editor’s welcome

If you are similar to so many artists you will likely have a drive full of models left unused. If that’s the case, why not breathe some fresh life into them? Follow our tutorial on page 40 to learn how to add joints and hinges. Elsewhere you can learn about hidden movie VFX and creating virtual cinematography.rob.redman@futurenet.comFREE 3D ART & DESIGN ANNUALWhen you sign up to a print subscription – turn to page 26. ■…

spotlight on our contributors

Brodie PerkinsCharacter artist and toy sculptor Brodie’s Mango the Mad is this issue’s cover star. Turn to page 40 for Brodie’s expert advice on creating action figure articulation.www.brodieperkins.comPaul RobertsPaul works as a training manager at iToo Software. Learn about procedural modelling for architectural environments with his tutorial on page 48.www.itoosoft.comGreg BartaGreg’s sciVFX study project aims to use cinematic scientific visualisations to encourage people to take action and help our planet. Learn more on page 60.www.artstation.com/scivfxMike GriggsExperienced 3D and visual effects artist Mike explore materials’ Diffuse properties over on page 66, and reviews the latest Substance Painter update on page 94.www.creativebloke.comIan FailesIan is a regular contributor to 3D World, and this issue he has delved into the worlds of incredible invisible VFX on page 18 and Altered Carbon on page 28.vfxblog.comAdolf…

showcase

DYSTOPIAN RIDERARTISTPaul BraddockSOFTWAREMaya, Hard Mesh (Maya plugin), Marvelous Designer, ZBrush, RealityCapture, Megascans, Substance Painter, Redshift, PhotoshopVFX artist Paul Braddock has over 15 years’ experience working for Animal Logic in Sydney, Australia. This mysterious image was completed in a few weeks’ worth of spare time, largely consisting of early mornings and weekends.“All of the clothing was created with Marvelous Designer. I used photogrammetry, and scanned my own motorcycle boots and gloves. The midground rock formation is from my local beach. In Maya, I use a plugin called Hard Mesh for hard-surface work, and all texturing was done in Substance Painter,” explains Paul of his software choices throughout the process.As a child of the Eighties much of Paul’s inspiration comes from that era’s plethora of pop culture. “Nature is an endless source…

invisible effects

The Commuter © 2018 STUDIOCANAL • I, Tonya © 2017 NEON and 30 West • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri © 2017 Fox Searchlight Pictures • The Greatest Showman © 2017 20th Century Fox • Darkest Hour © 2017 Focus Features“DIGITAL VERSIONS OF THE CHARACTERS FIGHTING WERE CREATED TO AID THE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN THE PLATES, AS WELL AS THE ENVIRONMENTS AND TRAIN INFRASTRUCTURE” Stephane Paris, Cinesite’s The Commuter visual effects supervisorMost of the major feature films and television shows you see covered in the pages of 3D World are of the effects-driven variety, filled with incredible photoreal computer-generated characters, vast digital environments and complex effects simulations.But in recent times more and more films and television series are featuring effects of a different kind – invisible ones. They are the effects…

the show must go on

“The CG tent shot is an important one because it reveals the new life of Barnum at the end of the movie,” discusses Rodeo visual effects supervisor Martin Lipmann. “The director wanted first to reveal the tent as a reflection on a water puddle, and then see three kids stepping in the puddle as they run towards the tent. First we shot the three kids in a studio against a greenscreen.“From there we re-created the entire environment from scratch. We matchmoved the children to create all interaction with the puddle, the snow and also to get shadows and contacts on the ground.” This frame shows the CG tent and ground plane asset.“The entire environment, including the Brooklyn Bridge, was modelled, textured and lit,” explains Lipmann. “We used CG crowd animation…

the invisible effect of grime

The original plate with actress Lily James as Elizabeth Layton. Framestore was called upon to add dirt to buildings to help establish the 1940s era. “The big challenge of adding dirt to buildings is to make it look realistic and not ‘painted’,” says visual effects supervisor Stephane Naze. “We didn’t want to get a 2D feel to the buildings, or make it seem like we’d added something to the surface.”To help with adding actual grime and dirt to the buildings, Lidar scans of each building were acquired. This gave the studio a 3D representation of the geometry on which they could re-project textures. It also helped facilitate shots with camera movement and in doing any further era fixes for the shots. The intent, of course, is that the audience should…