3D Artist No. 107

It struck me the other day that one of the best things about computer graphics is that artists are really willing to help each other out creatively, more often than not. There’s no such thing as a stupid question in our field, as the nature of the multitude of tools available to us means that there’s rarely just one ‘correct’ way to do things – there are often several. This rings true whether you’re a 20-year veteran or a complete beginner, really. There’s always something new to learn, and a great way to do so is by absorbing advice from the artists around you. One community that certainly feels like it’s at the forefront of collaborative learning is Blender’s. With free sharing of information at its core, it’s no wonder that…

NAZAR NOSCHENKO artstation.com/artist/nazarnoschenko Nazar is responsible for our beautiful cover image this month, and over on p40 he’s joined by some incredible talent to help solve some of your most pressing problems in Blender. 3DArtist username Nazar DANIEL PEDERSEN oceanthebard.artstation.com Continuing our Blender special is Daniel, who reveals his workflow for creating an awesome character using some of the latest functionality in version 2.78, plus some handy posing tips. 3DArtist username Oceanthebard DAVIDE PELLINO behance.net/DavidePellino Davide wraps up our blockbuster Blender content with an amazing tutorial looking at how to add cartoon flair to your renders. You can find his unmissable guide over on p56. 3DArtist username Capodoglio GURMUKH BHASIN gurmukhbhasin.com Quite a few of you will have heard of Gurmukh before now due to his amazing concept art – particularly his sci-fi work. On p64 he’s jumped on board to show off his…

“This is an image for all parents. Remember when you came home from a night out and your little boy has left the house in an absolute state? He might have had a life-defining moment. Best of luck dude, Mars 2030 will be here soon. This project was done over a few weeks of spare time and is an interpretation of a line drawing by Andy Estrada”Zeno Pelgrims,Mars 2030, 2017 Zeno Pelgrims zenopelgrims.com Zeno is a lighting artist for animation, probably waiting for uncompleted render buckets! Software Maya, ZBrush, Mari, Arnold, Nuke Work in progress… “I’ve always been fascinated by mythical beings from folklore, forest gods and monsters, and I wanted to create a benign forest creature that evokes a sense of deep history. The project was created for a tutorial series on the Blender Cloud…

On 18 February 2017, director James Gunn noted on social media that he had just finalised a visual effects shot for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 in its 749th iteration. But that record did not last long. Later in March, Gunn followed up with advice that a final VFX shot had reached 859 versions. It’s a stunning indication of the work that has gone into this sequel to the 2014 hit, which was considered a risky venture in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All in, there are more than 2,000 visual effects shots in the film, including a host of computer-generated characters such as Rocket, Baby Groot and a particularly mean tentacled alien known as the Abilisk, plus several complicated 3D environments and space scenes. 3D Artist finds out from visual effects…

1 Rocket is slightly thinner and slightly more upright for this film. Framestore also worked on more realistic mouth shapes – they had learnt from the previous outing that a character with a long muzzle presented issues with lip sync. 2 The studio’s hair toolset, fcHairFilters, working in conjunction with Arnold for rendering, had been improved upon since the first film and was used to groom Rocket this time around as well. 3 Rocket’s performance was entirely keyframed, but ultimately came from several direct sources (in addition to studying animal references). One source was the voice acting by Bradley Cooper who sometimes wore a head-mounted camera; animators looked at the actor’s mouth and jaw for lip sync reference. 4 Another source was Sean Gunn on set, in which the actor would sometimes kneel…

In addition to the central CG characters of Rocket and Groot, there are many other CG creatures seen in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. Among them is the Abilisk, a hellish tentacled alien the heroes encounter early on in the film. Framestore handled the visual effects, taking reference from a combination of real-life animals. Christopher Townsend says, “We wanted it somewhat like an octopus but to also have the lack of grace of an elephant seal on land. And all that time we wanted to create something which had the colour of a little pinkie mouse, like a newborn mouse, and make it really translucent, with all these gross hairs on it.“ For the Abilisk’s tentacles, Framestore had to balance giving the limbs enough weight and jiggle in animation, versus what could…