FREE BACKPACK WORTH £90! see page 30 for details 3dworld.creativebloq.com MULTIDIMENSIONAL VFX Digtial Humans #286 MARVEL, DIGITAL DOMAIN, & SONY TALK SPIDER-MAN COMPLETE GUIDE 37 PREMADE ASSETS PAGES OF TRAINING Discover how to make the most of SCULPT YOUR CINEMA existing models in your work 4D MODELS IN ZBRUSH LEARN HOW TO SHOOT YOUR OWN HDRIs RENDER A REALSTIC CHILD USING MAYA CREATE & GROOM IN XGEN Page 42 HDUIGMIATANLSGET ULTRA-REAL MuasisntgerMpahyoat,oZreBarluissthic, Mpoarrtvrealiotsusw, iSthubosutranwcoerkafnlodwAgrnuoidlde, DOT BIG BANG ISSUE 286 LIVE COMPS Find out how games dev tools Zero Density reveal the future of are changing for the better compositing in game engines
WELCOME COVER ARTIST Young Im Chang This issue we cover a lot of ground. We take a good look at the visual SOFTWARE effects of Spider-Man: No Way ZBrush, Maya, Arnold Home, delving in to see how some Renderer, R3DS Wrap, of the incredible shots were put Mari 4.36, Marvelous together. Then we take a wider Designer, Substance look at the 3D industry as we explore how premade assets can Painter, Photoshop be used to make projects more efficient, removing the need to 3D WORLD 3 model bespoke objects for each and every scene. The rapid progression that has pushed the quality of digital humans hasn’t abated yet, and this month we show you how to create your own in the form of three tutorials. One of an adult male, one a playful adult female and another of a young child – a particularly challenging subject but one which we help you to master. We also review the latest Apple tech to help you decide if they are worth your hard-earned cash. Rob Redman, Editor [email protected]
CONTENTS3DWORLD ISSUE286 ARTIST SHOWCASE THE PIPELINE 42 6 The Gallery 42 Create a beautiful digital portrait Discover the best digital art from the CG community Senior character artist Young Im Chang teaches us how to create 40 Tech Focus: stunningly realistic digital humans Modelling for creativity 52 Light your C4D scenes with Pedro Amorim offers expert tips custom HDRIs 50 T ech Focus: A quick and easy guide to From VR to ZBrush creating your own HDR images Check out the process behind 56 T ransform a photograph Simone Rizzo’s forest creature into a realistic 3D likeness FEATURES Nayoon Levitin provides a guide to capturing a photograph as a 22 The future of 3D realistic 3D likeness visualisation 64 Sculpt a creature in ZBrush Off-the-shelf assets are an excellent, time-saving resource Design, model and paint a for creators, but do they have the creature with Glen Southern’s potential to lead to a negative workflow breakdown impact on the industry? We explore the pros and cons of 70 M odel a detailed, these easy-to-access 3D models realistic character 32 M ulti-dimensional Upgrade your creature modelling Spider-Man and produce ultra-realistic results An exciting look behind the ARTIST Q&A scenes of the hugely successful No Way Home, with insight from 76 Your CG problems solved the VFX team Pro artists tackle your queries 32 SCULPTING, TEXTURING, HAIR GROOMING, LIGHTING AND RENDERING – EVERY ELEMENT IS ESSENTIAL 4 3D WORLD
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The best digital art from the CG community AFTER LEARNING BLENDER AND ZBRUSH, I FOUND THAT 3D IS MY TRUE LOVE! 06 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire THE PIRATES ARTIST The original idea for this piece Gone_L came from a 2D design competition. SOFTWARE I work in game art design and love Blender, ZBrush illustration and animation, but after learning Blender and ZBrush from CrazyJN, I found that 3D is my true love! I really wanted to go back and make my submission in 3D and use 3D assistance to create the character animations. I have also planned to make my own hand crafts in the future. artstation.com/gangzzz 3D WORLD 07
CG art to inspire ARTIST DAVID LYNCH XYZ – and controlled them using masks and Plus Vahid Ahmadi Minus nodes in Maya. SOFTWARE This work was fun to do, and for more accurate ZBrush, Maya, lighting results I used CAVE Academy 360 lighting When we have three displacement maps Mari, Substance tools, which features a beauty dish, softboxes and so connected together, values become a little different Painter, XGen, on, helping you to gain a greater understanding of compared to what we always use, so it took me a Arnold physical lighting tools. couple of days to understand how to control three displacements properly. For skin pores I used the ZBrush displacement map for general wrinkles of the face, and then I used For albedo I used a ready-made texture with a Mari to make two displacement maps – one with mixture of Polypaint on top of it. 16K HD 3D Scan Store and the other with 16K HD Hair and fuzz was made in XGen and everything was rendered in Arnold. artstation.com/vahidahmadi3d 08 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire 3D WORLD 09
CG art to inspire ARTIST Arystan Aubakir ARCHER GIRL SOFTWARE ZBrush, Marmoset ORIGINAL 2D CONCEPT BY RUI ZHANG Toolbag 4, Photoshop In ZBrush, I used the Dam Standard, Move, ClayBuildUp, Slash, Pinch and TrimDynamic brushes to refine the edges of the character, stylise the objects, and make the character’s shapes smooth. What I liked most about the sculpting process were the little details like the creases in the clothes, the accessories on the belt, the stylised scuffs, the dirt on the shoes… It all comes together to make a pleasing final image. artstation.com/h3ptapod 10 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire I WANTED TO CAPTURE THE SENSE OF WEIGHT, VOLUME, AND OVERALL PERSONALITY WITH THIS WORK 12 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire PETER FISHMOUTHER ORIGINAL 2D CONCEPT BY LABROS PANOUSIS ARTIST Having been inspired by Labros Panousis's art for a while, I wanted to Girish Srinivasagopalan begin 2022 by sculpting Peter Fishmouther as a personal study. SOFTWARE ZBrush, Maya I absolutely love the design and wanted to capture the sense of weight, volume, and overall personality with this work. I used ZBrush to sculpt this character from start to finish and rendered it in Maya Arnold. The sculpting process wasn't technically complicated, however capturing the character’s personality was the biggest challenge. girishs.com 3D WORLD 13
CG art to inspire PROJECT PANAMA CAR MODEL BY LUIS LARA The idea for this project came to mind when I saw a friend's picture in ARTIST Panama. I could imagine myself there, so I decided to recreate a similar Jonathan M. Krauss environment digitally to bring the audience the same feeling. Using her SOFTWARE photo as a starting point, I used perspective match in 3ds Max to give me ZBrush, Maya, the reference needed for modelling the main elements in the scene. I also Substance Painter, used Megascans from Quixel to add high-resolution textures and decals Arnold, XGen to the models. The HDRI works well in exterior lighting, so I used it to help me add subtle light variations. theartofjk.com 14 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire 16 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire HELGA better too, but I liked the procedural generation ARTIST of eyebrows/eyelashes in Houdini and the shading Kirill Klyat Usually I use Maya for my works, but this one I system – so every software has its own pros and cons. SOFTWARE decided to create in Houdini too – so I’ve done every Maya, Mari, ZBrush, step in both software, in parallel. In my opinion, In recent versions of Arnold we have Light Mixer, Arnold, Houdini, Maya’s XGen grooming tool is a winner for this kind and I use it a lot. I create lots of different lights and XGen, Marvelous of task – more flexible, a better viewport (specular), test them in real time. Be aware: it increases render Designer, PureRef and more predictable results. I used the ACES time even with a single light! So just turn it off before workflow and Arnold, so render quality was great the final render. Sculpting and rendering are my in both cases. The retopologise process in Maya is favourite parts, it’s pure creativity! artstation.com/kirillklyat 3D WORLD 17
CG art to inspire DEMOGORGON ONE TOO MANY PICKAXES TOWARDS THE ABYSS ORIGINAL 2D CONCEPT BY FLORENT DESAILLY ARTIST This was a very difficult challenge, but I was able to get through it thanks to the rigorous Ornella Sessa mentorship of my artistic director Florent Desailly, who created and provided the concept that SOFTWARE directly led my sculpt. He helped me a lot and gave me very good advice while working on ZBrush, KeyShot, this task. I did most of my sculpting work in ZBrush, then made my render shots in KeyShot, Photoshop and finally enhanced them in Photoshop. The most rewarding part for me is to have worked on my character's skin with alphas, a skin damaged with scars and weathered with time. For me, when you create an imaginary creature it’s important to use references from a real animal to make it feel grounded. artstation.com/ornella 18 3D WORLD
The Rookies The Rookies is a platform to help digital artists get discovered without having to compete with professionals for attention. You’ll get to the front page of those sites one day, but for now, we’ve got your back and want to help turn your passion for creative media into a successful career. WWW.THEROOKIES.CO 20 3D WORLD
THE “MARIE-LOUISE” SOFTWARE Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Marmoset Toolbag 4, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop YEAR CREATED 2021 ARTIST François Larrieu LOCATION France I am a 3D artist living in Paris, France. I am currently a final year student at New3dge and a contract artist at Dekogon. I have always been quite self-taught and love to learn new things on my own. 3D is a profession where you can improve to infinity – there is no limit, and that’s why I always try to achieve more. The Marie-Louise is a fishing boat from This whole project is handmade and Brittany. I went to Brittany a lot when I was entirely modelled in Blender, high-poly little and I wanted to reproduce something is made in ZBrush. The piles of ropes are that reminded me of my childhood. The Marvelous Designer simulations while the references used during the modelling are stretched ropes are all handmade in Blender real references of an existing boat called using the Curve system. the Strinkerez Dour, to which I have made modifications for a more personal aspect. www.therookies.co/u/francoislarrieu 3D WORLD 21
The FUTURE
INThe future of 3D visualisation the past decade there has been of © Rhys Jones a huge shift within the 3D visualisation industry. It is the This incredible visual is enhanced by move towards artists opting to a few plants dotted around the scene. use off-the-shelf assets in their These off-the-shelf assets give a projects rather than their own natural-looking feel to the space custom-made work. In the same way that the camera phone has enabled everyone to be a photographer (or at least attempt it), pre-made assets have made it possible for the masses to turn their hand to 3D visualisation. Putting cameras in the hands of every individual has done huge damage to the photography market many of us once knew and loved. People’s standards for what constitutes a good photo has been eroded for the ease of pressing a button on a screen and seeing instant results. So how does the ease of access to pre-made assets affect the world of 3D as an artform? We’ll take a look at this development, and what it might mean for 3D artists and for the industry as a whole. Despite this shift taking root in the past decade, its seeds were sown a long time ago. One of the forerunners was TurboSquid, which started in 2000 with a vision to sell 3D models to everyone, everywhere. With a searchable range of high-quality models, it became possible for artists to simply download these models and insert them into their scenes. Back in the early days the breadth of assets was relatively small, but over the years it has only grown and in the present day you can buy and download pretty much anything you want. TurboSquid, as an example, has also diversified to include not only 3D models but also materials, textures, media and scripts to name just a few. 3D WORLD 23
The future of 3D visualisation Let’s have a look at some of the Above: Every item opening spread on the previous advantages and disadvantages of in a scene like this page: there are three separate The value of this industry this cultural shift. could be downloaded. pots of plants/flowers. Imagine became abundantly clear in 2021 This includes not just you’ve been given this project by when TurboSquid was acquired One of the most obvious the models but also a client. You have to create this by Shutterstock for a whopping benefits of this shift is that it the textures. There room from architects’ plans and $75M. They’ve clearly tapped speeds up the visualisation was a day when each you’re given all the details on the into a growing market. Alongside process for artists. Take a look of these items would internal finishes and furnishings. TurboSquid, we’ve seen the at the foliage featured in the need to have been You’re also given a budget to work likes of CGTrader, Evermotion made from scratch within. With a reasonable budget, and Design Connected join the do you think you’ll be able to ranks, amongst others. Each of Left: Off-the-shelf create those plants from scratch? these come to the market with textures are becoming I doubt it. You might search your a slightly different offering, but increasingly existing vegetation library that all with the purpose of providing accessible in the 3D you’ve created over the years off-the-shelf assets. Alongside world. Scenes like or you’ll download something these repositories, we have also this can be created particular for this project. seen well-known 3D modelling in a fraction of the Either way, you’re very unlikely packages and renderers release time with today’s to devote the required time to collections of their content, with technology those elements of the scene. The user interfaces to make it as easy fruit and cushions were created as possible for artists to integrate bespoke here, but for many similar this content into their work. An example of this would be Chaos Cosmos (check out our review on page 94) which gives V-Ray users hundreds of top- quality models, materials and HDRI skies. And finally, well- known individual artists have also joined this growing phenomenon with the likes of Bertrand Benoit and Peter Guthrie selling models, textures and HDRI skies. The evidence of this ever- increasing market begs the question: where is it heading? What does this mean for 3D artists and for the 3D world more broadly? What impact is this drag-and-drop mentality having upon the industry at the moment, and if it continues, what could the industry look like in decades to come? These are really interesting questions and they’re not just theoretical. The very fabric of what it means to create 3D art is changing, something that we, as artists, will do well to acknowledge and learn how we need to adapt to survive. 24 3D WORLD
types of projects these would have download individual assets that CUSTOMISABLE ASSETS (Above and left) © Vladimir Vitanov also been off-the-shelf assets. could make up pretty much the To make visualisation profitable, entirety of this scene; the ruffled How to allow for greater creative potential artists have got to look for these duvet, the drapes, the chair, the time-saving techniques because as wooden floor, the books, the list If I was to envisage a bright future for pre-made we all know, time is money. goes on. There was a day when content, then it would be to see a rise in assets that each of these items would have can be customised once they’ve been purchased and The next benefit is that it opens been made from scratch, and placed in your scene. Imagine a plant’s shape that the door for more people to create by a seriously talented artist at can be defined by its age or a bowl of fruit that is amazing art. In the early days of that. Now, the requirement for generated through user input. This idea is already at 3D Viz, the learning curve was so learning the trade has in part been work with software like the FloorGenerator by CG- steep and the access to the tools stripped away, making it possible Source. Through an interface, users can customise the was so difficult that it really was for anyone with a modicum of size, shape and intricacies of individual floor boards. only open to the select few. As technical know-how to get on Imagine the same but with any pre-made asset that software became easier to use board and create amazing, high- you download. One of the immediate benefits is and more ubiquitous, the number quality images. that you would see a much greater degree of variety of people doing it increased. This across people’s work. Even if a number of different growth has only accelerated since Our list is by no means artists download the same model, they may customise artists can now buy and download exhaustive, but the final benefit I’d it in such a way as to make it unrecognisable from the huge parts of their scene, only like to mention here is that it has same asset in another creator’s work. needing to piece them together to created a whole new sub-industry make it look right. Take the above of work for artists. I’ve already image for example. You could mentioned the likes of Bertrand
The Matrix Awakens
Left: Any scene (Left, opposite and above) © Vladimir Vitanov can make use of pre-made assets to populate both the interior and exterior parts of the work Right: In the woods. Pre-made vegetation brings this scene to life Below: The foliage in the corner of this visual gives a soft touch to this beautiful, sunset- lit room Benoit and Peter Guthrie, but for textures but is really obvious © Rhys Jones these are only a couple of names for 3D models. This therefore that would make a list containing makes artwork less unique thousands of creators. Artists and therefore less impressive. all around the world are making Related to this, art can begin top-quality assets and selling to look stale and predictable. It them at a profit. This is another reminds me of those homes that way that artists can make money are ‘dressed’ by interior designs and ensure that they continue just to get the house sold. Those to grow and develop their skills; houses are obviously dressed by whether those skills relate to a professional. They don’t look modelling, texturing, unwrapping lived in, homely or particularly or programming. natural. This is how art that relies on a lot of pre-made assets ends We’ve so far had a good look up looking too. It’s not beneficial at some of the positive things for artists in the long run and can about this culture shift in the 3D have a negative impact on the Viz industry. Before we make any quality of the art being created. concluding remarks, let’s take a look at some of the downsides. Next up, there is a reduction First up, artwork from different and ultimately a loss of skill artists ends up looking the same. within the industry. If artists If you look close enough and don’t need to learn complex at enough work, you will start modelling techniques or texturing seeing the same assets popping up and unwrapping workflows, then everywhere. This is less noticeable why bother? Over time this will 3D WORLD 27
make artists ever more reliant and reduce the learning curve for GREAT-QUALITY (Above and below) © Vladimir Vitanov on others to create their assets producing amazing art. It will be 3D MODELS for them. This loss of skill in the those who are able to use their market only further perpetuates entrepreneurial skills who will What should I be looking for? all the downsides mentioned here. survive in this ever-changing industry. It’s also important that When you’re downloading 3D assets, you will need And finally, using off-the- we look at ways to combat the to make sure you’re selecting good-quality meshes shelf assets ends up reducing flaws surrounding the potential that are going to slot straight into your scene and not the market value of artwork in over-usage of pre-made assets. cause you any problems. You don’t want your scene general. This is often the most If you’re able to find ways to crashing, for example, because you’ve got meshes noticeable in the new home compete with others, then you’ll with errors in. TurboSquid have a really handy way segment of the visualisation do well. If you can set yourself of ensuring that the models you download have market. Studios have formed to apart from others and make your passed certain requirements. They call it ‘CheckMate create only this type of visual. work unique so that clients are Pro’, but this list of requirements can be applied to They use the same predictable willing to pay more for it, then any 3D model you download. To start with, you’ll camera angles, foliage in the front you’ll also thrive. want models that are created to scale. There’s no garden, and furniture on the use downloading a model only to find that it’s either modelled far too small or way too big; you want it to “WHAT IT MEANS TO CREATE 3D slot in straight away. It also helps if the model itself ART IS CHANGING… AND ARTISTS is located at the origin. After that, you’ll be served NEED TO ADAPT TO SURVIVE” best downloading models that contain only quads or triangles. This will ensure meshes are clean and interiors. Every visual ends up will be rendered correctly. Finally, make sure your looking the same and it is often models have clean UVs. By either using TurboSquid terribly dull. Because assets can CheckMate Pro models or reputable suppliers, you’ll be used across projects, work is ensure the models you’re downloading will work finished in less time and therefore perfectly in your scenes every time. the cost of it comes down. This in turn forces out of competition the one-person bands who simply can’t compete. In summary, off-the-shelf assets are here to stay, there’s no getting around that: they help to speed up the creation process, 28 3D WORLD
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ASsDouEnDpowdcyematerwihrnPNtleagvshaioCiaoiemtrcitrtnMesfooltsellhiWoSiaauodnpsSlVinAaaramytAssnntwruesaaornsFwihhSeaCisdbglicdnanytmdfilneseXuepnnahiodahnigpiwVMebnHatmcpioddImaxvreegrerdrsermktmidetieki,iooireaseuSeSntoiasscrnmepslehnudhmrorrapFpuftoeoavrgWlsf-venfgaauvgyedioauaXnigeietMdJedvlostieccrcilmcsreaeA$holoeenhaEewtmviseiaeftaeinS1nrwrnesogueiitdfcfsojogno.-ssitiguffgafp8KtsoVmnnWatvnnouree:bbtigoalbeSkerwae.eIrbcxcegdulyueglrdayrpnatrsltrtnitlSirhiOvlleitlSsss,-bohitttteyDoVotlctwdreiaoDphhioisisStssntonvohmPeFloecieredooiiVftastednraainogcaaX,rtoice,gtr-ueFdmttrriinhMi.shttoertteXeiaa-,dertnaltsygnt : Right: Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) casts a spell that causes Spider-Man (Tom Holland) to enter the Astral Dimension with assistance from Framestore Opposite: Spider-Man gets a suit upgrade courtesy of Eldritch Magic 32 3D WORLD
TreinvcoarrnHaotgiognlsSepoairfdnaesrfh-aMomwaonut:osNwWoeeWabvaeSylaiHnllogomefrett…hoegecitnheemr faotric 3D WORLD 33
Multidimensional Spider-Man V I LL A I N S R E V I S IT E DDaonTMdcShpVopsiuOMsSFehlidlidoatltnoaXcheoiefndaSlmbkodtinrsE)tnpodetw-tu’hegohlMaItaocimepthedruraeiawcagtaeehweertsuattnevaaraowrhrsasdonv-etntvou2oesoMfi.iutebgsn.ttwuYwtfoaoht,paid“uhtlothfnyaeadIhrc,naagtuaCosskesStlt2brth’ntehuOrcriuaoteeaf’teneaoeetVownod.snttg”ntllmairhoIeooettvthiDtrveVocioaueedaEotr-erthcFcrlkpe1dubrdstl9ehtiEXipneleenheceyasldelrspgaaestsennaonhnkrulcbttonialtoecpapeteedaudptttriatoehynuooracuaalpcrpe.frnclphbtvahseril“soednoelplihaaEeessdnlagrpeosmranov,otintapt,ftseagaroEeedfciesenactteCsesltusdhlnfe.rewhraethlcmedeHahcrooisrnaanndsioeteaftlassiftther.musotosatbofeWlFhghkriousiesntarfeiahonDlahontcthhotlhtkeiamgoIeitesaepooegomcnc,f,pn”yehrnmont‘gwtpOeHohrareu…watsemeesaodhctrlcoed.nhmtwk,lblnbc“reTiniabnsea(ehaWe’hcruAagtrgloeigaeiAktnneltbinmnefnseydylArewfvn.oenwrmteWoieadiuhnepndnnaagermtzitefei’nssadegktnlehcehtbiofsaCtemadashaucbSnhiUbnausecsladokeeudrn-otswnAetchbt.sacmtdsyahiDeeeToovatifbmevlhhoaRmwrvohuleaeikabiofaoslhesanmarneiohuthoernclbyboadeieetehdmlwppoetdytedibotosettao.delpf”ahttfrosvfoelhonteeoTtcorrrraehi,nroehka?milfspaecsfyi’okotensreeoahLesrcmigrtenmw.edeahae’i,alcotn”aWeenaaSs’sindrsplcncnehalaHeteaixcpfonoacmroalpewudiostoncrdp.ealtmtfeawasTtehtratrhihleosahnhnoheieetbrneatmstaCsvaootitbtgEimhesbhwngtomtedneulhfraheedSllytearaefjaenspycolptkhsyastfohitrehhataadchia.detyndcdtetanoWyiiihidodnrnwtdafa-oefe.glwtMtaommfs“hthpgsJnoethaSeaeaaooruTehnaatrtenfntthancfasb3dmovvhowhdcWc.e-roeamereomi“hcmenipadWcccaawaeatpaoafetusttnnoaenepohsshcHsrcnwealweplseaeiibttanpwrewydaaobwsgsreeegsavyeohlfeneniirdauhndotfnlaeeeodmodndsdrnd-t.h”e 34 3D WORLD
Multidimensional Spider-Man Top (left): Banding 2,500 visual effects shots “IT’S NICE TO DO THOSE CALLBACKS together during the were created by Sony Pictures AND IT’S SO FUN TO SEE THE Liberty Island fight Imageworks, Digital Domain, REACTION OF AUDIENCES” created by Sony Framestore, Luma Pictures, Pictures Imageworks Crafty Apes, Mr. X, Cinesite, Kelly Port, VFX supervisor, Marvel Studios are Electro, Sandman Gradient Effects, Folks VFX, and Lizard SSVFX, MARZ and Perception. is his Uncle Ben moment and him had a background on the Green An initial plan to introduce becoming Spider-Man.” Goblin and we knew a little bit of Above: The electricity Andrew Garfield and Toby Sandman and Electro. Sometimes of Electro (Jamie Maguire during the third act Being involved with all you have too many individuals Foxx) was changed was shifted to the second act three versions of the cinematic and not enough time to develop from the original right after the death of Aunt May franchise is Sony Pictures that one individual, but in this blue in The Amazing (Marisa Tomei). “The fact that Imageworks VFX supervisor particular case Jon Watts and Spider-Man 2 to it’s Ned Leeds [Jacob Batalon] Chris Waegner. “I worked with Kelly Port were on the creative the comic-book who doesn’t know how to make Sam Raimi and Marc Webb and side making sure that everybody accurate yellow portals,” explains Marvel Studios the different actors. In a way it had enough screentime.” VFX supervisor Kelly Port. “Tom prepared me for the chaos of what is emotional and is up on the high was going to ensue. It’s such a Looking after the end battle school where he meets Andrew huge responsibility to the fans.” at Liberty Island was the Garfield and Tobey Maguire; they The large cast did not prove to be responsibility of Sony Pictures have a common bond, [which unwieldy. “Maybe because these Imageworks. “Every time I finish is the death] of Uncle Ben. In films have been made before, we a movie like this I’ll say, ‘I’ll do a way it’s Tom Holland’s Peter Parker origin story because this 3D WORLD 35
Multidimensional Spider-Man “WHEN YOU HAVE A BIG BUILD LIKE THIS, YOU NOT ONLY Top (left): Sony Picture HAVE TO BUILD IT UP DIGITALLY, BUT ALSO KNOW THAT Imageworks produced YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO DESTROY THE WHOLE THING” a CG Spider-Man for when the Wall Crawler Chris Waegner, VFX supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks does a high dive another one but don’t want to do When you have a big build like be 15 years later,” explains Port. Top (right): Spider-Man the third act!’” laughs Waegner. this, you not only have to build it “We even had some leeway with (Tom Holland) attempts “But it keeps falling back on us. up digitally, but also know that their costumes.” The advances to escape from the All of our Spider-Men and villains you’re going to have to destroy in technology have enabled the Mirror Dimension with are together. It was nice that it the whole thing. You have to be visual effects to look cooler and the ancient relic was a contained environment sensitive to what is steel, wood, more photorealistic. “You want to as the action takes place around concrete and aluminium, so you’re make whatever things you can do Right: New York City the island itself. In principal applying all of these material look better but also familiar, I felt folds in on itself in photography there wasn’t a ton properties in Houdini; that’s what like we had creative licence to do the Mirror Dimension of live-action set to reference. We gives the big destruction life.” that. Our decision was that they’re courtesy of Framestore used things that they did build, coming into this MCU world. like scaffolding, as our material De-aging was strictly done When Electro [Jamie Foxx] is first and style guide for our gigantic to Alfred Molina and Willem introduced, he is actually blue like environmental build. We built the Dafoe as both came from the from the Marc Webb film, and as island, architecture and on top of Spider-Man 2 timeframe. “The he charges up and gets full power that we had to build the inside. other two Spider-Men came the energy that is feeding him from where they happened to 36 3D WORLD
Multidimensional Spider-Man NMAI RVRI GOARTDI NI MG ETNHSEI O NWruehn“lMtiBelscoaeayptnsanatfcnlaefhraltosSeaDibaeeobyekhtmwrpnnbsooeehomtresodoiuucdpmVrxobrdortsfoYtttelahtDieFtDwfooehetawaosagShntrefXotrsalmotsirohluoepoiletitiicGv-noSmtrn’nsheoiicMareeteyewdngmturgtefotrrtn.xaogeMSpiteoiahaotreAtpvnban.rpheineSitnrb-SirldlfTuinrrhewiDogMMdarpstdoiSivhtisrCdrrlmetnoiaosnaiedinataaodatrseeeyacgnrritmiiretncaeorsalnq-ssntaooiwglarMokrusageyedutDrnrt-oeelnrrrKarVyonsseaaisDgf.yfeyiis.”StencnnnemqifawiipieanTetnhl,rcdnmbpnularss,nhhrybgeeagetradeneeweaeohtsasencnPtdnanthebt,nwedbaicaogosostsntuewsaakauwihswwehirwgokctuoepbsusteeealeaeewie.esnnosotlean’esyyetive“Stp.trs…hnth,nifIepwlaotpW.tlstuitgdelhchtlep’ienks’diheesesre,e”nidsr- 3D WORLD 37
Multidimensional Spider-Man was yellow. At the end battle, we had fun with the idea of introducing the Star Mask that is from the comics.” An iconic moment from the comic books was recreated when MJ (Zendaya) falls off of a bridge and is saved by Spider- Man portrayed by Andrew Garfield. “It came from the previs team,” reveals Port. “It ended up changing a little bit. It was a redemption for that character’s initial mistake [that caused the death of Gwen Stacy played by Emma Stone]. A lot of people thought she got webbed and then broke her back because you hear this crack. What actually happened is she hits her head. Like so many things, we were going back and forth as to whether certain characters should die or not. That was part of the story refinement process which is so fascinating. Ultimately, it all has to be about our Peter Parker (Tom Holland). It’s nice to do those callbacks and it’s so fun to see the reaction of audiences.” Digital Domain had to recreate almost three miles of New York City. “You hero out the sections of the bridge where most of the action takes place and as you get further away from the camera there is less and less resolution in that geometry you’re building,” explains Edelstein. “By the time you get three miles away it’s essentially a matte painting. As you get closer, we used Google Earth and Open Street data maps to create buildings. There were models from New York City many years ago that we placed in.” Recreating a portion of New York City was no small task for Edelstein. “Kelly and his team went to the actual location and did a LiDAR scan of the bridge and some of the surrounding areas. We lined that up with the reference. There was also some helicopter work so we did a lot of photogrammetry of the bridge and surrounding area. We piled that all together and our environment team built the surrounding structures, landscape and buildings while the modelling team traditionally goes in and builds the bridge asset. We would texture and look development that 38 3D WORLD
Multidimensional Spider-Man as a hero asset. Once you get all An ancient relic is central to task was the hybrid suit that Peter Left: Practical of that together and have it as a the plot. “Everyone is trying to get Parker wears after the nanotech explosions and tossed layout, depending on where you this thing,” observes Port. “What on Doc Ock travels onto him. vehicles were provided look you have to load all of those does this look like? It started off “From the neck down Peter is CG by SFX supervisor different assets and resolutions, being this complex thing that for the rest of the movie,” remarks Daniel Sudick which is a manual process at that exploded into a giant puzzle that Port. “That is an enormous point. It’s a lot of work.” Doctor Strange had to solve. We amount of time-consuming, Below and opposite: always knew that it needed to be labour-intensive stuff which CG tentacles by Digital DOCK OCK BATTLES SPIDER-MAN ancient, sophisticated, intricate, had to be perfect, otherwise it Domain replaced the and artisan crafted. Ultimately, it doesn’t look right. It has to be lit practical ones that A major contributor was SFX was used to contain the spell and and rotoscoped into place. That’s were originally used supervisor Daniel Sudick. “They those ideas had to be refined. That one of those things which is an for Doctor Octopus in shot so much reference and all was a process.” Another difficult invisible effect.” Spider-Man 2 of these awesome things for us to use,” states Edelstein. “Dan “THEY SHOT SO MUCH REFERENCE AND ALL OF crushed cars and bent them in THESE AWESOME THINGS FOR US TO USE. DAN half. The shot where Doc Ock SUDICK CRUSHED CARS AND BENT THEM IN HALF” throws a car into the water was a practical one that got Scott Edelstein, VFX supervisor, Digital Domain thrown. We ended up removing the car itself but used the water explosion that they did from the barrels. Dan threw cars through concrete barriers.” ©2021 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. MARVEL and all related character names: © & ™ 2021 MARVEL 3D WORLD 39
MReoadleislltincgtefoxrtucrrienagtivity Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork MODELLING FOR CREATIVITY If there is one thing I Pedro Amorim would like my future self to keep in mind when it comes to artstation.com/pedro making a 3D scene, it would be to always keep the initial blockout models as simple as possible as a way to not get Originally from Portugal locked down to one single idea. Having an idea is great to but currently living in get you started and inspired, but quite possibly that idea Finland, Pedro works as will morph over time into something you haven't originally a senior hard-surface considered. This way, if you need to delete or change certain artist at Remedy Games. things, it won't be too difficult because there wasn't a lot of time invested. Still, it’s important to have in mind an idea of how you would like the image to look, so you know what to work towards. 4400 33DD WWOORRLLDD
ModeRlleianlgisftoirc ctreexattuirviintgy DIY TRIKE Software 3ds Max, Blender, Substance Painter, Photoshop Year made 2022 3D WORLD 41
Create a beautiful digital portrait Practical tips and tutorials from pro artists to improve your CG skills IMPERIAL OFFICER A personal character inspired by the Star Wars imperial officers 42 3D WORLD
Create a beautiful digital portrait ZBRUSH | MAYA | ARNOLD RENDERER | R3DS WRAP MARI 4.36 | MARVELOUS DESIGNER | SUBSTANCE PAINTER | PHOTOSHOP CREATE A BEAUTIFUL DIGITAL PORTRAIT Learn how to make your workflow more productive with these proven tips in Young Im Chang’s realistic character masterclass AUTHOR Young Im Chang 01PREPARATION 02 SCULPT PRIMARY FORM I am a senior 3D character Before starting the project, WITH A BASE MESH artist working for the game set up Maya and ZBrush to ensure industry in Korea for over 14 an easier transition between the Using the base mesh, build the years. I enjoy creating portraits two programs. Create a Maya primary shape, and then gradually and characters in 3D. project and add folders in it by use, increase the subdivisions and bluehour.artstation.com such as folders for export OBJ files develop the form according to and ZBrush. anatomical features. I often receive emails from students complaining about In Maya, set up a simple light The base mesh in this tutorial their difficulties when designing and a camera for a quick render is made up of two subtools, Head a character. They are tired of the and store basic scenes. Make sure and Eyeball, with clean topology continuous modifications and the unit is set to centimetres in the and UVs. The reason for using the the disparity between what they preference settings. Open ZBrush base mesh is that a low-poly mesh expect and the actual result. I and set the camera value to 85 in is easier to handle for blocking out also sympathise with their pain as the Draw menu. the shape, and if you set the scale a person who struggles alone to of the base mesh to the actual size complete their work. Assign frequently used brushes in advance, it helps reduce errors in as hotkeys and customise UI icons sculpting and rendering. So what is the most important to operate efficiently, this speeds thing when it comes to creating up sculpting and reduces the For example, many people are a realistic character? Sculpting, inconvenience in transition. unaware that eyeballs are almost texturing, hair grooming, lighting the same size regardless of race and rendering – every single However, the camera in ZBrush or age. The size of the eyeball is element is essential. If we neglect has some distortion, so it is approximately 2.4cm. just one of them, our creation loses necessary to go over the final shape its life, exposing the mistakes. through the Maya rendering results. Sculpting is commonly Sometimes, the little things performed based on reference treated as insignificant become breakthroughs in solving the problems that frustrate us. Let’s find out what we shouldn’t miss by following this proven pipeline in this character masterclass tutorial, working from the base model to the final render. You can find the full video lectures on the Wingfox website: www.wingfox.com/c/8595 DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES For all the assets you need go to https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans 01 3D WORLD 43
Create a beautiful digital portrait 02a 02b 03 images. Since the size of the Distancing Select the object and assign an same way, set the animation key of eyeballs is the same, match the aiStandardSurface shader. Replace the camera up to frame #5. Open object’s eyes to each reference Another thing to the material type to Skin in the Render Settings, and under the image and measure the proportions keep in mind when Presets. Click the surface radius, Common tab, the file path and with the surroundings in order to sculpting is changing change HSV to ‘RGB, 0 to 1.0’. Set information are displayed at the decrease the distortion. the views to look at a value of 1 for red, 0.35 for green, top. Change the frame animation the model objectively. and 0.2 for blue. Change the Type format to name #framenumber 03 BUILD THE BONE When you focus on to Random Walk 2, and adjust extension. The frame range is 1 LANDMARKS FIRMLY only one place, your the Scale value to 0.1. Go to the to 5 because we set the camera field of view narrows animation frame and set the frame key from 1 to 5 frames; it renders Personally, while sculpting, the part so that you cannot range 1 to 5. multiple camera angles at once. I work hardest on is not the eyes, see the composition Click the box next to Render nose and mouth, but the landmark as a whole. Change 05 RENDER SETUP - PART 2 Sequence in the render menu. features around the cheekbones: your perspective – for At frame #1, change the Rendered images are created in the superior arches of the forehead, example, looking from camera view and press ‘S’ to set the image folder. zygomatic bone, and the volume of a distance, looking key. Move to the next frame, adjust the temporal bone. upside down, or the camera view to a different You will need a viewer to open looking at the outer angle, and enter ’S’ again. In the EXR files. I'm using a free viewer The large frame of the head outline of the shape. It called DJV. must be strongly built so that the can prevent your vision 04 details can be stably placed in it. from narrowing. 04 RENDER SETUP - PART 1 It is necessary to check the exact shape of the head through the rendered result in Maya. Import the head object from ZBrush and scale check to actual size with the measure tool. Next, create a dome light in the Arnold tab, connect the HDRI map to its colour node, and then rotate the light in order to capture the proper light direction while rendering with Arnold. You can download HDR image sources from Poly Haven or sIBL Archive. All are free, high-resolution images available for download. 44 3D WORLD
05 Create a beautiful digital portrait 06a 06b 07 While sculpting in ZBrush, you need to continue rendering in Maya and check how the actual results look, making up for any shortcomings. This process is extremely important to increase the quality of your work. 06 TRE3XDTSUWRERWAPITH I used TexturingXYZ’s ‘Male 40s Multichannel Face #70’ map on this project. Create a plane in Maya and change the width and height to the resolution of the TexturingXYZ image. Then divide it to 150 and normalize off. Then scale it into position close to the image. Import both sculptured head and a plane into Wrap, assign the TexturingXYZ image to the plane and put the pins in the same place on the visual editor viewport. Next, open the SelectPointPairs node to match the points of the plane to the head. Make sure each point number matches both the image and the model. Click Compute to start to wrap. Now bring the wrapped plane into ZBrush and do some cleaning up of the twisted areas. 07 IMPORT TO MARI Once cleanup is done, export back to Wrap both the wrapped plane and the head for the texture projection. Add an Albedo map, set the TransferTexture node and link the plane and head. Compute current frame to project the image and repeat the same process for the displacement and utility map as well. Import all projected textures into Mari and proceed to clean up. Create a channel for Displacement and with 50% grey colour remove unwanted parts such as eyebrows, eyelashes and hair. Then paint out the region just below the hair so that they blend seamlessly. Repeat the process for the diffuse and utility map. Then add a Copy Channel layer to split out each of the R, G, B channels and save them separately. 08 IANPZPBLYRUDSISHPWLAITCHEMMEANPTS Back in ZBrush, turn symmetry off and shape the head to look natural. Once the asymmetry work is 3D WORLD 45
Create a beautiful digital portrait Step 8.5: 09a is the white part of the eyes, and Inflate issue it gets transparent to the iris part 08a 09b using a ramp node. The cornea is When the displacement the clear part of the eye over the iris complete, load the R channel map is applied, it swells the intensity and apply DispMap on and the caruncle is a red flesh at the displacement map as an alpha. In a little compared to the each layer. The values I used for R, inner corner of the eye. the displacement section, select original state. If you turn G, B were 0.3, 0.2, 0.05. Once you the map and change the intensity off the layers, you can have applied all these displacement Back to ZBrush, increase the values to see the effects on the see the swollen shape. layers, mix the layers by tweaking subdivisions of the eye parts and model. The texture slot must the intensity until the head looks develop the form and add details. have a texture turned on for the Hide all the layers as desired. Create textures through ZBrush displacement map. with displacement Polypainting. The iris can be applied and press 09EYE STRUCTURE produced in the same way as the Vary the depth of the surface storemorph in the Morph To create realistic eyes, we skin as mentioned previously. curvature shown in the R channel Target menu to store the need several meshes: a sclera, a texture so that it does not look like previous volume. cornea, a pupil, an iris, a caruncle, a shallow bump map. and a tear reflected line. The sclera Unhide all the RGB When ready to apply layers, create a layer displacement maps, load the split- and name it Morph. out RGB channel displacement maps into ZBrush. Go down to subdivision level 1 and Create three layers; each layer bring the Morph slider will contain the information of the all the way up so that R, G, B displacement maps. Tweak it will return to its previous volume. With this method, you can apply the displacement map accurately without deforming the shape. Finally, export out the ZBrush displacement map at subdivision level 3, 32bit, EXR, 8K size map. 08b 46 3D WORLD
Create a beautiful digital portrait The ‘Multichannel Iris #100’ map from XYZ is used here. 10 SHADING Back to Mari, create additional textures using the utility map. Create a rough map to use as a weight map with the utilityG map, to give a bit of micro-displacement detail. Also, create a specular map using the utilityB and make sure not to paint the lips too bright to give it a slightly dry look. Plug in the created maps to the appropriate node in the aiStandard shader. When working on skin, make sure to test the skin material under various lighting conditions. 10a Use nodes such as aiColorCorrect and aiRange to adjust the maps until you get good results. 11XGEN FOR HAIR XGen is a great tool, but there are a few things to be aware of as it is prone to errors. First, make sure to setProject. It's also helpful to know XGen's folder structure and saving file path. In case of errors, it is recommended to save the scene files step by step frequently and convert the guides into curves and store them. Also, when saving the ptex map, be sure to press saveTexture under the file texture tab in the painting tool settings, and then save mask maps to avoid texture path crashes. Split the hair groom into several different descriptions: eyebrows, 10b eyelashes, beard, peach fuzz, etc. Most of the work in XGen is to modify the guides. When the hair is complex, ZBrush's FiberMesh efficiently handles the guide’s curves. You can export the FiberMesh in MA file format to Maya. The aiStandardHair shader is used for hair. Control the colour of the root and the tip by connecting the ramp node to the melanin section. I refer to Arvid Schneider's OSL Shader scripting method to apply the melanin value randomly: youtu.be/vBZ0WaOl_B8. 12 CLOTHES Create costumes for your character model with Marvelous Designer, which is an excellent software for clothes simulation. Import a custom character body 11 3D WORLD 47
Create a beautiful digital portrait 12 13a and set the volume and points in the avatar editor. Create patterns, simulate them, and fit the avatar by pulling the garments until you get a satisfying shape. Once the fitting is complete, replace the avatar with a posed body and change the object type to Morph Target. As the model's pose changes, the pattern changes to match the pose. Export patterns, optimise them, add details and extract the displacement map in ZBrush. Create PBR textures for clothes and other accessories using Substance Painter. 13 FINAL RENDER When all stages of production are finished, bring all the character components – a head model, eye parts, costume – and place them in their position. Change the pose a bit and adjust the gaze naturally by applying the Aim in the Constrain menu accordingly. Set up lighting and a camera; I set the camera (AA) samples to 6 to 10 for the final rendering – it depends on your scene and the machine you have. Specify the required source map in AOV for the post-work calibration. Finally, we have reached the final rendering. Click the square box in the render sequence of the render. All you have to do is select a camera, specify the save path and start rendering. The final result is saved in the Beauty folder. If post- work is required, it is available from the AOV render source. • 13b 48 3D WORLD
Create a beautiful digital portrait WINGFOX Wingfox.com is an online learning platform for digital art under Guangzhou Goyor Network Technology Co., Ltd. It focuses on design education and cooperates with outstanding artists from all walks of life, providing useful content to everyone. 3D WORLD 49
From VR to ZBrush Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork FROM VR TO ZBRUSH The creative process Simone Rizzo started from reference, then I began the sketching artstation.com/simonerizzo42 phase directly in Gravity Sketch. Once I got the desired sketch, I made some simple volumes. I Concept artist raised in Italy, in then exported the creature to ZBrush and with love with cinema and art. He has DynaMesh I sculpted the details I needed. dedicated himself to digital art Retopology and UVs were also undertaken in in recent years and is currently a ZBrush. I rendered everything in Blender with concept artist at PIXOMONDO. Cycles and did some compositing in Photoshop. I believe that the process of sketching from VR to modelling in ZBrush is a splendid and fast solution for creating concepts of creatures. 50 3D WORLD
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