3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

Ever wish you could quickly and easily create 500,000 objects in a scene but have it remain only 250KB in size? How about Avatar-worthy CG forests, a fully functional complex character rig or your own customised HDRIs for perfect lighting? Well, it’s not just wishful thinking: someone’s developed a solution to all of them. Whether you’re an animator, TD, modeller or texture artist, exploring the world of software scripts, plugins and add-ons is the ultimate way to see an immediate improvement in your workflow. With them, you can cater whatever 3D software you use towards helping you get better at exactly what you do best – and use shortcuts for what you do worst. Some will even help you do things you wouldn’t even know existed. Best of all, most…

“Bring a detailed legend to life in just a few steps” Damon Woods takes us through the process of making this complex character a digital reality Learn how to ✓ Mask armour in ZBrush ✓ Create ornate armour designs ✓ Make realistic drapery using Marvelous Designer ✓ Create custom insert brushes in ZBrush ✓ Construct realistic hair using ZBrush FiberMesh ✓ Easily render photorealistic images using KeyShot 5 Source files Tutorial files: ● Scene files ● Tutorial screenshots filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 It can be quite a project to design and create this type of epic character, and in this tutorial we will take you through a typical workflow. This tutorial was written in a way so that it can be easily followed by anyone with at least a basic understanding of 3D…

Damon Woods There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than what I’m doing right now. Being a part of this cool little industry gives me a chance to be a part of the magic that entertained and inspired so many. Queen of the Sea ZBrush, Photoshop (2013) I wanted to convey a female character who is both strong and unconventionally beautiful. The main goal was to create a believable person who looked like she had experienced a lot of pain in her life and somehow came out on top. Zombie ZBrush, Keyshot (2014) A ZBrush sculpt that I did after a weekend zombie movie marathon. This decaying monster probably wasn’t too nice of a guy even before he was bitten. This was my first piece rendering in KeyShot as well.…

“Discover how to develop, pose and use render passes to make this master of vampires in ZBrush” James Suret reveals his fantasy design workflow in a number of steps Starting from just a 3D sphere, in this tutorial we will create a posed and detailed character bust by roughing out the bust and then sculpting the organic forms and features. We will also make use of the readily available Insert Mesh feature to build the character. Later we will move on to editing these and then resculpting them so that they fit in to the design. After posing the bust we will use polypainting to create basic materials and textures for the model. Finally, we will take the 3D renders into Photoshop to finish the composition by adding lighting effects…

James Suret I am currently a full-time web developer and freelance 3D artist. I am constantly developing my portfolio with the aim of working as a concept artist in the games or entertainment industry. My main focus is creating original creatures and illustrations, as below. The Maw of the Sea ZBrush, Photoshop (2014) The last stand against a giant monster. This piece was sculpted in ZBrush and the paint and effects were completed in Photoshop. Victory ZBrush, Photoshop (2014) A female cyborg displays her war banner on the battlefield. The cyborg was sculpted in ZBrush as a digital maquette. Alien Cyborg ZBrush, Photoshop (2013) A 3D character concept of an alien cyborg. This was sculpted in ZBrush with composition and effects done in Photoshop.…

“Create ghostly characters in 3ds Max using environmental textures and the FumeFX plug-in” Source files Tutorial files: • 3ds Max & After Effects files • Video tutorial • Concrete texture • Tutorial screenshots filesilo.co.uk/bks-850 Similar to hose you see in films like Harry Potter, or in various videogame cinematics, in this tutorial we’re going to take a look at how you can make a ghostly effect for characters. This can be achieved by using FumeFX and a number of tricks, resulting in an ethereal character that wouldn’t look out of place in a triple-A game production or in a Hollywood film. To add to the overall effect, we’re not only going to focus on creating the smoky, ghostly character, but also on adding effects into the background, such as embers…