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Filmmakers producing Google Spotlight Stories need tools to support their creative visions and Google provides them with the technical expertise. Along with producing plugins for Maya and Pro Tools, Google has developed a proprietary software program that helps with the end-toend production of VR stories. “Story Editor is a custom visual tool to create and edit non-linear stories starting from animation clips or videos,” explains Google Spotlight Stories technical project lead Rachid El Guerrab. “This also includes tools to edit and control object-based or Ambisonic audio and its interaction with the viewer.” A rendering and animation engine was created because none of the offthe- shelf solutions provided the right amount of flexibility or performance. “This enabled us to shrink it to almost the size of a video codec, which allowed…

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If you’re new to CGI you may feel that there are far too many tools to choose from in a dizzying array of software. This series aims to break everything in CGI down to the very basics, so that every artist can be armed with the knowledge of which tool is best. This time we are looking at the knife function. It goes by many names: knife, slice or cut to name but a few, but effectively the implementation is the same – it cuts through polygons and edges to either split objects up or to create new boundaries within a mesh from which to create new geometry. A good slicing tool should enable an artist to cut either in a way that is sympathetic to the existing geometry or…

Matthew Wind, Bristol, UK FOLLOW THE VIDEO www.bit.ly/vault-228-VR Oscar Juárez replies Creating archviz in Unreal Engine 4 is getting a lot of attention these days. We have many options for this in the software, but here we’ll explore what we can achieve with blueprints. We will create an interactive blueprint to provide us with a light that we can turn off and on. EXPERT TIP KEEP THEM BOTH VISIBLE Try to have detached the Blueprint tab and place it so you can see the viewport of your blueprint and the viewport of the level. This way all changes you do are visible in real time and you can adjust light and text easier.…

INSIGHT News and views from around the international CG community In an ever-competitive industry, the key to the success of a studio often lies in finding and occupying the right niche. And Territory Studio, a small studio based in Clerkenwell, London, has done just that. Formed by industry veterans in 2010, the studio’s biggest strengths lie at the intersections between motion, digital and graphic design. One of the specialisms it has become best known for is the art of designing on-set interfaces. In other words, whenever an actor is seen interacting with any kind of computer software – whether that’s a traditional terminal, a tablet device or a futuristic, holographic projection – Territory designs what’s going on within the on-screen screen. And it does this in a way that integrates…

AUTHOR PROFILE Cirstyn Bech-Yagher Cirstyn is a freelance CG artist and educator, with over 15 years’ experience in 3D. Her clients range from AMD to Exalt3D and Future. She is currently collaborating with AMD as technical artist for Radeon ProRender for 3ds Max. www.twitter.com/cirstyn FEATURES Flattening tool for onfigure drawing Kitbashing with clothing libraries Stitching details Outside edge darts UI improvements FUN AND EFFICIENT FEATURES What I enjoyed most in this release was working with the flattening tool. It was just so much easier to generate garments to measure when you can block them out that fast and easy – especially when you can build libraries for entire figures and animations with its new kitbash library. First of all, it seems CLO3D, makers of Marvelous Designer, are starting to listen…

AUTHOR PROFILE Rob Redman Rob is a 3D artist and creative director working across TV, film and print. When not in the studio, he is often found presenting at various events or editing this magazine! www.pariahstudios.co.uk FEATURES VR Toolset Fusion 9 features a toolset for VR. Customers get a 360-degree 3D workspace, a panoramic viewer and support for VR headsets. Camera Tracker Analyses a live-action camera’s motion, then reconstructs it within Fusion using a digital camera on a 3D motion path. Planar Tracker Tracks subjects and regions in a live-action scene, then calculates planes of motion. Perfect for corner pinning an image or stabilising footage. Delta Keyer Brings advanced image science with matte finesse controls for creating the cleanest possible keys while preserving image detail. Clean Plate Tool Helps smooth…

FOLLOW THE VIDEO www.bit.ly/vault-228-VR Free This issue we have a free video course from Pluralsight, teaching the basics of Unity particles design a character in virtual reality Glen Southern shows you how to use Oculus Medium to scultp a robot character, all within a virtaul reality workspace, taking advantage of the powerful new Medium content creation application bootcamp - XParticles In this issue’s bootcamp, we demonstrate the power and versatility of one of Cinema 4D’s most useful plugins: XParticles matte painting Learn how to use photo elements to create breathtaking worlds Video & Files GET YOUR RESOURCES You’re three steps away from this issue’s video training and files… 1. Go to the website Type the following into your browser: www.bit.ly/ vault-228-VR 2. Find the files you want from the list…

MEDITERRANEAN TOWER RUINS ARTIST Elias Tsirides SOFTWARE Unreal Engine 4, Photoshop, Maya, ZBrush, Substance Designer, Substance Painter Environment artist Elias Tsirides has been dedicating his time to a Byzantine ruins environment creation over these past few months, and this image is only part of their larger project. “I love the process of gradually fleshing out something out of nothing in the proverbial blank canvas,” he explains. Elias utilised a range of 3D software to create the various materials; the individual rock pieces were sculpted in ZBrush, which were then grouped and textured in Substance Painter. After bringing this into Maya, a square wall unit was built in a tileable manner. Elias begins his work on a project by seeking out relevant references while listening to music of a similar mood…

CONTRIBUTORS Amy Smith, Head of Talent, Film, Framestore | Emma Audain, Recruitment, AXIS | Mario Aquaro, Head of Rigging, AXIS | Sarah Tanner, Director of HR, Jellyfish Pictures | Natalie Tidey, Head of Talent Acquisition, Double Negative | Ian Kirby, Founder and Creative Director, The Sequence Group | Jon Neill, Head of Lighting and Compositing, AXIS | Bruce Sutherland, Head of Animation, AXIS | Ewan Wright, Head of Assets, AXIS | Dave Cook, CG Supervisor and Joint Head of 3D, Jellyfish Pictures | Jorge Formigós, Generalist TD at Double Negative | Milen Piskuliyski, Lead Texture Artist at Framestore You’ve got the talent to land a top job in 3D, but so do a lot of people. Sometimes the deciding factor in who gets the most exciting jobs isn’t what you…

Javier Santaella Javier is a graphic designer, motion artist and flame operator with experience in reputable film companies and important brands for the European and American market over the last 15 years. Strongly influenced by the design world, he also teaches and gives conferences about motion graphics and branding. www.uyquemiedo.com This tutorial runs through the creation of a studio where a liquid will follow a path and end by filling a glass. With RealFlow you can create realistic fluid and physics simulations that can be lit and rendered directly inside Cinema 4D. You will learn scene setup, how to model a glass using C4D tools, RealFlow scene setup and mesh creation, how to apply materials, how to create different cameras for macro and wide shots, lighting and the Cinema 4D…

Particle systems are one of the main components of full-featured digital content creation software. While Cinema 4D does have a particle system, it is slow and does not have an intuitive workflow for anything other than basic simulations. This flies in the face of one of Cinema 4D’s greatest strengths, which is its shallow learning curve compared to many of its competitors on the market. Thankfully, Insydium came to the rescue with the X-Particles plug-in, which offers everything that the Cinema 4D particle system could be (and more). In fact, it can be argued that the reason there has not been much development of Cinema 4D’s own internal particle system is that there is no need, as X-Particles does such a stellar job. It is not just that X-Particles offers…

Antony Ward replies The best rigs are intuitive and simple to use. When building them you must remember that it’s possible it will be used by a whole team of animators, all of which will have their preferred approach to bringing things to life. Overload a rig with too many controls and you’re not only making it more complicated to use, but you’re adding to the amount of time it takes an animator to create the simplest of sequences. One element of rigging that can help is to build in the ability to pick-walk through the hierarchy. This enables the animator to quickly navigate the rig by using the arrow keys, rather than selecting controls or digging through the Outliner. As an example, if you have the hand control selected…

TUTOR Michael Baker Michael Baker is a game developer and graphics production expert with more than 15 years experience in games and VFX production. He’s worked on big licensed projects and developed software tools for the popular Bullet Physics Framework, which powers countless authoring tools, feature films, and games. In 2013, he co-founded Codex Worlds. www.kazperstan.co.uk Have you ever had an amazing game idea, but not the ability to make the effects and visuals come to life? If so, Unity Particle System Fundamentals, is the perfect course for you, where you’ll learn how to create and manipulate particle systems. First, you’ll discover particle basics inside of Unity. Next, you’ll dive into motion control by adding particle motion to the event, and then cause the particles to appear when you’d like.…

AUTHOR PROFILE Steve Jarratt Steve is a freelance tech journalist and CG artist, with an unhealthy addiction to 3D apps and plug-ins. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Steve_Jarratt FEATURES 100 preset materials for OctaneRender in C4D Features several complex Mix materials Includes fabrics, organics, ceramics and more Comes with a standard shader scene to preview each preset RENDERKING This pack was originally available via renderking. it, home of Italian artist Alessandro Boncio. Renderking also sells a library of hardsurface objects, rigged animatable characters, a V-ray texture pack and a HDRI lighting plugin called C4dome. Without doubt, OTOY’s Octane is a very powerful renderer, capable of impressively realistic results. Its complex material system takes some getting used to, so a collection of presets is invaluable for getting you up and running and improving your scenes.…

FEATURE VR: changing the story When using virtual reality as a tool for crafting entertainment experiences, the tried and tested process of storytelling is disrupted somewhat by the fact that the audience is now firmly in control of what they see and what direction they take. It’s changed the game, and that’s something that has to be at the forefront of any VR creator’s mind. Collaborating with various filmmakers to produce diverse content that pushes the boundaries of storytelling and technology within the realm of virtual reality is the primary objective of Oscarwinner and Google ATAP director Jan Pinkava, who created the first of the Google Spotlight Stories four and a half years ago with Windy Day. “VR is this immersive and potentially interactive space that is pushing at the…

The power of material scanning cannot be overstated. When done properly, it is the most accurate way to digitally reproduce a physical material available to us today. For a long time, however, the only way to access it was with a high-end scanner, which many people in the 3D community do not own. Allegorithmic couldn’t buy everyone a scanner, but we could open up the technology to more people. And the exciting thing is, the research has paid off. In February we launched Substance Designer 6, which included a complete scan processing workflow that finally enables anyone with a smartphone to scan physical materials. In this tutorial, I will describe each step of the scanning process, from the photoshoot to the final Substance, incorporating insights that we’ve learned over the…

ARTIST Q&A Practical tips and tutorials from pro artists to improve your CG skills Simon Edwards Simon works freelance at 3DArtvision. He has worked professionally both as an architectural visualiser and 3D artist for 20 years in Holland and the UK. www.3dartvision.co.uk Antony Ward Since the early Nineties Antony has worked for many of today’s top game and VFX studios, as well as written three technical manuals and many online tutorials. www.antcgi.com Oscar Juárez Oscar is a 3D generalist based in Mexico City. He has been running Fibrha Studio since 2010 and specialises in archviz rendering, animations and Unreal Engine. www.facebook.com/FibrhaStudio Pietro Chiovaro Pietro is an Italian 3D artist who creates 3D assets and environments, and is currently working on an open-source game. pietrochiovaro.artstation.com Simon Edwards replies GET IN TOUCH…

EXPERT TIP REFERENCES FOR EVERYTHING The main elements for the terrain creation are the references. These will be very useful during the sculpting and painting process, helping you to achieve the best result. FOLLOW THE VIDEO www.bit.ly/vault-228-VR Pietro Chiovaro replies The creation process of a realistic terrain can be divided into two parts. In the first part, we need to search for relevant references for the terrain we are going to create, sketching a concept of the entire scene. In the second part we have to create all the models that compose the scene in order to create the terrain. For the creation of this particular scene I tried to imagine the terrain of Mars. To do that, after the concept creation, I created a little library of images that…

It’s that time of year again where the brightest minds in the world of graphics and interactive techniques gather together for SIGGRAPH Asia. Hosted in Thailand for the first time, SIGGRAPH Asia 2017 will be held in the vibrant city of Bangkok, at the International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC), which expects to welcome approximately 7,000 attendees from over 60 countries through its doors. This year’s theme – The Celebration of Life and Technology – aims to showcase how human experiences help push the boundaries of digital imaging, research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and emerging technologies. As well as a couple of stellar keynote speakers, other featured sessions include senior graphics software engineers at Pixar Animation Studios Pol Jeremias- Vila and David G Yu on how real-time graphics…

AUTHOR PROFILE Steve Jarratt Steve is a freelance tech journalist and CG artist, with an unhealthy addiction to 3D apps and plug-ins. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Steve_Jarratt FEATURES Distinct architectural styles Each kit is between two and four million polys Models are UV mapped and textured Supplied in. MA,. OBJ and. FBX formats All meshes contained in a single file KITBASHING The term ‘kitbashing’ dates back to the early days of sci-fi modelmaking with the likes of Thunderbirds, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. To save modelling all the tiny details on vehicles and buildings, commercial plastic kits were used – for example, the surface detail on the original Star Destroyer is an amalgam of battleships, submarines, fighter planes and Russian T-34 tanks. The concept of kitbashing transfers well to the world…

AUTHOR PROFILE Steve Jarratt Steve is a freelance tech journalist and CG artist, with an unhealthy addiction to 3D apps and plug-ins. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Steve_Jarratt FEATURES Expresso rig for OctaneRender in Cinema 4D Add grunge, dirt and streaks with live feedback Create edge wear without vertex maps Apply stickers with dirt and decay Generate patterned displacements GRUNGE IT UP! The Pxl+Dirt Xpresso rig was originally developed by French arch viz artist Cedric Henry. For a very brief time it was a free download from a CG forum, before being snapped up by Joren Kandel of The Pixel Lab. The rig is now available from pixellab.net alongside some informative videos showing off its features. Anything that makes texturing your objects easier or more fun – or preferably both – is always worth…