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3dworld.creativebloq.com Look Dev Lessons #276
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LOOK DEV LESSONS
World-class studio Blue Zoo talks about its creative workflow
ISSUE 276
LEARN VECTORWORKS | MASTER NOTCH | SWITCH GAME SECRETS
WELCOME A key part of a project’s workflow is nailing the look development, which informs many of the following stages. Continuing our series on super star studio Blue Zoo, this month we delve into their lookdev process, to discover how they approach this task. We even have a wonderful cover from them with notes from team members, showing one of the ways they communicate details to each other. Elsewhere this issue we have a fantastic character tutorial from Scott Denton, demonstrating how to create a stunning Martian with a lovely retro feel. If video games is more your area then take a look at our pipeline piece on the lovely art of Unbound: Worlds Apart. As always our Q&A panel solve your CG woes, including how to create beaches in Blender and how to know if you are making models good enough to sell.
Rob Redman, Editor rob.redman@futurenet.com
Our cover this month is from Blue Zoo’s 2020 short In Shapes (vimeo.com/466138940)
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CONTENTS 3D WORLD ISSUE 276
ARTIST SHOWCASE
8 The Gallery
Discover the best digital art from the CG community
42 Tech Focus: NURBS modelling
Check out this magical render from Alexey Druzhkov
52 Tech Focus: Texturing
Max Bedulenko on how he created textures for his amazing Montreal scene
78 Tech Focus: Modelling
Marko Chulev showcases his incredible horse render
92 Tech Focus: Character design
Discover an amazingly detailed model by Z-Smith Creative
FEATURES
22 Blue Zoo – Part 2: Developing shows
In the second instalment of our series on Blue Zoo, we delve into the art of developing animated series and creating unique visuals
34 Welcome to the Era of Democratised Animation
We explore how advances in the CG industry are enabling indie creatives to produce quality productions on the same level as large studios
34
6 3D WORLD
22
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70
THE PIPELINE
44 Transform a quick concept 80 A Day in the Life into an amazing final render Henrik Eklundh talks us through Character artist Scott Denton showcases his super cool sci-fi render, and details his step-bystep creation process
54 Design a home office with Vectorworks
44
THE HUB
Discover how to level up your interior design skills
60 Create game worlds from concept art
Go behind the scenes of the visually stunning video game Unbound: Worlds Apart in this guide to creating video gameworthy scenes
66 Utilise AI tools with NVIDIA and Notch
Enhance your visual effects workflow with two powerful AIdriven tools
ARTIST Q&A
70 Your CG problems solved Pro artists tackle your queries
86
his typical day as VFX supervisor at Goodbye Kansas Studios
82 Meet the Artist
We interview Xu Xiaojun of Studio Gobo, who answers our questions about working on AAA game projects
86 Branch out with Houdini
We delve into the plant growth toolkit GrowInfinite with its creator, Mojtaba Oriuee
90 OpEd: Top 5 Oculus Quest games
Immersive Studios discuss the top virtual reality games you need to be playing
REGULARS
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96 Back issues
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98 Free downloads Images and files from our tutorial section
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3D WORLD 7
The best digital art from the CG community
THE LOST ISLAND
ARTIST Fabio Montorzi SOFTWARE Blender, Quick Tools, Graswald Pro
08 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire
MY INTENTION WAS TO CREATE THAT FEEL BETWEEN REAL AND CARTOONISH 3D WORLD 09
CG art to inspire
CAVEWOMAN
10 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire
ORC
ARTIST J Hill SOFTWARE ZBrush, Maya, Substance Painter, Arnold, Nuke
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CG art to inspire
ARTIST Rory Björkman SOFTWARE Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Marvelous Designer, Redshift
12 3D WORLD
ARTIST Paweł Pecherzewski SOFTWARE Blender, Marvelous Designer, LuxCoreRender, Corona Image Editor
CG art to inspire
ARTIST Sebastian Ramos SOFTWARE ZBrush, Photoshop
16 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire
REVEALING THE SECRETS OF THE ARCTURAN ARTEFACT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON, 1891
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ARTIST Pete Amachree SOFTWARE Blender, Photoshop
CG art to inspire
I LIKE TO GIVE MY DESIGNS A NOTE OF PLAUSIBILITY, TO HINT AT ITS POSSIBLE FUNCTION
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The Rookies
The Rookies is a platform to help digital artists get discovered without having to compete with professionals for attention. You’ll get to the front page of those sites one day, but for now, we’ve got your back and want to help turn your passion for creative media into a successful career. WWW.THEROOKIES.CO
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UNDERDOG
SOFTWARE ZBrush, Maya, Arnold, Mari, Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter YEAR CREATED 2020 ARTIST Mathieu Pate LOCATION France I’m a 3D artist passionate about 3D characters in the games and film industries. I am in the final year of my Masters degree at the University of Saint Denis Paris 8, andI’mlooking forward to beginning my journey in the industry.
My goal behind the image was to challenge myself to achieve a photorealistic self-portrait and a full cinematic character. I called the project Underdog because of my way to see life in general. Every epic story is an underdog story, like Luke in Star Wars or Frodo in Lord Of The Rings. And for me, it doesn't matter where I am in life – to achieve something I have to feel like an underdog to give my best and improve myself. www.artstation.com/mathieupate
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Part two of our series on Blue Zoo looks at the art of developing animated shows and creating unique visuals he production of an animated series wouldn’t be possible without the development process. From pitching and writing scripts to developing a unique look and establishing a target audience, the development process is key to ensuring that production has a strong focus and an animated series is the best it can be. Working with internal or external talent, producers and co-producers to develop an animated project is a key part of Blue Zoo’s creative process, before and after pitching a show to platforms or networks.
T
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In this second part of 3D World’s in-depth series on Blue Zoo, we look at how the animation studio develops and pitches animated series based on existing and original IP and get acquainted with its talented look development team. We also explore how Blue Zoo’s people-first ethos feeds into its development process, and how readers can develop their own animated projects, big or small.
READY, SET, PITCH!
Helen Arntsen is Blue Zoo’s head of development. She oversees the studio’s slate of projects in development and helps to get
Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
Above: A still from In Shapes, the Blue Zoo Shorts film of 2020. Directed by Zoé Risser Below: Experimental characters for Blue Zoo’s look development team that were used across the studio’s social media
#2 DEVELOPING SHOWS AND UNIQUE LOOKS
Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
them ready for pitching to broadcasters, online platforms and anywhere that might provide a fitting home for the project. “There’s loads of places to pitch now,” Arntsen tells 3D World, “to raise finances for the production and find their route to audience.” Blue Zoo’s development team are responsible for looking for the next exciting project, reading pitches that are sent to the studio, taking pitches in-person, reviewing potential projects and working on in-house initiatives to come up with fresh ideas. “The other side to it is developing those projects once we’ve found them. The bulk of our time is spent honing those projects before we pitch them.”
“A PROJECT REALLY STANDS OUT IF IT’S GOT A UNIQUE STARTING POINT” Helen Arntsen, head of development, Blue Zoo
So what exactly are Blue Zoo’s development team looking for in a potential project? According to Arntsen, “the ones that really stand out are the ones where someone’s got a unique starting point, the heart of it is really exciting but not all the details are nailed. There’s this opportunity to jump in and collaborate on building the vision they and we have for it.” This process could involve working with a creator who has a strong vision for their project, allowing Arntsen and the team to support and guide development, ensuring that everything stays on track. Or it may involve more hands-on creativity, for example, if a co-producer comes at the project from a writing perspective, the team may focus on the visual development. “It’s always collaborative, but it could be any different kind of shape,” says Arntsen. 24 3D WORLD
Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
In Shapes was born from the single word ‘puberty’ and a brief to combine 2D and 3D animation creatively The short was made entirely remotely by Blue Zoo artists and the studio’s 2020 summer interns Created in portrait specifically for social media, the aim of In Shapes is to empower young people who feel insecure about their appearance
Once a project is in development Blue Zoo proceeds in a story-first fashion. “We make sure that we know exactly what it is, what the characters are, what we want to achieve before we jump into any visuals, supporting pitch materials or animation tests,” adds Arntsen. Much of the work at this stage can go unseen, often not appearing in the pitch bibles, reference documents containing information on characters, settings, and other elements of a project. Blue Zoo’s development team will often dig into character matrices, getting to know the characters and their relationship to each other. Arntsen adds: “The writing stage is much easier if you know your characters really well and you’ve set up a dynamic that has the potential for conflict but also great warmth and great motivation. Then you know, given any situation, how that story might naturally evolve and you can have a lot of fun with them.” With a good grasp of story and character, Arntsen and
THE CREATIVE CHALLENGE
NEGAR BAGHERI, HEAD OF LOOK DEVELOPMENT AT BLUE ZOO, SHARES HER ADVICE FOR DEVELOPING UNIQUE VISUALS
I think showing diverse work and challenging your skills as an artist is key. Everyone has a personal style and preferences, but that shouldn’t stop you from exploring and getting excited about looking into different sources of inspiration and developing your skillset within different areas. Something that our look development artists are finding despite their differing backgrounds and experience is that through their career development, though they may develop specialisms, it is crucial that they have a good practical understanding of how all the other components and skills fit around it. For example, you may be an adept sculpt artist but playing around with texturing, surfacing and lighting will elevate your work and you as an artist, because of having this familiarity and understanding of how these other areas affect your sculpt work. If you specialise in surfacing it's invaluable to know about modelling and lighting, how to use these, what to do and expect, otherwise your surfacing work will never truly progress. In the same way groom and even tech work benefits from this multidisciplinary approach. It isn’t about being a jack of all trades, it’s more about keeping inspired, pushing yourself and challenging the way you work. For me, researching the history of things, the details, the feelings things evoke, and the purpose of a design all build a story and this is how I get inspired and like to develop. It is amazing how much it helps to inform the decisions we then make in the software we use, and the workflow approach leading to the final aesthetic. Find what you are passionate about, it will be the drive you need to push your 3D skills and make what you’re creating a fun and enjoyable experience. After all, we’re all in this business because the creative challenge is what inspires us!
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Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
the team get started on visual development. They look at what their target audience is used to seeing and try to find a fresh approach by building up mood boards and finding the right artists, whether they’re in-house or external. “We normally keep it quite wide to begin with. We try lots of different ideas with a few artists before we start to narrow it down, but we will have a budget and schedule that we’re working to. Not all projects will get off the ground, so we want to make sure that we’re not spending more than we need to on development.”
LAYING THE TRACK
As the development team begin to approach the pitch stage, the project can take any number of routes to our screens. It often involves the development team making sure they have the materials needed to make a pitch bible that shines in terms of story and visuals. “It’s usually working towards that final poster artwork that will be on the front cover of the bible, on press releases, things like that, that in one instance tells you what the show is all about,” says Arntsen. As the project takes shape the development team begins to release the project over to Alison Warner, managing director of Blue Zoo rights. “We’re working with her constantly throughout the process, from identifying the 26 3D WORLD
Above: A first pass at look development on characters created for in-house projects for Blue Zoo’s social media Right: A breakdown of the experimental look development process for a feathery animated character Visual development at Blue Zoo is all based around the story, the characters and their world
projects initially to developing the pitch,” explains Arntsen, “she’s really part of our extended team. She’ll take the lead on pitching and bring us in to do the pitches. She’ll be the one who’s trying to raise those finances for production and find its ultimate home.” Then production can begin and the development team gradually hand over as they help to build up the production team. The way in which a project transitions from development to production can take any number of forms, as Arntsen explains: “We had one go into production at the start of last year. This one was very much a development born project, initially sparked by company cofounder Oli Hyatt and we really wanted to give it the best start, making sure we could be around to help transition it into production and explain our thinking and ambition for the project to the team. But we also wanted to give them the freedom to make their own mark on it. We couldn’t be more blown over by what they’ve done with that particular project. It’s just incredible.” Developing a project requires Arntsen and the team to have one eye on the studio’s pipeline and how it is evolving. This allows the team to consider how they might create fresh yet familiar animation styles for audiences within the allotted time and budget. “We have a really exciting R&D [research and development] team at Blue
Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
Zoo who are creatively looking at new technologies and finding new ways of doing things, that we keep an eye on in case it inspires or fits with a project. There is one project that we’re about to embark on development with where we’ve got a new animation technique the R&D team worked up in-house, and we’re really excited by it. We think it’ll give a really different look and feel to the movement of
hard carving out time for key talent to work on the projects because they’re usually very busy on other things. So we have to be quite flexible with our timelines.” The development team also need to be nimble and responsive to the animation market and any new information they may receive on it. “If it looks like we have a great idea for a pitch and we see a good opportunity, it can be shifting our
“I SEWED MINIATURE CLOTHING TO GET THE SENSE OF SCALE” Negar Bagheri, head of look development, Blue Zoo the animation. It will bring a lot of charm and be a very sensible solution for a production budget.” In an industry that shifts as much as animation, keeping up the momentum on projects can be a real challenge for development teams like Blue Zoo’s. “We’re a small team and at every stage of the project we’re collaborating with someone else,” Arntsen explains. “Often it can be quite
priority whilst not dropping the ball on other projects. I guess it’s about balancing momentum while also maintaining the ability to be nimble.”
VISUAL INVENTION
As head of look development at Blue Zoo, Negar Bagheri’s role is primarily to anchor the work and make sure the studio is heading towards a coherent progression 3D WORLD 27
YOUR STORY TO TELL BLUE ZOO’S HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT,
1.
HELEN ARNTSEN, SHARES HER ADVICE FOR DEVELOPING A GREAT CONCEPT, STORY-FIRST HONE YOUR IDEAS
Great ideas can come from really unusual places. Everyone has a story to tell, so don’t discourage yourself from giving it a go. You just never know where that amazing idea is going to come from and usually it takes a group of people to pull an idea together, not just one person. It’s important to think, is there something I’m passionate about that I’d really like to see on screen? You need to believe in the value of the project as it can take a long time to see it to fruition.
2.
PITCH FROM THE HEART
3.
VISUALISE YOUR AUDIENCE
When pitching to an animation studio for an idea, rather than developing it all off your back, focus on that initial heart or hook, that unique offering, what is in the centre of it that you’re excited about doing? Convey that vision rather than lots and lots of detail. Because that’s what we’ll get passionate about and get behind. It’s also important to find projects where someone has a really clear vision of the audience they’re trying to attract. You might have sort of an idea in mind but if you can pair that with an audience and really see how the audience might need it or get excited by it, then that’s something we can get really excited by.
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Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
with the quality of its work and any R&D developments. “I help mentor the artists within my team, provide creative steer across their work and development as artists through feedback and finding the right opportunities for them to progress and hone their skills,” Bagheri tells 3D World. “In reality I’m often working with the extended team studio wide, making sure we’re producing work that continues to be aspirational in quality.” So what exactly is look development? Bagheri explains that it’s not so far from what a CG generalist role might have looked
like a few years ago. “The artists need to be multidisciplinary within the 3D pipeline with a good mix of creative and technical skills,” she explains. “The main objective for the role is to use whatever we have in our toolset to push the aesthetic of a project.” Sometimes Blue Zoo’s look development team will be purely R&D based, working to create entirely new approaches to animation. Other times they may receive a very clear visual brief from the directors and work visually to answer that brief within a pre-visualisation capacity. “Over the past few years we’ve had a lot of long-form TV
Above: Concept art from In Shapes, showing how the short uses mixedmedia animation (2D and 3D) to emotive effect Negar Bagheri emphasises the importance of bringing references together in a coherent way when deciding the visual direction of a project
productions to support alongside this work,” Bagheri explains, “so we devised procedural workflows and libraries to provide a basis for surfacing work across these projects and provide the modelling and texturing team with the tools to develop the look of their assets based on this.” Bagheri takes an out-of-the-box approach to exploring and creating the visual direction of Blue Zoo’s projects. As well as heading up look development, Bagheri works as a production designer across multiple projects at Blue Zoo. “In this capacity I spearhead research and development of design for projects within the art department,” she adds. “This allows me to be much more open and versatile to meeting creative briefs, taking inspiration from all sorts of mediums.” This was the case for The Adventures Of Paddington, an animated series following the escapades of a young Paddington Bear, which Blue Zoo helped bring to life with a stunning combination of 2D and 3D aesthetics. Bagheri worked to help Blue Zoo’s modelling, look development and rigging departments create a convincing and tactile aesthetic that was also illustrative. “I sewed miniature clothing for the characters and created props out of paper and craft materials to get the sense of scale and details as reference for the 3D development.” The Adventures Of Paddington gave Bagheri and the look development team the opportunity to work on a pre-existing and beloved IP. “For existing IPs we are lucky in being able to work with some like-minded passionate clients who have high ambitions and drive behind their brands,” she explains. “The existing material, whether it is visual or written, helps to inspire the start of our look development process.” Bagheri and the team worked to stay as true to the brand as possible, remaining respectful of Paddington’s heritage and values. This made the research phase, which included creating moodboards, early sketches and brainstorming with the team and clients, invaluable. 3D WORLD 29
Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
“WE WANT TO CREATE CONTENT THAT EMBRACES DIFFERENT OUTLOOKS, CHARACTERS AND WORLDS FOR OUR AUDIENCE” Negar Bagheri, head of look development, Blue Zoo
DEVELOPING DIVERSITY
As is the case with every department at Blue Zoo, the look development team’s work is centred around the story. “Creating the characters, their world and interactions needs to feel authentic and that can only really come from how the story concepts develop,” says Bagheri. This doesn’t mean that the story has to be completely fleshed out for look development to begin, sometimes the team will work to a loose story or project concept with a more developed visual reference. “But to really be able to hone in on the bulk of the visual development, we need the story development to move forward and thus give the visuals a purposeful way forward,” adds Bagheri. Budget limitations, deadlines and the availability of technology are all considerations for Blue Zoo’s look development team, but their decisions are often balanced against the potential gains of developing a given project. “For example, we 30 3D WORLD
Top right: Hair and groom stills from Cut Short, an experimental project that allowed Blue Zoo’s lookdev team to experiment with hair simulation Below: An early model of a wooden woman that would feature in Blue Zoo’s Pride animation
may have to determine that a fastmoving project with imminent deadlines and a limited budget will allow only a certain amount of time, but we’ll look at ways to make this work progressive,” Bagheri explains. “Whether it would help to consider using a different software platform like a real-time engine for example, if we can use the opportunity to train or develop a hybrid visual that will be easier and quicker to achieve but give us interesting visuals.” The look development process will often start off with a Google search, Bagheri browses Pinterest and Instagram for any and every topic related to the project. For detailed references related to surface and lighting she will often take her camera out and collect research photography, in some cases she will even dig out her craft materials and clay, building references either during character exploration or look development. “The most important part is bringing these references together in a coherent way to drive the visual
direction forward, really it is all about the communication of ideas. We may be in a meeting with our artists and use the most absurd examples as we discuss things, but everyone in the room thinks creatively and gets it.” In order to remain progressive when it comes to look development the team will often look at new briefs with a focus towards technology. “Our managing and creative directors Adam Shaw and Tom Box are both passionate about pushing the boundaries, and in tandem with our realtime department we attempt to shift how we view and use new technology, in order to challenge the way we work and the visuals we can produce.” Bagheri shares Blue Zoo’s passion for diversity and as a result the look development team will share their work with the in-house diversity team, a volunteering collective with different backgrounds from across the studio. The diversity team will share their thoughts on the development of a project to help
Blue Zoo: Developing shows and unique looks
ensure that the team are thinking and working in a progressively diverse way. “We want to create content that embraces different outlooks, characters and worlds for our audience,” says Bagheri. “I’m personally very interested in how we move forward in this respect at our studio, coming from an ethnic minority background and as a first-generation immigrant and woman. Representation is key in creating content for entertainment, it should be inclusive, educated and of course, fun to watch!” Bagheri adds that whilst diverse visuals can definitely represent these values, they can also help challenge what the team at Blue Zoo creates as filmmakers within the animation industry. “I love being involved in some of our more boundary-pushing projects like Ada and Mamoon, where the tools used were unique, the stories sensitive and inspirational and as a result created a very different sort of aesthetic.” more info on Blue Zoo visit FYI For www.blue-zoo.co.uk 3D WORLD 31
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Democratised Animation Left: Stills from the making of Dulull’s upcoming anime feature, RIFT, in production for a 2022 release
WELCOME TO THE ERA OF
DEMOCRATISED ANIMATION Could we soon see Love, Death & Robots-quality feature animation made by small teams of indie creatives, rather than huge studios? Filmmaker HaZ Dulull is working on proving the answer is yes All provided by HaZFilm. RIFT images are a 3D World exclusive.
t can be hard to wrap your head around just how far the computer graphics industry has come. Within many of our lifetimes, buying software capable of creating 3D has gone from costing thousands – an option reserved only for the wealthy few – to something anyone can do from home, even for free using opensource systems like Blender. These advances have quickly revolutionised what it means to produce a CG image. Leaf through the pages of this very magazine, in fact, and you’ll find renders created by individual hobbyists all the way to the biggest global studios. Jump from render through to feature-length animation, however, and the narrative changes. Creating an animated film is still known to require big teams and deep pockets in order to get the quality audiences expect, within the delivery timelines executives do.
I
But what if there was a way to change all that? What if one day, a hands-on director with a small team could create feature-length animation just as impressive as a studio offering – all on a fraction of the big studio budget? Enter HaZ Dulull. After breaking into VFX as a compositor and progressing to become a
which premiered at #2 on the iTunes charts and was a trending film on Netflix, becoming a commercial hit with sales worldwide. That propelled Dulull to direct several other features and television shows including sci-fi film 2036 Origin Unknown (now also on Netflix) and Disney’s comedy series Fast Layne (on Disney+).
“I NEVER KNEW I’D BE ABLE TO HAVE SO MUCH SPONTANEITY WORKING WITH ANIMATION”
HaZ Dulull, director/producer
visual effects supervisor (he even created a macro in Shake to help it work with IMAX resolution when doing post-vis on The Dark Knight), Dulull moved into live action when one of the shorts he created in his spare time, Project Kronos, went viral and landed him Hollywood representation. He then directed and produced an indie sci-fi feature, The Beyond,
Today though, Dulull’s career has pivoted away from live action. During the pandemic, he joined a growing grassroots movement of filmmakers using game engines to create full, feature-length animation. For him, the idea of a small team creating an entire movie isn’t just theory. It’s the beginning of a new, more democratised future for the entire industry. 3D WORLD 35
Democratised Animation
THE POWER OF REAL TIME
“I got into Unreal Engine almost by accident back in 2019,” Dulull begins, revealing that back then, he had no idea the decision would eventually lead to a major shift in his career. In those days, all he’d wanted was a simpler way to block out sequences for his next live action film, Lunar. “The problem was, as an independent filmmaker, I couldn’t afford to hire amazing teams 36 3D WORLD
Above: Dulull’s 12-minute animated pilot, Battlesuit
Battlesuit’s characters were animated using Adobe Mixamo libraries and mocap data packs purchased from Epic’s Marketplace
like Halon or The Third Floor,” he remembers. “I began to look into alternatives for doing previs myself, on my laptop. That’s when I decided to download Unreal. I thought it’s free – why not?” Before he knew it, Dulull was blocking out scenes, characters and cameras entirely on a virtual set using mocap data from Adobe Mixamo. “I was expecting a rudimentary representation of the final shot, as with most previs. Instead, I got lighting, raytracing,
dynamic particles, and animation entirely in real time. I’d almost forgotten that what I was doing was previs. It felt more like an animated proof of concept.” That’s when the idea for completing a finished animation entirely in Unreal first came to mind. “The thought of creating a show where from the start, what you see is what you get, without a huge pipeline of processes before seeing results – that felt like a luxury,” Dulull remembers. “I
Democratised Animation
THE INDIE ANIMATION KIT LIST • Unreal Engine • V-cam rig with an iPad to livelink for virtual cinematography • Reallusion Character Creator and iClone – specifically the AccuLips sync plugin that makes accurate lipsyncs fast, with minimal effort • Perforce (driven by Amazon Web Server) • NVIDIA Geforce RTX graphics card • DaVinci Resolve 17 for editing and post
never knew I’d be able to have so much spontaneity, just like I would get with live action, but when working with animation. I thought, if we can do this in real time, then why don’t we just put more love into it, and create finished content this way? I wanted to see if that was possible.”
PUTTING THE THEORY TO THE TEST
The first commercial project where Dulull got to test his idea came at
the start of 2020. He’d signed on to direct and produce a proofof-concept pilot episode called Battlesuit, based on the comic book The Theory by TPub Comics. Impressively, the 12-minute animated pilot was made with a team of just two other people, Andrea Tedeschi and Ronen Eytan. Together with Dulull, they created everything down to the title sequence and the UI display screens entirely in Unreal, rendering final pixels out of the
game engine with a Razer Studio laptop and its built-in NVIDIA Quadro 5000 graphics card. “We used a kitbashing approach to create sci-fi spaceships, and Quixel Bridge for texturing rock, sand, and additional enhancements into the environments,” Dulull explains. “For animation, we used Adobe Mixamo libraries and mocap data packs purchased from Epic’s Marketplace. Once this was retargeted onto characters, I then used motion mixing in Unreal’s
Above: Dulull on set directing actress Kosha Engler for Battlesuit
Battlesuit was released online in May, and got a lot of media attention from Razer, NVIDIA and Epic
3D WORLD 37
Democratised Animation
sequencer to create the desired action. It was like editing clips, but with mocap data.” Facial performance was then captured via an AR-supported iPad, livelinked to the 3D character model so that when actress Kosha Engler came in for a day of voice recording, she could see her character’s performance just as it would appear in the final film, and adjust her expressions accordingly. “For some of the key warzone action sequences, which needed to feel handheld, I even used a Dragonfly virtual camera,” Dulull continues. “It allowed me to treat scenes as if they were real locations, finding angles and shots as I scouted in real time.”
THE ROAD TO A FEATURE Battlesuit was released online in May, and got a lot of media attention from Razer, NVIDIA and Epic. Soon after, Dulull was contacted by LA production house, Pathfinder, to pitch on an
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animated feature film adaptation of the video game Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. “They sent me the PlayStation 4 game to get inspired. I noticed it had a ‘Made in Unreal’ logo on boot-up,” Dulull reveals. “Pathfinder put me in touch with the game developers, The Bearded Ladies. I explained I was developing a feature pitch based on their work and asked whether they could send me some game assets. To my surprise, they sent about a large Google Drive’s worth! It wasn’t plug and play, as there were many blueprints that needed to be transformed for cinematic purposes, but it saved so much time as the design was already done.” Within a week, Dulull, Tedeschi and Eytan had put together a few shots using the original videogame assets. “We showed that to the studio and they were like, this is amazing, let’s go for it! We then began a three-minute sizzle to show the vision I had for the animated film,” Dulull continues.
Democratised Animation
“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE PIGEONHOLED INTO THAT TYPICAL VIDEO GAME, CG CINEMATIC LOOK, I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING FRESH WITH REAL-TIME ANIMATION”
HaZ Dulull, director/producer
In order to refine all the game assets for the big screen, Tedeschi and Eytan worked on updating every texture using Substance Painter, ZBrush, and the shader control in Unreal Engine – adding more detail to ensure they all held up in 4K. Tedeschi would create the environments and assets, while Eytan set up the pipeline and character rigging, before both fed work through to Dulull, who put it all together with camera animation, layout and lighting. Tedeschi and Eytan would then Above: For Mutant Year Zero, all the game assets needed to be refined to ensure they all held up in 4K Left: Still from Mutant Year Zero, which is currently in script development Below: A Dragonfly virtual camera was used to help create a handheld look for Battlesuit’s warzone action sequences
polish up shots as a second pass. “It was such a refreshing way of producing an animated project, where the director is in control of the vision and can experiment and find the shots, while the other members of the team can be closely involved with all the creative decisions. Everyone felt a sense of collective ownership with the project,” Dulull adds. By August, the Mutant Year Zero sizzle trailer was released with an announcement via IGN, further building Dulull’s reputation as a director
BEING A HANDS-ON DIRECTOR “You get more bang for your buck in the budget as a hands-on director,” Dulull explains. “I’d rely on my amazing team for building assets, rigging, characters and blueprints, as those were elements I knew I couldn’t do as well as them. But I didn’t want artists using up production time to make updates like adding more lights in a shot, or adjusting the position of a building, when I could do those changes myself, and let the artists focus on the bigger things. “I find that addressing direction notes myself as a director is way more productive and also allows me to experiment more and try things out without hindering budget and schedule. For example, doing the camera moves myself all in real time instead of directing an artist to do it means you are in full control of how to tell the story, with your camera language and style.”
Democratised Animation
spearheading the concept of independent animation.
AN UNREAL CG ANIME
Dulull isn’t just working on Mutant Year Zero, which is now in full script development. He’s also pushing his team’s cutting-edge workflow to the limits with his third feature film, RIFT, which is in production for a 2022 release. “I loved the Unreal workflow we’d developed, but I didn’t want to be pigeonholed into that typical video game, CG cinematic look,” Dulull explains. “I wanted to do something fresh with real-time animation in terms of art direction. RIFT was perfect – it’s a sci-fi action film we pitched as Akira meets The Raid, and it’s presented in a stylish anime visual look. I referenced the 90s anime films I remember watching on late-night Channel 4 in my college days.”
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RIFT is being selffinanced by Dulull’s HaZFilm production company, as well as an Epic Games Megagrant and key tech partnerships
Tedeschi became the CG supervisor on the project, working with Dulull to develop the film’s style – and its anime shaders – using Unreal Engine shader development and Reallusion Character Creator 3.
approaching them with the first finished ten minutes.” For Dulull, that’s even more proof that his initial idea of using Unreal Engine for finished content is the future. “RIFT deals with alternate realities and physics-
“STORIES THAT WERE ONCE CONSIDERED TOO AMBITIOUS WILL BE POSSIBLE – ALL THANKS TO ADVANCES IN REAL-TIME TECH”
HaZ Dulull, director/producer Below: Andrea Tedeschi, CG supervisor on Dulull’s sci-fi animated film RIFT. The team works together on a remote server as a virtual animation studio
Gabriella Zebo, a dedicated virtual production artist, also joined the team to produce all the motion capture of the film using an Xsens Mocap suit, with additional artists joining when needed. “Everyone works in Unreal on one remote server via Perforce and Amazon Web Server, so it really is a true virtual animation studio,” Dulull reveals. “Together, we’ve recently completed a preview of the first ten minutes of the actual feature film, fully graded, mixed and with voice actors. We’re now in talks with distributors while still in production – and it feels like RIFT is being seen in a totally different light. We’re not approaching companies with a script asking for help, we’re
defying action sequences,” Dulull adds. “The only reason I hadn’t previously considered the animation medium for it is because I didn’t think I’d be able to do it technically and financially.” “Now, with real-time tools being accessible to anyone who wants to tell a story, I truly feel the era of democratised animation has come. As a result, we’ll see more bold, daring films told by more diverse filmmakers. Stories that were once considered too ambitious will be possible – all thanks to advances in real-time tech. With today’s huge demand for animated content, it really is an exciting time to be a filmmaker.” HaZ Dulull’s exciting FYI Follow projects at hazfilm.com
NURBS modelling in Substance Designer
MAGICK POTION VIALS Software Substance Designer, MarmosetToolbag Year made 2021
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NURBS modelling in Substance Designer
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork
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SORAK
A character inspired by old 70s sci-fi novels and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Princess Of Mars books
Practical tips and tutorials from pro artists to improve your CG skills
MAYA | ARNOLD | SUBSTANCE PAINTER | MARVELOUS DESIGNER | ZBRUSH | PHOTOSHOP
TRANSFORM A QUICK CONCEPT INTO AN AMAZING FINAL RENDER
T
Scott Denton breaks down his character creation process, from initial concept to stunning final render
o begin, I in no way consider myself a great concept artist. It’s something I do for fun, mostly to try to learn more and push my understanding of anatomy and other aspects of character/ creature creation. While I’ll even admit that this project itself is in no way a perfect example of my anatomy knowledge, it was a fun exercise and I wanted to experiment with different forms to see if I could make it work. Delving into the themes of this piece, such as Lovecraft or Princess Of Mars, has been a great joy over the course of this creation process. While we all need to expand our skills in order to become better artists and succeed in our careers, we must remember that for most of us, we got into this for the love of it and having fun. Trying new ideas and pushing our 44 3D WORLD
art can be helpful for mentally tackling our day-to-day jobs and building skills that strengthen them. This tutorial covers the looseness of what it should be like to create a concept final image for the fun of it, and then being able to hopefully translate those skills elsewhere later on. You’ll see me using some techniques that allow me to save time while avoiding some of the pitfalls I dislike about creating in 3D, like using Mixamo for posing.
01
01CONCEPTING
For this project, we start off with a theme – in this case I was inspired to create something alienlike or from the Cthulhu universe. To start out and get my mind going in the right direction for this concept, I decided not to rely too heavily on reference. Instead, I tried to stay loose and just find shapes that I enjoy at this stage, and then bring references in at a later time to make them work correctly. For me, the theme made me immediately
AUTHOR Scott Denton I'm currently working as a character artist for Encore VFX LA. I love researching new techniques in my free time and seeing how I can apply them in my day to day. I am also diving deep into making video games using Unreal and starting to learn Houdini and Blender. www.artstation.com/ likesrup
Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render
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Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render think of the Princess Of Mars books, which led to the John Carter movies mixed with a little Lovecraftian vibe.
02 PEER REVIEW
I begin to see a lot of bad anatomy emerge at this stage and want to start to make corrections. At this point I often ask some friends for modelling advice. Peer review and critique are always a great way to hone in your art and get fresh eyes on something that you might not have seen. This part of the process helps me learn where I might have gone wrong. Oftentimes, I’ll go into Photoshop and draw my own markups and ask friends to do so as well. The first image is done by my buddy Sadan Vague and the second by my buddy Arda Koyuncu.
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03 FURTHER REFINING
After receiving some great feedback and criticism from my peers I then go back to the drawing board. This process is very similar to what we do when concepting an actual job. I grab some more references to aid in shaping the direction that I want to end up in. This helps me to hone in more on the distinct styles and characteristics I will explore for the final character.
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Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render
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04 FINAL GEO
After some evolution of the creature I decided that this is the direction I want to go in. I then start to retopo all given parts for the final piece. I use Maya and ZRemesher to accomplish this stage.
05 UVs
For this part I use a combination of Maya’s UV tools and some quick UVs using UV Master in ZBrush. Usually for film I concentrate on a UDIM workflow, but for this we are going to be doing textures sets.
FOR 06 EXPORT SUBSTANCE PAINTER
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In this step I usually apply each group their own texture and name the SG accordingly, so that when we bring it into Substance the naming correlates to the Texture Set name.
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FOR 07RENAME EASY EXPORT
Usually when I’m exporting to Substance Painter, I like to make duplicates of my geo and rename them; so if our base geo naming is Axe_geo, our low duplicate would be Axe_low. I usually use Comet Renamer to accomplish this across all pieces of geo. I then export the low as FBX. I also do the same in ZBrush, but rename all the objects where it says ‘low’ to ‘high’, and use this to import in our Substance file. I am using OpenGL, as we will be rendering with Arnold in Maya. 3D WORLD 47
Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render
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08 BAKE IN SUBSTANCE
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After importing into Substance Painter we can go into the Baking menu located under the Texture Set Settings. Open the Bake Mesh Maps menu. I set the output size to 4k, as I like having them baked to have that size readily available at export. In the highdefinition menu load your High FBX exported out from ZBrush. We change Match to By Mesh Name, so that when it looks to bake it only looks for the low/high syntax so that each object bakes to itself.
WITH MIXAMO, CORRECT IN ZBRUSH 09 POSE
Since I am not a fan of posing my creatures I usually rely on Mixamo for quick results that I can then go back and refine in ZBrush. After exporting it out as an FBX file from Mixamo I’ll bring it into Maya so I can export each part out individually as an OBJ file. Then we can re-import them into the corresponding parts inside of ZBrush, taking on the detail we’ve already laid down on the base sculpt and mesh, but in the posed position. Now we can start roughing out our Maya scene.
AVATAR FOR 10 EXPORT MARVELOUS DESIGNER
For this step we want to use ZBrush’s Transpose Master plugin to make all our pieces one object, so that we can export it as OBJ to bring into Marvelous Designer. After we get it into Marvelous we 48 3D WORLD
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make a quick pattern, set up some pins and run the sim. Export the Pattern Geo back to ZBrush.
AND TOPOLOGY 11ADDNEWTHICKNESS
For our purposes we just want to run a quick ZRemesh on the cape; as we won't be using this for animation, the final topology doesn’t really matter. First though I want to tweak it with some of the Cloth brushes to give it a little more flow. We'll be using the ClothMoveBrush for this. Now we can ZRemesh. After this, let’s give it a little thickness by using ZModeler. We want to have extrude turned on and polygroup all, and then extrude it to the desired thickness.
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Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render
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THE 12 COMPOSE ENVIRONMENT
I want my character to look victorious, as if he has just conquered a battle on an alien world. I'm going to rely on some Megascans for this environment. After I find the correct elements, I import them into Maya, duplicate and place them for the correct filling out of the composition.
THE 13 REFINE SCULPT IN POSE 12
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Back in ZBrush I'll use Transpose Master to refine the pose and fix any issues caused by the Mixamo rig. We will also adjust any anatomy that would change in said pose refining of the sculpt. 3D WORLD 49
Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render
IN 14 BAKE SUBSTANCE PAINTER
Now we’ll bring the character and its parts into Substance Painter and begin to bake and lay down the base textures. Once we have achieved a result we like we can export the textures.
WITH 15 EXPERIMENT LIGHTING
At this stage l start to bring everything back into Maya and begin testing the lighting. If you aren't familiar with the plugin Zoo Tools by Andrew Silke and the team over at Create3dcharacters.com, you should check it out. It is pretty much my go-to start for every project. I can test lighting scenarios quickly and find a direction I want to go in (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zOH_e1qDup8).
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16 ADD TEXTURES
Once we find our final image angle we lock the pose and start to add in our textures exported from Substance Painter. Since we are using Arnold Renderer, we are going to use the aiStandardSurface shader for each of the texture sets. After applying the shaders
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Transform a quick concept into an amazing final render let’s locate each exported file. We have Diffuse, Roughness, Metallic and Normal maps. Once we've imported them in, we plug them into the graph the way they are intended. When plugging in the Diffuse the colour space is SRGB, but for Normal, Roughness and Metallic, change it to Raw.
AND 17 ROUGHNESS METALLIC LUMINANCE
For both Roughness and Metallic, expand Color Balance and turn on the ‘Alpha is luminance’ option for both of them. Once we get our final result we render out the passes and put them together, adjusting different blending modes and tweaking the hue and saturation, as well as darkening areas and adding more to our background, creating a test composite.
18 FINAL IMAGE
Now we’ve come to our final image, the full 5k render. With a little compositing magic back in Photoshop, we compile the background layer, using found elements and some photobashing to get the background we like. •
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Texturing
MONTREAL Software Blender,Photoshop Year made 2021
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Texturing
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork
Max Bedulenko artstation.com/mb14 Max Bedulenko is a concept artist with over six years’ experience creating weird architectural stuff.
TEXTURING My approach is quite simple, but making it can take a lot of time. I usually create textures in the ordinary way, through a mapping node or using Texture Paint mode in Blender. So by having simple textures, I proceed to overpaint in Photoshop. I can spend a lot of time manually working out all the rough edges, emphasising the light and adding more details. After a few days of work, the whole picture looks different, it looks more picturesque and solid. I like it when 3D artwork looks like a 2D piece. Overall, my main suggestion is to put some time and love into your art. 3D WORLD 53
FOLLOW THE VIDEO
http://bit.ly/3Dworld-lookdev
VECTORWORKS
DESIGN A HOME OFFICE WITH VECTORWORKS Vectorworks, Inc. shares how to embrace 3D modelling for home office design
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hen the global pandemic hit in 2020, people around the world weren’t prepared to spend as much time in their homes. Most offices closed. Remote work became the norm, and the need for a home office or dedicated workspace quickly rose to the top of many people’s priority list. With this demand, designers need tools to address the interior and architectural needs of their clients. Enter Vectorworks design and BIM software. Vectorworks Architect is an award-winning BIM software solution that enables you to sketch, model and document any size project from concept to completion. From initial 54 3D WORLD
sketch to coordinating full-scale construction plans, Architect brings efficiency to workflows and data-rich insights to the full design process. Vectorworks Architect 2021 includes the customisable Smart Options Display, Quick Search capability, Excel Import/Export and a new Materials resource that defines the graphical attributes and data of building materials all in one location for a better BIM workflow. The multithreaded Vectorworks Graphics Module Cache offers up to five times faster file loading and navigation. Vectorworks Fundamentals is our basic CAD software package, offering superior 2D and 3D capabilities and
an intuitive modelling and documentation platform. Sketch, model, document and present your design ideas with precision drafting capabilities and a flexible 3D modelling engine, powered by Siemens Parasolid. Additionally, high-quality renders can be created directly inside files thanks to default textures within thousands of Vectorworks content library objects and our easy-touse Renderworks features. Vectorworks Fundamentals 2021 features the customisable Smart Options Display letting you stay in the modelling space with tools right at the tip of your mouse. With the help of Vectorworks, Inc., you will be walked through
AUTHOR Luis Ruiz Luis M. Ruiz, International Assoc. AIA, senior architect product specialist at Vectorworks, Inc., uses over 30 years of architectural expertise to showcase Vectorworks software’s capabilities. www.vectorworks.net
the steps for transforming a home office that fosters creativity, serenity or whatever else someone needs to be successful in their careers and hobbies. You’ll learn how to explore layouts, model and visualise your designs all in a single software solution. After mastering these steps, you can experiment with flooring, wall, colour and even décor and furniture layout without ever switching applications. Plus, you’ll be introduced to the various colour libraries available in Vectorworks, including SherwinWilliams, Behr, Benjamin Moore, Pantone, Farrow & Ball, and where to access them. Lastly, Vectorworks will share where you can find helpful resources to further your rendering skills and capabilities for your home office design, so the creating can continue. DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES For all the assets you need go to http://bit.ly/3Dworld-lookdev Images courtesy of Vectorworks 3D WORLD 55
Design a home office with Vectorworks
01
01MODEL TRAY CEILING
First draw a polygon, then extrude it. Next, trace the perimeter edge; it’s creating a polyline, and that’s your ‘Extrude Along Path’. When you select Extrude Along Path you must define a path, and then define a shape that you want to extrude along that path. After you’ve created a polygon and extruded, you’ll have the base of a ceiling. Trace the edge to create a polyline. The next step is to grab a moulding profile from the Vectorworks library, then edit the profile to suit your needs. Finally, you can edit the profile with the Reshape tool.
02 EDIT THE PROFILE
Use the Resource Manager tool in Vectorworks to put the profile in the scene. Select the profile. Next, select the polyline that was previously traced along the edge to do Extrude Along Path.
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Design a home office with Vectorworks
CUSTOM 03 CREATE CEILING LIGHT SYMBOL
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Next you can make some adjustments by lowering the extrude. The light fixture or the light symbol is also part of modelling the tray ceiling, as it's recessed into the ceiling. To create the custom light, draw a circle and then use Push/Pull to extrude it. Then draw another circle using the Automatic Planes. Lastly, draw a third circle on the surface and extrude it in the negative. Next, fillet the edges for both extrudes.
A 04 INCLUDE LIGHT OBJECT
Turn on Multiple Drawing View Support, also known as ‘multiview’, by pressing the M key. Next, use the Light tool to place a light object. In this example, the designer is placing a spot light. Vectorworks software offers a variety of different light objects, and in addition to the spot light, the software also provides a light that represents the sun, or lights that are linear.
05 CONVERT TO SYMBOL 04
Select all objects and create a symbol. Then, place the symbol in the object that was just modelled.
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Design a home office with Vectorworks Multiple Drawing View Support is a helpful feature in Vectorworks that enables you to see views of your project simultaneously. For this design, Multiple Drawing View is used to place the light object in the symbol, so that you can better locate the object.
SYMBOLS 06 PLACE BELOW CEILINGS
Now that we have ceilings at different heights, we place each light symbol at the desired location. 14 can lights with medium brightness make up the perimeter of the room. Four larger units get placed at the centre of the room. While in multiview, you can use Extrude Along Path to create the baseboards and to make trim around the window.
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DRAG AND DROP 07RESOURCE CONTENT FROM THE MANAGER
Using the Resource Manager, you can search for different types of furniture. Once selected, drag and drop your desired furniture into the scene. In this example, the designer has searched for a table, chair, bookcase and lamp. He has dragged and dropped from the Resource Manager and put it all in the scene, and he's now configuring a layout.
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Design a home office with Vectorworks
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08 ADD FLOORING TEXTURE Adding a floor texture is similar to the previous step, because it's merely grabbing content from the Vectorworks library, taking the texture, then dragging and dropping from the Resource Manager onto the floor object or the slab.
FOR TRENDING 09ACCENTREPLACE CONTENT AND ADD WALL COLOUR
Top View, and with the marquee select every other vertical control point. Move all about 14”. From the Object Info palette switch to iteration 3. Add more splits and move control points randomly. Then, from Top View, select the entire subdivision object and scale inwards. Mirror and duplicate the ‘curtains’ and apply texture.
11RENDER AT DAYTIME
Place an HDRI background and set to receive noise. Insert a heliodon/sun object. Set the time of day and preview day light to enter the room at an angle. Turn off all light objects. Use the Renderworks rendering style ‘day time’ to see what the design looks like during the middle of the day. •
Further your rendering skills
Now that you’ve learned to create daytime renders of your office design, don’t stop there. Find tutorials for creating twilight and nighttime scenes too, at bit.ly/3xmQAmd
Select the wall and go to the Attributes palette. Double-click the Solid fill colour under the bucket. Then, in the top right, there's a Pick A Color option from the colour palette and within this, you’ll see all these different libraries offered in Vectorworks, including
Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Benjamin Moore, Pantone, Farrow & Ball,
and Rose Brand.
MODEL CURTAINS WITH 10 SUBDIVISION TOOL
The model starts as a simple straight line, then is extruded about 96” tall. The object then gets converted into a subdivision object, iteration 0. Next, the subdivision surface is split. Afterwards, flip to
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Top: Concept for Unbound: Worlds Apart Above: In-game screenshot
Create game worlds from concept art
UNREAL ENGINE | PHOTOSHOP
CREATE GAME WORLDS FROM CONCEPT ART
Discover how to transform initial concept art into a stunning final videogame scene
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n indie studio based in Romania, Alien Pixel takes pride in delivering games with unique artistic flair, and upcoming title Unbound: Worlds Apart is no different. Portalling onto PC and Nintendo Switch on 28 July 2021, Unbound: Worlds Apart allows players to explore fantastical, hand-drawn Metroidvanian worlds. Unbound: Worlds Apart is an atmospheric puzzle-platformer where the main character, Soli, travels between different realities and worlds in order to learn more about the catastrophe that has ravaged his world. By conjuring interdimensional portals, players acquire unique abilities such as inverse gravity, time manipulation and super strength that can be used to solve puzzles, outsmart creatures and unravel mysteries. Artwork is the backbone of this player experience in Unbound: Worlds
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Apart, transporting gamers from the banal to the beautiful. The game’s aesthetic approach can be summarised as a dark fairytale presented in a cartoonish style. Curiosity and exploration has a big impact on the overall atmosphere of Unbound: Worlds Apart. Inside certain portals, the physical properties of the character or world elements can change. In this tutorial, Alien Pixel’s Olga Ciob will show you the workflow for getting from a concept image to the final scene in a video game, using Unbound: Worlds Apart as an example of how such techniques can bring fantasy worlds to life. DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES For all the assets you need go to http://bit.ly/3Dworld-lookdev
AUTHOR Olga Ciob An artist in the gaming industry since 2006, Olga Ciob has worked with a number of big-name studios such as Electronic Arts Romania and AMC Pixel Factory. In 2015 she founded Square Heads Games, before joining Alien Pixel Studios as an Associate in 2017. www.artstation.com/ olgaciob
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Create game worlds from concept art
01CREATE THE ASSETS
The first step is to separate your concept art into assets according to image depth, dividing the art between four clear layers: Background, Midground, Walk Path and Foreground. For example, Unbound: Worlds Apart is a platformer game and so is designed with certain mechanics in mind. Rune-engraved platforms make up the foreground for ease of character movement. This is set against a background of ominous forests, craggy mountains and other scenery designed to fit in the universe of magic and mystery. Remember to remove or convert all the blending modes to Normal, since Unreal Engine does not support blending modes such as Multiply, Overlay, Screen etc.
SPRITE 02 MAKE SHEETS
There are multiple ways to create sprite sheets, which will allow you to produce the animation using only a single file. Certainly, you can use the single PNG per asset if you prefer. However, for better performance – as we have used in Unbound: World’s Apart – we recommend using sprite sheets that contain textures for multiple sprites.
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Think about theatre
When arranging the scene in Unreal Engine, think of it like a theatre scene with all the decorations displayed in layers to create a beautiful perspective for the viewer. Be mindful of the level of details of the used assets. Detail should gradually decrease as the assets are placed further into the background.
02 Personally, we use sheets that typically contain 2,048 x 2,048px PNG 24 files with transparent backgrounds. Of course, the single PNG per asset can be used, but we’ve found that using sprite sheets with multiple textures has improved the overall execution.
THE 03 IMPORT TEXTURES
Next, create a new folder for the sprites and another one for textures. This will help to maintain a clean and clear workflow. A system to keep track of assets is vital for any artist, but especially those that work on
Create game worlds from concept art video games. Scenes need to be clearly organised for sudden developmental changes, which can come hard and fast, as well as eventual localisation (adjusting game content for release in multiple countries). Drag and drop the PNG files into the Content Browser window of the engine (Textures folder), and select the settings for image rendering options. It’s time to open the texture editor, where you’ll be able to set the image filtering and levels of detail according to programmer specifications. Don’t forget to save and close!
04 EXTRACT SPRITES 04
In order to extract the sprites, first go to the Content Browser and right-click the new imported feature. Then, select the Sprite Actions function and click on the Extract Sprites option. Once you’ve done this, the sprite editor will open. There will be a drop-down menu from which you should select Auto. Here, in the bottom-right corner, select Extract to successfully extract your sprite. It is worth bearing in mind that sprites will be generated in the same content window as the texture is.
SPRITES INTO 05 IMPORT THE SCENE
The next step is to import the sprite into the scenes. First, start by dragging your desired content from the Content Browser and dropping it into the scene. Be sure to adjust the position so that it aligns the way you want it to. Then, set the Y axis, which is the position according to the camera.
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06 COLLISION BOX
Next, you will need to edit the collision box of the sprite. Start by double-clicking on the sprite and once again opening up the sprite editor. Then, go to the top-right corner of your screen and click Edit Collision. In order to adjust them as desired, click on the collision box points. Some helpful things to note are that by using Shift+click you can add more collision points. If you’d like to remove collision points, use Alt+click instead. 3D WORLD 63
Create game worlds from concept art
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07 PREVIEW THE COLLISION Having created your collision box, you then need to ensure that it runs the way you want it to, so you’ll need to give it a preview. Hit play and preview the adjusted collision.
THE SPRITES IN THE SCENE 08 ARRANGE
When arranging the sprites on the Y axis, according to the sections they are in, you need to ensure that they are set to the following specifications: The Background, made up of ominous forests in Unbound: Worlds Apart. The Y axis should be set from -7,000 to -10,000. The Midground, which in our example comprises more detailed 64 3D WORLD
foliage. The Y axis should be set from -6,000 to -2,500. The Walk Path, where our character Soli treks along on his quest and floating platforms, the Y axis should be set from -35 to -1. Finally, the Foreground Y axis of Unbound: Worlds Apart should be set from 1 to 1,000 or more.
09 CREATE FOG
Adding fog is a component used extensively in games, and especially in the atmospheric environments of Unbound: Worlds Apart. Fog often gives video games a more tense, almost eerie look and feel, particularly apt for the dark fairytale style we’ve settled on for this title.
Depth of field
Be sure to use Depth of Field settings to help manage the number of details and sharpness of graphic assets, providing a better aerial perspective.
The fog is a PNG with a translucent gradient converted into a simple sprite. This will then create a better depth of field effect and give the image a better sense of aerial perspective. It will also help to separate the environment assets from the actual gameplay assets, making the level clear for the player. Of course it is important to have a beautiful environment, but it is also crucial to have very clear delimitation between the general environment and the assets the player can interact with. Now, the scene is complete with all the elements, atmosphere and playability of a true gaming experience. •
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The NVIDIA Virtual Background tool, packaged into a single node in Notch, is revolutionary for artists working in live concert visuals
NOTCH
UTILISE AI TOOLS WITH NVIDIA AND NOTCH Discover how the easy-to-use Virtual Background and Body Tracker tools can enhance your visual effects workflow
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his tutorial will introduce you to two powerful NVIDIA AI-driven tools: Virtual Background and the Body Tracker. These new features are directly integrated into Notch and open up hundreds of exciting uses for motion graphics and realtime artists. For example, the Virtual Background removal workflow eliminates the need for green screen keying, and the Body Tracker tool simply uses a 2D video of the human form to create a 3D skeleton rig that tracks a person’s movements. We’ve packaged the Virtual Background technology into a single node in Notch to make it 66 3D WORLD
easy for users. This node uses NVIDIA RTX-enabled GPUs to pick out human forms in videos or images and remove them from the background, outputting a greyscale mask. The mask will isolate talent from their environment in both pre-recorded and live video – making this a revolutionary tool for artists working in live effects and concert visuals. As a result, artists can have the power to capture their talent, separate them from the background noise and transport them into a world of real-time audio responsive and interactive VFX. The AR Body Tracker takes a video input and analyses it for
human motion and then applies that animation to a 3D character. It works using a simple webcam or pre-captured video footage and nothing more! Plus, this simple setup eliminates the need for expensive tracking or motion capture suits. Over the next nine steps, I’ll explain how these tools work and show you a few ways I’ve chosen to implement them into my design process. DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES For all the assets you need go to http://bit.ly/3Dworld-lookdev
AUTHOR Armin Kazlauskas Armin Kazlauskas is a motion grapher, VJ and visual performer. At Notch he works as a Lead Trainer, responsible for creating teaching material and educating people on using Notch. www.arminwerx.com / notch.one
Utilise AI tools with NVIDIA and Notch
01VIRTUAL BACKGROUND SETUP
NVIDIA Virtual Background gives you the ability to ‘key out’ a person from the background of a video feed. It requires no keying colour as it uses machine learning to detect the human form and turn it into an alpha channel. The AI developed by NVIDIA has been primarily trained on webcam feeds, video calls, and streaming for its data sources. I found front-on shots of a person's head and shoulders works best; however, it still achieves good results in a wide range of scenarios.
02 THE POWER OF A NODE
To get a project up and running, you only need a camera or HD webcam, an NVIDIA RTXpowered graphics card, and Notch. You can find the latest NVIDIA SDKs on the Notch website. Notch has packaged the NVIDIA Virtual Background into one node. When applied to a video feed or prerecorded video, the node creates an AI-driven alpha map that cuts the talent out of the footage. Once your talent is on a blank canvas, you can apply effects to their layer or completely replace the background.
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ENTERTAINMENT 03 LIVEIS CHANGING
The NVIDIA Virtual Background node is an excellent tool for motion graphics artists. You can ‘key’ out your talent from any existing video footage and add whatever graphics you wish back into the scene. When working with live footage, the workflow is the same. You key out the talent on the stage and replace it with real-time rendered graphics. No need for a green screen.
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AR BODY 04 NVIDIA TRACKER SKELETON The Body Tracker is another powerful AI-driven node that
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A GAME-CHANGER FOR LIVE EVENTS
“The killer feature for me is Virtual Background. I can't count the number of times I have been asked in rehearsals to add more separation between the artist and the backdrop. Until now, it was a lofty pipedream. But the speed and the consistency of the mask that the Virtual Background creates is impressive. This idea of crafting live video effects with a person keyed in real time is now a reality, and that fact still boggles my mind. And it's so simple to set up and deploy, which makes it even more attractive. It's a game-changer in the live video effects world. I can't wait to see it on every live event after COVID. It has rejuvenated the whole IMAG Effect game for me. I'm excited to get back out there now!” - Lewis Kyle White, Notch Designer and Creative Director, Pixels and Noise 3D WORLD 67
Utilise AI tools with NVIDIA and Notch eliminates the need for expensive tracking or mocap suits/studios. Instead, the AI can pick out the human form from a video source and create a tracked 3D skeleton rig. It works by isolating the human figure from the background noise of the rest of the video. It then figures out where the body parts are and how they are moving. Finally, this data is applied to the 3D skeleton in real time and creates bespoke character animations.
TRACKER 05 BODY USE CASES
This camera-only solution takes body tracking to new levels of accessibility. Animators can use this technology to test character rigs, load up their characters in Notch, and use the tracker and their webcam to record and animate movements. In live entertainment, it is now easier and cheaper than ever to track a person on stage. For example, if you want the stage talent to leave a trail of smoke or replace them with a robot mesh, you could generate these effects live while the show is playing.
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06 SET UP BODY TRACKER
To set up a scene, add the NVIDIA Body Tracker node to your Notch scene. Next, you'll need to add video footage. You can live stream directly from your webcam or import pre-recorded footage. Your video footage will appear as a Video Loader node in your node graph. Pipe the Video Loader into the Body Tracker node; as soon as it's hooked up, it's working. Next, add the NvAR node and use this to connect your rigged 3D character model mesh (ours is from Mixamo) to the Body Tracker node. The character will start animating in real time to the video footage.
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AN INTERACTIVE 07 CREATE WATERFALL If you expand the imported 3D mesh, you will see the skeleton data. Each bone appears as an individual node. I want to make the hands and head collide with a particle system. First, I will attach Shape 3Ds to the head and hand nodes and set the visibility of these shapes to 0. Now I have collision objects, I can build my particle 68 3D WORLD
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Utilise AI tools with NVIDIA and Notch
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system. To create a basic particle system in Notch, you need three nodes: a Particle Root, a Point Renderer, and a Primitive Emitter. All Particle System nodes will be children of the Particle Root. I want to create a cascading waterfall effect. To do this, I set my Primitive Emitter to Plane mode; now, my particles will emit from a flat surface. The next step is to add Effectors for physics simulation.
WORLD 08 THEANDREAL3D COLLIDE
Add an SPH Effector node, and the particles will begin to cascade downwards. Next, add a Collision Effector and connect with the Shape 3D nodes I’ve added to my mesh, resulting in the particles colliding with the character. I want my particles to appear as cylinders, so I add a Clone to Particles node to my scene, pipe in the Particle Root, and output a cylinder Shape 3D from it. Now I’ve laid the foundations for achieving the look, it’s time for you to add your flair. You can download this project from the Notch app splash screen and have a go with your webcam.
09 DIGITAL INSTALLATIONS These features can also be used in an interactive installation
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setting, giving designers exciting new opportunities to create digital art installations. In this interactive example, I tracked the person using an HD camera. They stand opposite a LED wall that has real-time Notch content playing on it. The setup is very similar to the previous project, using collision spheres to the skeleton rig's head, hand and feet bones; however, I have made the skeleton invisible this time. As the person interacts with the project on the LED screen, they move the particles in the waterfall. If you're interested in the interactive application of these tools, you can experiment by downloading free sample projects on the Notch website. •
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES
“We have all been there: the long lens close-up of the artist looks fantastic, except for those huge pixels in the background. Luckily, this is now a thing of the past. With the Virtual Background node, you can fill the back wall with type A content, isolate the close shot and replace that background with type B content. The possibilities are endless. I cannot wait to get back to the venues and start compositing. The 3D Skeleton tool is by far the best feature I have seen to this day. The lack of virtual shadows in LED-based virtual production was a big issue, but no more! Video-based 3D skeleton tracking has so many potential applications: virtual avatars, depth scanning to an extent, virtual reflections. This technology has blown my mind, and to think it is only in its infancy. Both tools will raise the quality of live entertainment and virtual production for the foreseeable future.” - Michael Al-Far, Creative Director, MALF Media 3D WORLD 69
Practical tips and tutorials from pro artists to improve your CG skills Cirstyn Bech-Yagher Cirstyn has moved from Radeon’s ProRender to the RizomUV team, where she does product management as well as modelling, UV mapping and tutorial writing. cirstyn.com Glen Southern Glen runs SouthernGFX, a small Cheshire-based studio specialising in character and creature design. He has been using and training ZBrush in the UK for over 15 years. www.southerngfx.co.uk Mike Griggs Mike Griggs is a digital content creator with over two decades of experience creating VFX and CGI for a wide range of clients. www.creativebloke.com Antony Ward Be it game development, rigging or recording in-depth courses for his YouTube channel, Antony boasts experience in most areas of 3D. www.antcgi.com Pietro Chiovaro Pietro is a freelance 3D artist and YouTuber. An expert in the creation of props and environments, he shares many of his creations on his channel. www.pietrochiovaro.com
GET IN TOUCH
EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO rob.redman@futurenet.com 70 3D WORLD
SOFTWARE: N/A
DOES THIS MODEL LOOK GOOD ENOUGH TO SELL? Frequent question in the RizomUV Discord Cirstyn Bech-Yagher replies Another frequent flier in the question department concerns commercial models. We often get asked whether a model looks good enough for a promo render – UVs included. I’ve covered this topic before, but it won’t hurt to repeat some of the basics if you’re looking to make some extra money this summer. Should you go down this road, it’s important to always keep these two things in mind. Number one: a business, even a brokerage, is never your friend. You may be friends with people in the company, but it has the same goals as you: making money for itself and its shareholders. For you, this means that what may be good for the business may not always be good for
you. Make sure to figure out what’s best for you as an artist and your side hustle. Number two: money. The most boring but crucial part. While a brokerage spends money on hosting, website, back-end and ‘bulk’ marketing, you do the heavy financial lifting as you pay for licences, hardware and peripherals out of your cut. And then you pay taxes. So make sure to check royalty rates at brokerages, because you will still need to do the maths on the money you want to make. Many places also offer you in-store credit. This may be nice, but it also invites you to spend virtual money, meaning the company can pay you out less in actual cash. Always get the money. You can write purchases off on your taxes instead.
Your CG problems solved
EXPERT TIP LITTLE THINGS MATTER When packing assets, keep file paths relative. It's a pain to open a file and have its textures resolve to a desktop that isn't yours. Remember to add contact info to your readme, so we can contact you if we have an issue – or want to offer you work.
STEP BY STEP CREATE COMMERCIALLY VIABLE MODELS
Good commercial assets should be easy to work with, from texture to final render, like this model by Dante78
But what about the things you want to sell? Never forget that quality matters, and that quality will always build your brand and your reputation. Over the years, I’ve picked up my share of shaders, textures, scripts, plugins and models to save time, or my clients have bought an asset they wanted to use. I’ve cursed at my desk at 3am more than once because the asset looked shiny but ate up all my billing profit because I’ve had to fix it. And as geometry in particular can be time-consuming to fix, I now consider myself the proprietor of ‘A Museum of Bad Meshes’, and I can’t be the only one with a collection like this. Here are a few dos and don’ts if you want to ensure your goods and reputation don’t end up there.
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01NAME YOUR STUFF!
Make sure to name your models and their elements. Not doing so wastes our time, especially when we're on a deadline, if we’re required to sort through unnamed layers or groups filled with objects named ngon34, object 121423, shape 083, to find the ones you need to fix or retexture.
02 PROPER UVS
Please don't tick that ‘UV mapped’ checkmark if your unwraps are full of distortion and tons of different texel densities. It's better to say the model is not unwrapped, than having bad UVs we have to spend time on doing over from scratch. Many applications now have AutoUVs which, for all their fragmentation to avoid distortion, are way better than no UVs. It’s important to remember that models are bought to save time, so please don't waste it.
03 GAME READY
If you're going to market your model as game ready, make sure it is. A
game-ready model means that it should be able to go into a game engine without any additional work required. A lot of models that are sold as game ready simply aren't, which means even more work for your customer. In short, game ready means no Ngons, good topology and UVs, good quad or tri-flow, low polycount, and optimised textures. A lot of people prefer quads, and to let the game engines do the triangulating, so keep that in mind.
04 PROMOS
In addition to showing off your fully textured model in good light on an unobtrusive background, also consider adding AO passes with and without normals, deformation and animation views, as well as showing your wireframe. A good wireframe will help to demonstrate your craftsmanship more than anything else, and will also potentially show how much work we need to do on the model, should we want to buy it, flaws and all. 3D WORLD 71
SOFTWARE: ZBRUSH 2021.6
HOW CAN I SCULPT CLOTH THAT LOOKS MORE REALISTIC? Ross Young, Scotland Glen Southern replies Cloth is one of the hardest things to sculpt when you’re starting out. For something that sounds so simple it is actually a very complex subject. You have to factor in the shape of the cloth, how light hits that form and a huge amount of real-world physics when it comes to the folds and interacting with its environment. There are dedicated programs such as Marvelous Designer that actually work out all the physics for you, even when the character you are trying to clothe is animated. In recent years a few programs have added those sorts of dynamics, but sometimes you just 72 3D WORLD
want to be able to sculpt material without worrying about how it animates. There are now a few programs that have dedicated cloth brushes including Blender, 3DCoat and ZBrush. You simply build your underlying sculpture, then make some cloth geometry to represent the material item you are trying to create. You can then inform the sculpture to become an object to interact with, which can also include the ground. Then you tell the cloth geometry to deform as cloth would when factoring in gravity. Or, you can get crazy and tell it that it’s in a liquid environment. From
that point there are a huge amount of dedicated brushes that allow you to push, pull, twist, crumple, fold and swirl the geometry as if it were actually cloth. It still sees the underlying model and can interact with it, creating realistic folds and crumples with each brush stroke. You can use tools like ClayBuildup, Flatten and Inflate to manipulate the model as you would any regular ZBrush ZTool. The Inflate brush is great as it fills in gaps where folds have fallen in an irregular way. Once the cloth has been tweaked to a shape that works for your particular project, you can then freeze it using
Your CG problems solved
EXPERT TIP DROP IT IN WATER FOR CRAZY EFFECTS To get some powerful effects simply turn on Liquify in the Dynamics menu. Lower the gravity and ‘Run’ the simulation. The cloth will hang in the air and start behaving as if it's floating in liquid. It can help to achieve some great-looking effects.
STEP BY STEP WORK WITH CLOTH BRUSHES IN ZBRUSH
Floating in liquid with Liquify results in some great effects. Use this before you start using the brushes on the cloth. Don’t forget to lower the gravity
some of the more normal ZBrush tools. For example you could use Decimation Master to bring down the polygon count. You could use DynaMesh to even out the geometry and also make the model solid ready for 3D printing. Or you could make a low-polygon version and UV map it and use it in animation programs. There are lots of options in the brush panel and again in each brush so you can tailor them to your needs. For example, you could change the gravity and make the model flow to the side as you’re sculpting, giving a very different effect as if the cloth is reacting to the wind.
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BASIC SCENE 01SETFORUPTHEACLOTH 03 GIVE IT SOME DEPTH Start by creating a basic scene so you can add some cloth as a starting point. I used a chair and table and then added a 3D plane to act as the cloth. Turn the floor on so we can see how the cloth reacts once it hits the floor. In the Subtool menu, for the table and chairs, hit the second button along (two circles), this means it will act as a collider object.
ON THE 02 TURN DYNAMIC SYSTEM
On the top menu you will see a Dynamics panel. Drag it to your sidebar for ease of use. Now we can change some settings before we start. Turn on Collision Volume. That makes the table act as we want. Increase the Self Collision. That's enough for a start so when you are ready, hit Simulation and let it run to see how it performs. If you need to restart, just hit Esc and Ctrl+Z to try again.
At the moment the cloth is just a single-sided plane. You can now add thickness to cloth in ZBrush, so with the Plane selected go to the Geometry panel and look for Dynamic SubDiv. Turn this on and then add some thickness using the correct slider. Don’t make it too thick for this type of cloth emulation.
WITH 04 EXPERIMENT THE BRUSHES
Now you can have some fun and start using a wide range of Cloth brushes that will respect the underlying model and the world physics. Hit B to activate the Brush menu and then C to filter it down to brushes beginning with C. Look for anything that starts with the word ‘Cloth’ Have some fun experimenting and try Cloth Pinch, Cloth Move, Cloth Fold and Cloth Dimple as a start. There are loads of combinations and options for you to try out to achieve your desired look. 3D WORLD 73
Your CG problems solved
SOFTWARE: CINEMA 4D | AFTER EFFECTS | REDSHIFT 3D
HOW DO I REPLACE SCREEN CONTENT IN ACliveRENDER THAT HAS REFLECTIONS? Banks, Glasgow Mike Griggs replies There are few things as good for a 3D artist than looking at their fully rendered animation, at final 4K quality, comped and graded, at the end of a weeks-long process. The animation has been seen by the client, who loves it and is about to go to final delivery. Suddenly, however, the client realises a key piece of content is wrong and needs to be changed, and the deadline has to stay the same – which is tomorrow. This potentially disastrous situation is one that can be solved very quickly if the 3D artist 74 3D WORLD
has accepted the fact that no animation or VFX project is ever final until it is shown to its audience, and has planned accordingly. Situations like this can be very common when it comes to screen-based content, and although a version may have been embedded into the final renders, all it takes is for one word to be tweaked to require a complete revision, as the screens have reactive lighting highlights that travel across their surface. If such an issue arises, leading to the replacing of screen content in a rendered
animation, this example will lay out the key stages that need to be considered, planned and created. We’re using Cinema 4D and Redshift for the 3D and After Effects for the compositing stage here; although, the methodology of the stages required are common for any 3D and compositing workflow. Even though 3D render engines can produce renders much more quickly than they used to be able to, they can still take considerable time, especially for animations. So, understanding the
Your CG problems solved
EXPERT TIP ADD THE REFLECTION To give the final polish, add the Specular render pass and another instance of the Screen Pass set as a Luma Pass. Set the Mode to ‘Add’, which will allow the new Screen underneath to become visible. To add more effects, precompose these two new layers to allow effects to use the edge of the screen.
STEP BY STEP REPLACE A SCREEN IN A RENDERED ANIMATION
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01RENDER PASS SETUP
THE C4D FILE INTO 03 IMPORT AFTER EFFECTS
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For renders like this, where a new screen may have to be comped in, we need to be able to ensure any changes can be made efficiently
benefits of deciding to have ‘emergency’ render passes available is a valuable skill to learn. The purpose of any workflow like this is to make sure that the animation has the ability to remain ‘live’, up to as late a stage as possible. Even though the solution could take up a bit more disk space for the extra renders required, and slightly longer when creating the initial comp in After Effects, it’s a price worth paying to make sure a tricky problem can be solved quickly and easily.
The most important way to make sure that any potential changes can be easily sorted out, without the need to rerender, is to ensure that there are suitable render passes. For this example of a tablet, which could need its screen content tweaked in the future, I have utilised four render passes: a full-colour Beauty pass; a Cryptomatte that generates colour by material; a specific pass to isolate the screen only; and a Specular layer that only renders the highlights.
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CINEMA 4D COMPING SETUP
Usually Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects play well together, and a native Cinema 4D scene can be imported without needing to be saved as a ‘Cineware’, which can create a needless version of a file. For this file, an External Compositing tag has been added to the screen object, which has had its Axis centred. This should create a null for the screen when imported into After Effects.
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Once the renders are ready, import them into After Effects. Make sure that the frame rate matches that of the Cinema 4D scene file, which can also be imported. Create a new composition with the Cinema 4D file and add the initial Beauty render pass. Select the Cinema 4D file layer in the timeline, then press the Extract button in the Cineware effects attributes to load the camera and Screen Null into the composition.
04 COMP IN THE NEW SCREEN
In this example a new composition has been created and then dropped into the main composition. Convert the new composition into an After Effects 3D layer and then use the pick-whip while pressing the Shift key to parent the screen layer to the Screen Null. The screen should now be centred to the correct position, so rotate the screen and scale to the correct size. Add the Screen render pass as a Luma Matte to blend the screen into the scene. 3D WORLD 75
Your CG problems solved With more and more tools being released that automatically generate rigs in Maya, do we need to bother learning how to create things from scratch?
SOFTWARE: AUTODESK MAYA
WHY SHOULD I LEARN RIGGING WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY AUTOMATIC RIGGING TOOLS? Jeff Berkridge, Pudsey Antony Ward replies Building a rig from scratch can be a time-consuming task. It can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on what you’re rigging and its intended platform, so it is no surprise that many companies opt to use automatic rigging tools. These can dramatically speed up the generation of all those joints, nodes and constraints, leaving more time to focus on other tasks. So, with this being the case, why do we still build rigs from scratch? Well, I’ve been working in the industry for over two decades now and there have only been a handful of occasions when a client has asked me to use their in-house tools to rig their characters. I find that for the most part, clients want unique, custom-built rigs which suit their specific project and the way their animators work. I could spend weeks working closely with an animation team on one project to create the ultimate rig, but then find that 76 3D WORLD
EXPERT TIP BUILD YOUR OWN RIG TOOLS Once you’ve conquered the main areas of rigging, why not create your own automatic rigging tools? But rather than generating a whole rig, focus on speeding up more generic repetitive tasks, like rigging arms and legs. This way you are still able to customise the rig to suit the client’s needs. the same setup isn’t suitable for another team who work in a different way. It seems clients also prefer to have more streamlined rigs that are not bloated, ‘one size fits all’ configurations filled with unused systems. They also want rigs that suit the project and their pipeline and as the project evolves, a custom-built rig offers much more freedom to update and change it easily too. Another thing to keep in mind is that a rig built with an automatic rigging tool
is essentially someone else’s rig which combines their techniques and ideas. If something goes wrong or you need to modify it, you can find yourself getting lost in an ocean of nodes as you try to work out what each does, while being careful not to break things. Automatic rigging tools certainly have their place in the industry, but as you can see, having knowledge of the rig building process will always make you an essential part of any team.
Your CG problems solved
SOFTWARE: BLENDER
HOW CAN I CREATE A REALISTIC SEA? John Lison, Derby Pietro Chiovaro replies There are many different ways to create a realistic sea in CGI. Certain processes might start with tools and modifiers, that simplify the process, while other methods require a bit more knowledge. Here I will show you how to tackle the hardest method, but in the easiest way possible. This process, using Blender, is based on a physics simulation, so the final results are accurate and close to real-life water. For the correct creation of realistic fluid, we first have to understand which elements are the most important for our simulation. In this case, the main element to define is the size of the area involved in the simulation. To simplify the calculation I created a portion of the sea, and the ‘diorama’ has been created inside a rectangle which will define the area of the simulation. I created a simple ground and after that, I indicated the relation that this object has with the fluid. To do that, you have to select the mesh interested in the simulation (in this case,
the beach), then on the right you have to select the Physics panel. Next, select Fluid – here you need to indicate the type of participation in the fluid simulation, so select Obstacles. This way the fluid will not overlap the sand, but will instead collide with the surface. After that, we have to create a cube that will define the area in which the fluid simulation will work (the rectangle). In the Physics panel, under Fluid Type we have to select Domain. Now the last element we have to create is the plane that will emit the fluid. To do this we have to select the plane and set the Fluid Type to Inflow.
Now that we have defined the relations between all of these objects in the fluid simulation, we have to fix some of the parameters inside the domain details. The two main values that we need to set are related to the Fluid World – the first one is the Grid Levels (set it to 2) and the Compressibility with a value of 0.035. Last but not least we have to set the value for the final resolution, and for this simulation I set a value of 270. Now, selecting the domain, we just have to apply a material for the water (something similar to a glass shader), start the baking, and have a coffee while waiting for the final result!
EXPERT TIP BAKING TIME AND FINAL QUALITY To create a realistic water simulation I suggest you set a Final Resolution value in a range between 230 and 300, and be aware that higher values will exponentially increase the baking time.
In the Physics panel you can choose the fluid viscosity, and there are different presets like honey, oil and of course water 3D WORLD 77
Modelling
HORSE Software Maya, ZBrush Year made 2021 78 3D WORLD
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork
Marko Chulev markochulev.com Marko Chulev is a model supervisor with over 15 years VFX industry experience at Industrial Light & Magic.
MODELLING I started from the ground up and actually built a full skeleton and muscle model, which made it easier to layer the rest of the pieces on top and achieve more realistic and accurate results. Using few anatomical photo references I built the anatomy in ZBrush using Sculptris Pro, it’s a very artistic approach and almost like an unlimited supply of clay so you can focus on the artistic part and not worry too much about the technical at an early stage. Once happy with the sculpt, I decimated it and brought it over to Maya to do a proper retopology.
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News and views from around the international CG community
Goodbye Kansas worked on the cinematic TV trailer for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, finding effective ways to work as a team despite lockdown
DAY IN THE LIFE OF A…
VFX supervisor
We caught up with Henrik Eklundh, who talks us through his typical day as VFX supervisor at Goodbye Kansas Studios in Stockholm NAME Henrik Eklundh JOB TITLE VFX supervisor STUDIO Goodbye Kansas Studios LOCATION Sweden ABOUT Henrik Eklundh is a VFX supervisor at Goodbye Kansas Stockholm whose work focuses on cinematics and trailers. WEB linkedin.com/in/ henrikeklundh
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enrik Eklundh has worked in the industry for over 15 years, and specifically with cinematics for the last ten. He has had a hand in most of the cinematic trailers coming out of Goodbye Kansas Studios, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077. Eklundh has a great passion for his work and is a firm believer in teamwork, having everyone pitch in with as little hierarchy as possible in projects to gives artists a sense of ownership over what they do. Here Eklundh breaks down a typical day working at the Stockholm-based studio.
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08:00am Hopefully(!) the kids are off to school and I'm on my way to our office in Stockholm. When I first arrive at the office I’ll grab myself a coffee and check in on any renders that have been left
overnight. If I have some time, I’ll work on some of the outstanding tasks that I have assigned myself on certain projects.
11:00am By this point it is most likely that something other than my usual workload has come up, so I will need to reroute my attention
09:30am By now we should have everyone in the production team at the office, so we would usually have a quick check-in to see if there is anything to discuss, edits or changes that need to be made, and create the schedule. This consists of everyone’s tasks for the day, any smaller catchups that are needed and if we have any client calls.
to that task. I might need to gather a few artists together to discuss the matter at hand before returning to my usual schedule.
“IF YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN WHILE WORKING IN VFX THEN YOU ARE NOT DOING IT RIGHT; YOU NEED TO HAVE THE PASSION FOR THE JOB”
13:00pm Now there is another daily to be had, usually around 13:30 since people tend to be late going to lunch, and we want everyone to have at least an hour
A day in the life
ACHIEVE VFX SUCCESS
Henrik Eklundh shares his journey to VFX supervisor at Goodbye Kansas
Can you tell us about your journey to becoming VFX supervisor at Goodbye Kansas? I’ve always been a generalist, as I tend to want to be able to do everything. At the beginning of my career, when the projects were small, it was a really good opportunity for me to learn all of the different departments and roles in a project. I don’t think there isn’t a role I haven’t done to some degree. As my role grew, so too did the projects, and I’m now the VFX supervisor over most cinematics at Goodbye Kansas. What advice would you give to those looking to have a career in VFX? It might seem a little difficult to initially get in the door, but if you are passionate about having a career in VFX then really go for it! I’ve found it to be a very rewarding and fun career as it allows you to live out your creativity to the fullest. Follow the work of your favourite artists and studios, and also try to keep up with the latest trends as much as possible.
What qualities, skills and abilities are essential to being a successful VFX supervisor? Communication, leadership and organisational skills as well as technical expertise are key. Having proven artistic skills are always a good starting point, but the most important thing you can do is leave nothing to chance. Always ensure you and your team are on the same page – always know what you’ve done, what you are doing, and what to do next. What do you enjoy most about your role? I get to interact with people on so many levels, be it as a support, as a leader or just as a fellow artist. Making sure everyone is feeling confident and comfortable in their tasks so that everyone can enjoy the work we are producing is so rewarding. If you’re not having fun while working in VFX then you are not doing it right; you need to have the passion for the job. When my team are enjoying working on the projects I'm assigned to, that is when I thrive the most.
break if possible; yes, some artists including myself tend to shorten this to get more work done, which is not ideal. 15:00pm If I’m lucky, there will be no impromptu meetings during the afternoon so I can focus on some personal tasks. Otherwise, I will stretch my legs and walk around to visit my team and check on how they’re progressing with their tasks. By this point, some of our clients are now awake so we may have a dailies meeting. 17:00pm The rest of the day consists of focusing on the tasks outlined during our morning meeting and some impromptu meetings with various departments. We tend to have meetings towards the day as the rest of our global clients are awake so we know what to do when the day starts all over again tomorrow.
The studio collaborated with CD PROJEKT RED on the E3 cinematic trailer for Cyberpunk 2077
17:30pm By now I would hopefully be at home ‘relaxing’ with my kids and family, but there are times when I’m still working at the office. This usually depends on the day or if we’re close to final delivery to a client. 3D WORLD 81
Photos of Brighton-based Studio Gobo’s office setup
MEET THE ARTIST
Xu Xiaojun
Xu Xiaojun of Studio Gobo answers our questions about his role as Studio Head and game director, discussing his favourite projects and day-to-day work life tudio Gobo, the Brightonbased team of leading interactive designers and game developers, recently announced that Xu Xiaojun will take over as Head of Studio. Founded in 2011 and a part of Keywords Studios since 2018, Studio Gobo works with AAA video games publishers the world over, partnering with companies such as Ubisoft, Disney, Tencent and Warner Bros. Starting with a team of fewer than 20 people, Gobo now has more than 100 highly talented development staff working across multiple platforms and projects. Having joined Studio Gobo soon after it was founded, Xu Xiaojun has been an integral part of growing the design department over the past 10 years, and plans to take on 20-30 new hires by the
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end of 2021. Best known for his role as game director on high-profile projects like Ubisoft’s For Honor and Hyper Scape, we caught up with Xiaojun to find out a little more about his new role at the helm of Studio Gobo… Tell us a bit about your background in game design and direction. I come from a game design background, starting my career as a level designer at Ubisoft Shanghai right after university. Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to work on many different genres and found that many design principles were transferable from project to project. This helped me to build a range of concepts; I could evaluate them in a more analytical, objective way. For Honor (Ubisoft’s medieval action fighting game) was my first project as game
director. We were working within a huge team led by Ubisoft Montreal, and many talented artists and designers there helped support the project, working together with Studio Gobo as a whole collaborative effort. It was a tremendous learning experience for me personally, on how to best align with the vision of an existing project, but also how to clearly define the constraints and maintain a level of autonomy for my team. What’s your day-to-day life and current setup like at Studio Gobo? Studio Gobo has a fairly typical game development setup, where we have talent across all disciplines from art to design and programming. The team includes more than 120 people now and is continuing to grow steadily over time. We have quite a traditional leadership structure within
each project to facilitate decision-making, but below the surface, there’s not really much hierarchy. We put a lot of effort into building a comfortable and safe work environment, making sure everyone’s voice is heard. As studio head, my day-to-day life is less predictable. On top of making sure that the teams on each project get everything they need for success, I also focus on finding future opportunities and creating a nurturing, empowering work environment. What skill set is needed as a game director? Regardless of your background – whether it’s on the creative or technical side of the games industry – having a good track record can give you the confidence and credibility to start as a game director. However, a more critical skill over the longterm is listening. You won’t be able to contribute as much hands-on work as before. Instead, the quality of your game depends on how well you empower, delegate and utilise the team’s strengths. I also talk a lot about curiosity – the desire to nurture your
“THE QUALITY OF YOUR GAME DEPENDS ON HOW WELL YOU EMPOWER, DELEGATE & UTILISE THE TEAM’S STRENGTHS” passion, learn new skills and stay current on the latest technologies, or even the latest pop culture. The more diverse a team you have, and the wider their collective interests, the more trends they will pay attention to. Your projects then benefit from a range of different creative perspectives. How do the art and aesthetics fit into your overall vision for a game? Art plays a unique role in games because of the interactive nature of the media, as well as its technical constraints. To achieve visually impressive scenes in a game requires a team of experts, each contributing their own area of expertise. The vision of the game evolves from concept through production, and various disciplines all help shape how the game looks along the way. It’s really important to create a forum
so you can get all these inputs, but at the same time, know there will be conflicting constraints. It’s expected of you to be decisive and make the right compromises. As an external developer, it’s crucial for Studio Gobo to understand the client’s artistic vision from early on, so as to set a clear goal for the project and have all relevant references in place. This helps build a foundation from which the team can work autonomously, with clear guidance. What software do you use? Studio Gobo spend most of our time in game engines, such as Unreal Engine, or bespoke proprietary engines developed by the clients themselves. Each department will then use a specialist software to bring their assets to life, most of which are fairly standard across the industry, including Maya, 3ds Max, 3D WORLD 83
Meet the artist
Houdini, and MotionBuilder. We also use Machinations for game design modelling. Technology in the games industry evolves very fast – not just software but also methodologies. It is really important for us to stay aware of any relevant advancement. For Studio Gobo, one advantage of being an external developer is that we work with many different AAA clients such as Ubisoft, Disney, Tencent and Warner Bros – all of whom have a unique technical setup. This gives our team a wealth of experience that you simply wouldn’t get in-house. The ability to quickly adapt to new technologies and the genuine desire to learn are super important for us. Tell us about your favourite projects. That would have to be Disney Infinity, which was my very first project at Studio Gobo. We made the entire Pirates Of The Caribbean playset. It was very refreshing to work on something playful, made to delight and surprise people. As a designer back then, I learned a huge amount about creating games for a young audience. Children are so forgiving when they play the game, but also super excited when they discover small details or Easter Eggs that you carefully planted in the different levels, which makes you feel incredibly appreciated. We had many 8-12-year-olds coming into the studio for playtesting. They don’t follow the more rigidly defined mission structure that you see in many mainstream games. We had to make things freer and embrace distractions in the gameplay. To see a young, passionate audience genuinely having fun right in front of you is very rewarding.
input from multiple studios these days, each with their own specialism, so keeping the process collaborative and honest is critical to success. When we have review sessions with our partners, whenever possible, we will play together to get the full context of the feedback. The iteration and production
“THE ABILITY TO QUICKLY ADAPT TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE GENUINE DESIRE TO LEARN ARE SUPER IMPORTANT FOR US” Walk us through a typical project from concept to completion. As an external developer, we usually start a project with a brief from the client. We then do due diligence, agree scope, align vision, assign team members and plan out the timeline. When joining projects at an early stage, we can scope out the creatively risky features, prototype and prove out the final vision. We also learn more about what resources are required for production. Most AAA projects are brought to life with 84 3D WORLD
As a whole, the games industry evolves very fast, but our involvement with some of the world’s top franchises enables Studio Gobo to meet the brightest minds in gaming. We learn new and innovative techniques first-hand, which feeds back into our projects. Not only that, we hire young, talented people and give them the opportunity to grow, sharpening their craft.
How much time do you set aside for personal development and training for the team at Studio Gobo? There are many different tracks for personal development happening at Gobo. We organise self-directed time for the team to learn and pursue personal projects. Plus, we often reach out to industry experts who host workshops and masterclasses in the studio. Just recently, process will continue until we fulfil that Ed Hooks was invited to give a talk on final vision. “Acting for Animators”, which the team found hugely inspiring. How do you keep things fresh? Studio Gobo has a dedicated conference One thing I feel very fortunate for is that, budget, so employees get to attend major as an independent developer, we are not industry events like GDC and Siggraph. tied to a specific publisher or a franchise. There are a lot of self-organised events too. There’s a lot you can do to build a creative The engineers have regular reading club environment in-studio, but ultimately it’s meetings; artists organise cross-project the actual projects your team devote most peer reviews; and designers have weekly of their time to. The chance to work on so many different, ambitious games helps keep game forums to present and discuss specific games or design topics. things fresh at Studio Gobo.
Studio Gobo collaborated with Ubisoft on the action videogame For Honor
One thing we really promote at Studio Gobo is continuous development and growth. That’s why curiosity is a key character trait that we look for in any potential new hires. Going forward, is there a dream project you’d like to work on? I’d love to work on a spy game! It’s a theme that’s very challenging from a game design
point of view – to give the player agency and to reward their observational skills. There are many popular franchises out there that do this genre justice, such as Hitman, but there are also a lot of titles that reduce the complexity of missions to repetitive gameplay mechanics. In the process, these games lose that sense of tension and payoff for the player. In a way, it’s contradictory, as game design needs
to build familiarity which can then lead to mastery. I would love to work on such a project and solve these problems. Seriously though, and I’m sure many would agree, once you have a clear vision it doesn’t matter if you’re working on your dream project or not. When you have a group of like-minded, talented people working together on a game, it’s a satisfying and powerful experience. 3D WORLD 85
PROJECT INSIGHT
Branch out with Houdini
Mojtaba Oriuee, creator of the Houdini plant growth toolkit GrowInfinite, answers our questions about the tool development process and his inspirations t’s about 20 years now since I started learning computer graphics, and I have done everything from creating digital environments, hardsurface modelling, look development to today, where I create 3D motion design, TV commercials and NFTs. In recent years, I also focused a bit more on the generation of fractals and growth motion. While it may seem abstract, this topic has always fascinated me and it is one of the main driving factors that led me to become not only a digital artist, but also a toolmaker. I developed the tool GrowInfinite, which allows you to create flora, animate plant growth and generate complex structures.
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What drove you to create the GrowInfinite tool? I had the chance to work with several plugins that could create vegetation, but as I wasn’t a developer on those plugins, I couldn’t reasonably expect that it would meet my needs as an artist, depending on the project I was doing at the time. I was creating growth animations, but they always had flickering, technical issues and in some cases, vegetation growth would just fail. Since that time, I had the desire to find a better way to handle growth and motion. Meanwhile, I had an eye on Houdini. I took on a gig using Houdini, after ten days of digging into the basics of SOPs and VOPs(!). The project was something between fun, work and nightmare. What
crazy guy would start learning Houdini, on a commercial project? But I beg you to believe it: this is the fastest way. After that, I had a better idea about how things work and what I could do with it. And once more, my mind flashed back to that desire of doing growth and motion. It started with a simple *.hip file; it was just a fir in the very first days. I created the workflow based on that and I continued to use that same workflow in subsequent gigs, but it was full of horrible ForLoops. But I progressively learned that if I wanted to create such things more efficiently, I would need to learn working with Houdini Digital Assets (HDA) and do it in a systematic way. With this method I could remove most ForLoops and speed up the performance of
Branch out with Houdini GrowInfinite isn’t limited to trees and vegetation, but also enables the creation of many different fractal patterns
the tool. Nowadays, I create many using this at the WINA Festival in 2019, where I was set of HDAs, ranging from growing ferns to invited to jury at this past year. And since I am maintaining GrowInfinite, I also spend bismuth crystals and jellyfish! time addressing customer requests and Before we get into how you became needs, as well as overall improving the tool the unique combination of artist and on a continuous basis. And, I publish my toolmaker, what type of work do you personal artwork on NFT platforms. mostly do? How did you start working Most of my work revolves around plants, in Houdini? whether they are for commercial or I started with 3D Studio Max R3.1. personal projects. I just love creating the After 16 years of working in 3ds Max variety of different forms that exist in as a CG generalist, where I mainly did the world. If I have to be more specific, environments, FX and look dev, I was I would say that the type of work ranges from being a freelance artist to art director. always getting advice about switching to Houdini! I started several times For example, I recently worked for a from Houdini 15, but I couldn’t make a London-based virtual tour company as connection. One day, I saw a video from art director. I was also an award winner
Helge Maus (Houdini Day, FMX edition). It was already H16.5 then, and Helge in his video convinced me that Houdini is not for code writers only! For me, it was a great checkmark. I was writing MaxScript sometimes, but doing it all the time was a boring job. On the other hand, ‘engineering’ in Houdini made it possible to handle tough procedural situations where multiple calculations occur… which perfectly addressed the growth theme that I always come back to! What gave you the idea to actually make a tool? You know, it’s a really uncomfortable feeling when you can’t do something correctly. After studying different packages that 3D WORLD 87
Branch out with Houdini
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Branch out with Houdini With this tool, artists can create flora, animate plant growth and generate structures, with a large amount of controls across branches, leaves, and tiny hairs
could make growth, I concluded that they had big problems like point number changing, limitations on where to create meshes that had no information – I was at my peak frustration. So it was a serious need to find a way out! Using Houdini, I could start anything with the smallest possible footstep. I could prototype and scale and add complexity. I could also just stop the process and simplify it. Through this process, I began to break my scene into individual HDAs. From there, I could do development faster.
in providing me with something that would otherwise take years of development for an artist like me! I can’t imagine how I could go through lines of codes to understand who does what later on. It might also be tough in VOPs as well, but it makes a lot more sense to me. I can debug things much easier.
What advice would you give to someone who has the idea to make something themselves and share it with the world? For people who like to create things, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You should What was the most surprising thing welcome them, as that is what you learn from. Don’t overthink how to do things and you didn’t expect, as a toolmaker? I never expected ScanlineVFX would take also, solve big problems by splitting them into their smaller parts. You will find the GrowInfinite licences! It gave me much answers, one by one. encouragement because when you have Some additional pointers: if you are going an idea and you are working in isolation, to develop your own digital asset, make sure you never really know if it’s good just for that you archive them every day. I had many yourself or for others too. Oh, and I am situations that resulted in undoing several also surprised to see how well Houdini can handle big data loads from one level to days’ work. In some cases where bugs start to appear, I prefer to switch back and start another! It does what it promises! again instead of finding bugs. Once you’ve found a solution that can In your experience, how strong does be sold on Gumroad or similar platforms, one have to be with scripting, to doing your best to pay more than what you author tools in Houdini? take is key! Try to have flexible/competitive I was just modelling procedurally at the beginning. Actually, I’ve discovered that the options for buyers; at minimum they should visual programming style like VOPs is key see that you’ve created a lot of value.
Create videos with your tools with specific tags and over share them on all of platforms (YouTube, FB, LinkedIn, forums), don’t count your post likes (I do it sometimes too, but it’s my mistake). There will be some uncomfortable times during your experience (we are under significant mental pressure these days, so we need to be even more patient), but don’t ignore negative criticisms that can help you. If the criticisms do not help, then make sure you ignore them. Lastly, don’t ignore affiliate marketing that Gumroad provides. Having the chance to be discovered in cost-effective ways (like Gumroad Discover) and paying royalties is better than having no customer in weeks. What didn’t you make yet that you would like to do one day? I tried to put anything I need and use (in my workflow and technique) into GrowInfinite. It’s made in a way that allows you to add dynamics later on. I do want to make it able to interact as a dynamic Vellum object even during growth. I also see a lot of fractals in nature and structural forms that can be produced using GrowInfinite. I would like to provide the option to create these in the future. And, aside from that, I would love to create short animations using abstract and stylised graphics. 3D WORLD 89
James Burrows
PRO THOUGHTS
Our top five Oculus Quest games
James Burrows, technical director at Immersive Studios, takes a look at the best VR games to try at home recent report in The Guardian* showed that nearly two thirds of adults played video games in the UK as a way of keeping themselves entertained during the 2020 lockdown – an increase on numbers from previous years. And while young people are still most likely to get into gaming, there was a noticeable uptick across all age ranges as British adults looked for new forms of entertainment. So, with that in mind, James Burrows, technical director of Immersive Studios, takes a look at some of the Immersive team’s favourite games for the Oculus Quest and Quest 2, from golden oldies to exciting new challenges.
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Star Wars canon and uses the power of VR to create something new, fresh and clever. Set between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope, the chapters teach you new skills before you take on Vader’s stronghold. An absolute must for any Star Wars fan.
ideal game for a chilled catch-up with your gaming friends.
SWARM
We love an arcade shooter here at Immersive HQ, and this game takes that concept and runs with it – creating an adrenaline-fuelled and vivid world that’s A FISHERMAN’S TALE This award-winning game makes the list for brilliantly crafted for VR. There’s no time to relax in the headset – you’ve got to save its imaginative use of what virtual reality can do – reminding you that playing in VR the world from airborne enemies. The hitch can be unlike any other type of video game. is you’ve got to fight them in the air, using grappling hooks on your pistols to swing With a relatively gentle start (you play a fisherman puppet going about your daily from one area to the next. And don’t expect tasks), you’re soon catapulted into layers to take a breather on the ground: you’re and layers of interlocking realities that will more likely to land in shark-infested waters. take a lot of puzzle-solving skills to get your Good luck – you’ll need it. head around. Enjoy. Honourable mentions: Of course, we could SUPERHOT talk for hours about all the awesome games Top on the list, with universal approval, is WALKABOUT MINI GOLF you could try on Quest, but we’ve tried to Superhot. This fresh take on bullet time pits Simple and addictive, this immersive keep this list short and sweet. That said, you against enemies made of glass – with VR putt-putt game offers hours of we can’t sign off without giving honourable the catch being that time only moves when entertainment for single or multiplayer. mentions to time-old favourites Beat Saber you do. So the faster you move, the faster There are four 18-hole courses and 70 they move. This creates an epic challenge unique holes in total, and each course offers (the rhythm game that gets you slashing that’s utterly mind-bending, sometimes a different theme for the environment and lightsabers in time with the beat) and Rec frustrating and always incredibly fun. Once a night-time play option that ups the ante. Room, the go-to game for socialising with you get the hang of it, you can’t beat the And while the aesthetic offers a low-poly a worldwide community. So here’s wishing rush of snatching falling weapons from mid- arcade feel, the immersion in the game you many hours of happy gameplay. air and taking down your foes, Neo-style. is fantastic with great course and sound out more about Immersive at FYI Find design, and tight controls. Definitely an weareimmersive.co.uk
THE VADER IMMORTAL SERIES
While this isn’t strictly a video game in the traditional sense – it’s an immersive linear story across three chapters that can be played through in one sitting – this gets a high score from our team. It takes the iconic 90 3D WORLD
“SWARM IS AN ADRENALINE-FUELLED AND VIVID WORLD, BRILLIANTLY CRAFTED FOR VR” *https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/apr/28/62-of-uk-adults-played-computer-games-during-the-pandemic-says-ofcom
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BLAZE Software ZBrush, Maya, Arnold, Substance Painter, After Effects, Photoshop Year made 2021
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork
Z-Smith Creative zsmith.artstation.com Z-Smith Creative is a character sculpture artist who lives in Sri Lanka.
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CHARACTER DESIGN I put more focus and effort towards the materials and shading in this image in order to capture the details of the character Tomasz Chistowski had created in his concept art, and I really enjoyed the process and the outcome. I used Maya as the primary software and the Arnold render engine’s Mix Shader, Airbump2D and Triplanar node to get the blue and gold colour effects in the face of the character. Airbump2D and the Triplanar node help a lot by giving the freedom to add extra texture details to our final render.
Character design
ADVERTORIAL
Why Ryzen?
A look at why the AMD Ryzen Threadripper is the core of a great workstation iscerning audiences have high expectations when they sit with the popcorn to see the latest visual effects laden movies. Cutting-edge effects not only support the narrative but sometimes drive it, so believability and realism, as well as the wow factor all contribute hugely to the success of a shot, scene or film. This is why it is so important that creators, in all fields, from ArchViz, product design and entertainment, have dependable tools that allow them to build new worlds, showcase their products and engage with audiences in exciting new ways.
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The Ryzen Threadripper Pro is at the forefront of this creative support, with a multitude of technologies and abilities that allow the creative mind to focus on the task at hand, rather than waiting for the next iteration of a scene to process.
most compute intensive tasks a content creator can ask of a workstation, the Ryzen Threadripper Pro blasts through buckets in no time. The boosted clock speeds and large thread count make easy work of the most complex 3D scenes, making global illumination, caustics and other elements of your scenes far more achievable. Iterating A PICTURE IS WORTH… a scene becomes less of a stress on you and There are certain attributes of the Ryzen Threadripper Pro that are obvious at a quick your machine and more of a pleasurable task, that allows your worldbuilding to be glance of the spec sheet, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t vital. Just think about 64 efficient and for your creative mind to focus cores and 128 threads of processing power, on what is important, with the tech there as an invisible support act. that essentially gives the user a render farm built into their workstation. When This alone makes the Threadripper Pro it comes to rendering scenes, one of the worthy of investigation.
Why Ryzen?
“THE PROCESSING POWER ESSENTIALLY GIVES THE USER A RENDER FARM BUILT INTO THEIR WORKSTATION”
With multiple cores and threads, running at speeds up to 4.2Ghz the Threadripper Pro can accomplish demanding tasks with ease. Ryzen: powering 3D animation and VFX.
SIMULATION THEORY
Take that a stage further and it’s clear that not only are the cores and threads many and fast, at 2.7Ghz boostable up to 4.2Ghz clock speed, but the Ryzen Threadripper Pro opens up one of the other traditional bottlenecks in the pipeline, which is that of memory management. The Ryzen supports much larger memory configurations than other options, so working with larger textures sets, even of 4k video textures, won’t slow down the process and the simulation of liquids and gases for explosive visual effects extravaganzas, can happen at much faster rates, given that much of this type of work is held in memory, while being processed by the CPU. It’s this holistic approach to a digital content creative’s workflow concerns that has made the Threadripper Pro such a success.
WHY RYZEN?
The fast clock speeds and class leading caches of up to 256MB aid in making the Ryzen Threadripper Pro a class leading CPU, with super fast cores and threads, architecture that reduces traditional bottlenecks and capabilities that truly support the workstations found both at home and in the creative studio. These are the most powerful processors in the world, perfectly suited for 3D visual effects, editing and grading, making the life of a digital content creator more fluid, efficient and are the perfect addition to a creative workstation. out more at FYI Find why-ryzen.com 3D WORLD 95
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ISSUE 266 DEC 2020 ZBRUSH CHARACTERS
ISSUE 265 NOV 2020 INSPIRATIONAL INTERIORS
ISSUE 264 OCT 2020 THE VFX OF MULAN
ISSUE 263 SEPT 2020 THE MANDALORIAN
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ISSUE 277
HIGH-RES SCREEN GRABS
CHARACTER CREATION
Editorial Editor Rob Redman rob.redman@futurenet.com Designer Ryan Wells Production Editor Rachel Terzian Staff Writer Brad Thorne
Contributors Ant Ward, Mike Griggs, Pietro Chiovaro, Glen Southern, Cirstyn Bech-Yagher, Larissa Mori, Helen Arntsen, Negar Bagheri, HaZ Dulull, Scott Denton, Luis Ruiz, Olga Ciob, Armin Kazlauskas, Henrik Eklundh, Xu Xiaojun, Mojtaba Oriuee, James Burrows Creative Bloq Editor Kerrie Hughes Advertising Media packs are available on request Chief Revenue Officer Zack Sullivan UK Commercial Sales Director Clare Dove Advertising Sales Manager Mike Pyatt Account Sales Director Matt Bailey International Licensing and Syndication 3D World is available for licensing and syndication. To find our more contact us at licensing@futurenet.com or view our available content at www.futurecontenthub.com Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw Subscriptions New orders www.magazinesdirect.com / 0330 333 1113 Email enquiries help@magazinesdirect.com Renewals www.mymagazine.co.uk / 0330 333 4333 Renewals enquiries help@mymagazine.co.uk Group Marketing Director Magazines & Memberships Sharon Todd Circulation Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers Production Head of Production Mark Constance Production Project Manager Clare Scott Senior Ad Production Manager Jo Crosby Digital Editions Controller Jason Hudson Production Manager Nola Cokely Ad Production Coordinator Peter Burton Management Group Editor-in-Chief Claire Howlett Group Art Director Warren Brown Content Director Chris George Brand Director Matthew Pierce Chief Content Officer Aaron Asadi Commercial Finance Director Dan Jotcham Printed by William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XB Distributed by Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU www.marketforce.co.uk Tel: 0203 787 9001
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