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EDITOR’s
WELCOME
This issue, get behind the scenes on Mortal Engines! As much as we love to help you learn the coolest new tricks and techniques, sometimes it’s great to sit back and discover how a giant city on wheels was made. Thankfully, this issue, we have all of the above!
Rob Redman, Editor rob.redman@futurenet.com
Spotlight on our contributors Greg Barta Greg is a VFX artist and scientist with a passion for cinematic scientific visualisations. On p40 he guides us through creating a procedural terrain. scivfx.artstation.com
Martin Nebelong Martin is a freelance artist living in Denmark, with more than 15 years of professional experience. On p46 he continues his hard-surface tutorial. www.artstation.com/martinity
Ian Failes Ian is a regular contributor to 3D World, and this month he goes behind the scenes of sci-fi film Mortal Engines on p18. www.vfxblog.com
Maya Jermy Maya is a 3D artist and animator based in the UK. She started her career in 2012 remaking and animating characters for Oddworld. mayajermy.artstation.com
Matthew Novak Matthew Novak has worked across many disciplines and is currently a lead 3D generalist at Scanline VFX in Vancouver, Canada. novakcg.com
Mike Griggs This issue 3D artist Mike Griggs gives us the lowdown on modelling application MoI and continues his look at essential camera basics. www.creativebloke.com
Email rob.redman@futurenet.com
Website 3dworld.creativebloq.com
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Contents
ISSUE 243 February 2019
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For content to your offdirect training at Voucher for Jmaes inbox, subscribe tocast our www.idiscover.tv Find out how to training course. blurb weekly newsletter with code ‘3dworld’ yourblurb voteblurb in theblurb CGat: Offer ends 8 September bit.ly/3dworldnews Awards on page 53
Showcase Discover the best new digital art from the CG community, starting on page 8
Features Exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the latest CG technology, film VFX and video game art 28 How DNEG Does… animation The third instalment in our series explores VFX studio DNEG’s approach to animation and how they have overcome some significant challenges
18 The firepower behind mortal engines
34 real-time storytelling
Ian Failes talks to Weta Digital about their work on the incredible futuristic world of Mortal Engines, featuring giant cities on wheels
Epic Games, Unity and 3rd World Studios discuss leading the real-time revolution across film and television
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tutorials Practical tips and tutorials from pro artists to improve your CG skills
Tutorials 54 Build cinematic environments The fundamentals for building a cinematic environment
66 basics: camera aperture Learn more camera basics
68 bootcamp: MOI Discover this excellent modelling application
artist Q&A 72 Your CG problems solved Pro artists solve your queries
40 Discover Houdini’s terrain toolset Greg Barta teaches us how to take a scientific approach to building procedural environments
insight 88 Pro Thoughts: Intuitive Interaction How to effectively implement interactivity into virtual reality
90 Real-time revolution Discover Notch, the real-time graphics software
92 Build worlds with Notch Find out how to get started with the software
46 Sculpt a tank in VR, part 2: Texturing
60 create and shade realistic honeycombs
Reviews
Part 2 of Martin Nebelong’s tutorial explores how to add details and textures to a VR-sculpted model
Produce a honeycomb render oozing with detail with this step-by-step guide from Matthew Novak
96 Marvelous Designer 8
insight News and views from around the international CG industry
We test and rate the new features in this latest release
REGULARS 26 Subscriptions Receive the Critter Collection from Creation Effects!
98 Free downloads Images and videos from our tutorial section
Save money and receive your gift with print and print & digital packages.
78 VFX Diary – Part 2: The shoot
84 top vfx communication tools
We continue our VFX Diary series as Stephan Fleet shares his top tips for getting the most out of a shoot
We take a look at three of the most popular tools that enable consistency and quality on projects
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Issue 244
next month
Discover how ancient China was re-created for Shadow
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editorial Editor Rob Redman 3dworld@futurenet.com Production Editor Rachel Terzian designer Ryan Wells Staff Writer Brad Thorne Senior Art Editor Will Shum Acting editor-in-chief Claire Howlett
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contributors Cirstyn Bech-Yagher, Ian Failes, Greg Barta, Mike Griggs, Maya Jermy, Oscar Juarez, Pat Imrie, Gustavo Åhlén, Martin Nebelong, Matthew Novak, James Burrows, Will Smith, Stephan Fleet, Georgia Dawson Cover image Werewolf by Hooman Raad Advertising Media packs are available on request Commercial Director Clare Dove clare.dove@futurenet.com Senior advertising MANAGER Mike Pyatt 01225 687538 michael.pyatt@futurenet.com Account Director George Lucas 01225 687331 george.lucas@futurenet.com International 3D World is available for licensing. Contact the International department to discuss partnership opportunities International Licensing Director Matt Ellis matt.ellis@futurenet.com
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SHOWCASE The best digital art from the CG community
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Showcase
CG art to inspire
GunCrawler ARTIST Tomi Väisänen SOFTWARE MoI 3D, 3ds Max, Corona Renderer, Photoshop
“Most of all I enjoy modelling and designing, that’s my bread and butter. It’s the most creative and challenging part of working,” explains 3D artist Tomi Väisänen. Tomi has almost a decade of experience in 3D art and currently works at Wargaming in Helsinki. Outlining his creative process Tomi says: “First of all I gather references to inspire me and give a hint towards the direction I’m taking. After that, I start blocking out all major forms, when I’m at least somewhat happy I’ll start the modelling.” Tomi usually works in 3ds Max, MoI 3D and ZBrush at the same time, combining the best bits from each software. He continues: “When everything is modelled I start playing with lighting and materials. Most of my lighting comes from different HDRI setups to keep everything clear and consistent. When the rendering is done, I composite and colour correct everything in Photoshop.” darkki.artstation.com
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Showcase CG art to inspire
Female Portrait ARTIST Artur Tarnowski SOFTWARE ZBrush, Maya, Arnold Renderer, Maya’s XGen, Substance Painter, Photoshop
Artur Tarnowski is a character artist for Warsaw-based studio Layopi Games, with a wealth of experience in modelling. This image took him just one-and-a-half months to complete. “I had almost everything done in two weeks,” he says. “The rest of the time was spent adjusting the model, hair shape, shader parameters, lighting setup. All those little, some would say unnoticeable, details that make the final image look realistic.” During the process Artur used a displacement shading network in Arnold to
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blend three types of maps. “The first is my secondary detail from ZBrush,” he explains. “The second is Texturing XYZ micro detail and the third is a tileable micro detail with pores, etc. The skin shader is also quite complex as I like to have a lot of control over the skin in Hypershade. That means a lot of masks for makeup or freckles as well as many remap nodes for adjusting roughness, specular and skin tones.” artstation.com/rox29
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Blackmagic Video Assist 4K adds professional monitoring with HD and Ultra HD recording to any camera! Now it’s easy to add professional monitoring along with HD and Ultra HD recording to any SDI or HDMI camera! Blackmagic Video Assist 4K has a large super bright 7 inch monitor so you can see your shot clearly, making it easier to frame and get perfect focus! Featuring two high speed SD card recorders that save HD and Ultra HD video as 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes or DNxHD files, you get much better quality than what most cameras can record. The files are open standard which makes them compatible with all leading video software so you can start editing immediately!
High Quality Audio Recording
On Set Monitoring
Broadcast Quality Connections
The super bright 7 inch display is much bigger than the tiny displays built into most cameras and can be used to monitor HD or Ultra HD video. The touchscreen works with simple tap and swipe gestures, making it easy to set up and use! You can rig it directly onto your camera or pass it around to the crew so they can review shots on set!
Blackmagic Video Assist 4K includes HDMI and 6G-SDI inputs so you can record from virtually any camera or DSLR. The HDMI and SDI video outputs let you view shots on larger screens or even projectors! You also get a built in speaker, headphone jack, LANC, 12V power and two LP-E6 battery slots for non stop power!
Non-Stop HD and Ultra HD Recording Now you can bypass the lossy compression used on most DSLR and video cameras! With 2 high speed UHS-II recorders that use commonly available SD cards, you’ll never miss a shot because when one card is full, recording automatically continues onto the next! You get 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes or DNxHD files that work with all editing software.
www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk * SRP is Exclusive of VAT. Camera not included.
Get better quality sound recording than your camera! Blackmagic Video Assist 4K features two mini XLR inputs with 48V of phantom power and an extremely low noise floor of -128dBV so you can bypass poor quality camera audio. Audio is embedded in the same file with the video so you don’t have to worry about syncing separate files!
Blackmagic Video Assist £395* Blackmagic Video Assist 4K £705*
Learn More!
9000
Showcase CG art to inspire
Medusa Door ARTIST Anton Cheykin SOFTWARE ZBrush, TopoGun, 3ds Max, Marmoset Toolbag 3
This intricate image was completed by freelance game environment artist Anton Cheykin, over a month’s worth of spare time. “I enjoyed working on the snake hair, blending it into the wood plane as well as the snakes’ twine in the upper part of the door,” he says. The process allowed Anton to draw on his experience in game development. He explains: “I start by studying references to define the basic direction of the model and what new challenges I want to beat. Sometimes I do a simple pencil sketch, but usually I go directly to ZBrush. Occasionally I’ll put the unfinished 3D sketch into Marmoset Viewer to see how it works with lighting and ambient occlusion, this really helps to define the look.” artstation.com/antoncheykin
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