Artist Jorge Adrian Fernandez shows how he created this lovely arch-viz render of a Pioneer mixer using 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop and Fusion

Jorge Adrian Fernandez has been working as a 3D modeller for seven years. In that time he’s learnt several skills such as camera mapping, particle flow, rigging characters and animation, among others. Here we take a look at his work entitled The Way of Sound, and Jorge shares his process:

“In order to create the image I used 3D Max 2011, rendered it with V-Ray 2.0, and Photoshop CS5 and Eyeon Fusion 6.2 was used for the post-production,” says Argentinean arch-viz artist Jorge.

“The complete process took me around 28 hours. I didn’t use any remarkable techniques, although I did paint the textures by hand in Photoshop.”

“The image was based in a free Sketch up model, I retopologized it and then I made other changes based in reference images.”

▲ Jorge used reference images found on the internet, to get the realism he wanted

My image shows the Pioneer brand, which I used in the back area of the mixer. For this I used an image from the Pioneer site as reference.

▲ He modelled all the parts for the Pioneer mixer using 3ds Max

▲ The material base for the mixer

“In general, what I enjoy the most when creating an image is looking at the end result. But I also have lots of fun when modelling an object, as I always try to make new things and think out of the box,” says Jorge.

▲ Textures for the mixer. Some of these were hand painted by Jorge

▲ Setting the light

▲ The light set up in V-Ray

“What inspires me the most is a good old challenge; music and photography are also great allies and I always get inspired by the excellent work of artists such as Bertrand Bernoit.”

• [Ed:] We also love Bertrand’s work. His first work was shown in 3D World in 2006, and boy has he progressed! To see a stunning piece of arch-viz by Bertrand please check out the following link: Masters of Arch-Viz

▲ The camera set-up in V-Ray

▲ The render setting in V-Ray

▲ The wireframe

▲ The colour renders

▲ A close-up render of the finished mixer

For more about Jorge, please visit his Behance profile page or you can email him at jorgeadrianfernandez@live.com.ar

This Blender image from the latest issue of 3D World is reader art at its best! It’s colourful and full of life!

Artist: Jonathan Ball
Title: Exodus from Delta B-56
Software: Blender, Photoshop

“I spent about three to four weeks working on this image, in-between working on my other projects. It was created with Blender using the Cycles engine, and was composited in Photoshop, where I used the Z-depth map I created in Blender.

“I enjoy the compositing and final adjusting in Photoshop: it can totally transform an otherwise flat render. For the modelling, I used simple geometric shapes that are then blended and adjusted using Z-depth maps. For this particular image, I had to cut the image up a lot to save on render times. I like to make all my images suitable for decent-sized prints, so I need large render sizes.

• Read an in-depth interview with Jonathan from Poked Studios, where he shares his technical secrets and inspirations

“By trade I am a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, and have been lucky enough to see my designs used in many commercial projects. I would love to develop my passion for modelling further by becoming more involved in animation work.

“It’s very difficult for me to specifically describe what inspires me as an artist, but I love the complexity of a big city, the simple graphics of 1980s videogames and the organic delight of exotic plants. In my work I just try to combine all of those aesthetics.”

Get published

If you would like to see your work featured in 3D World, email us, attaching a low-res version of the image

A joint effort where character modelling skills and environment creation combine to create a fun image. Buon appetito!

Artist: Amir Akbarshahi and Navid Khezli
Title: Dinner Dream
Software: 3ds Max, V-Ray, After Effects

Amir Akbarshahi says: “In my career, I work on animation and special effects projects, and have experience in other areas of 3D. I take my inspiration from life in general, and from things I see in my environment.

My friend Navid Khezli and I created this image, which we call ‘Dinner Dream’. Navid made the character model, and I created the location, shaders for the character and objects in the scene, plus I did the lighting, compositing and rendering. To composite the image, I used five render passes.

“I used 3ds Max to create the scene, composited the image in After Effects and rendered with V-Ray. I also used some models from www.evermotion.org. It took us about four days in total to finish the project. I wanted to immortalise the image of a gluttonous boy eating his dream meal!”

Get published

If you would like to see your work featured in 3D World, email us, attaching a low-res version of the image.

A personality was born the day Sergey finished this render. Tzanko the Boxer could come to life at any moment – and if he did we’d run to the hills!

Artist: Sergey Samuilov
Title: Tzanko the boxer
Software: ZBrush, Photoshop, 3ds Max, V-Ray

“I work as a character artist in a videogame studio, and I also have experience of environment modelling and texturing. I’m inspired by everything around me, and also by other artists’ work.

“Tzanko the boxer took me about a month to create. The image was sculpted in ZBrush, textured in Photoshop and rendered in 3ds Max using V-Ray. I really liked creating this image, particularly the rendering and lighting, and creating the materials.”

Get published

If you would like to see your work featured in 3D World, email us, attaching a low-res version of the image

A steep learning curve for artist Carlos who had to really work on his cloth simulation skills to perfect this image

Artist: Carlos Ortega
Title: One Last Look
Software: Maya, Marvelous Designer, Mudbox, Photoshop, mental ray

“In my day job, I work as a character modeller in an animation studio in Mexico, and work as a freelance 3D artist in my free time. I have experience in most aspects of 3D work, including texturing, lighting and rendering. My inspiration comes from everywhere: nature, science, music, friends and my daily experiences.

▲ The artist learnt a lot about real-life pattern cutting for a natural look

“One Last Look took me about 10 days to create in my free time. Most of the techniques used were just standard modeling and rendering, but I took some textures, such as the leather and fabric, from www.cgtextures.com, and used Marvelous Designer 2 for all the cloth simulation in the scene.

“The cloth creation was different from my usual workflow, but it was a fun, intuitive and educational process. I learnt a lot about how a real-life pattern needs to be cut in order to get a natural look when sewed and folded. At the end I got a smooth integration between the different software applications.”

Get published

If you would like to see your work featured in 3D World, email us, attaching a low-res version of the image

Here we meet Tyler Russo – a young talent whose work Frank the Death Knight totally impressed us. Read on to find out how such a young person came to be producing 3D art that wows like this does

3D World: When did you first discover your talent and decide to become a 3D artist?

Tyler Russo: I’ve been doing traditional sculpture for the larger portion of my life and I have a fairly zealous love of video games and cinema. 3D modelling felt like a natural transition. I started messing with ZBrush a little over two years ago, and I’ve been focusing on expanding my technical know-how ever since.

3D World: Do you remember what your first piece of CG was?

TR: I certainly do. I would have posted it, but the cringe down my spine after unearthing it was way too much! It’s this blobby grandma alien thing. I didn’t know how to use anything in ZBrush besides the Move tool, Standard brush and Inflate. If you were to place a fairly overtired 18-year-old kid with too much green tea latte in his blood under the same conditions for a three-hour period, you could probably replicate it pretty easily!

3D World: Where do you find inspiration?

TR: I’m really into classical sci-fi. Asmiov, Vonnegut, Phillip K. Dick, those kind of guys. Visually, Blizzard games have had a huge impact on my life ever since I stumbled upon a copy of Warcraft III for my 11th birthday. And a lot of film too. Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick (who doesn’t love him?), and Don Hertzfeldt are among my favourites. I’m typically into anything with Charlie Kauffman’s name on it too. And did I mention that Warhammer had a drastic impact upon my early teenage years, too. I have stacks and stacks of reference codexes adorning my work space.

3D World: Who or what has influenced your work?

TR: Kurt Vonnegut is largely responsible for why I’m pursuing narrative story telling. Kurt Vonnegut is also probably largely responsible for why I am who I am today. Of course, my fantastic parents have been a big influence. They have always been nothing but 100% supportive for whatever creative endeavour I choose to pursue, as have my sister, my friends, my extended family, my dog, my cat, my goldfish, the squirrel who lives in the gutter rails above my house, Douglas Adams, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, every kind of metal, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

▲ This render appeared previously on CGHub

3D World: Do you think you have developed a certain style of work? Please describe the style of your work.

TR: My style jumps drastically depending on the medium in which I’m working, or what kind of atmosphere I’m trying to create. I love skulls and demons, aliens, epic fantasies, orcs, dragons etc, but heavily stylised, heavily simplified comedic work is also dear to my heart. Everything from mock Don Hertzfeldt and Terry Gilliam to Adrian Smith meets Skinner-in-a-Shredder goes. Xavier: Renegade Angel is one of my all-time favourite shows. Stuff like that and Tim and Eric come in to play a lot. When they all shake hands and have a slumber party, my style is born.

3D World: What is your favourite 3D software and why?

TR: ZBRUSH ZBRUSH ZBRUSH ZBRUSH! The intuitive sculpting power it brings is so, so beautiful. My background is definitely more art-centric than computer-centric. ZBrush‘s artist-friendly interface is responsible for much of my interest in CG.

If you’d like to try your hand with ZBrush, have a look at this tutorial on how to create an insectoid alien with ZBrush

3D World: What’s your favourite film and why?

TR: If I had to pick, it’d be Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Every Monty Python film ties for second place.

3D World: What’s your favourite animation and why?

TR: Don Hertzfeldt’s Trilogy (It’s Such a Beautiful Day, I’m So Proud of You, Everything Will Be Okay) wins. Hands down. Mary and Max, The Simpsons, and Tom Goes to The Mayor (if that even counts) are all dear to my heart. But that trilogy I mentioned really changed my life.

3D World: What’s the best critique you have received?

TR: “Don’t feel the industry you work in defines you as a human being”. My friend told me that after a long evening of life planning, contemplation and root beer. Art is important, but never put your life experiences on the back burner. Take a break now and then.

3D World: Have you any words of advice for aspiring artists?

TR: The best artists are the ones that never give up, and dedication will always ultimately surpass natural talent. Keep working at it, but don’t ignore your personal life. Find a good balance between the two extremes.

3D World: What are you currently doing and where?

TR: I’m a student studying Experimental Animation at Calarts in Valencia, CA. I’ve been doing freelance work on the side for various action-figure, model-kit and toy companies, and I run a part-time miniature company called Agnostic Giraffe:

School-wise, I’ve really been focused on film-making and 2D/stop-motion animation. I’ve produced four animated films since arriving at Calarts, and a few live-action shorts. Satire and black comedy find their way in a lot.

3D World: What’s next for you?

TR: I’m going to Disneyland.

3D World: What would you do if you could?

TR: My dream job would be writing my own television series or feature film. Mike Judge and Tim Heidecker are idols of mine. I absolutely love Blizzard and Games Workshop too, which is what the work here is much more reflective of.

But really, at the end of the day, I think I just want to make art of which I can feel proud. That’s the important thing – the medium is less so.

▲ Tyler has a real mix of inspirations, not least Kurt Vonnegut, his dog, sister, Douglas Adams.. oh, and the squirrel outside his window!

About the art

Here we hear a bit more detail about the Tyler Russo image that caught our eye – Frank the Death Knight.

What software did you use to create Frank the Death Knight?

TR: ZBrush, After Effects and Photoshop. The model was sculpted and rendered in ZBrush, particle effects (snow, cloud grain, a little dirt) generated in After Effects, and everything was composited together in Photoshop with a heavily modified picture of the inside of a cave for the background.

3D World: How long did it take you to create the image?

TR: It took four days to sculpt, one to composite and render. Probably around 20-25 hours total. I usually work on two sculptures simultaneously. Death Knight and the Overlord were done simultaneously.

3D World: Did you use any unusual or notable techniques?

TR: Nothing too out of the ordinary. It was a huge experiment for me, but everything was modelled and rendered using normal techniques. I used Zsphere Base Mesh for the knight, the Extract tool to produce the armour, Standard Brush and Trim Dynamic to add detail to the armour, tons and tons of polishing, a little Claybuild Up and Move here and there, and standard Insert tools for a lot of the rivets.

Badking.com.au provided the base Insert Brush for making the chains and a few of the rivets for the shoulder pads. It’s a fantastic site: If you’re into ZBrush, pay it a visit as a lot of the tools are free downloads.

The image was rendered in ZBrush with a series of BPR renders stacked on top of each other in Photoshop. An Ambient Occlusion pass, a few different metal textures, a painted colour pass, a glowing pass for the eyes, two or three rim lit passes, and a depth pass were used. I have honestly forgotten the order of the layers. Usually it’s a process of trial and error for me. Radial blur, Grain and Unsharp mask were all used in Photoshop.

3D World: What did you most enjoy about creating the image?

TR: Definitively scheming out concepts. I tend not to work from a particular external image for my work. I’ll do a little sketching and visualisation beforehand, but most of my sculptures are heavily improvised. Designing the initial concept is one of my favourite elements of sculpture. The Overlord is an obvious exception, but I tend not to copy from anyone else’s 2D designs for my concepts if it’s personal art. Compositing the render is always a fulfilling moment too.

3D World: Did you learn anything new while producing the work?

TR: Tons and tons and tons about rendering. I followed a few dozen tutorials and tried half a dozen pieces of software before ultimately deciding to use the ZBrush rendering engine. V-Ray and Mental Ray are both great, but the ZBrush render system feels a lot more intuitive to me.

An image based on a game character from the game AVA Online – meet the gun-toting Ginny

Artist: Jeongah Kwon
Title: Ginny from AVA Online
Software: 3ds Max, ZBrush, Photoshop

“I work as a 3D modeller at Red Duck, a Korean videogame publisher. The company released its flagship title AVA Online in 2007, and it has since gone on to be an enormously popular MMOFPS game. This image is based on a character in the game, Ginny.

“I mainly modelled the character in 3ds Max, importing it into ZBrush to create a high-poly mesh and then working on the textures in Photoshop. I rendered the final image using the SSS shader in 3ds Max. In all, I think it took me about two months to create the image.

“I thought the concept was strong, and that it would be a challenge to give an attractive special agent some interesting facial expressions. Like many artists I find my inspiration all around me, in the people I come across in my daily life and out
on the streets.”

Get published

If you would like to see your work featured in 3D World, email us, attaching a low-res version of the image

It’s time for Rob’s Pick of the Week and this week he singles out a clever animation that will draw you in – especially if you turn the volume UP!

Although the purpose of this animation isn’t so much about storytelling it still has a kind of progression to it that makes it more appealing than it might otherwise be.

The main reason I picked this piece though, is simple. It’s beautiful and captivating. Maybe you need a certain kind of brain but I found myself watching it over and over.

It’s worth noting that to be fully drawn in to the experience you should crank the music up. The combination of audio and visual works brilliantly.

Have a good week

Rob

About the author

Long-time 3D artist Rob Redman has been working in the field of VFX and motion graphics for over a decade. He is Technical Editor on 3D World magazine.

Artist Toni Bratincevic modelled objects in 3ds Max and used V-Ray for rendering in this enthralling image

Artist: Toni Bratincevic
Title: Consumed
Software: 3ds Max, V-Ray,
Photoshop, ZBrush

I’m a senior environment artist in the cinematic department at a major games company. Since I started as a 3D generalist at a small VFX company in Croatia, I’ve had experience of most of the areas of 3D, from animation to compositing, but in the end I specialised in environment modelling because that was the area I liked the most.

I started this image a long time ago, but if I put everything into 40-hour weeks, it took around four or five weeks. I used 3ds Max for modelling most of the objects, V-Ray for rendering, Photoshop for texture painting and ZBrush for sculpting some objects.

I sculpted the cloth in ZBrush to have more control over where I wanted the folds to be, and I relied on displacement mapping over the image to get some small stones and details. I used textures from www.cgtextures.com.

One special script that I used in this image is the Cobwebs script from John Martini. It’s a useful script that can quickly create nice cobwebs. Composition and lighting were the biggest challenges in this image, so I spent a lot of time perfecting those. Placing small objects and balancing them to fit the final image was a challenge, but it was rewarding to see how everything fitted together in the end.

I’m inspired by experiences from my life, strong stories, other artists and nature. Inspiration can come from every aspect of life.

Last week we asked you to submit your 3D work to be critiqued by our expert team. We were really pleased with the response we got and Technical Editor Rob Redman has picked one from many to be put under the spotlight first.

The assets in this arch-viz scene from Matthew Cooke are well modelled and textured, with believable materials. It’s hard to tell exactly how realistic some items are, due to the post production work but this doesn’t detract from the overall image, which has an airy (and on trend) feel.

The level of finish is of a very high standard, with excellent lighting, using the V-Ray physical sun/sky. The main comment we have here is that the point of view is a little disorientating and unnatural, making the viewer feel like they are standing on a box, or that they are nine feet tall.

That apart, these are lovely renders and Matthew displays skill and vision.

Rob

About the author

Long-time 3D artist Rob Redman has been working in the field of VFX and motion graphics for over a decade. He is Technical Editor on 3D World magazine.