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REDSHIFT ISSUE 123
DIVES INTO DIGITAL
Cofounder David Sproxton tells all
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 This issue’s team of pro artists…

TANYA COMBRINCK ROB TUYTEL MICHAEL INGRASSIA

N/A texturehaven.com artstation.com/digitalgepetto
Tanya speaks to 3ds Max masters, Environment designer Rob goes Michael is a creative director and 3D
including arch vis studio Oxygen, to find medieval with his piece Sunny Town instructor. He’s back this issue for part
out their top tips for upgrading art with Square. He breaks down his process for two of his three-part character tutorial.
the Autodesk tool. Check them out over creating 19th-century inspired scenes This time he focuses on texturing and
on page 22. on page 52. UVs on page 58.
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RAINER DUDA ERIC WILEY SOLOMON W JAGWE

rd-innovations.de artstation.com/wiley3d reallusion.com
Rainer is the owner of a VFX studio in Eric is a senior environment artist at A Ugandan 3D Artist and animator
Germany as well as a lecturer, he gets Blizzard and he’s written a brilliant based in the USA with over 15 years
into the nitty gritty of shaders in 3ds tutorial this issue on how to create experience, Solomon has run through
Max 2019 with his hyperreal wooden perfect layers in Substance Designer. his techniques for animating faces
floor. Read his expert guide on page 66. Don’t miss it, it’s on page 74. using iClone on page 82.
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What’s in the magazine and

News, reviews
& features Always keep in mind
the correct hierarchy
12 The Gallery
A hand-picked collection of phenomenal between light intensity
and inspirational artwork and colour temperature
22 Boost Your Skills in 3ds Max Oxygen teaches us to
21 amazing tips to help you speed up your optimise lighting setups
workflows and create better art Page 26
28 Subscribe Today!
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30 The Art of Digital Make-Up
MPC, Mr X Inc, Outpost VFX and
MastersFX on their make-up mastery
38 The Ripple Effect
Inside Splash Damage
43 Technique Focus:
Hollow King
Andrés Ríos on why staying organised is
key to his art
44 Creating Without Permission
KitBash3D on their incredible journey so
far and providing limitless creativity
51 Technique Focus:
Vintage Drive
Edward Price reveals his ZModeler tricks
85 Technique Focus:
Squirrel Phantom Beast 22
Keita Okada talks sculpting
86 Review: Redshift 2.6 for Houdini
A look at the latest update of the renderer
98 Technique Focus:
Piggy Knitted Toy
Simon Telezhkin on the magic of Houdini

Perfect layering Animate faces

in Substance Designer 74 82 in iClone

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8
Create a large medieval
environment in Blender 52 38 The Ripple Effect

The Pipeline
52 Step By Step: Create a large
medieval environment
in Blender
Rob Tuytel teaches us to re-create
19th century Dutch art
58 Step By Step: Texture
distressed clothing for
games and film
Triple-A texturing and UV tips from
We used tracking Michael Ingrassia
markers to add the 66 Step By Step: Master 3ds Max
panel lines 2019’s open shading language
Rainer Duda takes us through
indentation in CG creating a hyperreal wooden floor
MPC’s Guillaume Rocheron 74 Pipeline Techniques: Perfect
on mastering digital make-up layering in Substance Designer
Page 31 Eric Wiley’s guide to making beach
debris material
78 Pipeline Techniques:
Render with Redshift in Houdini
Stefan Kang on his optimum
settings for Redshift rendering
82 Pipeline Techniques:
30 Animate faces in iClone
Solomon Jagwe reveals his

ISSUE 124 techniques for his Ugandan/African

animated children’s TV series

NEXT The Hub

MONTH
THE ART OF FILM TITLES, PLUS
90 Community News
The Rookies 2018 winners have
been announced
LEARN HOW TO CREATE HARD 92 Industry News
SURFACES IN MODO RenderMan 22 revealed, Method
Studios acquires Atomic Fiction

ON SALE 94 Opinion
James Hattin

25 SEPT The VFX Legion founder on the

recipe for a great remote artist

96 Industry Insider
Visit the 3D Artist online shop at David Sproxton
myfavouritemagazines.co.uk The cofounder of Aardman
Texture distressed clothing Animations gives us an insight into
for games and film for back issues, books and merchandise
58 how the outfit has added CG

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 Have an image you feel passionate about? Get your artwork featured in these pages
Create your gallery today at www.3dartistonline.com

12
 I made this work for
ArtStation’s Wild West
Challenge. I’m not a fan of
the wild west, but I wanted
to be involved, so I chose
the forest to be the main
character. My inspiration Anastasia Ermakova
was Ivan Shishkin and seriouscat.artstation.com
Anastasia is a 3D artist
Albert Bierstadt. While and she really loves to
working on this, I decided model environments
Software Unreal Engine,
that it would be cool to Maya, Substance Painter,
Substance Designer
show something Work in progress…
unexpected like a metal
pipe and flowing oil near
the native settlement. It
forces you to think why
and what is going to
happen in the future
Anastasia Ermakova,
The Price Of Progress, 2018
13
 Farzad Firoozi
farzadfiroozi.me
3D artist and architectural
designer, who adores hard
surface modelling, texturing,
lighting and shading
Software 3ds Max, Corona
Renderer, ZBrush
Work in progress…

In the past decade,

I’ve been working on the
3D design of many
different projects. Just
think of the configuration
of my rendered view, there
are a lot of techniques
inside, a lot of modelling
art and a lot of rendering
technologies
Farzad Firoozi,
Classic living room, 2018

14
 Federico Ciuffolini
artstation.com/fciuffolini
Federico is a 3D generalist of 15
years working on augmented
reality, virtual reality and
interactive applications
Software 3ds Max, Corona
Renderer
Work in progress…

This work is based

on an idea I’ve had for
years. What if Spongebob
was an autarchic toy
made in 1930s Italy? I
tried to mix the typical
features of the earliest
cartoons with the iconic
design of that period,
while keeping the main
character recognisable
Federico Ciuffolini,
Berto Bragaquadra, 2018

15
 This project was
created for a basketball
competition in Jakarta.
We were excited to make
this simple ad become a
more dramatic-looking
image. We used a lot of Apix10
details and lighting apixten.com
Apix10 Studio is a creative
experiments to make it studio based in Jakarta,
even more stunning Indonesia. Specialising in
production of high quality
commercial CG and photo
Apix10, based imagery
LA Streetball, 2018 Software Blender, Photoshop
Work in progress…

16
 I did Blastoise and other Pokemon in
my style. In the beginning I just did
Magikarp but then I did more and more.
Blastoise was the last evolution of
Squirtle and I did all the starter ‘mon
from the first version of the game. So I
Mickael Lelievre
found that it was a really cool exercise
lelievremickael.artstation.com because, I needed to explore what
Mickael is a modeller for TAT
Productions in Toulouse. He is Blastoise is, how I can get him more
also a freelance sculptor
concept artist
realistic and if I can sculpt it my way but
Software ZBrush, V-Ray and still keep the soul of Blastoise
Photoshop
Mickael Lelievre,
Work in progress… Blastoise, 2018

17
 In depth

18
 The main bridge of the ship was the
most challenging area, it’s extremely Ian Stewart
cluttered and packed with detail. As I artstation.com/ianstewart1

wasn’t on a strict budget I went all out Ian is a senior 3D artist that
currently works at Foundry 42
on the detail and tried to make it as on Star Citizen
Software Amazon
close to the film as possible. I’ve lost Lumberyard, 3ds Max 2015,
count of how many times I watched Quixel Suite, Photoshop
Work in progress…
Alien, constantly pausing to take
screenshots for reference. When I
couldn’t get the correct angle or shot
to pick out key features I used the
video game Alien: Isolation which was
a huge help throughout
Ian Stewart,
Alien Fan Art – The Nostromo Bridge, 2018
19
 PRIMITIVE BLOCKOUT
The first blockout was constructed
entirely using primitives so I could
block out key areas of interest, get
a feel for the space and size up the
area quickly. I will then create a
more detailed whitebox mesh
which is to the correct scale.

THE MAIN FEATURES

Next I started blocking out the
main features such as the
pathway, the two large windows,
the consoles, secondary systems
and the large circular hole in
the ceiling which illuminates
the charting table.

DETAIL THE MESH ROUGH IT UP

At this stage I add more detail to the meshes. Once I have a decent base I will then I created different trim sheets and panel textures with a more clunky design, I wanted
complete a basic lighting pass, doing this early on really helps me to focus on the this area to be grungy and less maintained. I also get a lighting pass done without any
important areas. visible textures, and this helps to create contrast.

20
BOOST YOUR SKILLS IN 3DS MAX

CONTRIBUTORS
JOHN MALCOLM
3D modeller, CG artist
artstation.com/luxxeon

DANNY MCGRATH
Freelance artist for game assets/hard-surface
modelling/sculpting
artstation.com/dannymcgrath

MIKE JOHNSON
CG generalist/matte painter at Blur Studio
artstation.com/mikejohnson

OXYGEN
Architectural visualisation studio
oxygen.pt

BORISLAV KECHASHKI
Senior character artist at Ubisoft Sofia
artstation.com/b_kechashki

LUIS GARCIA
Freelance 3D character artist and graphic designer
artstation.com/luisgarcia_1

PETER ERMOLAEV
VFX FX artist
artstation.com/ermperson

22
BOOST YOUR SKILLS IN
3DS MAX
Learn top techniques for lighting your scene,
architectural visualisation, improving your
workflow and much more

3
ds Max is a huge piece of software so it’s no explorations of how to use 3ds Max for
surprise that it’s packed with little-known architectural visualisation. Creative studio
features that can really improve your Oxygen takes us through their lighting process,
workflow once you know about them. There are explaining how lighting is crucial for creating
always multiple ways to achieve a given result, mood and emotion in an image and
and the next few pages will help you to explore demonstrating how this can be achieved using
your options and discover techniques that are real-world references.
efficient for you. Seven top CG artists reveal some Artist Mike Johnson, also working on a
of their favourite tricks that will help you take your cityscape scene, shows us how he goes about
process to the next level. In addition to general dealing with perspective, working up his
tips and techniques we have two more detailed composition and modelling buildings.

23
 Kuker by
Borislav
Kechashki

The One Ring by

Luis Garcia

01 QCLONE TRANSFORM
TOOLBOX
There is a handy little tool that few users are
changes can be easily applied to rather complex
looking meshes. Danny McGrath 05 MAXSTART FILE
This may seem like an obvious piece
of advice, but many Max users don’t know that
aware of that is buried away in the Edit
dropdown: the Transform Toolbox. This floating
dialogue contains many useful features like the
03 QUICK WORKING PIVOT
A great feature introduced in recent
versions of 3ds Max is ‘Place Pivot Surface’. This
the maxstart.max file can be leveraged to great
advantage. Basically it is the default scene that
is loaded every time, including scene resets.
ability to ‘get’ and ‘set’ an objects dimensions, can be quickly accessed from the right-click You can set up the perfect working environment
set and objects pivot, and rotate an object by a quad menu. This tools allows you to align the to suit your workflow and dive right into
angle based on presets. But the most useful one pivot dynamically in the viewport. It will respect creating without the time wasted on repetitive
– that can’t be achieved elsewhere in 3ds Max and follow the surface normals. Left-click to set. tasks at every boot.
– is the Quick clone (Qclone) tool. It allows you You can also make use of the snapping options For example, you can populate your material
to offset-clone an object exactly to the bounding for greater control of placement. Note that this editor with custom materials. Set your renderer,
box based on screen space. Very useful for will automatically switch 3ds Max to the your scene units, your viewport layout, etc. This
quickly arraying meshes for various modelling working pivot coordinate system. can be changed and stored at any time by
workflows or arranging modular meshes Danny McGrath simple overwriting the maxstart.max file. The
without having to manually snap the pieces. file is located in: Users/xxx/documents/
Danny McGrath
04 CUSTOM UI/HOTKEYS/
QUAD MENUS
3dsmax/scenes.
Danny McGrath

02 SPLINE TOOLS MODELLING

The spline modelling tools in 3ds Max
have always been a very powerful and flexible
One of the most valuable pieces of advice I can
give is how imperative it is to customise your
workflow by way of hotkeys/scripts/quad 06 CONSTRAINING A MESH TO
A SPLINE
option. There are so many workflows to boost menus, for maximum efficiency. In recent A technique that I use quite often especially for
your modelling efficiency: Shape Booleans months I have incorporated the fantastic jewellery is to constrain a mesh to a spline using
(much improved in 2019), Sweep modifier, Keyhydra plugin (onikanabo.com/keyhydra) Animation>Constraints>Path Constraint and
fillet/chamfer verts, Lathe, Lofting, Bevel Profile, into my workflow and it has changed how I then using the Tools>Snapshot. I can make as
etc. The list is a long one. The real power is in work. It is a suite of tools that works very well many copies of the mesh along the spline as I
the non-destructive aspect; a good example is together and is incorporated into 3ds Max in a need. They can even be keyed in animation, so I
using Sweeping or Lofting. By tweaking a few way that really increases the effectiveness of its can orient them the way I want.
vertices of the base profile/path shapes, drastic native toolset. Danny McGrath Borislav Kechashki

24
 10 PLATE MATCHING AND
MODELLING
Mike Johnson explains his technique for getting perspective correct in a
skyline image and shares tips for modelling buildings

Roadwarrior 666 by
Danny McGrath

07 CUSTOMISE THE MODELLING

QUAD MENU
If you use a primitive, let’s say a cylinder, quite 01 Get the camera to match the plate
The first thing that I had to do when I 02 Perspective match Once you have
your image loaded into Max you can
often, you can add it to the modelling quad started this project was to make sure that my go on over to the Utilities tab in the Main
menu, accessed with Ctrl+right mouse button, camera in 3ds Max matched the plate I was toolbar. In the Utilities tab you will find a
so you can create it faster. From going to use in the image. Being able to match Perspective Match icon. When you enable that
Customise>Customise User Interface>Quads. plates is important, especially if you are into icon, you should be able to line up your
Primitives are located in the Main UI group architectural visualisation. So, I started by vanishing lines until your camera matches up
under the Object Primitives Category, from importing my plate into 3ds Max by using the to the plate. Once that’s complete, you are now
where you can directly drag and the drop the Viewport Configuration. ready to start roughly laying out the scene.
primitive you need in the quad menu you want it
to be. Borislav Kechashki

08 FASTER FLOW CONNECT

When adding new loops to the
geometry using the Swift Loop tool, found in the
modelling tab of the Ribbon, you can press and
hold the Shift key so the newly added loop
follows the overall form of the geometry
beneath. It’s a bit faster version of the Flow
Connect tool of the ribbon. Borislav Kechashki
03 Modelling with Boolean Once I
have the composition roughly laid out I 04 Getting smooth edges with
Quad Camfer After I use the

09 MIRROR PART OF A MESH

WITHOUT DETACHING
If you want to mirror only a part of a mesh, you
start the modelling process. In 3ds Max it’s really
easy to get something looking decent with the
Boolean operations. Using Booleans, you can get
Boolean operations I use Quad Chamfer to
chamfer the hard edges.
The benefit of using this modifier is you can
don’t have to detach it and then mirror and very detailed structures for a very cheap price. I get a very smooth beveled edge look without
attach it again, but instead you can select the basically model silhouettes of the buildings then having to use sub-d modelling.
polygons you want to be mirrored and with the start cutting out pieces and putting them back So you get a high-resolution look while
selection active add a Mirror modifier atop with together with Boolean operations. keeping the poly count low.

25
 11 OPTIMISE YOUR LIGHTING
SETUP IN ARCH VIS
Rather than concentrate on settings or parameters, at Oxygen they follow an inductive
Waterfall by
Peter Ermolaev

process to set up the lighting according to real-world references

Copy selected and then position the mirrored

polygons with Mirror Centre.
Borislav Kechashki

01 Light balance In order to balance

lighting quickly and effectively, we
generally start by assigning a neutral grey
02 Contrast Always keep in mind the
correct hierarchy between light
intensity and colour temperature. To get more 12 BETTER OBJECT ORIENTING
Something I find very helpful when there
VRayOverrideMtl material to every object in contrast, we usually play with the gamma setting is a strangely oriented object in the scene that I
the scene. This helps us to quickly see if the of the VRayHDRI map. A lower value will give want to properly orient to the world axis is the
lighting is consistent with the geometry of the more contrast, which means a bigger difference Normal Align tool, which can be found in the
project. Once this is finished, we reassign the between light and shadow, and colours become Align drop-down list. You need to have a
actual materials and refine the lighting scheme. more saturated. properly oriented object in the scene that will
serve as a reference, then select the object you
want to reorient, choose the Normal Align tool,
click a polygon on the first mesh and then click
on a polygon on the reference mesh from which
you want the first one to adopt the orientation.
Borislav Kechashki

13 USE THE POLYGON

MODELLING RIBBON
While some of the same modelling tools can be

03 Camera Setting up your V-Ray

camera properly is an important part
of lighting a scene. Find the best camera angle
04 Concept and references Good
photographic references are crucial to
achieve a good lighting scheme. The closer you
found in the Edit Polygon command panel, the
Polygon modelling Ribbon is a toolbar with
powerful features and tools you can’t find
possible and keep as close as you can to aspect get to the real world, the better it will be. Make anywhere else in the software.
ratios used in real-world photography. Often sure to reproduce the natural behaviour of light It contains tools for fast topology
the key to this kind of lighting workflow is to in order to understand how the light is set, how it modification, selection options, retopology and
change the HDRI as little as possible and build bounces off objects, how it casts shadows and generative topology creation.
your camera settings around it. what the colour of those shadows are. John Malcolm

26
 Chromium Beat by
John Malcolm

Giant nomad by
Luis Garcia

Alien Marine
by Luis Garcia

14 MAKE USE OF FREE PLUGINS

Learn to install and use free Maxscripts
and plugins in your workflow. Most tutorials do
17 THE MESHSMOOTH MODIFIER
The old Meshsmooth modifier is widely
considered obsolete these days, but it can still
names as Box001,Box002 and so on.
2. Separate one-type objects to the various
layers using Layer Explorer.
not employ scripts or plugins in their process, come in handy for generating unique edge flow 3. Combine small static objects into one mesh.
and rightfully so for beginners. Once you have a on a model. Change the subdivision method to Peter Ermolaev
good understanding of the default tools, explore Classic and it can simulate a Doo-Sabin style
the massive free resources of scripts and
plugins supported by 3ds Max. John Malcolm
re-meshing. This could be handy when
modelling abstract shapes for 3D printing.
John Malcolm
20 SAVE SPACE AND TIME WITH
PROXY RENDER
Use Proxy to render more geometry, otherwise

15 MAX CREATION GRAPH

RESOURCES
Be sure to take advantage of the massive free 18 EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS
Remember that there are lots of ways to
your scene will take a lot of space on your hard
drive and take a long time to open.
If you use V-Ray rendering, keep in mind that
Max Creation Graph resources available out accomplish any given task, and it’s useful to V-Ray proxy allows you to save the animation
there to help speed up your workflow and explore them all. For example, you can use the and to open Alembic. Peter Ermolaev
expand the default capabilities of the software. 2D Pan Zoom tool for matte painting, which I
MCG tools are easily packaged and shared, and
could offer increased functionality and more
unique modifiers to your 3ds Max toolbox.
recommend because it can help you with
modelling geometry. You can significantly
speed up your modelling using the Ribbon panel
21 USE THE RAILCLONE PLUGIN
RailClone is a parametric modelling
plugin for 3ds Max. It works by creating source
John Malcolm and its tools, such as Swift Loop, Similar, Dot objects such as windows, railings, kerbs or
Loop and FreeForm. Peter Ermolaev whatever you can imagine and arrays them on a

16 EXPERIMENT WITH
MODIFIERS
Think outside the box. The modifier stack is a 19 KEEP IT ORGANISED
Keep your scene well-organised so that
spline or surface of your choosing. In my city
skyline project I used RailClone to create the
windows for certain buildings. I created a bunch
very parametric tool that can unlock new it can be handed over to another artist smoothly of different stylised window frames, plugged
strategies. Sometimes there are alternative and they won’t have to waste their time trying them into the RailClone Array 2S generator,
methods to create a shape that are not explored to understand where on the scene the specific then chose the spline for them to be generated
in the average tutorial. Experiment with objects are. It’s a good form to: around, and lastly told Railclone how high I
modifiers and play around with tools to unlock 1. Name your objects, because you don’t want wanted the windows to be.
potential and faster workflows. John Malcolm to have 100 objects on the scene with such Mike Johnson

27
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THE ART OF DIGITAL MAKE-UP

The character Kuze in

Ghost In The Shell
featured distinctive
plates on his face, the
result of meticulously
tracked CG elements
crafted by MPC

30
 THE ART OF
DIGITAL
MAKE-UP
Ian Failes explores the growing trend of
digital make-up effects, where actors’
performances are taken to new levels with 3D

B
efore the advent of digital visual effects,
practical make-up effects were almost the
only method available to bring a fantastical
creature to the screen, or to age and de-age
actors. Now, of course, monsters, hybrid-
humans and a whole cast of characters can be
achieved completely with computer graphics.
But a growing trend has been to actually
combine practical and digital make-up, often
augmenting an existing make-up appliance or
even removing part of a character’s face, to craft
even more compelling characters. Sometimes
this is done to preserve the essence of the This frame above shows Mr X’s animation playblast
for The Shape Of Water. Close approximation to Jones’
original actor, sometimes it’s for aesthetic and the suit’s dimensions were enabled via an
reasons, and sometimes it’s simply down to in-house scanning rig
logistics. 3D Artist asked several visual effects
studios, including MPC, Mr. X Inc, Outpost VFX
and MastersFX how they’ve each been handling
digital make-up effects on recent productions.

MPC MASTERS THE ART OF

DIGITAL MAKE-UP
A slew of recent films – Ghost In The Shell, The
Mummy and Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men
Tell No Tales – showcased visual effects studio
MPC’s approach to the art and craft of digital
make-up work.
Each film, in general, featured actors with at
least partial practical make-up and prosthetics
that were then augmented in some way. Our idea was that
For Kuze (Michael Pitt) in Ghost In The Shell,
MPC worked to add robotic and damage everything added onto
elements to the character’s face. “Our idea was
that everything added onto Kuze could be
Kuze could be practical
practical and we would use CG when we had to and we would use CG
subtract volume to his body,” outlines MPC
visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron. when we had to
“For the face, we used prosthetics to create the
cheek plates and used tracking markers to add
subtract volume to
the panel lines indentation in CG. The design of his body
31
THE ART OF DIGITAL MAKE-UP

2
Kuze changed as we were in post and we ended
up replacing his body and most of his face in CG
We would very This would then drive the final Mummy face rig
that gave us control of additional subtle
to give him a lot more negative space than
originally anticipated, but the prosthetics and
precisely roto-animate movements such as muscle tension/release and
skin deformation.”
appliances really helped Michael to portray the the head, and then the Like Kuze and Ahmanet, Captain Salazar
physical stiffness of his damaged robotic body.”
The Kuze work highlights the importance of
tech animation team (played by Javier Bardem) in Dead Men Tell No
Tales was designed with some ‘negative space’ in
being able to meticulously track the existing
live-action performance when any digital
accurately 3D tracked the face in mind, while also featuring significant
scars. It meant MPC had to track the actor’s
make-up is going to be added. It’s something the sections of skin head – which was made up with practical
MPC also had to do for The Mummy, in which appliances and occasionally blue screen pieces
Sofia Boutella played title character Ahmanet. – and work out which parts of the face would
The tracking of her on-set performance to add in blend with CG.
mummy-like wounds and markings was aided by bridge of her nose and her eye sockets, at the “To do that,” explains MPC CG supervisor
the use of Nuke’s Smart Vector toolset. same time vectors would be generated in Nuke Mathieu Assemat, “we would very precisely
“This enabled us to generate better vector using the original high-resolution plate which roto-animate the head, and then the tech
data that we could use to drive our geometry in sometime required specific colour correction animation team accurately 3D tracked the
Maya though a new MPC in-house custom and additional mask creation to achieve cleaner sections of skin where we wanted to blend the
deformer,” says MPC CG supervisor Francesco results. Once the matchmove and the vector original footage and CG.
Pinto. “This allowed us to store the 2D screen- were ready for production, MPC’s techanim “The roto-prep department then re-built the
space coordinates into the vertices position of team used the OpticalFlow deformer in Maya background when we see it through the hole in
any desired mesh.” and some artistic fixes to transfer Sofia’s his head. It was then down to MPC’s lighters and
“The first step was matchmoving her skull,” expressive performance to a matching model of compositors to nail the lighting and blend it to
adds Pinto, “which included locking down the the actress’s face, without CG augmentation. the now cleaned plate.”

32
 FALLING SKIES: A
FORERUNNER IN DIGITAL
MAKE-UP FX
1 How ‘dMFX’ by MastersFX pioneered the art of taking prosthetics
to the next level for the series Falling Skies

1 Man in suit Actor Doug Jones performed the role of the alien
Cochise (among several other characters) on the TNT series in a full
or partial practical suit. By season four of the show, effects facility
MastersFX, headed up by president Todd Masters, implemented its own
digital enhancement process, called dMFX, to mix that practical on-set
work with tools that could add minor eye darts, slight breathing and other
nuances to the character, all via compositing, with 3D tracking still a
major part of controlling the right facial features to deform.

2 Going digital “Rather than build complex shape morphing or

muscle/bone setups – standard for a 3D effects house – the rig used
a make-up effects approach of digital cable pulls, digital bladder gags and
waldo systems,” says Jonathan Banta, credited as digital make-up
supervisor on the show, and shown here working on Cochise. “We
analysed Doug Jones’s movement and voice, using those to drive several
of the components. We then trained compositors and make-up FX
artists to adjust the phonemes to match the dialogue and find Doug’s
intent — basically a compositing acting school.”

3 The best of both worlds “Under a few inches of foam rubber, Jones
could only take the performance so far, with the extra emotions
made possible with MastersFX’s dMFX techniques. “It is often the case
that productions will replace make-up effects in post-production,” notes

3
Banta. “We, rather, were defining and controlling the approach from the
onset as a hybrid of the two, ran by the make-up department. The
biggest advantage was that it was perfect reference. It is shot by the
shows’ director of photography, and lit with their lights. There is also a
performance authored in the moment, not months later.”

An additional challenge moved from just

make-up effects to ‘hair and make-up’, since
We used different seams between the practical and the CG
differently in each shot to reach that goal,” says
Salazar’s hair was intended to appear as if it was
underwater and therefore floating to and fro.
simulation techniques Mr X visual effects supervisor Trey Harrell.
“Interestingly, what are commonly referred to as
MPC artists first considered some reference, but to achieve the final ‘digital make-up’ techniques weren’t used
this proved tricky to source, as Assemat details:
“Underwater hair moves slowly and floats but
result, such as adapting directly on the creature’s face – they were used
to feather the edges of the replacement areas
also when you are underwater you move slower
due to the higher density of the environment.
the speed of the and blend in the practical paint work with the
animated performance.”
“If you were to move at normal speed, which character To ensure that Jones’ original performance on
is what happens in Pirates, the hairs get dragged the set of the film would be retained, and that
by the motion and we would lose the their digital work would match to the practical
underwater behaviour that we wanted to suit, Mr X scanned the actor using a bespoke 56
re-create. We used different simulation sometimes there are things that even the most DSLR camera photogrammetry rig called X-Scan.
techniques to achieve the final result, such as advanced prosthetics and animatronics cannot “We captured Doug several times over the
adapting the speed of the character to have the do, and where CG can add subtle nuances to course of the shoot both in and out of costume,”
movements and reactions we wanted. already strong performances – in this case, Doug explains Harrell.
“We even animated the strands of hairs to Jones in the practical suit for ‘Amphibian Man’, “The hero scans of the creature suit and
drive the simulation.” which had been overseen by designer Mike Hill prosthetic were used as a guide for our idealised
and Legacy Effects’ Shane Mahan. Mr X Inc was hero sculpt and texture pass, while we used
SHAPING PROSTHETICS then responsible for the digital augmentations. Doug’s face out of make-up in a range of FACS
Well-known monster-maker Guillermo del Toro “We wanted the audience to accept the poses to guide the creature’s performance.”
was always going to look to employ a practical creature’s performance as entirely stagecraft, Tracking was, as expected, a major part of
creature suit for his film, The Shape Of Water. But and we went to great pains to disguise the making the practical and digital work mix. “We

33
THE ART OF DIGITAL MAKE-UP

would always start with a rigid track, matching

his eye silhouette, then do a ‘fitting’ pass to
account for any differences in the condition of
the prosthetic and how it fit on a given day,” says
Harrell. “From there, we would move on to
animation. Once we had animation approval, we
would go back to tracking for a ‘flex’ pass,
accounting for how the practical prosthetic
might slide or compress during Doug’s
performance on top of the animation.
“We wanted the facial performance to look
completely practical, and those subtleties helped Javier Bardem was
fitted with tracking
tremendously.” Then, for the majority of shots, markers and had his
Mr X replaced Amphibian Man’s face from his hair tied back in
brow to his upper lip. His eyes were also always principal photography
on Pirates Of The
entirely digital and occasionally the entire Caribbean: Dead Men
creature needed to be CG. Harrell says the Tell No Tales
studio’s approach to digital make-up effects
work in Nuke allowed for blends to occur
between the differences in how the prosthetics
appeared from shot to shot (since essentially
pieces were hand-painted on the set).
Adds Harrell: “Guillermo challenged our
animation director, Kevin Scott, at the very
beginning of the project, saying, ‘You can do
2
We would go back to
tracking for a ‘flex’ pass, 1
accounting for how the
practical prosthetic
might slide during
Doug’s performance

anything in CG now, but you can’t make CG fall

in love’. That was our single biggest hurdle over
the course of the production, and we’re
extremely proud of the film as a whole.”

THE BEAUTY OF
DIGITAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS
‘Beauty’ visual effects is another area of digital
make-up effects that, while it might at first
appear to be simple, still requires meticulous
tracking, compositing and oftentimes 3D
manipulations. This kind of work was once kept
secret for many years in Hollywood productions,
since it tended to be used to remove facial
blemishes or wrinkles from actors’ skin. These
days the techniques for beauty VFX have
become extremely useful for ageing and
de-ageing characters as key story points, and
even for adding in blemishes and cuts and
bruises for key scenes.
Actress Sofia
Outpost VFX is one of the few studios Boutella prior to
specialising in this area. For the film Nocturnal any of MPC’s
digital make-up
Animals, director Tom Ford needed to portray effects work in
younger versions of actors Amy Adams and Jake The Mummy

34
 MPC then set about
tracking the original
performance,
implementing extra
scarring and skin
pieces and simulating
hair for the Captain
Salazar character

THE SECRET TO
SALAZAR’S SKIN
Behind the digital make-up and hair for Captain Salazar
in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

3 1 On set, the actor wore tracking markers on his face, and

a fair amount of prosthetic make-up pieces and cracking
added by practical effects company Odd Studio. Sometimes
Javier Bardem would even wear a blue screen patch.

2 Roto-mation of Bardem’s performance was the start of

the process for MPC to then add in digital elements for
scarring, skin pieces and for dealing with negative areas that
would also require the compositing in of background areas.

3 MPC’s proprietary Furtility grooming system was used

to make up fine and damaged hair strands and
dreadlocks, which was then given the underwater simulation
or hand-animated to suit. One of the bigger challenges was
maintaining hair movement consistency across shots.

Nuke’s Smart Vector tools allowed

for an optical flow approach to
tracking the actress’ face and body
for grafting on CG elements and
creating negative space

35
THE ART OF DIGITAL MAKE-UP

MPC’s run of digital make-up

effects-heavy films was led by Ghost
In The Shell, in which actors including
Michael Pitt and Scarlett Johansson
had their faces augmented digitally

Nuke and Photoshop were

used by Outpost to do the
subtle de-ageing work on
Jake Gyllenhaal for a
flashback scene in
Nocturnal Animals

A de-aged Amy
Adams in Nocturnal
Animals, an effect
achieved by
Outpost VFX

Gyllenhaal in flashback sequences. Outpost [ultimately] designed the desired CG look at

went with a 2D approach in Nuke and It was the subtle Outpost,” reveals the studio’s senior visual
Photoshop to achieve the final look. But first, it
required much consideration of how humans
detail of the skin that effects supervisor Marcin Kolendo. “It was the
subtle detail of the skin that proved to be the
look when they age. proved to be the most most challenging – the lighting conditions were
“Morphological gravity works in a similar way constantly changing, the actors were talking,
in every human,” notes Outpost 2D lead Elena challenging turning and looking around.”
Estevez Santos. “Without any light references from the set of
“The skin becomes drier and less elastic as this particular sequence,” continues Kolendo,
people get older, which makes it more sensitive to first shape the neck and jaw, then remove “we had to re-build parts of Bourne’s face and, to
and means it doesn’t regenerate as easily, so main marks and small wrinkles, and finally make it work, we had to rely not only on the
new marks and wrinkles appear. The art of a smooth expression lines where necessary.” photographs of Matt Damon, but also on the aid
good digital rejuvenation is based on working Meanwhile, Outpost has also worked on what of the computer-generated face.
out this ageing in reverse. However, many might be described as the most subtle kind of “Each shot from the sequence presented
environmental variables play a huge role in how digital make-up effect – actual digital make-up. different challenges – lighting conditions,
people evolve, including health, weight, sun On Paul Greengrass’s Jason Bourne, for example, amount of movement, angles, shadows and
exposure and surgery.” the studio delivered blood and grazing make-up continuity. Given the tight deadline and limited
What also gets noticed by audiences is if the on actor Matt Damon. reference footage, only the mixture of 2D and
actor is airbrushed – it creates an “unrealistic, “Paul Greengrass wasn’t completely happy 3D approach resulted in truly invisible VFX –
waxy look,” says Santos. “The way we tackle it is with the original make-up work so we something that we’re always very proud of.”

36
THE RIPPLE EFFECT

38
 EFFECT
In a period of expansion and winning awards for its
working environment, Adam Barnes discovers what it is
that makes Splash Damage one of the best...

E
ach year The Sunday Times ranks what it got this growing passion together and you know
believes to be the best places to work for, each other really well. But when you start to
the top 100 companies that offer the scale a bit larger you start to lose some of that
perfect balance of fulfilling work, rewarding and we certainly felt those growing pains over
opportunities and a suitable working the years and made a few mistakes.”
environment. It’s a noteworthy achievement and If one thing became clear in our time at
in 2018 Splash Damage made its debut, ranking Splash Damage, it was that it is a studio full of
The studio has in at an impressive 47th. It begs the question: passionate people, to an extent that it felt as
worked with a number just what is it exactly that makes a company the almost like piety towards the developer. Jolly
of big franchises,
helping to add in best to work for? points to one particular example of the mistakes
multiplayer to the “When you’re small it’s quite easy,” says that were made being – as he calls it – hiring for
Batman: Arkham
series being Richard Jolly, one of the original founders of the skill rather than personality fit. In the earlier days
particularly significant studio beginning back in 2001, “because you’ve the company had the opportunity to hire a big

39
THE RIPPLEE EFFECT
E

name from the film industry, a crossover that, at Venter, “we train them on stuff that aren’t
the time, never happened. “He had worked on directly useful to what they do. I teach life
super high-profile films, and we said ‘wow, we’re drawing classes each week, anatomy and stuff,
getting guys from the movie industry, we’ve and a lot of people that come to these classes
finally made it!’.” aren’t even artists. By teaching people things,
After hiring him in, however, he simply did not you’re developing them. A programmer knowing
sit well within the company and it was clear that about art is good for the artist that he works
hiring for skill wasn’t the way that Splash with, because he understands what they want.”
Damage wanted to continue. “It was sad that There’s even a programme called Splash
you could start to lose your culture so quickly by Academy, where different disciplines are taught
not bringing in the right people and not growing any number of new skills – even having artists
the right way. We felt the effects of that for a learning maths that, Venter insists, helps with
long time, and that was the catalyst that made his day-to-day work.
us decide how to stop this from happening in the With all these opportunities to grow as an
future and ask how we could retain this friendly artist, it’s easy to see how Splash Damage has
feel that we had.” built such devotion into its employees. It’s the
Over the years the
The result, we’re told, was a setting in stone of opportunities to grow and a culture that rewards company has formulated
Splash Damage’s values, a term that Jolly those who do that seems to have left a mark on its own style in its visual
design, in particularly
himself jokingly scoffs at as “corporate bullshit”. its staff. “There was ultimately a transitional the character models
In fact, it’s something that Erol Kentli, lead artist period while these training sessions and
at the studio, is quite enthusiastic about. “I like one-to-ones were put in place,” explains Angelo
that this place actually has values,” says Kentli, Dal Pra, lead artist at the studio and another
“Splash Damage actually lives by its values, all company veteran. “That really helped us to bring
the hiring it does around them, our appraisals, everyone together to what makes Splash, Splash.
the whole culture is built around them. They’re The challenge is combining the art and the
not a token gesture, and that’s one of the technical to deliver a great gaming experience.
reasons that I joined the company.” So we could do the best art in the world, but if
By testing for particular traits in a potential we can’t build it then we can’t play it. If people
employee, Splash Damage can ensure it hires don’t understand art, don’t understand how to
personalities that are a good fit for the company, convey a message or an emotion, then it doesn’t

You still have to be a good artist on top of your

technical skills, and so we have a lot of programs to
teach people traditional art principals
ultimately adding to the driven yet relaxed work. I think we are kind of like scientists and
atmosphere that it has taken years to cultivate. artists at the same time, a hybrid.”
“It’s important in a way that we can’t measure,”
explains Niel Venter, lead VFX artist at the GOING IT ALONE
studio and a long-term Splash Damage Splash Damage is at something of a milestone
employee. Jolly himself acknowledges that so now. Though it has primarily grown by working
long as there is some degree of fundamental with established clients on big-name franchises,
artistic skill, the required expertise and mastery it’s reached a point where it is ready to truly take
can be taught and trained; it’s much harder, control of the reins. “The traditional format for
conversely, to fit an incompatible personality games is the work-for-hire relationship with a
into the culture of Splash Damage. publisher,” says Jolly, “and that’s been our bread
“What I do is really technical, but it’s also and butter for the longest time. But it’s
really artistic,” says Venter. “But art hasn’t interesting how that phase has changed over the
changed: what Greek sculptors did, we still do; years. The advent of digital distribution means
the fundamentals of art never changed. You still you don’t need all these middlemen anymore.”
have to be a good artist on top of your technical With the path to the customer more direct,
skills, and so we actually have a lot of programs Splash Damage has been able to build a rapport
to teach people traditional art principals like with its fans, an aspect of the company that it
composition.” As part of its values, Splash considers to be an integral part of its business.
Damage is committed to improving its artists in “Our primary goal for us now is focused around
any way possible, whether that’s regular classes our own IPs and building up the reputation that
that teach varying skills to make for more we have with players. It’s almost like going back
well-rounded employees or the monthly to mod-making. We love games, we love making
one-to-one meetings that are used for games. We want that creative control.”
self-improvement rather than as an outlet of 12 Previous in-house projects of Brink (2011) and
months of banked criticism. “We put much more Dirty Bomb (2015) in some ways managed to set
effort on training than we actually have to,” says a precedent for this, too. Both revolved around

40
 DEFINING THE
VALUES OF SPLASH
DAMAGE
What are the core tenets of the studio, and how
does it enforce them? Richard Jolly explains...

When you hear the phrase “company values”,

Brink was a major IP it’s easy to roll your eyes. Most of us have
release for Splash
Damage, and got heard the faux-motivational term come out of
notable recognition an executive’s mouth and immediately sensed
for its unique,
caricature-style the dishonesty in it. But at Splash Damage it
character models somehow seems to have become grown
outwardly from within the developer, rather
than forced onto it from the higher-ups.
“We didn’t know what values were when
we started, I’ll be honest,” explains Jolly. “And
so we went to everyone in the company,
‘well... what are Splash Damage values?
We’ve seen them at other companies, what
do we hold dear?’ And so we went through a
several month process of calibration and
came up with our values.”
There are seven of these core values in
total, “We’re intensely loyal, we’re friendly and
trusting, we’re self-reliant, we put the team
first, we can express a can-do attitude; we
pursue mastery.” Now these might seem
rather like some corporation false-speak, but
they’re not just there for team leaders and HR
managers to spout to motivate the team.
“We’ve been keen to not just have them be
this exercise that has to be done, you write on
the wall and people salute them when they
come in. We made sure that we brought it
into the company from the day to day of the
company more than anything else.”
This begins at interview stage, but it trickles
Dirty Bomb has through to the way the company operates,
been its primary too. “Once people come in, we have a built-in
product for the
last few years, probation period, people are assessed at that
which it has point. But the other thing we do that you won’t
been adding to
with new find at any other company is the monthly
content and conversations. We found that the annual
improvements
appraisal just doesn’t work. We find that
doing it this way it just catches any issues
quicker, but better. It goes both ways, it’s not
just ‘how do you improve as an employee?’,
but also how do we improve as a company?
We’re quite introspective in that regard. So
that follows the six-month process, and then
culminates with a peer review where you’re
assessed by all of the people that you work on
how you live up to these values.”
If that sounds quite an intense, objective
way of figuring out a personality and how well
any given person might fit within the
company, Jolly stresses that “it’s not that
Splash Damage also you’re judged greatly on that”.
does work for other
companies, typically The idea is to find out who the “values
handling the champions are”, which is rewarded each
multiplayer
component of month with the Values Award.
single-player games

41
THE RIPPLE EFFECT

BEING THE BEST

What makes a studio one of the top 100 best
companies to work for…

NIEL VENTER, lead VFX artist

“So if you had to ask me
what the one thing I love
about the place, [my
answer] is actually the
people. Some of the
most ridiculously talented
people are here. So the
thing that made me come to
this company in the first place
was that I looked at this guy’s concept art and
I said, ‘Wow, I wanna make that!’, and I came
here to do that. That project went a [long]
time ago already, but it’s still there – that thing
where I go, ‘Oh, I wanna make that!’. You can’t
do that stuff by yourself, you can’t have all the
ideas, you can’t learn all the programming.
You can do only this here, because in a
different company you can do what they do, it Splash Damages
employees hard at
won’t be Splash Damage – and I can’t quite work on the next
give you the essence of what it’s like, but it is big project
different. I’ve worked a lot of different places
– and I’m not saying it’s better or worse – but
it has a very specific feel to it. It’s very much a
community, it’s not just a job.”

ANGELO DAL PRE, lead artist

“I can give a non-
pretentious answer: cool
products and cool
people. That’s it for me.
So, you are working on multiplayer, both laid the groundworks for what from the restrictions of working with publishers
something that’s exciting would be the online services that underpin the it can be independent enough to work on
while working alongside studio’s work and, most importantly, both had something that might be different and risky yet
people who are very skilful, an iconic, distinctive sense of style. In fact, it is ultimately rewarding.
very talented people that also this artistic drive to do something visually
happen to be very nice as well.” identifiable as much as technically impressive MAKING WAVES
that seems to push the whole of the Splash This has all put Splash Damage on its own path,
EROL KENTLI, lead artist Damage team. plotting a course as much for its unique identity
“The amount of freedom that “This is always one of our artistic goals,” within the games it produces but also within the
we get here as a company. explains Venter. “When we made Dirty Bomb, we culture of the company itself. It’s rare to see such
We’re doing our own wanted to make it look like London but we a passion for a business from its workforce, and
thing, and pretty much wanted to make it like our version of London. If in that sense it’s clear to see how the developer
everybody here you give yourself a little bit of licence to explore managed to break into The Sunday Times’s
understands all the way your own style, it’s as interesting developing that prestigious top 100 best companies list. At now
up that we do need to as it is the world, the narrative, the characters.” over 300 employees, a number of secret,
keep being creative. The But there’s an added benefit on a marketing level unannounced projects in the works and
people on the shop floor – as it can help studios to stand out from the intentions to look for a new office, “for that
the artists and the designers or crowd, an incredibly important asset in the campus feel and to allow for our crazy growth
whatever – they all want to get their kick out of games industry. “It is super scary,” he adds, plans”, says Jolly, Splash Damage doesn’t look
making really cool games, because we all alluding to one of the developer’s secret ready to settle for ‘just’ 47th on that top 100 list.
want to make games, we ended up doing this unannounced projects that we weren’t allowed “We’ve been looking outside of the industry for
job because we want to make games. So to discuss, “because while we believe in it, until it more progressive ways of running things,” says
we’re all brought into the fact that this place is actually ships we don’t actually know if it is a Jolly. “We try to make our values the core of the
trying to make cool games, and it’s handy good thing. Because if we show it to the business company wherever possible, and I think that’s
from a marketing point of view to make people – the suits – they don’t like new things, testament to the way we’ve been able to grow
something different rather than a clone of... they just want the thing that performed really the way we have with the non-hierarchical
whatever the [next big] thing might be.” well in the market.” Splash Damage doesn’t structure to the company and this feeling of
seem to accept that, and by looking to free itself autonomy and friendliness that we have here.”

42
 Andrés Ríos
artstation.com/artist/andresrios
Andrés is a freelance 3D concept
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork artist/digital sculptor and has found
that 3D sculpting is a way to tell
TIMING Whatever that you’re doing, try to work without any distractions stories through his images
for at least one hour, this will help get your engine started and be more
Software ZBrush, Marvelous
focused. Every work is an experiment and learning experience. So, for Designer, KeyShot and Photoshop
each piece, I like to make early render tests and paintovers to get an idea
of how the light will affect the sculpture detail, the composition and so on. HollowKing,2018

43
TIMING
CREATING WITHOUT PERMISSION

CREATING
WITHOUT
PERMISSION
We caught up with KitBash3d co-founders
Banks Boutté and Maxx Burman to find out
how they’re fuelling the limitless creativity of
artists everywhere

A
matte painter and art director, Maxx concept art and design is a pure one, as Burman
Burman has worked on Iron Man 3, Halo, explains, “We looked at this global community
Far Cry and Game Of Thrones, as of artists who are building these worlds and
KitBash3d co-founder Banks Boutté explains to thought ‘what tools can we make to enable and
us, providing an adulatory introduction to his inspire them as they create?’.”
friend and fellow founder Maxx Burman.
Burman returns the favour by stating, “Banks EXPERT QUALITY ASSETS
is a producer who’s always been on the With software becoming increasingly easy to
frontlines of where entertainment is going, use and 3D art growing more accessible, the pair
producing things like the first-ever social media noticed a lack of consistency when it came to
created series and a lot of VR projects over the the quality of artists’ work, hence the premium
last couple of years. He’s always looking at nature of KitBash3d’s assets. “There were a lot
where entertainment and content is going.” of places that were open platforms where
The pair met when Burman was working on anyone could come on and produce a model.
Iron Man 3 and stayed in close contact for What we felt we really wanted to do was make a
several years. “We kept just checking in with premium asset, so that every time you open up a
one another and eventually found it was the KitBash3d kit you know you’re going to get
right time to step out of what we had been doing something of a specific quality,” admits Boutté.
and create our own path together,” says Boutté. Although the kits are of a premium quality,
“We saw technology and the world around us Burman and Boutté insist that they aren’t
changing in the same way and we really wanted reserved for only premium artists. “We have a
to do something.” ton of young artists who are just getting into the
“Digital worlds are only getting more industry who have found that with our kits they
prevalent and the amount of people creating can break them open really quickly and get the
digital content is just expanding at an amazing things that they are trying to create faster,” says
rate,” continues Burman. “We wanted to be at Boutté. “It’s crazy how diverse our customers
the forefront of this and one of the vehicles to do are. They’re almost evenly spread between
that is kitbash.” The ethos behind KitBash3d’s hobbyists, freelancers and the studio world.”
production of premium 3D assets for VFX, KitBash3d’s diverse range of kits are worked on

44
 FREE
KITBASH3D
DEMO KIT
PAGE 10

45
CREATING WITHOUT PERMISSION

on by an ever-expanding team of around ten example, it’s not just ‘here’s a bunch of
artists, whom the founders have met at events references to copy’. We want them to study the
or had been suggested to them by the 3D architecture of the Wild West and find the
community at large. Burman adds, “Sometimes interesting shape language within that theme.”
we find portfolios online and just reach out to “With something like Future Slums or Utopia
the artist. We’ve hired people off ArtStation, but [both modelled by Mihailo Radosevic] you start
most of it has been through recommendations to get into a different process where you don’t
and word of mouth.” have something historical to base it off and that
A solid lineup of artists allows the founders to requires a lot more work on the design side,”
cater towards an individual’s strengths when continues Burman. “For the Fairytale kit
dreaming up the theme of their next kit. “One of [modelled byMatthew Paquin] we tried to base
the first things that we do is see what the it partially in reality and then stretch it. That was
modeller is actually interested in. Because if a tricky kit because we wanted to create
they’re really interested in a type of theme or something fantastical, that doesn’t exist in this
FIVE TIPS TO architecture then they’re going to do a much
better job of it,” explains Burman.
world, but in order to keep it grounded we
looked at a lot of towns in Austria, Germany and
BE A PRO He continues, “A really good example of this Belgium. We looked at the architectural style of
Go pro with Emmanuel Shiu, concept artist is our new Ancient Rome kit. Michal who those more medieval towns and pulled out the
(Blade Runner 2049) and host of KitBash3d’s modelled it actually studied Roman architecture common elements we liked, then exaggerated
How To Be A Professional Concept Artist in college and got his bachelor’s degree in it. them to create something a little more stylised.”
He’s extremely passionate about the subject

01 Be laser focused
Sharpen one knife. Many artists
think being a generalist makes getting
and because of that when he was designing this
kit every single thing was historically accurate.
He paid attention to how the Romans designed
PERFECT ART
Each artist is given three months to complete
their kit, with time dedicated to perfecting each
jobs easier. Imagine being an Olympic and built their buildings as well as the exact piece. “Before we start the kit we put together a
athlete. Would you have better success materials they used at the time.” big reference document that lays out the types
training for just one event or three? As a result of this attention to detail of pieces we’re looking for, basic shape
KitBash3d has been giving more language, the overall goal of the kit
design responsibility to the and a load of reference
artists, as Burman makes paintings,” explains Burman.

02 Set your bar

Compare your work to that of
your heroes. Is it just as good? If not, why
clear, “When they get a
prompt like our Wild
“From there we do a
rough low-poly blockout
West kit [modelled by of one piece. When
not? By practising this method, you will Nenad Merzel] for that gets approved we
learn to give yourself the best feedback.

03 Get noticed
Having great work is useless if
no one sees it. Network on ArtStation
and social media. Post your work
strategically. Do you want potential
clients seeing your works in progress?

04 Practice deliberately
Don’t stop after posting your
portfolio online. Go into each training
session with a clear intention. How can you
improve quality and technique? Practising
on autopilot equals your craft dying.

05 Make your best impression

You’re as good as your worst
portfolio piece. With roughly eight to 12
pieces, you will leave the viewer wanting
more. Clients will make their decisions by
the third image. Pablo Carpio,
created this
piece of cover art
for Wild West

46
A WHOLE NEW WORLD. A WHOLE NEW COVER
Sava Zivkovic on his Future Slums painting, his contribution to KitBash3d’s cover art series

01 Kitbashing Future Slums comes with 16

incredibly detailed building models
inspired by Kowloon Walled City. The models
02 Materials For the cover image, all the
materials were converted into Octane
Materials, my favourite renderer. I kept most of
03 Dirt maps Since most of the surfaces
are concrete, the material needed an
extra layer of dirt.
range from packed building blocks to towers, the materials pretty basic since I knew I was going I used Octane Blend Material and mixed in two
accompanied by small-scale details like AC units, to be far away from the models; the only materials textures with a dirt map. I set dirt material in
scaffolding, billboard signs and laundry hanging that got extra attention were the grey and beige Blend Material to red colour. Then replaced the
from the windows and trash on balconies. wall materials. red colour with any dirt texture.

04 Composition With a 200mm lens, I

flattened everything down for a large
sense of scale. To further support this scale, I’ve
05 Rendering I use After Effects as my
main compositing software.
The main render passes I use are Zdepth and
06 Compositing I used Red Giant’s Magic
Bullet Looks as my primary grading tool.
Layering is key here. I’d usually start off with
included a character as the only foreground Material ID for all of my compositing and masking bringing in more contrast with curves and spot
element, in the very lower centre frame, and used needs. An ambient occlusion pass was used here exposure, followed by lens effects, eg very
the existing architecture elements as a framing as well, just to bring out all those small-scale minimal chromatic aberration, diffusion,
device to draw attention to the character. details a bit better. vignetting and a three-way colour correction.

47
CREATING WITHOUT PERMISSION

THE PERFECT
BLEND OF KITS
KitBash3d 3D supervisor Mike
Golden on how these fantasy
Victorian towers were built in
just one evening

MIXING TWO KITS

In order to create this image, I
made use of the Industrial and
Victorian Kits right out of the box,
with the included textures and
little-to-no modification.

ATMOSPHERE
After arranging the models to
match the idea that I had in my
head, the majority of my time was
spent nailing down the composi-
tion and lighting.

48
 ONE-DAY CONCEPT
I was able to conceive, assemble,
and execute this image almost
entirely in 3D in a single evening.

QUICK TO USE
Without the KB3D kits, this
image would have taken ages to
design, model and texture, and as
a result, would probably never
have been made.

49
CREATING WITHOUT PERMISSION

Utopia’s cover
art was
created by
Leon Tukker

take one of those pieces all the way to For Burman the standout pieces
finals, setting our benchmark of what are more left of centre, “I always get
every piece will be before we carry it excited when I see people using our
across to the rest of the kit.” kits to create something more abstract
A lot of work also goes into the cover and not necessarily a straight-up city or
art that accompanies each new kit, each planet. Combining them to create more
being the work of a handpicked artist with an abstract compositions and crazy colours,
existing relationship to the subject matter. “I seeing how far you can push the style and
think a really good example of this is Jort van emotion by using the pieces as building blocks.”
Welbergen who did the Space Colony cover, half It is clear that for Boutté and Burman the
of the [modelling] references were his concepts KitBash3d journey is only just beginning, but
anyway,” explains Burman. “It was the same they’ve already learnt some valuable lessons.
with Leon Tukker when he did the Utopia cover. Yes on a technical level I’ve learnt what I like and For Burman those lessons have been all about
We were looking at his paintings as a reference don’t like, but more so than that I’ve learned how taking a step back from his artist role. “October
before we even built the kit. So when it came I like to be treated as an artist and we strive to last year I was doing all the covers for all the kits
time to do the cover it was a natural fit.” create that environment for all of our artists.” myself. Banks was telling me we could never
Despite being a quicker process than creating grow this with me in front of that computer for
the models themselves, KitBash3d’s cover art A CELEBRATED COMMUNITY one or two weeks out of every month,” he says.
does present its own challenges. Burman states, In its short lifespan KitBash3d has birthed a “The process of letting go and giving the
“We really want artists to create a piece of vibrant community of artists that use the kits to spotlight to other artists, trusting them to do
artwork that represents their sensibilities but bolster their own creativity and create something better than I ever could has been an
also showcases the kit. It can be a tough thing as astonishing new environments and concepts. amazing experience. It’s been so much more
an artist to have a lot freedom and not much Boutté has fond memories of the first time an fulfilling to be able to step back and enable other
direction. Then within that freedom to try and artist blew his mind using one of their kits, artists to do their best work, then watch as they
balance showcasing the kit and inspiring “When we launched we held the KitBash3d come back and blow us away,” he concludes.
everyone with which worlds can be created with Festival. Emmanuel Shiu came on and did a set For Boutté discovering a global community of
these pieces, that’s a big challenge.” where he came and broke open all four of our passionate 3D artists has been the ultimate
For Burman, running the art side of KitBash3d launch kits together and bashed his own space lesson, “This is my first opportunity to see how
is an opportunity for him to use everything he’s station with a full armada of ships. He took Art technology can bring us together on such a
learned throughout his career, but it isn’t just the Deco buildings, turned them on their sides and massive scale and it’s amazing to be a part of
techniques that he deems so important. “My used the antennas from the Neo-Tokyo kit to that. On our show we have the same people
goal is to give artists the creativity, freedom, make cannons. That was the first time I saw show up in the chat week to week and we get to
appreciation and ownership of their work that I someone create a world completely of their own know these people, their goals, trials, stumbles
always wanted when I was working as an artist. from our elements.” and their successes all together.”

50
 Edward Price
brightsplashes.com
Edward is a digital artist creating a
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork wide range of visuals using 3D
software, photography and
MODELLING This is a personal project for a 1960s racing car created in illustration techniques
ZBrush with everything built using the ZModeler tool – the ZModeler is
Software ZBrush, 3ds Max, V-Ray
fantastic at creating elements with lots of detail and accuracy – highly and panocapture.com
recommended! The completed models are then exported to 3ds Max as
FBX files and rendered in V-Ray. VintageDrive,2018

51
MODELLING
 Expert advice from industry professionals, taking you from concept to completion
All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist

52
Create a large medieval
environment in Blender
Learn how to re-create a 3D image in the style of 19th century
Dutch romantic art and built a beautiful scene using Blender

M
edieval scenes are a very common genre in
games and CG artwork. We often see the
characteristically shaped houses, characters and
objects in beautifully designed scenes. Nevertheless, the
renaissance genre, which became world famous in the 17th
century thanks to famous European painters, can hardly be
found in today’s 3D environments.
Sunny Town Square is a mix of renaissance architecture
combined with a 19th-century street environment. It is a
lovely combination to see large and stately buildings in a
dilapidated state. The city is overtaken by time and leaves
its scars behind.
This tutorial shows how to approach the creation of a
large environment scene, looking at what is important to
take into account and where the challenges are. Making
large environments is like a long journey, and I like to
explain how you get the finish line. I’ve also started a free
cc0 texture platform, check it out at texturehaven.com.

Sunny Town Square is

a mix of renaissance
architecture combined
with a 19th-century
street environment

53
 CREATE A LARGE MEDIEVAL ENVIRONMENT IN BLENDER

03

01 Motivation and inspiration Everything starts with

motivation, you need a lot of it if you want to keep
this up. Take a subject that is close to your heart.
Motivation comes and goes, if you do not have enough
connection with the subject it is difficult to sustain.
Do you recognise the feeling when you get excited about
something? This is a perfect reason to get started with it,
so it does not matter what genre it is.
ROB TUYTEL My office is full of traditional environment paintings,
Sunny Town Square, working atmosphere is very important.
2018
Software
Blender 02 Use a reference image There is nothing so useful
as a reference that shows the composition of the
scene. Especially for large environments, a good
Learn how to
• Find inspiration understanding of the looks of the scene is key.
• Look for the right image Most of the time I use old paintings to stay as close to
reference the source as possible.
• Build a block model
• Approach complex buildings
• your scene with props
• Make it look unique
03 Count all the buildings, objects and characters It
sounds very logical to make an overview, but a
common mistake is to start quickly without any structure.
• The importance of
characters Make a rough schedule of how much time you think you
• Schedule and organisation need to complete your scene. This gives an overview of
• Work with a deadline how much work there is. You also get an idea how many
days you need for all the work.
Concept
The concept of this artworks 01
is inspired by the 19th century
environment masters.
Combining this style with the
3D technique is an ideal way
of learning.

02

YOUR
FREE
DOWNLOADS
from filesilo.co.uk/3dartist
• Tutorial screenshots

54
04

04 Make a rough blockout Reference images work

great for visualisation, however, when you make a
blockout of the scene, you find out if this works out in 3D.
Photo references are accurate, but paintings and sketches
are most of the time out of proportion if you are going to
make this in 3D.
With a blockout you will find out in time whether you
need to make adjustments to keep the right composition.

05 Set up a lightplan Having a solid light plan at the

start of the scene is a must-have. It shows how
much extra time you may need to spend on the highlighted
areas. This doesn’t mean objects or buildings in the shade
needs to look low poly, but the eyes will focus much more
on bright spots. Adding some extra details, when you know
where these areas are, will improve the look from the start
as that will you save yourself a lot of time.

06 Start with a complex building This approach can of

course vary per person, but it works very well for
me. Large scenes are a long ride, and keeping motivation is
05
key, but sometimes it’s a struggle. If I complete the most
complex design at the start, then everything else feels like
small steps. If there are certain designs you favour, do not
make these immediately after each other, but spread it
over the whole project.

07 Always try something new in your work When you

are making artworks, usually you also want to grow
in your development. To prevent any artwork from
repeating the previous work, try new things. In Sunny Town
Square I liked to improve the building design with decals.
Maybe it will not work the first time, but by continuing you
will come closer and closer. You often quickly see what you
could have done better after completing your work. Use
this for a subsequent design.

Visit a location
There is nothing as inspiring as visiting a location.
Through the years I have visited dozens of locations,
this helps in the development of 3D scenes. Studying
buildings and looking at all the details often creates
06
new ideas. Take your camera with you and take
pictures of striking details.

07

55
 CREATE A LARGE MEDIEVAL ENVIRONMENT IN BLENDER

08 09

10

08 Making buildings is not as easy as it looks Let’s be

honest, the shapes of a building are not very
complex. You have walls, windows, a roof and a door.
Compared to organic designs, it looks much simpler.
However, if you look at a dilapidated building from up close,
you quickly see the complexity of the textures and shapes.
Assuming you work with tiled textures, a simple wall can
feel like a project in itself. Be aware when figuring out your
scene, if you pursue realism it can sometimes be more
difficult than you think.

09 Use the right textures The use of the right textures

falls and stands with a credible look. It is much
more important that a texture has the right proportions
and appearance than if it is a PBR map and has an 8K
resolution. I mainly make my own textures to get as close
as possible to the desired results. Until a year ago I only
used 2K diffuse and spec maps. It is about raising
awareness that a credible result starts with choosing the
right texture. I use a standard set of textures where I can
11
make almost anything I want. Right now 4K diffuse in
combination with spec, roughness, normal and
displacement maps are my standard.

10 Decals everywhere For adding leaking effects or dirt

on the street, decals are indispensable. No matter
how much I apply it in every scene, afterwards I always see
where there is a shortcoming. Too many decals does not
make your scene good, it’s about the balance and the look.
Think about why there is leaking or rubbish on the street,
just some decals can look misplaced.

11 Take care of filling the scene with props, everything

should have a function A common mistake when
creating a scene is putting objects in the wrong place. A
misplaced object can break your scene. Most people will
associate barrels and carts with the medieval times. I have
become very careful with this over the years. It’s better to
have far too few objects, than having a misplaced object
that adds nothing to the scene because it breaks the
illusion of what you see.

56
 13

12 Add characters I am not a character artist. My first

pieces of work did not have any characters in the
scene. It was only in the last few years that I started using
them. Characters add a piece of emotion that you can
never achieve with just buildings and nature. If you cannot
find anything useful, try using silhouettes or put them far
away in the background. It is well worth it.

13 Use light to create depth in your scene Most 3D

environments are still traditionally displayed in 2D
today. This means that you also have to work traditionally
with the use of light to bring depth into your scene. Work
with shadow and light streaks to add subtle depth to your
scene. You will be surprised how well this works. The
human eye likes to see depth, a scene with only sunlight or
shadow is therefore not inviting to watch.

14 Make sure your scene leads your eye through Have

you ever noticed that most paintings have a
see-through point? As a human being, we like to see an
open hole that is not boxed. Strangely enough, I have come
14
across this by chance by looking at paintings. I have
therefore started to use this in my scenes and it is currently
a habit. Do not stare at it here blindly, but keep it in your
mind if your work starts to feel too claustrophobic.

15 Make a deadline There have been times when I just

don’t step away from a scene. I will keep making
adjustments for weeks, but it did not get any better. Maybe
you are familiar with this, if this is the case it helps to
impose a deadline on yourself.
If that scares you because you know something is not
right, put your work aside for a few weeks after the
deadline and promise yourself to work on it for one or two
days. I am sure you will have come to new insights because
you have looked at it with a different view.

Make your own textures

Although there are many textures available online,
there is nothing more unique than creating your own
textures. No stone or floor is the same, it is therefore
important to show this difference. There are many
15
examples of how you can do this online.

12

All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist 57

 TEXTURE DISTRESSED CLOTHING FOR GAMES AND FILM

Texturedistressed
clothingforgames
andfilm
Following on from part on of our tutorial in issue 122, learn
how to unwrap UVs and texture character clothing

W 02
e are continuing our three-part series on the Cut shirt seams To begin, select Edge Mode on the
skeleton, props and environment for this pirate right-side panel. Select the edges of the shirt
scene. As you recall in part one, we left off by manually. By using this method, we will have much better
completing our Pirate Prisoner’s clothing mesh and ZBrush control over the UV unwrapping. We’re going to create a
detailed sculpt. We then decimated our meshes and slice up the side of the shirt, then under the armpit, down
exported the OBJ files making them ready for UV layout. the sleeve and through the wrist cuff. Once complete, do
So that’s where we will begin with part two. the opposite side of the shirt the same way. This will
Now, we will unwrap all of the asset UVs and set up the separate the shirt into two pieces, the front and the back.
appropriate UDIM file sets to prepare our meshes for
02
smooth importing into Substance Painter. Once in
Substance, we’ll assign base materials to each of our
meshes and begin adding layers of dirt and grunge details
to give our character’s clothing the worn, aged and
distressed look you would expect of a century-old
weathered skeleton, left to rot by his captors.

01 Use Unfold3D The first thing to do, once you have

completed your sculpt, is to prepare your UVs. To do
that for our pirate character, we are going to use Unfold3D,
which is a software used to unwrap difficult UVs.
First, you will import the low-poly meshes into Unfold3D.
Go to File, select Load, and locate your project folder.
We will begin with the shirt, so select the Shirt_Low.OBJ,
and Open the file.
01

Once in Substance, we’ll assign

base materials to each of our
meshes and begin adding layers of
dirt and grunge details to give our
character’s clothing the worn, aged
and distressed look
58
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59
 TEXTURE DISTRESSED CLOTHING FOR GAMES AND FILM

04

03 Optimise and pack UDIM tiles Once you have cut

and laid out all of the clothing, save your file. We’re
now ready to optimise the UV islands and pack the
selected parts onto unique UDIM tiles.
Cut parts have been provided, if you chose to jump right
into this step. Go to File>Load UV and select file:
PirateClothingComplete_low.OBJ. You’ll notice all the UVs
appear on one UDIM tile. In order to create the three
MICHAEL clothing sets we want for texturing in Substance, we will
INGRASSIA create two additional tiles. Press P on the keyboard to pack
Arrr…A Cruel Joke Tis the UV islands into the three UDIM tiles.
Be, 2018
Bio
Michael Ingrassia is creative
director of SteamLabs VR, a
04 Lay out UDIM texture sets The islands are laid out
nicely but the shirt, pants and accessories UVs are
scattered onto each UDIM tile, which would be a
virtual reality production
studio (steamlabsvr.com), nightmare in Substance. Reorganise each tile to contain
and founder/lead instructor one article of clothing: shirt, pants, accessories. Select all
of 3DTrainingWorkshop.com
shirt panels in your 3D viewport using ‘Island Selection
Software Mode’. Press G to group the selection.
Substance Painter, Do this for all three clothing selections. Once you have
Unfold3D, Photoshop
three groups, Pack once more and the islands will pack the
Learn how to UDIM tiles properly. You may need to manually adjust
05

• Unwrap UVs with Unfold3D

some shells to fit into the tiles more efficiently. Press S to
• Create UDIM tiles for each
mesh layer save your file.
• Create basic texture with
Substance Painter
• Add dirt and grunge with
Substance Painter
05 Set up Substance In Substance Painter, you will
open the low-poly OBJ mesh. Go to File>New then,
in the New project panel, click on Select. Locate project file:
• Use Photoshop alpha
stamping to distress texture PirateClothingComplete_low.OBJ. Select: Create a texture
Concept set per UDIM tile.
The primary focus of this Be sure Settings are on DirectX and Document
course is learning to create resolution is set to 2048. Press OK.
convincingly realistic worn,
aged and distressed clothing
for AAA games and film. Two
properties that inspired this
In order to create the three
design creation were
Uncharted 4 and Pirates Of The
clothing sets we want for texturing
Caribbean. What better, more
fun way to learn to texture
in Substance, we will create two
then with pirates! additional tiles
03

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06

07

06 Set up and bake normal maps With the skeleton

file open, you can see that the backfaces are not
being rendered. To turn on both sides of clothing, change
Shader Setting to ‘PBR-Metal-Rough-with-Alpha-Blending’.
Watch the video provided to see detailed process. To set
up maps for baking go to the left panel Mesh maps and
click on ‘Bake Mesh Maps’. We only want to set up and
bake our Normal map first, so click on None to turn off all
maps. Then choose just the Normal map. Here are the
settings to create maps for all three UDIM texture sets:
Output Size: 2048
Dilation Width: -1
Click on High Definition Meshes icon to open file:
PirateClothingComplete_high.OBJ
Use Cage: OFF
Match: By Mesh Name
AntiAliasing: Subsampling 8x8
Select: Bake all texture sets

07 Set up and bake other maps For the setup and

baking of all other maps, we’ll use the same setup
with a few minor changes. Once again, choose Bake Mesh
Maps. This time, select ALL, then turn off Normal and ID.
08
Change your settings for Ambient Occlusion and
Thickness. Apply these settings to create maps for all three
UDIM texture sets:
Texture Set: Apply to all
Secondary Rays: 256
Minimum Occluder Distance: .001
Self Occlusion: Only Same Mesh Name
AntiAliasing: Subsampling 2x2
Select: Bake all texture sets

08 Get started texturing the shirt With all maps

baked, we can begin texturing. We’ll work on the
shirt in this tutorial. Import the Smart Material provided in
the Fabric_Shirt project folder. To locate the material, enter
‘Fabric’ in the search panel of your Shelf. Make sure you are
on Texture Set 1002, which is the shirt UDIM tile. Drag the
Fabric_Shirt material to the Layers panel in the top right.
Then, open the folder and you’ll see Fabric_Base. By
selecting on Fabric_Base layer, you can make changes
below in Properties, such as increasing the UV scale to
make the canvas texture larger or smaller.

61
 TEXTURE DISTRESSED CLOTHING FOR GAMES AND FILM

You can easily rotate the stencil, 10

or scale it, finding your desired

position for adding strategic spots

09 Apply first dirt layer To begin adding dirt and

distress on the material, duplicate the base layer
by selecting it and press Ctrl+D. Now, select the new copy
layer and right-click to select Add Black Mask. On the
Black Mask, right-click and Add Generator. Then click on
Generator and select Dirt. Select Fabric_Base, copy layer
once again, right-click and Add Filter. Down below, click on
Filter and add HSL Perception, which is similar to Hue/
Saturation in Photoshop. Adjust Lightness slider first. Slide
left to darken the colour, and you will see the dirt starting
to show up. Next, increase the saturation to punch up the
colour strength a little. Continue adjusting the dirt: click on
Dirt layer, go down into Properties and play with Dirt Level
and Dirt Contrast sliders to adjust the dirt. Next, adjust the
Grunge Amount slider.
11

10 Add secondary grunge layer Add a Fill Layer on top

of Fabric_Base copy1. First, increase the Roughness
slider to around .9, then change the colour to a darker Olive
Drab green. Next right-click and add a Grunge by entering
in Search window. Select Grunge_Stains_Large_Hollow,
for example, and play with the UV Scale settings. You have
learned the basics of how the dirt and grunge filters work.
You can continue by experimenting and playing with
different maps or additional layers.

11 Paint manual detail layer Add alpha map Rust_Decal_

Alpha_03. Click and drag it to the Grunges shelf. Then
choose ‘alpha’ in the drop-down menu. On the lower panel
dropdown choose: project Prisoner Clothing Tut. It will
show up in your shelf in several locations, both the Alpha
shelf and the Project shelf. The stencil will show up on your
3D viewport. You can easily move the clothing around.
Using white colour in your brush, paint the drip texture
onto your shirt. You can easily rotate the stencil, or scale it,
finding your desired position for adding strategic spots or
grunge drips to the shirt.
09

62
12

12 Texture the sash & bandana Click and drag the

Smart Material Fabric_Diamond (in provided files) to
layers and it will apply to the mesh. Remove the material
from all other accessories except bandana and sash
meshes by clicking on your material layer, then right-click
to Add Black Mask. Now, the Fabric_Diamond material is
gone. To bring the material back, choose the Mesh Fill tool
and select just the meshes you want. Next, add ambient
shadowing to add depth to the material. Create a Fill Layer
on top of the Fabric material. Right-click and add a Black
Mask. Right-click on the mask and add a generator. In
Properties, begin adjusting the contrast slider to add more
or less shadow depth to the fabric. To dirty it up, add some
grunge. Change the colour, and even add additional Grunge
alphas, to enhance the final dirtiness and distress.

13 Prepare textures for baking With all textures

created, you are ready to export your maps. Change
names of your Texture Sets to PrisonerClothing_1001,
PrisonerClothing_1002 and PrisonerClothing_1003. To
Export, go to File>Export textures. Select your destination
folder and choose Select Folder. Under Config, choose
13
Unreal Engine 4 (Packed). That will give you the standard
Colour, Normal and ORM maps. You have no Emissive
textures for this so you won’t generate Emissive maps.
Finally, make sure to set the map type to Targa and 2048
size. Select Export. Now, in your folder, you will find all of
your baked texture maps in their proper folders.

14 Create distressed alpha map Using Photoshop, we

apply Alpha stamps to the shirt texture to create
more realistic holes and tears. Start by opening the Shirt
colour map. Go to File>Prisoner Clothing Alphas folder and
select PrisonerClothing_1002_C.png. Remove all colour
from this map so you have only black-and-white panels.
Press Ctrl+L to open the Level Editor and slide the right side
button to the left, until your panels become pure white. A
value of 27 should work fine. Press OK. Currently, the holes
are very simple and smooth. Select the layer and create a
Mask. Do all of your work on a mask so it’s not destructive
to the original map layer. Load the provided alpha brushes
into Photoshop and then select one of the alphas to use.
Here, we are using Alpha Brush #327. Next, make sure you
have 100 per cent black selected for your brush and begin
14
stamping the alpha along the smooth edges to give them a
torn look.

Change the colour, and

even add additional Grunge
alphas, to enhance the final
dirtiness and distress

Speed up alpha stamping

To help you to apply alphas much easier – rather than
rotating your alpha brush, which can be a bit
cumbersome, rotate your Photoshop Canvas instead.
Simply use the Rotate View Tool, press-and-hold the
‘R’ key then click-and-drag on your canvas with your
mouse to rotate. A large compass will appear in the
middle of your screen to show you the rotation angle.
Pressing Shift+R will rotate in fixed angle intervals.

63
 TEXTURE DISTRESSED CLOTHING FOR GAMES AND FILM

Michael Ingrassia
Game artist for 18 years specialising in AR/VR
content for game studios and theme park clientele.
Currently developing unique VR experiences
combined with motion simulators, ride systems
and robotics.

15 Export alpha channel Continue adding alpha stamps throughout your map. In case
you removed too much material, simply change your alpha stamp colour to white
and stamp to add more ‘shirt’ back to your shirt. Once you are finished stamping, the last
step is to combine the alpha with your colour map. Copy the alpha with Ctrl+A to select all,
then Ctrl+C to copy. Open a new copy of PrisonerClothing_1002_C.png. Go to the
channels and Add Alpha from the drop-down menu. Ctrl+V to paste your alpha. Now save
your file (Ctrl+S) as a Targa file 32 bit with Alpha Channels button selected.

Leviathan Mining Co, 2018

Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter
A 5D Virtual Reality motion simulator experience
designed for theme parks and VR arcades. Riders can
experience several different adventures of their choosing.

16 Final inspection and review Well, there you have it. Marvelous Designer combined
with ZBrush and textured with Substance Painter make a winning combination of
production tools to turn out awesome high-calibre distressed clothing.
I’ve certainly adapted these tools into my daily workflow and hope you benefit from
using them the same way.
Lost Legends: The Pharaoh’s Tomb, 2017
Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter
Virtual reality escape room adventure I designed and
developed for a client. The Pharaoh’s Tomb is one of two
puzzle rooms that players encounter in the adventure.

17 Support videos Wow… this was a monster of a tutorial to create. When I first came
up with the concept, I knew conveying all the information necessary would be
challenging, but fitting every setting and detail into the printed page is one of the more Return To Hogwarts, 2018
Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter
difficult parts of creating effective tutorials. Therefore, I gave you a bunch of support
A personal work that my team of interns and I assembled
videos to help demonstrate some techniques that were too difficult to put into words. If as part of an elaborate Kings Cross Station experience to
you would like additional help and step-by-step training please check out our video course push my studio production pipeline in virtual reality.
online at: 3DTrainingWorkshop.com.

64 All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist

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 MASTER 3DS MAX 2019’S OPEN SHADING LANGUAGE

Master3ds Max 2019’s

openshading language
Create your own hyperreal wooden floor by using
OSL nodes in 3D Studio Max 2019.1.1

T
he goal of computer generated imagery is to prepared in order to have a proper base for an advanced
re-create natural environments with rich details and shader setup. The tiles of the mosaic parquet will be
the simulation of physically plausible interaction composed of polygonal sticks in their original size to create
between light and matter in digital scenes. The most 16 by 16cm tiles. The shader work starts by using OSL
important aspect of this, after physically based rendering, nodes for the initial colour definition and the per instance
is probably feature-rich textures. In this tutorial you will variation of the hue. To break the continuity of the pattern,
learn how to utilise the capabilities of OSL in 3D Studio OSL code will help to create a gradient which will visually
M li i l ki and
Max to create a realistic-looking dh il used
heavily d mosaic i h tiles
separate the il from
f eachh other.
h Y ill als
You will lso learn how
pparquet floor. All details including scratches, colour to use procedural noises for the creation of intteresting-
vvariation and many more will be created with looking wood patterns which are derived from m photo
pprocedural textures. references. It is important to use a varriety of
The start of this tutorial different noise patterns to break the
wwill cover how the procedural look. At the end, you will
uunderlying learn techniques to bleend and mix
ggeometry different noises tog gether for a
mmust be working visual composition.
c

66
01 Prepare the mosaic parquet floor First, create proper 01

floor tiles. The first floor tile consists of seven

wooden sticks with a size of 16cm x 2.28cm x 0.5cm. One
wooden stick will be created. Its pivot will go to the down
left corner. Via the array function it is easy to create
additional instances in a fixed offset such as 2.28cm. All
seven wooden sticks will be grouped together. The group
pivot must be placed at the centre of the object. This group
will be instanced with the array function and include a fixed
offset and a rotation offset of 90 degrees.

02 Colour variation across all sticks Now it is time to

set up one initial colour in the material editor as
OSL colour. The tone will be something between brown
02

and orange. The OSL colour node will go into an OSL Lift/
Gamme/Gain Node as input.
Now it’s time to read out all the individual IDs with an
OSL Node Handle. Besides this node there must be also an
OSL Random by Index node created. The ladder input will
be the OSL Handle node. The range will define the colour
variation across the individual wooden sticks. Therefore the
Random by Index Node output must lead into the gamma
input of the OSL lift node.

67
 MASTER 3DS MAX 2019’S OPEN SHADING LANGUAGE

04

03 Tile separation with gradients The pattern looks

fine but for heavily used tiles it’s necessary to add
more detail to separate them. An OSL UV Channel node
will help call the first UV channel. Afterwards use an OSL
node filled with self-made code to create a gradient. This
gradient will be connected with an OSL add node in the
second input called B. The first input must be connected
with the Lift/Gamma node. The addition can be controlled
RAINER DUDA by changing the scale parameter. To slightly add the
Wooden mosaic floor, gradient it’s enough to reduce the scaling for B until the
2018 visual result looks acceptable.
Bio
Rainer is a VFX industry
professional as well as
university lecturer and he
04 Add the first layer pattern In the procedural world
a pattern comes from a procedural noise – it’s the
same in this tutorial. An OSL noise node will be the core of
owns a VFX company based
in south Germany. this step in combination with an OSL UV transform node. A
Software perlin noise must be scaled down to 0.1 with 3 octaves and
3ds Max 2019 a low step of 0.15. The value 0.8 will give a decent pattern.
Learn how to The UV channel node must lead into the UVW input of the
• Use 3ds Max OSL UV transform node. The Y tiling of the UV transform needs
• Master rich materials a smaller value like 0.35. The offset of the UV transform
05
• Learn procedural techniques will be connected with the random by index node.
• Blend and mix noise
Concept
In this tutorial you will learn
how important it is to analyse
05 Prepare deeper wood patterns To create more
interesting details, you can create another OSL
(2D) noise node with activated perlin noise containing a
photo references and choose
the right wood patterns based scaling of 0.05. The UV input of the noise node must be
on three categories – primary, connected with the UV transform node to achieve variation
secondary and tertiary
shapes – to help us re-create
on each object instance. Five octaves and an amplitude of
them within the shader. 3 will help to create good detail. The result of the noise
must be inverted with an OSL invert node. An OSL tweak
node will help to refine the pattern. As output minimum it
is necessary to increase the value up to 0.65. The result
can be multiplied with the rest of the branch.

The UV input of the noise node

must be connected with the UV
transform node to achieve variation
on each object instance
03

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• Tutorial screenshots

68
06

07
The result will be multiplied
with the second wood pattern
which is properly masked
and coloured

06 Add more colour variation Now create another set

of OSL nodes: a random by index node, followed
by an UV transform and a noise node. The max values at
the random by index node must be set to 360. The output
of this node goes into the rotate input at the UV transform
node where the tiling for XY is set to 0.0125. The output
must be piped into the noise input. The noise is a perlin
noise with a scale of 0.8. Five octaves and an amplitude of
3 will create a working pattern. In addition, the low and
high step can be modified for a more intense look.

07 Combine the previously made steps All previously

created branches must be combined together in a
way that enables easy modifications. At this step it is
08
recommended to add two OSL add nodes from the colour
menu and one OSL multiply node – from the colour menu
as well. The first OSL add node will combine in input A, the
plain colour including gradient and the first iteration of
wood pattern. The wood pattern scale must be reduced to
something like 0.15. The result will be multiplied with the
second wood pattern which is properly masked and
coloured. That result will be multiplied with the dark areas
where the dark areas got a brightness correction.

08 Enhance the wooden sticks To give the wooden

sticks in each mosaic tile more character, Arnold
nodes can be combined with the OSL graph. A curvature
node with a radius of 0.15 and an amplitude of 1.5 must be
piped into an OSL invert node followed by an OSL tweak
node to make the output look a bit brighter. The black must
be pushed up to a grey. The result will be multiplied with an
OSL multiply (Colour) node with the big graph. As a result
the individual tiles appear more visible to the viewer.

69
 MASTER 3DS MAX 2019’S OPEN SHADING LANGUAGE

10

09 Work on a proper specular reflection The specular

reflection of the Arnold standard surface will get a
full contribution by setting the first parameter to one. The
roughness will be driven by an OSL tweak node. The tweak
node defines an incoming value range and allows
modification of the incoming values with another filter via
a minimum and maximum value. The spec reflection will
be the reflection of the wood itself without coating.
Therefore the tweak node will get, as input, the noise node
from the darker areas. At the tweak node the input
maximum must be set to 0.4 to get a nice contrast.

10 Refinement of the specular reflection Up until now,

only the darker and larger areas were taken into
account in the specular roughness. There are plenty of
other details like the wood patterns that must be included
in the reflection roughness as well. Let’s now create an OSL
add node. Input A will be the tweak OSL map for the darker
areas, which is already connected to the roughness slot.
Input B will be an OSL invert node, of which the input is the
OSL noise node from the previous step. The result will be
11
piped into the specular reflection roughness.

11 Enhancements from procedural bumps To give the

material much more realism apart from the base
colour appearance and specular reflection, activate the
coat reflection. As coat reflection roughness works best
with the curvature node, and this removes the reflection on
the borders of the wooden sticks. Afterwards an Arnold
Bump 2D node will help to convert the OSL noise from the
first wooden pattern to a bump map. The Intensity of the
bump map can be reduced to 0.25 before it will be plugged
in the normal slot of the Arnold standard surface. That will
give the mosaic tile reflection much more visual quality.

The specular reflection of the

Arnold standard surface will get a
full contribution by setting the first
parameter to one
09

70
 There are plenty of
other details like the
wood patterns that must
be included in the
reflection roughness
as well

71
 MASTER 3DS MAX 2019’S OPEN SHADING LANGUAGE

13

12 Combine reflection with colour layers Now fine-tune

the coat reflection against the bump layer and the
specular reflection. An intensity value of 0.5 for the coat
layer against a value of 1 for the specular will guarantee a
proper mixture of both specular details. At this stage the
colour of the wooden tiles can look like raw beech, but on
most parquets there is a special coating on top, which is a
warmer colour most of the time, like a mixture of brown
and ochre. This coat layer colour can be achieved by
adding OSL multiply node from the colour menu.

13 Adjust bump intensity per instance The bump

intensity is working fine but it is too uniform across
the whole ground. Time to break this up. You must now
create another OSL random per instance node with a value
range from 0.05 up to 0.25. This random per instance
node will drive the height parameter at the Arnold bump
2D node, which is connected with the normal slot of the
standard surface. The pattern should look now more
natural and worn out. There should be some spots that are
more worn, and some spots that are less but they should
14
still match the overall style.

14 Create masks for colour discolourations At this

stage it’s time to add some small dark
discolourations with some round shapes to break the lines
from the wood patterns. Now create three OSL nodes:
random by index, UV transform and noise. The random
per instance node will get a range from 0.05 up to 1 but for
the Y axis use a value around 10 to maintain proper scaling.
This node must be piped into the offset input of the UV
transform with a tiling of 1 but for Y around 6. The noise
scaling must be 0.25 with simplex as type and between a
low step of 0.4 and a high step of 0.5.

15 Seamless transition of discolourations The noise

must be inverted with an OSL invert node from the
colour menu. Afterwards, you can control how dark the
dots should be by adding a new OSL tweak node. With a
brighter output minimum the dots will appear lighter. If the
visual appearance is just fine and matches old wood, it’s
time to add the dots by using an OSL multiply node on the
base colour branch. The last colour correction must be
15
multiplied with the dots to show all details on the wood. If
you want more control over the dot appearance, the
octaves for the noise are important for modelling details.
12

72 All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist

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 Expert advice from industry professionals, taking you from concept to completion
All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist

SUBSTANCE DESIGNER 2018.1.1

Perfect layering in
ERIC WILEY
artstation.com/wiley3d
Bio
Eric is a senior environment
Substance Designer
I
artist at Blizzard n this tutorial we will be learning various methods of multiple material types per object, because of this it will be
Entertainment and lives in
Irvine, California with his wife layering height maps in Substance Designer and the especially important to keep our masks updated and
and corgi. techniques I use for masking layers. While Substance organised throughout the layering process. This tutorial will
Designer excels at natural materials it can be very primarily focus on building your height map and creating
challenging to create and layer complex man-made objects masks which you can then use to create your Albedo,
convincingly while also trying to keep any clipping and Roughness, Metallic and Normal maps later on. For this
stretching to a minimum. tutorial I am assuming that you have an intermediate
I will show how I created this beach debris material understanding of Substance Designer and are familiar with
entirely in Substance Designer. I will cover shape creation, blending and the Tile Sampler node.
tile sampler layering and how I use flood fill and masks to
create or avoid overlap. I will also dive into how I layer
different types of objects and how I blend each layer.
Although it is more time-consuming, combining more
01 Create your object graphs Looking at reference,
I chose about 30 pieces of debris to build for this
material, each within its own sub graph. This will allow for
YOUR simple layers one by one is the best way to avoid the
intersecting height map issue that might turn most people
more flexibility down the road if I want to go back and add
details to a specific part. It also keeps our main graph
FREE away from attempting a graph like this. cleaner. At this stage I am thinking about how the height
DOWNLOADS One of my main goals is to keep the placement as maps relate to each other and also making sure I create a
from filesilo.co.uk/3dartist
procedural as possible and only hand-place select graphs variety of types and sizes. I’m not going to go too deep into
• Tutorial screenshots
• All final textures in 2K
when we need to. Unlike most natural materials we will creating shapes here, but my favourite tools are the Shape,
have many more types of objects and even some with Transform, Curve and Bevel nodes.

74
 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Turn to page 28 to learn more

02

02 Arrangement and scale Because we will be

displacing a texture based on a height map, it’s
important to arrange your objects in a way that won’t draw
attention to the limitations of a displaced texture. As a basic
rule I tend to have large, half-buried objects on the bottom
and work my way up to smaller, thinner objects on top. At
this stage I am deciding on the scale I want and thinking
about how I want my final composition to look. Remember
unlike natural forms, man-made objects have a specific size
so we can’t rely on Scale Random to add variety.

03 Start at the bottom My workflow involves using

Tile Sampler nodes to scatter my shapes and then
blending them together layer by layer. Keep things simple by
plugging in one type of object per tile sampler and spacing
them out. I tend to keep my Amount and Position Random
very low. This will keep objects within a tile sampler from
clipping into each other and also allow us to use flood fill for
different angles and values later on. For smaller shapes this
level of control isn’t necessary, but with bigger objects where
clipping will be obvious this is the best option.
03

04 Create overlap The most basic way to create

overlap in Designer is to control the values of two
layers and use a max (Lighten) blend or the height blend
node. To achieve a more natural look you want objects to
look like they are leaning on each other and slanted at
various angles. This way you might get a wooden board that
has one end above an object and the other end under
another. The flood Fill to Gradient Node is perfect for this.
You can either add or multiply this gradient to your objects
depending on what you are going for. To make it even better,
flood fill will randomise with every change so you can quickly
find a look you like.
01

04

Tell a story with each graph!

As you start to build your debris graphs think about
how each object might have aged over time in this
environment. Instead of building objects that are
pristine, try to make them damaged and worn. Bottles
and cans become dented and crushed. Plastics break
and fade. Wood on the beach becomes more rounded
and cracked. If this debris pile has been here long
enough then it might be sun-bleached or have
barnacles growing on parts that used to be
submerged. All these details add up to create a much
more believable material.

75
 TECHNIQUES

05

05 Masking and material ID Each time I blend a

layer with another I create a mask using the Height
Mask output from the Height Blend node. Many objects will
be partly obscured by the end and we will need these masks
to differentiate our objects throughout our material. Because
I have so many objects I decided to create a material id map
with my masks as I went. This will allow me to use the
Colour to Mask node later to make quick selections and I
can also include small metallic details in this map from
complex objects.

06 Think about value Since I’ve already used flood

fill on many of my layers already, a great way to get
more variety out of each layer is to use the Flood Fill to
Random Grayscale node. On layers that we’ve been using
the flood fill already this is especially easy to set up. Once I
06
blend each layer’s random greyscale by each layer’s Height
Mask I should have a texture where every single object is a
random value and masked correctly.
This plugged into a gradient map is a great starting point
for our Albedo map later on.

07 Use the mask input For certain objects like

intact bottles or cans you will want to imply that
they are sunk in the sand and not clipping through the object
below it. You can do this by adding together the masks of the
existing layers and then inverting it and plugging it into the
mask input of the Tile Sampler. Because of the randomness
with tile samplers it’s a good idea to create an extra buffer in
the mask just to make it even less likely that an object will
appear where you don’t want. This can be achieved by using
the Edge Detect node on your mask.
07

08 Watch your heightmap As you work

remember to constantly check your height map in
the 3D view with tessellation. Your texture will always look
best from above so be sure to look at it from multiple angles
to check for bad clipping or stretching. The downside of man
made objects is that you often have straight edges and harsh
elevation changes. You can minimise stretching by slightly
blurring your height map after the fact. If a blend is pushing
your values to white, using a Histogram Range node can get
your height map back within a working value range.

A great way to get more variety

out of each layer is to use the Flood
Fill to Random Grayscale node 08

Why does my Flood Fill

have errors?!
Flood fill was a game changing node, it’s hard to
imagine Substance Designer without it these days. In
order to work properly, Flood Fill needs shapes to be a
binary mask with a single border. If your shapes are
too complex and have internal details you will notice
errors in your flood fill nodes. You can fix this by using
an Edge Detect node on your mask. Adjust the Edge
Width slider to fill in any internal details until the
errors disappear. Now multiply your original mask
back over the inflated flood fill shapes.

76
09

While the Tile Sampler node is

powerful and will get you most of
the way there, don’t be afraid to
add the occasional object by hand
with the transformation 2D node.
This is especially useful if there is
an area of the texture that you
want to add interest to

Find a good composition

Debris and rubble materials are inherently busy. There
is a lot going on but it is still important to keep
10
composition in mind. It’s easy to get to the point
where there is just too much detail that it becomes
noise. You can add areas of rest by blending in sand or
dirt over objects. In some cases you might need to
introduce some bigger objects to help break up the
detail. Keep playing with your Random Seeds until you
find a composition you are happy with. It’s also a good
idea to occasionally check your tiling in the 3D view to
make sure your material isn’t obviously repeating.

09 Layering flexible objects Say you have a

flexible object like a rope or a cloth. Start by blurring
your height map with a Blur HQ Greyscale and blending
(copy) that on top of the unblurred version. This blurred
blend is masked by the silhouette of the object you are about
11
to add. Your heightmap should now have blurred shapes in
it. I then pipe that and the new layer into a blend (add) and
adjust the value to what looks good. The intensity slider in
the Blur HQ node will make your objects appear more or
less flexible while the object underneath maintains its form.

10 Finishing touches While the Tile Sampler node is

extremely powerful and will get you most of the way
there, don’t be afraid to add the occasional object by hand
with the transformation 2D node. This is especially useful if
there is an area of the texture that you want to add interest
to. Rotation is best controlled outside the transformation 2D
node as rotating this node can break tiling.

12
11 Making everything work together Once you’re
happy with your height map you can make everything
gel together by making the sand or dirt creep up the objects
and gather in the crevices.
I really like using Dust node for this but you can also use
the HBAO or Normal to Height HQ nodes. Combine this
mask with your original sand layer mask to create sand that
is collecting in all the cracks and corners.

12 Final render I chose to use Marmoset for my final

render. I’d recommend ditching the perfectly flat
plane and make one that has some height changes. This will
create a much more natural look and give you more shadow
to play with in your beauty shots. To help sell the depth of
this scene I went pretty heavy on the ambient occlusion and
cavity maps. To add even more interest I thought it would be
cool to go back to Substance and make a water material to
creep into the scene.

All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist 77

7
 TECHNIQUES

REDSHIFT, HOUDINI

Render with Redshift

STEFAN KANG
CHUN YIH
stefankang.com
Bio
in Houdini
I
Stefan Kang is a VFX/CG n this tutorial you will learn about my process to set up To enable the displacement texture, you need to add a
generalist based in Los
Angeles. In the past, he has the primary render settings using Redshift in Houdini. Redshift Object parameter on the SOP level of the
worked across a wide range of We’ll start off by setting up a material. Then, we’ll set up geometry. Then find the Tessellation/Displacement tab to
media including television
commercials, event particle render and custom AOVs. Finally, we’ll adjust the enable the displacement. It’s more efficient to use the
projection mapping and unified sampling to get a production quality render and set Redshift native Catmull-Clark tessellated surfaces, because
motion/title design.
up some basic AOV map for multipass compositing. I’m the extraction time will be lower and the final geometry is
breaking it up into a couple topics to make sure that I cover more GPU memory efficient.
as much as possible in my settings. Then I use a texture image over the colour layer as a
My goal is to show you the advantages of using Redshift mask to create different veins and control their colour. The
so you can utilise the GPU render. reason I’m using the blending mode to create the vein is
I will also cover some important features that will help because I want to be able to fully manipulate its position in
with your workflow. I hope this tutorial will encourage you rendering, so it can be applied on different shapes of
to use Redshift in your own projects. geometry. Next, go to the subsurface section, apply the
To accomplish this tutorial, it’s important that you have a transmittance colour and set the absorption scale to 30
basic understanding of Houdini and are familiar with with 1 as the scatter scale. The higher the absorption scale,
render engines. The Redshift version I’m using here is the more density in the transmittance colour.
2.5.51. Please make sure you have the latest version in
YOUR order to follow the tutorial.
02 Custom AOV setup Next, let’s set up some
FREE custom AOVs. This step is handy if you have

DOWNLOADS
from filesilo.co.uk/3dartist
01 Material setup Let’s start by setting up a simple
material before we move into rendering. Here, I’m
creating a displacement material using a colour layer to get
already generated a custom attribute to control your
effects. I often like to do this because I can create my own
custom RGB layer and output it into the AOV map. This
• Tutorial screenshots
the vein details on the surface. way the compositor will be able to further control the

78
01 02

effects using the AOVs. Go to the material network and

add a RS colour user data node. This node will allow you to
import the attribute and store it under the material. Then
you’ll need to go to the Redshift ROP output under the
AOV tab and create a custom AOV channel. Name the
attribute name under the Redshift ROP output. It’s
important to make sure the AOV name and the attribute
name are the same. Keep in mind that there are a couple of
different types of data. My attribute is mainly RGB colour
(float value) related, so I’m only using the Storecolour To
AOV node. If you are looking to export scalar or integer
value, then you should use the other relevant node to store
03
the value (the node I disabled).

03 Particle rendering Now we will set up a Particle

render in Redshift. By default, the Particles won’t
show up in the render unless you enable them. To enable
Particle renders in Redshift, use the option available in the
Particles of the Redshift OBJ spare Parameter and make
sure to enable Render Object as Particles. By default, under
Redshift OBJ> attributes, the automatic attribute
extraction is enabled. I usually turn it off and specify the
only attribute I need to use. This will help optimise the
memory. Now I’m allowing the use of this attribute under
materials to control the shader. For this particular project,
I’m using the pscale> RSMathRange (it’s similar to a
fitrange) to remap the diffuse and reflection, so the
reflectivity will be varied based on the size of the particle.

Importance of AOV rendering

When you are handling the rendering processes, it’s
very important to make sure that you have enough
control during the post process. Often when you’re
handling a larger sequence, it helps to do final
tweaking in comp rather than going back and
spending hours to re-render your sequences. Based
on the multipasses you have, you can also really dig in
to different passes to find out which passes are
causing the noise and simply just use a denoiser in
post to clean it up. This way you can make sure the
final images are the best quality!

79
 TECHNIQUES

04 05

04 Render setup – unified sampling Now we will

set up the sampling in the Redshift render
settings. The unified sampling in Redshift is designed to
handle AA, depth of field, motion blur and so on.
Therefore, it’s important to set the local samples (Specular,
Refractions, Brute Force GI, Lights, AO) higher than the
max sample. It’s recommended to have lower settings for
the adaptive threshold like 0.003, to get production quality
results. Here I am using 4 minimum samples and 512
maximum samples. The sample settings here are what I
found best for this project, but be aware that different
environments required different samples for a better result.
I also created a couple of materials like AO, Point Position
pass, UV pass for better control in post compositing.
06

05 Set up Brute Force and irradiance cache

Next we will jump into setting up the GI Engines.
For this shot, I’m focusing on using Brute Force as the
Primary GI Engine and Irradiance Pointcloud for the
Secondary. This way the Irradiance Pointcloud will help the
Brute Force engine to solve the areas that are harder to
solve by averaging the pixel colour variation. This process
will use the secondary GI engine for multiple bounces. If
you compare the two, you will notice the areas with noise
now become smoother.

06 Multipass compositing Lastly, we will be

setting up the AOV passes so we can do a beauty
rebuild in the compositing stage and make final tweaks and
controls to your image. I love doing this because a lot of the
time you will need to re-adjust colour grading or add some
2D effects like glow or depth of field and motion blur to
enhance the composition. All the AOV passes I’m using to
rebuild are: diffuse filter, diffuse lighting raw, global
illumination raw, subsurface scattering raw, specular
lighting, reflections, refractions, caustic, emission, motion
vectors, Zdepth. The image on Step 6 shows you how I put
together the passes with different blending modes with
Nuke being used for colouration to Linear, which is
effectively disabling the CS settings for that image. Normal
maps especially should never be colour corrected, as their
colour values are for controlling normal direction, so
changing them will upset your normal. Any colour textures
should of course be colour managed, and set to the default
sRGB, to match sRGB displays correctly.

80 All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist

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 TECHNIQUES

ICLONE

Animate faces
SOLOMON W
JAGWE
sowl.com
Bio
in iClone
T
Ugandan 3D artist and his tutorial covers my workflow of how I use iClone an affordable solution, to get their dream off the ground,
animator based in the USA, to create both facial and body animations for the and take it from paper to the screen.
with over 15 years’ experience
creating content for games, characters in my Ugandan/African animated

01
cinematics, simulations and children’s TV series, The Adventures Of Nkoza And Nankya. I Prepare your character and environment In
virtual reality apps.
have had this dream since I was a kid growing up in order for your custom character to work well in
Uganda, of bringing my stories to life using animation, but I iClone and 3DXchange, it is crucial that you prepare your
didn’t have the funds and team to pull it off. I tried for character model to have all the required blend shapes/
several years to bring the idea to life with the help of morphs for the facial animation to work.
friends, family and my two close 3D artist friends Bruno Reallusion has done an awesome job of providing detailed
Ssekandi (Uganda) and Nateon Ajello (USA), but the steps on how you can prepare your character. Visit their
progress was slow going, because we all had other YouTube channel for that insight. I also exported the set
responsibilities including family obligations. It wasn’t until I where the character was going to be animated, including all
started using iClone, that I truly felt I had finally found a the props they would need to interact with, such as the
program that made it possible for me to realise that dream. phone for Nankya to call her grandpa.
Being able to bring custom characters into iClone, using
YOUR 3DXchange, opened the animation possibilities to me.
02 Import character into 3DXchange Once you
FREE Using the iClone facial animation tools, I was able to create
convincing dialogue for my series. In this tutorial I am using
have a custom character with all the morphs
needed for the facial and body animations, export your
DOWNLOADS the little girl called Nankya, as the case study. The character as an FBX file, and import it into 3DXchange. You
from filesilo.co.uk/3dartist
workflow is applicable to other characters. I am hoping can use FBX 2011 or 2012. You need to have the 3DXchange
• Tutorial screenshots
that this process helps others out there who are looking for Pipeline Edition to get the best results.

82
 02

03 Inspect and export character to iClone Take

the time to check that your model’s morphs match
the morphs that are listed in 3DXchange under the
Expression Editor. Click on each tab for Eye, Jaw, Viseme and
Muscle. If any of them are missing, click on the missing one
then toggle the auto key and shape your character to match
the 3DXchange shapes.
This step is extremely important because iClone and the
Faceware Facial plugin need all those listed morphs in order
for the facial animation to work properly.

04 Organise your project folders In order to get

your character into iClone, 3DXchange offers two
main options. You can either send the character directly by
clicking on Send to iClone or you can use the Exporting to
iClone Content dialogue option.
In both cases, I recommend first creating a folder
structure broken down into Character, Props and Animation
Sub folders under the Content Tab in iClone. This has saved
me countless hours of searching for files, and also makes it
easier for iClone to load your content faster.
03 04

05 Plan your Dialogue Shots This is the stage

where you need to refer to any storyboard or
animatic you have created to gauge what your character
needs in terms of facial animation and dialogue. I broke
down Nankya’s animations into Active Facial Animation and
Passive Facial Animation. Active is when she asks her
grandpa a question and Passive is when she is listening to
her grandpa answer the questions. That approach enabled
me to decide which iClone facial animation tool to use.
01

05

Render final animation using iRay

One of my favourite features of iClone, is the ability to
animate and then render the completed animation
right there inside of iClone. I used to export my
animations out to render in Maya and 3ds Max using
Octane, but now that Reallusion has incorporated
iRay, iClone has indeed become a one-stop animation
shop for me.

83
 TECHNIQUES

06

06 Passive animation using Facial Mocap for

Faceware I broke down the passive animation
further into blinks, smiles, amazement, surprise, quizzical,
questioning and affirmation. I positioned myself in front of
the webcam and recorded a long take of those individual
animations, making sure I gave each take a starting ‘no’
animation pose and one for the end, with an average of two
seconds of acting in the middle. The purpose for that is to
make sure they can be blended with other each other after I
cut them into individual iMotions.

07 Active animation using Facial Mocap for

Faceware I categorise Active Facial Animation as
the character Dialogue. When Nankya calls her grandpa, I
used the Faceware iClone plugin to capture that dialogue.
iClone offers several tools to achieve that including
07
automated audio file and dialogue script processing, but my
favourite and preferred approach is with Facial Mocap for
Faceware because of its ability to capture nuances. Make
sure to calibrate your face before you start capturing. A
camera that supports 60fps will offer the best result. I use a
Logitech HD webcam, but you can use any other type you
can get your hands on.

08 Motion LIVE for combo facial and body If

you have access to a Perception Neuron suit, this is
a great way to capture both the facial animation and the
body at the same time. It can be time-consuming to capture
the face separately and then try to line up the body mocap
later, which in some cases works well, but by using the
Motion LIVE approach, you are able to see your character
respond to both the mocap suit and the Facial Mocap for
08
Faceware in real-time!

09 Create facial animation bank iClone offers a

neat structure that enables you to reuse the
animations you have created for your characters face. I often
find myself working towards a set deadline for a shot, for
example if I need Nankya to blink. To save time, I use the
Facial Mocap for Faceware to record various blinks of myself
playing out the emotion I can reuse later on, and I save it in
the Face folder. I make sure no other animation is on the
timeline, that way when I load those saved blinks and smiles,
they layer nicely on the timeline.

If you have access to a

Perception Neuron suit, this is a
great way to capture both the facial 09

animation and the body at the

same time

Export completed animation as FBX

You can still use other programs to render the
completed animation. To do that, export the entire
scene with the character or just the character alone,
as an FBX file. If you have added physics to, say, the
clothing or hair of your character, you can export the
scene as an Alembic file, which retains the simulated
animation, and import that into programs like 3ds
Max, Maya, and Cinema 4D.

84 All tutorial files can be downloaded from: filesilo.co.uk/3dartist

 Keita Okada
artstation.com/yuzuki
CEO of Villard Inc, Keita is primarily
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork a creature artist, based in Tokyo. He
previously worked as a digital
MODELLING This piece was sculpted in ZBrush, I was aiming for the look sculptor in the video game industry
and feel of clay. In KeyShot I modified the lighting from basic to interior
Software ZBrush, Keyshot,
mode so it could be expressed in this beautiful way. To me the most Photoshop
important thing, besides the fine details, is creating the overall silhouette
and the feeling of dynamism within the piece. Squirrelphantombeast,2018

85
MODELLING
 Industry experts put the latest workstations,
software & 3D printers through their paces

Redshift 2.6 for Houdini

We take a quick glimpse at Houdini integration in the only GPU
renderer with an ‘Approved for Hollywood VFX’ badge
Redshift has
N
owadays almost every company who latter has quite a rich feature set, which
originally worked on developing a CPU doesn’t just help to quickly achieve good many years of
renderer has a GPU version in the
works, but most of them are not released yet
results without comp, but can also deliver
more convenient feedback for look-dev.
development
or are not matured to use for VFX production. Redshift works in all the native Houdini behind it
The advantage of Redshift is that it is purely render outputs (Render View, MPlay, viewport
GPU based with many years of development overlay, file output) but has also a custom
behind it. Additionally from a Houdini user’s render view, which is more responsive and has
perspective it is the only tightly integrated and additional features like the switch between
production proven GPU renderer on the progressive and bucket rendering, denoiser
market. As is normally the case in the realm of button, and colour management settings.
successful renderers, Redshift has been Of course Redshift isn’t as integrated as
through every step of the ladder, starting in Mantra but supports, for example, Material
the product visualisation industry, followed by Style Sheets which aren’t usually found with
architecture, indies, then adverts and VFX for other third-party renderers. Instancing also
TV. But recently we can see more and more works well with both the Instance OBJ node
Redshift-rendered sequences on the big and with the Instance point attribute. We can
screen. For example Hydraulx adopted also use native particle rendering which
Redshift in their pipeline, starting with the instances a sphere on every geometry point
Rampage movie. For those who are interested and the only limit is the system memory.
in the details, there is an article on the Redshift has this out-of-core feature for other
Redshift blog. geometries and textures as well, so the
The first impression of Redshift for a weakest side of GPU rendering isn’t a big issue
Houdini user, who would have used Mantra with Redshift and in those cases, it is still
before, can be described as a similar faster than with a CPU-only renderer.
experience to driving a Tesla electric car for Just like other third-party renderers for
the first time with the so-called ‘Ludicrous’ Houdini, there is a container material node for
acceleration mode. The extreme performance the Redshift shading nodes. We can access all
gain makes deadlines more achievable with the nodes there, of which there are quite a
frequent iterations, especially with the two few. For those familiar with physically based
denoiser options released in version 2.6: Optix shading, it’s easy to build proper networks.
and Altus. The first is free, but Altus needs an The material nodes are not just fast shaders
additional licence, which is discounted for but mostly physically correct. The volumetric
Redshift customers. Both of the denoisers shader is a bit weak as there is no phase
seem to be a working solution for the never function and texture inputs, but there is a
fully dampening GPU noise. This is the most global one in the ROP node to simulate fog
obvious disadvantage of any GPU-based with better shading capabilities.
renderer because the computation isn’t Redshift isn’t bug free but with updates
always as precise as with CPU renderers. rolling out frequently with the developers
Usually we get a pretty decent image for being keen to see feedback they usually fix
look-dev in few seconds, but for a final render them in a short period of time. The
it’s hard to get rid of the noise. community is good and helpful, there are
Recent releases of Redshift received many many enthusiastic users on the official forum,
other useful features like multi-step motion some with multi-year experiences.
blur, Cryptomatte support and post FX. The Greg Barta

86
E SS E N T I A L MAIN Hydraulx used Redshift to help them render VFX
for the film Rampage. Read more at bit.ly/2OiOzkC

BOTTOM LEFT The Hydraulx team were able to

manipulate scenes much quicker thanks to Redshift

BOTTOM MIDDLE It’s best to use the Redshift Render

View where we can switch on the denoiser. With low
sampling, we can achieve nice painting-style images

BOTTOM RIGHT Hydraulx used Redshift for their

complex creature work too

BELOW The available Redshift shading nodes in Houdini

Essential info
Price $500
Website redshift3d.com
CPU i7 or Xeon equivalent, 3.0GHz
OS Mac OS 10.11 / Windows 7 / Linux
GPU NVIDIA with CUDA compute capability
5.0+ and 8GB VRAM recommended
RAM 16GB recommended

Summary
Features
Performance
Design
Value for money

Verdict
The performance is 5+ stars for Mantra users. We
expect that v3.0 will get the fifth star when it arrives

87
CREATE THE IMPOSSIBLE
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 The inside guide to industry news,
VFX studios, expert opinions
and the 3D community

090 Community News

The Rookies
After almost 10,000 entries, this
year’s winners are finally revealed

092 Industry News

I think audiences RenderMan 22
have been keen to Pixar releases the latest iteration of
its renderer and Method Studios
acquires Atomic Fiction
go back to the 094 Opinion
handcrafted feel James Hattin
David Sproxton, The VFX Legion founder on how to
make it as a remote VFX artist
cofounder,
Aardman Animations 096 Industry Insider
David Sproxton
The cofounder discusses the revival
96 of stop motion and CG hybrid films
To advertise in The Hub please contact Chris Mitchell on 01225 687832 or chris.mitchell@futurenet.com 89
 COMMUNITY NEWS

Asad Manzoor cites

Zdzisław Beksinski,
Guillermo del Toro, Phil
Hale, Junji Ito and HR
Giger as huge
inspirations on his work

Winners of this year’s The

Rookies awards revealed
The coveted international student awards for film, animation, games, virtual reality, motion
graphics and 3D visualisation has announced the victors after almost 10,000 entries

W
ith The Rookies receiving a total of 9,971 film or videogames industry and eventually towards
digital projects created by 2,914 students from sculpting his own characters and creatures.
more than 87 countries worldwide, choosing Winner in the Visual Effects category, Asad Manzoor,
this year’s winners for the Autodesk-sponsored awards has also learnt a valuable lesson from the experience,
was no small task. “It always seems so cliche to keep “I’ve learned to not be precious about my work. I’d often
saying that the quality and standard of entries keeps spend so much time on one piece that before I’d know it,
getting better, but it simply keeps happening,” says a month would go by, and I’d have nothing to show for it.
co-founder of The Rookies, Andrew McDonald. Setting strict personal deadlines and releasing shots even
The judging panel was tasked with picking a winner for if I didn’t love them forced me to grow faster.” For
the following: Feature Animation, Digital Illustration, Manzoor, the win has cemented his love of seeing a
Visual Effects, Game Development, Virtual Reality, 3D project through from beginning to end. “I’d probably
Motion Graphics, Architectural Visualisation, Product enjoy being a CG generalist or a concept artist, pretty
Visualisation, Film of the Year, and Game of the Year. much any role that allows for as much creative freedom
“It was really eye opening to see the variety of artists as possible,” he adds.
around the world,” says this year’s Feature Animation There’s no doubt that taking the first tentative steps
winner Alvaro Zabala, discussing what he has learnt from into the 3D industry can be a daunting time, as winner of
the experience. “Every one of the Game Development category
them had a different approach to We are still constantly Peyton Varney admits, “It’s exciting
each project and I realised that blown away with the and scary. I think any career involving
one method is not necessarily art can be hard because, at least for
better than the other.”
quality and diversity of me, my art is an expression of who I
The deserved win is sure to new talent am and a part of me that I am sharing
boost Zabala towards his goal of Alwyn Hunt, with the world. The realisation for
becoming a character artist in the co-founder of The Rookies Varney has been that even after his

90
 Peyton Varney aims to
capture moments in his
work, with sights, sounds
and smells of the
outdoors often helping
him to generate ideas

time as a Rookie comes to an end, he’ll never stop

learning, “It takes a lot of time and dedication to
constantly improve your skills as an artist. This never
stops either, the industry is full of amazing talent and
people with far more experience than me.
“I am not really scared by that, it just makes me excited
to learn more and keep growing.”
Each of this year’s winners were selected by a panel of
industry talent that includes John Howe (famous for
illustrating JRR Tolkien’s fantasy world), Pavani Boddapati
(CG supervisor, Weta Digital), Rob Coleman (head of
animation, Animal Logic) and 60 other equally respected
industry veterans. The panel scored entries based on
creative skills, technical skills, presentation, variety of
skills, complexity, raw talent and employment potential.
A trawl through this year’s winners and entries will
reveal a vast array of styles and skill sets, running the
entire gamut of 3D and digital art. For Rookies co-founder
Alwyn Hunt the sheer volume of high quality work makes
the annual selection of winners an increasingly difficult
Alvaro Zabala believes
task, “People are genuinely shocked when they discover that his work is a
how amazing the student work is these days. Even after reflection of the cinema
and classical art that
all these years we are still constantly blown away with the influences him
quality and diversity of new talent.”

Get in touch… www.3dartistonline.com @3DArtist Facebook.com/3DArtistMagazine

91
 INDUSTRY NEWS

Innovate
The latest release
UK backs
of RenderMan
adds advanced
lighting technology
ColorwayAR
used on films like
Incredibles 2 21-month industrial
research project into
next-gen immersive tech
goes ahead
Foundry has unveiled details of
ColorwayAR, a 21-month industrial
research project supported by Innovate
UK, which will allow artists to streamline
their pipelines by viewing objects in
augmented reality (AR) before they
produce a physical prototype. The
Footsoldiers, one of the world’s largest
independent footwear design
consultancies, will also be involved in the
project. The technology will allow
product designers to create interactive

Pixar releases AR environments inside the Colorway

application. They can then share the
environment with internal or external

RenderMan 22 stakeholders, who can interact and

collaborate within it.
2D design images and presentations
will be automatically transformed into a
The update introduces interactive performance projected, interactive image that can be
viewed on a flat surface. ColorwayAR
as well as state-of-the-art features also reduces the need for physical
prototypes, creating less of a burden on
Pixar has released the latest version of its providing fluid feedback for faster iteration. the supply chain and granting designers
Academy Award-winning rendering software, Improved workflows will also enable new kinds the freedom to focus on their vision.
RenderMan. The update focuses on artist of collaboration between filmmakers, Visualisation technology from Foundry’s
productivity, improving data management and a transforming traditional pipelines. Academy Award winning Nuke software
host of new features. The release also introduces the advanced is also incorporated, the project is
With version 22 RenderMan is aiming to lighting technology used on Pixar’s own animated scheduled to commence in late 2018.
redefine production rendering by delivering feature films, including Finding Dory, Cars 3, Coco
photorealism with artistic controls, enhanced and Incredibles 2. Pixar’s research and
interactivity, and robust scalability. development division has worked to provide
A major update to the software’s core features that allow users to produce superior
architecture means that RenderMan can support imagery faster. As a result RenderMan 22
‘live rendering’ at every stage of the pipeline, delivers the groundwork for Universal Scene
Description, a new scene management
technology developed by Pixar. RenderMan artist
Disney debuts VR short film tools for Maya, Katana, and Houdini have all
Walt Disney Animation Studios has shown been comprehensively updated. The upgrades
off its first VR short film at SIGGRAPH make live rendering faster and more robust while
2018. Directed by Jeff Gipson, Cycles uses also supporting new kinds of interactive edits
virtual reality to show the life of a house such as modelling, animation and grooming.
over several decades. RenderMan 22 is now available for download,
The story follows the ebbs and flows of individual licences are available for $595, with
The project will initially research and develop
a growing, changing family, and the $250 for yearly maintenance. More information an AR visualisation tool for footwear, before
interpersonal challenges they face. can be found on the official RenderMan website, branching out to the broader design industry
or contact rendermansales@pixar.com.

HAVE YOU HEARD? Cebas started a new season of webinars hosted by established FX experts on 24 August

92
Method Studios
acquires
Atomic Fiction
Atomic Fiction will join Method
Studios, Deluxe’s global VFX brand,
as part of a strategy to deepen the
company’s talent base
Since its inception in 2010, Atomic Fiction has built a
reputation for creating high-quality VFX, with studios
in Montreal and San Francisco.
Ed Ulbrich, president of Deluxe VFX and VR/AR
for Method Studios says, “When we started talking
we learned what a great culture they’ve built, and our
vision resonated with them as well.” Ryan Tudhope
who, along with
Atomic Fiction co-founder Ryan Tudhope will co-founder Kevin
continue to lead the Montreal team creatively. Fellow Baillie, will now
report to Method
co-founder Kevin Baillie will take on the new role of Studios’ Ed Ulbrich
creative director and senior visual effects supervisor.

Maxon reveals Limitless 3D design with VR/AR

Cinema 4D Overhauled version of software
has been developed in
Release 20 collaboration with 3D artists
Groundbreaking update delivers With more companies adopting virtual reality
advanced new features and into their workflows, MARUI-plugin has
streamlined workflows to artists developed its latest version in collaboration
with 3D artists. As well as a new and
MAXON has unveiled Cinema 4D Release 20, improved user interface, it also features a
a new version of its iconic 3D design and comprehensive VR tutorial to explain every
animation software. Release 20 introduces feature, including voice commands, a
high-end features for VFX and motion graphics controller offset widget, and customisable
artists. “We are excited to be delivering hotkey commands. A free-tutorial version is
high-end tools and features that will streamline available. Readers of 3D Artist can start using
workflow, and push the industry in new and MARUI with a 90% discount for the first
exciting directions,” says David McGavran, month ($5). Simply visit the MARUI website
CEO of MAXON. Cinema 4D Release 20 made at marui-plugin.com/3dartistonline and then
its debut at SIGGRAPH 2018. enter the password “3DAO”. MARUI 3’s new controller offset widget g eliminates
the need for the user to raise their arms into the air

Software shorts Bringing you the lowdown on product updates and launches
Flowbox 1.7 Unity 2018.2 Unreal Engine 4.20
Flowbox has a spent hundreds of The latest update introduces a 4.20 combines the latest real-time
hours working with Roto artists range of improvements, including rendering advancements with
across the globe, resulting in an 2D Sprite Shape, which gives improved creative tools, making it
intuitive and comfortable new interface designers the power to sculpt and bend worlds easier for developers to ship blockbuster games
complete with industry standard and internally using a visual layout tool. There’s also a new 2D across all platforms.
engineered solutions such as rotoDraw and animation system that makes it easy to create Elsewhere there are upgrades to the UE4
rotoSnap. It also includes the Integrated Mocha animated characters. Personal licences are free, Datasmith plugin suite, such as SketchUp
Planar Tracker. A Flowbox licence is available for Plus licences cost $25 per month and Pro support, making it even easier to prepare CAD
$37 per month. licences are priced at $125 per month. data. Unreal Engine is free to use.

DID YOU KNOW? Nikita Diakur’s groundbreaking CG film Ugly is now online and can be watched on Vimeo

93
 OPINION

How to become a remote

VFX artist: the skills, tech
JAMES HATTIN
Founder of VFX Legion
and experience you need
vfxlegion.com
VFX Legion’s James Hattin gets real about the challenges facing remote artists

R
emote VFX work is mostly egalitarian – almost any time and place wasn’t ideal. I left there very broken from
trained artist can do it, but the unique rigours and an artistic standpoint… but also ready to learn, look at my
quirks of the career may not be right for everyone. own work critically, and accept new information from
Ready to work alone in a dark room with no one around to people. I logged a decade of experience before I broke out
support or talk to you? Let’s break down some of the skills of being a ‘mid-level’ artist in both skill and mindset.
you’ll need to thrive in this space. Once an artist has the required skills and experience in
Visual effects is an interesting field. Even when seated the craft, it’s time to think about the considerable
in an office full of people, most of your fellow employees technology needed to execute remote VFX work.
plug in their headphones and work on making the magic Many of the artists at VFX Legion have very capable
that we all see on the screen. How is it any different at machines at their disposal. Most have their own software
home or in a private office? licences as well. A professional remote artist will bring his
Like cooking, studying a new language and any other or her own set of tools into the equation.
‘taught’ skill, VFX artistry requires training, For much of what Legion does, having a
learning and practice. The best place for solid state RAID or M.2 drive on the
this is at a studio with other people motherboard is the holy grail to
that you can instantly see, hear working at speeds much greater
and collaborate with. than are possible in a facility.
Human-to-human Most artists also have at
connection is the best way least one strong Nvidia
to learn the art of visual graphics card to take
effects. Finding a place advantage of the CUDA
to hang your hat for a cores in Nuke and
while and pick up some Maya, as well as speed
tricks is always the best up renders in Redshift.
way to go. Once you For artists that remotely
have a reasonable skill connect via Teradici or
set, that’s when you can Remote Access, a beast
look out for remote of a machine isn’t really
opportunities. needed – but a solid
There’s a sophomoric internet connection is.
hurdle that exists in almost Artists out in the world
every artist’s way, and in my should always be able to move
experience, it takes six to ten years of around a bunch of files or active video
experience to really get over it. Here’s an streams from thin or zero clients.
example: a supervisor suggests the best way to Not everyone is cut out to be a remote artist.
accomplish a task, but the cocky artist tunes out and There’s a level of organisation and self-starting that is
considers his or her own way to do it. If the end result is needed to keep someone on task.
the artist locking eyes with the supervisor and saying, “Oh, The transition from a facility – with a screening room, a
I know a better way. I’ll do it my way,” then that artist isn’t supervisor nearby and the chance to iterate until the shot
ready for remote work. is right – can be daunting.
Almost all artists go through this stage, unless they are Remote jobs require more finished work out of the gate,
brought up from early in their career in a larger shop with a and there are fewer rounds of notes and less ‘exploration’
positive culture. The shop-hopping, junior-artist-turned- of ideas. There simply isn’t the bandwidth and schedule
mid-level-artists tend to get cocky with their skills and much of the time. Much of the work that is handled
knowledge. This is the wall that one must get over to work remotely benefits from a solid understanding of what
well with other people, including supervisors and facility needs to be done, and an exacting implementation of a
owners. Experience is great, but humility is even better. given technique.
My own experience was landing at ILM while still full of Like any job, remote work has its own obstacles and
myself. I had weekly ‘talking-to’s by my compositing limitations. But for the right artist – a resourceful,
supervisor. I lacked the kind of humility that they embrace boundlessly-motivated VFX machine who can contend
there, and it wasn’t until very late in the project I started to with the emotional and technological demands of the gig
truly ‘get it’. I regret little in my life, but being cocky at that – it can bring immense rewards and satisfaction.

94
QUALITY. INNOVATION. RESPECT
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 INDUSTRY INSIDER

David
Sproxton
How the cofounder helped
shepherd Aardman into one of
Job title Cofounder and
executive chairman, the top stop-motion studios
Aardman Animations

W
Location Bristol, UK hen David Sproxton started Aardman with
Website Peter Lord in 1972, they had already been
aardman.com
collaborating on animation at school. Soon,
Biography Beginning with
Morph, David has helped their stop-motion Plasticine sensation Morph would be
mould Aardman Animations instantly recognisable around the world.
into a behemoth.
Since then, Aardman, with Sproxton taking on the role of
Portfolio highlights
• Early Man, 2018
executive chairman and producer on the studio’s releases
• Shaun The Sheep Movie, 2015
– including Chicken Run, The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit,
• The Pirates! Band Of Misfits, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates! Band of Misfits and Shaun The
2012 Sheep Movie, has become one of the premiere stop-motion 01
• Arthur Christmas, 2011 outfits, while also dabbling in CG animation.
• Shaun the Sheep (TV), Aardman’s most recent release was Nick Park’s Early
2007-2010
Man. Sequels to Shaun The Sheep Movie and Chicken Run are
• Flushed Away, 2006
• The Curse Of The
currently underway, which, says Sproxton, points to a new
Were-Rabbit, 2005 resurgence of stop-motion animation.
• Chicken Run, 2000 “I think more stop-frame films have been made now, in
• The Wrong Trousers, 1993 one particular year, than have almost ever been made in
• The Amazing Adventures of any other time in the history of cinema. It has had this
Morph, 1980
curious revival with Laika, ourselves, Wes Anderson and a
lot of independent filmmakers.”
Sproxton credits a few technological advancements with
this mini-revival. Although stop-motion can still be a
particularly laborious frame-by-frame process, it no longer
needs to be done on film. Digital SLR cameras and
dedicated stop-motion software aid greatly in shot
production. “Practically, it’s a lot easier to do it now with
computers,” Sproxton says. “There was a real cost of entry
when it was film. And I think audiences have been keen to
go back to the handcrafted feel, something they maybe
even think they could do at home themselves.”
That doesn’t mean Aardman ignores the power of CG in
their stop-motion films. Quite the contrary, as they learnt 02
on Early Man. “We thought maybe about half the shots
would need some form of CG enhancement,” says
Sproxton. “But I think just about every shot has some kind ADAPTING TO THE
of compositing element, whether that’s blue screen or
adding in background plates and skies.”
TOOLBOX
Early Man also employed digital effects to add in crowds, David Sproxton says director Nick Park
lava flows and explosions. learned to love digital on Early Man
Other Aardman projects have also employed 3D Tools such as digital SLR cameras and stop-motion
printing, while the process of storyboarding at the studio software like Dragonframe have been around for a
has also largely moved onto tablets instead of paper. while. As have tablets for drawing and
“Digital is a fantastic toolbox,” notes Sproxton. “Putting storyboarding, but Sproxton admits on Early Man
in digital skies can really change a mood, for example. I that director Nick Park was initially hesitant to
mean, we had hand-painted skies in Chicken Run. It was adopt them.
pretty much all done in-camera. “He still loves drawing,” says Sproxton. “A lot of
“It probably makes you plan better, but you sometimes our artists still draw on paper and some of them
can get quite locked in. will scan stuff in, but increasingly they go straight
“Now we kind of budget on every shot having some kind into a tablet. With Nick, it took him a little while,
of digital effect. but now of course he loves it because you can just
“There’ll be an order of magnitude, but we plan for every erase stuff and change it, and you don’t have to
shot there being something, and we may save money by repeat drawings.”
actually letting us plan for that.”

96
 03

04

I think audiences have been keen

to go back to the handcrafted feel,
something they maybe even think
they could do at home themselves

05 06 01 A final shot from Early Man

incorporating stop-motion
puppets and VFX elements for
the lava and background

02 An animator readies
stop-motion puppets for
filming during production on
Early Man

03 A scene from Aardman’s Early

Man, directed by Nick Park

04 Behind the scenes of the

filming process on the Shaun
the Sheep TV series

05 Morph was one of the first

characters that Aardman
co-founders David Sproxton
and Peter Lord devised

06 Shaun the Sheep has been

made into both a TV series
and feature film projects

97
 MODELLING

Simon Telezhkin
bit.ly/2KHUv4g
Simon was committed to
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork learning CG and worked
in 3D for a few years, now
MODELLING This image was part of my mission to teach myself Houdini. I thought it would be cool to utilise he is enjoying retirement
the knowledge I’ve gained from Entagma to create something meaningful and not just an abstract piece. In Software Houdini, Nuke
the future I hope to do a lot more with these newly acquired skills. Personally, I would recommend every 3D
artist learn some basic programming. With just a little bit of knowledge you can incorporate amazing PiggyKnitted
techniques you would have never thought possible. Toy,2018

98