Its been a while since my last post, as are my posts really...few and far between! But never fear my life has been full of 3D!!
I've started on a new project, I wanted to experiment with hard surface modelling in 3DS Max and I also wanted to have a crack and create a character that I could then rig!
So lots of new concepts to research and learn on this one!
My inspiration for the piece comes from one of my favorite cartoons of [.....]
So I completed the my first Zbrush project and even though I did not expect to create a polished render at the end of this learning exercise I'm really happy with the outcome. I learnt a great deal about sculpting, poly painting and even post processing in photoshop.
Here is a run down on the workflow I went through to get to the final render
1. zSketch Concept
Using zSpheres and zSketch I drew out the basic module I was looking for. It was originally [.....]
I've slowing been churning through the 'Intro to Zbrush' book, which I am getting a lot out of. I found a lot of good information on the creation of brushes and alphas and I subsquently spent ALOT of time mucking around with scales for my snake sculpt, which has now become my main project for learning the techniques in the book.
I now consider the sculpting part of the model complete and I will be moving onto poly painting and materials in the final chapters of the book.
[.....]
I've been carrying on with the Intro to Zbrush book and I must give credit when credits due, the book is easy to follow and understand. Eric Keller seems to focus on creating dragons in the book and I've followed through but all of my creations thus far have deviated somewhere along the line to become something other than dragons!
I've also started working with a Wacom tablet. I bought a Bamboo Fun - Pen and Touch which is the upper end of the Bamboo range but definitely not [.....]
Its been a while between posted but i have still be dipping into some 3D art whenever I can find that time. I focusing my efforts on learning ZBrush at the moment.
I'm running through the book "Introducing Zbrush by Eric Keller" So far i'm finding it very easy to follow. I've at a bit of a play in Zbrush in my last couple of projects, just I've already picked a bunch of thing that would have been useful to know. Such as Dynamesh and Subtools !!
[.....]
So I have finished with the 'Brain' scene. Its not exactly what I had in 'mind' excuse the pun ;) when I first started the project but I did learn a tonne from doing it.
Working with Hi-Poly models definitely makes it harder on your PC and in turn can slow the whole process down. I also experimented a lot with importing and exporting between ZBrush and 3DS Max so lots of good take away points there.
I also learned a lot more about UVWs [.....]
So I have been slowly updating my latest scene. There have been a few changes and I find myself moving between modelling and materials. Not the ideal workflow but it helps a lot with my creativity.
I've been wresting with the UVW Unwrap modify which is taking some getting used to but it definitely is must improved in the latest version of 3DS Max, I also like that you can now just render out the UVWs without needing a plugin like texporter as I previously used to [.....]
I have started work on a new project. In this project I wanted to get some practice with ZBrush. Initial impressions of the application are good and I can straight away see how powerful it is and how easy it is to create some detailed models.
It definitely is a very different way of working in comparison to 3DS Max, the controls are quite different so its taking a while to adapt moving from one application to the next.
It has also opened up so [.....]
I have been using trial products of Autodesk to do most of my work and until recently I had not looked into the pricing of the products I was using.
I could not believe that the Autodesk 3DS Max 2013 product is over 3K USD!
I understand it is a professional package used by large companies but sure Autodesk can come up with a better price for private users.
I do not profit from any of my work it is purely a hobby interest for me and this price is just way above what I am prepared to pay at this stage. Crazy! [.....]
I have completed the 'Scary Fairytale' scene and overall I'm pretty happy with the result. I learnt so much on this project, in particular a lot about rendering and lighting systems. My final render was done with mental ray. 2200 x 1700 resolution with very high final gather and 64/64 sampling. It took approx 5 hours on my laptop to output :)
Here are some render process shots.
Here is a clay render done using the Quicksilver renderer.
And lastly, the final [.....]
I went searching for some tips and techniques for creating clouds. There are a few tutorials out there on the web for clouds in 3ds Max, some using atmospheric effects like 'volume fog' and others using particle systems and materials. I originally was planning to have some clouds in my 'creepy fairytale' scene but decided against it because I didn't get the look I was after. However here is the best tutorial I found.
http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/clouds2/clouds2.html [.....]
I have spent a couple of sessions setting up materials for the 'Creepy Fairytale' scene. I did a few tutorials on materials and textures which definitely helped. But the process of adding materials is difficult and one that I still need a lot of practice doing!
I also learnt that I need to plan better during the modelling stage so I can separate geometry easily to make adding materials easier.
So below is a higher quality render. 16/16 sampling, high level final gather and 1024x768 size.
I think [.....]
Crickey!! Another blog update so soon! What is the world coming too. Well actually my friends this is because I am really enjoying my current project and I'm happy to say I've made good progress. I have completed the modelling of the scene!!
I have been experiementing with various renders and also enviroment fog effects, the renders take approx 3 mins each time for a 640 x 480 shot. I assume now because I have a large number of objects such as stones for the path [.....]
So I've been getting stuck into things lately and I'm happy to say i've progressed nicely with a new project. I wanted to experiment with rendering and lighting so this project involves a stylized scene.
I used the mental ray daylight system to setup a moonlight scene, I followed some of the steps found in this great tutorial. http://www.polygonblog.com/3d-water-the-ocean/
I created the models so far the church, tree, fence and terrain. I've also added some mental ray area lights in the church. I've had to [.....]
A great example of integrated 3D effects into live action video. Very well done and a great game at that!
POrtal: Terminal Velocity
http://vimeo.com/43800150 [.....]
Ok so I know my posts are very few and far between, but I can assure you I haven't lost my interest in 3D art. Personal and professional life have sometimes made it hard for me to find the time to work on projects and keep learning. But over the last month or so I'm happy to say I found some solid time to work on a project and I have completed my first full model and render base around a tutorial on the web. I found the [.....]
