Table of contents for April 2022 in 3D World

What’s TurboSquid’s mission? For over 20 years, TurboSquid’s goal has been to offer the world’s largest library of high-quality models to 3D professionals. Is uploading 3D models to TurboSquid a good way for artists to make money? It certainly can be, but it’s important to go in with the right expectations. The competition can be fierce, and you need to find some way to stand out – creating polished, high-quality models that are presented well on the site is certainly a start. The most successful artists are publishing dozens or even in some cases hundreds of models per month. But even artists who only have a handful of models can be successful if they stand out. We have a few incredibly talented character artists with only a few dozen published…

I am a big fan of Hicham Habchi’s work and I just had to translate this great Thor concept of his. His work is so elegant with strong shapes and great style. I wanted to learn from the experience and bring in some of my own style. It also helps to have the mighty Chris Hemsworth as a reference! I will go over my creative process from start to finish, demonstrating the key steps and explaining the fundamentals. This tutorial should not be bound to any software in particular and can hopefully help you in your own projects, whichever software you prefer to use. DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES For all the assets you need go to https://bit.ly/3D-world-kitbash Guillaume is a 3D artist who has worked in the field since 2005. He…

Antony Ward replies Animators require more and more from their rigs these days. As characters and creatures become more detailed and realistic, they are expected to give more believable performances, which means the controls needed to animate them must keep up. When constructing a rig, there are times when a basic forward kinematics setup just won’t do, so inverse kinematics is the only option. The problem with a basic IK setup is it can be quite rigid, so is not suitable for something like a snake, octopus tentacle or even a spine. For these you need something which can be bent and twisted into any position, and this is where Spline IK comes in. This option gives you a NURBS curve which you can bend and deform, with the connected…

WATCH THE VIDEOhttps://bit.ly/3D-world-kitbash Pietro Chiovaro replies For this type of material, I selected the Physically Based (Metallic/Roughness) Graph Template and deleted the Metallic output. Next we can add all the nodes from the Substance Designer library: the Cells 3 and the BnW Spots 1 noises (the main elements of this substance), the Normal filter (or Height to Normal World Units), four Levels filters, a Blend filter, and the Gradient Map filter. We can start to link these elements together, starting with the Cells 3 that will be placed at the beginning of the graph with the BnW Spots 1. These two noise generators will be linked to the first two Levels filters and mixed together with the Blend filter. Now we can link the Levels filter of the BnW Spots…

First-person psychological horror, Martha Is Dead – a gruesome tale combining the horrific realities of war with superstition and folklore – released on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam on 24 February 2022. Indie developers LKA pushed the boundaries of visual fidelity by utilising Unreal Engine’s groundbreaking MetaHuman tech for the creation of photorealistic characters. Luca Dalco, creative director at LKA, states that the technology allows for “a phenomenal step forward in narrative ability,” explaining that “a couple of years ago we thought of introducing the face of the protagonist who spoke, to allow the player to look into her eyes, to develop greater empathy with the character. But the budget required was too restrictive, plus it would be a considerable amount of work on our part. By using MetaHuman technology we…

3D printing is developing at an unexpected rate, with new machines being released at a frightening pace, so it can be an understandably difficult task deciding which to invest in for your own projects. While there are almost uncountable companies out there creating these machines, a few have risen above the surface, gaining a reputation for consistent quality, and Voxelab is one of these. In this instance I’m spending some time with the Proxima 8.9 resin printer, one of an increasing number of printers that have a larger volume and higher resolution than seen in previous generations; which is very welcome, as to print at these sizes has historically been left to the FDM printers, which may not always be the tech of choice. The Proxima is, as is the…

Two months ago I started this project with the intention to present the end result in Marmoset. During the creation process, I realised it would be even better presented in Unreal Engine. Since I had almost zero experience using it, there was a lot of trial and error before the end result was something I could be proud of. It took me about a month but I am really pleased with how it turned out. My favourite part of creating the image was probably the modelling. I love sculpting all the information onto the models. rot-ales.com SOFTWARE Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Marmoset Toolbag 4, Unreal Engine 4…

“I like to keep things simple, so all my gear uses Arca-Swiss mounting. For bigger projects I’d use bigger plates but this suits me most of the time, and the Peak Design carbon fibre tripod is strong, rigid, light and packs down to fit easily in my Everyday Backpack, also by Peak Design," explains Rob. "I like the modularity of this case that makes it a doddle to switch out gear to make it work for the shoot. I can usually work with just that, my gimbal case and lighting if needed. For one-man projects that’s a big plus.” For his storage media, Rob likes the Samsung T5 SSD. “The cost per gigabyte is way better than other options. I can take the footage, attach to my Mac, then work from…

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in interior design at HEAD – Genève (Geneva's University of Art and Design), Arnaud Imobersteg specialised in architectural visualisation. “I had the pleasure of working for architectural clients such as OMA, MVRDV and Zaha Hadid,” he tells 3D World. “I'm now converting towards more concept art and visual development and working freelance.” Imobersteg got started in 3D kitbashing back in 2018 when he discovered KitBash3D’s Victorian Kit contest and the free sample kits being offered to contestants. “This was an awesome experience,” he exclaims, “it wasn’t really prepared for Blender at the time though, so I'm glad they ended up fully integrating it.” Imobersteg continued to get involved in the contests organised by KitBash3D, an online store for premium 3D asset kits, enjoying their accessibility…

FULL CGI My main goals on this project were to recreate my own full CGI playground for a car shooting, to be able to move the camera around without limitations and to play with different moods and lighting conditions. In order to do that the consistency of the shader in different light directions was my biggest challenge, specifically the ground which took me around five days to complete. To achieve that hyper-realistic look, the most important thing is to build all your shaders with a solid and high-quality texture, making sure the resolution and albedos, roughness and displacement channels are all optimal to use. behance.net/colorsponge Carlos Pecino A.K.A. ColorSponge is a 3D artist with more than 15 years’ experience in the digital world.…

Cinema 4D is one of the most accessible 3D applications, but this ease of use can mask the fact that while it may be easy to get into, Cinema 4D has one of the deepest toolsets of any digital content creation application on the market. This means artists might not be aware of a range of features at their disposal, and an excellent example of this is the Cinema 4D camera. With the recent release of Cinema 4D R25 and its radical overhaul of the interface, it seems like a good idea to go over the camera functions within the application. Cinema 4D comes with various tools to make working with a camera easy, from setting up a target option and controlling focus. Also, a camera can be animated to…

Mike Griggs replies X-Particles by Insydium is a near must-have purchase for any Maxon Cinema 4D user, as it enhances the simulation capabilities of C4D in a wide array of areas. While Insydium has worked hard to ensure X-Particles feels almost like a native toolset in C4D, with deep integration with the existing MoGraph and Thinking Particles toolsets, complex simulations can still be just that… complex. Thankfully though, X-Particles has a range of additions managed in the Object Manager of Cinema 4D that make sure artists of any skill level can quickly wrangle particles to do their bidding. However, suppose an artist wants to have more than one X-Particles simulation in a scene. In that case, things can potentially get messy, as all the various modifiers from one particle system…

A long with creating feature films, Pixar also produces shorts with Automaton representing a departure in terms of story and production. Premiering at SIGGRAPH 2020 Computer Animation Festival, the four-minute long project, produced by artists from Pixar’s Effects team, can be found on the studio’s official YouTube channel and depicts before, during, and the aftermath of a brushfire through effects simulations created entirely within Houdini for grass, wind, clouds, lightning, fire, smoke and rain. “It started in 2018 when we had a little downtime and we could use all of the other artists to produce the work,” explains Krzysztof Rost, technical director at Pixar, who conceived and directed Automaton. “Then we continued with compositing and lighting, but that was a much smaller group; that continued for some time. We finally…

From conception to world building, characters, prop production, animation and beyond, Liquid Development has worked behind the scenes on some of the world’s biggest video game franchises. An outsource studio focused on integrated art development, their team helped support iconic AAA titles such as Fable II, Condemned 2, Mass Effect 2, Halo 4 and Batman: Arkham Origins. We caught up with Tony Clark, senior 3D artist, to learn more about the projects, skill sets and work culture at Liquid Development. A modeller and texture artist, Tony bounces between hard-surface models, organic character models and environment art – with plenty of experience to share. Tell us a bit about your career. I moved to Portland in 2002 to attend school at The Art Institute of Portland, excited to learn about 3D…

SOFTWARE Maya, Unreal Engine 5, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Photoshop, ZBrush I really wanted to match the concept and at the same time, I felt like it gave me a lot of room for creativity and implementing myself into the project. So right from the start, I was quite excited to work on it especially because I wanted to test out and experiment with the new Unreal Engine 5. Experimenting with some new techniques that go with Unreal 5 and learning the limitations and its advantages was quite an enjoyable process, especially the new lighting system Lumen. devil13fhd.artstation.com…

SOFTWARE 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop, Blender, Marvelous Designer, Quixel Megascans I got inspired by the thought of soldiers riding dinosaurs in urban slums, so everything originated from that notion. I chose the Middle Eastern setting because dinosaurs are usually depicted in tropical climates, so I wanted to do something slightly different. The thing I enjoyed most was populating the scene with details using Megascans assets and by connecting Quixel Bridge with 3ds Max, which gave me an opportunity to work pretty fast. Post-production in Photoshop was also exciting. When I start a new environment, the first thing I do is search for references. Then I block out scenes with main shapes and add some basic textures. Finally, I upgrade the textures gradually to the level I’m satisfied with. artstation.com/d_stefan…

“I think the choice of tools at the moment is incredible,” Mick says. “There is a plethora of affordable cameras out there now that you could confidently shoot pretty much any type of production on – I wouldn’t say you are limited by quality or specifications at the lower price points, that’s for sure.” For a first owner/operator equipment package, Mick is impressed by the new wave of mirrorless full-frame cameras. “For example, the new Canon EOS R5 C, which has full-frame 8K/4K/HD shooting options, definitely has my attention. And with a full frame your lens choice really opens up. You can use full-frame vintage photographic lenses, super 35 cine lenses and even anamorphic lenses with the right adapters.” The new Sony FX6 also particularly stands out to him. “It…

I do a lot of personal projects in my free time, whether it’s fan art, experiments or original ideas, and since I’ve been doing tons of collab projects with Jetpacks & Rollerskates, creating some of his cool characters and illustrations, I decided to do a 3D version of his Plague Pizza Delivery Boy piece. I thought it was so cool, and decided that translating it into 3D would be a fun thing to do. Here are the steps I took to create it. DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES For all the assets you need go to https://bit.ly/3D-world-kitbash An Egyptian designer/3D artist based in Berlin making fun projects in his free time. behance.com/MChahin 01SET UP THE SCENE I start by adding the original illustration in the back and creating the platform or the…

3D BASE AND PHOTOBASH For the rendering of this image I used a 3D base in Blender. It's about having an idea of what you want to show and then modelling and placing the right elements. The 3D model has already given me a lot of information to work with, such as perspective, lighting, value and tones. Once it is done, then comes the fun part: I usually go for a photobash technique and overpaint that allows me to unify the image and give it the realism and graphic style I want to achieve. It also enables me to compose and add more elements on the fly for an attractive final result. borda.artstation.com Diego Borda is a concept artist and illustrator based in Bogotá.…

This is the first stage of a new series looking at developing a VFX shot. There are many ways to undertake this process, but seeing as I’m doing it as a one-man-band type of project, I thought starting with the CG hero would be fun. I have an idea of the final shot, so with a sketch in hand I took to Cinema 4D, as that’s where I can work fastest for this kind of job. The idea is to build a mech that could just as easily be piloted by a human, probably used for agricultural or industrial purposes. I wanted a look that was functional but not overly sharp. Something that looks pleasing and also has a little personality to it, hence the cameras/lights that could function as…

Glen Southern replies UV unwrapping is one of those things that you either love, or you hate. There is a lot of talk in the industry at the moment about the fact that one day soon we won’t need them, and as much as that may be true, currently we do need a set of good UV coordinates for almost all game, TV and film 3D projects. The technology has been around for a long time now and almost all 3D artists learn to UV unwrap models very early on in their career, quite often at college or university. Having an accurate UV layer layout means that your textures will be laid out correctly on your models, and it can have a dramatic effect on your work if you place…

Telling the story of a murder investigation aboard a Trident nuclear submarine, the gripping six-part thriller series Vigil presented digital entertainment company Blazing Griffin and VFX studio Goodbye Kansas with a host of creative challenges during production. With complex water simulations, a CG submarine, atmospheric lighting and a host of impressive digital techniques on show, 3D World couldn’t resist talking to each studio and diving deep into their work on the acclaimed BBC series. GETTING ABOARD “We were approached in the summer of 2019 when the series was in early prep,” explains Johanne Wood, post-production supervisor at Blazing Griffin, “Blazing Griffin had been gaining a reputation as the go-to place for drama post-production in Scotland, having recently completed work on Shetland and Guilt.” Vigil was the latest in a series…