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3dworld.creativebloq.com July 2015 #196
animate in cinema 4d
l a i c e p s x f v e t a m i t l u Discover the techniques to make your movies shine
s Avengeurltron agcluesivoef#1 TheoCn GMan!
f o s r a e y 40 ihcind g a m m l i lusive #2 Be Ranch!
s r a w r a st gdel n i l l e d o o m e #3 Mhip! Exclusiv rs ed sta a detail
Exc nes at the the sce
Ir Ex Hulk vs behind
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sci-fi odo a l e d o M m world in
Inside vue 2015 reviewed • 3ds max sims • substance 5 tips
showcase
artist
showcase The best digital art from the CG community
get published Email your CG ART to ian.dean@futurenet.com
Visit the online Vault to download extra process art for these projects: www.creativebloq.com/vault/3dw196
I don’t perfect one piece after another but I keep the whole project in mind and develop it consistently 3D World July 2015
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Miss Maya Artist Carsten Stüben Software Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, 3ds Max, Octane Render, Photoshop German artist Carsten Stüben’s original plan with this personal project was to create and build a futuristic bike. “In the end I liked it so much that I wanted to add a driver and put both into the gloomy atmosphere of a futuristic city,” he recalls. Overall, the project was great fun: “I tend to lose myself in details like dirt, rust and scratches,” he enthuses. The girl and bike were created using ZBrush and Substance Painter, the Blade Runner and Akira-inspired city using 3ds Max, and rendering and post were done in Octane Render and Photoshop. Carsten has been working as a creative director in a packaging design agency for nine years now, but vehicle design and characters are his private passion. “Principally, I start with rough sketches to get an idea of where the journey is going,” Carsten explains. “When I’m happy with the idea, I move on to ZBrush to concretise the shapes further. Many decisions concerning the design are made here. I always try to work from big to small, meaning that I don’t perfect one piece after another but I keep the whole project in mind and develop it consistently.” You can see more of Carsten’s work on his FYI website www.carstenstueben.com
3d world view “Carsten’s level of detail in this scene is incredible. The gloomy, futuristic atmosphere creates the perfect setting for the bike.” IAN DEAN
Editor
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feature Model a starship
Freelance artist Ansel Hsiao takes us to his galaxy far, far away
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Ansel's incredible collection of spaceship models are inspired by his love of Star Wars
ansel hsiao Ansel is a microbiologist by day and freelance 3D artist based in Saint Louis, Missouri. www.fractalsponge.net
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he spaceship models of Ansel Hsiao are epic, detailed and enthralling. Your eye can’t fail to be drawn to every angle and detail. And likely you’ll recognise the major influence on Ansel’s creations. “Not surprisingly, it was from Star Wars,” he says when asked what was the first spaceship that inspired him, adding: “When the Star Destroyer flew overhead for the first time, I was hooked on making cool spaceships. I don’t see that going away in the near future.” It’s a long, slow-building shot that caused a stir in 1977 and still does. It really needs to be seen on a cinema screen to gauge the impact, as your entire view is slowly blocked by a sweeping majestic Ralph McQuarrie designed Star Destroyer. No wonder Ansel has been so inspired to create his collection of grand models.
“All too easy”
“I had some grand ambitions when starting out: Darth Vader’s Executor from The Empire Strikes Back. Looking back on it I barely had a non-primitive object in that model, but I
3D World July 2015
learned tons by doing it,” explains Ansel, who reveals his current models use more ‘real’ details to evoke scale, such as pipes, fixtures, and “things that are based off of things that work, rather than just being boxes to break up outlines of basic shapes.” Ansel’s core method for assembling his models – keeping assets modular and available for other uses – dates back to that first attempt to create the Executor model. Explaining the process, Ansel says his first step begins with visualisation: “Collecting lots of reference material and deciding what elements from existing ships to use in the design of the new one. This involves a lot of simple modelling to get the feel of the project. The vast majority of the models I’ve abandoned get shelved at this stage, because something just doesn’t feel right.” The next step is to search through his old models for detail elements to repurpose. Once chosen, Ansel clears zones on his model to detail: “There’s nothing more daunting than a giant empty starship that needs to be covered with detail, and it helps to be able to focus on a series of small areas,” he says.
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Vital stats
Software 3ds Max Job title Freelance artist/ microbiology researcher Credits UNSC Infinity for Halo 4 (cinematic) Aliens: Colonial Marines (cinematic)
hits The venerable studio moves into its 40th year with a slew of past honors, a slate of blockbuster films on the roster, and a new, global presence to celebrate. Barbara Robertson visits ILM‌
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ILM has worked on some of the most iconic effects movies of the past 40 years, and it all started with Star Wars
ILM is responsible for several movies that changed the VFX industry, such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park
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his year, Industrial Light & Magic celebrates its 40th anniversary. The powerhouse visual effects studio began with a handful of people hired by George Lucas to create visual effects for the first Star Wars, which was released in 1977. Today, ILM is a thriving global studio with 1,200 people in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver and London. Many of those artists are creating the seventh Star Wars film, scheduled for release by Lucasfilm/ Disney in December. Directed by JJ Abrams and with VFX supervised by Roger Guyett, Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens is destined to score a box office bonanza. But the studio has much more to its credit than Star Wars. Films with effects created at ILM have won 16 Oscars, and received 33 Oscar nominations for best VFX. And, of the top 10 all-time worldwide box office hits, ILM has worked on half of them Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
ILM wizardry
Equally important, the artistry in VFX for those films and many others can be traced back to inventions and innovations created by people at ILM during the past 40 years, and to the early application of CG techniques for production filmmaking. “I think there is really something valid about the influence we’ve had on films,” says senior visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren. “The techniques we’ve brought to filmmaking have opened up the medium to telling stories that couldn’t have been told before. I think you see it all the way through.”
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The ILM Way
John Knoll, Scott Farrar and Dennis Muren discuss the forces at work at ILM
Academy Awards Films include, Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Author profile Barbara Robertson Barbara is an awardwinning freelance writer based near San Francisco. www.bit.ly/196-barbara
Photographer profile Bill Zarchy Bill is a freelance director of photography, writer, and teacher based in San Francisco. www.billzarchy.com
3D World July 2015
Staff at ILM are constantly improving their art and being more efficient “When I came to ILM, I knew there was something special,” says John Knoll, chief creative officer. “They were doing work way better than what I was seeing from any other place, so there had to be something special. I was determined to be a sponge, to find out what allowed them to do such great work. It became apparent to me that there was an ILM method even if not everyone was aware they were doing it. It’s transferred through osmosis through a million different discussions in meetings and dailies about not only what should be tweaked in a shot, but why. Dailies were like a masterclass in how to manipulate people’s perception of a shot. These were amazing brainstorming sessions.” “That’s how I learned,” says senior visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar. “Dailies are a theatre of education. We’re always re-examining what we do, thinking there’s got to be a better way. I’m doing it myself right now. ILM is like a think tank. A lot of work is done with a cup of coffee in hand, talking to someone in the hall who might have bumped into the same problem or thought about it.”
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“We don’t have, as far as I’m aware, any list of the ILM way of doing things,” says senior visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren. “Throughout, there’s always been an awareness that you’re not trapped in any one way of working. I think our approach has always been, the image is what counts. It’s what’s appropriate for a film. Maybe it’s that way for others. But, having been founded by a filmmaker, George Lucas, that’s always been our goal. How does the shot fit in the movie. The filmic things. No matte lines. Clear performances and storytelling. Lighting fits the characters into the shot. Looks like it was shot by the same camera crew that shot the actors. We make everything match seamlessly. The R&D and technology is still a huge part of our success. And we are coming up with smart ways to do more shots in less time. But without the artists making the decisions on how to use the technology, the work can look very mundane and very familiar. It’s always been about having both of them.” “Arts and Sciences,” Dennis says. “That’s why it’s called that.”
feature Making Avengers: Age of Ultron
o f f i c A g e n b i o k x a m
ILM continues to up the ante with its VFX, creating three CG superstars for the latest Marvel blockbuster. Barbara Robertson meets the team behind this season's hit, Avengers: Age of Ultron 3D World July 2015
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Author profile Barbara Robertson Barbara is an awardwinning freelance writer based near San Francisco. Many of her articles can be found on her site. www.barbararobertson. contently.com
Watch the trailers
Catch up with how Hulk and Ultron look on screen www.bit.ly/196-av-1 www.bit.ly/196-av-2 www.bit.ly/196-av-3
arvel Studios’ cinematic thrill ride continues with its latest action-packed offering, Avengers: Age of Ultron. The action is simply enormous, with each scene delivering new visual treats; building on the visual effects of the 2012 blockbuster. Joss Whedon returned to write and direct the follow-up as did the ensemble cast of actors playing the superhero Avengers. New to this film is James Spader who voices the sentient, troubled and villainous robot Ultron. Also returning was visual effects supervisor Chris Townsend, who managed over 10 studios for the last Avengers film and approximately 20 studios this time around, including Double Negative, The Third Floor, Trixter Film; with Industrial Light & Magic contributing a large portion of the shots. Ben Snow supervised the crews at ILM in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver and London, who worked on the studio’s 800 shots including the opening and closing battles, shots of Ultron raising a city (literally), and the three main CG characters: Hulk, Iron Man in all his forms, and the new anti-hero Ultron.
Managing Hulk’s bulk
Marvel’s 2012 film The Avengers set the Hulk free on the streets of
What we had to dea l with for Ultron wa s a metal version of Dav y Jones, but M arvel wanted every th ing mechanically correct… we couldn ’t have any metal pla Bruce Holcom tes bend b, model superv isor, Industri al Light & Mag
New York City. Artists at Industrial Light & Magic, who transformed actor Mark Ruffalo into the green behemoth, received a VES nomination for their work. In The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Hulk appears in 50 per cent more shots than in the earlier film. “Chris [Townsend] and Joss [Whedon] and everyone at Marvel wanted the Hulk to be an ensemble character that they could use anywhere,” says ILM animation supervisor Marc Chu. “In the first film he was very precious, always perfectly framed. Moving forward, they loved the look they got from Winter Soldier, and used the same DP [cinematographer Ben Davis]. So, they shot this movie looser and more realistic. As they wanted the Hulk to feel like a natural character, we completely revamped the model in the sculpt and in how we did the muscle rig.” Typically, artists at ILM model the final form for a character’s body and then put muscles inside and skin simulations on top. To help control the bulky giant’s muscles and flesh for this
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film, character technical directors Sean Comer and Abs Jahromi created a completely new muscle system. “With Hulk, for Avengers: Age of Ultron, we built the rig, put the muscle system on top, and the skin on top of that,” Marc explains. “So when we animated Hulk, the rig would reverse engineer what the muscles were doing and realistically drive the flesh simulation. In the previous film, we had to do corrections to keep Hulk on model, but the new system kept him more on model. For example, if he put his shoulder through a range of motions, it kept the shoulder area from collapsing. We could still correct anything that penetrated, and adjust the jiggle to taste, but it made us six times more efficient.” To devise the multi-layer muscle system, the technical directors worked with a professor of medicine to understand muscle tensioning, had a stunt actor perform calisthenics that the crew photographed, and they also consulted technical papers that described how stretching muscles affect volumes.
@ Disney 2015. All Rights Reserved.
Hulk Buster was designed like a Russian doll, with one model inside the other
Tutorials Model a sci-fi world
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Photoshop | Google Sketchup | Modo | Keyshot
Model a sci-fi world Rubén Álvarez reveals how to concept a fascinating alien environment for films and video games
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elcome to this sci-fi environment tutorial, where I would like to share with you my workflow for creating an epic alien environment. I will be drawing on classic science fiction illustrations and ideas in order to create a new and fresh world. I will guide you through all of the steps, from the initial sketching stage where I gather references, through to the final polished illustration. To create this sci-fi scene I will share with you some of the most common tools, tips and
Artist profile Rubén Álvarez Rubén is a concept artist who has worked for Gameloft and Sidhe Interactive developing console games for publishers such as Activision. bit.ly/196-ruben
techniques that I usually use on a day-to-day basis, in order to create professional concept art for film and video games. It’s a good idea when developing new worlds and imagined scenes to base as much in reality as possible. Adapting real world buildings or places into new settings or using them as a base for your imagination will imbue your concept with a realistic grounding. In this tutorial I will share the overall process for creating a sci-fi concept environment, looking at sketching and colour settings
before moving on to modelling the scene where I’ll offer my advice on how to get a good composition and use materials in KeyShot to render. To make it easier, I’ve included videos of key stages in my workflow, including modelling, kitbashing and setting up the render in KeyShot. There are also extra resource files online (see the link below), where you can download my kitbash resources, including .obj files. So get inspired and have some fun! For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw196
Blocking out Using a 3D program for sketching and blocking helps with the perspective
1 References & Inspiration
Topics covered Concepting Modelling Materials Composition
My main inspiration for this image was a traditional building in my region called Hórreo. This building was designed to store and preserve food away from moisture, rodents and other animals. I wanted to create the sci-fi environment following the building’s shapes. Asturias (my region) is well known in Spain to be very rainy so I think a waterfall landscape would fit perfectly with the idea.
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2 Start sketching
In 3D, I quickly block-out some of my ideas for the environment. I create different buildings to populate the city following the shapes from the Hórreo. At this stage it’s really important to find a good balance and composition within the image. Using dark values for the foreground and brighter values for the background helps you to add a sense of depth to the image. These are sketches, so forget about colours at this point. Focus on design, shapes and composition.
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sci-fi environment It’s good to use real world buildings or places as inspiration to keep a realistic grounding
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Tutorials Create a surreal portrait
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Maya 2016 | ZBrush 4R7
Create a surreal portrait in Maya 2016 Antony Ward explains how to get the most from Maya 2016 and ZBrush 4R7 to create a dark and surreal illustration
F Artist profile Antony Ward Antony Ward has been provoking pixels since the early 1990s. In that time he has worked for some of today’s top studios and written three technical manuals. www.antcgi.com
or a long time now I’ve had an itch. This lingering feeling at the back of my mind to do something different; to work on the type of illustration I have wanted to create for some considerable time. I’ve always loved the distinctive styles of Escher, Salvador Dali and Tim Burton. These twisted works have struck a chord with me since I was young, but the dilemma has always been whether I should take a risk, open this door in my imagination and appease my inner demons – or stick to what I am best known for.
Finally, I decided it was time to push aside the cartoony characters and busty pin-ups of my past and scratch this darker, more surreal itch. The result is an image I’ve thoroughly enjoyed creating and should hopefully divide opinion as to whether my experiment has worked or not. With this illustration it wasn’t all about experimenting with a different subject. This time around I wanted to dive into Autodesk’s latest version of Maya, while also pushing my usual subdivision surface modelling skills further with the help of ZBrush.
With that in mind, this won’t be your standard step-by-step tutorial. Instead, think of it as more of a walkthrough where I discuss my process, along with explaining the decisions I make along the way. I will offer an overview of some of the new tools in Maya 2016 and how I chose to use them to create my surreal character. To help, I’ve included a full video walkthrough of my process to follow, plus my files and resources (including textures, Maya and ZBrush files). For all the assets you need go to creativebloq.com/vault/3dw196
NEW modelling Modelling in Maya 2016 is much nicer and more organic than in its previous version
1 Brain dump Topics covered Box modelling UV mapping Digital sculpting Image rendering Compositing
Every illustration, no matter how simplistic, has to start somewhere. Yet in some instances it’s important not to head straight to the computer. Take time to sit and doodle, and brainstorm in a way, so you have a basic direction to head in. As you can see from my sketch, this doesn’t have to be anything complicated or fantastically realised. At this stage I am looking for a springboard that my ideas can leap from – something I can build upon once I move into Maya. 3D World July 2015
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2 Jump into Maya
With an idea in place I can now dive into Maya and begin building. With this scene I decide early on to block out the base models in Maya, UV them and then take them into ZBrush to sculpt and texture. This gives me a good opportunity to play around with Maya’s updated modelling tools and Marking Menu workflow. With this update to Maya the whole modelling process has been streamlined further, making modelling much more organic.
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surreal character The latest version of Maya allowed Antony to create this surreal illustration
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