-house first to examine an object in-hand. Mass producing an object means reproducing its problems on a mass scale, so pre-prototyping is a fast and cheap way to preemptively address potential production problems. Additionally, pre-prototyping can avoid costly reprints by a printing bureau. These pre-prototypes came off from our B9Creator and, while they certainly have seen better days, they served their purpose.
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develop New technology
new technology
Rise of VR part 2: empathic immersion Adam Watkins and Randall Rudd explore the challenges facing CG artists and animators making the leap into VR Participating in violent experiences can be exhilarating, or especially frightening
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Artist profile
Adam Watkins Adam Watkins is professor of 3D animation & game design at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. www.uiw3d.com
irtual reality is altering the rules of engagement for filmmakers and storytellers. This new medium requires a different skill set than standard film direction. For the first time in history viewers can be part of the scene, so actors and animators must now work differently with issues such as proximity – not only with fellow performers, but also their viewers. Virtual reality challenges directors to make new choices elevating performance, drama and audience intimacy to a new level. Efforts to discover the choices that unlock these mysteries have led to the identification of the phenomenon we call ‘empathic immersion.’ Along with the identification of empathic immersion, here at Immersion Industries International we have been developing tools
to create empathic immersion and heighten dramatic impact on viewers. This new concept is destined to intensify meaningful, emotional connections between virtual performers and viewers.
Rethinking cinematography
Directors must now rethink traditional camera placement, performances and viewer-toobject distances. In the new VR paradigm, viewers can be active participants present in the scene – not invisible observers. So while a traditional film director would need to place multiple cameras and move through the progression of a scene with cuts, the VR director must consider the viewer as a single camera and that this single viewer/ camera is in the scene, making him a part of the conversation. Actor timing, animator performances,
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and character blocking all need to adjust to allow for this new participant – the viewer. Once the viewer is present in the scene, positional tracking enables VR developers to allow virtual actors to discern the precise location of the viewer. Blocking, viewer position, and camera angles take on new meaning when performances may be customised to the viewer’s point of view. The virtual actor can and must play to the precise positioning of each viewer, regardless of where the performer or viewer is positioned in a scene. The avatar’s awareness of the viewer’s location assures performers won’t face the wrong direction or block critical action.
Performance changes
This creates unique opportunities and challenges for animators and developers. A character’s
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Artist profile
Randall Rudd Randall is an awardwinning innovator in filmmaking and advanced imagery. He’s founder and creative director at Immersion Industries International. bit.ly/201-immersion
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n ut 3 a r o 20 r l e e a b u e e mbe r s ec s mo in i e 2 D l v r n sa
Being a participant and not just an observer raises new challenges for animators
Positional tracking has led to another astonishing breakthrough: meaningful eye contact. Empathic immersion means actors can stand literally nose-to-nose with viewers. However, directors must now be cognisant of cultural norms regarding social engagement. Violating esthetic distance standards by standing too close may feel rude, invasive
New rules of VR
Rethinking how to direct a scene New directors in this medium are advised to ‘advance to the basics.’ As a present participant and not invisible viewer, VR experiences force directors to now think in basic terms, like directing an actual real-life event, rather than a contrived scene. This entails directing performances on a radically intimate scale for a single, individual viewer rather than an entire audience or the public. Because of this, old established rules of directing intimacy are no longer relevant. New rules have evolved. Proximity has become an increasingly potent directorial tool in immersion. Spatial relationships in VR 3D space are felt as much as seen. Immersed audiences relate in an exaggerated manner to factors such as field of view, proximity and most importantly, esthetic distance. The viewer experience mirrors real-life, so one step forward or backwards can significantly improve or weaken a scene.
performance that solely uses code to simply follow the position of the viewer reads as stiff and unnatural, but an animator’s performance that ignores a potentially changed position of the viewer (now participant in the scene) loses all validity as the character suddenly ends up looking into space. We’ve found careful layering of code on top of a performance becomes the key to this balance. Subtle manipulation of eyes and head through code that cause additive rotation layered atop the animator’s performance creates an appealing performance, while keeping the actor focused on the viewer. This allows the animator to create an empathically immersive performance without concern for a moving viewer, but keeps the work of the coder invisible to the viewer.
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The avatar’s awareness of the viewer’s location assures performers won’t face the wrong direction or block critical action or awkward. Standing too far away may evoke the feeling of disengagement or disinterest. Immersed viewers tend to feel more engaged when addressed directly by virtual actors, even to the extent of feeling rude should they look away, as in real life because Shakespeare was right; the eyes are the windows to the soul. A recent Yale University Department of Psychology study established eyes as the primary communicators of emotion and intent. Realistic, life-like human eyes have been shown to be a significant factor in bridging the uncanny valley, contributing enormously to bringing life to an avatar’s character and personality.
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