3 d World 201403

mudboxModel a creature for

mocap animation

Learn to use

game of thrones

vfx

free textures, video & more

pages ofexperttuition

charactermastercLass

Sculpt and paint this fantastic Moebius-inspired figure using Zbrush, 3ds max and Keyshot

paScal Blanché

march 2014

World no.1 for Cg artists

page://59

page://74

page://60

On the coverUbisoft art director Pascal Blanché shares how he creates his unique 3D illustrations in this issue

Subscribe now! Save money and never miss an issue! Subscribe to 3D World today. Turn to page 44 for more.

Pascal Blanché country canadasoftware ZBrush, 3ds Max, Keyshot, Photoshop

Pascal is one of the CG industry’s most distinctive artists. Using 3D software, the French-Canadian art director creates unique fantasy

illustrations that draw on work by his heroes, such as Frank Frazetta and Moebius.

Starting his career in 1993 for a video game magazine, Pascal has since worked on the first French/Canadian full CG movie – Kaena: the Prophecy – and is currently an art director at Ubisoft, one of the world’s leading video game studios and publishers.

For this issue’s amazing cover, we asked Pascal to pour all his experience and passion into creating a unique illustration driven by his inspirations. With elements of French comic icon Moebius and anime legend Hayao Miyazaki, Pascal’s character oozes charm.

On page 60 you can discover how Pascal created his unique 3D illustration and gain an insight into his techniques using tools such ZBrush FiberMesh and art theory for applying and using colour. www.3dluvr.com/pascalb

Issue 179 March 2014

Read the tutoRial

To follow Pascal’s cover tutorial and create this image, turn to page 60

March 2014 | | 3www.3dworldmag.com

This issue’s featured artists 3D World brings together the world’s leading artists to share their techniques and inspiration

Writers & contributorsJohnathan Banta, Marieke Blaauw, Neil Bedecker, Luoqin Chuan, James Cutler, Michael Illingworth, Steve Jarratt, Beorn Leonard, Ivor Middleton, Joris Oprins, Andrew Orloff, Aharon Rabinowitz, Mark Ramshaw, Job Roggeveen, Francesco Siddi and Pablo Vazquezter

WelcomeMeet the team and our CG expertsIssue 179 March 2014

Let your heroes inspire you to create great CG

This issue has an air of inspiration about it. From cover artist Pascal Blanché tapping into his passion for Moebius to our interview with legendary animator Richard Williams and the VFX artists behind TV’s biggest effects, issue 179 is all about embracing your heroes. Ian Dean, [email protected]

Tell us what you [email protected]

www.3dworldmag.com

www.facebook.com/3dworldmagazine

@3DWorldMag

Sven MartinUSPixomondowww.pixomondo.com

Sven works as a visual effects supervisor at Pixomondo on Game of Thrones and his film credits include Star Trek Into Darkness. In our feature on page 46 Sven shares his VFX techniques for TV.

Rob Redman

Technical [email protected]

Kulsoom Middleton

Operations editor [email protected]

Darren Phillips

Art editor [email protected]

Dan MasonUKFramestore Londonwww.danmasonvfx.com

Dan is a senior texture artist, concept artist, and modeller currently working at Framestore London. On page 68 Dan reveals his process for concepting a character to be rigged for animation.

Mike GriggsUKFreelancewww.creativebloke.com

Mike Griggs is a freelance concept 3D, VFX and mograph artist working across TV, exhibition and digital design. On page 80 you can find the second part of Mike’s Cineware for Cinema 4D tutorial.

Kirk HendryUKTh1ingwww.kirkhendry.com/junk

New Zealand-born Kirk is a freelance filmmaker who’s short films Junk and Round have screened at over 150 festivals and won several awards. This issue, on page 40, Kirk shares his first steps in 3D.

Adam DewhirstUKFramestore Londonwww.adamdewhirst.com

Adam is a lead modeller at Framestore’s film VFX branch in London and has 10 years experience in the industry. On page 74 Adam uses co-worker Dan’s concept to sculpt a creature in Mudbox.

The 3D World team

www.3dworldmag.com

Richard WilliamsUSFreelance www.bit.ly/3dworld-williams

Richard is a Canadian–British animator who was the animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. We catch up with the legendary artist on page 34 to discover what makes an animator.

4 | | March 2014

http://www.kirkhendry.com/junk


page://5

ContentsOur complete line-up for this issueIssue 179 March 2014

Digital subscription Buy the latest magazine and back issues for iPad and iPhone today!www.bit.ly/3dworld-app

10 Showcase

I tested the fur and experimented

34 Movement mechanics

6 | | March 2014

Affordable mixed media VFX for TV

are changing how studios operate

COMMUNITY

10 Showcase Discover some of the outstanding new CG projects from artists and studios

24 In Focus Luoqin Chuan reveals the story and process behind his story-driven illustration Footprint

30 Short CutsRose Brandle talks to the team behind Espero?, a humorous short with a serious message

32 InboxWe respond to readers’ letters about coming back to 3D and learning new skills in 2014

FEATURES

34 The movement mechanicsLegendary animator Richard Williams and a host of top specialists share their CG advice

40 Mixed mediaWhy animator Kirk Hendry made the move to CG to create his enchanting short film Junk

46 Television has been revolutionisedMark Ramshaw talks to the studios at the fore of a TV revolution that is changing the face of VFX

www.3dworldmag.com

TRAININg

60 Scenes that tell a storyCreate a character-driven illustration with digital artist and Ubisoft art director Pascal Blanché

66 Understanding the cameraLearn to replicate the nuances of a real camera to make realistic CG imagery with Mike Griggs

68 Create great character conceptsDan Mason on 2D and 3D techniques for creating interesting and emotive character designs

74 Rig-ready sculpting in MudboxAdam Dewhirst shows you how to use retopology tools to make a character ready for rigging

80 Set up a scene with CinewareMike Griggs reveals how to use After Effects and Cinema 4D to create VFX scenes that work

86 Q&AOur experts respond to your CG queries

REvIEwS

88 Houdini 13Mike Griggs checks out the improvements to Houdini’s already formidable effects toolset

90 Wacom Cintiq Companion HybridRob Redman roadtests the new Wacom tablet to see what benefits there are for 3D artists

91 AmberlightSteve Jarratt tests a new application for creating images that defy definition, but look amazing

POST PROdUCTION

92 DebriefHow Paul Gerrard and Joel LeLièvre created an epic tone and grand reimagining of Hellraiser

96 Freeze FrameMark Ramshaw reveals how Phosphene created out-of-this-world effects for Europa Report

REgUlARS

3 On the cover44 Print subscription offer 98 Next Issue

www.3dworldmag.com March 2014 | | 7

Download videos and tutorial files in three simple steps

01 gO TO THE vAUlT SITE

Your Vault account holds your 3D World issues, as well as any other Future

titles that use Vault

02CHOOSE YOUR 3d wORld ISSUEYou’re asked two simple questions

to verify your purchase, then your new issue joins your collection

03dOwNlOAd YOUR FIlES

Get the files you need whenever you want, with no need to store CDs or clutter

up your hard disk permanently

www.3dworldmag.com/vault

74 Model a character for mocap

66 Fundamentals

Cenobite Pinhead returns in a brand new take on the Hellraiser universe

CG on the go with the new

Wacom Cintiq

88 Houdini 13

10 Showcase We look at some of the most outstanding new creative CG projects including works from...

Caetano SilvaDog

Viviane HerzogPin-up

Jin Kyoung OhArt Nouveau

Preston PlattMorning Commute

Marek DenkoSouvenir

Alexandre TrevisanBlack Pearl

MPCSony Tearaway

Cornelius DämmrichHaze

DveinSymbiosis

Crush IncLost in Motion II

24 In FocusLuoqin Chuan gives an insight into the process behind his story-driven illustration Footprint

30 Short Cuts Rose Brandle talks to the team behind Espero?, a humorous short with a serious message

32 InboxThis issue, we hear from readers coming back to 3D and looking to learn new skills in 2014

CommunityMix with the world’s greatest CG artists and experience the best that the industry has to offer

portfolio@

3dworldmag.com

Send in your work

Email your images to

10 Showcase

The biggest challenge was to

make the character and the environment

come alive


30 Short Cuts

24 In Focus

http://[email protected]



ShowcaseThis issue stars an anthropomorphic cartoon dog...

CommunityThe best new creative work from the world’s top CG artists

10 | | March 2014 www.3dworldmag.com

DogArtist Caetano SilvaSoftware ZBrush, Modo, Cinema 4D, Photoshop

This piece was created as an in-house advertisement for Un Mariachi 3D Studio, Brazil, where Caetano Silva works. “The fur was a big challenge because

I had never used it in Modo before,” says Caetano. “I did a lot of testing with the fur and experimented with various settings of flex, root bend and kink to achieve the best result possible. A separate shader was used to shade only the fur. I also used Modo’s Skin Shader for the man’s hand skin and used the maps exported from ZBrush to create SSS maps for the three layers of the epidermis.”

The characters were modelled using ZBrush and a wealth of photographic reference and anatomy studies. Starting with DynaMesh for the volumes and silhouette, the mesh was exported to Modo and work on the topology began. Caetano also experimented with ZBrush’s automatic retopology feature ZRemesher.

As well as learning how to realistically light a scene in Modo and how to work with fur, Caetano says his ZBrush skills improved on the project and that it helped him to discover his own style.www.caetanosilva.com

Showcase COMMUNITY

I tested the fur and experimented with various settings

of flex, root bend and kink to achieve the best result possible

portfolio@ 3dworldmag.com

Send in your workEmail your images to


COMMUNITY Showcase

I really enjoyed doing something quite new. And I find pin-ups

gorgeous; with generous curves, they look like real women

Pin-uPArtist Viviane HerzogSoftware 3ds Max, V-Ray, ZBrush, Photoshop

“I’m mainly a 3D video game character artist, so I really enjoyed doing something quite new. And I find pin-ups gorgeous; with generous curves, they

look like real women,” says artist Viviane.As a video game 3D artist Viviane is confident

with low poly modelling and texturing, but is always trying to learn more about 3D and techniques and skills to enhance her portfolio. Her pin-up piece was created to try out her 3D still illustration skills.

Viviane sculpted the model using ZBrush, starting with solid topology and later using retopology to

make improvements. She then exported a mid-res version to 3ds Max, unwrapped, rigged

and posed it and then took it back into ZBrush for more tweaks.

The project taught Viviane how to use V-Ray, V-Ray shaders and create hair

and fur. Now she’s keen to create more: “I’ll look to create more 3D

illustrations in the future.”www.hev3d.com

3D WorlD vieW

“This ravashing pin-up reveals Viviane’s talent for creating lovely characters; it’s beautifully rendered too.”

Kulsoom Middleton, operations editor


Art NouveAuArtist Jin Kyoung ohSoftware ZBrush, Photoshop

“When I first saw Art Nouveau, I felt it was delicate, beautiful and sensitive,” says Korean 3D artist Jin Kyoung Oh. She became inspired and sought to recreate

an Alphonse Mucha portrait in 3D. “I thought the beautiful sensitivity should be delivered as it was in the original, but I wanted to make it the most beautiful image I could, rather than just imitate it.”

The face was created from photo reference of models and the texturing was done with great care so that the image wouldn’t collapse under the weight of realism. In other areas realism was pushed to extremely high levels. “When creating

the jewellery, modelling and shading was done like actual jewellery rather than texturing,” says Jin.

With the hair Jin found the Art Nouveau style offered a unique challenge. In a Mucha painting the hair looks solid, “a little bit like jelly,” Jin explains. To avoid the problem, after modelling in 3D, Jin decided to paint the hair using Photoshop.

With the character modelled, composition set and light source installed Jin rendered the image, and worked on refining the beauty. The final stage was to create the background and compile all the elements of the portrait. “I created my portrait little by little for a long time, and it’s finally complete. I hope that you can feel pleasure and appreciate its beauty for a short time when you see it,” says Jin.www.jinky1001.cghub.com

I wanted to make it the most beautiful

image I could, rather than just imitate

3dworldmag.com March 2014 | | 13

Showcase COMMUNITY

3D WorlD vieW

“The Art Nouveau inspiration has been handled beautifully by Jin, her adaption of the movement’s key themes are wonderful to see in her portrait.”

Rob Redman, technical editor

COMMUNITY Showcase

One day when I was on the train I thought this subject would be

amazing to show different lighting environments

Morning CoMMuteArtist Preston PlattSoftware Maya, mental ray, Photoshop, After effects

“Sometimes projects consume me and this was one of them,” explains 3D generalist Preston of his latest project. “I ride this train every morning into San

Francisco and I have a serious love-hate relationship with it. It’s always packed and dirty so this is a little look into how I wish I could ride in the morning. Relaxed in the dirty atmosphere.”

Preston currently works for product development company Osterhout Design Group, creating product renders. He has had no formal training: “I tried following the college route, but it was not for me,” he explains. The internet has been his source of education and the 3D community is constantly inspiring him to create better work.

“It’s a community who understands what we do when the rest of the world really doesn’t get it. My never-ending learning path also heavily inspires me. The satisfaction of trouble shooting in a technical art is something I cannot find anywhere else.”

It’s a train of thought that led Preston to model his journey to work on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). “I wanted to give the community something they could have fun learning lighting with,” adds the artist. “One day when I was on the train I thought this subject would be amazing to show different lighting environments. You could be in a tunnel, the sun could be setting, or it could be overcast. It’s an interior that is constantly affected by the outside environment.”

After taking photos during the day on his way to work Preston would model in the evening, taking more photos the following day and making changes at night. “I like to work in low polys and constantly use the Interactive Smooth tool. My model can keep evolving in a flexible low poly state.”

Preston used mental ray with a linear workflow for texturing and lighting, using GI in combination with subtle lights that don’t appear so physical: “I like to slightly paint the light to get the desired lighting,” he explains.

Preston has kindly given us his model which you can download from the Vault and use.www.prestonplatt.cgsociety.org


3D WorlD vieW

“I love how Preston has created his image from life reference, riding the train daily for inspiration. The creative process is as interesting as the final rendered scene.”

Ian Dean, editor

coMMunity showcase

16 | | December 201316 | | March 2014 3dworldmag.com

The feedback from mykids about Souvenir was anawesome experience


showcase coMMunity

3D worlD view

“Marek is no stranger to 3DWorld, here he continues toimpress with fun figures, goodcomposition and great lighting.”

Ian Dean, editor

souvenirartist Marek Denkosoftware 3ds Max, v-ray, Photoshop

Marek runs the CG studioNoemotion, but in his sparetime manages to create somefun illustrations. “I’d seen a

magical light setup last summer duringa family holiday in Slovakia,” says Marek,“I was experimenting with ideas on howto make it more alive. The feedbackfrom my kids about Souvenir was anawesome experience.”

Marek’s experience is very wide andtouches on most aspects of creating CG.Marek’s studio creates game cinematics,commercials, movies; stereo rides formany clients around the world.

“Usually, but not always, I have adefinite idea or I’m just experimentingwith something,” says Marek about his

creative process. “If the idea is clearI create a base scene, gather lots ofreference images and take picturesif possible. Then I create models, setthe lighting and tweak until I’m satisfied.There were no notable problems with thispiece, except creative struggles.”

An element of Souvenir that Marek isproud of is the dust effect used toconvey atmosphere. Just how did hecreate it? “It is just a painted, subtlegeometry (splines and hair-like shapes,)scattered here and there,” he explains.www.marekdenko.net

coMMunity showcase


Black Pearlartist alexandre trevisansoftware Maya, v-ray,zBrush, Photoshop

“This image is based onDenis Zilber’s Black Pearl,”reveals 3D illustrator andmatte painter Alexandre

Trevisan. “When I first saw it, Iimmediately thought of doing a 3Dversion. I thought the contrast of afragile and small boat with theirfearless commander, sailing in thevast ocean side by side with a giantfreighter was incredible.”

Alexandre currently works at StudioNitro in São Paulo. He started as a 2Dmatte painter, but started studying 3Dand now works on lighting, texturingand rendering for the studio.

While modelling began well in Maya,Alexandre called a colleague to helpcraft the captain: “My friend and

modeller Roberto Moreira helped meto model the character in ZBrush”.Once the modelling was completedAlexandre lit the scene in Maya beforeopening all the UV elements and usingPhotoshop to texture the scene, andthen imported it back into Maya.

“I decided to render in three parts(boat, ship and currents) to facilitatecomposition.” Photoshop was usedfor post production.

The sea posed a problem asAlexandre didn’t know if the waterwas going to be created using phototextures or CG, but as he was creatinga still, he ended up using stockimages to create the water and somebrushes to make the smoke.

“I’m not a professional modellerand this project helped me to realiseI need to study ZBrush. This is thegreatest lesson,” reflects Alexandre.www.alexandretrevisan.com

I’m not a professionalmodeller and this projecthelped me to realise thatI need to study ZBrush

sony tearawaystudio MPcsoftware Maya, Photoshop, nuke, Flame

Tim Civil, VFX supervisor at MPC tells usSony Tearaway was shot over two dayswith a further five weeks given to postwork. The project had a team of nine for

the 3D side of the job, these included two mattepainters, two riggers, two animators, a generalistFX artist, a lighter and Tim, as the 3D lead.

One of the challenges for the team was havingconfidence that the greenscreen footage filmed onset would line up with the miniature footage shota day earlier. “This came from an extremelycollaborative relationship between MPC, directorRob Blishen and everyone else involved,” stressesTim. “Based on storyboards and plans from the set

designer we made a technical previs. This was doneto ensure that we had sufficient studio space tofilm both the miniature and the actor.”

A miniature set was built at 1:12 scale on raiseddecks and filmed on an ARRI Alexa using a T-Rexborescope to get the camera into parts of the setthat a larger camera body would not fit.

The team took notes for every shot on theminiature shoot, documenting the distance of thelens to the subject, the height off the ground andmost importantly the inclination of the lens. “Withthese notes we then recreated the camerasposition at scale on the greenscreen set a daylater,” says Tim. “This pre-planning saved time inpost as everyone was able to see on set, usingmix and overlay, that the shot was working.”www.moving-picture.com

Based on plans andstoryboards from theset designer we madea technical previs

3D worlD view

“To blend as many disciplines as this spotcontains into one coherent whole was acomplex process, but MPC manage tomake it appear simple.”

KulsoomMiddleton, operations editor


showcase coMMunity

20 | | March 2014 3dworldmag.com

coMMunity showcase

Hazeartist cornelius Dämmrichsoftware cinema 4D, v-ray, Photoshop,zBrush, Marvelous Designer, unfold 3D

This scene took arch-vizenvironment artist sevenmonths to create. It’s sodetailed, it’s one of those

images you just need to sit and study.“Seeing it grow and the feeling aftersolving a problem is really great,” saysCornelius when asked what he enjoyedabout creating Haze.

Cornelius worked on a flipped canvas,which meant the Image was horizontallymirrored during the whole creationprocess. “That was important because Itend to loose the visual substance of animage when I see it every day, for severalmonths. Flipping it after every preview islike seeing the artwork of a stranger,which really helps a lot.”

Problems only arose when thingsneeded changing, such as the scene’sfloor: “I had something very boring in

mind and changed it to something morecomplex later in the process – the tilesare all real geometry and each one has itsown UV map,” says the artist. “I tried toapply unique textures to them by usingthe mograph multishader with a standardVRay material, but it just didn’t work theway I wanted, so I decided to map themall by hand. However, the fact that themultishader wouldn’t work the way Iwanted bothered me so much, that Ispent almost two weeks trying to find asolution for multishading 20 tiles.”

Cornelius’s struggle to solve problemshas resulted in some new workflow tips,for instance: “If you setup C4D shaderswith VRay materials, try to set them upwith an advanced renderer material fromC4D, not the VRay material – the open GLpreview does not work that well withVRay materials and if you use amultishader with a cloner, it helps seeingthe preview of the effect in the viewport,and not only in the preview rendering.”www.zomax.net


The tiles are all realgeometry and each one has

its own UV map

3D worlD view

“There’s so much detail andthe effort Cornelius has put into present a coherent sceneshould be admired.”

Ian Dean, editor

showcase coMMunity

syMBiosisstudio Dveinsoftware 3ds Max, Maya, Photoshop, after effects

Dvein turned out this experimentalvideo interpretation of TheDismemberment Plan’s hit song DaddyWas a Real Good Dancer for Rdio (the

ad-free music subscription service). “The brief wasreally open, like a blank canvas. We set up severalcrazy ideas and the client selected two of them,”explains Teo Guillem, director and designer at Dvein,a collaborative studio that provides director and artdirection for live action and animation.

The colourful animation features a cool-lookingcharacter playing a game, interacting directlywith the camera; the character can operate thecamera with his dance and movement.

“The whole project was developed in five weeks.Once we had the character modelled and rigged,the animation took around three weeks to becompleted. The lighting and render was done inparallel. It was a great teamwork, in which wecollected talented people that shared our passionregarding animation,” says Teo, who reveals BlowStudio came onboard to create the lighting, andrender and compositing, while Víctor Vinyals andHugo García from Symbiosis worked on thecharacter rigging and animation.

“I think the biggest challenge was to make thecharacter and the environment come alive. Weneeded to get an almost hyper-realistic render anda very smooth and natural movement,” says Teo.

To accomplish this, the team avoided cartoontextures and instead aimed for a style closer to

realistic details, especially for the sky. But the realeffect of the film comes from the movement. “Wefilmed ourselves dancing to get real references ofbody movements and then we shared it with theanimator, in order to get as close as possible to anatural movement,” explains Teo. He reveals thatthe same approach was taken with the cameramovement, “we made lots of filming tests lookingfor natural movements to apply to 3D”.www.dvein.com

We needed to get analmost hyper-realisticrender and a verysmooth and natural

movement

3D worlD view

“I love the hyperstylised character in thisspot. With his cockiness and cool moves,he is a perfect fit for The DismembermentPlan’s Daddy Was a Real Good Dancer.”

KulsoomMiddleton, operations editor

coMMunity showcase

22 | | March 2014 3dworldmag.com

lost in Motion iistudio crush incsoftware Maya, Flame

Director Ben Shirinian andchoreographer/dancerGuillaume Côté returnedto VFX studio Crush Incto capture the emotion ofa performance in acaptivating film, whichwas produced in

association with The National Balletof Canada and Bravo!FACT.

Managing director Gary Thomasand Flame artist Andre Arevalo wereonce again teamed with the directorand dancer to help create the shortfilm. “They gave us their vision andallowed us to bring our input andideas into the mix,” says Gary.

“Flame was the most useful pieceof software,” states Andre. “Flame’s

plane extrusion tools combined withcamera projections were crucial inthe workflow of Lost in Motion II.Also, the particle generators provedto be quite useful.”

The biggest technical challengecame from integrating the footagefeaturing a live-action rain machine.The team didn’t want the rainsequence to enter too abruptly. “Wedecided to introduce the rain intoshots leading up to the live-actionrain. We used a particle systemwithin Flame to create the rain, buttook the actual rain particle from thelive-action footage,” says Andre. “Sothe particle system was emitting aseries of raindrop textures from thelive-action plates. Once we began toplay with placing hits of lightning, therain really began to come to life.”www.crushinc.com

Flame’s plane extrusiontools combined with cameraprojections were crucial

3dworldmag.com

24 | | March 2014

CommunityGet inside the mind of a CG artist as they reveal their creative process

In Focus

www.3dworldmag.com3dworldmag.com

Artist Luoqin ChuanTitle FootprintSoftware ZBrush, Mudbox, 3ds Max, Photoshop, V-Ray, UVlayoutAs a product manager in an app development team in China, Luoqin creates

high-resolutions 3D art as a hobby and says that his love of CG and all the great CG masterpieces is what drives him to create CG illustrations.

Footprint took Luoqin three months to create and was inspired by an old-fashioned sense of adventure imbued with some black humour. The scene depicts a palaeobiology team who have found a creature’s footprint, however, they are unaware that they are being stalked.

“I conceived this story about exploration and adventure after watching a lot of movies about the Wild West,” says Luoqin. The original idea was of a scene featuring a group of Western cowboys drinking next to a campfire. “Then I thought, why not make it a bit dark and humorous? So I imagined a story about a serious palaeontologist investigating a footprint he and his company have just found; and the savage is right beside them.”

Luoqin typically works from sketches on paper. Then uses ZBrush to freeform sculpt and arrange the ideas. Once done he collects reference, refines his character models using DynaMesh in ZBrush and does retopo work using 3ds Max, as well as making UVs in UVlayout. For textures, Luoqin uses Mudbox and Photoshop and puts all the models into 3ds Max for lighting and rendering. Finally, Photoshop is used to sort out the composition.

To save time Luoqin uses the MultiScatter plug-in for 3ds Max to create the ground; the sand, rocks, ash and plant elements.

“I got a lot of experience creating Footprint, especially managing such a large scene,” says Luoqin, but adds every image always comes back to the big idea: “When I finished this idea, I could not stop laughing. It’s indeed a funny story.”www.weibo.com/u/2947521072

Luoqin Chuan reveals the story and process behind his story-driven illustration Footprint

01 Sketch the initial ideaWhen the idea for a story strikes, you need

to catch it quickly as otherwise it can change and become something else. I originally envisioned the scene taking place in a desert. Through the moonlight on the hill behind, you can see a savage who was originally supposed to be running away.

02 Rapid prototyping After the outline sketches are complete,

the next step is to carry out various roles in rapid prototyping. At this point you need to work fast and with flexibility. You can see the final form of these characters is very different to the prototyping ones – that’s thanks to the free shaping.

characters’ features, so each character’s face needs to be refined. When working on this, think about the character’s mood: the facial expression needs to reflect the characteristics of the person.

03 Character design Put the rapid prototyping into the original

sketch; you should be able to feel a harmony between these. The next step is to work on the

In Focus COMMUNITY

www.3dworldmag.com March 2014 | | 25www.3dworldmag.com

portfolio@

3dworldmag.com

Send in your work

Email your images to

I got a lot of experience creating Footprint, especially managing such a large scene

COMMUNITY In Focus


04 Detailed modelling At this stage I use costume photos or action pictures for

reference. Due to the setup each of my characters has a completely different posture and they also have different characteristics. So, at the same time as defining their poses, I complete the accessories and equipment for each of my figures to help to sell their stories.

You can use MultiScatter to help with the layout of

the ground elements

Convert your own photos into simple reference meshes using PhotoScan

06Using MultiScatter

As the ground, bonfires and vegetation are close to the viewer I want to achieve a high level of detail and accuracy to create them, so I use the MultiScatter plug-in for 3ds Max to assist with the layout of the grass and stones. I also use MultiScatter to arrange about 5,000 ash elements, which add further realism to the campfire and the ashes.

05Help from PhotoScanIt was difficult to grasp the squatting pose of the palaeontologist

character in a realistic manner, because of his crouched posture. In order to help, I used the software Agisoft PhotoScan, which converts my photos to create a simple reference mesh. I can then use this mesh to help me to easily build the model using ZBrush’s Transpose tools.

Each character has different characteristics and is given different accessories to help to sell their story

www.3dworldmag.com

In Focus COMMUNITY

March 2014 | | 27

09Composition and final retouching

After rendering, it’s always best to fine-tune your work. I use Photoshop for doing post-processing work. Here I use Photoshop to create the flame of

campfire, the moon’s details and the glow of the cigar. After stitching all these elements into the render, I then carry out a detailed adjustment for hue, brightness and sharpness. Finally, my work is complete.

07Lighting schemeAs the scene becomes more complex,

more lights are added accordingly. I use the grouping approach for various lights; for example each character and group of rocks in the background features independent illumination. This speeds up the process and makes adjusting the lighting later much easier.

08Plain model rendering testYou can see from this final test pattern that the lighting helps

to emphasise the difference between the cold and warm colours. The rim lighting simulates the cold moonlight in the background of scene nicely. By fine-tuning the campfire’s light as much as possible, I manage to use it to illuminate the scene with warm tones.

Having groups of lighting can help speed

up the process and tweaks can be made

more easily later

www.3dworldmag.com30 | | March 2014

The short shows how Gaia (Earth) first met humankind, and highlights some of the subsequent problems

Short CutsRose Brandle talks to the student team behind Espero? a humorous short with a serious message

Vital statistics

Title Espero? (Hope?) Duration 04:21

Website www.bit.ly/3d-esperoDirectors Simone Giampaolo, Yifan Hu,

Henrik LinnesProduction time Seven months

Software Maya, mental ray, Nuke, Mudbox, Photoshop, Premiere Pro

Synopsis This short is a criticism of our modern society and of the way we’ve been evolving

If you like this, watch… I, Pet Goat II, Heliofant, 2012, www.bit.ly/petgoat

CommunityThe best new animated shorts from outside the major studios

spero’ means ‘hope’ in Esperanto, a constructed language whose name itself translates as ‘one

who hopes’. The student team behind this beautiful short chose to use Esperanto for the animation because the philosophy behind the language’s creation was fostering peace and international understanding between people. Espero? is a film with a strong ecological message, one that it imparts with a unique visual style: treat our environment with respect or it will no longer be able to sustain us.

It’s a serious message, but the student team – director and animator Simone Giampaolo, TD and animator Henrik Linnes, and art director Yifan Hu, all graduates of the National Centre for Computer Animation in Bournemouth, UK – cleverly bypassed any sense of lecturing by using humour and emotion.

Director Simone believes animation is the ideal medium for serious messages: “I see animation as one of the most powerful mediums to reach a wide ranging audience, from children to adults. What intrigues me most are the possibilities to use this medium to spread important messages and teachings while entertaining the audience. Animation allows you to talk about inconvenient and sensitive topics in a funny and relaxed way, which is much more difficult to achieve through live action.”

Socially aware animatorsEarly inspirations for the story came from two illustrious animators who, throughout their career, have been using animation as a medium to deliver messages to the audience: Frédéric Back and Bruno Bozzetto. “As our short film aims to present environmental issues created by the human race, we think we have a lot in common with Frédéric Back in terms of themes,” Simone explains.

With the main character, Andrew, the aim was to create an everyman that the audience could identify with, even at his worst. “Andrew is human,” says Simone, “and in a way too human. He can be

E

page://5

March 2014 | | 31

Short Cuts Community

www.3dworldmag.com

“Andrew is an adult who has not grown up intellectually,” says Simone

The team has shared a making-of for Espero, which you can view here: www.bit.ly/3d-espero-make

Boasting a unique, painterly style, this short is a great presentation of the UK’s leading animation school

The team devised a new, flexible lighting system. “The shader consisted of a ramp connected to the light, an AO pass and a fake rim light ramp,” says

Henrik. “That information was stored inside the shader’s RGB channels in a way that simplified the render process. This technique offered a

flexible way of adjusting the lights in the scene. In most shots there was a key light connected to a ramp, affecting the direction and the amount of light

receiving by the object. By adjusting the ramp, we could have full control over how much highlight, mid-tone or shadow could cast on the object.“

Key technology

ARTIST PROfIlESimone GiampaoloSimone is currently directing a short film at Oscar-winning studio Se-Ma-For. www.vimeo.com/sgiampaolo

WATCH THE TrAIlEr

See the animated short via Vimeo at the

following link... www.bit.ly/3d-espero

ARTIST PROfIlEHenrik LinnesHenrik is working as a programmer in Norway, while applying for jobs in London. vimeo.com/henriklinnes

ARTIST PROfIlEYifan HuYifan is a lighting artist currently working in London.vimeo.com/yifanhu

described as the most shameful part of our modern society: selfish, greedy, lazy and not very smart. Andrew is an adult who has not grown up intellectually. He has got one talent though: his peculiar sense of survival, which enables him to promptly react when something endangers his existence.”

As well as director, Simone took on the roles of story artist, character designer and animator: “The best thing about producing a short in a small team is that you get to try different roles and learn a lot about every step of production.”

Technical issues fell to his colleague Henrik, who’s roles were TD, lead modeller and animator. “The hardest job for me was definitely rigging. Not having done much rigging before, I struggled to get them to work the way I wanted. The funny thing is that, in the end, the rigs are what I’m most pleased with,” he says.

Creative workaroundsThe team worked mainly in Maya, to give them a flexibile, but tight pipeline. “Since Maya is so flexible and can be adapted to many different situations, we found it was the perfect tool for a student project,” says Henrik. “As a student working in a small team, you want to keep the pipeline as neat as possible; using such a multifunctional software as Maya was really beneficial.”

The team also came up with some creative workarounds that made the modelling and rigging processes easier,

says Henrik. “It was decided early on that the characters would all have their mouths textured and not modelled, which made modelling the characters a bit easier – and also that Andrew’s underwear would be textured. The only other parts that needed to be modelled were Andrew’s tie and shoes.

“The model had to be adjusted further into the production as the rig needed to have detachable limbs. Separating the legs for the human, and both legs and arms for the earth and filling in the holes where the geometry was previously attached. It was important to do this as cleanly as possible so that it wouldn’t mess up the UVs, or add problems to the rig,” says Henrik.

Classic cartoon visuals Using Maya was key to achieving Espero’s cartoonish visual style, says art director Yifan Hu. “In Maya we managed to give the rigs the right amount of flexibility we needed for moving around, posing, squashing and stretching such round characters (the rubber hose feel of arms and legs was achieved by using flexi-planes),” she explains.

“Also, Maya became very effective in terms of lighting and rendering for achieving the cartoonish style. The biggest technical difficulty was the rigging,” says Yifan. “We needed the rigs to be able to squash, stretch, bend and behave in ways that made it possible to

get the style that we wanted. As none of us had much experience with rigging we started off by making a basic rig and then added features that we needed later on as the character developed.

“To get the bendy limbs to work nicely without breaking or creating weird results, different methods like cluster and joint-based systems were tried out, but none of those gave us the flexibility and durability that we desired. In the end we used a follicle-based system to drive the deformations. The system was created separately from the rig and applied to the areas of the rigs where we wanted it.”

Texturing was done in Mudbox and Photoshop, and was approached in the same way as when applying paint onto a canvas. “To achieve a painterly effect it is easier to paint on a flat surface, resulting in less image distortion,” Yifan explains. “It also helps to briefly mark down the particular positions – such as the eyes and nose – of the UV texture in Mudbox and then add details in Photoshop.”

Yifan feels that the student team managed to produce a polished animation in a short period of time. “The lighting and compositing techniques we used offered efficiency and flexibility in terms of lighting adjustment, both in production and in post.” The whole animation was rendered out in less than a week, which gave the team time to go back and tweak details in the texturing, lighting and the overall animation. X

“I see animation as one of the most powerful mediums to reach a wide ranging audience, from children to adults” Simone Giampaolo, director

page://5


InboxThis issue, readers are coming back to 3D and looking to learn new skills in 2014

CommunityVoice your opinion on your magazine and CG industry

New reader I’m writing to say how much I’ve enjoyed the recent issues. I’m new to 3D art, having just picked up ZBrush for Christmas and some training videos, and any resources I can find are invaluable.It’s so hard to find good 3D art books and training, but 3D World has become a staple of my month now. In particular I found the recent training from Titouan Olive on ZBrush texturing invaluable. Keep up the good work!Peter wiltshire, via email Ian replies: Thanks for emailing Peter, I’m glad we’re helping you enjoy your new passion and offering some useful advice on improving your ZBrush techniques. They’ll be more tutorials from Titouan in future issues, so please keep reading.

TIme To dIversIfy?Recently I have thought about combining professions and mixing my skills. I am a traditional artist who took up 3D when I was introduced to Maya and have since worked as a lighting artist. Now I am looking to expand and wondered if this is a good thing? Should I take small steps and work towards larger scene creation, maybe matte painting, or try to work towards concept art?

Essentially my goal for this year is to combine my love of 2D art and my current occupation using 3D software. What do I need to consider before I jump into my new training?darren Combes, via email

Ian replies: Thanks for emailing Darren. Generally speaking, learning any skills will serve you well in the future and make you more employable. Be aware that some new skills will be a development of where you are now, for example moving from lighting to matte paintings, but something like concept art has a very deep and involved skillset that requires a broad knowledge of core art theory. Look at what skills you have and which areas you want to expand and go from there. We’d love to hear from you in the future, please send us any work you have and update us on your progress!

effeCTIve helP Can I just say a quick thank you for the recent Cineware training for Cinema 4D? They have been a massive help to me and opened my eyes to new ways to work. After Effects has been top of my list

this year as something I need to learn to use in a more productive way, and your writer’s insights and tips have been invaluable. My only question is, I picked up the tutorial in a back issue and it mentioned part two was coming, but I have yet to find it in subsequent issues – where is it? Please let me know as I’m desperate for it! anna Beele, via email Ian replies: Anna, you’ll be pleased to know that the second part of Mike’s Cineware tutorial is in this issue, on page 80! It took him a while to complete but we’re sure you’ll enjoy the new advice he shares as he finalises his scene.

GIve us some love I’m in love with your magazine and look forward to every issue and seeing who will make the new cover! I love the work of Andrew Hickinbottom, do you think you’ll be able to put his work on your cover in a future issue?lea James, via email Ian replies: We love Andrew’s work too Lea, but he’s incredibly busy… however, we’ll continue to ask, just for you!

whaT PaINTING Tool? Thanks for your recent issues, you’ve reignited my love of 3D art. I veered into Photoshop but am now back noodling in Mudbox… thank you!martin arnold, via email Ian replies: Our pleasure, and keep reading! This issue’s tutorials on pages 68 and 74 will help you.

Did you miss issue 178?

[email protected]

www.3dworldmag.com

www.facebook.com/3dworldmagazine

@3DWorldMag

There are still a few copies left of our ZBrush Creatures issue, but hurry! Get a back issue today at www.bit.ly/issue178For a digital iPad edition, visitwww.bit.ly/3dworld-app

Titouan olive’s in-depth ZBrush texturing tutorial in 178 made a newcomer to 3d happy

Contact the editor, Ian Dean at [email protected] to get your opinion printed in the magazine. Or message us via any of usual channels listed below.

page://5


The Movement Mechanics

ith over 50 years’ experience at the highest levels in the industry, veteran animator Richard

Williams is best known for his animation direction on Disney/Amblin’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a film that pushed traditional animation into the modern era. Understanding the concept of a perfect pratfall and the technology to mix digital

and traditional techniques seamlessly, Richard – and the rabbit – made history.

Leading to that moment and beyond was his desire to embrace all aspects of animation, to learn from the originators, push new skills and chronicle the artform. A passion for art and years spent working with legends at Warner and Disney meant Richard was always in the position

W

The Legendary animaTor

RichaRd Williams and Cg

speCiaLisTs share Their adviCe

ArTisT ProfileRichard WilliamsRichard is the triple Oscar-winning animator best known for serving as animation director on Disney/Amblin’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit and for his definitive book on animation, The Animator’s Survival Kit.www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com



to enhance his skills and develop our thinking of animation. His love of pushing boundaries can be seen in his early work, on the title sequence of Casino Royal and The Return of the Pink Panther.

Where to begin?When it comes to the people who influenced his work most, Richard says that there are three main names. “First is Ken Harris, the great Warner Bros animator

who showed me by example how much I still had to learn. Next came Art Babbitt, who I worked with for 14 years. He was a gifted teacher who systematised the knowledge from the ‘Golden Years’ of animation. Thirdly, the ultimate master animator Milt Kahl; although we were never able to work together, he helped me in numerous ways.”

For an animator like Richard the craft is simple and timeless, lessons learned

Top 12 tips for animators

animation principles are consistent across all projects, says Rob Redman

Telling a story through animation requires believable movement. The human eye can instantly recognise

if there is something ‘unreal’ about what we see – the Uncanny Valley is a perfect example of this.

There are lots of different animation styles, but things like anticipation, weighting and balance

are consistent aspects that need to be understood, even if only to be broken. The tips on these pages will help you increase

your understanding of animation and inspire you to work smarter.

01 Be your own facial model

Put a mirror by your computer monitor, and look at yourself while you are working on character expressions. Pull faces to exaggerate your emotions.

02 Manual, not automatic

Turn off automatic keyframe easing. Create keyframe transitions manually or your movements may look unnatural. every aspect of your animation should be a choice made by you, not your software!

03 The eyes have itAvoid your character

looking boss-eyed by moving your eye targets to the object it is looking at. Direction isn’t enough; don’t leave the target control hanging in front of their face if they are looking at something further away, as it often looks very strange.

richard Williams’s Circus Drawings was completed by animating original drawings that he drew in 1953 when he lived near a village circus in spain

richard Williams worked on The Thief and the Cobbler for 28 years. He began

production in 1964, and his version remains unfinished



“We are all movement mechanics, but our knowledge is only there to enable us to give the performance. some of us use a pencil, some of us use a mouse. as shakespeare said: ‘The play’s the thing.’”

05 Block it out!it’s easy to get caught

up in details, but try to resist the urge. Block out all the big moves first. if you are moving a character through a room, get the start and end positions nailed first, add any emotions to the walk and then refine smaller details like facial expressions and hand movements.

04 Use dynamics to save time

These days, dynamics can produce great results. if you have a tail on a character, you could set it up to react dynamically so it interacts with props as it moves, saving you from animating them yourself.

06 Build a video reference library

Use a camera or phone to record people moving wherever you are. record friends or interesting walks as you travel. Collect them: you never know when they will come in handy.

in traditional animation are as important now as they ever were. “We are all movement mechanics, but our knowledge is only there to enable us to give the performance,” says Richard. “Some of us use a pencil, some of us use a mouse. As Shakespeare said: ‘The play’s the thing.’”

Whether creating cutting-edge CG or shadow puppets in After Effects, the skills needed to bring lines and shapes to life are the same. “I still start with a pencil and paper, so that hasn’t changed. But I use all the new technology that helps me… I am now filming digitally instead of using film.”

For Richard his inspiration came from seeing Snow White as a five year-old. “My

mother said I was never the same again,” he says. “I always knew I was some sort of artist, and early on was fascinated by the fact that drawings could walk and talk. I have been drawing since I was two, and I‘ve never stopped.”

making the transitionHis experience and desire to push the boundaries of animation, both artistically and technologically, led Richard to take the animation director role on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Richard began making the opening sequence on his own, before pulling in other animators such as Simon Wells and Roy Naisbitt – “[Roy] is an expert

at pans and stuff like that.” This Tex Avery-inspired sequence, a fourth wall-tearing moment where the 2D Baby Herman walks off the animation stage, lights a cigar and steps into the ‘real world’ set a new standard for animation and VFX.

“There was an air of confidence from the very beginning because everybody involved sensed it would be a hit. It was such a novel idea and we knew we had the formula to mix live action and animation in a more convincing way than previously,” says Richard. “We needed a cartoon on the front to set up the idea of the film.

“When I was animating the scene where Roger Rabbit is in the fridge, Baby

Herman is throwing a fit and the live-action director is furious with Roger, I knew we had something. When this transition to live action worked I knew it was a game-changer and would have a lot of influence.”

Then and nowNo stranger to the short form too, Richard directed the Oscar-winning A Christmas Carol, The Little Island, A Lecture on Man and Love Me, Love Me, Love Me among many career highlights.

A visit to the Klik! Festival in Amsterdam in November revealed a bustling array of new and exciting short animations in all forms and styles, many of which share Richard’s sense of style and humour, and that of his friend Chuck Jones. Highlights included the standout short Caminandes: Gran Dillama by Pablo Vazquez, Beorn Leonard and Francesco Siddi at the Blender Institute.

A fun challenge that turned into a polished short within a few weeks,

The Thief and The Cobbler was re-edited and finished by producer fred Calvert, and released as The Princess

and the Cobbler/Arabian Knight

“i always knew i was some sort of artist, and

early on was fascinated by the fact that drawings could walk and talk,” says richard

www.3dworldmag.com


March 2014 | | 37

animating in BlenderThe Caminandes team offers some key advice to improving your shorts…

What does the title mean?‘Caminandes’ is short for ‘camino/caminar’ (Spanish for path/walk) and Andes – the longest continental mountain range in the world, also known as the ‘spine of South America’. The southernmost region of the Americas is called Patagonia, where Pablo is from.

How long did it take to create?Preproduction lasted a few weeks

during the period from August to September 2013, and the actual production happened at the Blender Institute in Amsterdam from 12-30 October.

What kind of targets did you set yourselves?As in previous Open Movie Projects from Blender Institute, there was a special focus on technical targets, in particular on establishing

a render pipeline with the Cycles render engine, using fur.

How was the short film funded?Caminandes: Gran Dillama was successfully supported by the animation community through the presale of a USB stick containing a copy of the finished film, along with all the production assets, scripts, documentation and training materials.

Keep node setups tidy! Keep inputs and outputs on their own lines so you can identify flow more easily. Decide on a stacking order for Render Layers early on and stick to it throughout.

RendersMake sure that you provide regular render updates to your animators so they can see how the shot looks with effects and vector blur.

ScriptsAutomate as many repetitive tasks as possible. For example, writing a script to update your project files and export a preview of your film can take time but in the long run will save you legwork.

NodesSet up your compositing nodes on a separate scene to the lighting nodes, so you can append the compositing scene and reuse the nodes, render layers and render settings without bringing up the lighting rig.

RiggingWhen building complex light rigs, group bones in layers of complexity. This offers easier maintenance, easier learning, higher frame rates in the viewport and less visual clutter.

07 Using weight/vertex maps

Weight/vertex maps control many aspects of how a character deforms. Get to grips with painting and adjusting them so you have the ability to counter problem areas.

08 Secondary motion

Add secondary motions at the last stage, but don’t treat them as second class. secondary motion is essential to making an animation more realistic and believable.

ArTisT ProfilePablo VazquezPablo is a generalist 3D artist and trainer from Patagonia. He has worked on feature films and short movies, video games and advertisements.www.pablovazquez.org

ArTisT ProfileFrancesco SiddiFrancesco works as layout artist and freelance producer. He has worked at the Blender Institute on the Mango Open Movie Project and other projects.www.fsiddi.com

ArTisT ProfileBeorn LeonardAustralian Beorn has worked in 3D and motion graphics for 18 years, and has worked on Happy Feet 2 and the first episode of Caminandes.beornleonard.blogspot.co.uk

Caminandes is an independently produced short animated series, inspired by Chuck Jones cartoons

Caminandes: Gran Dillama was inspired

by classic looney Tunes cartoons

making Caminandes: gran dillamaPablo Vazquez, Beorn leonard and Francesco siddi at the Blender institute discuss their latest short



making muteJob Roggeveen, Joris Oprins and marieke Blaauw reveal some of the techniques they used to make the short film mute

What’s important to your animation style?Focus on the story you want to tell and don’t get lost in technical details. You should always make sure your work is up to your own quality standards, but don’t get too lost in the details. Always remember that if a story is told well, even if it’s not technically executed well, it’ll still be interesting to watch. And a story badly told, even if executed brilliantly, will not hold your attention.

What has influenced your work?We started our animation career as stop-motion animators, so we were used to making every keyframe. We never lost this way of working when we started to animate in CG. We try to use as few ‘tweens’ as possible. When you look at our animation timeline you can see small clusters of keyframes divided by long holds. So we always put the action in a short timespan, making it snappy, and use the long holds to give it comic timing.

What was the biggest aid to production?Subpoly displacement maps were a big help on this project. A big challenge was finding a way to create the mouths (or rather, the cuts). We didn’t want to rig each mouth separately (for instance with pose morphs), so we decided to use subpoly displacement maps. That worked out really well. We were able to give each character a different mouth and make the blood drip like we wanted it to. This is particularly evident on the shot with the mouth made by a chainsaw: it was pretty easy to do with displacement maps.

How important is the soundtrack?Never underestimate the power of music. We make our own music so we are able to compose while animating. We can test if the music works even if the animation isn’t finished yet. The music sets the tone of the movie; for instance, we initially composed a piece of music that had a lot of suspense. But this gave the film a dark

atmosphere and it lost all of its humour. Music can make or break a film.

What inspired the development of Mute?Dutch author Harry Mulisch once complained that writing a line can take minutes, but reading the same line takes only seconds. Being quite a famous author, this same line was read thousands of time, so those few seconds became hours – and this made his effort worthwhile. We think about our work the same way: the time it took us to make the film should be in balance with the amount of hours it is watched. So that’s why promoting our work is very important. Look for different angles: not just to film fans but also to other filmmakers, or maybe you have an interesting story about the music, or about the software you used, or maybe your film is about a specific subject. We once got a lot of views via a hiking website because we made a short film about camping. www.jobjorisenmarieke.nl/mute

09 Learn to rigYou may never need to do it

yourself but an understanding of the rigging process and mechanics is key. it allows you to see the limits of a rig and enables you to ask for changes from the person who does do it.

ArTisT ProfileJob, Joris & MariekeJob, Joris & Marieke is a studio for illustration, animation, character design and music. Job Roggeveen, Joris Oprins and Marieke Blaauw studied at The Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In 2007 they founded their studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands. www.jobjorisenmarieke.nl

Mute is based in an animated world filled with people who were born without mouths

in Mute, a gory accident leads to the discovery that the characters can create their own mouths by cutting them

rev out caption in ‘ere. rev out caption in ‘ere. rev out caption in ‘ere.

http://jobjorisenmarieke.nl/mute




10 Use morph targetsit’s not all about the

bones. Build a collection of facial expressions or hand positions that you can control with simple sliders. fast, powerful and effective, morphs do increase scene file sizes and memory overheads, but can really speed up your workflow.

11 Do a life drawing class

You may never end up working with realistically proportioned figures, but knowing the rules will help you break them in a way that makes your work believable.

12 Understand movement

fingers rarely move together – there’s a delay when fingers curl, starting with the little finger and ending with the index finger. it’s details like this that really help sell a shot.

Caminandes has since grown into a crowdfunded second short released through the Blender Foundation Open Movie Project. Three more artists joined the original team: Hjalti Hjalmarsson (animation), Andy Goralczyk (lighting and rendering) and Juan Pablo Bouza (rigging); with Sergey Sharybin supporting the team as technical director.

Another standout from the studio Job, Joris & Marieke is Mute, a short about a world populated by people without a mouths. It captures the manic moments of Tex Avery and Richard’s contemporaries, proving that great animation tropes are still relevant. “A gory accident leads to the discovery that cutting yourself can create a mouth. This unleashes an enthusiastic

chain reaction among the population,” says studio co-founder Job Roggeveen. “We think people like the film because the concept is absurd and gruesome, but the execution is funny and maybe even cute.”

It’s animators like the ones behind Caminandes 2 and Mute that Richard is now focused on. Not content to rest on

his considerable laurels, Richard is keen to share his knowledge to with new animators. “The reason for writing The Animator’s Survival Kit was to help other animators,” Richard says about his book. “I was very moved by the great animator Ollie Johnston when he said ‘I wish I‘d had a book like this when I was starting out’. Acting, movement and film craft are all lifetime studies.”

One piece of advice Richard offers is to embrace the craft: “We are actors, slow-motion actors giving the performance. If the character is talking then we are only giving half of the performance – the other half is by the actor doing the voice – but our part is a lot more work!”

still learningRichard’s work is as relevant today as ever before. At the age of 80 he has a new animation in development, with the working title Will I Live to Finish This? The title is a testament to the animator’s sense of humour. “It’s the best work I’ve done so far,” he says. “I ran 25 seconds of it at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently and heard 1,000 people gasp. So that’s very encouraging.”

So what’s the secret to success? “Because it’s a lot of work you need to enjoy the process of doing it; I’ve always got a thrill from seeing something I’ve done spring to life,” Richard concludes.

“Will i Live to Finish This? is the best work i’ve done so far. i ran 25 seconds of it at the academy of motion picture arts and sciences recently and heard 1,000 people gasp. That’s very encouraging”

“i’ve always hoped there would be a moment when we could screen what we were working on when we produced The Thief and the Cobbler. The time now seems to be right,” says richard

richard pushed the boundaries of animation in films like The return of the Pink Panther


The making of Junk

Why animator KirK Hendry

made the move to CG to Create

the enChantinG short Junk

unk, a short film about a boy and his obsession with junk food by London-based studio Th1ng, has

taken the world by storm. Since debuting at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Festival in France in 2013, the animation has been officially selected at over 100 film festivals around the world.

Putting to one side the bevy of awards, including The Creative Circle Awards (Most Promising Newcomer), Animation Block Party, New York (Best Experimental film), The Pentedattilo Film Festival in Italy (Best Animation), as well as nominations for Best Short Film at the

British Independent Film Awards, British Animation Awards, Rushes Soho Shorts and Bafta (long-listed for Best Short Animation), we catch up with director Kirk Hendry to discuss his leap into 3D.

Junk’s theme of our fixation with short-lived ‘things’ and fast food anchors the whole animation. “Aside from the 3D elements and the live-action effects footage, everything in the film is just photos from the internet,” says Kirk. “This amazed me: that you could be anywhere in the world with a laptop and internet connection, and source your entire movie from the thousands of things people have

J

See the behind

the Scene videoS

Discover FX footage,

the making-of ocean

movie with Leviathan

screenshots, and more!

www.3dworldmag.com/vault Vault In the

ArTisT ProFiLeKirk HendryNew Zealand-born Kirk is a freelance filmmaker represented by London production studio Th1ng. His short films Junk and Round have screened at over 150 festivals and won several awards. He is currently developing a feature-length film based on the book Kensuke’s Kingdom. www.kirkhendry.com/junk

After seeing Lotte reiniger’s inspirational The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Kirk experimented with a cutout/lightbox style

Kirk made the animatic for Junk without tying it to a certain style, but the strong silhouettes are evident early on

http://www.th1ng.com/



The making of Junk

adding perspective and depth to your animations will help to take them up a level

Creatingdistance

Of all the lessons learned on Junk, Kirk reveals that learning to mix 2D, 3D and filmed techniques to create shots with more depth is something he’ll be taking into his next project.

“One of the things I have used ever since working on Junk, is how to make disparate elements sit together using lighting, colouring and blurs,” says the animator, who now thinks of every shot in terms of foreground, mid-ground

and background. Using layers of white between the three segments at a low opacity creates the illusion of distance. The same effect can be achieved with volumetric light in 3D software, but in a project mixing 2D, 3D and footage, a 3D effect alone won’t work.

“I would always set up comps with this distancing effect foreground/mid-ground/background and then everything would work distance-wise, whether it came

out of 3D, 2D or footage. It makes an enormous difference. Things are flat as a pancake without it.”

Kirk also learned to design an element in every shot that was out of focus in the foreground, a simple trick that gives the illusion of depth. “Additionally, I made liquid hit the lens occasionally in shots to do with rain or water, placing the viewer into the action more,” says Kirk. “This was done with Mercury within After Effects.”

All the elements were brought together in a 3D space to make it look like Junk was shot in-camera

These shots have the white layers added to give environmental space


The making of Junk

trick viewers into watching a blend of both formats. The silhouette puppetry moves from Photoshop blends to 3D compositing.

“We used 3ds Max for the scene of Jasper sitting on top of the dilapidated burger joint, since we were covering it from multiple angles,” says Kirk. Max was also used for the general 3D that populated various shots, including smoke coming out of the train, the bridge the train is on, the grass on Primrose Hill in the opening shot and various chains and

cauldrons in the factory. “We used 3D any time we needed some perspective change that we couldn’t cheat by moving 2D planes against one another. I designed the film playing to my own strengths, in this case Photoshop and blending 2D together. Since this was my first animated film, the trick was working out what I could get away with by doing things simply.”

Seamless blendingFor Kirk, the most impressive technical aspect of Junk is the successful blending of so many different elements. “It’s

almost a collage, but most of it feels in-camera, like a miniature set that we shot in stop-motion,” explains Kirk. “There are the thousands of cutout photos, live-action effects elements shot against black, such as snow, smoke, sparks, paint in water for clouds and 3D-generated elements. But you look at the film as a whole and it all sits together. The 3D compositing tools really made that possible.”

The 2D elements were set up within a 3D space using After Effects. Cameras

from 3ds Max and Maya were imported into After Effects so everything would lock together, and further elements could be added to the comp that incorporated the move. “Fairly standard stuff,” says Kirk. “However, since I’d never done anything like that before, it was a learning curve nonetheless.”

Speaking with an artist rooted in 2D animation about the move into 3D, it’s interesting to gauge his reaction to the techniques afforded by using 3ds Max and Maya. Kirk is keen the point out that both fields have their advantages and

uploaded. In that way it’s collage, but put together in a way where the source material is essentially unrecognisable.”

Moving to 3DPart of that process involved using 3D software and techniques to stitch Junk’s elements together. “This was the first time I had used 3D. In fact, it was the first time I’d used most of the tools,” says Kirk, explaining that prior to working on

Junk he’d only ever used Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. “For 3D we used Maya and Max. Most of the film was a combination of 2D cutouts, set up in After Effects, with 3D enhancements where necessary.”

In the end, 50 per cent of the shots featured 3D. The ocean scenes as the food-loving protagonist sets sail were created entirely in Maya. The Jasper leviathan rising out of the depths was a 2D character put into the 3D setup. “Everything else was modelled and animated within Maya,” says Kirk. The ocean sequence alone took Kirk and his team five months to create – it became like a mini-movie.

As a 2D animator Kirk approached the use of 3D as a ‘cheat’; the objective was to

“We used 3ds max for the scene of Jasper sitting atop the dilapidated burger joint since we were covering it from multiple angles”

kirk used maya to create the waves ofhis epic ocean scenes

Making waves

Looking for a way to take his 2D process a step further, Kirk opted to use Maya as a tool to create the epic ocean scenes in the short, Junk.

“Maya’s Ocean tool was one of the most useful 3D software we used,” says Kirk. “It gave a great sense of weight and scale that we wouldn’t have been able to get if we had been using miniatures.”

As a director, Maya offered a freedom and flexibility Kirk was seeking. Every shot is planned and constructed to draw emotion from the viewer, and 3D offered a useful way to set complex shots.

“To be able to control where the waves peaked and move past camera was great,” says Kirk of utilising Maya to develop his story.

Junk tells the story of Jasper o’leary, a boy with an obsession for junk food

The leviathan is just one of the novel characters that pops up in Junk

viDeo LinKwww.bit.ly/179-junk


The making of Junk

disadvantages, and harnessing the best of both worlds for Junk proved enlightening.

“I usually say that if you want something to look photoreal, the best way is also the quickest way – use a photo. Cut it out and put it into your scene. If lit, coloured and blurred correctly, this can look great very quickly. Nothing beats reality. Plus, all the changes you want to make to it can be done later when using your compositing tool. However, if you need something covered from multiple angles (a set essentially) or with a perspective change or anything other than a simple camera move, then you probably need to use 3D or miniatures.”

Kirk works out what needs to be 3D and what can be done in 2D on a shot-by-shot basis. Because 3D is render-heavy and needs any changes updated in the compositing tool, “which can be a slow and potentially creatively stifling process,” says Kirk, he approaches it with caution. “But this is possibly because I do a lot of

compositing, and just like to have things in the comp so I can properly light and finesse them. I am not approaching the film from a 3D operator’s perspective, so I sometimes become impatient with it.”

For Kirk, the benefit of blending 2D and 3D is you get the realism of 2D photos with their unparalleled texture, edges and lighting, with the perspective change and dynamics of 3D.

The future of animation“I think one of the most exciting aspects of the future of 3D and digital is in the creative blend of mixed media,” states Kirk, explaining how traditionally mixed media has always looked quite collage-heavy and flat. “Now it is possible to do mixed media that doesn’t look like collage,” he continues. “I think this is where animated feature films will go. I believe that the visual style will be driven purely by the sensibility of the filmmaker; animation will no longer mean

hand drawn, 3D or stop-motion. Instead it will be a combination of everything.”

Kirk sees a future where films employ many old-fashioned techniques in a deliberate attempt to get back to a sense of an organic, handcrafted feel. Miniatures and animation of all kinds – hand drawn, stop-motion, 3D, live action, matte paintings – can all be combined digitally (with keying, tracking, comping, virtual cameras) and blended in a way where the joins are invisible, creating a world that’s immersive and utterly charming.

“I think there will be a move away from slickness by some sections of filmmakers and filmgoers, and a renaissance of some traditional forms of movie magic that will get a very exciting kick in the pants by their marriage with digital and 3D,” says Kirk excitedly. “But I’m probably just saying this because that’s what I want to see as an audience member; the reality is we’ll see all of this and more. There is no question it’s a very exciting time for films and storytelling in general.”

“i think one of the most exciting aspects of the future of 3d and digital is in the creative blend of mixed media”

“i spent most of my time during production making the backgrounds,” says Kirk. “in one sense this was the hardest part for me as it took at least two days per background and there were 70 shots”

Maya’s ocean tool proved to be one of the most useful pieces of 3D software used on the project

The 2D monster is rigged up to be added in to Maya

Print edition subscription offer


save up to38%*

Great reasons to subscribe38%*

subscribe aND save up to

*sav

ings

com

par

ed t

o b

uyin

g 1

3 f

ull-

pri

ced

issu

es f

rom

uK

new

ssta

nds.

†N

orth

am

eric

an s

avin

gs a

re c

omp

ared

to

buy

ing

13

ful

l-p

rice

d is

sues

at

us

new

ssta

nd. e

urop

e an

d r

est

of t

he W

orld

sub

scri

ber

s ha

ve n

o se

t ne

wss

tand

pri

ce a

nd t

here

fore

we

can’

t ad

vert

ise

the

spec

ific

savi

ngs

you’

ll m

ake.

eur

ope

and

roW

cus

tom

ers

will

be

char

ged

in G

b p

ound

s. N

orth

am

eric

an s

ubsc

rib

ers

will

pay

in u

s D

olla

rs. Y

ou’ll

rec

eive

13

issu

es in

a y

ear.

uK

, eur

opea

n an

d r

oW s

ubsc

rib

ers:

if y

ou’r

e d

issa

tisfi

ed in

any

way

you

can

wri

te t

o us

or

call

us t

o ca

ncel

you

r su

bsc

ript

ion

at a

ny

tim

e an

d w

e’ll

refu

nd y

ou f

or a

ll un

mai

led

issu

es. N

orth

am

eric

an s

ubsc

rib

ers:

the

min

imum

sub

scri

ptio

n te

rm is

12

mon

ths.

if

a t a

ny t

ime

dur

ing

the

firs

t 6

0 d

ays

you’

re d

issa

tisfi

ed in

any

way

, ple

ase

noti

fy u

s in

wri

ting

and

we’

ll re

fund

you

all

unm

aile

d is

sues

. pri

ces

corr

ect

at p

oint

of

pri

nt a

nd s

ubje

ct t

o ch

ange

. Ful

l det

ails

of

the

Dire

ct D

ebit

gua

rant

ee a

re a

vaila

ble

up

on r

eque

st. F

or f

ull t

erm

s an

d c

ond

itio

ns p

leas

e vi

sit

http

://m

yfav

m.a

g/m

agte

rms.

off

er e

nds

30

ap

ril 2

01

4.

Print edition subscription offer


exclusive access to video tutorials with every issue stay up to date with the latest trends and opinions Get 3D World delivered direct to your door

save up to38%*

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/tdwp1n call 0844 848 2852 and quote tDWp1N

UK £26.99 every 6 months

www.imsnews.com/3dworld-a031 call toll-free on 1-800-428-3003 and quote a031

US/Canada $59.99 every 6 months

Sign UP today!this offer ends 30 april 2014

Europe & Rest of the World(13 issues) europe: £82.99, rest of the World: £89.99

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/tdwp1ncall +44(0)1604 251045 and quote tDWp1N

save up to43%†


Television has been revolutionised



he relationship between cinema and television has always been a complex one. When TV became

ubiquitous in the 1960s, it spelled the end for the Golden Age of Hollywood. The movie studios fought back by trying to differentiate the two with gimmicks, more extreme material and even restrictive contract clauses for actors, but movie ticket sales never fully recovered. Yet, the threat of television was arguably also

indirectly responsible for

T

Changes in the world of tV are haVing a major impaCt on the way VfX are used and Created. Mark raMshaw

talks to some of the studios leading the Charge

teleVision has been

reVolutionised



the emergence of the culturally significant ‘New Hollywood’ era and then the rise of the blockbuster, once again turning cinema into a culturally and financially relevant proposition and putting a safe distance between the two formats.

Now, however, the lines have blurred again with the dawn of what has been dubbed a new Golden Age of Television. Partially driven by cable programming in the US and more recently by internet-based programme providers, home audiences are hungrily devouring more ambitious and expensive long-form shows. Often created with the involvement of A-list Hollywood talent in front of and behind the camera, this new breed seeks to emulate the visual aesthetic of film, down to the extensive and ambitious use of digital VFX – especially so in the case of the fantasy, sci-fi and period costume shows that now have mass appeal.

master dragon-makerspixomondo VfX supervisor sven Martin takes us behind the scenes of the pivotal opening sequence for season three of game of thrones

Evolving the dragon’s skin“The dragons had grown significantly since season two, so we rebuilt them from scratch and incorporated further refinements and ideas. On season two we introduced a new skin algorithm to calculate all the stretching and compression and to trigger displacement

maps, as a faster and more efficient alternative to trying to simulate skin for all the shots. The system allows us to place objects underneath the skin so that the sliding is more visible. We could have opted for a full muscle and skin simulation, but that would have been costly and difficult to keep under control.”

To help the actors interact convincingly with the digitally created characters Vine used props and greenscreen

As they’d grown, the dragons were rebuilt for season three of Game of Thrones

VFX tipBring mattes to life

“It’s always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve to bring

scenes to life. We have smoke elements that we use time and again.

One of our artists used a simple procedural shift to add sway to

leaves on trees. Just clichés such as birds flying.”

michael illingworth, Vine



Continuity challenges“With season two the final episode was the most difficult, but the biggest challenge in season three came right in the first episode with a sequence featuring flying dragons, a virtual sea environment and digital extensions to a ship. The previz had the dragon shots equally interspersed, but as it got closer to completion the edit changed. Suddenly, continuity became an issue and we had to change a few things around to keep it looking believable. Those sorts of things do happen, but generally less so than when working on film. TV producers appreciate visual effects work can be difficult, so they try not to complicate things more than absolutely necessary.”

© I

mag

es c

ourt

esy

Pix

omon

do/H

BO

ArTIST PrOfIleSven MartinSven works as a visual effects supervisor at Pixomondo on the Game of Thrones show. His film credits include The Hunger Games, Iron Man 2 and Star Trek Into Darkness.www.pixomondo.com

VIdeO lInkwww.bit.ly/179-got-dragons

VIdeO lInkwww.bit.ly/179-got-reel



and scheduling demands of series-based work with such high expectations?

“Good artists are essential, but to keep things on track ultimately requires precise planning,” says Sven Martin, VFX supervisor at Pixomondo, a studio that regularly provides effects work for Hollywood as well as for series such as Game of Thrones. “You need to be clear from the beginning what is possible within the time and budget, and be aware that there’s no room to experiment with multiple variations of an idea, or to risk going down any dead-

end roads,” he explains. “We have to be careful about where to build in complexity, making sure we don’t add detail where it won’t be seen.”

Collaborative integrationA good working relationship between the main production team and the visual artists is clearly vital for shows that rely heavily on

“There’s been a definite sea change in the world of television,” agrees Ivor

Middleton, head of 3D at Vine, the studio responsible for effects work on BBC shows Merlin and Atlantis. “We now have scripts that are equal to those written for feature film, we have the big name stars, and the visual effects are also following suit. Having spent the previous 15 years working on film I really don’t feel there is a great deal of difference between the two anymore.”

While Ivor says that the studio’s aim is to use its collective experience to bring film quality to television, there are fundamental differences between a programme like Atlantis and a feature film project in terms of budget, schedule and shot throughput.

“We’re doing over 1,000 shots per show without the kind of resources you would expect if dealing with that sort of workload on a film. The nature of the shoot can also be very quick, and when you’ve got 13 episodes to deal with, the schedule is relentless.”

In other words, while audiences expect and programme-makers demand visual effects to rival those produced for film, the conditions under which artists must create them are often very different. So just how can studios marry the budgetary

“there is no special tool or technique out there for delivering high-quality visual effects on a budget. it’s all about careful planning and being realistic about what is achievable”sven martin, VfX supervisor, pixomondo

ArTIST PrOfIleAndrew OrloffAndrew is Zoic Studios’ creative director and has been with Zoic Studios since its inception in 2002. His television credits as VFX supervisor include True Blood, Once Upon a Time, CSI Miami and Fringe.www.zoicstudios.com

ArTIST PrOfIleIvor MiddletonIvor is the head of 3D at Vine FX. He previously worked at Cinesite as a computer animation supervisor. www.vine.tv

ArTIST PrOfIleMichael IllingworthBefore starting his own studio, Vine FX, Micheal worked for the likes of Cinesite, MillFilm, Glassworks, Smoke & Mirrors, VTR, The Mill, Das Werk, Rushes and Golden Square. www.vine.tv

dragons proved a challenge for the VfX team on Game of Thrones

VFX tipDon’t overdo it

“Try to avoid anything that is technically challenging yet won’t

have much of an impact on what the audience sees. Interactions between actors and digital creatures are key: if you’re clever with shots, you can focus on a couple of interactions

that still sell the scene.”sven martin, pixomondo



creatures and characters? All of these key decisions shape both how the creatures will look and move.”

At Vine, studio owner Michael Illingworth says they effectively act like an in-house department on Atlantis,

working alongside the production designer to assess what sets will be built practically and what

will be digitally extended and carefully working

through the scripts

in the earliest production phase, coming on board during scripting to discuss with the writers and producers what the CG characters can do and what they will be like in the upcoming season. Concept artists are brought on board as decisions are made about the nuances of each creature: What kind of planet are they from? How do they move? Are they relatable or scary? How do they interact with the other

high-quality visual effects and animation. While the film effects industry has gone truly global, with an ever greater emphasis on studios working remotely, there’s a greater need for closer interaction in the efficiency-driven world of television. Over at Zoic Studios, creative director Andrew Orloff says that its Vancouver base enables the studio to work face-to-face with the production and creatives on a show like Falling Skies: “The team is able to work directly with the artists to provide feedback and craft the overall look

“With the two-head lizard we managed to get a full muscle rig in there, and used plate dust for integration, but if the budget allowed we’d have added some additional CG dust too,” says Ivor Middleton

VFX tip

The key to good VfX on a budget is spending the time and money in the right places, on shots viewers will remember

VFX tipObserve and report

“The clues to the way CG elements should look are always

there in the original plate. look at the way light falls onto each surface and the way shadows pool. See how light

and shadow works and animate in nature, and how colour and

tone suggest distance.”ivor middleton, Vine

Broaden your skills“TV work can be quite broad, so

it doesn’t make sense to specialise to the point where you can’t handle any other tasks. You can still work to become a superb animator or lighter,

but the broader your knowledge base the more employable you

will ultimately be.”ivor middleton, Vine



Scanning the actors for several key creatures, including the Satyr seen in episode three, prosthetic work from Coulier Creatures fX provided a vital starting point. These were then scanned over at Ten24 using an 80-camera rig, to provide the base for the 3d character model.

4D captured counterparts“dimensional provided facial capture for the humanoid creatures,” says Michael Illingworth. “This enabled the director to control the character performance using a professional actor. Using facial capture in conjunction with the prosthetic scans gave us something that could be applied straight to our animated rig, saving an enormous amount of time and money,” he adds.

warlords of atlantis

VFX tipPlanning is key

“You need to approach things differently on a budget. One thing to work up first is the look of the

creature, with concepts, ZBrush and practical sculpts. If you model, rig, and animate, and then try to make

changes to the shape you tend to hit problems.”ivor middleton, Vine

Vine fX’s approach to character building for the bbC’s prime time show atlantis combines multiple techniques to produce an affordable, controllable, photoreal result



fast and furiousVine’s ivor Middleton discusses the challenges of simulation-based creature work for atlantis

© B

BC

/ U

rban

Myt

h Fi

lms

“The initial brief for The Furies was to design a swirling dust and sand effect that subtly hinted at something more sinister. They’re similar to dust devils, but have ghoulish, tormented hags flowing through them. The design came about through a series of discussions with Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps (executive producers of Atlantis), where we presented a variety of different effects we felt would be achievable within the time constraints of a broadcast show.

“It’s not so much about shying away from the more challenging simulations, but you do have to be careful where you spend the money. With animation you know exactly what you need to do, but sims can be tricky to refine.

“During the R&D stage of the project we made the decision to use a combination of Maya nParticles and Maya Fluids. With nParticles we were able to get the general motion of the dust

creatures quickly and then layer on the more organic, swirling motion of Maya Fluids.

“This is the first release of Fluids in Arnold so it meant adjusting our workflow to account for the different way it handles volumetrics, but Arnold was really good at picking up fine detail and made lighting the scenes much more manageable.

“One of the main difficulties was to get the fluids emitting in a convincing way. We ended up with several particle emitters and at least two fluid containers for each shot. One fluid creates the ground level dust, less buoyant like a rolling fog, the other whips around forming the Dust Devil.

“The tortured faces within the Furies are an additional effect, for which we created a mini-creature rig for our team to animate. The resulting geometry was cached into an Alembic file which was used to emit dust-like nParticles and fluids passes.”

Conveying realism through facial animationThe final scenes combine the hybrid scanning and facial capture approach with traditional keyframe body animation. “The facial capture is obviously great for lip-sync, but it’s also invaluable for catching all those eye movements and facial twitches that are hard to replicate by hand,” says Michael Illingworth.

“Many sets were partially built on location in Morocco, while studio work was handled in the Uk. “Our set extension work involved hiding the join between the two,” says VfX supervisor Michael Illingworth



falling heroJohnathan Banta, lead digital makeup designer at mastersfX, discusses the studio’s new fusion of practical and digital make-up effects

ArTIST PrOfIleJohnathan BantaLead digital make-up artist at MastersFX for the Falling Skies show, Johnathan also heads the Digital Makeup Initiative, with MastersFX founder Todd Masters.www.mastersfx.com

MastersfX is known for its practical effects work, so how does digital make-up fit into its plan?This is a brand new service that the studio is providing, although we’ve been heading toward it for some time, with work on shows like Fringe and True Blood. It’s very much driven by JJ Abrams and other directors’ desire for practical work. They want the interaction and ability to shoot on set. But what would previously happen in these cases was the digital element would then be sent out to another bidder. We’re trying to offer a way to save money by saying,‘You’ve got the people doing the practical make-up, why not have the same creative team handling the

digital and making use of decades of experience and knowledge?’

do you think there’s still a place for practical effects work?With a near-unlimited budget it’s possible to create a photoreal CG creature, and the necessary tools are becoming more democratised. But to declare everything else null and void has been premature. Physical effects have advanced an incredible amount. Directors and actors want it on set, and combining physical with digital gives real financial savings.

What were the reasons for using the practical/CG approach with the alien character of Cochise in fallen Skies?With Cochise, what we have underneath three inches of make-up is a very accomplished actor. Doug Jones defines the character on set and interacts with the other actors. But because of the limitations of a mask you can’t put a lot of animatronics in, so our job is to read his performance, analyse his speech patterns and use that to drive procedural animations.

Presumably you rely quite heavily on on-set reference?We actually capture as little as possible. We want a very low footprint. Our main focus is to apply the physical mask and keep the actor as comfortable as possible. We then go back to the shop, get 3D scans of our sculpt – an immediate cost-saving compared to trying to do things between two different studios. Once we’ve matched the motion we then hook up our postproduction ‘animatronics’. Rather than trying to simulate muscles as they would at somewhere like Weta Digital we emulate our make-up process, making virtual cable controls, the digital equivalents of air bladders and all the other things you’d get on a puppet.

Where next for this hybrid approach?One thing we’ve been exploring in the last month is to take a practical effect and then apply this digitally to an actor. Another area involves our renting out of baby models for mid-ground shots. What we’re now starting to do is performance transfer onto the rubber puppets, to make it look like they’re really alive. And then, of course, you cut to the ‘expensive’ real baby for the close-ups.

…while MastersfX create the actor-driven puppets used for close-up shots

Both Zoic Studios and MastersfX help bring the six-legged Skitters to life in the TV show falling Skies. for wider shots or extreme performances, Zoic creates full CG versions…

Johnathan Banta adds digital make-up enhancements to the mask-based performance by doug Jones for falling Skies



they want in the frame so they are able to create the final shots before the actual animations are completed.”

Michael Illingworth notes that it’s a good relationship with the main production team on a show that makes this kind of thing possible. “With film things are generally taken to a fairly finished state before presenting them, whereas on a show like Atlantis we’re able to give them a feel for how something is progressing and can safely hand them the first bash of a comped CG creature to put into the cut. And because we’re not bidding on a shot-by-shot basis it’s not a problem if they want to extend a scene. Our artists will often suggest additional shots that will improve the way a sequence works.”

generalist versus specialistThe standard advice for artists looking to get a foot in the door in animation or visual effects has been to specialise if aiming for film work or strive to be a generalist in order to appeal to studios focusing on television work. Indeed, Ivor Middleton says he always favours artists with a generalist background. “We’re careful not to pigeonhole people,” he explains. “Hard surface modellers can end up doing creatures, and artists might handle fur grooms as well as lighting. Our approach is to break the shots down into chunks and let the artists get on with it. They take ownership and are happy to run with ideas.”

This contrasts with Pixomondo’s approach, however, where they strive to deliver movie-quality effects for TV by

with the producers to find the best way tell the story and give it the necessary scope. “They’re well versed with visual effects, so appreciate it would be nuts to have 200 creature close-ups, although we also try to manage expectations, so if something has the potential to hog all the resources then we let them know so they can rein expectations in.”

While it’s standard practice to start building assets as early in production as possible, Michael says it’s particularly vital in this field. “You need to be able to hit the ground running as soon as the plates come in, and then it’s crucial to make sure everything progresses simultaneously, bringing every area up to the required quality level.”

Naturally, the real animation work can only begin once plates have been delivered, but even at this point there’s a need to work closely with editorial, to ensure resources aren’t wasted. Andrew Orloff says that on Falling Skies they always provided simple proxy models for the editing team to work with: “This allows the editors to have a better idea of what

VfX work included a truly stomach-turning mid-transformation shot of a wolf’s muzzle bursting through the flesh of a human face

Zoic Studios tapped into its experience in creating gore and photorealistic wolves on shows like True Blood and Once Upon a Time for its work on Hemlock Grove

Over the course of the series, the Zoic team used CG to develop the gut-churning transformation sequences and create fully digital, menacing wolves

“we’re careful not to pigeonhole people. hard-surface modellers can end up doing creatures, and artists might handle fur grooms as well as lighting. they are happy to run with ideas... ”ivor middleton, head of 3d, Vine fX

VFX tipAppropriate moves

“One simple but important aspect of motion capture is to make sure that the movement of the actor is appropriate. It’s vital the person

providing the movement understands what your character looks like and

how it should move.”neil bedecker, amersham

& wycombe College



until a model is completely finished before starting on the animation or handing it over for lighting, for example, which you’d have with a generalist-based team. We have all departments working in parallel.”

affordable toolsOf course it’s not only the changing face of TV programming that has changed the game for effects and animation studios. Concurrent to the push for shows with higher production values has been the democratisation of high-end tools. “In the last couple of years it’s become possible to get a lot of mileage from affordable software for things that would

taking the same specialised approach used on film projects. “We’re very much department-orientated, as it’s the only way for us to ensure the quality remains consistently high and the work is delivered on time,” explains Sven. “It’s very important that we don’t have to wait

seeing red

educationin motion

red giant’s spy vs guy showcases the studio’s formidable range of affordable 3d tools, as executive producer aharon rabinowitz explains...

animation tutor Neil Bedecker explains why the

Centroid deal is a boon

“Founded in the 1960s, Amersham & Wycombe College has always had a strong reputation as an art college but we’ve now taken things into a whole new era. We’d been the first further education college to have our own motion capture studio on campus, and then last year struck a deal with Centroid to provide us with 12 cameras and the other tools necessary to provide training for its state-of-the-art system here on site. Students also get the chance to head over to Centroid’s base at Shepperton studios, where they’re able to use a full-size capture facility, get direct industry direction and input, and – along with our connections with Framestore and Double Negative – receive valuable industry exposure. Now, along with access for students on our HND, BTEC and foundation courses, we’re working with the BFI to launch a residential course for 16 to 19-year-olds. Launching in February, the ‘Centroid Superhero Academy’ will give teenagers nine days of hands-on training. We’re really pushing to give students the skills that the industry actually needs, and to do so at a grassroots level before they even head off to university.”www.amersham.ac.uk

What was the aim with Spy vs Guy?“While we made the short film to tell a great story, we also had to do it to tell the story of Red Giant BulletProof, a standalone application used for, in part, backing up your footage on set – not exactly easy without it feeling like

a commercial. So, rather than telling a story about protecting valuable data, we told a story about what could happen if someone lost something terribly valuable and how far they might be willing to go to get it back.”

Greyscale Gorilla’s Chris Schmidt created the robotic bird in Cinema 4d, using a ready-rigged bird from Turbosquid

“tV work necessitates a quick turnaround, so there’s no time for endless iterations. we need artists to get shots right on the first or second time around”michael illingworth, studio owner, Vine

Vine’s Campe shows its teeth in Atlantis. “As well as developing our fur, we’ve extended our muscle and skin simulations,” says Ivor Middleton

VFX tip

VFX tip

Look around You“remember that the first

solution is not always the most efficient one. Often an artist will

instinctively opt for the full 3d route when the best one might be a 2.5d

build in nuke. It pays to gain an understanding of the other

disciplines around you.”michael illingworth, Vine

Watch your step“Create a video of yourself and

place this in your 3d software. You can use the movie as a template to animate a character, allowing you

imitate mocap by using the weighting and timing that human movement

provides via keyframing.”neil bedecker, amersham

& wycombe College



photogrammetry tool, which costs just a hundred pounds or so. The great thing about these tools being so cheap is that it’s not prohibitive to try new ones out.”

The push to deliver great results within the constraints imposed by TV can clearly be a great catalyst for creative problem solving – be it simply through sympathetic shot framing and editing, selective deployment of more time-and-cost prohibitive elements, such as simulations, or through systems that blend digital techniques with practical effects work in order to better and more efficiently achieve physical realism (see boxouts Warlords of Atlantis and Fallen Hero).

These are exciting times with artists addressing the needs of this new age of television. The days when this corner of the industry was viewed as the poor relation to the one serving Hollywood are arguably over, and what was once often viewed as merely an entry point and stepping stone to a more glamorous career in film increasingly looks like the more desirable option. While the movie effects industry remains in turmoil, this one – while competitive – is currently thriving, and that doesn’t look likely to change any time soon. Audiences have grown used to watching TV shows with high production values. There’s no going back.

previously have required a lot of in-house development,” says Ivor Middleton.

“We’re using both Yeti and SpeedTree here, for example, neither of which is very expensive. ZBrush has become an amazing tool, of course. And even Arnold is very reasonably priced, providing a fantastic skin shader right out of the box and now fluids support, too. With TV work it’s necessary to work very efficiently and get shots to a final state by the second or third iteration, and physically plausible rendering really helps with that. Then there are things like the iStar, a 360-degree camera originally developed for crime reconstructions, and Agisoft’s Photoscan

“The model’s strong integration with After effects made it simple to get tracking information straight from After effects to match the plates in 3d,” says Chris

“for the smoke and volumetric explosion we used fumefX with a Particle flow setup,” says david. “rayfire was used for simulation of the windows and other debris”

david Coulter handled vehicle destruction shots. The first step here was to replace the real car with a modified Turbosquid model. “We stuck to our traditional 3ds Max pipeline, using the new MassfX physics framework”

What 3d software did you use? “Within After Effects, we used Trapcode Particular and Video Copilot’s Element 3D. With regards the 3D heavy lifting, Chris Schmidt of Greyscale Gorilla brought to life to our robotic pigeon, while David Coalter of Coalter Digital handled blowing up some vehicles – important parts of

the film that would have fallen flat if done through simple compositing. Once they turned in the final renders as multiple layers with an alpha channel, I did a compositing pass on everything using Red Giant products like Keying Suite and Knoll Light Factory, as well as tools like Re:VisionFX ReelSmart Motion Blur. A bunch of roto work was

done with Imagineer Mocha Pro, so that we could mix the live-action with CGI. Once composited, I passed the stuff to director Seth Worley, where he cleaned it up to match the aesthetic he was going for. Ultimately everything was colour corrected with the Magic Bullet Suite so that it all matched the rest of the film properly.”

ArTIST PrOfIleAharon RabinowitzA veteran mograph and VFX artist, Aharon Rabinowitz is Red Giant’s director of content & communities, and the executive producer of Red Giant films.www.redgiant.com

N A T U R E + T E C H N O L O G Y + S P A C E + H U M A N S + E N G I N E E R I N G

GET 3 SSUES FOR JUST £3!

2 FREE ISSUES FORAPPLE/ANDROID USERS

C a l l 0 8 4 4 8 4 8 2 8 5 2 a n d q u o t e S C I X 1 6

S e a r c h f o r S c i e n c e U n c o v e r e d o n y o u r a p p s t o r e

S P E C I A L D I G I T A L O F F E R

L I M I T E DP R I N T O F F E R

A S K U S Y O U R S C I E N C E Q U E S T I O N S

O N T W I T T E R ! @ S c i U n c o v e r e d

Y OUR A L L- NE W COMP REHENSI V E GUIDE T O T HE SCIENCE T R A NSFORMING OUR L I V ES A ND UNI V ERSE – BROUGH T T O Y OU BY RENOW NED E X P ER T S!

W H I C H O R G A N S C O U L D

Y O U L I V E W I T H O U T ?

C O U L D W E H A R N E S S

L I G H T N I N G F O R E N E R G Y ?

A R E A N Y A S T E R O I D S G O I N G

T O C O L L I D E W I T H E A R T H ?

F I N D T H E A N S W E R S & M O R E I N …

Our guarantee of qualityAll of our tutorials are written by experts from the world’s leading studios. To ensure their instructions are easy to follow, we work through each one ourselves, and you’ll find all the supporting files at 3D World Vault.

Download video from 3D World Vault if you see this icon

Reference images

3D WOrlD VAulT: All you need for our expert tutoriAls

Visit www.3dworldmag.com/vault to add this issue’s video tutorials and associated screenshots and source files to your personal library of downloads

Resources and pro video training with this issue

Cineware video Mudbox textures

March 2014 | | 59

80 Cineware scenes

60 scenes ThAT Tell A sTOry sculpt a character-driven illustration

with digital artist pascal Blanché

66 unDersTAnDing The cAmerA replicate a camera in order to create

realistic CG imagery with Mike Griggs

68 successful chArAcTer cOncepTs dan Mason on 2d and 3d techniques

for creating emotive character designs

74 sculpT A rig-reADy creATure using retopology tools to create a

character for rigging in Mudbox

80 seT up A scene WiTh cineWAre Mike Griggs uses After effects and

C4d to create Vfx scenes that work

86 QuesTiOns & AnsWers your queries solved by our experts

www.3dworldmag.com

74 rig-ready characters66 realistic CG imagery

Training60 Character-driven scenes

pascal Blanché on creating story-driven characters


TRAINING Sculpt a story-driven character scene

Step-by-step Charactercreation

ForZBrush

AlSo required3ds MaxKeyshotPhotoshop

ToPiCS CoVered• Composition• Sculpting details• Colour choice• Decision making

Create a scene that tells a story

have been creating CG illustrations for almost 15 years now, mostly for

personal satisfaction and sometimes for freelancing. i am not the technical type of CG artist – far from it. When i use software, whether it’s ZBrush, 3ds Max or Photoshop, i only use the basics, it is a way for me to keep the focus on the really important thing: the picture itself.

in this tutorial i will describe my personal creative process. it is

not a very complex one, and you may be familiar with the techniques i use – the key here is not take weeks working on specific elements such anatomy or develop complex processes, but to focus on a final end result. For instance i do not create a character with all its details. instead i simply concentrate on what is going to be seen from the illustration point of view.

i have always loved to be in the middle of two schools: sculpting and painting, 3d and 2d. i feel that there

is a whole spectrum of possibilities in this area to explore. Sometimes i get so close to a 2d illustration that it is almost impossible to know that a sculpt is used as a base, sometimes

i aim for a realistic render, like taking a picture of a sculpt. The fun part is to let the subject take the lead and follow it until the end. ultimately, after all those personal works i found out that it is not the end result that counts the most, but the journey. That’s what makes me strive to jump to the next picture.

Sculpt a character-driven illustration with legendary digital artist and Ubisoft art director Pascal Blanché

I

ArTiST ProFilePascal BlanchéPascal is recognised as one of the most popular contemporary digital artists working today. He’s currently an art director at video game giant Ubisoft. www.3dluvr.com/pascalb

Pascal was inspired to take Moebius’s take on

Miyazaki’s Nausicaä, princess of the Valley

of the Wind character, as a basis for his art

02 Posing and framingWith the styles of Miyazaki

and Moebius in mind, I start to work on my interpretation by blocking out my main character pose in 3ds Max using a biped rig. At this stage I also do some rough work on the camera angle. I tend to reuse my characters quite often, as it can help to save time. The idea here is to capture

a readable silhouette, and will also act as a reminder of the original inspiration. Now’s the

time to create a simple block reference for the floor, to

get an idea of what the overall

composition will look like in the end.

01 Working out the idea

I couldn’t have been more happy when 3D World asked me to create a Moebius/anime-themed illustration for the cover of its latest issue. I knew right away which picture I could take as base reference for the task at hand too. My idea for the cover illustration is a take on a Hayao Miyazaki Nausicaä heroine, as reimagined by Moebius (via me!). I have always loved cross-genre art and seeing how master artists give credit to each other’s inspirational work. I feel that paying a tribute to the masters who’ve always influenced my work is a great thing to do.

The character is posed in 3ds Max

http://www.3dluvr.com/pascalb

Sculpt a story-driven character scene TRAINING


recreate this issue’s cover image by following Pascal’s step-by-step tutorial


ScreenShotS

Vault In the



07 Maintain the styleTo keep a stylised look in the

hair, as opposed to realistic hair, you can exaggerate the thickness of the

06 Sculpting the hair Next it’s time to work on the hair using ZBrush FiberMesh.

I am still not really used to this, so creating this illustration was a great opportunity to test something new. The tool is really easy to handle, from mask generated areas to the different brush types that enable you to sculpt your hairs. Have a little play with it to see what you can do. I add some fur on the boots, to balance the subject more.

03 Creating the elements

When you’re happy with the pose, create a snapshot of the mesh and then export this into ZBrush. Now start to refine the proportions and body shape of the figure until you’re happy that it looks the way you envisioned it. My goal is to keep the lines simple; I don’t want to go too realistic. Next I start to block out the first elements: the skirt, top, boots and socks using the extrusion method.

04 Adding detailsNow using DynaMesh,

Clay, Dam Standard and some other brushes, add

the fold and stitch details. Also create a rough shape for the mask and horns in 3ds Max and then import all of these elements together

in ZBrush. Using DynaMesh, blend

the horns and mask elements (face, eyes, beak)

into one merged Object, then sculpt some finer details on top.

05 detail and poseThe remaining elements,

like the skull-based shoulder pad, kneecap and buckles, are created in a similar way. Depending on the elements, I pose them right away around the model in 3ds Max (these are the elements that don’t need symmetry when I sculpt) ready to import them directly into ZBrush.

hair strands, and also reduce their number to make sure we can see the strands clearly. Doing this saves a lot on the rendering time too.

expert tip i always use a zoomed-in lens (135–200mm) to remove any kind of perspective deformation that would feel ‘too 3d’.

ZBrush FiberMesh enables you to

sculpt hair to give a stylised look

Begin to refine the proportions and body shape in ZBrush to create a clear silhouette


Sculpt a story-driven character scene TRAINING

08 Start questioningIn any illustration creation

there comes a time when I like to step out of the process and look at the overall picture. I try to imagine it rendered, touched up and finished and ask myself some searching questions: Is that it? Do I like it? Am I missing something? More often

11 Start the magicWhen all the objects have

been imported into Keyshot, you can play around with different shader types for the hair and clothes until you get the look you’re aiming for. The trick is to avoid it looking too realistic, to try to keep the style of the work in line with a Moebius/Miyazaki image. Apply a Light shader on a simple sphere in the palm of the main character’s hand to create the emissive light at the focal point on the image. One of the advanced options of this shader allows you to make the object invisible while keeping the emissive light active. In 3ds Max, set up the camera with a 200mm lens to kill the 3D perspective aspect and give the final picture a 2D feel, then hit render.

12 Keyshot samplesTo avoid getting too

much graininess in the speculars, I usually set up the samples up to 30/50 on the sliding Samples

than not, the answer leads to me fixing something that’s a little off. Here, for example, I still don’t really know what my character is looking at. The issue is broader, there is no real story attached to the scene. I think that the best images are always the ones that can capture an instance, or make you wonder

about the universe behind it. That is something that Moebius was very good at and something I always enjoyed in his work. And then I get it: the mask, the hairs… I could add something there that could also be a reminder of Miyazaki’s creature from My Neighbor Totoro: and that’s how my little ‘birds’ came to life!

widget under Properties. While this will undoubtedly slow down the rendering time, the results will be far better and the overall finish will be worth it.

09 unifying the designWith the idea set, create a

basic shape in 3ds Max. Next import this into ZBrush to sculpt on top of it, reusing the same hair strand method I used for the girl. This will accentuate their stylistic affinity, an idea that is also backed up by adding the tips of the horns from the skull/hat and reusing them on the creatures. Now the whole picture makes more sense. An easy way to add more life to the birds is to create different poses with a simple FFD modifier in 3ds Max. To avoid too much repetition, make sure to change the shape of their horns here and there. It is these little details that count. Now’s it’s time to render!

expert tip By editing some of the FiberMesh coverage parameters and pushing the segment number, you can create decent plants, grass and moss in no time.

10 Keyshot importing

I just discovered Keyshot a few weeks ago, it is intuitive, fast, and has a nice range of accurate and realistic shaders. I usually like to have more control over my materials to tweak things here and there, but for this illustration I decide to try something new. It took me a while to find a correct ZBrush to Keyshot import setup, but my advice if you wish to try this is to make sure you have your object aligned on Y and keep the original size.

The Keyshot renderer gave great results



14 use a Color layerTake the layer you just

created and apply it to the main image. Use a Color layer mode to avoid strange results such as the

15 Adding effectsNext create a duplicate

of the end result on the top of the image, apply a Blur effect and erase the centre (to keep this focused)

13 Photoshop touchesWhen you’re happy with the

final render, take it in Photoshop. I like to recolour the shadow and highlight areas to give the picture a unified look. Select the shadow areas with the Color Range tool, and copy and paste that selection onto a new layer. Using the Hue/Saturation adjustment tool rework the hue with the Colorize button on to get a monochromatic shadow pass.

shadows being too saturated or highlighted. Do the same for the highlight areas. I often use green and yellow for shadow and light, but it depends on the subject and mood.

using a large diffused Eraser tool. Then go back and forth with some filter effects, such as Paint Daubs and Poster Edges to texture the edges. Tweak the colours and you’re done. X

Colour recipesMost artists tend to be shy when it comes to colour, but the rules are pretty simple: there are no limits! it all boils down to your personal tastes. My favourite colour choices tend to add contrast between warm yellows/oranges and cold blue/greens. i usually go for two main colours – the ones that are going to define my picture – and i add a third one underneath it, in the shadows for instance. But there are many other palettes i’d like to explore!

To make the image more unified and give it a 2d, illustrative look, generate a monochromatic shadow pass in Photoshop

3dworld.creativebloq.com

find us online!

get extra

news &

tutorials

online

discover expert cG content from3d world’s leadinG artistsat the touch of a button!

FundamentalsMastering camera effects

FORAny 3D software

TOPICS COVERED• Camera simulation• Lens flare• Camera simulation• Focal lengths

he single most important device a 3D artist needs to understand is not a computer or chosen 3D

software – it’s a camera.When we see the world it tends to

be through the lens of a camera, and through this we have become literate in a visual language where creative use of a camera, through lensing, shutter speed or placement, can tell a story without a single word being said. The most effective 3D work is that which tells a story, whether as a still or more obviously an animation or visual effects sequence.

Learning how your 3D software can be used to generate effects such as depth of field, motion blur, or flare can be the difference between a good image and one that engages with us emotionally.

The most obvious thing you’ll need to learn about how a camera is used is when you are matching a CGI element into a photograph or video plate. While getting as much of the camera and HDRI data as possible is important, take time to look at the imagery you have to see the way that grain is working; is there any aberration or dust, for example?

If you are creating an image with a shallow depth of field, check if the camera is set to a low aperture to let in as much light as possible. This results in a narrow focal plane where only specific objects are in focus, which helps isolate items for composition along with traditional framing techniques such as the rule of thirds. Do this particulalry if you’re trying to match the look of a

specific camera and lens combination, as the shape of the highlights is determined by the mechanics of the lens. Once you have developed your look, one of the most obvious tells of a CGI camera is the ‘impossible shot’. More commonly seen in animation and VFX this is where, even when a camera matches the look, the movement of the camera does things a physical camera cannot – for example, the Matrix Bullet Time shots.

If you want to know how to make a camera ‘disappear’, look at how film crews uses tools like Steadicams and dollies for shooting. Knowing how a real camera works is one of the greatest secrets in creating realistic imagery, and the best way to understand a camera is to use one, so get out and start shooting.

Learn how to replicate the various nuances of a real camera to create realistic CG imagery with Mike Griggs

Understanding the camera

T

ARTIST PROFIlEMike GriggsMike is a concept 3D, VFX and motion graphics artist working across TV, exhibition and digital design.www.creativebloke.com


screenshots

Vault In the

01 Get photo informationUse lightroom to get the .exif data from the photograph, the focal length, the aperture and the shutter speed, as well as the time of day and the date.

02 Create a camera in 3DCreate a camera with the same focal length – the sensor size for the camera can be found from the internet – and use the original photograph as a backdrop.

03 Place 3D objectsPlace an object in the 3D scene that lines up to the photograph. Next you can light the object in a way that makes it fit more naturally into the scene.

Get camera data from an image

TRAINING Camera basics


Lens flare – anamorphiclens flares are caused by light hitting the camera lens at angles that cause coloured highlights to spill across the image. They can be beautiful, but are often overused as they are easy to create in After Effects and Nuke. The secret to good lens flares is to understand when they occur naturally – usually when the light source is off-centre or just off the edge of the frame.

Depth of field (DOF)Separating objects from each other using DOF is a key creative way to use a camera. DOF is defined by the aperture of the lens and its focal distance in combination with the size of film/digital sensor you’re using. Most software renderers can now account for DOF, but it can be at the expense of render times. Thankfully a lot of compositors can generate DOF from a depth pass.

BokehBokeh is how out-of-focus elements look through a particular lens. It is most apparent when highlights or light sources are out of focus on a dark background. Bokeh can be used to help isolate objects. You can use a lens with a low aperture to create bokeh, but telephoto lenses can also be used as long as there’s a big distance between your focus and background objects.

Get to grips with your cameraCREATE GREAT EFFECTS BY kNOwING ThE BASICS

Using the correct focal lengthUsing the right length of lens for the subject can help make a convincing image. For example, to create a portrait image, most photographers would use a lens around the 85-100mm length to make sure that the features are in proportion. If you were to use a wide lens (17-24mm), the features would create a comedic look.

March 2014 | | 67

Camera basics TRAINING

www.3dworldmag.com


TRAINING Character design tips

Artist ProfileDan Mason Dan is a senior texture artist, concept artist, and modeller currently working at Framestore London. He has worked in the VFX industry for around seven years.www.danmasonvfx.com

»

expert tips Character design

forZBrush

Also requiredMudboxPhotoshop

toPiCs CoVered• Sketching

techniques• Use of colour• Using software

to aid the design process

• Composition

Creating successful character concepts

ver the next few pages, you’ll learn my method for creating character concepts,

such as Coal troll. My experience with concept work has been within a production pipeline and, in this context, the concept is not the finished product but a guide for the

other departments who will create the final image on screen. Being flexible with your concept work is essential in this scenario, as clients will often change the brief before coming to a final decision on a design. for this reason i focus on how to portray a character as efficiently as

possible, using traditional illustrative methods, while also getting as many aspects of your concept image ‘for free’ by using 3d packages to help with perspective, lighting and layout. on page 74, Adam dewhirst will show you how to take the design and make it ready for animation.

dan Mason talks you through 2D and 3D techniques to create interesting and emotive character designs

O

An example of an orthographic concept for the Coal troll character

01 start with researchBegin your concept by finding reference imagery

relating to your character, for inspiration. Think about what physical characteristics your character may have, and why.Look towards nature for help. For example, a creature that lives in the dark may have very large eyes to take in small amounts of light, like an owl. This link with reality will make your character more believable, and will help tell their back story.

02 Consider the use of your concept

Consider how your concept will be used. Is it going to be a loose reference for another artist, or will it need to be a precise blueprint for modelling? This information will shape your approach. Consider whether you need orthographic views, or if you can take a looser, more artistic approach.

Character design tips TRAINING



ScreenShotS

Vault In the


TRAINING Character design tips

‘Coal troll’ sketchbook

character exploration

Character portrayed

through costume

silhouette concepts for a chemical hazard clean-up team

03 Be bold with sketch work

The sketch stage is a time for experimentation. Try to explore as many different looks as possible, and don’t be afraid to go to town creatively. It’s always possible to reign in a design if it goes too far in one direction, but it’s not as easy to make a mundane design exciting. Try drawing several quick versions of your character, changing the proportions of a certain aspect each time – for example, the position of the eyes, nose or mouth. After the first few drawings your design will start to become more original, as you force yourself to play around with scale and positioning past the normal proportions we are used to seeing.

expert tip flipping your image horizontally in Photoshop will help you get a greater sense of balance, and will help you see any diagonals in your image from drawing with your preferred hand.

04 Consider costume and characteristicsCostume can be extremely effective in telling the audience

about a character. Think about the people you know, and how they express themselves with what they wear. Think about the clothes they wear and how they style their hair, and what these idiosyncrasies – no matter how small – say about them. Use this information in your designs.

05 Prioritise your uV space

A really successful character should be identifiable by their silhouette alone. A strong silhouette can add a lot to the design’s personality, as posture and proportions can

give the viewer a real insight into a character. Duplicating a silhouette and exaggerating various parts of its anatomy using the Liquify toolin Photoshop can be a very useful way of experimenting in a non-destructive way.

www.3dworldmag.com

Character design tips TRAINING

March 2014 | | 71

08 Add time-saving 3d elementsUsing basic geometry in Mudbox or ZBrush to create landscapes or

terrain will give you your perspective for free. Lights can also be added, and rendered as separate layers for use in lighting your character in Photoshop.

Viewport filters can also be handy. For example, Mudbox’s Screen Distance viewport filter can be rendered out and used as a depth of field pass to add atmospheric haze to a Photoshop image.

09 use camera framing to tell a storyAnother useful element of your basic 3D scene is the ability to create

an easily adjusted camera to frame your image. Your image composition can be a useful tool in revealing your character’s personality. For example, looking up at a character can make them appear overpowering and menacing, while angling your camera downwards onto a subject can make them appear small and, as a consequence, vulnerable.

07 Make use of 3d software Mudbox and ZBrush are both great tools for creating your character in

3D. When sculpting in any package, make all of your big changes at a low level of subdivision before you get carried away with sculpting detail. Your levels of detail should correlate to your subdivision levels.

Start with large changes in form at a low subdivision level and work in stages. Create a new layer for each stage. Your layer with the highest polygon count should be the layer with the smallest details.

06 refine successful elementsTake the successful elements of your design and try to hone in

on a single concept. Add form to your silhouettes using varying tonal values. Start by filling your sketch or silhouette with a mid-grey tone. Then add your shadows and highlights with dark and light grey to add basic form to your character. As an exercise, try duplicating your favourite silhouette and filling in the form in different ways to give you different characters.

expert tip speed sculpting is a great technique and skill to have. Giving yourself a one-hour speed sculpting challenge will improve your ability to create realistic form quickly.

using 3d elements,

before and after (below)

Camera framing: menacing versus pitiful

example of a character concept created in Mudbox

expert tip Building up a library of well-known characters from tV and film is extremely useful, as it will familiarise you with successful archetypes that will help to inform your own designs.


14 refine the small details

When your image is close to completion, you should set about analysing each individual element of your design. Often the smallest of changes can make a big difference to how your character comes across. A slight squint of an eye or a raised lip can completely change the way we perceive the mood or personality of the character.

13 Add more detail using texture elementsA quick and relatively painless way to add texture, detail and

colour to your scene is by using photographic images. Photoshop’s Overlay layer mode is particularly useful when adding texture layers as the detail underneath isn’t lost, but you should also experiment with other layer modes, such as Color or Hard Light, for different results. This is where your research images will come in handy.

11 experiment with your lightingLighting in a scene is also very important. Keeping a reference library

of film and game stills can be useful when deciding your lighting setup. As with the colour of your character, the colour of your lighting can cast a very different mood and atmosphere on your design. It can even signify your character’s intentions: we often assume that a character largely hidden by shadow is up to no good, for example.

15 Critique your workIt’s always helpful to have

others critique your work. A fresh pair of eyes on a concept can often throw up issues that you may not have thought about. Get as many opinions as you can from forums: an alternate viewpoint at an early stage can push your work towards a very different and more successful result. Now turn to the next tutorial, to make your coal troll animation-ready...

12 Create a simple colour paletteTo create your palette, find an image that has the mood and

colours you’re looking to mimic. Select three or four of the image’s most prominent mid-tone colours and copy them twice. Darken the values of one duplicate and lighten the values of the other. You now have a concentrated palette of nine to 12 colours. Use your brush at close to full opacity to avoid the colour values merging and becoming muddy.

10 Play with colourThe colour of your

character can help to portray their personality, based on our preconceptions. We subconsciously associate certain colours with being good and other colours with being

bad. As a basic example, take a look at any Disney animation: villains are often clothed in black and red, while heroes usually wear lighter-coloured clothing. The images above illustrate the use of colour to hint at a character’s personality.

this ManBat image shows how lighting can be used to create atmosphere

Coal troll with various texture

elements

Coal troll: final revisions based on

feedback and critique

TRAINING

expert tip to improve your knowledge of form and anatomy, keep a personal sketchbook and try to draw from life every day.

Sign up for a FREEdigital trial subscription!

Get two issues free with an annual subscription to 3D World on Apple Newsstand

The latest issue is available instantly. receive a further 13 issues in your first year.

All issues download to your iPad automatically.

read it on your iPhone for no additional cost.

Watch exclusive videos from our training artists, and download screen steps, textures, scene files and more.

iPad

is a trade

ma

rk of A

pp

le Inc., re

giste

red

in the U

.S. a

nd

oth

er co

un

tries. A

pp

Sto

re is a service m

ark o

f Ap

ple In

c.


*The saving is based on purchasing 14 single issues a year of the Apple Newsstand edition.

HoW To buy

Download 3D World at www.bit.ly/3dworld-app

to sign up for a trial subscription and get

two free issues


TRAINING Create a model ready for rigging

Step-by-step MudboxSculpting

FORMudbox

AlSO RequiRedMaya ZBrush

TOPiCS COVeRed• Modelling• Sculpting• UVs• Retopology

Sculpt a rig-readycreature in Mudbox

reating a good base mesh is vital if you intend to animate your characters. in

the past this would have been done painstakingly, polygon by polygon, in a 3d package like Maya or 3ds Max. However, with the recent addition of retopology tools to sculpting

packages like Mudbox and ZBrush, it’s become increasingly easier to simply retopologise your concept sculpt as part of the process of its creation.

This gives you a complete and usable model in as much time as it took to conceive: the benefits of this are enormous, as modellers need not

to be confined by lack of technical skill and can be free to sculpt in a creative and limitless way.

Here, i’ll walk through how to turn a loose 2d sketch into a fully functioning animation-ready model, using Mudbox’s retopology tools and the new retopology tools in Maya 2014.

Adam dewhirst shows you how to use retopology tools to create a character ready for rigging


Project files screenshots

textures

Vault In the

C

ARTiST PROFileAdam DewhirstAdam is a lead modeller at Framestore’s film VFX branch in London. He has worked in the industry for almost ten years for studios like Cinesite, Double Negative, MPC and Passion Pictures. His film work includes The Golden Compass, The Dark Knight and World War Z. www.adamdewhirst.com

01 Starting out and reference

For this tutorial I’m using a concept by Dan Mason (see previous tutorial). I work with Dan at Framestore, so I got to talk through a few ideas first. The concept for this character was something dark and a little sad, a creature that lives in darkness. I wanted something that could fit into a number of worlds – Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Narnia – so we decided on the idea of a Coal Troll, a being whose only existence was to gather and collect coal. Dan suggested that after some time he might start to look like the thing he collected. For this reason, my starting point was to collect reference of coal, rocks, caves and any creatures that I thought were relevant.

02 General shapingStart out with a sphere in

Mudbox – normally I would start out with a human figure, but I’m keen to prove that this Coal Troll can be modelled entirely from a sphere. Mudbox may not have DynaMesh to play with, but using the retopology toolset will allow us to increase the polygon spread as we go. Working in a similar way, start by using the Grab tool to pull out very basic limbs and a torso; this is the rough blocking.

Start by using a sphere and pull out the limbs to get a rough shape


learn how to make animation-ready characters with Adam dewhirst’s tutorial

Create a model ready for rigging TRAINING



06 Adding the mouthThis character may need to open his mouth, so we want to model

in a mouth cavity just in case. I’m going to use the Freeze tool to mask the mouth out, and then go to Edit>Inverse Freeze. Now you can use the Grab tool to pull the jaw down.

use the Wax brush to build up the muscle shapes and refine the character

04 RetopologiseWe don’t want to spend too

much time refining this, but we do need to step up a few subdivision levels early on and use the Wax brush (on a high-strength setting) to shape the sculpt a bit more. As we’re going to need a better spread of polygons to continue, it’s time to retopologise (go to Mesh>Retopologise>New Operation). We’re only changing two things: Target Base Face Count up to 5000 (as it’s the whole figure) and Face Uniformity to 0.5. The result can be seen in the image below.

05 Refining the shape The topology at this stage isn’t perfect, but as it’s not going to be the

final mesh, it’s enough to work with for now. Use the Wax brush to build up the muscle shapes and refine the figure, and next we’ll drop in two spheres for the eyes. To do this, go to Create>Mesh>Sphere. Duplicate the sphere, then go to Mesh>Flip Mesh>Around X.

03 Add the clothingThe only part of the model

we’re not making from scratch in Mudbox is the loincloth – for this we use a simple cylinder in Maya as the belt, and extrude two cubes to make the hanging cloth. It’s important to keep the geometry as basic as possible so we can refine the shape in Mudbox later on.

07 Second retopologyAfter further refining with

the Wax and Grab tools, retopologise again, as we have a lot more surface area inside the mouth and also we’re going to need to start working up the other areas, such as the hands and the feet. Use the same retopology settings that we used the first time. Now we have a vastly superior mesh to the sphere we started with.

use the Wax brush to shape the sculpt and add in some subdivisions

When you’re happy with the shape,

retopologise the model again to get

a clean mesh


Create a model ready for rigging TRAINING

10 Add guide curves for final retopology

Now all the basic forms have been sculpted, we’re ready to do the final retopology pass in Mudbox. For this, it’s best to lay down some guide curves – the most vital is a loop around the centre line in X. To do this, go to Curve Tools>Curve Loop. Make sure Mirror Tool is turned off, Snap is turned on, and that Plane is set to X. Click on the middle of your model, then use the Curve Loop tool to define areas around the arms, neck and legs. With the window open, right-click on the curves and define them as a soft or hard constraint: we want the centre line and the eye and mouth loops to be hard constraints, to ensure edges are there.

13 unwrap in ZBrushImport the (half) mesh

into ZBrush as an .obj file. We’re going to use the UV Master to unwrap the mesh using the existing UV shell as a guide – this will do a much better job of unwrapping the UVs than Maya’s Unfold option. Go to ZPlugin>UV Master, making sure that Use Existing UV Seams is on, and then hit Unwrap.

12 Basic uVs in Maya In order to deliver your

ready-to-rig sculpt you will also need displacement maps from Mudbox, so we’ll need to create some UVs. It’s best to do this before bringing the model back into Mudbox. First divide the mesh up into sections; assign a colour to each section to identify them. These UVs are basic – a simple cylinder map in most cases. We want to create UV shells of each section.

09 Final shaping of the hands

All the elements we need are now present, so it’s time to refine the detail. This is where you want to give your model a bit more love, working up the hands, feet and so on by using good references from the internet or your own library. We’re also going to freeze everything except the area directly above the eyes, so that we can pull out some eyelids. Although they would be pulled back in the pose we’re modelling, we want them to be quite prominent for the basic bind pose in case the animation requires a more prominent blink.

11 Maya clean-up Knock the subdivision down

to its lowest level and import the mesh into Maya to clean up a few errors. The main thing you want to do is delete half the mesh, duplicate and flip it so that it’s symmetrical (symmetrical retopology tools are coming in the next release of Mudbox). There are a few areas here that need cleaning up. Maya 2014’s new topology tools allow you to set a Transform Constraint, which lets you import your high-res sculpt into Maya and use it as a mesh to snap your new topology to. You can set this up by turning on the new topology tools using the new icon (highlighted green) next to the Attribute Editor icon.

expert tip There is plenty of anatomy reference available for free online – anatomy4sculptors.com has great breakdowns of muscle and bones for the human form.

expert tip When you retopologise a mesh in Mudbox it creates a duplicate, so you never lose your original sculpt. This is useful for exporting the mesh at different resolutions.

08 Adding teeth and gumsThe gums are created from simple spheres,

and then shaped using the Grab tool. It’s a good

idea to run a basic retopologise on this. To make the teeth, create a single tooth from a cube and duplicate it, laying it out with the Transform tool

under the Select/Move tab. Use the Flatten tool to bash the teeth in so they start to look like lumps of coal. Use the Pinch tool to sharpen up the edges.

expert tip Check the uVs via the Map box: hit Morph uV. Bring the mesh back into Maya, duplicate and flip it and lay out the uVs in a symmetrical format over four tiles, making sure the head has its own tile.

use good reference to help you work up the model’s finer details



14 Transfer attributes in MudboxWe now have a good base topology with UVs. Import that back

into the Mudbox scene. With our new base mesh selected, I’m going to run Transfer Attributes. Go to Mesh>Transfer Attributes and select your target model (new topology) and your source model (sculpt), then transfer the details over. You may have a few stray vertices to clean up afterwards.

17 Clean up and finishFinally, import all the base

meshes back into Mudbox – the nails, teeth, gums, and clothing, as well as the main body. We’re going to run the Maya Cleanup tool to check for any

errors; although most of these would be fixed when we retopologised, it’s good to catch them now. We also need to group and name the model, and check all the normals are facing the right way. I can’t emphasise

enough how important this final stage is: so many models I receive are not clean. You should always clean and check your models before you deliver them. And that’s it, we’re finished! In the future you may want

to create some nice colour maps, but what we have created in a short amount of time is a named, UVed, well-topologised mesh that’s ready for animation – and we have done the majority of that work in Mudbox! X

16 The detail passNext we want to add some

detail down the arm, so create a new Sculpt layer and use a stamp, set to Randomise, to create a subtle crack down the rocky arm. Setting this detail on a layer means we can ramp it up or down depending on how much of an effect we want. Set your shader to a darker, more coal-like colour, so we can get a better feel for the character. You can add individual layers for particularly prominent components, such as the crack down his shoulder and the facial detail – all this work should come out in the displacement map. To finish the Mudbox scene, set up some basic lights and shaders and bring all the elements together, then wrap up the sculpting and export the displacement maps.

15 Adding the asymmetrical detail

We want to add some asymmetrical details – as in the concept – down one side of his back and arm, which should make him look a bit more distinctive and give him character. Create a new sculpt layer in Mudbox, and use the Wax tool again to build up some rocky surface detail. During the retopology phase, make sure to add some extra loops around the shoulder with this in mind, so you have plenty of surface area to play with.

The final stage reveals a named, uVed, well-topologised mesh of a Coal Troll that’s ready for rigging

A CB d

expert tip To make the rocks, use the Wax brush to build up the surface, then knock it down to a hard edge with the Flatten brush. Finally use Pinch and Amplify to sharpen the shape to a point.

Get a FREE digital trial subscription!

Now you can read 3D World on your nook, Kindle Fire, and on your desktop computer or Android phone


hatever your device, you can now access 3D World’s tutorials, video and features

at the click of a button. Try it today! Single issues and subscriptions

are available and each purchase remains stored in your own unique magazine library. Kindle Fire editions feature streaming video and links, while Zinio and nook editions include video and links. All editions include access to the Vault’s content.

Please note: Resource files are available from issue 162 onwards.

NoW oN KiNDle!

Search for us on the Kindle Fire

app store

iNcluDeS the VAult!Download tutorial videos,

textures, scene files and much more!

W

Android, Pc & Mac: www.bit.ly/tdw-zinioBarnes & Noble nook: www.bit.ly/tdw-nook

Google Play: www.bit.ly/tdw_google


TRAINING Compositing with Cineware

Step-by-stepVFXCompositing

ForAfter Effects CCCinema 4D Studio R15

ToPICS CoVErED• Preparation

of footage• Cineware integration • 2D tracking• 3D tracking• Camera projection• Environment

creation

Set up a scene with Cineware

elcome back to the Cineware VFX tutorial. In our first part (published

in issue 176) we looked at how to track footage in After Effects and easily get it into Cinema 4D with the aid of Cineware, the new plug-in for After Effects, which also now comes with a free version of Cinema 4D called C4D Lite. In this

second part, we get stuck into modelling the elements in Cinema 4D and using Cineware to help get us set up for our main animation render, which will help us set up our render passes. To create these and get the best-looking shot possible, we’ll use the new rendering features of Cinema 4D r15, such as the improvements in

Mike Griggs reveals how to use After Effects and Cinema 4D to create VFX scenes that work


VIDEO TRAINING scREENshOTsscENE FILEs

Vault In the

W

ArTIST ProFILEMike GriggsMike is a freelance concept 3D, VFX and mograph artist working across TV, exhibition and digital design. www.creativebloke.com

the global illumination engine and the new network rendering tool Team render.

While this article goes into detail about certain segments of the process, I have captured the entire process in the video, which gives a complete walkthrough of creating the modelled elements. This can be downloaded from the Vault.

Compositing with Cineware TRAINING


»

VIDEo LInkwww.bit.ly/179-cineware

Use Cineware in After Effects and Cinema 4D to great effect, to create rich scenes like this

01 Sketch the designCreate a new model for the

bus. We will use parametric objects and Cinema 4D’s excellent spline and cloning modelling workflow. Create a capsule for the main body of the bus. While traditional sketching with pen and paper is handy, making it an integrated part of the 3D creation process can be laborious. Thankfully, Cinema 4D has its own set of basic sketching tools, which can really help you with laying out a design. Once you have your capsule at the correct size, and orientated in a

view where you would like to sketch, create a camera and switch to its view by pressing the white square. In the Object list switch to it View and create a doodle object (go to Tools>Doodle>Doodle Paint). The doodle object enables you to draw on a quick mock-up of a design. Switch the view back to the default camera and put a protection tag on the doodle camera. Increase the resolution of your doodle, save the texture and sketch away. Pull out the doodle sketch palette to give you a reference to refer to and edit. Use the Doodle tool to sketch the design on top of the basic geometry

Expert tip Pull out the doodle sketch palette so you have it handy by selecting the two lines at the top of the palette in the menu view and pull it into the workspace while you’re sketching.



04Adding textureYou can texture using a

combination of the material that comes with C4D Lite and Cinema 4D Studio, using the car paint texture for the majority of metal work. To add panelling to the fairing, use the Layer command throughout a range to load up a tile bump texture element, which you can configure into a tile pattern to give the impression of metal tiles.

Then select the fairing objects texture tag in the object list, which lets you access the mapping controls for this texture. Leave it set to UVW Mapping, but increase the tiling number to create a size and proportion of tile that you’re happy with. Also create some luminous textures for the engines and nose lights for the engine; use the fresnel texture channel in the luminous tab to give a gradient to the luminosity’s colour.

C4D’s powerful parametric and cloning tools can be used to add detail

Create an edge spline from the original capsule model. This will form the basis of the wings and top fairing

Use the tile tool and the UVW texture tag on the

fairing object to create lined tiling on the fairing object

Use projection mapping tools to help place your modelled

objects in the tracked scene. Use a huge polygon to place

the saucer at the pier

02 Modelling the bus Make a copy of the capsule

and make it an editable object. Use the Edge Loop selection tool to select a complete loop of the capsule, and then convert it to a spline by going to Mesh>Commands>Edge To Spline. This gives a looped spline, which you can copy and remove sections from to create the shaping splines for elements such as the wing.

To create objects such as the main fairing that wraps around the bottom, top and end of the bus, make a copy of the capsule spline, uncheck the

Close Spline button and parent it to a sweep nurb. Then adjust the profile of the sweep using the curve in the Details palette of the sweep nurbs.

Repeat this process by making duplicates of the sweep nurb’s object stack for other ‘rib’ elements on the craft, including the wings. The great thing about this workflow is that every model element is live and can be adjusted as you design.

For the rest of the bus segments, use C4D’s Parametric and Cloning tools to add detail to the nose and rear of the ship, as shown in the video.

03 Modelling the other elements

For the shelter, the modelling process is much the same and is documented in the video. Here, I use some existing stock elements. Again, you can start working with a new model, but at the end of the bus process you may notice that the Cinema 4D UI starts to slow down, this will only get worse when we combine the models together in the main animation scene. This is the catch of using C4D’s parametric modelling system, as the more objects C4D has in the object

list, the slower it gets. One way to combat this is to combine the objects and get rid of the models you do not need using the Objects>Connect Objects and Delete command in the Object List menu. I could also use Xrefs to manage the scene, which load instances of separate C4D files into your master scene, but this can create file logistic headaches.

Thankfully you can reduce the amount of detail shown in the viewport by going to Options>Level of Detail and selecting Medium Setting in any viewport window.

05 Place models in the scene Now it’s time to add all your completed

models into your tracked scene. Again, use the projection mapping toolset to help place the objects. To place the saucer, you can project onto a huge polygon object so you get a rough approximation of where the pier end is in relation to the camera and place the saucer accordingly. Once the objects have been placed, start to use layers to help organise your scene and switch elements on and off as you work in your master scene.

Fill out other details, such as the kerb where you want to place your shelter. Then copy in your shelter model after grouping it using the Object List’s Objects>Group Objects. Next, go to Edit>Select Children in the Object list to make sure you’re selecting all the objects in the object tree in your shelter model, which you can paste into your master object and position where you want it. Then instance the shelter group by selecting it and selecting an instance object to create a second shelter. Position it beside the original model. Repeat this process to get the bus model into the master tracked scene.

Expert tip If you use a medium level of detail, the preview render only renders the detail shown in the viewport, which can mean a reduction of the clones you’re viewing.


»


07Cineware workarounds

Once the scene has been set up and you’ve applied some secondary animation, such as opening doors and spinning Ferris wheels, check how the scene looks in After Effects. It’s now that we have to harden ourselves to the realities of Cineware: we will need to use global illumination (GI) to render the scene, as it gives more realistic shadows, but using GI drastically

reduces the speed of the Cineware plug-in. This can be offset by the inclusion of the new Team Render settings within Cinema 4D to allow easy rendering across multiple computers on your network; it is therefore quicker and easier to use Cinema 4D to manage the render in this case. However, there are still numerous ways that Cineware can be used: for example, for look development, as well as equally useful object matte creation.

Use a mixture of keyframe animation and aligning the bus to a path to create the flight path between the shelter and the saucer

All the modelled elements are now ready to be rendered and composited using Cinema 4D rather than Cineware. Cineware is still a very useful tool in setting up renders

06 Animate the buses To animate the buses, earlier

in the modelling process (which you can see in the video) you will have created a controller to open and close the door, which you can then attach to a null object and then be set as a slider on the UI when the controller null is selected. To animate the main bus movement, create two curved splines between the bus shelter and the saucer and use the follow path tag on the master null of the Bus Group, this snaps the Bus to the curved path. Set keyframes to create

the initial take off and to orientate the bus to the right direction.

All you need to do to make your bus zoom in X, Y and Z space to the saucer is to animate the position on the path slider. Use the same system for the instance of the bus model. Using this method makes it much easier to ‘art direct’ the acceleration, as due to the foreshortening of the camera the buses fly away to quickly. Compensate for this by making the distance covered by the bus in the foreground much shorter by keying the Position Along Path slider.

08 Create a matte One of the more tedious

processes in Cinema 4D is creating alpha mattes – not because the mattes in Cinema 4D aren’t very good, but because when you set up an object buffer (the name Cinema 4D gives to an alpha matte) there was never a good way of naming the matte when it was exported.

Cineware fixes this and allows you a method of previewing your matte in After Effects before you start to render. This is a huge timesaver, especially when

creating mattes for animation passes. To create a matte for the bus shelter, attach a compositing tag

to the bus shelter and in the Object Buffer tag tick which number you want to use. To save Object Buffers in Cinema 4D, Multipass needs to be activated in the Render>Edit Render Settings dialog.

Cineware has direct access to the multipass controls once it has been activated and Enable multipass has been selected in the Cineware layers effects control in After Effects.

To add an object buffer to your multipass list, right-click on the multipass title in the render dialogue and select Object buffer. Make sure you have the relevant object buffer for the bus shelter chosen and rename the object buffer title.

09 Using Cineware to preview render passes

Using object buffers to create mattes also enables you to really start properly thinking about how you want your shot to look. This is much more straightforward to achieve in After Effects than it is in Cinema 4D, as you have the vast array of After Effects’ image plug-ins to hand, each of which can be used on a Cineware layer as if it were a rendered still. Once Cineware has cached the Cinema 4D file into After Effects, you can separate out the individual passes that you want to use using the same multipass pass method that you used to create object buffers, and you can start to get an idea of which multipass layers will be important to you, which can make your render more efficient as you will only render the layers that you need.

Cineware can be used to preview your render passes. Here you can see the luminous pass, which you can blur and use colour correction tools on in After Effects

Cineware lets you view named object buffers in After Effects, which helps you see what your matte will show at render time before you render

Expert tip In AE, to see what the object buffer will create when it’s render time, set up Cineware to show the object buffer channel. Click on the Multipass tab and check the object buffer is ticked.



13Colour correcting for distance

Once you have completed the renders, you can get on with the business of compositing. While Cineware is intended to be part of this process (and ideally replace the Cinema 4D render process), the advantages that Team Render offers mean that Cineware should be seen as an aid for visual effects workflows rather than a replacement for the traditional workflow. Start to

add depth to your composition once you’ve separated out the saucer using an After Effects Mask. Add the Levels filter to the render layer and set After Effects to show all three colour channels (Red, Green and Blue) along with the full colour image, and work through each colour channel with the Levels effects until the brightness and contrast of the saucer matches that of the pier in the backplate. Repeat this process for the bus and the shelter.

Load in the unfinished render into AE to help keep track of the render progress, while letting Team render churn through the rest of the job

12 Checking your render progress

Set the render off, with all the associated GI settings. As I was rendering at full HD, it took a couple of days to render out everything. I had a couple of methods of watching progress aside from using the render queue. If you render to Team Render Viewer, you can see every frame pop in as it comes in. It also allows you to spot the gaps, but there is a more robust method of viewing your progress using After Effects.

Import the render passes into After Effects using the Immigration plug-in

(see www.aescripts.com/immigration). Immigration works with render files from any application and can sort through a folder of render passes and organise them by filename and number. Once the render passes have been loaded in AE, every time you reload them, the render updates with the correct number until it is full. By using AE you can see where the render gaps are as Team Render splits the renders out to the clients at random points throughout the timeline, so if there’s a specific part you want in a hurry, you can focus your resources on rendering the frames you need.

11 Team render setup The next step is to render

the scene in Cinema 4D. To do this, I use Team Render, which distributes the render tasks across as many machines as I have available, which in my case is three.

There are a couple of caveats when using Team Render: first of all, if you are using any plug-ins with Cinema 4D, which are being used by your Cinema 4D file, you need to ensure that these plug-ins are copied from your Cinema 4D file into each of the plug-in folders of the Team Render app on your other computers.

The other – more serious – thing to watch out for is that as we are

using a Global illumination setting, the GI cache files are much larger than they would otherwise be and are created on each respective Team Render client machine.

To overcome this, ensure that the Team Render preference for each of the client machines are pointing to external large drives away from the main OS drives. If you don’t do this, your client machines can quickly fill up and slow down.

Use a VPn to set up Team render on your client machines. Despite being only version one, Team render is a game-changer for easy network rendering

10 Set up GI and render passes

Once you have decided which render layers are needed, refine the GI settings. Do this by playing with the new presets, which can be found by adding the Global Illumination setting to your render settings in the Edit Render menu. Use the render preview window. Make sure you get a GI look that balances realistic shadowing with retention of detail and lack of noise. Once you’re happy with the render setting, save it at as high a bit depth as file space will allow, along with a selection of passes and the destination path for the render files.

Use C4D’s preview window to test the GI settings until you’re happy with them. Save them as a render preset for future use

Setting After Effects to show all three colour channels is a good way of colour correcting your VFX elements



15refining the look and shadowsNext, work on refining the shadows of the bus shelter using

mattes that you rendered and set up in Cineware, alongside the masks. To apply the mattes to a layer in After Effects, create a composition for each matte, which has the rendered matte used as a Luma TrkMat above a white solid. This enables you to use the choke range of filters in AE to increase or decrease the edge of the matte, which is useful for compensating for the ragged edge of a render. Use the pre-composed matte as a TrkMat set to Alpha above the render layer you want to work with in your After Effects Composition.

Use third-party AE plug-ins like Looks by red Giant to quickly add some more pop to the shot

17 Finishing the shot with plug-ins

All the elements we want are now in the shot. To finish the shot and give it a bit of extra pop, you could use some third-party After Effects plug-ins. In this final stage, I add a lens flare by placing a light at the approximate location of the sun and use Video CoPilot’s Optical flares to create a 3D flare, which does a good job of covering the initial flare problems I had in the original plate, and makes them look intentional.

For the final colour grade, I use Magic Bullet Looks to give the shot a more ‘sunrise’ look and feel. As you can see, Cineware does not replace the render time working between Cinema 4D and After Effects, it offers up a multitude of ways of streamlining your VFX workflow, and has greatly enhanced the efficiency of the way these two great applications work together for creating VFX. So no matter how big or small your budget, now you can create successful VFX scenes. X

Use the Text tool in Cinema 4D along with a wrap modifier to create

the luminous text for the saucer

Use the mattes that you previously rendered and set up in Cineware to refine the shadows

16 Add animated text Add custom elements, such

as illuminated wrapped text, and enhance the reflections on the bus to make it more distinctive. The text can be added either in Cinema 4D or After Effects. To make the text for the saucer, create a type object in C4D and use a wrap modifier to make it cylindrical; create an instance of this

group of objects and place it above the saucer, and animate both rotating slowly. Set this up as a simple render in C4D (with no GI) and only render the luminous channel after applying a luminous texture to the text. Then use your layers control to render only the text layers and bring this into AE. Now use the layer controls in AE to create a semi-transparent layer.

14 Adding lens blur To enhance the level of

depth you’ve created with the levels adjustment on the modelled elements, use a small amount of Lens Blur to remove the ‘perfectness’ of the rendered elements, to bring your CG image in line with the resolution of the iPhone camera. While it feels wrong to diminish the detail that you spent so long modelling, this is what creating realistic VFX is all about: your CG needs to sit convincingly in the backplate.

Using the Lens Blur filter in AE helps site your CG more convincingly in the backplate


Rob replies:By “small enough”, I take it that you mean polygon count and corresponding file size, rather than the physical size of the print. Usually a printing service will ask you to specify a print size, so here we will concentrate on the other aspects as, in addition to upload speed, they will help when you are working with the ZBrush file size.

There is something very special about taking delivery of a model that at one time only existed in

your computer. You can view a digital model from any angle, but nothing beats holding it in your hand.

Therefore it’s important to consider how the majority of printing companies prefer to receive files. You can’t usually just sculpt away, send a ZBrush file and expect it to come back as a 3D model – or even to be printable. Some 3D printing companies will fix problems for you but that will inevitably incur fees, and besides it’s better to fully understand the process and create a print-ready sculpt wherever

To create the 3D model below, we reduced the initial

mesh of nearly six million polygons to 60,000

Questions & AnswersYour software queries solved by experts

ZBrush “How can I make my model small enough to send to a 3D printer?”Daniel Barrett


ScreenShoTS

Vault In the

ARTIsT PRofIleRob Redman 3D World’s technical editor Rob is a 3D artist and trainer with experience of all things CG.www.3dworldmag.com

expert tip for lower polygon exports, you can use ZRemesher to reduce the polygon count and then project your details back on to the mesh using displacement maps.

Questions & Answers TRAINING


Readying a sculpt for 3D printing

01 BAse mesH Make sure you have a base mesh that is manifold – one that is watertight and preferably made up only of quads. You can use bridging tools to close up any gaps.

02 ZRemesHeR For quick prints – where low polygon counts are more important than detail – ZRemesher is a decent solution. The screenshot shows the two models side by side.

03 DeCImATIoN mAsTeR Use ZBrush’s Decimation Master, with your chosen level of decimation, to massively reduce your model’s polygon count without noticeably losing detail.

possible. If the tech companies are to be believed we will all have 3D printers in our homes soon, and what use will they be if we don’t know how to use them?

There are some finer details to preparing a 3D model for print that are outside the scope of this Q&A but we will look at the main issues you’ll encounter. First, you will need to make sure that your model is manifold – this means that it should be ‘watertight’, with no holes. Polygons have no depth, so the thickness of an object is defined by the volume within a closed set of polygons. If there are gaps, your model will not print as the printer won’t read it as a solid object. This is an issue commonly associated with meshes imported from other applications, so before you export, or use GoZ, use your software’s bridging tools – such as close Polygon hole – to ensure there are no gaps.

once you have finalised your sculpt in ZBrush and ensured that the mesh is watertight, you can prepare it for print. There are two ways of doing this. If you are printing at a small size, or as a test of form rather than detail, you could use Zremesher to significantly reduce the polygon count. You may want to do this anyway for retopologising purposes (followed by projecting your details back on to the mesh). This method is quick, easy and creates the smallest file sizes but is not best suited to detailed models.

however it is ideal if you need a quick print from a file that can be sent by email.

The second method – and the one I would recommend – is to use Decimation Master. This is a commonly used plug-in that works very well. Decimation Master can be found under your ZPlugins menu. It takes your high-res mesh then works its magic to produce a highly reduced polygon count while keeping levels of detail almost indistinguishable to the original. It has a set of sliders that you use to tell it what percentage of the original polygon count you want to keep, and uses an algorithm to work out where to remove density but still retain detail.

This is a powerful plug-in and is useful in many situations, not just for generating printable models. The model in the example here was nearly six million polygons, as the base mesh was created without considering mesh size for printing purposes. Decimation Master reduced the mesh down to 60,000 polygons and the visible model is no different. The benefit of reduced file size really helped too. The model was printed by Formlabs (more about them in a future issue), and when we readied the file for sending it took just ten minutes to reduce what was a 70MB model and email it to them, whereupon they printed the 3D model and posted it back to us.

one final note: most printers prefer to use .stl files, but you can export in this format using ZBrush’s export For Print dialogue, which also has options for sizing should you need them. X

send us a questionEmail queries to [email protected] and our team of experts will find a solution.

You will need to make sure that your model is manifold – meaning it should be ‘watertight’, with no holes in the mesh

88 | | March 2014

ood quality simulation for VFX and CG has always been one of the key differentiators between good work

and amazing work, and a decent simulation and effects (for example, smoke, fire and dust) workflow or pipeline allows a level of creativity that you cannot easily achieve with a ‘standard’ 3D application. One of the key packages for creating this kind of work has been Houdini by Side Effects, which has been around since 1996, and is now releasing version 13.

One of the new features that comes with Houdini is an improved multi-threaded particle system, which has been integrated in the dynamics set and is shockingly fast compared with the particle tools I have used in other applications.

Thanks to Houdini 13’s range of deformation tools, it is easy to create simulations in particles and fluids – Houdini 13 fluids have improved FLIP and Ocean tools – and make them react exactly as you want them to.

Also, new volumetric solutions integrate with the updated OpenEXR 2.0 to allow

Houdini 13 comes with more than just improvements to its already formidable effects toolset, as Mike Griggs finds out

Houdini 13

has imported it, which – along with the improvements in primitive management through packed primitives – means that Houdini can work with other 3D applications very easily.

There are a wealth of other improvements to using Houdini as well,

but the big news is that Houdini Engine has arrived. This allows the use of Houdini in other 3D applications – at the moment only Maya and Unity have Houdini Engine plug-ins, but the fact that you can now leverage Houdini’s power in other applications has profound implications for the software’s take up.

Coming back to Houdini after spending a lot of time in Cinema 4D’s mograph

deep compositing options from Houdini’s built-in Mantra renderer into compositors such as Nuke.

Other features such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA) have also been introduced. FEA is being used more and more in VFX production, as it creates, for example,

more accurate splintering than other destruction solutions (which are still available in Houdini, with the Bullet Solver also receiving enhancements in this release). FEA can also be used for soft-body dynamics to help give your objects more realistic ’squash’.

Speaking of objects, Alembic import has been beefed up to enable much better control of scene data after Houdini

G

www.3dworldmag.com

Price• Houdini 13

£1,231 / $1,995 • Houdini FX 13

£2,774 / $4,495

UPGrade Annual upgrade plan• Houdini

£614 / $995• Houdini FX

£1,539 / $2,495

OtHer editiOns• Apprentice (free) • Apprentice HD

(£60 / $99 per year)

OPeratinG sYsteMWindows / Mac / Linux

Main FeatUres• Nodal 3D application• Full dynamics system• Range of fluid solvers• Physically based

renderer• ‘Engine’ plug-ins for

third-party apps

develOPerSide Effectswww.sidefx.com

ReviewssoftwareModelling, animation and rendering tool

Houdini’s deformation tools make it easy to create simulations in particles and fluids and make them react as you want them to

reviewer PrOFileMike GriggsMike is a freelance 3D, VFX and mograph artist and a regular 3D World contributor.www.creativebloke.com

Houdini 13 offers a complete 3d application that leverages a nodal workflow to allow a totally ’live’ workflow

March 2014 | | 89

and dynamics tool, it is easy to be initially put off by Houdini’s nodal workflow, but the truth is that to not explore its depth and features would be doing yourself a disservice as an artist.

Houdini is a deep application and it is easily forgotten that it is a complete 3D solution, with a full modelling, UV, texture and character rigging toolset. Put this alongside the complete dynamics, fluids, particles, animation and physical rendering capability of Mantra, Houdini’s own physically based renderer, and you have one of the most feature-complete packages on the market. And this is all

without needing to buy any plug-ins, which can be a huge hidden cost for a lot of competing 3D applications.

Modelling in Houdini is different to most other 3D applications as – like everything else in Houdini – it is nodally based. While faces, edges and vertices are selectable as in every other 3D application, applying a bevel, for example, adds another node to your object tree, with the parameters for the bevel applied through the Properties panel.

This may sound like a counterintuitive method compared with working in other 3D apps – and may actually take slightly longer in the initial setup – but the net productivity gains later down the creative pipeline cannot be underestimated. Every parameter, whether it be a particle cloud, fluid simulation or a humble polygon extrude, is controlled from a node, which means every element in your scene is ‘live’.

This is hugely important if you’re working to a deadline or on a project that is in development and requires assets or design changes – for example, if the client does not like the size of the bevel on your motion graphics cube. One change to the bevel parameters on your master cube and the whole scene changes instantly.

While this is possible in other packages, it can be difficult to see where the master file is. Houdini’s nodal layout allows tidy grouping of instruction sets in your nodal view to make scene sharing between artists more straightforward, as well as making it simpler to see what’s important when you come back to a file.

The other advantage of Houdini’s nodal workflow is that the same logic applies to whatever you’re doing: it’s the same methodology to create a particle animation interacting with an imported mesh as it is to create a fluid simulation or model an object, thanks to the work done by Side

Effects to make the tools in Houdini work together seamlessly, aided by the blue bar at the bottom of the screen which controls what you do with your chosen node.

You may not have the time to learn to model in Houdini, but the new Orbolt asset library linking allows you to quickly find an asset and load it directly into Houdini. This works really smoothly: I was able to load in a free rigged model of a car directly into Houdini, apply it to a path for

Houdini 13 REVIEWS

www.3dworldmag.com

direction, and then watch it driving over some bumpy terrain in minutes. In other 3D apps I may have needed a paid-for plug-in or to rig it myself. The other great thing about using the Orbolt assets is that they are a useful way to see how to set up rigs in Houdini – and again, due to the nodal workflow and easily adjustable UI, the inherent logic of working in Houdini is straightforward to pick apart.

cOst and versiOnsThe ‘elephant in the room’ however is Houdini’s price – to get the full Houdini FX version which includes particles, etc is a hefty investment. But to fully stretch the metaphor, the elephant is accompanied by an equally powerful mouse. As long as you’re working on personal projects (which could include your portfolio, for example) Houdini Apprentice HD has all the features of Houdini FX for just $100 a year.

Houdini Apprentice HD uses its own file format (you can get Side Effects to translate your files to the full Houdini file format when you’re ready to switch to a commercial workflow) and allows the creation of unwatermarked animations up to 1080p and stills. This is great, as you can take as long as you want to get to grips with Houdini, and have the means to show your work at full production quality.

With the 3D application landscape changing rapidly due to subscriptions pricing changes and company mergers, Side Effects has created a compellingly complete standalone 3D package that can create imagery and offer workflows most other 3D applications simply cannot. X

PrOs• Nodal workflow• New, fast particle system• Houdini Engine

cOns • Expensive, steep learning curve

an excellent all-round 3d package, and the apprentice Hd version is a good value way of learning this excellent vFX app.

RATING

VeRdIcT

the fluid systems have been improved in Houdini 13 as well with additions of new FliP and Ocean solutions

the new multi-threaded particle systems are quick, and thanks to the wide range of tools it’s easy to create complex simulations in minutes

It has a full modelling, UV, texture and character rigging toolset, plus dynamics, fluids, particles, animation and rendering

Houdini has a complete set of modelling tools, which thanks to the nodal workflow can make file interchange much easier

destruction, like this created by cG artist eli Guerron, is easy to do in Houdini. the new dynamics solutions add extra believability to breakage

© E

li G

uerr

on, w

ww

.osi

to.t

v


REVIEWS Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid

HardwareDrawing tablet

PRoS• Fantastic build quality• Accurate and intuitive• Versatile

ConS• Stand not to everyone’s taste• No Thunderbolt adapter

A couple of small teething troubles aside, the Cintiq Companion is one of the best input devices available for digital artists.

RATING

VeRdIcT

PRICE£999 / $1499

SPECIFICATIon• 2,048 levels of

pressure sensitivity• 13-inch HD display• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean• Nvidia Tegra quad-

core processor• 16GB / 32GB storage• Up to 12 hours of

battery life

MAnuFACTuRERWacomwww.wacom.com

Rob Redman roadtests Wacom’s first foray into tablet computing, to evaluate what benefits there are for 3D artists

Wacom Cintiq Companion Hybrid

or the last couple of years there has been a call for Wacom to move into tablet computing versions,

so artists can work remotely and on the move. Now Wacom has released the Cintiq Companion, which comes in two flavours: a Windows and an Android version, both of which can be hooked up to your desktop or laptop to serve as a normal Cintiq. This review applies to the Android model.

On unpacking, the first thing you will notice is the hardware quality. Everything feels solid and well constructed, with high-quality materials used throughout. The Cintiq comes with the same stand supplied with the Cintiq 13HD, which takes a little getting used to but works well at all of the three possible angles.

The tablet has a single, three-in-one connection with HDMI, power and USB cables. If you use Thunderbolt you will have to buy an adapter, which is a real shame as everything else has been thought of. The stylus comes in a small case, along with a selection of nibs, nib tool and different coloured collars. The case fits neatly into a tailored pocket in the supplied neoprene case. Setup is quick and painless with a decent guide, and it takes minutes to get up and running. Android setup is simple too and the unskinned OS is responsive and pleasant to use.

Installing Photoshop Touch and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro made the

whole prospect of working on the move a real joy: there’s no noticeable lag and the interfaces make complete sense. You can use your finger if you want, but the supplied stylus is a great tool. The surface of the tablet has just the right resistance for most tasks, but you can swap out the nib if you want more. The express keys can be customised to suit your working

methods and software, in both Android and Cintiq mode.

This device works exactly as you would imagine when connected to a

computer: there’s no lag, and with one of the express keys set to Display Mode you can mirror your main monitor or run it as an additional screen, with the useful ability to swap at the click of a button.

Sculpting in ZBrush becomes as close to digital clay as possible, and working in Photoshop is hugely rewarding experience.Devices such as these are, I hope, the future for digital artists and designers. X

F

REVIEWER PRoFIlERob Redman3D World’s technical editor Rob is a 3D artist and trainer with experience of all things CG.www.3dworldmag.com

You can use the supplied Wacom Pro Pen stylus – with a selection of nibs – or multi-touch gestures

Inputs include uSB, micro-HDMI, a microSD reader, a headphone/microphone jack and a 3-in-1 connector

March 2014 | | 91 www.3dworldmag.com

Amberlight REVIEWS

SoftwareNew procedural art tool

PRoS• High-res exports• Affordable• Colour and image editing tools

CoNS• Undo is missing and saving can be flaky• No layered .psd export

Amberlight is pretty much your ‘press a button for instant backdrop’ toolkit. At this price, it would be rude not to.

RATING

VeRdIcT

REVIEWER PRofIlESteve JarrattSteve has been into CG for many years. He’s a regular contributor to 3D World and edited the magazine for a period of two years.www.bit.ly/steve-jarratt

PRICE£18 / $30

oPERAtINg SyStEmWindows / OS X

mAIN fEAtuRES• Particle-based pattern

generator• Creates print-

resolution images• Dozens of preset

gradients• Glow and tint functions• Render on top of an

imported image

DEVEloPEREscape Motionswww.escapemotions.com A great application for creating ephemeral images that defy

definition, but look amazing. Steve Jarratt sees the light…

Amberlight

eveloped by the team behind Flame Painter, Amberlight is based on an experimental particle

field sandbox called Fields, written by Peter Blaškovi (www.bit.ly/amberlight). It’s a user-friendly package based on particle field algorithms that enables you to generate wonderfully exotic swirling patterns – ideal for space backdrops, motion graphics, illustrations and more.

The concept revolves around up to 12 ‘fields’, which attract or repel a sea of particles, and which cause distortions as the fields interact with each other. Control is all done on-screen, and each field can be moved and its force, intensity and falloff altered to suit. As you make changes a preview of the particles appears, roughly

showing how the scene will appear. When you stop making changes the scene will render, gradually refining the image over multiple passes (the default is 5,000, and while you can crank it up as high as 999,999, we saw no discernible difference after about 20,000).

The app features more than 50 preset gradients, although you can easily make your own. Gradients can be flipped and inverted, and the knots toggled on and off and their order cycled. You can then apply a graduated tint to the background, and add a glow much like you would in a compositor. And with control over the contrast and opacity, you have quite a lot of influence over the finished image.

The intriguing thing about Amberlight is that the image can change quite a bit as it renders. The particle previews gives only the most basic of guides, and each pass adds more and more detail, with some lines eventually disappearing while others resolve over time. There’s a real joy of discovery each time it runs (you can simply stop the render when you’re happy with the result), and you can spend ages repeatedly hitting the Random button.

Results are reminiscent of FraxFlame, part of the old Kai Krause Power Tools Photoshop plug-in. Its fibres loop and flow, and resemble anything from wispy nebulae to fluids to bioluminescent sea creatures. When you render at the

maximum 5k resolution, it’ll resolve incredible amounts of detail, and images this size are ideal for large scrolling or zooming backdrops (you can even tile the image). Renders can be exported with an alpha channel, so you could composite several layers in 3D and fly ‘through’ them.

We would like the option to have additional layers with export directly to a .psd file, and an undo function would be nice – although at this price, it’s really hard to complain. Our big hope for the next major release is for animation.

Amberlight is a fascinating and unpredictable app, sometimes offering up quite beautiful and enigmatic imagery. It may look like a novelty, but you’ll definitely find some way of using it! X

d

the interface is a single screen, with all the controls

arrayed on either side of the main canvas

the particle field algorithms that underlie Amberlight enable you to generate exotic patterns

POST-PRODUCTION Debrief


Fans and wannabe filmmakers of the Hellraiser reboot, Mike Le Han, Paul Gerrard Joel LeLièvre (Tron: Legacy) put together an impressive concept trailer for the pitch

DebriefHow Paul Gerrard and Joel LeLièvre create an epic tone and grand reimagining of the Hellraiser universe

The team pulled in talents from around the world to work on the new Hellraiser Origins pitch

Vital statistics Concept by Paul Gerrard

Teaser by Mike Han and Paul GerrardPitching Filmaking and concept art,

including the re-imagining of franchised / iconic characters.

Client Film and game studios, developers and publishers

Team size Core team of four for the complete pitch re-branding

Software used 3ds Max, PhotoshopRelease date Out now

See it www.bit.ly/3d-origins

n the back of Clive Barker’s announcement in October 2013 that he was writing a script to

reboot the Hellraiser franchise, filmmaker Mike Le Han, Hollywood concept artist Paul Gerrard and VFX artist Joel LeLièvre put together an impressive concept trailer for the pitch.

VFX and CG played a huge part in getting this fan-made pitch from concept to completion, says Paul. We pulled in resources from all over the globe: people such as Andy Sharrat, Trevor Storey, Glen Southern, Gurmita Singh and Ciarán Wright built 3D assets, and studios Shade VFX and Fugitive came on board to help. Mike Le Han did VFX work. Finally, Joel pieced the scene together and gave it life using CG.

For the proof of concept we wanted to present Hell on a biblical scale. In the trailer we showcase the new Pinhead design, and then we pull back to reveal a vista of bodies and Paul’s version of

O

Post ProductionTrace the history of a CG project from start to finish

© P

aul G

erra

rd

vIDeO LINkwww.bit.ly/179-hellraiser


Debrief POST-PRODUCTION

Paul Gerrard and Mike Le Han’s teaser trailer has conceptual designs that reimagine Hellraiser from Cerebri Studios

One of Cerebri Studios artists, Andy Sharrat, modelled the CG version of Pinhead, based on Paul’s new-look designs, and the bloodied bodies

The team found it difficult to portray a convincing ‘sea’ without it looking unnatural, so they chose to use CG

ARTIST PROFILePaul Gerrard Paul has over 15 years’ experience as an art director and concept artist for the entertainment industry, from aliens in Battle: Los Angeles to iconic bad guys in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. www.gerrardart.com

ARTIST PROFILeJoel LeLièvreJoel is a VFX artist with over 12 years’ experience in motion graphics for feature film, television, web and print. www.delicatemachines.com

the Leviathan god in the background. On a tight budget, we decided that the best course of action was to use greenscreen and CGI. The goal was to create blockbuster-style visuals, with quality over quantity. It is meant to be a teaser; a showcase of what could be if we had studio backing, says Paul.

What we did right 1. We had clearly defined ideas about what we wanted to achieveJoel says: From the start, Mike’s idea for the crowd shot was straightforward – create hundreds of moving bodies, and make it look as cool as possible! When I was brought on board, there were loads of amazing concept images that Paul had been working on, so getting the look and feel for the scene was simply checking out the library of images he sent me. That saved time when it came to the lighting, rendering and compositing; when we decided on the final look.

2. We mitigated a tight budget with careful use of computer graphics From the VFX of the Lemarchand’s box

in the opening scene to the composited multiple layers of bodies in the second shot, and the Hell platform behind Pinhead, it all worked just as expected, explains Joel. We then have a pull-back shot of the Garden of Sin aka The Sea of Bodies. Originally we where going to composite plates of real people for this shot, but even the 100 people that turned up on the day were not enough to

portray a convincing ‘sea’ without it looking too duplicated. And so the CG version was given the go ahead.

The challenges 1. The crowd shot required multiple bodies and specific software to be madeThe biggest challenge for the crowd shot

“Our goal was to create over 600 bodies that needed to be moving for a full 30 seconds” Joel LeLièvre, VFX artist

was to find a way of creating multiple bodies that would allow for quick updates and revisions. Our goal was to create over 600 bodies that needed to be moving for a full 30 seconds, so there could not be any noticeable jumps in the animation; it had to loop seamlessly. We ended up using XMesh in 3ds Max to create a loopable asset of 20 or so bodies. We cached them out, then read them back into another 3ds Max scene where we used multiple XMesh loaders with random cache offset values. This enabled us to populate the scene with hundreds of bodies, with all the animation loopable and seamless.

2. Creating the Hellish structure, Leviathan, in the backgroundThe other challenge was portraying Pinhead and Leviathan – the structure behind Pinhead – convincingly using CG. As the Leviathan was to be a static object in the distance, we decided to use a 2D cutout then spend time created a CG version of Pinhead for the pull-back. In hindsight, due to the lighting and angle of the shot, we should have flipped that

POST-PRODUCTION Debrief


Making Leviathan

Then I duplicated pieces that I had all ready made, and then I created the two curved walkways in the background.

I started with the round centre piece in low detail; adding texture to get the same look as the concept art created by Paul.

CG artist Trevor Storey explains the process he used to create the hellish 3D model in the background

I added the leviathan as a billboard with an alpha channel texture and created a background on a curved wall of polys.

Next I added cracks and debris for more detail, as well as a rockface and chains using 32-bit tga’s with alpha channels.

The team think the results would have been better if Pinhead was a cutout rather than a model

Poster for Hellraiser Origins: A blood soaked epic set in a world of sex, magic and esotorica

© P

aul G

erra

rd

“In practice, it was a case of ‘build it and see how it looks’, with the dynamic lighting and grade going in last” Paul Gerrard, concept artist, Hellraiser Origins

– instead creating a solid 3D structure for the light to bounce off the Leviathan and using a simple cutout for Pinhead. According to Paul, the Leviathan is so far in the background that we could have got away with that. In practice, it was a case of ‘build it and see how it looks’, with the dynamic lighting and grade going in last.

If we were to do it all over again, I would certainly flip those construction techniques as the Leviathan looks

somewhat flat. It works, but not as well as it could have done, admits Paul.

Lessons learnedThe project was a great experience in building tools and workflows, and we hope to use the techniques learned on future projects.

We learnt that pulling in resources from all over the globe has its downsides, though: keeping track of the workflow was one, and maintaining solid deadlines was another. Keeping the

project moving forward was also troublesome, as you cannot expect people who are working for free in their spare time to work to your schedule; you have to work to theirs. No matter how dedicated and driven the project leaders are, if paid work comes in for your team members they must take it. Projects like this get put on the back burner all the time, and it’s unfair and unrealistic to think otherwise. You have to adapt and change your plans accordingly in order to keep moving forward. X

CGWORKSHOPS

Online Learning 2014VFX and Entertainment Design

cgworkshops.org

Willow by Cris DeLaraCGWorkshops Instructor

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ballistic-future-workshops-dec2013.pdf 1 2/12/2013 3:45:31 PM


Post ProductionKey moments in VFX and animation history revisited on DVD and Blu-ray

Vital statistics Title Europa Report

Released 8 October (USA), Formats Blu-ray / DVDDistributor Magnolia

Watch out for… The spacewalk, the beautiful views in orbit around

Europa, and that final tantalising shot of the creature.

ravity may be the spacebound thrill ride that grabbed all the column inches and plaudits last

year, but for fans of near-plausible sci-fi, 2013 was also notable for the launch of Europa Report. While reportedly produced for less than tenth of Alfonso Cuarón’s film, Europa Report shares preoccupations with rigorous scientific detail and the mind-bending isolation of space.

New York studio Phosphene was responsible for creating the movie’s pristine visual effects. Founded in 2008, the studio has majored on often ‘invisible’ work for a range of feature and television projects. “This is something of a departure for us,” notes studio co-founder John Bair. “We’ve done hard body and environmental work before, but not so much in terms of naturalistic landscapes. Creature work is also relatively new for us.”

John does have experience with science documentaries, however, so when visual effects producer Mark Russell and director Sebastián Cordero first approached them he says it immediately felt like a natural fit. “The budget was a challenge, though, especially considering the nature of the film,” he says. “When we were shooting the aim was to show very little. But while the ‘contained’ documentary approach largely based around locked-off cameras stayed the same, the scope increased.

Branching out “Suddenly we had to create CG astronauts for the wider shots of the spacewalk, for example. The budget was bumped up a little, but we still had to be economical with how many shots we added in order to expand the story,” says John.

Phosphene hadn’t originally expected to handle the movie’s creature work. “We weren’t sure if a specialist creature house would handle it, but since we were working on some shots earlier where its bioluminescence is visible below the ice, it just seemed like a natural progression.”

To develop the look of the spacecraft that transports the film’s crew on their

G

The final creature had four tentacles, with a lot of features up front,” says John. “It’s simple, relying a lot on the bioluminescence. The idea was to be deliberately vague, so you’re not quite sure how huge it is”

Jupiter’s moon Europa is viewed at multiple distances in the film, including during highly detailed orbital shots. “The surface is littered with rusty red tendrils that mix with the ice,” says John

Freeze FrameMark Ramshaw reveals how Phosphene created out-of-this-world effects for sci-fi gem Europa Report

© P

hoto

s co

urte

sy o

f M

agno

lia P

ictu

res

page://5

March 2014 | | 97www.3dworldmag.com

Freeze Frame POST-PRODUCTION

Key technology

journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa, the Phosphene team took a basic silhouette created by the film’s art department and then began working it into a believably detailed creation using every scrap of available real-life reference, including archive material provided by Nasa and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“Even though a craft might look like its components have the same tone from a distance, once you get up close you realise there are so many parts, made in so many countries and with contrasting styles, that are all pieced together,” says John. “Our team had a lot of fun digitally kit-bashing all these different 1970s and 1980s components together to create something that looked cool. We also worked closely with the director of photography to determine the position of the fixed cameras pointing at the ship, so we knew where to focus on adding complexity.”

Clever tricksWhen it came to rendering the craft, Phosphene opted for a realistic hard-lit approach. “Reference imagery of the spacecraft had blue sphere lighting from the Earth, whereas our shots needed to look like they’re a long way into the solar system,” says John. “Our setup made rendering simple but hard lighting can look quite artificial, so we added a little bounce and light bleed here and there, without going down the whole GI route.”

For the large-scale views of Europa, Nasa’s Galileo missions from the 1990s provided the best reference, enabling Phosphene to build a rudimentary map to take into Photoshop, scale up and add further detail to. Textures of scratched metal along with airborne photography of deserts and ice-covered areas of the Earth were all added to the mix. “We then took a stab at building a gigantic height map, adding more detail and displacement in Mudbox,” says John.

For views down on the moon’s surface, he says they worked with a proposed Nasa landing site, so the environment seen in the movie does actually roughly align with what exists. “We then basically took the relevant chunk from our sphere, blew it up and went crazy in Mudbox again.”

John explains that the creature’s development was a challenge: the initial designs posited a jellyfish-like creature,

but then the producers decided they wanted something resembling a manta ray.

“We took that model pretty far, but in motion tests it just didn’t look threatening,” says John. “With just three weeks left, the idea came: something octopus-like surfaced. We took a stab at the design, produced an animatic that showed it definitely worked and jumped right in. In the movie it’s only clearly visible for about a second, which is more than we’d expected. Of course, everybody will freeze frame it!”

If you haven’t already, you should.

“The wide-angle cameras used to convey a suitably scientific look meant we had to up the detail level by a massive amount” John Bair

Freeze Frame

The team needed to work to preserve the translucency in the sunnier areas of the scene

In compositing, the challenge was to ensure the ice on the moon’s surface didn’t look too wet, yet wet enough to differentiate it from the blue moon rock

“Many of the structures on the International Space Station found their way into the Europa spacecraft,” says CG supervisor Vance Miller. “The final model contains thousands of parts that were externally referenced so we only needed to load the parts we saw from any particular camera”

For the walk on Europa’s surface, Phosphene started out with a roughly mapped-out scene using proxy objects and markers, and then shot with a camera track to provide naturalistic point-of-view movement.

For the icy surface, they looked to Central Park. “It’s full of massive

rocks scarred by glacial ice, so we photographed them, then used Agisoft’s Photoscan to help build rock chunks with 16k textures. Then we built set pieces from a library of 80 elements,” says John.

According to lead digital artist Eddie Porter, to light the ice they started with a subsurface pass, then

pushed the brightness to increase blue saturation.

“We then took the normals pass, with the position of the sun determining whether we used the isolated X, Y or Z channels. This cheat gave us a ‘bump map’-looking layer that we could then apply over top of the subsurface. Contrast and

a tint were added, and then we adjusted transparency. A spec pass over that helped sell it as ice.” The finishing dramatic touch comes thanks to the sequence playing at 8fps, says John. “I didn’t want our CG to look like it was stuttering but it worked really well, and it cut down our rendering times by a third!”

page://5

Art & Production Production Rose Brandle Art FreelAnce Paul Tysall, Alvin Weetmancover imAge Pascal Blanché

SEnior crEAtiVES editor-in-chieF, digitAl design Dan Oliver grouP Art director, creAtive & tech Steve GotobedcreAtive director Robin Abbott editoriAl director Jim Douglas

AdVErtiSing Advertising sAles director Charlie Said+44 20 7042 4142 [email protected] Advertising sAles mAnAger Jas Rai +44 (0) 207 042 4219 [email protected] mAnAger Julian Tozer +44 20 7042 4273 [email protected] Account mAnAger Suzanne Smith +44 020 7042 4122 [email protected] senior sAles executive Victoria Sanders + 44 (0) 207 042 4176 [email protected]

Print & Production Production controller Marie Quilter [email protected] Production mAnAger Mark Constance [email protected]

LicEnSing licensing & syndicAtion director Regina Erak [email protected]. Telephone +44 1225 732359

MArkEting grouP mArketing mAnAger – technology Philippa Newman [email protected] executive Alexandra Geary [email protected]

circuLAtion trAde mArketing executive Daniel Foley [email protected] internAtionAl Account mAnAger Lenka Ondrejova [email protected] heAd oF trAde mArketing James Whitaker [email protected]

FuturE PubLiShing LiMitEd heAd oF creAtive & design Declan Gough [email protected] mAnAging director oF technology, Film & gAmes Nial Ferguson [email protected] chieF executive Mark Wood

SubScriPtionS subscribe online www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk cAll our uk hotline 0844 848 2852 us & cAnAdA: subscribe At www.imsnews.com/3dworld us hotline +1 800 428 3003

gEnErAL EnquiriES01225 442244 [email protected]

SubScribErSGot a question about your print subscription? Email [email protected] a question about your digital subscription? Email [email protected]

Printed in the UK by William Gibbons. Distributed in the UK by Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT. Tel +20 7429 4000

We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from well managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future Publishing and its paper suppliers have been independently certified in accordance with the rules of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).

Print 8,052digital 1,716the Abc combined print and digital circulation for Jan-dec 2012 is 9,768

A member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations

© 2014 Future Publishing. 3D World is the registered trademark of Future Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited [company number 2008885] is registered in England and Wales. The registered office of Future Publishing Limited is at Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, BA1 2BW. All information contained in this magazine is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. Readers are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this magazine. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Future a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including licensed editions worldwide and in any physical or digital format throughout

the world. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage.

Visit www.yourfuturejob.com

Future produces high-quality multimedia products which reach our audiences online, on mobile and in print. Future attracts over 50 million consumers to its brands every month across five core sectors: Technology, Entertainment, Music, Creative and Sports & Auto. We export and license our publications.

Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR).www.futureplc.com

Chief executive Mark Wood Non-executive chairman Peter Allen

Chief financial officer Zillah Byng-MaddickTel +44 (0)207 042 4000 (London)

Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244 (Bath)


www.bit.ly/3dworld-sub

• Stunning art and insights from the world’s CG community

• Detailed tutorials delivering tuition from professional artists

• Access to the best VFX studios, research and practices

We’re getting an upgrade…

Your favourite 3D art magazine is changing

Next issue

ISSUE

180On sale

25 February2014

© A

pp

libot

, Inc

. All

righ

ts r

eser

ved

2014

.

newlook

9000

9015

3 d World 201403

Documents

Transcript of 3 d World 201403