3D Artist No. 116

A great character is not limited to just what is presented on the surface as we all know. Alongside the textures, hair, composition, model and great lighting – a good narrative represented by an interesting pose and facial expressions is also paramount. That’s why we’ve enlisted the help of 3ds Max rigging extraordinaire João Victor Ferreira this issue, who will divulge how to rig an expressive face. Talking of faces, some of the digital humans being produced by VFX studios have been nothing short of impressive – with many regular filmgoers marvelling at the work behind Blade Runner 2049’s CG Rachael. We spoke to MPC (the geniuses behind the digital Rachael), Lola VFX and Image Engine to find out what it takes to make something human. Elsewhere, you can learn to work…

JOãO VICTOR FERREIRA joaovictor3d.com A specialist in rigging and modelling, João has given us his expert workout tips for creating a dynamic facial expression. You can read about his techniques on page 46. 3DArtist username N/A GREG BARTA artstation.com/scivfx Taking us through the space of physically accurate atmospheres is VFX artist Greg Barta. Learn the science behind the art and how to enhance your VFX on page 54. 3DArtist username N/A CHRIS MCFALL unitedfilmdom.com Blender pro Chris will teach you how to use Blender modifiers to upgrade your rigging workflows and develop soft forms like this lion’s mane jellyfish. Read the tutorial on page 60. 3DArtist username unitedfilmdom HUSSAIN ALMOSSAWI moxxawi.com Hussain is an international product designer and this issue, he adds to his burgeoning series of rendering tutorials with this abstract forest art guide for Forest Pack Pro. Read…

Maxwell wood material pack 7 MXM materials from Artem Paramonov 3 Premium CGAxis models A collection of images to use in your work 20 Textures from 3DTotal.com Download plenty of high-quality textures Plus: all of this is yours too… • Blender soft form jellyfish rigging video tutorial from Chris McFall • A huge selection of high-resolution images and WIPs to accompany the rest of our unmissable tutorials in 3ds Max, Clarisse, Houdini, Blender, Forest Pack, Substance Designer and more! Log in to www.filesilo.co.uk/3DArtist Register to get instant access to this pack of must-have creative resources, how-to videos and tutorial assets Free for digital readers too! Read on your tablet, download on your computer The home of great downloads – exclusive to your favourite magazines from Future! Secure and safe online access, from anywhere Free access for every reader, print and digital Download only the files…

Jay Evans artstation.com/jay_evans Jay is a character artist with a passion for creating new characters and ideas Software ZBrush, 3D-Coat, Marvelous Designer, KeyShot, Photoshop Work in progress… “This was a project I started during the ‘March of Robots’ challenge on Instagram; I wanted to see if i could assemble a robot every day through March. Each robot only took a couple of hours, assembled from combinations of kitbash from Vitaly Bulgarov and Mark Van Haitsma, plus pieces I made myself. I’ll be attempting this again, but hopefully with more of my own pieces”Adam Dewhirst,March of the Robots, 2017 Adam Dewhirst N/A Adam is the modelling and texture department supervisor for The Mill NY. He has over 13 years of experience in VFX, games and children’s television Software Maya, Arnold Alternative render “I always follow other artists’ works to increase my artistic…

CONTRIBUTORS PASCAL BEECKMANS Environment artist at Gameloft Montreal behance.net/paqwak THOMAS KLYHN CHRISTENSEN Freelance 3D generalist artstation.com/snakeboxmedia YANN COUDERC Technical artist / Clarisse specialist artstation.com/yannpix MARK CULLUM 3D graphic artist artstation.com/cullylad VICTOR DUFAYARD Environment, digital matte painting artist at Fauns artstation.com/victordufayard MARK FLANAGAN Technical trainer N/A WILL GIBBONS 3D artist willgibbonsdesign.com AGATHE GIRARD 3D generalist – surfacing/lighting artist artstation.com/zaggirard SéBASTIEN LEVIEUX CG/VFX artist slecreativestudios.com BEN MARTIN Lighting & FX artist ben-made.com MARCIN MIODEK Tech support specialist for Corona Renderer corona-renderer.com CHRISTOPHER NICHOLS Director of Chaos Group Labs chaosgroup.com ALEXIA RUBOD 3D artist artstation.com/alexiarubod MOHAMAD SAIED CGI artist linkedin.com/in/mohamadsaied3d DYLAN SISSON RenderMan technical marketing manager artstation.com/dylansisson RAUL VALVERDE Multimedia artist linkedin.com/in/valverderaul/ GREG ZDUNEK CG generalist and founder at Vertex Library artstation.com/gregz Rendering is getting smarter,“ states Lon Grohs, vice president of marketing at Chaos Group. “With AI and machine learning on the rise, I think we’re going to see renderers start to use this data in a variety of innovative ways – to predict sampling, to remove…

“We were like, ‘should we do this?’, if it was a big publisher you know they would have gone, ‘definitely not’”Dan Attwell, Principal environment artist For as historic and significant as British game development has been, it’s a mixed bag. There’s a handful of behemoth studios, but in the grand schemes of things the UK is a little more subdued with the videogames it creates. As is the case with many of the world’s creative industries, the UK’s input is significantly more artistic in its approach, and as a result British game development studios can be typified by smaller, more flexible teams to allow for that. Cambridge-based Ninja Theory is perhaps the best example of this British sense of creative flair, having built up a reputation over the course of its…