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& Design
Volume 1

Unlock the full potential of 3D design New

Expert tips
for
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Master
the latest 2015
artwork software

Create
detailed
characters

3ds Max  Maya Blender  ZBrush Photoshop

 Welcome to
3D Art
& Design
The world of 3D art and design has always been an exciting one, but it continues to reach new
heights year after year. Whether you‘re an animator, roto artist, video game artist or VFX creator,
advancements in the standard and availability of design technology have made the industry
more vibrant and accessible than ever before. Films like Gravity have set the benchmark for great
visual design, and games like Grand Theft Auto V and Destiny have proven that aesthetics are as
important on consoles as they are on the big screen.
With this in mind, we‘ve created a book that caters to your every need, featuring the most popular
industry-standard software. You‘ll learn everything from modelling, to rigging, to compositing, as
we walk you through ideas from conception to conclusion. Industry experts provide invaluable
advice on Maya, Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush and more to bring your projects to life. Whether it‘s
creating game characters, animating movements, mastering arch-vis or rendering artwork, 3D
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes has fantastic step-by-step tutorials to suit your needs. On FileSilo,
you‘ll find free arch-vis models, sci-fi textures, artists‘ galleries, video masterclasses and all the
accompanying files to the tutorials in the book. Read on, and enjoy!
 3D Art
& Design
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3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes Volume 1 Revised Edition © 2014 Imagine Publishing Ltd

ISBN 978 1910 439 487

Part of the

bookazine series
 Tips
10
18
50 tips & tricks in Maya
Model an exterior environment in Maya
38
22 Texture an exterior environment in Maya
28 Bring an exterior environment to life
32 Master ZBrush: model for games
38 Create 3D game assets
46 Perfect your anatomy skills
50 Sculpt the skeletal torso
54 Sculpt limbs in ZBrush
58 Sculpt the legs and feet
62 Create realistic ZBrush sculpts
68 Design a creature in modo
70 Build fantasy vehicles in 3ds Max

76
Tricks
78 50 top Blender VFX tricks
86 Fracture with Blender
88 Create fur in ZBrush
96 How to animate a jump
100 Animate action moves
104 Perfect UVs in UVLayout

10 106 Create an interactive character in Unity

110 Master 3D cloth effects

6 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Master the art of composing
great 3D projects from some
of the most highly-rated artists
in the industry

68 Fixes
120 50 hot topology fixes
128 Improve your characters
136 Blow bubbles using V-Ray Metaballs
138 Render glass objects
146 Clean up 3D models
150 Understand hard-surface retopology
152 Retopologise in Mudbox
156 Paint in Sculptris

120
70

100

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 7

Tips Get to grips with a
variety of creative
software, and 70
master everything
from conception and
modelling to rigging
and compositing
10 50 tips & tricks in Maya
18 Model an exterior environment in Maya
22 Texture an exterior environment in Maya
28 Bring an exterior environment to life
32 Master ZBrush: model for games
38 Create 3D game assets
46 Perfect your anatomy skills
50 Sculpt the skeletal torso
54 Sculpt limbs in ZBrush
58 Sculpt the legs and feet
62 Create realistic ZBrush sculpts
68 Design a creature in modo
70 Build fantasy vehicles in 3ds Max

46 38
8 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 Maya
ZBrush
Photoshop Combine a range of 3D software
3ds Max
modo
to create a game-resolution asset,
V-Ray then apply it to a fully rigged
videogame character

10

62

28
18
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 9
 Tips

50
MAYA
TIPS & TRICKS IN
Industry experts share their
Autodesk Maya tips, tricks
and techniques, helping you
master every aspect of this
versatile software, from
modelling and rigging to
scripting and dynamics

I
t’s quite surprising to learn that a lead Dragon Tattoo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes,
character artist, senior cinematics Thief, Game of Thrones and much more.
animator, freelance rigger and senior That’s why we’ve brought together a
software engineer all make use of the hand-picked selection of successful industry
same piece of 3D software. experts to reveal the tips they have used
Autodesk Maya is one of the most for the best results with Maya, from
powerful and highly customisable programs modelling and animation to
available today. It’s the Swiss Army knife of scripting, rigging and
CG software, the tool able to fully produce a dynamics. You’re
polished film or animation without ever guaranteed to learn
leaving the program. At the same time it’s something new!
user-friendly enough to be grasped by
beginners. Maya’s versatility means it has
been used in many different facets of the
industry, creating animations, VFX in film
and TV and even games. Titles include
Halo 4, The Girl with the
www.behance.net/mayamouse
Rigger, animator and lecturer in

Lead character artist at Crystal

www.warpeaceandpixels.com

Freelance 3D character artist

Director, BeezleBug Bit, LLC

Senior cinematics animator

Co-founder of Creature Art
www.matthieugarnier.com
Lead rigging and animation
Senior software engineer

VFX art director, Blizzard

Visual effects supervisor

www.blog.sina.com.cn/
www.beezlebugbit.com

Dynamics /Square Enix

www.digitaltutors.com
www.linkedin.com/in/

www.berubefilms.com

www.kishorevijay.com
www.chadvernon.com
www.dawidcencora.tk

www.bloopatone.com
Computer Animation

www.danroarty.com
Matthieu Garnier

Turuğshan Turna
Jonathan Berube

Freelance 3D artist

Senior art director

Will Anielewicz

Dawid Cencora
Delano Athias

Kishore Vijay

Freelance artist
and Mechanics
Chad Vernon
Jahirul Amin

willanielewicz

Dan Roarty
Lee Lanier
Eric Keller

marinefeng
Cinematics

Lifeng Xu
instructor

10 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Tips

I was introduced
to Maya in my first
year of college at
CDIS (now the Art
Institute) in
Vancouver over ten
years ago. I was
blown away with
the endless tools
and features it
had to offer
Oriental Delicacy By Dawid Cencora Dan Roarty
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 11
 Tips Tricks Fixes

maximise the details. Also, it’s good to keep

MODELLING that in mind that Boolean tools can
sometimes help create complex models

01  Study anatomy carefully. Learning

about the bones and muscles that
much more easily. Turuğshan Turna

affect the surface forms will help to sell the

idea that your characters have an internal
structure. This will inform your decisions as
you create the topology. Jahirul Amin
08  A creative way to model a repetitive
shape along a path is by using the
Animation Snapshot command from the
Animate menu. By animating a piece of
geometry travelling along a motion path, the

02  The adjustment of overall shape and

structure is very important in the
coarse modelling stage. Getting the muscle
anatomy correct at this stage is key for later
rigging and painting skin weight. Lifeng Xu
Animate Snapshot function will create a
duplicate copy of your model every other
frame. This can be a great way to create
chains, or street lights along your city street
network. Jonathan Berube

03 
Use quads as much as possible. You may have to use the odd triangle,
but stay away from Ngons. Quads subdivide predictably, are easier to
envelope when skinning and give better results during the UV/
texturing process. Taking a model from a 3D package, such as Maya, to a sculpting
package, such as ZBrush, will also be a doddle if you’ve stuck to quads. Jahirul Amin

04  You might notice that when you

import very dense geometry your
scene will slightly lag due to all the geometry
currently shown in the viewport. If you want
to speed up your viewport turn on Backface
Culling in your Shading options. This will
eliminate the drawing of backfaces in your
scene and greatly improve the overall speed
of your viewport. Dan Roarty
09  A quick way to get a base mesh is
by using the Texture to Geometry
tool. Create a plane with the same aspect
ratio as your projected image, assign the
texture to the plane, select your plane
geometry and go to Modify>Convert> Terra Incognita by Turuğshan
Texture to Geometry. Browse your input Turna.“This project was
actually a simple scene that I
image and then apply. Jonathan Berube began to create in order to
explore my lighting
knowledge with Autodesk

10  Prepare for deformation, because Maya. Afterwards, it turned

into a classroom for

05  Use the Text tool to create some

curves and interesting shapes. Place
these curves in front of simple NURBS
good deformation is completely
reliant on a model with excellent topology.
Pass the model to the riggers at different
learning the amazing world
of Maya’s Cloth and Craft
Animation tools,” says Turna

primitives and project them on one or more
NURBS primitives from various angles. Use
these curves as trim edges to make holes or
duplicate the surface curves and lift new
surfaces between the curves. Eric Keller
06  Leave the camera at a standard
focal length (35) or Orthographic
view. Try to use perspective cameras with an
appropriate focal length. By modelling in
Orthographic view you lose the perspective
present in a photo. Dan Roarty
stages of the development to enable them to
test it for deformation. If there are any issues,
you can make the changes early on as
opposed to on a final model. If it won’t be
deformed, then you have more room to
manoeuvre regarding the topology.
Jahirul Amin
11  The Create Polygon feature is great for
retopologising a mesh inside Maya. I do
this by importing the high-resolution mesh
then making it live by selecting the magnet
icon. From here I use the Create Polygon tool
Our contributors reveal
how they got started
with Maya
I’m self-taught. I learned Alias
PowerAnimator in 1994 while interning Modelled in Maya, Happy
at Buena Vista Visual Effects at Walt
Disney. PowerAnimator was the
precursor of Maya and shared many
Birthday Nana, is an
award-winning image from
Dan Roarty’s portfolio
similarities. I learned Maya by using an
early beta copy while off-the-clock at
PDI/DreamWorks in 2000. Lee Lanier
In 1982, I was one of the original
engineers at Alias Research, the creator

07  Design complicated models by

cutting them into smaller parts. My
aim is always to minimise the poly count and
and draw over the top of the high-res mesh
to create my new low-res version.
Dan Roarty
of Maya. My task was to prototype a
new artist workstation, the Alias Power
Animator. I started using Maya in
production at Industrial Light and Magic
in 2001. Will Anielewicz

12  It’s relatively easy to bring a

Photoshop shape or line as geometry
in Maya. Make a selection from your painted
shape and create a working path from it.
Export the path as an Adobe Illustrator curve
(AI curve), then import it into Maya and
start creating with it. Use the path as a base
for extrusions or as a Snap Align guide for
existing geometry. This is a great method for
modelling 3D logos or accurate meshes.
Jonathan Berube
My first introduction to Maya was when
I was still a student. I learned a bit of both
Maya and 3ds Max, but only some basic
manipulation with no greater depth. I
worked mostly with traditional media
during my student and professional life,
but I found many limitations. The effects
that I want to achieve are so much easier
to accomplish with CG and Maya is such
a fine tool for helping me meet my
expectations. This is when I shifted my
focus to Maya. Lifeng Xu

12

RIGGING
13  Understanding the functions of your
body’s limbs and protrusions will help
to inform your decision-making during the
rigging process. What type of joint is the
elbow? How does the shoulder work? How
many degrees of freedom does the wrist
allow? By answering these questions and
more, we can consider where we should
place our bones and how our digital
characters should articulate. Jahirul Amin
14  Stay organised. There really is nothing
worse than struggling to search for
nodes that are difficult to find because of
poor naming conventions. Remember: take
the time to rename your nodes. It’ll save you
a lot of time in the long run. Delanos Athias
15  Before you even touch the computer,
find out what the rig needs to do and
how the animator likes to work. Does the
Standardising Rigs in
character need to run, jump over a fence and
then pull off a tornado-kick? Or does he
simply sit behind a desk and pick his nose? If
Maya by Digital-Tutors
it’s the latter, then there will be no need to rig
the legs as you won’t see them, for example.
Jahirul Amin
16  Strive for efficiency. This concept is
important when designing control
objects. An example of this could be seen on
a foot control. If you add foot-rolling
capabilities, it might be a good idea to create
a footroll channel on your foot control,
instead of creating another object to control
that feature. From an animator’s point of
view, being able to tweak the animation of a
character’s leg and foot roll all from one
object means we don’t have to spend the
time selecting between two or more controls
for the same outcome. Delanos Athias
17  Automate what you can, but be very
careful with this, because we don’t
want to automate so much that we start to
take control away from the animator. For
instance, if we’re rigging an aircraft that will
eventually fly through an environment, we
wouldn’t want animators to have to animate
the vehicle’s turbines when this can be
handled easily with an expression. On the
same note, we wouldn’t want to tie the
vehicle’s banking control to its side-to-side
translation. That type of automation would
be very restrictive. Delanos Athias
18  Look for ways to add controls that will
help animators loosen up their
characters. This can be done several ways,
one of which would include setting up pliable
limbs that can be animated to enhance arcs,
19  Keep it simple. It’s easy for new technical artists to assume that all
control rigs must be highly sophisticated, however this mentality
can cause rigs to end up over-saturated with controls, making the
puppet very cumbersome to work with. Delanos Athias
Fixes Tricks Tips
Maya has been
Digital-Tutors’
most-watched
training, with
courses starting
over 13 years ago
Digital-Tutors
In his capacity as VFX art director at
Blizzard Cinematics, Jonathan Berube
uses Maya to work on sequences for
videogames such as StarCraft II
follow-throughs and push silhouettes for
staging. These are key animation principles
that are, ultimately, used to make character
performances more appealing. It’d be safe to
say that the more flexible our rigs are, the
higher the chances an animator has of
enhancing the quality of a character’s
movements. Delanos Athias
20  By understanding anatomy, we can
see what anatomical structures we
need to replicate faithfully and which will
enable some rigging license. The spine, for
example, has 24 bones. Do we need that
many bones in the spine for our characters?
No. But we do need to know how it
articulates so we can mimic the movement
that it creates. Jahirul Amin
21  Keep joints and controls clean. All rigs
should be able to revert back to the
default pose by zeroing out the Translate and
Rotate values of the joints or the controls.
I’ve seen occasions where this is not the case
and you can imagine the animator’s fury.
Rigging shouldn’t be rushed, because good
animation won’t come from a bad rig. Just as
modelling affects deformation, rigging
affects animation. Jahirul Amin
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 13
 priceless tools available online courtesy of its
Jahirul Amin suggests performing the
actions being animated yourself. This
way you can better understand the
ANIMATION massive user base. You can easily look for
mechanics of the movement
planning tools, in-between tools, pose

22  Commands or selection sets for your

character that are often repeated can
be saved on custom shelves by simply
libraries, channel and curve filters, or
constraining tools. The Grease Pencil was
one such plug-in that is now available with
middle-mouse-dragging the scripts from the Maya 2014. Kishore Vijay
Script Editor onto your shelf. Kishore Vijay

23  The Graph Editor is your friend. Yes,

it may look scary at first. Yes, your
animation curves may look like a bad bowl of
spaghetti here and there, but learning to take
charge of the Graph Editor will pay dividends
later on. It enables you to make broad
changes, create fluid arcs and tidy up any
troublesome issues. Jahirul Amin
Matthieu Garnier
combined Maya with
Photoshop and
rendered in V-Ray to 24  When gathering reference, don’t just
look at other animation references
achieve this
atmospheric result but open your eyes to the real world. Go out,
grab a pen, a pad, a camera and anything
that you can use to document movement
first-hand. By solely looking at animation
reference from books or online, you are
relying on someone else’s interpretation of
what they saw. Jahirul Amin
27  Groups are your friends. Grouping an
object before constraining the group
allows you to still offset the object while it’s
constrained. Constrain the character’s hand
to the prop, animate the prop and switch to
constraints or between IK and FK in one
frame during a fast move, so it’s easier to
avoid pops. Kishore Vijay
28  You don’t need to figure out how to
send the next astronaut to Mars but
by having a knowledge of physics and
biomechanics, you can utilise the wisdom of
geniuses such as Newton and Borelli. How
does gravity affect an apple falling and
therefore how many frames would it take to
hit the ground? Where is the centre of
gravity on that hammer I just threw across
the room and how does this affect its
rotation in the air? Jahirul Amin

25  Use a polygon edge as an easy way

to attach an object to a surface as it
moves. Select an edge on a polygon surface
and choose Modify>Convert Polygon Edges
to Curve. Add a locator and attach it to the
curve via a motion path with the Time Range
set to Start. Use a point or parent constraint
to attach an object to the locator. To make
the object move along the curve, animate
the U value of the motion path. As long as
the history connection between the
duplicated edge and the original polygon
surface remains, the attached object will be
stuck to the polygon surface. Eric Keller
29  Set up your workspace efficiently.
Dual Monitors greatly increase your
speed. You can tear off a panel and have a
floating viewport in your second monitor.
Simply go to Panels>Tear Off or Tear Off
Copy. You can also set up hotkeys for most
used functions: Windows>Setup/
Preferences>Hotkey Editor. Kishore Vijay
30  A quick way to copy a pose from
anywhere in the timeline is to
middle-mouse-drag from the selected frame
and set a key at a new frame. To scrub
through your animation, hit K and drag

26  Customise with plug-ins, scripts and

Kishore Vijay’s animation workflow guide for pose-to-pose and straight
ahead blocking, as well as layering methods
1 In general, I block in most shots and start working in
pose-to-pose. I then begin working straight ahead through
certain actions. For short shots, ballistic actions or animation
cycles, as well as for most lip sync work, I prefer to work in a
layered fashion. For example, for a dialogue scene that
needs many levels of lead and director approval, I would do
very detailed blocking in Step mode for all the body
animation, maybe blocking in key face poses. I would also
animate the face in a layered fashion, treating the upper face
animation as a separate layer from the lip sync. I then break
up the lip sync into the jaw-up and jaw-down movements, as
well as the in and out motions of the lip corners. First I lock
down the timing and then begin layering in the mouth
shapes and more detail.
shelves. The most useful thing to
realize is that Maya is flexible and has tons of
2 When blocking in Step mode, make a selection set or a
shelf button that selects all of your character controls and
set a key on each pose. This is useful when you need to be
able to make rapid changes depending on feedback. It also
helps to set up a hotkey to switch between Linear and Step
modes as you block, to check for gimbal issues with
rotations, especially in the wrists or FK arms. Navigating to
Graph Editor>Curves>Euler Filter is a quick fix for Gimbal
flips, as is changing the rotation order.
3 Use 2D Pan/Zoom to focus on areas that you want to
polish without changing the perspective of your shotcam.
4 Add a reference movie, storyboard or 2D blocking of your
scene to the imageplane of your shotcam or a secondary
camera for quick reference during animation.
anywhere in your window. You can also
change your preferences to increase the
height of the time slider and increase the Key
Tick Size (Window>Settings/Preferences>
Preferences>Time Slider). Kishore Vijay
31  When animating, you should be
acting out the movement and
feeling that emotional beat of the
character. You can’t do that by looking at
the screen all day, so stand up and
perform the action. Understand where
your body weight is, what’s leading and
what’s following. Are your acting choices
clear or could they be stronger? Is your
timing working? Questions like these
should all be answered before hitting the
computer. The last thing you want is to
realise 20 hours in that your animation is
not working. Jahirul Amin

14 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


SHADING, LIGHTING & RENDERING
32 
It’s not mandatory that all lights cast shadows. In many cases, you
can activate shadows for the key light (the scene’s main light, which
is often the strongest) while leaving shadows off for fill lights
(weaker secondary lights). Activate shadows incrementally and test render at
each step. Multiple overlapping shadows often appear unaesthetic. Lee Lanier
33  When lighting, work with one light at
a time, creating, placing and
adjusting the key light before adding a
second fill light. Adjust this before adding a
third rim light. This method is more efficient
than adding a whole bunch of lights at once
and trying to simultaneously adjust them all.
Lee Lanier
34  Create a new render layer, turn off all
the lights, then make a volume light
with the following settings: Emit Diffuse and
Specular: Off, Volume Light Dir: Outward,
Emit Ambient: On, Shadows: off. Select your
objects and apply a Lambert shader with the
Diffuse Color set to 100% white. Position
the volume light to surround your main
subject, then render an image sequence.
Import the images into your compositing
program and use this as the source for
ZDepth in your defocus effects. Eric Keller
Little Dead Girl By
Lee Lanier
35  When modelling a head, it’s very
important to see how the forms,
wrinkles and overall structure of the face will
read under different lighting conditions and
angles. When I’ve created a head I’ll bring a
version of it into Maya and test it under
different lighting conditions in the viewport.
You can do this by creating a basic
directional light, turning on Shadows and
viewing it in Viewport 2.0. It’s quicker than
rendering and also interactive, so you are
able to see how it reads while moving and
rotating the light. Dan Roarty
36  Use the Color Gain and Color Offset
attributes found in a texture’s Color
Balance section. You can tint, darken, or
lighten a texture by changing the Color Gain
or Color Offset. You can then layer two
textures by mapping the Color Gain of one
texture with a second texture. Lee Lanier
Fixes Tricks Tips
Eric Keller on his volume light method
Using the volume light method for creating a custom Depth pass
opens up a lot of creative potential when you import the pass into
your compositing program.
For example, you can set the blend mode of the layer to Overlay,
place it above your beauty pass and then lower the opacity. This
adds depth to the scene by brightening your area of focus and
darkening the surrounding area. This can be the subtle touch that
makes the image pop.
If you animate the camera in Maya, try constraining the volume
light to the Aim Locator of the camera so that you can precisely
control the illuminated area. This helps especially for creating
complex rack focus techniques when you use the depth pass as a
way to generate DOF blurring. You can even have more than one
volume light as a way to create multiple areas of focus. Be aware
that if any objects in your beauty pass have Displacement maps
applied, you’ll need to apply those maps to the Lambert shaders on
the same surfaces in your custom render layer or the edges of the
surface will not match in the composite.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 15
 Tips Tricks Fixes

SHADING, LIGHTING & RENDERING

37  To determine bitmap texture
resolution, consider the render
resolution and Texture Screen Size. If you’re
rendering HD 1,080, yet the texture is on an
object that takes up a 100 x 100 section, you
can get away with a 256 x 256 texture. If the
object fills the screen, you’ll need a texture
that’s at least 2,048 x 2,048. Lee Lanier
40  Automatically organise your
rendered images by using the
Keyword feature in the file name prefix field
of the Common tab of the Render Settings.
Artists often render many versions of a
project and later have a difficult time figuring
out which Maya scene file created a render.
Will Anielewicz

38  Maya supports super-white values,

values over 1.0 on a 0 to 1.0 scale.
You can set any colour swatch that you want
to a super-white value by switching to HSV
and manually entering the V value. If you
render a Floating-Point format, such as
OpenEXR with a 16- or 32-bit mental ray
frame buffer, super-white values will be
stored in the rendered image, so keep this
in mind while working on your colour
swatch. Lee Lanier
41  Mental rays’ Final Gather is a great
global illumination (GI) optimisation
feature for secondary diffuse light. But there
are two major rendering artefacts that often
occur: Final Gather flicker and splotchy
gradations in soft lighting. I use a simple but
counterintuitive approach with the Final
Gather Point Interpolation settings. I set the
default value to between 100 and 300,
depending on the extent of the artefacts,
to blur the GI results. Will Anielewicz

39 
Use the Caustic Visualizer for real-time raytracing. This Maya
plug-in will dramatically speed up the lighting and rendering
© Andrew Hickinbottom

production workflow. The software provides a true viewport

preview of your Hypershade network, plus batch rendering as well. Details
about the plug-in can be found here: www.caustic.com/visualizer/maya
Will Anielewicz

Porsche 918 Spyder By

Will Anielewicz

16 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


I love the career path that I’ve chosen. I enjoy the sense of
accomplishment that comes with creating work that I love
SCRIPTING & DYNAMICS
42  Definitely learn Python over MEL.
Only learn MEL if some aspect of
the Maya-to-Python interaction isn’t fully
implemented. Chad Vernon
43  Never hard-code anything that ties
your tools to a specific pipeline or
workflow.  Don’t hard-code naming or file
path assumptions. These should all be
accessible and easy to change. Chad Vernon
44  Some MEL codes might save you a
lot of time. For example, if you want
to select all faces within a UV shell without
opening the UV Editor, use this:
‘polySelectBorder Shell 0;’ Turuğshan Turna
45  Look at other Python-based libraries
and resources besides ones tied to
Maya (such as Django and Stack Overflow)
for examples on good Python design and
implementation. Chad Vernon
46  Always separate user interface
interaction from actual tool logic.
Tools should always be able to work without
the interface. Chad Vernon
47  Build creative fluid techniques using
paint effects. Select your surface and
make it Paintable. Apply to the surface using
the Pebbles brushstroke found in the Fun
folder of the Visor. Convert the pebbles into
polygons, then select the converted strokes
and turn off Primary Visibility on the Render
Stats. Create a Fluid Container and add the
polygon pebbles as a Surface Emitter. Adjust
Lifeng Xu
the fluid settings to create plumes of smoke
or fire from each polygon pebble. Try
animating settings for the pebble brush to
create an animated emitter. Eric Keller
48  Don’t repeat yourself. Logic,
equations, design and architecture
should each have just one place of origin.
Duplication makes code even harder to
maintain. Chad Vernon
49  nCloth can provide extremely
realistic folds and form for your
fabrics. Create the geometry of the tent or
drapery as if it were lying flat on a table.
Select the objects which are supposed to
collide with it and apply the Create Passive
Collider command to them. Select your
fabric mesh or tent, place above the collider
object, apply the nMesh command, create
nCloth and press Play to initiate the
simulation. Duplicate the simulated mesh
and enjoy a realistic folding pattern.
Jonathan Berube
50  Make particles chase an object
along a motion path. Attach a
polygon object to a motion path. Convert the
object into a passive collider using
nDynamics. In the nRigid Attribute Editor
turn on Force Fields. Set the Force Field
Strength to a negative value so that it
attracts objects. Add the nParticle object
and adjust the force field distance in the
nRigid settings. This method provides
significantly more intuitive and powerful
controls. Eric Keller
Tips
Cyber Girl by freelance artist Dawid
Cencora. “If you’re working on a
model which is going to be animated
you might want to make a basic rig on
base-mesh level to check if your
model will move correctly,” he says
Chad Vernon created facial and deformation tools as a creature TD. He has a
B.A.S in Animation and VFX from Ex’pression College for Digital Arts
Global tips for everyone
Go full-screen! Sometimes working off your laptop might be a
necessity. Maya has a pretty busy interface to begin with, which
might make your laptop workflow difficult. Hitting Opt/
Alt+Spacebar will hide all the window tabs away, just like how Tab
hides all the tabs in Photoshop. Jonathan Berube
To excel in any of these disciplines, you need to do one crucial thing:
practise. By practise, I do not mean spend ten minutes here and
there or two hours, one day a week. I mean two to three plus hours a
day. There may be the odd person where everything just slots into
place and makes sense, but for the average person practise makes
perfect. When you get to that stage where you think everything is
perfect, keep striving to learn more and better yourself as well as
those around you. Jahirul Amin
Preparatory work is very important. It is a key component for my
work. During the observation stage, I focus not only on the effects of
aging on human anatomy, I also try to see an inner expression, as
well as how this is expressed over their facial emotions.
Lifeng Xu
Before starting work, gather as much reference as possible and talk
everything over with your supervisor. Name every new object and
shader. It’s important to keep order on the scene so you don’t get
confused when there are many objects. Naming them correctly will
be helpful for anyone who takes over the scene later on.
Dawid Cencora
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 17
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Tutorial files:
ěũććĴ +.!*(-%ē,
ěũćĈĴ3.6#1ē,
ěũćĉĴ'.42#
ē,
ěũćĊĴ'.42#ē,
ěũćČĴ'.42#ē,
ěũćĎĴ'.42#ē,
ěũćďĴĄũ..1ē,
ěũćĐĴ 4-3(-%ē,
ěũćđĴ!13
-"11#+ē,
ěũćĒĴ2(%-ē,
ěũĈćĴăũ-+ē,
The final environment once
modelled and arranged in Maya
Maya

Model an exterior
environment in Maya
With polygons as your bricks and mortar, learn to
use edge loops, lattice deformers and bevelling to grumpy old man running the tavern on the
create an exterior environment with character left; a loud, coarse woman selling her wares
two doors down; and a bloated lawyer with
his dusty practice across the street. By the

T
his will be the first in a three-part
series, first taking you through
modelling, then texturing and
shading, before finally lighting, rendering
and adding life to an exterior environment.
In this first part we’ll look at how to model a
stylised olde-worlde village that has been
inspired in particular by places such as
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a town in
southern Germany.
However, as Rothenburg isn’t exactly
around the corner, I took a few visits to my
local answer to Bavaria’s finest. I spent
some time taking pictures in places such as
Portchester Castle, the village of Wickham
and the amazing Weald and Downland
Museum in West Sussex. Being in these
environments really helped me to get a feel
for the kind of look I was after, as well as
providing me with a mental library of ideas
and images.
Accompanying this tutorial you’ll find the
concept art I created afterwards. This is a
loose colour sketch of the final intended look
that we’ll hopefully reach by the end of the
series. As you’ll gather when you see it, I’m
looking to give the piece a fun kind of feel. I
don’t want the lines to be too neat or
uniform and there are some big, bold
colours to come. What I’m aiming to
achieve is for you to be able to see this
village as home to a range of inhabitants: a
end of the final part, I’m aiming to have
created a kind of moving illustration, an
environment rich in latent life.
Before embarking on a project of this
nature, it’s very wise to keep the destination
of your work at the forefront of your mind.
Will it be for game, film or illustration? If
your work is going to be for a game, then a
low poly count is imperative and you’ll have
to achieve detail through bump or texture
maps, rather than through the modelling
process. If it’s destined for film, the
restraints on the poly count won’t be as
severe. However, it’s likely you’ll be required
to achieve a photoreal end product, which
will bring projection-mapping techniques

18 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


into play. As mentioned, I’m looking to
create an illustration, so I’ve got a lot of
freedom regarding poly count. My approach
will therefore be to model as much as
possible rather than relying too heavily on
Bump or texture maps. Having the objects
physically there makes them interact with
light so much more successfully.
To create an overall feel of a living and
breathing space, it’s going to be important
to avoid too much uniformity. Time takes its
toll on buildings, as it does on faces, and on
no two houses in quite the same way. So, to
maintain believability, we’ll be looking to
inject unique personalities into those houses
as we would to characters. Having said that,
it would be suicide to redo topology for all
assets, so we’ll be creating some hero
assets for bricks, tiles and even whole
houses. These can then be reworked,
manipulated and lent some idiosyncrasies.
As far as technique goes, I’ll be doing
mainly box-modelling, working from a
simple cube, then creating extrusions and
adding edge loops where required. To speed
up the process, as well as to add variation,
we’ll be using many tools from the
animation tool set such as lattice deformers
and non-linear deformers.
Because our environment won’t need to
deform, we can afford to be a little less strict
regarding topology (only a little, remember).
However, I’ll still be sticking to quads for two
reasons. First, the models can more easily
be taken into other packages such as
ZBrush later on, if desired. Second, quads
can be subdivided very easily in order to add
extra detail.
We’ll be doing a lot of hard-surface
modelling in this exercise, so take a look
around at your own environment as you
work to see how light interacts with objects.
Your monitor, your phone, your shelves –
most objects will have slightly bevelled
edges that pick up light in certain ways.
Ensure that you bring this particular reality
into your work to add depth and a sense of
even more believability.
Fixes Tricks Tips
Lights and Normals
When modelling in Maya, I prefer to use Viewport 2.0 with the
Ambient Occlusion setting turned on. Primarily this enables me
to see how close objects are sitting against one another, but it
also adds a bit more depth to the models. I create two lights,
the first of which is a directional light with Depth Map Shadows
turned on. The other is an Ambient light, for which I take the
Intensity down to around 2.5. Throughout the modelling I
constantly play with the orientation of the directional light to
see how the various forms react to it. I also tend to duplicate
and mirror a lot of geometry over the scene, which causes the
Normals to become inverted. Having lights in the scene will
reveal these inverted Normals, but navigating to Normals>
Reverse for the inverted polys will get everything back in order
The concept art used as the basis for this project soon enough.
Some of the building variations
created from the main house
We’ll be building the scene loosely at first
using simple shapes and cubes to get an
idea of the entire scene. Set up your camera
angle, take each building one by one into a
clear scene and push each one further than
the last. Once you’re happy with a reworked
building, bring it back to the main scene and
replace the dummy geometry. As you
work, try to stick as close as possible to the
reference you’re using. It’s very easy to find
yourself muddled or unfocused if you lose
sight of your destination. 
1
One of our last steps will be to add some
foliage to the scene in order to bring more
character to the wood and masonry and to Rome wasn’t built in a day…
increase believability.  To do this we’ll be
using Maya’s Paint Effects. This much-
derided bit of kit is actually pretty useful for
what we have in mind here. It enables you
01  Import concept art and block out forms In the
Viewport panel, go to Panels>Perspective>New. Now go
View>Image Plane>Import Image and load the ‘supportingImage1.
to build anything from grass to cosmic dust tif’ image. Under Attributes for the imagePlane1, check Looking
using paint strokes. Also, the fantastic Ivy Through Camera and Attached to Camera. Next, go to Panels>Tear
Generator by Thomas Luft (download from Off to have this as a floating window to work with in your Maya
http://graphics.uni-konstanz.de/~luft/ivy_ scene. Now begin using simple polygon cubes and cylinders to
generator) will enable you to get some nice block out the scene. Next, create a camera to work towards and
effects very efficiently. reposition these basic shapes to match your reference image.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 19
 Tips Tricks Fixes

2 4

02  Shape the tower Now export

out the tower geometry as an OBJ
and import it into a new scene. Create a
5

poly cube and scale it into a brick shape.

With the brick selected, go to Edit
Mesh>Bevel, increase the Segments value
to 2 and play with the Offset value to create
a softer look. Use the Insert Edge Loop tool
to provide more detail. Duplicate this brick a
few times and create a few variations by
pushing the points around. Start using
these blocks to build up the tower.

03  Use lattice deformers To help

speed up the process of creating
unique bricks, navigate to Create
Deformers>Lattice. Set the S, T and U
Divisions to 2 and go into Component
mode to push the shapes further. Try to
consider the structure as you build the
tower up. Although we aren’t going for a
fully realistic tower, we still want to sell the
idea that it’s had to stand strong for years.
Make sure you analyse real buildings and
walls, taking notice of the formation of the
bricks. Gathering and analysing reference is
important, as it will help inform and support
your modelling decisions.
some edge loops. Select some vertices and
use the bend deformer to add some
curvature to the roof. You can find this tool
06  Create variations of houses Once you have the first
house complete, you can begin creating variations to fill
the environment. By using the main house as a base, you can help
under Create Deformers>Nonlinear maintain a similar feel to the piece as a whole. Play with the
Deformer. Take a simple cube once more to silhouette to make each house feel unique. Make some tall and
create a roof tile. Duplicate the tile many thin, but others short and fat. Try to alter the shape of the door and
times to create variations and then place window frames and use the wooden beams to give each house its
them against the roof using the Translate own character.
and Rotate tools.
05  Create the main house To
build the wooden beams of the
buildings, a humble bevelled cube is the
way to go. To form the variations, try using
the trusty lattice deformer once more.
Then, with the Interactive Split tool – or, my
favourite, the Split Poly tool – cut into the

04  Rooftops Once the tower is

complete, import it back into the
main scene and export out one of the
low-poly houses. Start creating the roof by
taking a polygon cube and extruding out
the faces to create an upside-down V
shape. Bevel the edges and then insert
beams and push in the edges to add
grooves. The main body of the house also
begins as a cube, before being bevelled and
cut into for the windows and door. Next,
add some extra edge loops so you can ever
so slightly push and pull the vertices to 6
break up the clean nature of the cube.

20 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

07  Use a cobbled pavement You

can create a bevelled cobbled
stone from a starting poly cube. Duplicate
this stone to make four rows. After you
have done this, create some variation in
each cobble using the Soft Select tool.
These four rows can then be duplicated
many times over, with some small changes
made to break up the uniform appearance
that can otherwise occur. As you continue
to build up the floor in this manner, you 8
may find the scene file gets very heavy,
extremely quickly. If this is the case, then
alternative methods may be best advised.
These methods include creating a Normal
or Displacement map.
08  Add in some props A tower, some houses and a
cobbled street give us an environment, but to make this
town feel lived in, we need to add some props. These could be
market stalls, boot-scrapers, a horse trough and so on. Here I’ve
gone for a cart and some beer barrels, a pub sign in the foreground
Ivy Generator and some bunting running through the street. I found reference
You can download the Ivy Generator online to get some basic shapes and then pushed them further by
from: http://graphics.uni-konstanz. using the techniques mentioned.
de/~luft/ivy_generator. For each
house that would require ivy, I first
selected all the pieces and duplicated
the house. I then combined those 09  Build the foliage Natural elements will break up the
man-made structures and bring age to the scene. For the
grass you can use Maya’s Paint Effects. Just load up the Visor,
duplicated polys into one mesh by
going to Mesh>Combine. I then went under Window>General Editors, and scroll down to the Grasses
to Mesh>Triangulate and exported out tab. Have a play with the many variations of grass brushes until you
that model. Load up the Ivy Generator, find the option that suits you best. Once you are happy with your
import the model and select a point
where you would like the ivy to start strokes, you will need to convert them into polygons. Select all of
growing. Hit the Grow button and the strokes and go to Modify>Convert>Paint Effects to Polygons
watch as the ivy creeps out. When (Options), check Quad Output and hit Apply. Don’t delete the
happy, hit the Birth button to see the history on the grass mesh, as we can use the Paint Effects settings
ivy. Export this and then bring it back
into your Maya scene. 7
to add movement to our grass later on. The Ivy can be made with
the wonderful Ivy Generator by Thomas Luft.

10  Bring it all together Now that we have all our assets, it’s
time to bring them together. One by one, import each
house into the low-res scene that was first created. Spend some
time rearranging the houses as well as the props until you’re happy
with the composition. To help frame your work, turn on the
Resolution Gate to the camera. If you’re finding that the assets are
too heavy to manage altogether, try using Referencing. You can
think of Referencing as pointing to another scene file without
actually importing it. Any changes that you make to the referenced
file will also update in the file that already has the assets referenced
in it. It’s a fantastic way to work and I highly recommend anyone
not used to referencing to look into it. The next tutorial will show
10
you how to texture this environment in Maya.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 21

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Tutorial files:
ěũũ
ũ 8ũ/1.)#!3ũ"(1#!3.18ũ
ĸĥ/1.)#!3Ĵ#-5(1.-,#-3ĦĹũ
(-!+4"(-%ũ2!#-#ũăũ+#2Ĕũ3#7341#2Ĕũ
 2ũ-"ũ1#$#1#-!#ũ(,%#2 The final result of the
texturing and shading work

Maya

Texture an exterior
environment in Maya 3D brushes and paint pots at the ready: here we’ll cover a
linear workflow, setting up a look-dev environment, UV
unwrapping, plus texturing and shading

H
ere we’re going to add shaders, as
well as UV-mapped and
procedural textures to the
environment we modelled in the previous
tutorial. The following ten steps will guide
you through unwrapping UVs, setting up a
linear workflow, creating an environment to
test shaders and textures, then finally how
to use a shader.
To maintain consistency between our
shaders, we’ll make a look-development
environment, taking all our assets into this
space, then testing the shaders and texture
maps there before dropping them back into
the main scene. For this environment, we
will be using area lights with the Decay Rate
set to Quadratic, as this will create a more
physically correct light source. For the
ambient lighting we’ll use an HDR image.
HDRI Hub (www.hdri-hub.com) has kindly
supplied a range of images so we can test
our assets under a number of lighting
conditions. Be sure to check out the
website, as there’s a lot of useful stuff that
you can pick up for free.
To get all the lighting to behave in a
believable manner within the look-dev
scene, we’ll be implementing a linear
workflow. If you’re hoping to take your
images into a compositing package, such as
NUKE, working linearly just makes all the
maths work correctly. Though it may fry
your brain, it can also become your best
friend for life. Just note that there are many
ways to approach a linear workflow in
Maya, such as plugging a mia_exposure_
photographic/simple node into the Camera
Lens setting, or simply managing colour in
the Render Settings. One of the important
choices when setting up this workflow is
keeping full control, as opposed to Maya
making any decisions, which is especially

22 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


key when it comes to gamma-correcting
any images. This may be time-consuming,
but it’s time well spent.
As the camera is locked off, we can also
go in and start optimising our main scene
before shading and texturing the assets,
which will be advantageous in two ways.
First, by getting rid of any objects that are
not seen by the frustum of the camera, we
can speed up render time. Next, we’ll only
need to shade and texture those objects
that haven’t been deleted. If you can’t see it,
don’t spend any time on it. All this will
create a lighter, more manageable scene.
Once it’s cleaned up, we can start
exporting out each house, castle and so on,
to bring them into a clean scene to unwrap
UVs where needed. As we are mainly
dealing with glorified cubes, we should be
able to use Maya’s default UV-unwrapping
tools. Primarily we’ll be using the Planar
Mapping tool, or the Automatic Mapping
tool, then going into the UV Editor window
and stitching the UVs together to give us as
few UV islands as possible.
You’ll find that many of the objects are
also just modified duplicates, such as the
floor bricks and the roof tiles. As these
duplicates have the same vertex count, we
can UV a single brick and then copy those
UVs over to every other brick. Sadly, using
Maya’s Mesh>Transfer tool will only enable
you to copy from a single object to another
object. Having to do this one brick at a time
will drive any sane person mad, so
thankfully Oleg Alexander has created a
neat little MEL script called oa Multi UV
Transfer 1.0.0.mel (download free from
www.creativecrash.com). This script
enables you to copy the UVs over to
multiple selected objects.
The most important factor when
unwrapping models is that the 2D
representation in the UV Texture Editor
looks very much like the 3D object. By this I
mean that the spacing between the edges
in 2D is similar to that in 3D. This will help
reduce textures stretching or compressing,
which can look pretty horrible and ruin an
image. This doesn’t need to be perfect, as
we won’t get up close to our assets, but it
does have to be competent. We can use a
simple chequerboard to assess the integrity
of our UVs.
There are many objects within our scene,
so to unwrap and then texture every one
would be a very time-consuming process.
This means for many of the objects, such as
the roof tiles, we’ll have to create procedural
textures. It’s amazing what can be done by
simply plugging some Cloud or Noise
nodes into the Color and Bump channel of a
shader. The objects that will need to be
hand-textured, primarily the main body of
Fixes Tricks Tips
each building and the wooden beams, can A variation of
then be taken into a 3D painting program as HDR images to
check the integrity
an OBJ file. I will be using MARI here, but of the shaders
anything like Mudbox or BodyPaint will be being used
fine, or you can stick to a 2D package such
as Photoshop if you prefer. If you’re taking
your UVs straight from Maya to a 2D
package, you’ll need to create a UV
snapshot from the UV Texture Editor.
For the textures, I’ve grabbed some of
the amazing references from CG Textures
(www.cgtextures.com) to project onto the
geometry. I’m not going for a photoreal look
here, but using images of the real world and
manipulating them will add a heightened
sense of believability when working against
the procedural textures. Once the Color
map has been created (this will also be the
foundation for the Bump and Roughness
maps if needed), we’ll take everything back
into the look-dev scene.
From here, it’s a case of setting up our
shaders and then there will be some
back-and-forth to refine the maps between
Maya, MARI and Photoshop. We’ll create
the maps at a 4,000 resolution (4,096 x
4,096), which is pretty large. This is
because we can always make them smaller
and get good results, as opposed to making
smaller texture files larger. This enables us
to pop higher-resolution maps on objects
that are closer to the camera, then use the
smaller maps for objects further away. You
may find that some of the objects don’t
need any texture maps, as they are so far
away from the camera, making a coloured
shader sufficient. of choice. It’s a monolithic shader that’s been designed to handle
As we are creating a look-dev most architectural materials such as wood, glass and metal, as well
environment that’s designed to be as being an energy-conserving material. The shader also comes
physically accurate in terms of its lighting with a range of presets, which can be a great platform to further
setup, it makes sense to also use shaders refine from. Once we have some hero shaders that have been
that fall into this category. The mia_ procedurally created, we can duplicate them, then tinker with the
material_x will therefore will be our shader Color and Bump channels to add variation throughout the scene.
The environment as we
left it in the last tutorial
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 23
 Tips Tricks Fixes
Plan your work…
01  Optimise the scene First open
up the final scene from last tutorial,
‘00_final_modelling’ (available on FileSilo),
and start by getting rid of any objects that
can’t be seen by the perspective camera
(this will be our render camera). We’re
24 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
1
2
deleting them here, but you can always just hide those objects if
you think they may come in handy later on. Next, break up the
scene file by selecting the top group for each asset in the Outliner
and going to File>Export. Save the group as an MA file, open up the
first of those assets (starting with ‘houseA.ma’) and start thinking
about what will need to be manually textured and what can be
taken care of procedurally. As we want to add cracks to the walls,
we’ll definitely be UV unwrapping the main body parts for each
Too many objects,
not enough time
You may find you have so many objects
and not enough time to give them
enough attention. In this case you can
start merging some of the objects
together to produce larger chunks. For
example, most of the houses are
comprised of three body parts. This
would result in needing three different
shaders and three different maps for
the Color, Bump and Spec. Instead, you
can just combine the three parts of geo
together by going to Mesh>Combine,
organising the UVs so there’s no
overlap and then exporting out that
combined object for texture painting.
house and also the roof tiles. Although you
may be thinking you’ll procedurally handle
the roof tiles, they shouldn’t take long to
unwrap and you can simply use the oa
Multi UV Transfer 1.0.0.mel script to copy
the UVs across. At least this will provide
you with some flexibility as you proceed.
02  Unwrap the UVs Select the
first of the body parts for the
house and go to Modify>Freeze
Transformations. This will zero out the
Transform and Rotate channels, as well as
give us a uniform value of 1 for Scale. When
using some of the UV Projection tools, you
can get skewed results if you have values in
the Transformation channels. With that
done, select the geometry and go to Create
UV>Automatic Mapping. Next, go to
Window>UV Texture Editor and let’s start
sewing this back together so we have as
few UV islands as possible. Before doing so,
go to Image>Shade UVs, which will help
reveal any overlapping UVs by going from
the blue (what we want) to a purple. Any
red UVs will mean that they are inverted
and will need to be flipped back to blue.
 Fixes Tricks Tips

03  Clean up and re-check the

UVs Next select a row of edges
along one of the islands and go to
Editors>Render Settings and changing the Render Using to mental
ray. In the Common tab, switch the File Output Image format to
OpenEXR (exr) and the Image Size to HD 1,080. Pop into the
Visibility under Render Stats and enable
Emit Light under Light Emission. Back in the
Render Settings, just make sure that Final
Polygons>Move and Sew UV Edges. This Quality tab, select Production for the Quality, scroll down to the Gathering has also been enabled in the
should start bringing the individual islands Framebuffer and edit the Data Type to RGBA (Float) 4x32 Bit. Indirect Lighting tab. Last, select the
together without too much distortion. Next, open up the Render View window and go to Display>32-bit Perspective camera and go to the Attribute
Continue to do this until you have pretty floating-point (HDR). You may be told that Maya will update this Editor. Scroll down to the mental ray tab
much a single UV island (you may have the setting the next time it loads up. If so, save your scene file, close and click on the input for Lens Shader.
odd loose bits). Next, grab all the UVs and Maya down and reopen it. When the Create RenderNode window
scale them so they fit snugly into the UV pops up, under Lenses, select mia_
quadrant. Don’t scale this randomly on one
axis, as this will cause distortion.
Remember, we want to keep our 2D
05  Add the HDRI and lens shader Open up the Render
Settings, scroll down to Render Options in the Common
tab and uncheck Enable Default Light. Scroll over to the Indirect
exposure_photographic. You will probably
need to crank the Cm 2 Factor to
something like 10,000 to bring out the
representation as close to its 3D Lighting tab and click the Create button for Image Based Lighting. image. Please note that the current Gamma
counterpart as possible. Next, apply a new When the mentalrayIblShape1 attribute window appears, pick one is set to 2.2, which will give us a correct
Lambert material to the object and plug a of the provided HDRI files or any from your own collection and plug image in our Render View. When it comes
Checker node into the Color channel. Hit 6 it into the Image Name attribute. Here we’re going for ‘sky_cloudy_ to rendering the final EXR file, take this
on the keyboard to go into Textured mode free.hdr’ as this gives an even amount of ambient light without down to 1 and this will work correctly in a
and find the place2dTexture1 node that being too harsh. Still in that window, select Disable Primary comp package.
should have been created. If you can’t find
it, go into the Utilities tab within the
Hypershade window, select it and increase
the Repeat UV to be 20 and 20. If this looks
blurry in the viewport, you will need to
update it by scrolling down to Hardware
Texturing, found in the Lambert Materials
Attribute window, and setting the Texture
Resolution to Highest (256 x 256). Instead
of doing this, you can also just change the
Viewport Renderer to be in High Quality
Rendering or Viewport 2.0 mode. When
happy, you can then export out the
elements that will need texturing.

04  Set up mental ray With the

unwrapping complete, we can
start setting up our look-dev environment.
First we need to make sure mental ray is
installed. Go to Windows>Settings/
Preferences>Plug-in Manager and ensure
Mayatomr is loaded. Set this as the
5
renderer by going to Window>Rendering

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 25

 Tips Tricks Fixes
Turntables with HDRI
If you’re looking to do a turntable render by animating the
HDRI, you will probably find that everything looks good in the
Render Settings window, but when you use the Batch Render,
the HDRI doesn’t actually rotate, which is annoying. To counter
this, I prefer to simply select all the geometry and the render
cam (in this case, the perspective) and group them together by
hitting Cmd/Ctrl+G. Now simply animate that group 360
degrees and hit Render.
26 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
6
06  Use area lights to gain extra
coverage The HDRI with the
Emit Light attribute turned on is giving a
pretty strong key light, so we can add one
extra area light to act as a fill source coming
from the opposite direction of the key light
source. Go to Create>Light>Area Light and
when it’s done, scale it up to be much
larger. Here the light is positioned coming
from the screen’s left when looking at the
house from the front. With the light
selected, you can go to Panels>Look
Through Selected, to make positioning a bit
easier. Make sure to change its Decay Rate
to Quadratic and increase the Intensity to
something between 500 and 1,000. Scroll
down to the mental ray tab and check Use
Light Shape and Visible. If the render is
grainy, we can come in here and increase
the High Samples to something like 32.
Bear in mind that this setting could have a
big impact on render time.
07  Use texture-projection
methods in MARI So we’ve set
up our UVs where needed and created a
look-dev environment. Finally, we can start
texturing. We’ll take the OBJs that need
painting into MARI and from there use
Projection Brush to project through an
image. Using the texture library from CG
Textures, you’ll find a range of images for
Tudor houses, which acts as a great base.
You’ll should find cracks, colour variation
and some good old wear and tear. Use a
soft brush with a low opacity and build up
the texture while projecting through. This
method enables you to minimise the
patchiness that can occur when combining
several different images together.
08  Create and apply the mia_
material_x Once the Color map
has been created, duplicate this channel,
rename it ‘Bump’ and then desaturate it to
take out the colour. Create a new shader
 Fixes Tricks Tips

and add a Bump Shader Module to start

combining the different channels together.
The Specular maps will also come from the
Color map, so when all three are done we
can export them out as TIFF files. Go back
into Maya, open up the latest look-dev
scene and, in the Hypershade menu, go to
Create>mental ray Materials>Mia_
material_x. Open up the Attribute Editor
and edit the preset to Matte Finish. For all
our Color maps (including coloured
shaders), we’ll need to add a Gamma
Correction node. Click on the Input icon for
9
the Color node to open up the Create
Render Node window and, under Utilities,
create a Gamma Correct node. Edit the attributes so they aren’t carbon copies of 10
Gamma to 0.455, 0.455, 0.455 and then each other.
click the Input icon for the Value. Create a
File node and plug your colour texture into
the Image Name. 10  Make procedural shaders For
the roof tiles and floor bricks, here
we’re going with procedural textures. For all

09  Add the Bump and Spec Now

plug the Bump map into the
Standard Bump on the mia shader and the
Specular map into the Roughness attribute.
Then it’s just a simple case of tweaking the
settings and doing some render tests. Once
you have done this, try taking all the maps
into Photoshop so you can play with the
Hue, Saturation and Contrast settings. Run
a High Pass filter through the Bump map.
Once this shader is done for the body of the
house, we can reuse it for the rest of the
houses by simply changing the Color, Bump
and Spec maps and also adjusting the
these shaders, use the mia_material_x and
again starting with a preset push them
further. For the Color map, first add the
Gamma Correct node and plug a Noise,
Cloud or Fractal node into the value of the
Gamma node. By playing with the
attributes of each node, you can get great
results. You can plug in extra nodes within
them, such as a Ramp, to add further
variation. Once you have the Color map
finished, do the same steps for the Bump
channel, excluding the Gamma Correct
node. Finally, pop all the assets back into
the main scene, ready to light and render.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 27

 Tips Tricks Fixes
The following steps will
guide you through bringing a
8ũ/1.)#!3ũ"(1#!3.18ũ
lived-in atmosphere to an
otherwise static environment
Bring an exterior
environment to life
I
n the first two parts of this tutorial
series we have modelled, textured and
shaded an environment. In this final
part of the series we’ll work to bring life to
the scene by adding some animation and
also including some new animatable assets.
We’ll also lend the scene a real lived-in look
by dirtying it up and speeding up its aging
process a little.
So, what elements can we pick out in the
scene to inject a little reality? Of course, the
bunting and the foliage are the ideal
features to work on. With the bunting we’ll
be using Maya’s nCloth tools to create the
illusion that there is a breeze blowing along
the street.
28 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
Maya
For the foliage we’ll be utilising the
animatable parameters of Paint Effects to
give the impression that the wind is gently
swaying the leaves.
Another new feature that will serve to
add more vibrant effects is the creation of
the world beyond the street, as seen
through the gate in the tower. Here we’ll
use Paint Effects once more to make a field
of tall grass stretching into the distance.
Previously the street looked a little too
IKEA, so we’ll also add some grass
between the cobbles and to the ground
using Paint Effects. We’ll also include a few
loose stones on the street using basic
polygonal modelling. These additions seem
Tutorial files:
ěũũ
ũ
ĸĥ/1.)#!3Ĵ#-5(1.-,#-3ĦĹũ6(3'ũ
++ũ3'#ũ2!#-#ũăũ+#2ũ-"ũ,.1#
The final image after adding all
extra elements to the scene
very minimal on-screen but they bring a lot
of character to the environment.
Regarding lighting, I felt that last month’s
render was too sharp, so I wanted to soften
the air and round off a few harsh corners.
We can achieve this using volumetric light
effects. Naturally, this adds a lot of time to
the render but I think the results are
worthwhile when compared to using
something like a ZDepth pass.
Our last major addition will be to
introduce some clouds using the
emfxCLOUDS tool by Emmanuel Mouillet.
This enables us to get a softer transition
between our CG clouds and the HDRI and
they can also be animated later.

Testing out the volumetric lighting
effects to see what will work best
Flags fly and grass dances…
01  Make the grass grow First, we
need to add in some detail to the
street, as it currently looks a little too clean
to be real. Export out the ground from
where we left off last time (‘01_start.ma’)
as an MA file and open it up into a new
scene. Go to Create>Polygons>Plane, use
the modelling tools to roughly match it up
to the cobbles, then go to Create UVs>
Automatic Mapping. Next switch to the
Rendering module by hitting F6 and, with
the plane selected, go to Paint Effects>
Make Paintable. Now open up the Visor
found under Windows>General Editors and
scroll down to the Grasses sub-menu. To
add small pockets of grass between the
bricks, I used the grassClump brush and
modified some of the settings until the right
results started appearing.
02  Convert Paint Effects to
polys and add stones Once
you have painted grass around the scene,
select all the strokes and go to
Modify>Convert>Paint Effects to Polygons.
This enables us to render them in mental
ray. Export out the grass as an MA file and
we can add it to the main scene later. For
the stones, take a simple polygon cube, add
some extra divisions and then use the
Fixes Tricks Tips
Where we started
and where we left
off in the last tutorial
1
Sculpt Geometry tool, found under Mesh in the Polygons module,
to push and pull the geometry around. By simply duplicating,
scaling, rotating and making small tweaks, you should be able to
quickly generate a series of stones that you can scatter around the
scene. Once you have the stones positioned correctly, again export
them out as MA files.
03  Build up the background fields Like we did with the
grass, we can do the same again for the fields behind the
tower. First create some geometry to act as a paintable surface,
2
give it some UVs and then, using a modified fieldGrass and Straw
brush in the Visor, begin painting over the areas that will be seen
from the main camera. The good thing about using the fieldGrass
brush is that it also animates by default, so we can create some
minor movement in the background to keep the scene alive. Hit
Play to view the results yourself and once you’re happy, convert the
strokes to polygons and export them out.
04  Prepare the bunting Now export the bunting from the
main scene into a new scene. To constrain the flags to
the string, we’ll need to add some extra edge loops so that when all
3
the bunting elements are converted to nCloth, the flags won’t
simply blow away. With the string selected, use the Insert Edge
Loop tool to add loops where the edges of the flags meet the string.
Next, select the string and go to Edit>Delete By Type>History.
Select all the flags (one row at a time) and go to Mesh>Combine
so we have a single geometry. This will enable us to only require
one nCloth node per flag set, as opposed to each flag having its
4
own node.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 29
 Tips Tricks Fixes
5 go to nCache>Delete Cache and
05  Use nCloth for the string
Make sure you are in the
nDynamics module and, with the string
selected, go to nMesh>Create nCloth. You
should see in the Outliner that a nucleus1
node has been created, as well as an
nCloth1 node. Before playing with these
settings, let’s pin the string to stay in place.
Select the vertices on one end of the string,
go to nConstraint>Transform, then do the
same to the other end. Hit Play and you
should see the string is now firmly pinned
on both sides. Select the nCloth1 node and
go into the Attribute Editor. In the
nClothShape1 tab, from the Presets menu,
select thickLeather. Experiment with the
Dynamic Properties a bit to get the desired
results for the string that is pinned down,
rather than flowing freely. I ended up
increasing the Stretch Resistance to 200,
the Bend Resistance to 70 and the Rigidity
to 0.5.
06  Constrain the flags Now
select the flag geometry and go
to nMesh>Create nCloth. To constrain the
flags to the string, we’ll need to use the
Component to Component constraint. In
Vertex mode, select all the points at the top
of each flag then, with those points still
30 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
7
selected, go into Vertex mode on the string and select the points
that are close to the points of the flags. Once you have all the
required vertices of the flags and the string, go to
nConstraint>Component to Component. Now hit Play to test if the
flags stay on the string or if they fall off. You can then experiment
with the Dynamic Properties of the flags to achieve the correct
behaviour. I began with the silk preset and then decreased the
Mass to 0.1 for the final results.
07  Create some wind effects To add some life to the
scene, let’s get some wind blowing through the flags. We
could simply play with the various fields here and add them to our
scene, but instead in this case I opted to use the Wind Speed
attribute that lives under the Gravity and Wind tab on the nucleus1
node. By using this attribute I could affect all the cloth elements in
the scene in one hit. To replicate this, first we need to set the Wind
Direction to 0.2, 0.2 and -1. This pushes the cloth mainly in one
direction, but also gives some subtle movement from other angles.
Now set some keys on the Wind Speed to adjust the amount of
wind affecting the flags. Finally, increase the Wind Noise to 2 to
add a bit more randomness to the wind. Repeat the steps for the
nCloth caching
When testing out nCloth, make sure
your Animation Playback Speed is set
to Play Every Frame, Free. I use
playblasts to view the results during
testing and then use Caching to bake in
the results. To do this, with the
geometry selected, go to nCache>
Create New Cache (Options). Select a
directory to drop the files off and set
the File Distribution to One File or One
File Per Geometry if you have multiple
objects selected. Hit Create and you
should now be able to scrub through
the timeline freely. If you need to edit
the settings of the nCloth, you need to
resimulate the results.
8
remainder of the bunting and export them
ready for the main scene. Repeat the
method to make the pub sign swing.
08  Work with the ivy It can be
pretty tricky to get some
movement out of the ivy we created in the
first part of this series. To get around this
issue we can re-create the ivy using Maya’s
Paint Effects. One by one, export out each
building that needs ivy, merge all the
building parts together, then delete all the
parts that don’t have ivy growing on them
to make them lighter. Next, use Automatic
Mapping for the UVs so you can use the
house as a paintable object. With the Ivy
brush preset found under the plantsMesh
tab in the Visor, draw strokes over the areas
of interest. You’ll find that the initial results
create very large leaves, so edit the settings
to get the best results. Once you’re happy,
with the outcome, save the preset and then
apply it to every other stroke being used. I
ended up taking the Global Scale down to
0.25 and in the Creation menu, under
Tubes, I decreased the Length Min to 0.125
and the Length Max to 1.
 Fixes Tricks Tips

10

Adding clouds
I wasn’t too impressed with using images for the sky, as I felt
they didn’t quite gel with the foreground elements. To
overcome this, I used the very awesome cloud-generator tool,
9 emfxClouds by Emmanuel Mouillet (www.emfx.fr). He has an
in-depth video on how to install and use the tool, so you should
be able to pick it up easily. I created a set of four clouds in a
clean Maya scene and then imported and duplicated them into
the final scene to fill the sky. To light these clouds, I decided to
use Light Linking so the image-based lighting node and the
directional light didn’t affect the clouds. Using the lighting
options within the tool was enough to create the results.

11

09  Add energy to the ivy To get

some minor movement from the
ivy we can use the Turbulence settings,
which you will find in the Behavior tab. I
changed the Turbulence Type to Grass
Wind, the Interpolation to Smooth Over
Time and Space, the Turbulence Speed to
0.3 and the Turbulence Offset to 0.33, 0
and 0. I also increased the Gravity to 0.5 in
the Forces tab so the ivy hangs down
slightly. If you edit the settings in the
Attribute Editor, you will find that you can
only edit one stroke at a time. Instead,
select all the strokes and, in the Channel
Box, open up the Ivy node in the Inputs and
scroll down to the Turbulence section to
affect all the selected strokes. Make sure
you experiment to see what suits you and
create Playblasts to compare the results.
Once you have the desired results, convert
the strokes to polygons and export them
out ready to drop back into the main scene.
12
a new scene for testing. You can also export the flags and the sign
for testing. Create a poly cube and scale it so it surrounds all the
buildings. This will act as the volume for the effect. Next, create a
directional light and open up the Custom Shader found under the
mental ray tab. Click on the chequered icon to the right of the Light
Shader and plug a physical_light node into it. To begin with, set the
Color values of the physical_light to something between 10 and 15.
add a gammaCorrect node to the Scatter
attribute on the parti_volume1 parameters
and set the gamma to 0.455, 0.455 and
0.455. We can now use the Value on the
gammaCorrect node to set the colour and
the amount of light coming through.
12  Finalise the effects and unify
the scene Open up the Render
Settings, scroll to the Features tab and,
under Extra Features, make sure Auto
Volume is turned on. Hide the mentalrayIbl1
node and do some test renders. Within the
Render view, I’d advise using the Test
Resolution settings under the Options to
speed up viewing the results. I was aiming
for something quite subtle here, so I ended
with my gammaCorrect Value set to H: 211,
S: 0.176 and V: 0.072. I also set the
Extinction 0.002 and the Nonuniform to
0.545 on the parti_volume1 node and the
Value to 12.5 for the Color on the

10  Use volumetric effects

Currently the air is very clean, so
let’s add some volumetric lighting to spice
things up. Create a low-resolution
representation of the houses and the tower
by using simple cubes. Export these objects
along with the current lighting setup
(‘mentalrayIbl1’) and the main camera into
11  Include more nodes Next, go to Windows>Rendering
Editors>Hypershade and create two nodes: a transmat from
the mental ray>Material tab and a parti_volume from the mental
ray>Volumetric Materials tab. Select the transmat1SG (the shading
group) and middle-mouse-drop the parti_volume1 node onto the
volume shader attribute of the transmatSG1. Next apply the
transmat1 material to the cube, acting as the volume in our scene.
Select the parti_volume1 node and scroll down to Lights under
Light Linking, then drag and drop the directionalLight1 here. Finally
Directional Light. Once you are happy with
the effects achieved, reveal the
mentalrayIbl1 node and tweak the settings
if needed. After you have finished this, it’s
just a case of importing all these elements
back into the main scene file and, again,
simply tweaking the lighting until you get
the right outcome. Good luck with Maya
and happy rendering!

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 31

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Easy-to-follow guides
take you from concept
Master ZBrush:
to the final render

model for games

Artist info

Gavin Goulden
Portfolio http://gavimage.com
Software used ZBrush, 3ds Max
Expertise Character art,
modelling, texturing, rigging
and sculpting videogame assets
Spacegirl 2013
This is a high-poly model specifically created as a target for
videogame-quality assets. The goal is to create a character that can
fit in mainstream media, but with a retro feel thrown in for style
Gavin Goulden is a character artist at Irrational Games. He has worked on titles such
as BioShock Infinite, Dead Rising 2, The Bigs 2, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and Damnation.

W
orking from Jorge Lacera’s concept
here, the goal is to create a science-
fiction heroine that’s relevant to the
current market, but has a retro feel we can
associate with our youths.
When working from a concept I prefer to keep
the process organic and flexible. I rarely work from a
formal model sheet as, usually, the proportions are
already locked down in a big project, since you have
to share skeletons. Instead, I prefer to grab a
snapshot of the character that best conveys what
and who it is.
Not every detail needs to be figured out, as
usually this is something that the character artist
can handle alone. A few extra bolts and panels
won’t destroy the overall concept of the subject and
I think time is better spent discovering the
character’s overall mood.
Here we’ll be using ZBrush with some hard-
surface modelling in 3ds Max. However, the
following methods can be applied to any 3D
program. I will be focusing on high-res modelling
using techniques geared towards baking down
Normal maps for videogame assets.

Troubleshooting
Highlight any areas that will require special attention

02  Identify key points There are defining aspects within a concept that help sell the mood
and idea of a character. In this case the mismatched armour pieces (contrasted against the
streamlined body armour), the tribal hairstyle and evidence of battle damage are all pieces of the
03  Define the
materials It’s very
important to separate the
character I absolutely need to emphasise to help translate the concept into a 3D model. different material types within
the character. The subject may
1 appear to be made of more or
less the same material, but

01  Plan your

workflow When I
receive a character concept I
take a moment to analyse how
exactly I’m going to tackle the
project on a technical level.
Generally my workflow stays
the same from project to
project. I take simple steps like
finding symmetrical details that
can be copied, aspects that
may be exaggerated and
anything that can be a problem
during production. Too many
fine details won’t translate well
in a game, but luckily this
concept is simple and, other
than translating the model into
a relaxed bind pose, I don’t
foresee any major issues.
you’ll see there are several
different layers. The character is
wearing a spacesuit that has
flexible armour attached to it,
with heavier armour over it.
Defining these elements will
influence the character. The suit
and flexible armour can be
handled in ZBrush, but the
heavier armour pieces will likely
need extra work in 3ds Max.
1 Check the concept and spot
any trouble areas, specifically
details that may not play well
with modern game engines
2 Pick out key elements of the
character concept to help
translate it into 3D
2 3 3 Break down your concept to
help define your workflow

32 O3D
3DArtist
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 Tips

Concept
The concept from Jorge
Lacera is exactly what I
need to get started. It has
enough detail to capture
the personality within the
character and allows
room to play with details
as I start modelling.
Learn how to
Tutorial files:
ěũũĊ"13(23Ĵ5(-.4+"#-Ĵ
spacegirl.ZTL file
ěũ423.,ũ
+/'2
ěũũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32
Sculpt characters to be used
as videogame assets
Build a base mesh
Model hard surfaces to be
applied to models
Use masks for detailing
Prototype with ZBrush’s
ShadowBox feature
Manage your different layers
within SubTools
Use NoiseMaker to generate
surface detail

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 33

 Tips Tricks Fixes
Problems
& solutions
When the concept was
being defined for this
tutorial, I worked
alongside Jorge Lacera to
squash any issues that
could possibly come up
during production. The
hairstyle, in particular,
was chosen to avoid
sorting issues, while the
suit design was kept
mostly symmetrical to
enable a quicker sculpt.
With the addition of
asymmetrical armour
pieces the suit is a much
bolder statement. Since it
follows the proportions of
a female human figure it’s
easier to work with and
removes some of the
guesswork. The main
issue with the workflow is
translating the model into
a bind pose (a T-pose at
45 degrees, upright but
slightly relaxed), which is
more common and
easiest to work with. This
process requires a good
working knowledge of
human anatomy. By
creating a roughed-in
female base mesh (which
can be the base mesh
from another project) I
can begin to tweak the
details to the model.
4 Block out your model with
simple shapes – don’t get
caught up in the details
5 A good base mesh has equally
distributed polygons to avoid
errors when sculpting
6 Using temporary models can
really help speed up the
sculpting process
7 ShadowBox is a great feature
for quickly prototyping
hard-surface models
34 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
Model the base mesh
Create a low-detailed model ready for sculpting
04  Block in proportions The first step is to block in the major proportions of your character,
while not worrying too much about details and focusing on just getting the forms of an
idealised female correct. Usually I model the limbs and torso separately to make positioning them easier.
I try to keep the same number of edges on each boundary to make welding the connecting edges
together much simpler.
4 5
06 
Use temporary models To help speed up the
development process, I like to use temporary models for
details that will be defined later in the sculpting process. Other than
the head being brought in for reference, the best example for this
project is the shoes. The heels that I add here quickly block out the
shapes that will eventually be there. This also saves me a ton of time
not worrying about modelling the boots right away. The key thing to
keep in mind is to avoid the small details at first; get the bigger
shapes blocked in and just keep refining.
07  Prototype with
the ShadowBox
ZBrush has a feature called
ShadowBox which can form a
model out of a cube using
masks. Going to Geometry>
ShadowBox will approximate
the geometry based on painted
masks on each side of the
ShadowBox cube. By painting
information on each axis you
are effectively cutting a model
out of a block of material. Using
this, I am able to shape the
jetpack fins in a matter of
seconds. The drawback is that
this feature is destructive to the
model’s topology, meaning that
it’s only useful for sculpting. You
may need to retopologise after
major edits. Once you’re happy,
click ShadowBox again to return
7
to the normal editing mode.
05  Get the correct
topology At this
stage I correct the posture of
the character aiming for
straighter arms and spine, as
well as relaxed shoulders. I also
attach all of the elements from
previous steps and tidy the
geometry across the entire
model. Make sure the polygons
are equally distributed, the
triangles are removed or
isolated to areas that won’t be
sculpted over, and that there are
no open edges. The level of
topology you need for a sculpt
is different to the topology
required to achieve a
well-deformed mesh. The entire
model should have the same
density of faces throughout,
whereas an animated model
generally has more edge loops
around the joints.
6
Create custom Alphas
& layer on the details
Before starting a sculpt, I like to have a bank of assets that I
can quickly bring into ZBrush for detailing. For this project,
I’m using a few unique Alpha textures for bolts and
connecting ports throughout the spacesuit. The great thing
about this – and something that should be common
practice – is that these Alphas can be saved into a library
for future projects, ultimately saving you time later on.
Creating these textures is usually a quick process. Simply
make a black-and-white texture (usually white is the
influencing area) saved as a PSD or JPEG and import the
texture into the Alpha panel in ZBrush. Alphas can be used
with any brush combination; in this case I’m using them
with a Standard brush, with DragRect stroke active and
LazyMouse disabled.
You can also create a bank of models, like nuts, bolts,
clasps and so on, that have universal use. These models
can be applied to your 3D application and brought into
ZBrush or applied to the model using the MeshInsert brush.
The one issue with this workflow, however, is that the base
model can’t have any subdivisions when the MeshInsert
brush is being used. It then becomes part of the model as a
whole and cannot be controlled separately.
 Fixes Tricks Tips

Sculpt the character

Build up your base mesh to achieve a high-resolution model

08  Shape the head A problem many artists face when

sculpting females is that they overemphasise details
when, really, the opposite is almost true. For idealised females it’s
safer to make details softer and subtle. Any blemish will stand out
and, therefore, either needs to be avoided or selectively chosen (like
a scar, mole or a tattoo). Here I spend more time modelling the base
mesh and making sure that it subdivides cleanly.

09  Add some hair This character has a ponytail of heavy

dreadlocks, so for the most part I mask off chunks of the
hair and increase the mass using the Clay Buildup brush. I repeat
8 Avoid excessive detailing when
sculpting female faces. It will
muddy up the model and make
this process for each major chunk of hair and then run over them her seem a lot less fair-skinned
with a Standard brush to create strands. Dreadlocks, however, are 9 Layer the hair with the Clay
usually coarser due to many frayed hairs. To create this effect I use Buildup brush and hone in on
the finer aspects
the Clay Buildup brush with a Spray stroke and an Alpha resembling
a pinhole. To complete the overall hairstyle look, I create separate 10 Keep it simple: the forms need
to be defined before the details
strands modelled in 3ds Max. These are just a few bent cylinders
bunched together, with the same detailing pass that is applied to the 11 Patching over seams with
8 separate models is a great way
main hair. to hide open edges

11

10  Rough in the anatomy Next I rough in the broader anatomical details for the model. In
general, this character is fully covered in skin-tight armour, so anything like finer muscle details,
bones and wrinkles are covered up. I focus on the major forms here, defining the bigger shapes like the
larger-scale muscle groups in the arms, legs and torso. This essentially acts as an underlying base for
her suit and helps mark where the armour plates need to go. Much like the head, I mostly used Move
and a low-intensity Standard brush for this part.

11  Cover seams and supporting geometry To hide the seam between the neck and body I
create a thin collar to cover up the open edges. The model blends in well with the body-armour
theme and helps hide the terminating edges in an elegant way. It also means it will bake down cleaner
and enable the final asset to be handled in separate elements (body and head) without too much work
10
going into painting out the seams and terminating edges properly.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 35

 Tips Tricks Fixes

12  Mask out the body armour Once the body is

roughed in with major landmarks for the bone structure and Try working 14

musculature, I need to start the body armour. By hitting Ctrl you can
access the Masking tool. This means that anything painted will be
with layers
unaffected by geometry changes. To make the strokes crisper I hold A great way to preserve
down Ctrl again and enable LazyMouse in the Stroke panel. I then your model from major –
mark out the armour panels. Since this armour is skin-tight, I decide or possibly experimental
it’s best to leave gaps in the armour around areas that will need to – changes, is to create
layers. At the highest
deform. This will help avoid any awkward stretching during the
subdivision level, navigate
posing and animation stage. to the Layers panel and
click the + icon. This will

13  Use deformations With all of the armour pieces

masked out, it’s time to push the panels out from the
surface to help define the difference between them and the
add a new layer that holds
all your future changes
until the Rec button is
turned off. With Record
underlying spacesuit. Navigate to the Deformation tab and click on disabled, you can also
Inflat. With this enabled you can adjust the strength in a positive or control the visibility of the
negative direction either by manually adding a value or adjusting the layer to show the
differences before and
slider. I use a value of +2, which is just enough to push them off the
after the changes are
surface. The idea for this character is that the majority of the armour made. Once you are
is a flexible-but-protective material that’s attached to an airtight, happy with the
softer suit. To help show the varying materials, I add tighter fold information on the layer,

work in between the armour’s panels. you can either keep it
around (and possibly add
another layer to preserve
that change) or bake it
into the model itself.
In this project, the two
key stages where layers
are needed are in
detailing the hair and the
body armour. For the hair
I was at first unsure if my
14 
Build armour panels With the armour panels still
masked out, I use Clay Buildup to add more depth in key
areas. The aspects that I focus on generally follow the muscles
underneath. This is mostly to deform the model properly, but also to
make it relatable to the real world and for it to appear more
streamlined. Specifically the calves, forearms and elbows are
applied to. Once these areas are built up, I can then use the Trim
Dynamic brush to help define the sharper edges.

technique would work, so
using a layer enabled me
to simply delete the
changes without
destroying the head
model. For the skin-tight
12 armour, I was also unsure
whether its pattern would
work. Since this was
modifying a surface that
was better kept clean, I
wanted to use layers as a
fail-safe to fall back on.
15 
Create the hands Using the same technique as before, I
mask out the various elements of the hand. After separating
the palm from the top of the hand, I next mask out the palm and
create a ribbing effect by using the Standard brush with LazyMouse
enabled. To help split the two halves I then run the Standard brush
over the edge of the mask with the idea that the seam between the
fabric and the rubber grip will be noticeable. Once this is finished, I
can mask out the knuckles and push out the armour pieces using
Clay Buildup and Trim Dynamic brushes. To get the right effect for
the softer pieces I use a Standard brush with a low intensity for the
fabric’s folds.

13

12 To keep the mask clean when
painting, make sure that
LazyMouse is enabled within
the Mask brush
13 Use Deformation>Inflat to
push the panels off the model
14 Use Clay Buildup and Trim
Dynamic brushes to create
heavier armour pieces
15 To be more practical, the hands
are lightly armoured for 15
flexibility and to avoid distortion

36 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

17  Make the most of

asymmetry At this
point in the process, as part
of the hard-surface modelling
phase, I create two separate
and visually distinct kneepads
and wraps for the upper-left leg
and upper arm. These are
subtle but significant details
that don’t play a vital part in the
building of the overall model,
but go that little bit further
towards selling the idea that the
gear she has acquired over time
16 is mismatched and has seen
battle. These small details are

16  Hard-surface modelling With the majority of the

sculpting done, I can switch back to 3ds Max to do some
polygonal modelling. I export a reduced version of the body as a
the kinds of important additions
that will bring a unique quality
and intangible depth to your
build to model over, then using Edge Extrusion I build out the character designs.
armour panels: shoulder pads, neck guard, chest guard, jetpack and
boots. With the models all created, I export them separately into
ZBrush and subdivide them a few times. Beyond this, everything
17
just requires surface details using Alphas.

The final touches 18

Make the last refinements to the mesh

18  Add some wear-and-tear Once the majority of the sculpt has been created, make sure
no major changes are going to happen; take feedback from friends and check this against your
reference multiple times. Once satisfied, you can jump into the finer details that will help add personality
to the subject on a second or third read. Since the character is a space explorer who has seen battle, I
want to add some dents and scratches to her armour. Using the Standard brush at a high intensity, with
LazyMouse enabled, I mark scrapes in selected areas. To help add edging that will bake down properly
to a Normal map, I then bevel the edges using the Trim Dynamic brush.

19

Watch your edge quality

When it comes to baking down high-resolution information
into a Normal map, it’s important to avoid incredibly sharp
edges. In general, it’s best not to use micro bevels (edges
that are very close to one another with minor height
differences) and to avoid pinching geometry in ZBrush.
Instead, the softer edges that are created during subdivision

16 I like to use traditional

polygonal techniques in order
to help keep hard-surface
models clean
17 Add subtle details to the
character to throw off the
unrealistic symmetry
18 Applying isolated wear and
tear features can bring more
personality to a surface
19 NoiseMaker is used to create
hair detail and pattern work on
the jetpack
19  Apply NoiseMaker for surface details ZBrush’s
NoiseMaker plug-in is a quick and easy way to add finer
surface detail to your models. Selecting Noise under the Surface tab
will open up the Noise Editor, where you can increase the Strength,
Scale and pattern being applied to your model. Once you are happy
with the noise information on the model, you can confirm the
change and return back to the ZBrush viewport. Once there, you
can inspect your model further. If the detail isn’t up to your
standards, simply click Edit in the Surface panel and adjust the noise
information as needed. The great thing about this tool is that the
noise isn’t instantly applied to your model, so in order to make it
affect the geometry you will need to click on Apply to Mesh.
are ideal for games. This is because the information will be
translated into a straight line rather than a difference in
height. When the low-resolution mesh captures
information based on a ray cast, if the height differences
are practically on top of one another, they translate as being
flat in terms of depth. If the edge information is bolder and
has more of a gradient from minimum to maximum, the
information will be translated to a hard edge which, in
reality, is always rounded.
With this in mind, it’s best to use the Trim Dynamic
brush to help create broader edges or use wider bevels in
your 3D application that will translate properly when baking
your Normal maps.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 37

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Create 3D Easy-to-follow guides

take you from concept

game assets to the final render

Artist info
Spacegirl 2013
Gavin Goulden
Combining different materials and approaches to modelling, we’ll Personal portfolio site
make this character seem less streamlined and more authentic www.gavimage.com
Country USA
Gavin Goulden is the lead character artist on BioShock Infinite and has contributed art assets Software used 3ds Max,
to numerous titles such as Dead Rising 2, The BIGS 2, F.E.A.R. 2 and Damnation. Photoshop, CrazyBump,
xNormal
Expertise Gavin’s main focus is

H
ere you’ll learn all the necessary steps towards
completing this hero character for a modern-day
videogame. Over the next few pages I will share the
key aspects of my everyday workflow, covering what makes
a quality low-resolution model, as well as golden topology
and mesh rules you can use in your work.
You’ll learn how to properly lay out your UV map for the on character art (modelling,
texturing and rigging) for games
best texel density, as well as how to produce the different on modern platforms
textures involved to build a material, using both Specular and
Diffuse maps where necessary. We’ll start with a basic rig,
using 3ds Max’s Biped system, then finally establish a pose
that’s ready for a successful videogame artist’s portfolio.

Start the low-poly model

Shape a character model ready for further development
1
01  Use a high-res model as the guide The first step I
take when modelling a low-res character is to import a
crunched-down version of a high-res one. Usually this means a
model from ZBrush with reduced subdivision levels, but it could
also involve decimated or collapsed models from 3ds Max. This
serves as a guide to model over and doesn’t require a ton of
detail – essentially just mid- to low-frequency details – so the
silhouette stays the same. Part of this process will also require
picking details that can bake down easily. These can include
bolts, stitches, laces and other smaller extras. Follow along with
the tutorial files supplied.

Concept
This concept from
Jorge Lacera
(http://lacera.
blogspot.co.uk) is
great for showing
the colour palette
and material
variations that will
define the asset.
The previous
tutorial shows
Gavin Goulden’s
transition from
initial concept to a
high-poly model

1 Importing a reduced high-resolution model is a great starting point

38 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Learn how to
Create a low-poly model
ready for the very latest
videogame hardware
Properly unwrap a character
Build Diffuse, Normal, Tutorial files:
Specular and Emissive ěũ(%'ı/.+8ũ,."#+
textures for your model ěũũ(%%#"ũ-"ũ/.2#"ũ5#12(.-2ũ
Rig a character using a of the low-poly model
premade skeleton ěũ#7341#ũ,/2

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 39

 Tips Tricks Fixes

2
Make every
edge count
Unlike base meshes for
sculpting, consistent
mesh density isn’t as big
an issue. Here a mesh will
be heavier in focal areas
or places that need to
deform, like the face and
hands. When creating a
videogame character – or
really any asset for a
modern game – the key
thing to keep in mind is
that every edge serves a
purpose. The edge will be
used for proper shading
with Normal maps
applied, or for smooth
deformations during
animations – either by
directly being a major
edge loop around a joint,
or a supporting edge for
twisting. This way of
thinking should help you
keep an asset within
budget and make
reducing a model or
designating edges far
more straightforward.

02  Model with Edge Extrusion I usually follow the

Edge Extrusion method of modelling, meaning I shape
a polygonal grid, grab an edge, duplicate it and adjust it to follow
3

the lines of motion I want in the topology. In the initial stages I

try to find a symmetrical point to speed this process up. Here
the majority of the character is symmetrical, save for a few bold
areas that need to be modelled as unique elements. Starting
with a reduced version of my model, I split it in half by removing
all the faces on the right side of the X axis. Then, with the model
selected, I click the Mirror icon towards the top of the screen
and create an Instance mirrored on the X axis.

03  Use topology for deformation Always consider

the flow of your edge loops when modelling. Key areas,
like the knees, elbows, knuckles and mouth, generally require at
least two or three loops for proper deformation. This basically
means a loop devoted to each bone at a major joint, with one in
between for blending. Usually the more geometry included, the
better, but you should always consider budgets.

04  Apply geometry to support Normal maps

Another important aspect to focus on when building
your model is whether or not you have enough geometry to
support an effective Normal-map bake. The best example to 2 Mirroring a model can save a
ton of time when creating a
give, without destroying your model’s budget, is to consider low-resolution asset
keeping all your round or cylindrical objects as round as 3 By using the Edge Extrusion
possible. As simple as this may sound, many artists mistakenly method, you can easily
control the flow of your
try to bake a perfectly round bolt down to a five-sided cylinder, model’s topology
for instance. Though this may solve any potential budget
4 Keep the overall shape of your
problems on the production, the result of your bakes will be model in mind with regards to
warped. This is because too few vertices would be trying to sell baking Normal maps. A few
more edges could make or
the illusion of a complex shape. break the quality of your asset

40 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Unwrap & bake

Prepare your model for texturing by making a UV map

05  Unravel & re-stitch This stage is tedious, but

absolutely necessary to get right. I prefer to use the
Unwrap UVW modifier, isolating areas and map planar elements,
then stitching them together within the UV Editor. When
unwrapping, the key thing to keep in mind is readability. Beyond this,
you need to consider the real estate your character is taking up.
Avoid stretching and keep a consistent texel density, which can be
tested by applying a chequer material to your model. Carefully
consider the placement of your seams and try to keep them hidden
or have them follow a natural line.

06  Manage your models To speed things up I try to

duplicate assets as much as possible. For this
character the hands and boots only need to be created once.
Consider modelling just one, unwrapping it fully and then baking
textures and duplicating it afterwards. Once your model is
ready, split it up into different elements to quickly get the
portions separate for cleaner bakes. Try to avoid overlapping
geometry or including pieces that may catch conflicting
information during the bakes. A good example for this character 5

is separating the shoulder armour from the body, as you don’t

want model information from the body captured onto the
armour and vice versa. 07  Generate Normal & AO maps There are various
ways you can bake down Normal and Ambient Overlapping
6
Occlusion texture maps. To avoid bogging down my machine I
use xNormal, which is an application made to generate a series
UV islands
of textures without using a viewport. Simply navigate to the A smart way to optimise
High Definition tab, load the models you wish to use as a target, the real estate that your
then navigate to the Low Definition tab and select the low-poly model takes up in your
models you need to generate textures for. You can set the UV map is to overlap UV
islands. If a model is going
Raycast limit, which is the maximum distance the program will to appear exactly the
search for high-resolution detail, as well as which type of edge same in the final result,
information you would like (preserving Smoothing Groups or why bother giving two
not). Once everything is ready, navigate to the Baking Options exactly-the-same pieces
texture real estate?
tab, select the type of maps you need, the size and the
Instead, stack these UV
destination for the saved files, then click Generate Maps. Your islands up and give the
chosen textures will be generated quickly. new space to other
elements that could
benefit from more pixels.
7
For this character, the
hands, boots and armour
pieces were not made to
be unique. To avoid errors
while baking I grabbed the
overlapping island and
offset the UVs by 1. This
positioned the UVs in
exactly the same place,
where the texture was
tiled, and avoided any
conflict when I was
generating the Normal
texture maps.

5 Use a chequer material to test

texel density, stretching and
placement of the seams
6 Split your model apart for
cleaner bakes when
generating Normal and
Ambient Occlusion maps
7 xNormal is a great application
for quickly generating Normal
texture maps

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 41

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Texture the character

Produce a basic texture set for your model

08  Use baked maps as a guide When the Normal

and Ambient Occlusion maps have been made,
compile them into one PSD using the Alpha textures generated,
with the bakes as a mask. This achieves various islands of
information for the textures. Use the ambient occlusion
information as a rough guide to paint details that will line up with
the high-resolution model or Normal map information. Keep in
mind that too much baked-in lighting information will conflict
with real-time lighting – use baked-in shading wisely!

9 8

09  Create Cavity maps Open up CrazyBump, which has a full free demo (www.
crazybump.com), and load your final Normal map. Once this is loaded, you will be able
to tweak the settings in the Displacement, Occlusion and Specularity slots. I usually try to generate
a tight Occlusion map for cavities and a Specularity map for highlights, which are then multiplied
or overlaid on top of my Diffuse map. Since the Ambient Occlusion map takes care of broader
details, the Cavity maps are intended to pop out smaller aspects.

10  Apply Light maps Another step that I take to help the texturing process is to bring the
Normal-mapped model into a scene with a basic Omni light rig. Using the Render to
Texture panel (press 0 in 3ds Max), you can render out a simple Light map. This will generate a
texture, showing Normal-mapped detail reacting to the lighting coming from above. This texture,
set to a very low-opacity overlay, helps ground the character in the world of the game, as well as
enhance depth for the final Diffuse texture map.

8 Use subtle Ambient 11

Occlusion maps as a guide for
large-scale details
9 CrazyBump can generate
Cavity maps that will help pop
out details in the texture
11  Paint the base colours Now block in bigger details
with colours to match the provided concept. These define
the different materials within the texture without going into too
10 Used subtly, Light maps can much detail. I don’t worry about dirt or grime at this stage,
help ground your character in focusing only on low-frequency readability and using broader
the game world
strokes that can be seen at a distance. This character mostly
11 Start texturing your character
with basic colours and worry
uses a colour scheme of three tones to prevent any of the details
10
about the details later becoming confusing.

42 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

13

Defining different materials

Part of what makes an interesting character is the breakup
of materials. This can be as subtle as a button on a shirt, or
as extreme as chrome armour over a matte surface. This
character has great material variations throughout her
costume – namely the different types of armour paired
with a spacesuit material with low reflectivity. To ensure
the material is of the best quality, define specularity as well
as diffuse information, rather than simply adjusting the
reflectivity of a surface after the fact. One map should
12 inform the other and each is equally important.

12 Apply small details to give the

character life. Wear and tear
can really evoke a story in the
viewer’s mind
13 Produce a Specular map in
tandem with your Diffuse
map to sell material variations
with a range of values
14 Use a viewport shader to help
preview your work in a near
game-engine environment
12  Refine & add details Start breaking up the model
with smaller elements, like icons, decals, dirt and so on.
This is where surface-level details come into play, to flesh out
the model’s history. The majority of the model can be
hand-painted using a hard round brush, with the help of Light
and Cavity maps. You can add a metal overlay to the lighter
armour, to help break up the surface. The Diffuse texture map is
intended to be the base colour of the surface without any
lighting being added to it. Applying too much detail as a result of
lighting effects can make the material seem flat.
13  Build a Specular texture Often a Specular map is an
afterthought, but this shouldn’t be the case, as the
reflectivity of a material will help sell the differences within a
surface. While producing a Diffuse texture you should also be
creating a Specular map in tandem. Separate materials should
have an obvious difference in value. Generally the closer to
white the texture is, the more reflective it becomes. Therefore,
white represents chrome and black represents matte. When
creating a Specular map, remember that some details will exist
there that shouldn’t in the Diffuse texture.

14  Review your work

To preview my
progress, I use XoliulShader 2
(available from http://
viewportshader.com). It’s
free, easy to set up and is
accurate to how a game
engine will display your work.
Open the Material Editor, set
the material type to Xoliul and
load in the textures you need.
Now apply the Diffuse,
Normal and Specular maps,
as well as a quick Glow
texture. You can also add rim
lights, reflections and tweak
how the material renders in
your final shader. At this point
I also enable reflections, a
subtle rim light and load in an
Environment map, provided
with the shader, to control
what’s being reflected in the
14
final material.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 43

 Tips Tricks Fixes
Rig & weight the model
Make a quick skeleton to pose your character
15  Use a Biped skeleton 3ds Max has a great rig
perfect for characters like this, called ‘Biped’. Locate the
Biped option in the Create>Systems tab. After selecting this,
change the viewport to Front, then click and drag. This
generates a Biped rig that you can then fit to your character
model. Once the Biped has been placed, adjust different
parameters within the rig itself, like the amount of fingers, spine
bones and toes. This character uses five fingers, three spine
bones and just one toe for the boots.
15
18
44 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
16  Adjust the bone position It’s unlikely that the Biped rig will fit perfectly to your
character, but that’s okay. You can easily adjust the placement of bones by first navigating
to the Motion panel and clicking on the Biped Figure Mode icon (a stick man). Select the bone
you wish to change and either move, rotate, or scale it into place. For this character I had to make
minor adjustments, like the position of the shoulder. The major changes I needed to make,
mostly due to the stylisation of the character, were the placements of the hands and fingers, the
hip position, the length of the legs and the position of the head.
17  Mirror the Biped skeleton When adjusting the
position of the bones within your Biped rig, you only
need to worry about one side at a time. Since this character is
symmetrical, you can easily mirror the information from one
side to the other, which crucially saves a lot of time. Select all of
the bones making up the adjusted half of your model, then
navigate to Copy/Paste in the Biped menu. Create a new copy
collection, click Copy, then Paste Opposite while in Posture
mode. This will instantly copy the adjusted bone position to its
symmetrical counterpart.
18  Apply some weight Now you need to bind your
model to the newly created skeleton. Disable Figure
mode, select your character model and use the Skin modifier.
Once this has been added, go to Advanced Parameters and
change the Bone Affect Limit (that will influence a vertex) to a
number no greater than 5 (the default is 20). This helps keep
the influences on a vertex cleaner, but is also more true to a
16
videogame environment. Generally the more influences a
vertex has, the more calculations that will need to happen.
Some hardware will even have rendering issues with vertices
that have too many influences – so keep it simple and don’t use
more than you need.
19  Manually modify the influence Once you’ve
applied the Skin modifier, you’ll also able to tweak the
influence a bone has over a given vertex. A good way to do this
is to rigidly weight a vertex to the nearest bone and smooth out
the transition from there. When adjusting the character’s arms
you can weight all vertices for the upper arm to its relevant
bone and the same for the forearm. After this you can select a
loop of vertices at the elbow and blend them to the opposite
17
bone within the Weight tool’s options (the wrench icon).
19
15 Use the preset Biped system
for achieving a quick
character rig
16 You can easily change the
bind position of your
skeleton’s bones by entering
Figure mode and manually
moving bone objects
17 Use the Copy/Paste feature
within the Biped menu to
mirror changes you make, for
interesting bone positions
18 You can use the Skin modifier
to bind your model to the
Biped skeleton
19 Using the Weight tool, you
can manually adjust how
much influence each bone has
on a vertex

Consider
the scope
When working on your
character it’s important to
consider what the project
actually requires. For
example, this model is
intended to be just a
portfolio piece with only a
simple pose. This means
that the total triangle
count within the model
can be a little higher, so
long as it improves the
visual quality. This means
the textures can be
created at a higher
resolution than normal
and the rig only needs to
be able to achieve a few
basic poses, with minimal
distortion. Unless you are
intending to fully animate
the character, you can
save time by weighting it
to favour your own
specific requirements.
Fixes Tricks Tips
20  The Skin Wrap modifier Another invaluable tool
that you can use to bind your model to a skeleton is the
Skin Wrap modifier, which basically enables a model to follow
another weighted surface. I find that this is extremely useful for
elements that could take a long time to get right, like belts or straps
that are layered over the core character. With the Skin Wrap
modifier applied, select the target surface and then click Convert to
Skin to copy the skin information from the target surface. You can
then adjust the Skin modifier on its own if any additional cleaning
up is required.
21
21 
Make tests with interesting poses With your rig
selected, you can enable Autokey towards the bottom
of the screen and move the bones of your character to
automatically save a keyframe within an animation. I try to save
a few extreme poses that will test the limits of the rig. For the
most part, poses produced during exercise are good references
20
to follow. A jumping-jack pose, for instance, will test how the
model will deform during common animations.
22 23
22  Manipulate the character’s skeleton Similar to the test animation for deforming
the model, you can also set up animations to switch between various poses. By scrolling
ahead in the timeline, you can create a few poses that can then be manipulated later, all without
destroying the bind pose of your character (that will be frame 0). When posing your character,
you can also adjust its weighting as needed, based on your requirements for the final render.
23  Set up the final render Once you’ve settled on a suitable pose, it’s time to create a
more advanced setup to finish. Often I find applying a three-point lighting setup using
separate Omni lights – a strong key light, a fill light acting as ambient bounce and a back light
– produces the strongest results.
Your game-art portfolio 20 The Skin Wrap modifier can
quickly weight things like
straps to a character’s body
Always consider legibility when building renders for your 21 A swift animation using active
portfolio. The point is to display your work in a way that poses can help test the limits
doesn’t obscure details or deform your asset. Dropping of your rig
your character out of a bind pose, even a small amount, can
22 You can create a variety of
help add personality to it and still show it off in a less poses by saving keyframes on
confusing way than, say, an action pose. In the same vein, your skeleton
you should also consider a lighting setup that doesn’t
obscure your character in shadows or coloured light, but 23 By using XoliulShader 2 again,
you can apply a three-point
still brings out detail with light and shadow. lighting setup to achieve your
final result
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 45
 Tips Tricks Fixes
Here Gustavo displays some of the detailed anatomical
features that can be achieved with ZBrush
ZBrush
Perfect your anatomy
skills My tried-and-tested workflow for sculpting
realistic details in ZBrush
W
hether you’re a digital sculptor,
illustrator or designer, this is a
great chance to enhance your
skillset as I guide you through creating a
human skull from scratch. By completing
these few steps, you’ll quickly form an
understanding of the basic primitive shapes
you can use to create a detailed and
believable model.
I highly recommend that you do a little
homework on human anatomy before
following these steps, as it will help to equip
you for any problems you may come across
during the process. By studying anatomical
references, we can understand how the
human body is formed, the parts it’s made
up of and the interplay between them. It’s
also always advisable to fragment your work
46 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
where you can to allow focus. Anatomically,
the skull is the part of the skeleton that forms
the shape of the head and supports the
structure of the face. It’s important to note
that a human skull is in fact formed of eight
bones, called ‘synarthrosis joints’, including
skull bones (known as ossa cranii) and facial
bones (ossa faciei).
The bones of the skull are divided into two
groups: the neurocranium (frontal, parietal,
temporal, occipital, sphenoid, ethmoid) and
viscerocranium (lacrimal, vomer, maxilla,
zygomatic, nasal, mandible, inferior
turbinate). It’s important to consider
technical descriptions to understand a little
more about the separation between the
bones you’ll be modelling. It will also make
the final steps, where you’ll be shaping the
Tutorial files:
ěũ#$#1#-!#ũ(,%#2
subdivisions of the model, far easier. From
personal experience I’ve learnt that by
reading books on anatomy, as well as
drawing sketches of bodies in different
positions, you can gain greater control over
basic shapes. Through this careful study we
can increase the overall level of realism in our
sculptures. Each human skull is different
according to the variations of its bone
structure; many factors, including age, origin
and gender, affect how a skull is shaped. This
means if you choose to use a different
reference image than the one supplied, you’ll
get a totally unique result.
In this tutorial we’ll start with a simple
sphere in ZBrush, then flesh it out step by
step, using several of my preferred brushes
and tools in ZBrush.
 Fixes Tricks Tips

This image is supplied with the tutorial for you to

use as a reference to guide your sculpting

Grasp the complexity of the

human skull

01  Start with basic shapes To begin

we need to add a simple sphere in
ZBrush and activate Edit mode. Navigate to
Texture>Image Plane>Load Image and
import the image used as a reference in this
tutorial, named ‘Reference Skull.jpg’. Now
move the sphere above the front view of
the reference skull.

02  Adapt the sphere Looking at

the frontal view, we’ll convert our
primitive sphere to a Polymesh by going to
The bones of the skull have been
separated by colours here, to
perfectly present their divisions
Tool and selecting Make Polymesh3D. Next
go to Transform>Activate Symmetry and
1 Starting the sculpt 2 Adapting the
select the Move brush with a high Draw from a primitive primitive object to
2
Size. Using the background image as a shape helps the frontal view to
reference, activate the Transp option maintain a more begin working on
(Transparency). Now we need to adapt our organic workflow the facial features
sphere to the skull using the Move brush.
A good tip is to alter the brush’s size
according to the scale of the reference.

Study the anatomy of the skull

Take a quick look at the supplied images (skull references) to
familiarise yourself with the symmetry of each shape.
Obviously, when we start this kind of work, we can choose
different approaches that can make our workflow more
effective, based on the result we are looking to produce. Usually
when we begin an anatomy-based project, we’re looking to
achieve a balance between accurate and believable symmetry.
This is also the case when approaching the human skull. I
recommend enabling Symmetry only during the first steps, then
disabling it later on to get some disproportion and realism.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 47

 Tips Tricks Fixes

05  Make the cavities Now convert

3
4
Useful tips for
sculpting in ZBrush
When adding and subtracting meshes
from a model, try converting the
sculpting to DynaMesh mode.
Previously you couldn’t subtract any
shape from the model without
converting it, but with DynaMesh you
can use the Blur option to smooth edges
as surfaces. I find this is really useful
whenever I’m combining an object
between the edges. A quick way to
convert the application mode to
the model to DynaMesh mode
and deactivate Symmetry. I’ve chosen to
use an approximate resolution of 400 with
a Blur value of 0. Now we can apply the
InsertCylinder brush to subtract from the
sculpt. While applying the brush, hold Opt/
Alt to subtract from the mesh. This saves a
lot of time going back and forth to the ZSub
option. Apply the brush all the way through
the model to carve out the mouth cavity
and the mandibular notch, as shown in the
image. After this we can release Opt/Alt,
then adjust our inserted shape by using the
Scale, Rotate and Move options under the
Transform menu. Next hold Cmd/Ctrl-click,
then drag and drop twice on the
background layer.
06  Define the edges Once the
cavities are shaped out, we need
to redefine the edges of the mandible and
reactivate the Symmetry option. In this case
I start sculpting with the brushes (Clay
Buildup or Standard) used previously. Using
the Opt/Alt key to subtract from the mesh
will help when you have to sculpt with the
Smooth brush. Also try subtly flattening the
model’s surfaces by carefully applying the
Polish brush.

DynaMesh is to hold Cmd/Ctrl-click,
then drag and drop on the background.
This will be subject to the previous
resolution assigned.
07 
The mandible’s cavity To start
with the cavity of the mandible,
we’ll use the same method of subtracting
objects as mentioned in Step 5. Insert an
object through the mandible (InsertSphere),

03  Develop the digital clay

Looking at the side view (the left
side of the skull), continue applying the
5 but be careful just to go through the
mandible and not through the skull. This is
because we will later be altering the interior
Move tool to adapt the clay to the reference of the palate.
image. In this case I also use the ever-useful
Clay Buildup brush to add or subtract clay 6
according to the requirements. I highly
recommend using the Smooth brush to
clear up any imperfections while holding
3 Adapt the the Shift key. This is a great method for
primitive objects getting the best-possible finish.
to the side view

4 Slowly build up
the definition of
the shapes
04  Flesh out the form This step is
vital for defining the shapes,
because we need to begin dividing the 7
5 Create cavities mesh and increasing the number of
throughout the polygons to get a detailed sculpt. Go to
model using the Geometry>Divide to control the subdivision
DynaMesh option
level according to what you want. After
6 Modify the doing this, redefine the clay using the Clay
cavities while Buildup or Standard brush. For my sculpt, I
paying attention
prefer using the Clay Buildup brush to
to the views and
smoothing the define an approximate model of the
surfaces as edges reference image. I can then clean it up with
the Smooth brush. This rough model is a
7 Give shapes to
the mandible and really useful starting point to build out the
subtract objects final model.

48 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Authentic reference
is the key!
I recommend using various reference
images from books on human anatomy
or the internet. This enables you to get
all the different angles and sides
accurate, because you can find all the
little nuances that can be included.
Sometimes you may need to get a real
bone to follow the details perfectly, such 9
as faceted angles. A real bone can be
8 rotated so you can appreciate its finer
points. Small details like these can be
learned when you try to sculpt from

08  Detail the palate, mandible &

edges Now we can try to refine
the skull from the bottom view. This aspect
images of real bones. Getting a feel for
the texture is also crucial.

will only improve with practise and by the brush size. I highly recommend taking
studying skull references from all angles. into account the Z Intensity of the brushes
As we are mainly focusing on the front and at every step of this process. If you use a 8 Hollow out the
side views, by applying the techniques in high level of intensity it won’t enable you to mandible, palate
and the bottom of
the previous steps you can create the work as you’d wish to and your results will the skull
bottom of the skull using brushes (Clay be slightly obscured. While still using the
Buildup or Standard) with Stroke> Standard brush, try building up the small 9 Sculpt the teeth
10 and bear in mind
Freehand set. In this particular case we’ll irregularities in the skull and over the teeth,
the symmetry
need to rotate the skull to get a good view as you can see in the screenshot. between them
from all sides, so I recommend activating
10 Place the teeth
Alpha 50 while sculpting and following the
references around it. 12  Apply the final details To finish
the model, we now need to create
the subdivisions in the skull to get an even
where they
belong and try to
adapt the shapes

09  Sculpt the teeth Save the skull

as a Tool and create a new
document using the supplied image
higher level of detail. We can begin by
adding these subdivisions using the
Standard brush with a small size and the
11 The roots of the
teeth have a
certain effect on
(Reference Skull.jpg) or another image of Alpha active (I’m using Alpha 59). Be sure the mandible and
maxilla bones
teeth that you may prefer. Add a cylinder or to apply with a low intensity, but feel free to
sphere, then change this primitive shape to activate any other Alpha that you feel could 12 The subdivisions
a Polymesh object. At this stage we can work better. If you find that the subdivisions of the bones that
increase the subdivision levels to better you’ve made are too big, a good tip is to make up the skull
are important for
approach the sculpting. Select the Move use the Pinch brush to close or approximate achieving a truly
11
brush to get an approximate shape for the the lines. detailed result
first tooth and then start to model it. When
the tooth is done, go to SubTool>Insert and
add what you’ve sculpted. You can then do
the same for the rest of the teeth.

10  Insert the teeth Once all the

teeth are finished we’ll need to
insert them into the skull. For this step, save
them as a Tool by going to Tool>Save as
and name it ‘Teeth’. Open the Skull tool we
created earlier and choose the reference
image being used as the background. Go to
SubTool>Insert and choose the Teeth tool.
After inserting this, try to adapt the size to
the mandible and make any other changes
that you feel necessary. Checking the
symmetry is very crucial at this stage.

11  The maxilla & mandible Maxilla

and mandible are the technical terms
for the areas overlying the teeth, which
produce some irregularities in the bone. To
sculpt these, we must use the Standard 12
brush with Alpha 50 activated to control

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 49

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Tutorial files:
ěũ(-+ũ
ũ,."#+
Follow Gustavo’s instructions and ěũ#$#1#-!#ũ(,%#2
you should end up with a ěũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32
medically accurate torso model

Sculpt the The anatomical master

Gustavo Åhlén reveals his
simple guide to sculpting a

skeletal torso human vertebrae, hips and

ribs in ZBrush

T
he following is a process that will
help artists, sculptors, designers
and those without any knowledge
of the topic to sculpt the column
vertebrae, ribs and hips of a human
skeletal structure.
As always, I recommend reading books
on human anatomy to perfect your skills,
but for now I’ll clarify the key anatomical
elements. These technical details always
help us to better understand how joints
work when embarking on a sculpt like this.
The spine is composed of various hinged
parts connected together called vertebrae.
The column is separated into five regions:
cervical (seven vertebrae, C1-C7), dorsal
region (12 vertebrae T1-T12), Lumbar (five
vertebrae, L1-L5), sacral region (five
vertebrae S1-S5) and coccygeal (four
vertebrae, unstable).
While most of the spine is separated by
intervertebral discs, the sacral region –
which occurs in the bottom of the spine
within the pelvic cavity – consists of five
fused bones without any intervertebral
discs between each. Similarly, the
coccygeal region consists of four vertebrae
also has no discs. If you refer to the
reference images you will see this unique
section of the spine without separations at
the base.
With regards to the ribs, they are
classified in four distinct sections: the
cervical rib, which is located at the top of
the torso; the true ribs, which are the first
seven ribs attached to the vertebral column
and, through the intervention of the costal
cartridges, with the sternum; the false ribs,
which are the five sets of ribs below the
true ribs; and finally the floating ribs, which
occur at the bottom of the torso and are not
attached to the sternum. Understanding
such anatomical connections is key to
following this tutorial.
It’s also important that you also pay close
attention to the boxouts throughout these
pages, as here I will offer details on the
processes utilised. Before you begin the
tutorial I also highly recommend practising
with primitives in ZBrush. This way you’ll be
able to grasp the correct use of ZBrush’s
tools and increase your knowledge with
regards to sculpting the clay into different
angles. This is especially vital when working
with complex models like skeletons.
If necessary you can find good websites
with 3D models of vertebrae to guide you
through the steps. Hopefully after following
this process, you’ll have all the skills you
need to build your own skeleton torso.

50 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Use this reference image to position the hips

and ribs on the column vertebrae

Find your way around

the human spine

01  Start with ShadowBox These

first few steps are really important
to grasp, as we will repeat the method
detailed with slight variations throughout
the tutorial. Go to Lightbox>Tool, select
Shadowbox128 and select Edit to make an
editable piece. ShadowBox enables us to
view reference images from different angles
This image can be used as a reference guide to the creation of the column vertebrae. You can find it in high-res in our tutorial files
and then use these images to create a quick
and easy rough sculpt.

Explore the human

spinal column 02  Utilise ZBrush’s SpotLight
feature Here we will use
ZBrush’s SpotLight feature to add in our
The process of selected reference images. Navigate to
recognising the Texture>Import, then load any of the
different parts of skeletal reference images you’ve chosen.
the spinal column is
fundamental to You can import different images in one
understanding the step, then go to UV Map and hit Morph
various connections UV. This enables us to paint the textures
between them. over ShadowBox. Next go to Texture, select
Usually I would
the desired texture and choose Add to
suggest checking
the angles of each SpotLight. You can then position the texture
vertebra to get a over the desired plane. Use the options in
1
correct fit, because SpotLight to resize the image as you wish.
when we create the
complete spine we
need to separately
account for the
position of each
vertebra. These
separations will be
fixed with the
vertebral discs.
Always keep in
mind that these
discs are compressed and expanded
according to the movement generated
by the human body. Also, remember
that not all spines are identical and we
can find small variations in each
vertebra. However, in this tutorial we’ll
be working with a general example, just
for the sake of simplicity.

1 ShadowBox is a useful tool when sculpting

from reference images

2 ZBrush’s SpotLight helps us to transfer 2

images to ShadowBox

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 51

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Flatten forms with

Trim Dynamic
Sometimes we need to flatten rounded
shapes and a very useful tool for this is
the Trim brush set to Dynamic. Apply
this to flatten the ribs after creating
them with ZSphere. After using the
Smooth tool we can get rounded shapes
that make us lose our desired sculpting.
The Trim brush set to Dynamic can be
used again to flatten these forms.
Remember to change the Intensity
values to get a flattened shape without
losing what you’re looking for. The
Intensity setting enables us to make
changes while keeping the original form.

3 4

5
05  Redefine the shapes
Deactivate ShadowBox by going
to Geometry>ShadowBox. We must now
smooth and refine our current vertebra. Use
different brushes for this – such as
Standard, Clay Buildup and Move – with
Stroke Freehand active. Refine the edges of
the vertebra and try to get a result similar to
the screenshot. The Move and Move
Topological brushes are useful for this. Use
Clay Buildup to get an approximate shape
and then use Smooth to clean up the
model. Always keep in mind the intensity of
each brush throughout the process.

03  Paint some textures on the

ShadowBox This step is key in
the creation of each vertebra. After
positioning the selected texture on
ShadowBox in the correct position for the
back, right or bottom view, we need to
3 SpotLight and
deactivate Zadd, Zsub and activate RGB.
ShadowBox are
commonly used Select the Standard brush with Stroke set to
tools in the digital DragRect. Now go to the Polypaint tab and
sculpting process select Polypaint From Texture. After this, hit
4 Using Lasso Mask Z to hide the options for SpotLight, then
and ShadowBox drag and drop in the middle of the texture
enables us to to paint the textures over the ShadowBox.
create 3D shapes
from relatively Keep editing until you achieve a similar
simple textures result to the screenshot.
06  Sculpt the cervical vertebrae
section For the cervical
vertebrae we need to make two holes – as
indicated by the red circles in the
accompanying screenshot. Do this by
selecting Insert Cylinder and using the
DragRect Stroke. Hold Opt/Alt and add the
cylinder in the shape that you want to make
a hole. Align this second shape to the
correct position. Now hold Cmd/Ctrl, click,
drag and drop your model into an empty
space without 3D models. You need to drag
and drop twice and the second shape will
be subtracted from the main shape. We will 6
now follow this same process in the next
few steps.

5 Get refined forms

from primitive
shapes using
Smooth tools
04  Get the 3D shapes After
painting each texture on the
ShadowBox’s three planes (back, right and
07  Model more vertebrae and
duplicate them Now we need
to create the lumbar vertebra (five copies),
bottom), go to Brush and select Lasso the thoracic vertebra (12 copies), the
6 It’s a good idea to
subtract – rather Mask. Try to position any plane in a perfect cervical vertebra (c3, c4, c5, c6), c1 (Atlas),
than add – shapes frontal view, then activate Symmetry while c2 (Axis) and c7. Check out the vertebra
to achieve the keeping in mind the correct axis of the reference images to get a good idea of
result you want
symmetry (z, x, y) according to your where to sculpt and align each vertebra
7 You should use selected side. Now hold Cmd/Ctrl and try accordingly. Note that you can sculpt just
SubTools to to cut the shapes following the edges of the one vertebra for the lumbar, one for thoracic
duplicate each
textures above any plane. You can delete and one for c3, c4, c5 and c6. Use
vertebra and
streamline the areas by holding the Opt/Alt key while Duplicate in SubTools to make more copies
7
whole process you’re applying the Lasso Mask. of each one.

52 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

8 9 10 11

8 Sculpt in the
vertebral discs
using the axis (red
shape) as a
08  Create the column Now we
can sculpt the sacrum using
ShadowBox and the same processes
column using the frontal and side views as
guides. By applying different brushes, we
need to get an under relief (vertebral discs)
vertebral guide mentioned through Steps 2 to 5. After this, below the level of each vertebra. Check out
9 Aligning each create the centre of the column using the red paint in the accompanying image to
vertebra enables ZSphere. Go to SubTool>Insert and add a use as a guide, as these are the all-
us to get a good new ZSphere. Position this in the middle of important vertebral discs.
final angle
the sacrum, activate Symmetry, then Draw
10 Sculpt the centre
to create the
joints between
and apply over the ZSphere. You’ll see how
a small red ball begins to protrude over the
ZSphere. Now we need to use Move with a
11  Build the ribs Go to
SubTool>Insert, select ZSphere and
change its position to over the first thoracic
each vertebra
small Draw size to drag this new red ball, vertebra, below the c7. Use the same
11 ZSphere enables following the shape of the spine in the process as in the first seven steps and don’t
us to get floating accompanying image. forget to activate Symmetry. I recommend
forms without
having to rely on inserting 12 ZSpheres and carrying out the

12
other SubTools

In this step we
09  Align the vertebrae After
achieving an approximate model
of the spine using ZSphere in the previous
same process for each one. After this, we
need to make an Adaptive Skin, delete the
current SubTool and insert (SubTool>Insert)
need to use
ShadowBox and step, go to Adaptive Skin and increase the the new 3D mesh with a high subdivision
position the hips 12 Density value to get a smooth shape. Now level. By using various brushes as in step 5
over the sacrum
select Make Adaptive Skin to create a new we can create a convincing sculpt of the
3D mesh where we can select primitives. ribs. Using SubTool>Merge Down, we can
Symmetries adjacent to the spine Go to SubTool, delete the current SubTool
created with ZSphere and insert the new
also merge all the SubTools.

When modelling the spine, take into

account the angle of the ribs and hips to
the spine to keep an appropriate ratio.
These may vary depending on the age
of the person and their bone structure.
There isn’t a perfect symmetric
measure, so we can only work with
approximations. The angles pictured
here will help us find common
symmetries in our work, which are
important to keep a correct proportion.
They also enable us to understand the
precise joining between the ribs and the
hips over the spine. However, if aiming
for realism, remember that actual
skeletons aren’t perfectly symmetrical.
3D mesh with a high subdivision level. After
this we need to use the reference image
‘Reference Column single.jpg’ supplied to
centre each vertebra as a SubTool.
10  Sculpt the vertebral discs
After centring each vertebra
according to the reference image, try to
adjust each one while considering the
different angles, then begin to sculpt the
vertebral discs by using the ZSphere as an
axis. In the first instance, activate
Symmetry and then apply the Move brush
to get an approximate model. Rotate the
12  Shape the hips The easiest way
to build up the hips is to use
ShadowBox and follow the processes
mentioned above. Apply the Move brush
and then subtract shapes by inserting a
cylinder (similar to Step 6). This way you
can drill holes in the bottom. I also
recommend grabbing the Move Topological
and Clay Buildup to add new clay, get an
approximate shape and then apply Smooth
to the hips. By hitting Opt/Alt we can add
or subtract clay. Position the hips over the
sacrum and try to attach the bone
structures by adding and subtracting clay.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 53

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Although consisting of predominantly Tutorial files:

straight lines, the skeletal arms and ěũ
1,2ũĜũ-"2ũ ."#+ē. )
hands are full of complex joints
ZBrush

Sculpt limbs Here Gustavo Åhlén,

presents a simple guide
to help artists to improve
in ZBrush their skills

C
ontinuing this series on sculpting
skeletal anatomy, here you will
learn how to accurately produce
CG human hands and arms from scratch.
The techniques used will help you to
understand the different ways to replicate
these human parts and significantly
increase your anatomy skills.
It’s always advisable to learn this process
step by step and to not attempt the entire
tutorial in one go. More often than not,
these skills are best acquired after hours of
practice and a lot of trial and error. Just
persevere and stay confident until you get
the results you’re looking for.
Reference to the ZBrush manual is highly
recommended to understand the correct
use of the various tools we’ll be applying.
Firstly, we’ll give a brief overview of the
bones of the arms and hands, to better
understand the approach to creating them.
The human arm consists of three bones:
the humerus, ulna and radius. The hand is
made of 54 bones, which in turn are
separated into three distinct groups:
metacarpals, which form the core of the
hands, the phalanges or ‘finger bones’ and
the carpals.
The carpal area is an anatomical
assembly that connects the hand to the
forearm. Although this is a complex area,
we won’t be referring to each individual
bone of the carpus in these steps. However,
the internet and anatomical books supply
great reference material if you want to
expand your knowledge and improve your
art. Reference images will provide you with
a far greater understanding of the joints
between the groups of bones, and to better
visualise the various angles and rotations.
A fundamental point to remember
before we progress is to consider the
proportions of each bone. You can base
your works on models or perform sketches
on paper to get a better understanding of
the scale of each bone.
When using a frontal view as reference,
it’s important to understand that although
we can’t see it, the hand bones are not fully
extended and are in fact slightly contracted.
To fully appreciate this quirk, we should use

54 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


side views as a reference. Although, the
more variety we have in terms of reference
images, the more accurate our models will
eventually become, so try to find various
skeletal poses to inform your work.
Finally, the ZBrush Polygroups function is
an essential function for separating our
models, because it enables us to split the
skeleton into different parts as SubTools, or
combine them. You can learn more about
Polygroups by checking out the boxout later
on in this Masterclass, where we will cover
how to best apply them in your work.
Create arms and hands
01  Start with a ZSphere To begin
we need to add our first tool, which
in this case is a ZSphere, so go to the Tool
tab and select it. Now click on the
background (the work interface) while you
drag and drop over it. In order to make this
ZSphere editable, we need to activate Edit
mode (keyboard shortcut: T). Now go to
Texture>Image Plane>Load Image to open
the reference images you’ve sourced for
accurately sculpting the hand.
02  Add the hand bones Now it’s
time to draw the metacarpals and
fingers. For this we need to change the
brush’s size, moving to smaller values and
drawing a new smaller sphere over the
Fixes Tricks Tips
Use this
image to
position the
hand and
arm, using
the scale as Use this image as a reference for sculpting the
reference hand, taking note of how contracted it is
Here you can see different views of the
bones that make up the human arm Polygroups
Polygroups is a useful sub-palette in
ZBrush that enables us to combine
polygons using different procedures,
such as: Auto Groups, UV Groups, Auto
Groups With UV, Merge Similar
Groups, Merge Stray Groups, Groups
By Normals, Group Visible, Group
Masked, From Polypaint, From Masking
and so on. I have used Group Masked
as well as Group Visible to separate the
carpals, metacarpals and phalanges in
different Polygroups. This enables us to
split them into SubTools if we want to.
main ZSphere. When this new sphere 1 Use ZSphere to
starts to appear, go to Move (keyboard create the hand’s
shortcut: W) and adjust it until the joints basic shape
begin to appear. Now, over a new joint, 2 The simple
draw another sphere and do the same step skeleton for the
for each finger. You’ll have to keep in mind hand is the first
that each finger will start from the main step before we
convert it to clay
ZSphere you originally made. Also pay
attention to the brush’s size, as this will 3 Using frontal and
define the width of the fingers. Note that side views helps
us to control the
you’ll be able to see the joints that are being length between
created in a lighter grey than the rest. the joints
03  Refer to the side views In the
previous step we were working in
a frontal view, but now we need to move
2
these joints using the side views. This
process will alter the length between the
joints, so try to get similar proportions to 3
the reference image you’ve picked.
Remember, you need to change from Draw
to Move mode using small values of Draw
Size, because if you have high values you
will inadvertently modify other joints. Keep
this in mind when you need to move closed
joints. For further advice for moving the
joints, check out some of the accompanying
boxouts throughout this tutorial.
1
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 55
 Tips Tricks Fixes

4 5

Save Adaptive Skin until last

When using primitive forms on a project like this, we often turn
them to PolyMesh 3D, because it’s the best mode to sculpt
these kinds of meshes. In this particular case I avoided
activating Adaptive Skin until the last step, before converting it
to Polymesh. This way we can return to the original ZSphere to
make new changes in the joints. To do this, just go to
Tool>Adaptive Skin and select Preview.

4 Convert the
model to
Adaptive Skin to
04  Convert to Adaptive Skin
After we have the skeleton of the
hand, we can see a preview of the model by
reference images close at hand, pick the
Move Topological brush and attempt to
achieve an approximate re-creation of what
8

begin sculpting
converting our skeleton to Adaptive Skin. you see. The Move Topological brush is
5 The Deformation Hit A on the keyboard, or go to Tool> preferable because it moves the mesh
options are very
useful to create
Adaptive Skin. It’s vital that you change the separately from the rest of the polygons.
changes in the Density values, because this will increase or You can experiment with the Draw Size to
unmasked areas decrease the subdivision level (SDiv). In this understand the differences between the
case we’ve opted to use a Density of 5. Move and Move Topological brushes. Next
6 By using various
Intensity values in Now we need to mask all by holding Cmd/ you can use the Clay Buildup brush with a
our brushes, we Ctrl and clicking in an empty space. Now low Intensity, such as 20, to gain better
can maintain unmask the joint areas by holding Cmd/ control over the clay.
greater control
over the mesh Ctrl+Opt/Alt and unmask the areas as you

7 You’ll need to use

a wide range of
can see highlighted in the screenshot.
brushes and
values to build up
the correct details
05  Define the basic shapes Now
we can inflate the unmasked
areas to begin sculpting the joints, which
are more bulky than the rest of the skeleton.
8 Use ZSphere to
create separate To do this, go to Tool>Deformation and
SubTools for each increase the Inflate levels. It’s also a good
arm bone idea to increase the clay in suitable regions.
After this we need to unmask all, holding
Cmd/Ctrl and clicking over the background
while dragging and dropping.
07  Include small details This step
will require a combination of
brushes. Clay Buildup is used to get an
approximate shape; Smooth is used to
smooth the mesh; Slash3 will create
separations between the bones (joints);
Pinch can reduce the space between these
separations; and hPolish will flatten the
curves or irregular meshes. Try to
experiment with hPolish to test this brush,
holding Opt/Alt to flatten the mesh under
or over the current mesh. Opt/Alt will
reverse the current option that’s selected
08  Apply more ZSpheres Open
a new empty document. In this
step we need to make different SubTools for
the bones of the arms, namely the
humerus, ulna and radius. For the humerus,
load a reference image, then go to
Tool>ZSphere and add a ZSphere. Change
the size of the ZSphere and draw over the
reference images, following the same steps
previously used. Now, to create the ulna
and radius bones, go to SubTool>Insert,
load a new ZSphere and repeat the

06  Sculpt the hand Now we are

ready to begin building up the
main mesh of the skeleton. With your
(Zadd or ZSub). After sculpting, you can
convert the model in Polymesh 3D by going
to Tool>Save As.
previous process. Remember to use
separate SubTools for the various bones of
the arm.

56 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

10

09  Convert the ZSpheres to

Adaptive Skin Now we need to
convert each SubTool into Adaptive Skin
11

(keyboard shortcut: A). Go to

Tool>Adaptive Skin and increase the
9
Density setting in each SubTool to get a
better quality before sculpting on the clay.
9 Getting a rough Ideally you should get something similar to
mesh for the final
model using
the screenshot, without a defined mesh
Adaptive Skin and overlap.
12
10 Backfacemask is
a useful tool that
enables us to 10  Refine the arm bones After
converting these bones to
protect the mesh
while we sculpt
Adaptive Skin, we need to sculpt the clay
using brushes, such as Clay Buildup with
Mask the meshes so
Backfacemask active (go to Brush>Auto
they separate into
11 Converting the
SubTools into Masking>Backfacemask). It’s advisable to different SubTools
Polymesh 3D hold Opt/Alt while you are sculpting, in
enables us to get As I mentioned previously within this
better control
order to subtract the clay (ZSub) using low three SubTools into Polymesh 3D, go back
tutorial, if you want to separate the
over the meshes values of Intensity. The hPolish brush can to the first Polymesh you created and insert mesh into SubTools, start by masking
help you to get a flatter mesh to produce a the other two new Polymeshes by going to the area that you want to split, such as
12 Position the the metacarpals or phalanges. Next, go
more defined model. After this we can use SubTool>Insert.
bones of the arm to Tool>Polygroups and select Group
and hand over the Smooth brush while holding Shift to
Masked. You can either apply Invert
your reference
images. Don’t
forget to check
smooth the mesh using low values of
Intensity. Repeat this for each SubTool. 12  Refine the positions, scales
and angles With your reference
images still close at hand, load the two
Mask to separate the other areas, or do
this manually. Once you’ve separated
the metacarpals and phalanges into
the scale
different Polygroups, you can convert
11  Convert your SubTools to
Polymesh 3D Now convert each
SubTool into Polymesh 3D. For this it’s
tools (the hand and arm), select one of
them, then go to SubTool>Insert and load
the other tool as a SubTool. Next rotate the
this mesh to PolyMesh 3D and then go
to Tool>SubTool>Split and select
Groups Split. Now select the SubTool
important to rename each SubTool: hand and arm, attempting to find a good fit and click Close Holes.
‘humerus’, ‘ulna’ and ‘radius’. If you hit Make between the two. Simply follow the
Polymesh 3D over a SubTool, this will then reference images carefully, taking into
create a new mesh called PM3D_humerus, account the positions, scales and angles
or whatever name you have given to your that are used and noting that the hand and
SubTool. Automatically, this will change to arm are not extended but have a slight
the new mesh created as PM3D. You need bend. Activate Symmetry to produce the
to return to the original tool where the three other hand and arm. You can now export
SubTools were and convert these to the project as an OBJ file and open it in any
Polymesh 3D. Once you’ve created the 3D software.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 57

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Tutorial files:
ěũ (-ũ(,%#ē)/%
ěũ4//.13(-%ũ(,%#ũĈē)/%
ěũ4//.13(-%ũ(,%#ũĉē)/%
ěũ.7.43Ĉē)/%
ěũ.7.43ĉē)/%

Gustavo’s final work helps to better

understand how to sculpt the
human legs and feet

ZBrush

Sculpt the legs and

feet Use ZBrush to create the lower half of the human
body in this detailed anatomy tutorial

I
n this final section of my ZBrush
anatomy masterclass I will reveal the
workflow steps for creating a digital
sculpture of the skeletal legs and feet.
First, a medical introduction to the legs
and bones of the lower half of the body, as
understanding the structure and anatomy
of the bones is integral to the process of
re-creating them in ZBrush.
The legs are made up of the femur, or the
thighbone, which is the area between the
pelvis and the knee. The patella is the knee
cap, the tibia is the larger of the two bones
below the knee cap, and the fibula is the
smaller of the two leg bones located below
the knee cap. The feet are constructed in
separate sectors by the following bones:
the tarsus (talus, calcaneus, cuneiformes,
cuboid and navicular), metatarsus (first,
second, third, fourth and fifth metatarsal
bone) and phalanges.
When we start to sculpt, we need to pay
attention to the femur head (upper
extremity) and the lower extremity as well
as the extremities of the tibia and fibula.
The femur head is the joint with the hip and
the lower extremity is the joint with the
tibia. Understanding these joints is really
important because you need to know the
correct rotations and how they connect the
joints. Reference and medical information
can be found via the internet, where you
can get a better idea about each joint and
how these bones work. By using the
brushes Move or Move topological you can
approximate the joints between each bone
that we have separated in SubTools.
Throughout this masterclass you will find
boxouts where I have included detailed
explanations about the processes used in
each step. I also recommend that anyone
reading this tutorial also pick up some
books on human anatomy to gain a better
understanding of how the skeleton works.
Finally, you can improve your final model
by adding more details and activating
alphas in the brushes to add irregular
surfaces. I recommend the use of hPolish
brush, because sometimes we get rounded
models and a good way to flatten these
areas is the use of this brush. The most
important steps are detailed in this
masterclass, but you can improve the final
model according to your personal tastes.

58 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


This image can be used to position the feet and
legs using the scales as reference
Start simple
01  Start with ZSphere The first
step is to attach our first tool as
ZSphere. Go to Tool>ZSphere. After
selecting ZSphere we need to do a left-click
over the background (work interface) while
you drag and drop over it. Convert the
ZSphere into an editable object by
activating Edit (shortcut T). Go to Texture>
Image plane and finally Load Image to open
the reference image of the feet included
with the cover disc. This will aid you when
sculpting anatomically correct shapes.
1
Fixes Tricks Tips
This image is used as reference to sculpt the feet
following the different views
How proportions, scales and
angles shape our model
When we start a new sculpture in 3D, we should pay attention
to the proportions, scales and angles because it lets us gain
better control over the individual shapes. When we talk about
proportions, we must take into account the length and width as
well as the thickness. Sometimes it may be the case that we
make a model with the proper
length but with the wrong
thickness. When we are sculpting
a small part of a model and not
the complete piece, we can
sometimes lose the proportions
as linked to other parts. A good
way to get around this is to sculpt
the smaller parts while using the
larger model as a reference.
02  Start sculpting the feet It is
time to start defining the shape of
the toes. For this, we need to change the
brush size using small values and try to
draw a new small sphere over the main 1 ZSphere is used
ZSphere. When this new sphere starts to to start the model
of the skeleton
appear, go to Move (shortcut, W) and try
to move it to where you would find the 2 The skeleton for
joints. Now, over this new joint, draw a new the feet is the first
step before
sphere, and do the same step for each toe.
converting it
Remember that each toe originates from
the main ZSphere created in Step 1 and the 3 Using frontal and
brush size will define the width of each side views help us
to control the
section of the toe. length between
2
the joints
03  Use side views as reference
In the previous step I have used a
frontal view as reference, but now we need
to move these joints using the side views to
ensure we are sculpting the correct
proportions. This process will change the
length between the joints. Try to get a
similar model as in the image used for
reference. You need to change from Draw
to Move using small values of draw size,
because if you have high values of draw size
you will modify other joints. Keep this in
3
mind when you need to Move closed joints.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 59
 Tips Tricks Fixes

4 5 6

7 After the sculpting you can convert the feet

into Polymesh3D. Apply DynaMesh to add
more details and correct imperfections
(closing holes). Save the feet by selecting
Tool>Save As.

8
08  Create a ZSphere for the
legs Now, create a new empty
document. We need to create different
background. Do this at the same time that SubTools for the bones of the legs: the
you drag and drop. femur, patella, tibia and fibula. To create the
femur, go to Tool and select ZSphere and

06  Sculpt the feet It is time to

sculpt the feet. Using the
reference images, use the brush Move
load the reference image. Draw the
ZSphere over the image. Change the size of
the ZSphere positioning it over the

04  Convert to adaptive skin

After creating the base sculpt of
our skeletal feet we can view a preview of
Topological to get an approximate clay to
the reference before sculpting it. Using
Move Topological enables us to move the
reference images and follow the steps
previously used. Next create the tibia and
fibula bones. Go to SubTool>Insert and load
the model by converting our skeleton using mesh separated from the rest of the a new ZSphere, following the same process
4 Convert the Adaptive Skin (shortcut, A or go to polygons by areas according to the draw as for the femur. To create the patella bone,
model to adaptive Tool>Adaptive skin). It is really important to size. It is important to test it to understand insert a Sphere.
skin to start
sculpting details change the values of Density because this the differences between the brushes Move
will increase or decrease the subdivision and Move Topological changing the draw
5 The Deformation level (SDiv). In this case I have used size. Then, we must use the brush Using the options
options are really
useful to create
Density=5. Now we’ll mask all by holding ClayBuildup with a low intensity, such as of deformation
changes in the Cmd/Ctrl and clicking in an empty space. 20, to gain better control over the clay. Now
unmasked areas You then need to unmask the areas of the finally we need to smooth it. The options of Deformation
joints, holding Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt and (Tool>Deformation) are really useful to
6 Different brushes quickly convert meshes, because in
and values of
intensity allow us
to get a better
unmasking these areas as you can see in
the screenshot. 07  Add small details Here we use
several brushes; ClayBuildup: used
to get an approximate shape, Smooth: used
some cases we have big scales. A
good tip to decrease the scale of the
model is using Size into Deformation
control over the keeping the 3 axis (x,y,z) to decrease or

7
entire mesh

Using different
05  Define basic shapes Now we
need to inflate the unmasked
areas to start sculpting the joints, which are
brushes is key to
very often bulkier. For this go to Tool>
achieving a great
final result Deformation and increase the levels of the
Inflate feature. This is a good option to
8 Use ZSphere to
increase the clay in the unmasked areas.
create separated
SubTools for each Afterwards, we need to unmask all, by
leg bone holding Cmd/Ctrl and clicking on the
to smooth the mesh, Slash3: used to create
separations between the bones (joints),
Pinch: used to reduce the space between
these separations, hPolish: Used to flatten
the curves or irregular meshes. When using
hPolish, try to test this brush while you hold
Opt/Alt to flatten the mesh under or over
the current mesh. Opt/Alt reverse the
current option selected (Zadd or Zsub).
increase the scale of the shape
proportionally. If we import a tool with a
big scale and we use the common Scale
(Key=E) to reduce it, sometimes we
need to rescale a lot of times, reducing
the piece very slowly in the process.
That is why I highly recommend the use
of Size into Deformation to resize the
piece quickly.

60 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


9 10
09  Convert ZSphere in
Adaptive skin Convert each
SubTool in adaptive skin (shortcut, A) and
go to Tool>Adaptive Skin. Increase the
density to get a better quality in each
SubTool before you start sculpting on clay.
You will get something similar to the
accompanying current image without a
defined mesh and overlap, but don’t worry
about it, because we have separated the
bones in SubTools. In this case I have used
Adaptive skin ‘Density=5’.
10  Sculpt the legs Now we can
start to sculpt the mesh. In this
case I have used ClayBuildup and I have
activated BackfaceMask from Brush>Auto
Masking>BackfaceMask). I recommend
holding Opt/Alt while you are sculpting to
subtract the clay (ZSub) using low values of
intensity. hPolish can help you to get a
flatter mesh for a more defined model.
After this we can use Smooth brush by
holding Shift and smooth the mesh using
low values of intensity. Carry out this
process for each SubTool.
11  Convert SubTools in Polymesh
Convert each SubTool in
Polymesh3D. Rename each SubTool as
femur, patella, tibia and fibula. Hit Make
Polymesh3D over a SubTool to create a
new mesh called PM3D_femur according
to the SubTool name. Automatically, this
Fixes Tricks Tips
Bone expansion
and contraction
After you have converted the skeleton
with ZSphere in Polymesh3D, you can
stretch or contract the bones of the feet
and legs. A good tip to modify these
rotations while maintaining the original
length is using Move while you are
holding Ctrl as you can see in the image
below. There is also another very
interesting option available when
holding Opt/Alt. If you are working with
ZSphere and you drag over the
background while you are holding Opt/
Alt you will move the complete model.
Check out how Length 1 stays the same
length while we rotate the bones.
will change to the new mesh created as
PM3D_femur. You then need to go back to
the original tool where the three SubTools
are located and convert them as Polymesh.
Once you’ve created the three SubTools as
Polymesh3D, you can open the document
previously saved for the feet and insert
each SubTool (femur, patella, tibia and
fibula) like you’ve previously done.
12  Positions, scales and angles
Once we have opened the feet
document and we have merged it with the
SubTools of legs, we need to rotate the feet
and leg bones to ensure that they have
maintained a good fit between them.
11
Before you do this, remember to take into
account the positions, scales and angles
used in the reference images. In order to do
this, you can export the project to OBJ,
open it into any 3D software and activate
the symmetry to create the other leg. Once
you have completed doing this, it is finally
time to render.
9 Adaptive skin 11 Converting the
enables us to get SubTools in
an approximate
mesh to the final
model from
ZSphere tool
Polymesh3D
allows us to gain a
better control
over the meshes
10 It is important to 12 Carefully consider
clean the curved position, scale
areas using the and angle when 12
hPolish brush adding the feet
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 61
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Easy-to-follow guides
take you from concept
to the final render Create realistic
ZBrush sculpts
Artist info

Samurai 2013
Hasan Bajramovic Build a realistic samurai warrior with highly detailed armour
Hasan Bajramovic is a CG artist specialising in character work, from concept to texturing and rendering
Username: hbajramovic

Personal portfolio site
www.hbajramovic.cgsociety.org
Country Bosnia and Herzegovina
Software used ZBrush, 3ds Max,
V-Ray, Photoshop
Expertise High-resolution
character texturing and sculpting
H
ere I will showcase my design and creation
workflow in ZBrush and 3ds Max. While sculpting
the character from scratch in ZBrush I’ll explain the
workflow and techniques that I use on a daily basis. I’ll cover
the various ZBrush tools that can help with your creative
process, such as ZRemesher, which can hugely speed up
your topology work. You will also learn how simple
techniques such as masking and extracting meshes from
existing tools can assist your workflow, as well how helpful
primitive tools in ZBrush can be used to make some of the
character’s elements.
Last I’ll explain how to set up lighting and rendering inside
3ds Max and V-Ray, as well as some shaders. We’ll be
forming all the armour in an unsymmetrical pose that might
prove difficult for some, but a little patience and
perseverance will carry you through to a great result.

Sculpt the head and helmet

Start from the top and work down

01 Block in and sculpt the face Using an existing base

mesh, block in the features and proportions that best
suit your design. Good reference is key here, as it will help you
Other types
of knots
when establishing the proportions of the sculpt. I can’t stress
Alternative knots can be
just how important it is to make sure you set up the proportions formed using ZSpheres
correctly. I usually spend 90 per cent of my time blocking out and Adaptive Skin. I
1
major shapes, and 10 per cent of my time detailing. prefer to find good
reference for these and
you can even search for
02 Start on the helmet Append a Sphere tool to your
sculpted head and slice it using the Clip brush. Move
the resulting shape around a bit to match the shape of the skull.
videos on YouTube to see
how some of them are
tied. Follow these steps
Now you can append a Cylinder tool and position it on top of the and try to match the
helmet. This is where the Radius Symmetry function comes in shape with your
ZSpheres. Once this is
handy. You should subdivide your mesh and sculpt in all the done, activate Adaptive
details with the Clay brush. Details like embossed clouds can be skin and if the knot has
added using a custom Alpha with a Standard brush. Form the gaps you can use the
lower part of the mask by appending another sphere and shape MoveTopology and Inflat
it with the Move and Clipping brushes. Now mask an area brushes in the
2 Deformation palette.
around it to make separate panels with the Extract tool.

03 Tie knots for the armour Next make a custom

InsertMesh brush that you can use throughout the
project for the knots. Start by selecting the Ring3d tool and
adjust its SDivide and LDivide settings under the Initialize menu
to something like 8 x 8. You don’t want to have too many
subdivisions on these rings, since there’s going to be a lot of
them. Turn the ring into a Polymesh and then drag out a straight
Transpose Curve to make it straight. By holding Cmd/Ctrl and
clicking on the middle circle of Transpose you can produce
copies of the ring. Arrange these in a similar manner to the
screenshot, then append a Cylinder3d tool and move it into
position. Merge these into one tool and click the
3
InsertMultiMesh button in the Brush menu.

62 O3D
3DArtist
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 Tips

Tutorial files:
ěũũ.4Ħ++ũăũ-"ũ2-Ħ2ũ!423.,ũ
IMM brushes that he uses to
create knots and screws

Learn how to
Sculpt a head to scale
Make photorealistic and
detailed armour
Sculpt and tie knots
Set up lighting and materials
Prepare an expert render

Concept
I wanted to create a
realistic samurai
warrior wielding two
swords. He has a
dynamic yet calm
stance typical of
samurai demeanour.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 63

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Construct the armour

Focus on shaping each element of the character’s armour

04 Sculpt the mempo (face mask) Begin masking

the parts of the face that we previously created. Once
happy with the shape that you’ve achieved, extract the mask as
a mesh by hitting the Extract button located in the SubTool
palette. Now you have your basic form, enable DynaMesh and
shape the mesh with the Move and TrimDynamic brush. You
can then add some creases and dents with the DamStandard
brush. I like to hit ClayPolish every now and then, since it
polishes up the surface effectively. Once you’re satisfied with
the outcome, try to keep things optimised by activating
Decimation Master and reducing the polycount on the mesh.

05 Pose the body You can pose the sculpted body

using a combination of ZSphere rigging and Transpose
masking. I personally like to combine both of these techniques.
For the ZSphere rig, start off by selecting a ZSphere and loading
up your mesh under the Rigging rollout. Once loaded, continue
adding and linking ZSpheres until you create a basic skeleton.
Once you’re happy, click Bind Mesh and move ZSpheres into a
decent position. Click Make Adaptive Skin to build the posed
mesh and return to your tool. You can now complete some
6
tweaks by masking, and then applying Transpose and the
Move brush.

06 Work on the lower body Just like in the previous

steps, mask the legs of the character and extract them.
Convert the extracted mesh to DynaMesh and move it around
until you get the desired shape. After you’re happy with the
overall form, start adding some wrinkles and folds but don’t
overdo this, since you still need to create the armour around the
legs. You can always return to this step and apply more details
after sketching in all the leg armour. This way you will know
where all the cloth compression is occurring.

07 Build the leg armour The leg armour is made using

the same techniques as the previous steps: mask,
extract, convert to DynaMesh and then block out the basic
shape. When you’re pleased with this element, use the IMM
Knot brush that we created for use on the helmet to add some
details to the armour. Add the ropes using the ZSphere
technique from the beginning of the tutorial and apply some
7
details to them using a DamStandard brush.

64 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

08 Add the missing lower body armour Since

there are eight identical parts to this armour, we’ll
create one and then position copies of it around the character.
Begin by appending a Box tool and trimming it down to shape.
Grab the Move brush to rearrange the upper section and form
the arcs seen in the screenshot. Use the CurveTubeSnap brush
to create the outer part of the pad. Add the cloud pattern with
the Standard brush and a Rectangle stroke, then place knots
with the custom Knot brush and copy the created shape five
times with the Transpose tool. Play with the pattern of the knots
and arrange them as you like. Now copy this SubTool eight times
and place it around the thighs. Try to bend them a bit using the
8
Transpose and Move brushes while masking certain areas off.

09 Build the torso amour The same method as

described in the previous steps can be used for the
section of armour covering the character’s torso. Start by
masking the body to create the base of the armour and move it
around until you get the shape desired. You can repeat this step
if you want to add more layers. Next, create another custom
Knot brush, the same way we did in the previous steps, and use
it to apply detail wherever you deem it necessary.

10 Attach armour to the arms Now mask out parts of

the forearm and extract them, but be sure to leave an
opening on the lower side. Using the TrimDynamic and Clipping
brushes, make some tweaks to the extracted mesh and apply
knots with the custom brush. Insert rivets by appending the
Ring3d tool and positioning it accordingly. Next mask the upper
part of the fist and go through the same steps until you get the
correct shape. Append the chainmail (you can find an IMM
Brush with it on the ZBRushCentral IMM Brush repository) to
your model and move it around to match the shape of the folds.
This can be tricky because of stretching and distortion, so take
your time. You can add all the other details using a combination
9
of these techniques.

11 Sculpt the sword

Again, the same rules
and techniques apply for this
10

element. Begin by appending

a Cylinder primitive for the
handle, then add a small
curvature to it with Move
brush and mask it off to
develop the pattern on it.
Extract this and, with the
MoveTopology brush, bring
the pattern closer and make it
overlap. Repeat the masking
and extracting for other parts
of the handle as well. For the
hilt we can use Shadowbox
and simply draw out the
shape with masking tools.
Append a box primitive and
adjust its size so it looks Don’t be afraid to experiment
similar to that of the blade. ZBrush is such a powerful software, but you shouldn’t be
Now begin sculpting the blade afraid to experiment with its tools. All of the elements
with the TrimDynamic and created in this tutorial can be made with a range of different
Clipping brushes. Spend time techniques. Try to find the one that suits you best and don’t
let ZBrush scare you! Let your imagination run wild and play
getting the curvature of the with all the tools. That’s the best way to improve.
11
blade to look just right.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 65

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Review your work

Take a break and analyse what’s been achieved

12

Try not to hide behind 12 Be critical At this stage don’t be afraid to be your own worst critic. Have a look at the
work you’ve done so far and make adjustments if needed. I do this all the time and you’ll
the small details notice that I change things during the sculpting process. This is the main reason we’re using
ZBrush: it enables you to experiment and make flexible adjustments to a model.
Details are always great, but it’s never a positive thing to get
distracted by high-frequency detail at the expense of basic
form and shape. This can happen to all of us and it’s
something that we should try to resist. Practise sculpting
human anatomy and forget about the high-frequency
details, just get the basic shapes and volume right first. Try
importing your work into Photoshop and flipping it
horizontally to get a fresh look of your model. You can get a
totally new outlook on your sculpt this way.

13 Topology and UVs Major parts of the sculpt can be

retopologised using ZBrush’s ZRemesher. All you have to
do is select the SubTool, open the ZRemesher rollout and select
the polycount that you want. Before hitting the ZRemesher
button, duplicate your SubTool. This way you can project the
details onto newly created topology. If you need more control
over the edge flow, use the ZRemesherGuides brush on the
mesh and create some guides. UVs are the easiest thing to
create in ZBrush, just open the Plug-in menu and hit UV Master.
You can then hit Unwrap and ZBrush will do the job for you. If
the process requires better UVs, we can go in and tweak things
manually, but for the purposes of this tutorial the results are
13
more than acceptable.

66 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Rendering and postproduction

Develop textures and finalise the model

14 Make textures Create an account at http://

CGTextures.com, if you don’t have one already, and
browse through its collection. Most of the textures there are
tileable and you just have to load them up. Here you’ll find
textures for leather, metal scratches and other types of fabric.
You can achieve great results by layering these with the
Composite shader inside 3ds Max. For the face you can stick
with ZBrush and build up the colour levels slowly. Remember,
bony areas have a more yellowish tone. Other areas have a
14 combination of purple and red tones. Use a Color Spray stroke
and adjust the colour variation to your own taste. Now extract
Normal and Displacement maps from ZBrush.
15

15 Set up your materials Create a VRayMtl for each

group of materials or fabrics being used. Load up all the
textures that you created and adjust the Specular/Reflection
values. You might also want to open some reference images
when creating these. The key to creating good-looking materials
is in simply observing your reference and experimenting with
different values until you’re happy. Samples of some of these
materials can be seen in the screenshot.

17

16 Begin lighting and rendering For rendering we’ll use 3ds Max and V-Ray, but the
same principles can apply to every software out there. We’ll create three V-Ray lights but
any other area light could do the job. Position them similar to the screenshot and experiment with
the Intensity settings until you achieve the results you desire. Assign V-Ray as the renderer and,
under the V-Ray tab, go to the Environment rollout add some HDRI maps for added reflection. I
usually go with Adaptive DMC 1x11. Now we can hit Render.
17 Final compositing For the last touches and
compositing of your image, you can use Photoshop or
any other application that enables you to retouch the image.
16
Start by adding some adjustment layers and tweak the Levels of
the final render. To bring out or tone down certain colours you
can use the Selective Color adjustment layer. Also try adding
some gradients with different blending modes and see what
kind of results this gives you. Now is also a good time to go in
and paint out any mistakes manually. 

Final thoughts
It’s a good idea to make iteration renders of your model. Try
to build up all the materials one by one. Use free open-
source HDRI maps to add great-looking reflections to your
metal materials, as well as some environment lighting.
Don’t rush things, sleep on it and come back the next day to
have a fresh look. Never be afraid to make adjustments in
Photoshop and look at your renders as raw materials that
need to be polished up.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 67

 Tips Tricks Fixes
modo
Design a creature
in modo How can modo be used for designing
and concepting a character?
W
hen it comes to creating
quick-turnaround concept
images for design purposes,
modo is a very good solution. It’s even
used by Industrial Light and Magic for this
very task. The workflow in modo enables
fast modelling, lighting and rendering, which
is why it’s a great visualisation tool.
The program’s excellent modelling
toolset, combined with a very powerful
integrated renderer and one of the best
real-time preview engines on the market,
makes modo perfect for visualisation jobs.
An artist can create work very quickly,
from model to final render, all in one place.
With the built-in painting and sculpting
tools concept work can also be carried out
from start to finish within modo itself.
In this project we’ll explore the creation
of a creature character. We’ll start with
some very basic subdivision modelling,
then Vector Displacement sculpting. We’ll
68 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
use the Geometry to Brush feature to
create a spike to be applied anywhere on
the mesh as a sculpted detail. modo’s
painting tools will then be used to paint
the texture maps and finally the scene will
be lit using softbox assemblies.
modo offers several flavours of
sculpting. Geometric sculpting can be
used as a regular modelling operation, as it
affects the geometry directly. Sculpting
with Multiresolution is suitable for
high-detail geometric sculpting with
multiple levels of detail. Additionally there
are two types of image-based sculpting:
one uses standard greyscale Height maps
and the other Vector Displacement maps.
Each approach is suited for different
purposes, so the type of sculpting should
depend on what you are trying to achieve.
In this case I’m opting for Vector
Displacement sculpting, because it offers
two important advantages: first the
Tutorial files:
ěũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32
sculpting doesn’t depend on topology, so
you can create any amount of detail
without needing to consider the underlying
topology of the mesh; second, this method
enables you to apply complete 3D shapes
as a brush. For instance, you could easily
use this technique to apply fully formed
ears to a head.
The program’s interface is split into
various tabs, each of which enables a very
focused workflow dedicated to the task at
hand. This means you can work in an
efficient manner at each phase of the
process, without being distracted with
unnecessary interface clutter.

1 2
01  Create the basic mesh Start with a simple sphere to
create the basic mesh, then delete the bottom half and cap
the open end with a polygon. Next, bevel this in a couple of times to
leave a large Ngon on the underside of the mesh. Now turn on X
Symmetry and bevel out some small limbs. The topology isn’t
important because the Vector Displacements aren’t affected by it,
so you can keep the modelling very simple.
02  Unwrap UVs For Vector Displacement sculpting and
painting the textures, the mesh is going to need to be
UV-unwrapped. The seams should be in places that aren’t going to
be visible, because they can cause problems with the Vector
Displacements. Select a loop of edges on the underside of the
model and then a line coming halfway up the back. Now define the
seams with the Unwrap command and use the Relax command to
even out the UVs.
3 make your Vector Displacement map, the
4 round brush, Ctrl/right-click to resize the
03  Make a spiky brush Create a
spike by drawing out a simple
cone and then use the Bend tool to give it a
more horn-like shape. In the Paint tab go to
the Utilities panel and select the Geometry
To Brush command. Set the mode to Vector
Displacement, the Axis to Y and save the
image. You can now use the spike as a
three-dimensional brush by applying it with
the Emboss tool as an image brush.
04  Sculpt the character Now you
can use the sculpting tools to add
the details to your character, so add the
spikes to its back and any other fun details
you like. Your resolution is controlled by the
size of the Image map, so the larger you
finer the detail you can add. Vector
Displacements aren’t limited to depth or
topology, so you can pull any shape out.
05  Paint the texture The next step
is to paint the textures on the
character. Create a new transparent PNG,
switch to the Brushes panel, select a hard
brush and then paint the eyes. You can layer
transparent images in the Shader Tree much
like a Photoshop document, so it’s best to
use several PNGs, one for each type of
detail. Use Symmetry to save some time.
Fixes Tricks Tips
Working with
RayGL & Preview
modo has a couple of methods for
real-time raytracing that are perfectly
suited to the processes of sculpting,
painting textures and lighting. You can
use the Preview window to see live
updates from your camera view. Also,
to keep the application responsive, you
can turn off Displacements or the
Global Illumination option.
Alternatively you can work in the
viewport with RayGL, which also offers
many levels of control in Preferences
(such as disabling GI or reflections),
and with the right combination of
settings it can be tailored to be very
responsive. This enables a decent
texture-painting experience in a
raytraced viewport.
06  Lighting & rendering In the
Shader Tree, set a white material in
the Environment slot, turn on Global
Illumination with Irradiance Caching, apply a
reflective material to your character, and
then add a couple of softboxes from the
standard content (found under Assemblies).
Position the softboxes to create some nice
reflections on your glossy character and
then you’re ready for your final render. With
large light sources like these, the default
render settings will work well enough.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 69
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Concept
This craft is a kind of Chinese-style battleship, with the
wings, cannons and sails based on Chinese temples. I
imagined that there would be steam engines inside.

Learn how to
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Tutorial files:
ěũũĊ"2ũ 7ũ2!#-#ũăũ+#2
ěũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32
Build fantasy
Easy-to-follow guides vehicles in
3ds Max
take you from concept
to the final render

Fantasy Ship 2014

Stefano Tsai
Username: 3#$-.2(
Personal portfolio site
666ē23#$-.32(ē("5ē36
Learn from engineers and find a quicker and
more efficient way to build a fantasy vehicle
Stefano Tsai is the owner of Stefano Tsai studios. He works in game and
film design, creating concepts and working on the actual production process

I
n this tutorial, I am going to show you how to quickly them as an example from which to model the rest of ship.
Country UK
Software used Ċ"2ũ 7Ĕũı8 model a large-scale fantasy ship. The first step involves This will include not only its structure and style, but how it
Expertiseũ3#$-.ũ2/#!(+(2#2ũ(-ũ thinking like an engineer, looking for efficient ways to build connects with neighbouring sections. Remember to follow
5(24+ũ,#!'-(!+ũ"#2(%-Ĕũ1. .3ũ the ship. After that, we’ll focus on modelling. For this, I will along yourself using the project files provided to get the most
"#2(%-ũ-"ũĊũ/1#5(24+(23(.-
explain how to get the initial parts built, and then how to use out of this tutorial!

70 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

01 Be efficient Split off the ship’s main hull and think like
an engineer – how can we build this ship? If you think of
building the ship as one big project then it’ll end up seeming like
a lot of work and it’ll be difficult to make any changes. We
should keep it as simple as possible. Section off different parts
of the ship into different groups and – as you can see from the
image – models with the same colour are instanced, so you
have full power to change them with minimum effort. Don’t
build the whole ship in one go, but build the parts separately.

02 Block out the main areas Add the secondary

blocking details on the hull and apply different colours
to help differentiate each group. In my project, I added the main
bridges, master poles, extended the structure and added
cannons. To make the process simpler, reuse assets as much as
you can. For example, the purple blocks in the image are all the
same asset. Extend the secondary blocking on the main hull
1
and like before, reuse the same models as much as possible.

03 Include wings For

our fantasy ship,
there is no way that it would
work without wings. It is the
element that really makes this
stand out as fantasy. Don’t
make them too big or too
realistic, but try to keep them
looking quite fantastical. Be
careful not to make them too
large, otherwise they will
dominate the ship and cover
the main hull, which will ruin
the overall effect (unless
you’re designing a fast
vessel). Switch into Clay
mode to see the ship in one
solid colour, as this way we
can see the entire model
2
clearly without obstructions.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 71

 Tips Tricks Fixes

04 Build wooden structural frames To make things

more believable and to have something to show later
on when we open up the panels, let’s build up a structure inside
the middle section of the hull’s blocking. We need to consider
where exactly the decks are going to be and where we’re going
to place the windows and extended platforms, so this means
we need to leave them some space. Thinking things through
like this will emphasise the believability of our fantasy ship.

Learn to recycle and reuse

elements of your work
To save time and speed up progress, remember that you
can take elements that you have already used and place 5
them in other parts of the ship. You can simply resize or
reshape them and they’ll feel completely new. For instance,
the middle section of the hull was repeated and re-used
most as its structure can be easily extended to other parts
of the ship. For the interior of the ship, cannons, steam
05 Place the planks on the ships With the main wooden beams and posts ready, let’s
start placing planks along them. Remember that these sections need to be tiled, so they
can’t be overlapped – everything has be to placed inside their boundaries. We can also add stairs
engines, platforms and so on can all be easily copied and and some windows frames to bring in the sense of scale. It’s details like these that really
placed around where you feel they make most sense.
emphasise the sheer size of the ship. The bigger it is, the more imposing and impressive!

06 Step back and

check the design
It’s always advisable to check
how the overall look is
panning out throughout the
process. Reveal all of the
middle hulls to see how
everything looks together. If it
looks too straight and formal
then the surface is continuing
without a break. To add
interest, take one of the upper
decks, copy it and turn it into
a duplicate version. Push it
out a bit further to make an
extended structure. These
new platforms are good areas
to place cannons, as they can
6
get a better shooting angle.

72 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

07 Add functional mechanisms After checking all of

the connected parts, go back to complete the
mechanical joints, including the mechanisms for both side sail
7

wings and for the main sail wings. These need to be connected
with the mechanical parts and should lead to the central
system. In this case, the central area will be the ship’s keel. The
keel area has plenty of equipment from the front to the end of
the ship, so it’s essentially the nerve centre of the ship. You
want to add many details to make it feel functional.

08 Finish the rear towers For rear towers I won’t be

creating a semi-open structure, so there is no need to
work on the interior parts of the ship for these elements.
Instead, I focused mainly on the exterior details of the towers. I
used images of Chinese temples as my reference for the shape
of the towers. To make them feel larger and more imposing, I
created an extended structure with parts that hang out. This
way, the tower seems to get bigger as it gets taller, and it gave Focus detail in specific areas
me more space to add some beautiful Chinese roof details.
Remember that this is fantasy; while we want things to feel We can’t put details everywhere on the ship, as it’ll get too noisy and it’ll take too much
believable, they don’t always have to be physically accurate. time. Instead, we need to pick a few key areas. To do that, create highlight details for the
chosen areas, and in others dial the detail back – you want the eye to naturally fall on your
focal points. On my ship, I spent time adding details to the stern tower, the bow, the
8 propellers and master cannons. These elements really emphasise the ship’s fantasy style.

09 Complete the bow Generally, this is the most armoured part of the whole ship as it
needs to be built for combat collision. For dynamics, if you want the shape to be
stronger, you need to keep it as simple as possible. As such I didn’t got crazy with the design
here, then added some metal decoration onto its surface. Something fierce-looking works best!

Stefano Tsai
Stefano Tsai is a concept designer and 3D
artist. He has worked in the game and
entertainment business since 2001, and
even though he has spent over a decade in
the industry, he continues to adapt and
develop his work to take advantage of the Factory production line of scout robots Factory production line of enforcement vehicles
latest technological innovations. He is 3ds Max (2013) 3ds Max (2013)
currently working as a freelancer on An automatic machine for producing military robots. You A comfortable and cosy production line in a factory,
various film and videogame projects. can see how friendly the employees are. building law-enforcement vehicles.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 73

 Tips Tricks Fixes

10
10 Give it power The wings and the propellers are the source of power for the ship.
Obviously we can’t get reference for these from real ships, so we need to look elsewhere.
The surface of each of the propellor blades needs to be huge to push the ship forward and to
maintain a reasonable rotation speed – you don’t want it to spin like a mower! For our fantasy
vehicle, it makes more sense for it to move more subtly. Aesthetically, its size can make it a key
element of the ship. Don’t be shy about making it much bigger than you think it needs to be!

11 Include weapons There are three cannons on this ship – one is on the top deck, another
one is mounted on the wall, and the biggest one is near the bottom of the ship. Let’s focus
on the biggest one, as it is the main weapon and it’s much larger than the others. It can be seen
much more clearly and it should be the most advanced equipment on the ship. Put the effort into
these big cannons, as they can be seen much more clearly than other two.

12 Work on the rear The rear of the ship is the biggest target for the enemy, as this is
where the officers and the commander rest. Naturally it makes sense to have lots of
heavy armour to surround it and to protect the high-ranking officers. I added some decals and
decoration on top of this armour to enhance the fantasy feel. I also added some communication
equipment and large, armoured windows to show that this is the control tower. Make the tower
appear stronger, tougher and well-built so it feels ready for heavy duty work.

11

12

Car study 3ds Max (2013)

This was a study project for the front panel of a car. For the image,
I tried out two different colour casts, which gave the image a
different kind of tone.

74 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

13 Focus on the front bow Approach the front part of

the ship as you did the back: it also needs to be ready for
strong impacts. I installed a few scattered structures for
13

pre-crash purposes, so that when it happens it’ll reduce the

damage to the main hull. The same goes with armour – keep
spreading the same style of armour protection boards around
the ship. You want your ship to feel menacing and ready to take
on whatever is thrown at it!

Try out different looks

Once you’ve built up the basic shape of the ship, don’t be
afraid to try out other compositions. This is just the start of
the process and the idea is to explore your idea and to
refine it. In my project, I quickly grabbed the upper decks
and duplicated them to create decks below the ship’s main
hull. It’s not very precise, but it gives an idea of how it will
look straight away. If you like the new idea, it’s so easy to
go back and modify the model to include it.

14 Check for overall 20hours

balance Check the creation time
model to see if everything is
balanced. At this stage, I
Resolution:
realised that the main mast 6,000 x 3,377
near the rear tower was too
close and covered up almost
70 per cent of visibility, so I
deleted it, and then added
more details on the other
masts to make them appear
stronger and to make them
easier for the crew to climb
up. For the crew’s safety, I
also built a few small
platforms along each mast. I
also added a small rudder-
esque wing at the ship’s end
to give it more control. Look
around to see if everything is
well balanced and if not, start
14
playing with new ideas.

15
15 Materials, lighting
and render This
image only focuses on the
modelling process in relation
to the concept and we didn’t
spend any time on proper
unwrapping, textures or
lighting. You can see a quick
result on the left, where we
have only applied box
mapping and a few materials
such as wood, metal and
fabrics. I used V-Ray 3.0 and
an image-based method to
create a quick previs image. I
also applied an AO layer in
Photoshop. To finish up the
image, give the materials a
slightly rough texture and
make the colours and lights a
little more lively.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 75

TricksUse industry-
standard software
to produce realistic 106
3D effects, animate
interactive character
models and create
perfect hair and fur
78 50 top Blender VFX Tricks
86 Fracture with Blender
88 Create fur in ZBrush
96 How to animate a jump
100 Animate action moves
104 Perfect UVs in UVLayout
106 Create an interactive character in Unity
110 Master 3D cloth effects

110

100 104
76 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 Blender
Maya
UVLayout When working on an exterior
Unity
ZBrush
scene, start with a schedule,
3ds Max because making a scene with
environments takes time

88
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 77
 Tricks

50
78 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
TOP BLENDER
VFX TRICKS
How you can use this open-source software
to produce industry-standard results
 W
finished result.

effects – the Blender way.

Blender for years, or just
hether you’ve been using

improve both your workflow and the

group of Blender VFX masters to reveal

it up today, there are millions of tricks

That’s why we’ve gathered together a

of experts discuss how they produce 3D

and tweaks to the 3D process that will

their tips on everything from modelling to

or simply quicker. So, read on as our roster

suddenly feel inspired to pick

matchmoving. As you’ll find, there’s always

a way to do something a little better, easier,
JEREMY DAVIDSON
Website: www.jezdavo.blogspot.com.au
Area of expertise: Environment art

ROB TUYTEL
Website: www.blenderpedia.com
Area of expertise: Environment art

KJARTAN TYSDAL
Website: www.kjartantysdal.com
Area of expertise: Modelling, texturing
and lighting

NICOLÒ ZUBBINI
Website: www.nizuvault.wordpress.com
Area of expertise: Environment art

SEBASTIAN KÖNIG
Website: www.3dzentrale.com
Area of expertise: Modelling,
matchmoving and compositing

FRANCESCO SIDDI
Website: www.fsiddi.com
Area of expertise: Layout and animation
Tricks

MANUEL PETER
Website: www.manuel-peter.com
Area of expertise: Modelling and texturing

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

© mango.blender.org

79
 Tricks
04 | Thinking ahead to the next stage in the
process, and the next person, will benefit everyone
06 | Dirt maps can make an image,
but they are a lot of needless work
if you don’t end up using them
07 | Manuel Peter used a graphics tablet to help
him create this chameleon
80 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
MODELLING AND
PREPARING ASSETS
”Work at the right scale level. At
01 the beginning of a production the
basic measurement unit is established. In
Blender the convention usually used is 1m =
1 Blender Unit.” Francesco Siddi
”Determine the importance and
02 cost of everything. When that’s not
possible, keep everything flexible and divide
objects smartly. Avoid making textures and
Dirt maps that need redoing from scratch if
some piece of the environment is moved.”
Nicolò Zubbini
”Work together with the layout
03 department to decide the best
approach for producing assets for
challenging shots. In a full city skyline shot,
consider how many buildings actually need
to be 3D and how many can be a matte
painting, for example.” Francesco Siddi
”Making complicated models for
04 animation can be tricky, so start
simple, stay organised and try to consider
the stages that come after the modelling.
Make sure that the rigger and texturing
artists are involved in the modelling
decisions.” Kjartan Tysdal
”Equalise your textures and
05 materials (set a standard for
Brightness, Contrast, Min/Max values)
otherwise shaders are unpredictable,
unreliable and the lighting phase will be a
mess. Good equalisation is mainly objective,
but it also depends on preferences and the
lighting setup, so discuss this with your
team and agree in advance.” Nicolò Zubbini
05 | Detail is important of course, but balancing
the level of detail you include is also key
”Work at the correct level of detail.
06 Depending on the importance of
each prop, set or environment, more or less
work will be required. Often multiple levels
of detail are required for each object to
speed up render times and decrease scene
complexity.” Francesco Siddi
”Try using a graphics tablet for
07 modelling organic forms within
Sculpt mode. Especially since Dynamic
Topology is available in Sculpt mode, a
tablet can lead to a much better workflow.”
Manuel Peter
”Make sure you grasp and master
08 the Library Linking tools.
Understand the concept of proxies: in
Blender you can link objects or groups in a
scene and override some of their
components locally.” Francesco Siddi
”Keep linked sets clear of
09 transformations and avoid scaling,
rotating or moving linked sets or props
unless really necessary. This makes the
work of environment artists much easier. In
fact, in the environment-creation file, they
can link the camera from any shot and see
what’s visible through it.” Francesco Siddi
”Add a global parent for cameras
10 with motion-tracking data in order
to modify them and place them correctly in
the sets.” Francesco Siddi
”Adopt and follow a proper naming
11 convention for assets and groups in
the scenes.” Francesco Siddi
”The layout system in Blender is
12 basic, but can be enhanced with
 Fixes Tricks Tips

15 | Even straight lines aren’t always straight lines, as Rob Tuytel’s work shows

some scripts. These will ensure you’re using skylight (360 HDR images come
assets at the right level of detail in different recommended for the skylight). Thanks to
parts of the scene. For example, assets can the Cycles render engine it’s possible to
be made at different resolutions to render create photorealistic scenes with these
19 | Raise the roof and you’ll reduce the noise
faster if they’re in the background or out of settings.” Rob Tuytel
focus.” Francesco Siddi
”With VFX, interiors must be
18 convincing. Take a look at a random
CREATING room. What do you see besides the wall,
ENVIRONMENTS floor and roof? Interior design is a complex
area, so study a room before modelling it.”
”When working on an exterior Rob Tuytel
13 scene, start with a schedule,
because making a scene with buildings and ”I often see artists designing a
environments takes a lot of time. If you’re 19 complete room, then closing the
unorganised you’ll lose the overview and scene by adding walls everywhere, even the
end with an incomplete scene.” Rob Tuytel areas that aren’t visible to the camera. This 22 | It’s the incidental
details that often make
increases noise! Sometimes I even remove the biggest impression
”Modelling environment scenes the roof, which helps a lot.” Rob Tuytel
14 starts outside, not behind your
computer. Observing objects and analysing ”For interior shots, remove a
them is the first thing to do when you start 20 window’s glass so there’s an empty Blender dos and don’ts
working on a new scene.” Rob Tuytel hole in the room out of sight. Next, add a
light source outside the room. This will blur DO: DON’T:
”If you’ve been working on a scene the edges of the scene. You could also “Take photos of every “Do not use the num-pad to
15 for weeks, you’ve used the right achieve this with the compositor.”
structure you see that looks switch between side views
interesting and use these when navigating 3D space.
textures and details, but it still doesn’t look Rob Tuytel photos as textures. This will Instead, use the Opt/Alt key
realistic, then avoid straight objects. Nothing help you understand and while rotating the view to
in nature is perfectly straight.” ”Even with a high sample rate, you’ll create realistic materials.” snap to view to the closest
Rob Tuytel 21 find there’s still noise in the scene Manuel Peter axis.” Daniel Kreuter
and it may be tricky to remove. There is a “Make sure that the models “Don’t avoid the Node Editor.
”It’s so important to use good function in Blender called Clamp, so try you share with the team are It looks confusing at first, but
16 textures. The model you created experimenting with this to reduce a lot of clean and always usable.” you’ll come across it often
Francesco Siddi and it’ll help you a lot to
can look stunning, but if you haven’t used the noise.” Rob Tuytel
“Learn hotkeys to massively improve your work in many
the right textures, it will never look realistic. ways.” Daniel Kreuter
speed up your workflow.”
If you’re just starting out, buy a good ”Try to work with Normal, Specular
camera and begin making your own 22 and Occlusion maps. This is extra
Jonathan Lampel “Don’t be lazy. More
flexibility in assets will
“Know your budget for detail.
textures. You will need these but you won’t work, but the result is visible most of the ultimately cost you less time
If you’re doing background
find them on the internet.” Rob Tuytel time. Any tiles on a floor without extra detail, don’t prepare a and ensure a higher quality
tweaking will look flat and unrealistic, for translucent or SSS shader.” finished product.”
”Try using one light source as instance. Adding some Bump and Specular Nicolò Zubbini Nicolò Zubbini
17 sunlight and a bit of environmental will show a very nice surface.” Rob Tuytel

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 81

 Tricks
RIGGING AND
ANIMATING
”Try to think of the animators as
23 children: when given a new toy,
they’re likely to break it. Have a go first and
if you can’t break it, they’ll have no chance.”
Jeremy Davidson
”Don’t forget physics. Ignore them
24 a little, but don’t forget. Balance,
weight and momentum are three things an
animator must understand.”
Jeremy Davidson
”My advice from experience is not
25 to rely on pre-made rigs. When
making a rig for a character, ensure that
you’re building it specifically for that
particular character. A pre-built rig will work
to a point, but even the most generic biped
will need some degree of customisation
work done by you, let alone worrying about
extra limbs, tails, pistons, jackets, heads or
lampposts growing out of who knows
where.” Jeremy Davidson
82 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
”Save as much time as you can,
26 wherever you can. Some studios
can afford to have one animator working on
three seconds for eight months, in others
you have to do the best you can. Learn tricks
that save time but won’t diminish quality. In
small team/huge deadline scenarios, it
doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to look
perfect.” Jeremy Davidson
”Always get another pair of eyes on
27 your completed work. Animator or
not, having another person look at your
work at various stages will help highlight
things you’ve been blinded to from
scrubbing the timeline for hours. Take the
criticism, constructive or not, and filter out
the tweaks you need to make and make
them. Your work will be all the better for it
in the long run” Jeremy Davidson
”Don’t be afraid to start from
28 scratch. Sometimes spending
hours on a shot trying to fix something you
can’t seem to get right is just a waste of
time. Start over and try again, the
movement will still be fresh in your mind 29 | Work
and you’ll be cleaner in your posing.” over actors’
performances
Jeremy Davidson for quick and
easy results
ON-SET AND TRACKING
”Use the actors’ performances
29 when and where you can. On
‘Tears of Steel’, a few shots featuring
holographic humanoids were animated with
the filmed shot as a viewport background.
We matched up the camera and then the
key poses of the actors. With a bit of
polishing afterwards, we had animation
sequences that could be used in the
completely CG environments very quickly,
such as the jump cut in the starting
sequence that reveals the couple on the
bridge are projections.” Jeremy Davidson
”Tell your actors where the CG
30 elements will be (when you can).
The more you can line up CG elements with
the eye-line of the actors, the more you can
convincingly tie the real and virtual footage

together. You’ve got to think backwards a
little bit. Adding moving pieces to where
they’re focusing their attention will give
them something to draw their attention to, if
that makes sense.” Jeremy Davidson
”Conversely, tell your CG
31 characters where the actors are.
If the actors are touching the characters,
make them react. The more you can tie the
footage world to the CG world, the more
believable your world will become, thanks to
seamless VFX footage.” Jeremy Davidson
”When an actor is interacting with
32 any CG elements you can animate
the CG to react to them, but it’s more
difficult to animate the actor. In ‘ToS’, there’s
a shot… [with] old Thom hugging the robot’s
head. We worked out the size of the head
from the model file, made a wooden box,
painted it green and then gave it to Ton
Roosendaal to hold while Derek hugged it.”
Jeremy Davidson
”Use tracking markers. There were
33 countless shots in ‘ToS’ where a
robotic hand was grabbing Thom’s face
while talking. Creating tracking objects in
the scene and then IK’ing each of the fingers
Always get another pair of eyes on
your completed work
Jeremy Davidson
Tricks
to them gave me a very solid animation
25 | Custom-built rigs will
base to work with… This saved me days of always result in better
work. We were lucky to have crisp 4K animation for your creations
footage to work with… but sometimes it’s
good to have a bit of foresight when filming
and placing tracking markers where you’ll
need them.” Jeremy Davidson
”Most packages use automatic
34 feature-detection and track a lot of
different feature points simultaneously…
Blender’s approach to matchmoving is
supervised tracking. Track one marker at a
time to make sure it doesn’t jump or slide
away. You can centre the view to it by hitting
L on the keyboard. The longer and the more
accurate your tracks, the better the result.
Often you don’t need more than 10 to 15
markers for a solid track.” Sebastian König
”To solve a 3D camera, the tracker
35 needs as much perspective
information as possible. Try and ensure that
you cover the foreground, midground and
background with your tracks, as well as all
the areas of the frame. If you have markers
that leave the frame, for example in a long
dolly shot, ensure that you don’t have
multiple markers leaving the frame at the
same time.” Sebastian König
32 | A bit of improvisation
is part of the joy of
producing films
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 83
 Tricks
Rob Tuytel talks compositing in
this Dutch Windmills scene
01 One of the most important things when you start compositing is
to have a solid 3D scene and models. You can’t make something
nice when you don’t have a good foundation.
02 Before you even touch the compositor, you need to know what
kind of mood you’re aiming for in your final scene (also shown).
This makes your work much easier than if you’re just guessing
which handles to pull.
03 Start with some mist by adding a Map value node. Use the Z
buffer (indicating the depth in the scene), combine this with a Mix
node and put the original image in the mix.
04 To blend the sky and scene together, you can use a Glare node
and select Fog Glow. Pull the threshold down to put some glow in
the scene, but use this gently.
05 Add a Color Balance node. This will generate the mood of the
image: cold, warm, happy or sad.
06 As you can see in this alternative rural image, understanding
colour management – so you can work with RGB curves and the
Color Balance node – will get you exactly the feel you’re after.
07 Bring depth into the scene by adding light layers. In this cottage
example you can see it’s a good way to create the illusion of depth
in the scene. Try it by highlighting an element in the foreground,
midground and background.
08 To finalise the scene, enable Defocus in the camera and change
it to f/stop with a value of 5.6.
1
2 37
3 it can still take a lot of resources and CPU
4 5
6 7
8
84 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
41 | Starting with a
preset can be a lifeline
if you’re on a tight
deadline
”To get the most accurate tracks, in
36 some cases you can try to use
Affine Tracking with a larger pattern area.
Even though this is a little bit slower than
regular point-based tracking, this so-called
planar tracking is capable of tracking even
the biggest and fuzziest features and is
extremely accurate.” Sebastian König
COMPOSITING
”Even though Blender’s compositor
has improved a lot in the past year,
power to edit 4k composites with multiple
layers and effects. To speed things up you
can disable all the little thumbnail previews
and collapse or disconnect the composite
output during editing.” Sebastian König
”Node trees can grow very large. To
38 ensure they remain organised and
legible you should use Frame nodes to
create visual groups and give them names.
Insert Reroute nodes to make the direction
of the node connections easier to
understand and maintain a tidy node tree
layout.” Sebastian König
”Don’t overdo it with effects like
39 lens distortion, dispersion, glare or
vignetting. While they can work really well
in some cases, they are often rather
distracting and can easily look cheap and
amateur. Often it’s not the big effect but the
subtle use of visual ingredients that make a
convincing and interesting composite.”
Sebastian König
40 ”To blend a scene with its sky
background, first you need to make
an Alpha mask of the scene and blur that
out, or could also use the Glare node to
blend things together. It’s also possible with
mist, but again be careful not to overdo this
as it’s easy to get carried away” Rob Tuytel
EFFECTS
”Using Quick Smoke can greatly
41 speed up the setup time when
creating smoke FX. Select your Emitter
object, then hit Spacebar and type ‘quick
smoke’. This will create a flow for your
Emitter, a Smoke domain and a Volume
material with Voxel data texture. This makes
a fantastic starting point for tweaking your
smoke effect further.” Kjartan Tysdal
”Adding generic smoke elements
42 can add a lot of subtle atmosphere
and life to a shot. Render image sequences
of slow smoke with simple lighting and a
proper Alpha in Blender, then use them as
smoke plates. You can put the pre-rendered
smoke plates onto planes in your scene,
render them separately on their own render
layer and throw them into the composite.”
Kjartan Tysdal
”The Cell Fracture add-on can
43 achieve a great destruction effect,
but the edges of the fractured objects may
look too clean. To enhance this look we can
add a few SubSurf, Smooth and
Displacement modifiers. Use a Subsurf, set
to Simple with 2-3 subdivisions, add a
Smooth on top of that, then place a subtle
Displacement with a procedural texture to
randomise the vertices.” Kjartan Tysdal
Don’t overdo lens
distortion
Sebastian König

48 | If you want to reuse certain parts
of your Cycles material, then group
those nodes together and copy/paste
that group into other materials
Sebastian König’s guide to the
matchmoving process
“Open Blender and switch to the Motion Tracking Screen layout.
Bring the cursor into the main window and hit Opt/Alt+O. This
brings up the File menu, where you can choose and load the
footage that you want to track.
“Hit Cmd/Ctrl and select LMB to place a marker. Choose a
point with enough contrast for a good track. If you need to, you
can hit S to scale the marker. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to track forward or
hold Opt/Alt and the arrow keys to track frame by frame. You
need at least eight continuous tracks to solve the camera.
“For a good solution, you have to have two initial frames to
provide the perspective information, the so-called keyframes: A
and B. You can set these on the current frame with the hotkeys Q
and E. Blender also needs the camera data, mainly the sensor
size and focal length. Now you can hit Shift+S to solve the
camera. If you have a good solution with an Average Solve Error
below 1, select three markers on the floor of your scene and
choose Set Floor in the Reconstruction menu. Back in the Default
screen layout, select the Camera object, go to the Constraints
panel and add the Camera Solver constraint. Now you should see
the 3D markers in the 3D viewport. Press 0 to look through the
camera and Opt/Alt+A for playback. If all goes well, the camera
will now be moving according to your footage, which you can
display by activating Background Images.”
”Rendering two or more
44 overlapping smoke volumes is not
supported in Blender and will produce
artefacts. However, you can create a
separate Master Volume specifically for
rendering. This master box will have a
Normal Volume material, but it will also
have one voxel data texture per smoke
domain. The trick is to make sure the
mapping co-ordinates for the voxel data
texture are set to Object and assigned to the
Domain object.” Kjartan Tysdal
”A single BLEND file can contain
45 multiple scenes, which means you
can do all your FX work separately… Each
scene can contain its own objects, but you
can also link objects from other scenes to
have the same objects instantiated into two
or more scenes… You can bring single
objects over from one scene to another by
hitting Cmd/Ctrl+L and selecting Make
Links/Object to scene.” Kjartan Tysdal
SCRIPTING, RENDERING
AND MORE
”Take advantage of Blender’s
46 powerful Python API and extend its
functionality by merging tools together. This
enables you to automate repetitive tasks,
integrate it with other tools in the pipeline or
even work around technical issues.”
Francesco Siddi
”Use a tool like Blender Aid (www.
47 atmind.nl) to keep a project free
from conflict, outdated or broken library
links.” Francesco Siddi
”You can render multiple scenes by
48 using the node-based compositor.
This makes it possible to render with
Tricks
© mango.blender.org
multiple rendering engines. You can, for
example, use Cycles for your main scene
and then render FX with Blender Internal in
a separate scene. Go into Blender’s
node-based compositor, add a Render Layer
node by hitting Shift+A and selecting
Input>Render Layer, then change it to
something other than your current scene.
Now if you hit f12, Blender will render both
your current scene and the scene you
assigned in your Render Layer node.”
Kjartan Tysdal
”The Attributes node is useful if you
49 want to assign specific UVs or
Vertex Colors inside of your Cycles material.
If you want a texture in Cycles to use the UV
co-ordinates from a specific UV map, go to
the Node Editor, add it by hitting Shift+A
then selecting Input>Attribute. Write the
name of the UV map you want to use and
plug the blue Vector Output into the Vector
Input of your texture. If you want to assign
vertex colours, make sure your object has
them painted, write the name of the colour
into the Attributes node) and then plug the
yellow Color Output into the Color Input of
your shader.” Kjartan Tysdal
”Blender is constantly evolving. If
50 you run into a problem and Blender
just doesn’t do what it should, or even
crashes, try to simplify your scene until you
get to the core of the issue. If you can redo
the problem with a simple example file or
even find a way to make Blender crash
every time, congratulations, you have found
a bug! Now you should go to the Blender
Bug tracker www.blender.org/
development/report-a-bug and see if
others have already reported it. If not, it’s
time for your first Bug Report. Briefly
describe the problem so that developers
can reproduce it.” Sebastian König
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 85

Blender
Fracture with Blender
Learn how to create a physically correct fracture
1%(-ũ– this is the gap between the
simulation using free software
I
f you woke up this morning with the
desire to smash something, this is the
tutorial for you. With a new addition for
Blender 2.65, you can break objects in a
realistic manner and create physically
correct animations.
The Cell Fracture add-on is based on an
algorithm to create a Voronoi pattern
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_
diagram), used together with the new
Boolean Modifier to generate the fragments
of the object. The Blender Game Engine
uses the chips as rigid bodies and creates
very realistic animations. To activate the
3#1(+ – you can assign a different as Inkscape and GIMP for textures and
add-on, open Blender and go to File>User
86 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
Preferences>Add-Ons, then search for and
turn on Cell Fracture. Here are the main
options on offer:
ěũ.(-3ũ.41!# – this defines the basic
points for the creation of the Voronoi
pattern. You can use the mesh vertices or
the vertices of a child mesh, a particle
system, or draw by hand the points with
the Grease Pencil tool.
ěũ#!412(5#ũ'33#1 – this enables you to
recursively fracture with an algorithm to
obtain smaller fragments.
Mesh Data has many options:
ěũ
material to the edge of the fracture.
Tutorial files:
ěũũ+#-"ũăũ+#Ĕũ3#7341#2Ĕũ$1!341#ũ
2#04#-!#ũ-"ũ2!1##-2'.32
ěũ
various fragments.
ěũ'82(!2 – this enables you to assign a
different mass proportional to the size of
each chip.
ěũ )#!3 – this takes care of calculating the
centre of each piece.
ěũ!#-# – you can determine in which layer
to put the chips and whether to create a
new group.
After creating the pieces, we’ll use the
Blender Game engine to simulate a
collision with a bullet and see how to use
the Logic Editor to realistically animate the
impact. For this tutorial we’ll be using, as
usual, only open-source software: Blender
2.65a for modelling and rendering as well
post-production work.

1
2
02  Textures & materials We’ll use the Cycles render
we’re using the Blender logo), select the cup and in Edit Mode
unwrap the mesh. Don’t forget to use UV as the texture co-ordinate.
Add a second material to the cup to be used as cell add-ons for the
sides of the shards.
01  Begin modelling We’ll use
simple objects for this tutorial: a
cup to fracture, a bullet to simulate the
impact and a drinking straw in the cup to
make the scene more interesting. Add a
circle (Shift+A>Circles), then in Edit Mode
Extrude (E) to model the cup. You can
model a bullet in the same way (with a circle
and extrusion) as well as the straw
(Shift+A>Cylinder). Simply place the straw
inside the cup and proceed with your
lighting setup. Add a set of white light
emitter planes above the scene and two
1%(-ũ/1,#3#1ēũ camera and enable the new motion blur for
lights at the side (one warm and one cold).
Don’t forget to set Ambient Light in the
World panel to 0.
engine now, so choose a nice texture for the cup (here
5
5
Simulation troubles
Here are some problems that may arise:
ěũũ $ũ3'#ũ""ı.-ũ #'5#2ũ231-%#+8Ĕũ-"ũ(-23#"ũ.$ũ3'#ũ!4/ũ(3ũ
2'.62ũũ!4 #Ĕũ3'#ũ-.1,+2ũ.$ũ3'#ũ,#2'ũ1#ũ(-5#13#"ēũ
ěũũ $ũ3'#ũ. )#!3ũ'2ũ5(2( +#ũ!1!*2ũ$3#1ũ3'#ũ""ı.-Ĕũ!+.2#ũ3'#ũ%/ũ
#36##-ũ3'#ũ51(.42ũ/(#!#2ũ42(-%ũ3'#ũ
ěũũ $ũ3'#ũ 4++#3ũ".#2-Ħ3ũ,.5#ũ++ũ3'#ũ!'(/2Ĕũ2(,/+8ũ1#/+!#ũ(3ũ6(3'ũũ
2/'#1#ũ$.1ũ1#!.1"(-%ũ3'#ũ-(,3(.-ũ-"ũ3'#-ũ4-".ũ3'#ũ
1#/+!#,#-3ũ$.1ũ1#-"#1(-%ē
Fixes Tricks Tips
03  Begin fracturing In Object
Mode, select the cup and move it
to another level (M). Drawing with the
Grease Pencil, break the lines of entry and
the exit point of the bullet, then add some
extra points that will form the other chips.
Each point is the centre of a chip. Enable the
Fracture add-on and select Cell Fracture.
Set the Point Source to Grease Pencil,
Recursion to 2, Material to 1, Margin to
0.000001 and Group Name as ‘fract’.
04  Set up the game engine We
should have the cup divided into
fragments on a new layer. Select all the
chips, move them to the main layer, pick
Blender Game as your render engine and
Game Logic as the layout of the windows.
We need to freeze the fall of the fragments
before impact with the bullet and enable the
impact to its passage. Select a chip and set
the logic nodes as shown, then grab all the
chips (Shift+G>Group), hit the spacebar and
search for ‘copy logic brick to select’. Use
the same settings for the straw.
05  Adjust your settings Select
the bullet, then in the Physics
panel tick Actor and in the Game Logic
window add a new property: ‘trigg’ (it’s a
variable used by logic nodes to unfreeze the
animation). Add a motion node, as shown,
to move the bullet along the X-axis against
the cup. In the Game menu, tick Record
Animation and then click Start Game
Engine. Blender will simulate the impact and
record all movements as IPO curves.
06  Rendering & post work Select
the Cycles renderer and go back
to the window’s default layout. Choose a
good frame from the animation, set the
Cycles. Press F12; wait until the end of the
render. Save the image and open it in GIMP
for post-production (Levels and Curves).
Ċũ
13ũĜũ#2(%-ũ(/2Ĕũ1(!*2ũĜũ(7#2 87
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Create fur
Easy-to-follow guides
take you from concept
to the final render
in ZBrush
Cold as Lava 2013
Artist info

FiberMesh is just one of ZBrush’s many powerful options, so here

we’ll use it to make a truly photoreal and captivating image
Yasin Hasanian is a freelance CG artist working professionally in the film and game industries
Yasin Hasanian
Personal portfolio site

www.superhero.cgsociety.org
Country Iran
Software used Maya, ZBrush,
MARI, Shave and a Haircut,
Arnold, Photoshop
Expertise Yasin specialises in
texturing, shading and lighting
with a solid knowledge in
modelling and sculpting
T
hese steps will take you through how to create
decent-looking fur with the help of ZBrush. We’ll do
this by utilising FiberMesh in different stages of the
pipeline, using it in conjunction with other software,
including plug-ins such as Shave and a Haircut.
Obviously, ZBrush is a program that’s constantly evolving
with each release. It’s become a game-changer for a lot of us
by offering optimum methods of accomplishing tasks that
are otherwise much more tedious. One of these game-
changing features is FiberMesh, which opens up a whole
host of options for producing brilliant results beyond just hair
and fur.
Regarding other tools that will be used for this project,
Maya will be used to set up the scene, Shave and a Haircut
for the fur, MARI for textures, Arnold for rendering and
Photoshop for post.

Build a concept
Dissect the fur structure and analyse photo references

01 Gather reference images Either you

are working on something imaginary, or Some facts
you’re working on something that exists in real
life. For the former, it’s not necessary to find
about tigers
reference images, as they may not even exist and Tigers can be up to three
so you are basically sculpting and evolving your metres in length and
ideas in a program such as ZBrush. For the latter, weigh as much as 330
kilograms. One of the
it’s recommended that you gather as many photo most interesting
references as you can. Good photo references are characteristics about
those that help you throughout the pipeline them is their striped
stages. They will hint as to whether the fur in area pattern, which is unique
1
X is generally soft, tough, short, long and so on. from one to another, just
like human fingerprints.
Their pattern acts as

02 An overview of sculpting The final

Ztool for this tiger has been made
available with the tutorial, so we won’t go over the
camouflage, helping them
to successfully hide in the
wild from predators. Also,
not all tigers are orange in
minute details of how it was sculpted here. In colour. Due to a mutation
general, the head was made in ZBrush from in colouring, there are
scratch with DynaMesh. One thing that you have tigers that feature black
to make sure of, however, is that if you start your stripes and blue eyes.
modelling completely inside ZBrush and plan to One significant advantage
that the tiger has is their
send the meshes later to another program, such eyesight. They can see
as Maya, check your mesh sizes as soon as you just as well as humans
have blocked out the general shapes in Maya. during the day. However,
This means you won’t have to alter the sizes later at night, they are able to
see six-times what a
when it comes to rendering, as this tends to human can.
2
become problematic in complex scenes.

88 O3D
3DArtist
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

Learn how to
ũũ.1*ũ6(3'ũ( #1
#2'ũ(-ũũ
/1."4!3(.-ũ#-5(1.-,#-3
ũũ
#3'."(!++8ũ//+8ũ1#+(23(!ũ
'(1ũ3.ũũ2!4+/3
ũũ.1*ũ6(3'ũ%1..,(-%ũ
142'#2ũ3.ũ1#ăũ-#ũ8.41ũ,."#+
ũũ.1*ũ6(3'ũ3'#ũ'5#ũ-"ũũ
(1!43ũ/+4%ı(-
ũũ#-"#1ũ$41ũ6(3'ũ
1-.+"
ũũ
-+82#ũ/'.3.ũ1#$#1#-!#2
Tutorial files:
ěũũ(%#1Ĵē93+ũ-"ũ2!1##-2'.32ũ
.$ũ2(-Ħ2ũ2#33(-%2
Fixes Tricks Tips
Concept
The main inspiration
for this work was
nature! Tigers are one
of my favourite
animals and two of
their visually striking
characteristics are
their eyes and fur.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 89
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Lay the foundations

Pre-visualise fur in order to get quick feedback

03 Analyse the references After finalising the sculpt,

take some renders into ZBrush to come up with a
sense of how to lay the fur on the tiger and what is required for
each part of it. As you can see in the accompanying image,
there are five main hair types and seven hair systems. Each of
these hair types require a different hair system, so the whole
project can be easily managed. For example, the cyan area has
a distinct sharp type of fur, while the green area has a
soft-looking fur type.

4
05 Optimise FiberMesh In situations where there are
multiple fur types or sections on a character, there are
essentially two ways of organising FiberMesh elements to
separate them. The first method is to make polygroups on your

04 Begin your pre-vis Often you are required to give quick feedback to your client or to
make sure you’re on the right track, which means visualising how the work, in this case
the fur, is roughly going to look. Before the introduction of FiberMesh, there was no easy way of
going about this. For example, completing this phase directly with Shave and a Haircut could
definitely take a lot more time and was prone to errors. Now you can quickly apply some fur with
FiberMesh, groom it and render it through BPR to evaluate its different aspects.
sculpt for certain regions that have different types of fur and
then, when the FiberMesh is created, the fibres actually respect
the polygroups, so you can further manipulate them separately.
The second method is just making the FiberMesh sections one
by one, which may not be as fast as the previous method but
enables you to focus better on certain areas.

90 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

06 Start generating fibres Based on the outlines we came up with in Step 5, we can go over the model and mask each region in turn to grow fibres from.
Usually, on the FiberMesh Modifiers tab, it’s best to zero out any sort of randomisation at the start to avoid an unwanted result and to build up the look
manually. Since we’re still on the prototyping stage, the idea is to work as fast as possible without worrying too much about details. After accepting each of the
FiberMesh sections, we can groom them with GroomHairLong. Although the fur isn’t actually long, this brush is perfect because it enables more control along each
strand’s length.

07 Groom the fibres into a

pattern While grooming the
fur in this stage, the most important
factors you need to be aware of are the
direction of the fur, its coverage
(thickness), the length and the density
covering a given region. These key
factors will really help you sell the piece
to the client. The Groom brushes, such
as GroomHairLong and
GroomHairLengthen, handle the
direction and length, while density and
coverage should be taken into account
in the FiberMesh Modifiers tab.
GroomHairLengthen is pretty much a
Move brush, so you can use this brush
to manipulate the hairs or make them
7
longer as desired.

08 Prepare the mesh After

you’re finished creating all
FiberMesh elements, proceed to make
a series of adjustments on the sculpt to
make the head read better, then
retopologise it with the ever-useful
ZRemesher by holding Opt/Alt to
preserve asymmetry. This step could
have been completed sooner in the
process, but due to a high probability of
model changes in the prototyping stage,
it’s much better to complete it at this
step. Please note that you can simply
skip this step if you are following the
8
tutorial using the tiger ZTL file provided.

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09 Move to the texturing stage At this point you can begin building up the textures. Most of the time it’s good to paint textures in a 3D texture-painting
application, such as MARI or BodyPaint, in conjunction with Photoshop. Send 2 subdiv levels of the tiger head, both low and high, to MARI (or your
program of choice). Work on the low level to block out the colouring and switch to a higher level of subdivision to work in the finer details. All the textures here were
hand painted in layers, leaving enough freedom in case of a texture alteration.

10 MARI performance tips

If you are experiencing any
lag or difficulties when working with
MARI, try decreasing the Frame
Buffer size. Moreover, in normal
texture painting you don’t really need
to paint in 16- or 32-bit buffers, so
try switching to a lower Depth Buffer
in order to free more resources on
your graphic card. Caching layers
have a red sign that indicates they
are static and not in use any more.
You can always un-cache them later
in case you need them.

Volume illusion
If you are working on a furry creature based on reference
images, always be mindful of the volume and shape of
what you are sculpting. For example, if you match your
sculpt completely to a reference image on the silhouette
and later decide to add fur to it, you will most probably get
incorrect results. This is because you’re adding another
layer of silhouette on top of the character, making it look
fuller. Sometimes you might be able to cope with this later
by an overall negative inflation. 10

92 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Further refine the fur

Make FiberMesh ready for Shave and a Haircut

11 Continue building FiberMesh elements

The second version of FiberMesh regions can be created
with Shave and a Haircut in mind. Here the accurate
appearance of the fibres is imperative. In contrast to the
previous type of fur, here we want to exhibit less density and
use more precise grooming. For the previous version of fur,
most of the time was spent in the FiberMesh Modifiers tab,
whereas here the time is spent on grooming. The guideline for
this round is still the Step 5 figure, with perhaps some minor
alterations after the prototyping stage.

12 Layer the fibres Some areas on the tiger fur have a

layered FiberMesh set up for higher fidelity in the look
development, as well as to have Shave work as expected.
Without this, Shave doesn’t really know how distinct the two
fur types should be, resulting in a uniform interpolation
between the strands. An example of this layered style took
place on the tiger chin – one layer with a dense, short
FiberMesh and one with less-dense and longer elements.

13 Adjust the grooming brushes As you are

grooming the fibres while some other objects are visible
in ZBrush, you might have noticed the fibres do not fully
respect your brush movements and end up with a scraggly
look. This is because grooming brushes have the Front Collision
attribute active by default. To disable this, go to the Brush
palette>FiberMesh and zero out Front Collision Tolerance. This
slider keeps away the fibres to penetrate into the object’s
surface. In fact, Preserve Length in this tab tells ZBrush to treat
any mesh the way a FiberMesh is treated, provided that it is
11
enabled on a brush.

12

13
Shave and a Haircut tools
S&H offers a bunch of brushes to comb the hair, but here
the only brushes I used were Translate, Scale and, where
the strand moved inside the geometry, Stand. Aside from
the brushes, the Shave selections came in handy when I
wanted to accurately comb the fur, by switching to
Component mode, clicking on a selection mode and
manipulating the guides one by one or as a chunk. Still, a
major drawback of S&H is the limited Undo feature. As
such, if you plan to do a major combing, save your scene!

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Fit the pieces together

Prepare the tiger fur ready for rendering

14 Set up the scene in Maya

Now send all the parts to
Maya to prepare them for rendering
and export out all the FiberMesh
elements to serve as guide curves for
Shave. In order to convert the fibres
to curves, you can use this script:
tinyurl.com/TDAHairAndFurScript.
This is why the second version of
FiberMesh elements were quite
sparse. For each section of the fur,
extract a root geometry from the
low-res head, grow Shave out of it,
then comb the Shave with the curves
created out of each corresponding
FiberMesh. Additionally, you can
make Control maps, such as Density,
14
to further refine the Shave nodes.

15 Add whiskers
Regarding the
whiskers, you can totally
rely on FiberMesh from the
start. Toggle the Brush Size
to Dynamic mode, move to
the highest subdiv level and
begin masking strong little
dots on the places you want
the whiskers to grow out of.
Next, preview them and,
back in the Modifiers tab,
tune it in a way that only
one strand per dot grows.
Afterwards, give them a
Profile of 6 and Segment of
10 because we’re going to
render them directly and
not convert them to guide
curves. To finish this step,
groom and export these
15
elements to Maya.

Yasin Hasanian
Yasin was born in Iran in 1990. He has had a
great passion for both the art and science
behind CG since he was 14 years old. He
holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer
Science and has been working as a
freelance CG artist in the industry for over Miss Mutation Maya, ZBrush, mental ray, Say Cheese to the World Maya, ZBrush, Shave
five years. Yasin has created work for major Photoshop (2011) and a Haircut, mental ray, Photoshop (2010)
clients, but he still wishes to one day land a Maya was used for the base mesh and scene setup, Sculpting and most of the textures were made and
job at a big studio. ZBrush for sculpting and Photoshop for texturing hand-painted using just the mouse

94 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Render and post work

Modify your shaders and set up the final render in Arnold

16 Set up the shaders Here the Arnold aiHair shader

was used for the fur. The same colour texture that was
painted in MARI was assigned to both the Root and Tip slots,
16

however, each was controlled with Remap HSV nodes. Set the
Ambient Diffuse to 1 so that the shader takes the lighting
direction into account. Although the physical range for Indirect
Diffuse is from 0 to 1, a value of 2 has been used here for
artistic purposes. Only the primary specularity was used with
low Strength and Glossiness to maintain the shader’s energy.

17 Begin the render There’s only one Skydome light in

the scene with an enhanced HDRI texture, meaning
both the Diffuse and Reflection were altered. All the Shave
nodes had a Min Pixel Width of 0.3, with the default Arnold
Transparency Depth of 10, which is enough to provide a soft
look in certain areas. A stand-in of the high-res tiger head with
pre- and post-render scripts was used to get switched with the
low-res version for rendering, which saved time by skipping the
displacement tessellation process.

Arnold and fur rendering

Arnold is an amazing renderer that’s optimised and
powerful. Arnold works well with fur/hair and its IPR even
supports node initialisation. For example, you can simply
launch IPR and create your shaders, assign them to Shave,
tweak them and it just renders it simultaneously. To control
fur rendering artefacts, you can either decrease them by
increasing the AA samples or Min Pixel Width. However,
increasing MPW too much increases render time, as the
renderer has to shoot more transparency rays.

17

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 Tips Tricks Fixes
The finished jump in action
8ũ2!#-#ũăũ+#2ũěũ!1(/32
Maya
Animate a jump
in Maya A giant leap for geek-kind: Jahirul Amin
helps you animate a jump
I
n this tutorial we will be creating a
jump animation. This will involve
acquainting ourselves further with many
of the principles of animation that you will
have read about previously. The jump itself
will only last a few seconds, but achieving
that brief movement in CG will necessitate
a sensitive and skilled handling of timing,
spacing, weight, drag, overlap, moving
holds, squash, stretch, anticipation and arcs.
As a result, it’s a great exercise to flex your
animation muscles.
Before the fun starts we need to go
through the admin. I’m working in 25
frames per second using Maya, although
96 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
the same techniques apply to any 3D
package of choice. Second, I will begin the
animation process using the pose-to-pose
method, so my Default Out tangents are
set to Stepped in my Animation
Preferences. Third, I have the legs set to IK
to enable us to have the feet planted on the
floor, but the arms set to FK to take
advantage of its naturally occurring arcs.
There’s an issue with the FK arms, because
as we are using rotations at some point we
could hit gimbal lock. This is where two
axes sit on top of each other, leading us to
lose one axis. If you want to do your best to
minimise this sticky situation, get familiar
Tutorial files:
ěũ
ěũ("#.ũ1#$#1#-!#2ũěũ(-+ũ1#-"#1ũ
ěũ#$#1#-!#ũ(,%#2
with arm rotation to work out which
rotation is going to work best. For what it’s
worth, I’ve set my rotate order as ZXY on
the upper arm control. Last but not least, as
far as admin goes, we have very kindly been
given permission to use and tell you about
the fantastic bhGhost onion-skinning tool
created by Brian Horgan. Please check it
out with his other impressive tools at
www.graphite9.com.
As usual, at this point in the tutorial, I’m
going to wax lyrical about the beauty and
importance of getting good reference.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to reproduce
the reference used in this article. However,
 Fixes Tricks Tips

do take a very good look at Eadweard

Using the onion-skinning
Muybridge’s Human and Animal Locomotion features of the bhGhost tool
(1887) and there is reference aplenty on
the net. During this exercise more than any
other, I found myself getting up out of my
chair to replicate the movement and
jumping across the rug myself. This enabled
me to really get a feel for where the weight
came from during the movement, as well as
which parts of the body led and which
followed. Doing so also enabled me to see
the subtler parts of the movement; for
example the foot rolls back to anticipate the
body moving forward. So I thoroughly
recommend that you to take a jump – in the
nicest possible way, of course.
One way to approach this exercise would
be to animate a ball doing the jump, as the
jumper is really only a bouncing ball with
limbs, and the axis of the ball can easily
represent the hips of the character. This
obviously will be a rather rudimentary start
that will require refining.
However, the ball will still provide us with
the key poses we need, the arc that we’ll
work along, as well as indicating very
clearly where we need squash and stretch.
The timing will need a lot of work
afterwards, as the ball basically travels
much faster than our Box Boy model. The
spacing is very helpful though, as we’ll see
that it’ll be bunched up at the apex of the
arc, but more spread out as the arc Spline and work from the core out: hips, legs, spine and neck to length as he might in a more cartoon-style
descends on either side. arms. In Spline mode, we’ll be adding in-between poses, which will piece. Creating these extreme poses and
I took an animation of a ball bouncing also involve adding anticipation, drag, overlap and so on. At some playing around with the silhouette of the
from Maya into Kinovea and drew over it to stages we’ll also be keying every one or two frames for a variety of character means that we are adding more
position the limbs, head and neck. You’ll reasons – one of which is that as the legs are in IK, we’ll have to contrast and overall appeal to the animation
find a video supporting this tutorial (02_ force the arcs. in its entirety.
bouncingBall_kinovea.mp4), which shows Now let’s have a look at squash and stretch. As mentioned, the Staying with adding appeal to your work,
exactly how I did this. bouncing ball will help us to know when to squash and when to it may sometimes be necessary to push
Now I’d like to focus on a few aspects of stretch our jumping Box Boy. Because I have chosen to go for a some poses beyond the boundaries of
the process. We’ll start our animation in semi-realistic look to the jump, as opposed to a more cartoony realism: the reason for this being that what
Stepped mode to set clear and readable option, it’s not the form of the character itself that’s being either can seem extreme in a frozen frame may
poses without getting bogged down in how squashed or stretched, but the poses which they’re going to make. look totally natural in motion. For instance,
we’ll transit from one pose to the next, as So Box Boy’s spine is compressed into a C shape before jumping as the jumper hits the ground his knees
this can confuse the issue. We’ll remain in and when recovering from the jump, then stretched high when bend but his head really pulls back in order
this mode until we’re happy with the timing. transitioning between those two positions. His form is being to keep the arc and the motion flowing
Then we’ll change our animation curves to pushed to its limits, but importantly he is not gaining or losing smoothly. The same concept has been
applied to the fingers that whip back and
Working over the bouncing ball
forth as Box Boy lands and brings his arms
animation to use as reference gradually back to hanging by his sides in the
standing pose.
Finally, we’ll turn to Moving Holds. While
2D artists have the luxury of holding a
frame without losing their audience’s belief,
any break in motion in 3D will mean that
our character dies and the illusion is broken.
To make Box Boy hit the ground without
stopping dead, we’ll use Moving Holds. This
is the name given to the technique where
the character’s movement continues in a
very subtle way, such as the chest rising
and falling with breath, or the arms slightly
swaying by their side.

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 Tips Tricks Fixes
2 get a huge C-shape running down the spine,
Prepare to lift off…
01  Loosen things up Open up
00_start.ma (supplied) to find the
Box Boy rig and a rough environment. The
environment is in a layer called
‘environment_geo’ so we can show and
hide it if needed. Let’s create our first pose
and make the character a little more
comfortable. Relax his arms and fingers,
add a slight angle to his hips and oppose
1 Get him a little that angle in the shoulders. Move his hips
more prepared to rest slightly over one leg and rotate his
for the occasion head so it seems as if he is looking at the
2 The squashed gap in front of him. Also, put a slight angle
and stretched in his feet and bend in his knees – otherwise
poses as Box Boy they’ll feel too tense.
lifts off
3 What goes up
must always
come down
02  Create the squash & stretch
poses Now we’ll create the first
two of our extreme poses: squashed and
4 The landing stretched. Begin with the squashed pose
squashed pose by really compressing his body down. Try to
98 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
1 3
up the neck and head, then swing the arms
out as we prepare to push him off. For the
stretched pose, try to straighten the leg and
start bringing those arms through. Have the
back straighter. Doing this will produce a
nice visual contrast to the C-shaped
squashed pose.
03  The apex & landing Once he is
off the ground and in the air, try to
think about what is leading and what is
following. Rotate the core (here, the hips)
as you would the bouncing ball and think
about how the speed of him reaching the
apex of the arc should be the same as the
speed of him coming back down again.
As a result, the spacing should be more
bunched at the peak of the jump and
See the forest and
the trees
Getting an animation like this right is a
time-consuming process. Sometimes
you may feel like you haven’t moved on
very far at all and no forest is visible for
all the darn trees. However, a simple
solution is to save multiple files
throughout the process. This means
you’ll be able to compare your before
and after shots and perhaps give
yourself some pleasant surprises.
spread apart further either side of the apex
as he pushes off and lands. Delay one leg
and offset the arms slightly so we don’t
have any twinning issues. At this stage you
can already start to indicate the effects of
drag on the fingers and toes as he begins to
fall, if you wish .
04  Make a safe landing As he
lands, have him go down as you
would squash the bouncing ball. Really
compress his body to take the impact and
push the spine into a strong C shape to
once more contrast with the previous
stretched pose and its straight spine. Going
from these bigger to smaller shapes and
back again will also add to the appeal of the
animation. Really push these early poses,
making sure they are as clear as can be.
Spend time making your poses fully
readable and, if needed, create a playblast
and draw over it in Kinovea (www.kinovea.
org) so you are not restricted by a rig.
4

05  Rework the timing So far, if we
follow the timing set by our
bouncing ball animation, everything will be
a bit too fast. Since we are using Stepped
mode, we can easily go into the Graph
Editor or the Dopesheet and start pushing
these keys around in order to re-time the
shot. When you are all set, select all the
curves in the Graph Editor for every control
and go to Tangents>Auto or Spline. Also go
to Window>Settings/Preferences>
Preferences and change the Default Out
tangent to Auto or Spline in the Animation
tab. If you hit Play now you may have quite
a flat, weightless animation.
06  Anticipation & weight Once
the main poses are in, we can
start adding some anticipation. Place a key
between pose A and B, then slightly lift the
character up on the balls of his feet. Have
him bring his arms up also, ready to swing
them back into the extreme, squashed
pose. Then, as he lands on the other side of
the jump, push him down further than the
squashed pose and as his hips lift up have
his spine continue to go down. The
opposing action here will help soften the
potential rigidity of him standing up as one
lump mass.
07  Arcs, arcs & more arcs At this
stage, we should really start
thinking about getting our arcs as clean as
possible. Again, we’ll work from the core
outwards, as changes to that region will
have a knock-on effect on all four limbs and
the torso. Try to mimic the parabola that we
would expect to see on a bouncing ball. To
help with this, select the root_ctrl and go to
Animate>Create Editable Motion Trail.
Once you have the hips worked out, move
to the feet. As they are set to IK, you will
most probably need to set quite a few more
extra keys to reduce the linear transition
from one key to another. This will be
created by default.
08  Focus in on areas Animating
the entire character at once can
sometimes become overwhelming and
Fixes Tricks Tips
5 6
7 5 Re-time the
animation using 9
6
the Graph Editor
Adding some
anticipation will
enable the
Motion Trail a vertex
audience to
prepare for the When we create a Motion Trail on a
action they’re control, we want to make sure that it’s
about to see creating the trail from the correct place.
For example, if we make the trail for the
7 Arcs are hips, it will work fine as we want it to
stunning as well happen from the control’s centre.
as naturally However, if we create it on the foot
occurring control, we don’t get the right result. As
– make sure you we use the Roll attribute on the foot, the
get them in geometry actually pulls away from the
control and so the trail is incorrect.
8 Hiding parts of
Luckily for us a colleague of mine,
the geometry
Constantinos Glynos, has kindly created
can help you
a Python script, CG_VertexMotionTrail_
9
focus closely
Use the tools to
V2.py (supplied), that will enable you to
create a Motion Trail on a selected
vertex. I like to view the arcs being
check your arcs
created in places such as the tip of the
10 Just a small fingers or the end of a toe, so this tool
movement can enables me to do that with more
8 help keep the accuracy and confidence.
character alive
fixing one area can lead to issues in another. added drag to the fingers so they flow into the path of action. Also
Having the ability to hide parts of the add some drag and overlap to the toes as they go through the
geometry can really help you focus on the jump. Then on the land, have them slam down in a couple frames
areas that need cleaning up. For example, to help bring some weight and impact to the landing.
you may want to get the spine working well
without viewing how the arms are affected.
Then you can unhide the arms and focus on 10  Use Moving Holds Right now, when our character hits
his final pose, he stops dead. This really appears very CG,
them, knowing that the spine is how you
want it. If a Hide/Unhide feature is not part
of the rig, you can generally achieve the
so to reduce this we’ll add a Moving Hold. To do this, copy the
same pose another ten frames ahead, then make some minor
changes but try to have the movement flow in the direction of the
same effect by selecting the geometry that pose before. If the arm is swinging from left screen to right screen,
you want to hide and go to continue that movement from left to right. I have made this quite
Create>Sets>Quick Select Set. You can subtle, but feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.
then easily find that geometry in the
Outliner and hit Cmd/Ctrl+H to hide the
pieces. When you want to reveal them
again, select them from under the set in the
Outliner and hit Shift+H.
09  Drag & overlap To make the
jump more fluid, let’s apply some
drag and overlap. Start by adding some
delay to the spine, neck and head. Offset
each section by a couple of frames and you
should quickly get a more natural-looking
animation. Work your way down the arms
to the hands. For this exercise I’ve also
10
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 99
 Tips Tricks Fixes
8ũē,ũ2!#-#ũ$(+#2
8
.3(.-1(+Ĵĉũ
Maya
Animate action moves Hong Kong GUI: we combine bouncing, walking, lifting and
jumping together in a 540-degree martial-arts kick!
O
nce you’ve had the chance to
experiment with the animation of
various different basic character
movements, you should feel brave
enough to experience the creation of an
action move: the tornado kick.
This 540-degree move, practised in
Taekwondo and other martial arts, sees the
body at its finest. It is, without doubt, a very
challenging piece to animate, but it brings
together the work that we have already
done to a pretty impressive crescendo.
There’s so much here: timing, spacing,
anticipation, weight, path of action, arcs
– you name it! The poses are very dynamic
and there are opposing tilts between hips
and shoulders, as well as twists in the spine.
We will be using the principles of the
bouncing ball, so our timing for this piece
can be established using the ball as the hips
of this character. However, the obvious
100 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
A final render including
some of the key poses
addition of limbs – not to mention the spin
– will give us plenty to get our teeth into.
As ever, the initial work must be devoted
to reference. There is an abundance of
excellent reference online, so when you find
some examples that you like, make sure
you analyse them over and over. It’s a very
complex move and you’ll need to focus
carefully on weight-shift, the spacing of the
feet as they move through the air, as well as
the natural arcs and flow.
Listen to martial-arts trainers online
talking about the move: how weight shifts
and which parts of the body lead and which
follow. I guess you’ll always be in a race
against the clock when animating, but it’s
always worthwhile prepping thoroughly, as
once you’ve started the animation process,
having to go back on yourself is even more
time-consuming – not to mention
dispiriting. Make use of tools such as
Tutorial files:
ěũ
ěũ("#.ũ#$#1#-!#ũē,.5
ěũ(-+ũ-(,3(.-ũ1#-"#1ũē,.5
ěũ#$#1#-!#ũ(,%#2ũ3.ũ42#
(-ũ
ěũĴ#13#7
2!1(/3
Kinovea (www.kinovea.org) to make your
life easier.
Normally I would enthusiastically
encourage you to try the moves you’re
intending to animate. However, in this case
it may not be such a wise idea if procreation
interests you in any way. So in place of this
I’ve provided some 2D references that can
be taken into Maya (supplied). This is
essentially a series of loose drawings using
a stick man, which can mainly be used to
figure out your timing.
When it comes to the poses, these can
be pushed further to make the whole piece
more dynamic and appealing. In the
drawings, the key poses are in red and the
breakdown poses are in green. The images
also each have a frame number to help you
work out where to put the initial poses –
although this rough timing can very likely
change, so keep it flexible.

It’s all in the arcs!
Because there’s so much going on in this
piece, it becomes imperative that we
decide which kinematic mode the limbs will
be in, before starting. You should find arms
fairly straightforward to animate. The hands
do not make contact with anything, but
only follow the motion of the rest of the
body, so forward kinematics will enable us
to use the naturally occurring arcs. Your
decision about the legs is harder, however.
Your first and last poses have the feet in
contact with the floor, which would suggest
1 Pre-planning your
animation can save all IK, while the fact that the legs often follow
the guesswork later the hips suggests FK. If we opt for IK, we’ll
on in the process have to add the natural arcs that are
A further breakdown of
the key poses in the
final animation
provided by the FK mode and manually
move the controls to enable the legs to
follow the rotation of the hips. Whereas if
we use FK, we’ll be obliged to counter-
animate the legs, as any changes to the hips
will result in sometimes undesirable
changes to the legs.
A third option would be to use FK/IK
blending, but if there are no features in the
rig that enable us to match the positions
and orientations of one mode to another,
this could lead to popping. Of course, you
could wing it and do it by eye, but I’m so
obsessive about avoiding any popping that
I’d advise against this.
Fixes Tricks Tips
My decision is to go IK, as my major
priority is to get the feet touching the floor
without having to counter-animate. The
price of this decision is having to force the
arcs and getting the legs to follow the hips,
even if it means sometimes animating the
legs frame by frame. You have to weigh up
your own personal pros and cons, but I
think opting for IK legs results in less
arduous reworking.
Now let’s get the admin out the way so
we can start animating. I’ll be working in
PAL (25fps) and as I’m animating using the
pose-to-pose method to begin with, I’ll set
my Default Out tangents to Stepped.
Kick off!
01  Use references Open up ‘01_
start.ma’ (supplied) to find Box Boy
in his default pose. Let’s start by bringing in
our reference so we can work alongside it in
Maya. Go to Panels> Orthographic>New>
Front to create a new camera. Call this
‘referenceCam’ and in the active viewport
go to View>Image Plane>Import Image and
select ‘frame_01.jpg’ from the Reference
Images folder that accompanies this
tutorial. Under Image Plane Attributes, edit
the Display to Looking Through Camera
and also check Attached to Camera. Now
translate the reference camera away from
the main scene and then set the view as a
floating window by heading to Panels>
Tear Off.
1
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 101
 Tips Tricks Fixes
02  Add key poses I’ll now scroll
through the timeline and put in all
the key poses using the red images from
the reference as a guide. I’m mainly looking
to ensure I put in all the contact poses for
the feet as they shuffle around, to get a
better balance. I’ll also want to make sure
that they are following the translation and
orientation of the hips as the body spins. At
this early stage I want to make sure I get
some interesting and strong poses
happening, as well as to play with opposing
lines, such as those created by the hips and
shoulders and the reverse C-shape in the
spine. At this stage, try to consider which
body part is leading and which will be
following. Later on we can think about
delaying some body parts to loosen the
move up.
03  Insert breakdown poses For
the second pass through I’ll start
adding in a breakdown pose between each
key pose. Adding these poses will enable us
to better anticipate how the animation will
look when we transition from Stepped
tangents to either Spline or Auto. As the
character is spinning and we are working
with the legs in IK mode, we’ll also start
creating the arcs that we can then finesse
later on in the process. Focus on the path of
action for each limb so they flow from one
frame to the other without any sudden
popping. We can also begin to indicate
principles such as drag on the hands and
toes, as well as anticipation of the
movements to come.
04  Get the timing right Once all
the main poses are in, I’ll go
through and create a playblast of the
102 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
2
3 enable you to motion-trail a vertex,
animation. My main aim here is to check
that the poses are clear and readable or if
the action is too fast, too slow or possibly
just right. I like to stand back from my
monitor when doing this, as I think it reveals
quite a lot that we just can’t see with the
screen right in front of us. In doing so, I find
that in my animation I need a few extra
frames on each spin, as they occur too fast
and cause some popping – especially when
the legs cross for the first time. To add the
extra frames, I select all the controls and
open up the Dope Sheet, which you can
find under Window>Animation Editors. In
the Dope Sheet Summary bar at the top I
grab all the keys that I need to move along
in order to give me the extra frames and
push them to the right.
05  Work from the core Once you
are happy with the timing, select
all the animation controls and convert the
tangents in the Graph Editor from Stepped
to Auto or Spline mode. As always, I begin
from the core outwards when refining, so
my first port of call will be the hips. For this
move I’m mainly using the root_ctrl for
translating the character up, down and
rotating him, then the hip_ik_ctrl to get
some extra rotation in the hips, if needed. I
start by going through and deleting any
keys that are not doing much for the
animation or are adding too much noise.
We can then go through and try to mimic
the motion and arc we would expect to see
on a bouncing ball. Also, you can add extra
keys if you need to get the arcs flowing well
in other areas, as Box Boy shifts his weight
about. Remember, it’s all in the hips, so
getting this as refined as possible will be
crucial for all the other elements.
Tools & scripts
I am using the bhGhost tool, created
by Brian Horgan. This tool can be
found easily at www.graphite9.com.
This is precisely what I will use to
check how one pose leads into the
next through the various blocking
stages. To check the arcs of a
selected vertex, I use ‘CG_
VertexMotionTrail_V2.py’
(supplied), created by Constantinos
Glynos. By default, Maya doesn’t
but this tool will do just that.
06  Adjust the legs & feet In this
move the big arcs will be created
by the legs, so as I am working in IK mode
for them I will most probably end up setting
a key on nearly every frame, especially
when the legs are in the air. Be sure to
create motion trails – not on the controls,
but on a vertex on the model, such as the
2 The many key
ankle or the end of the foot. This will create poses used in this
an honest representation of the arc being complex shot
created by the leg’s swing. Also, as the feet
3 The various
will be pivoting from the toe or the ball, it’s
breakdown poses
important that when this happens there is to finish the initial
no popping. I like to create a locator at the blocking process
point where the foot will pivot from, then
4 If the animation is
use that as a guide to position and orient not clear and
the foot. If the foot slides around, we will readable, look at
retiming what you
lose believability in our animation.
5
currently have
Work from the
core outwards,
implementing the
principles applied
to a bouncing ball
6 Focus in on the
arcs and check the
5 movement when
Box Boy pivots
6

07  Animate the spine, neck &
head We’re starting to work up
the torso, so as all the upper limbs are
children of the spine we’ll start there. Again,
begin by cleaning up the curves and getting
rid of any keys that aren’t helping. Push the
shoulders and hips to really get some
striking poses from the opposing lines.
Also, add twist to the torso, orient the chest
in one direction, the hips in another and the
head in a third direction. This will add
further interest to the poses and make
them more dynamic. Try to delay the neck
and head slightly, making sure the path of
action on the head is smooth and clean as
it swings.
08  Work those arms When
dealing with the arms, I like to
work on them separately as I can really
fine-tune one arm without the other
distracting me. I use selection sets to hide
some of the geometry and focus on those
arcs once more. Although the arms will
follow the torso, we will still need to go in
there and clean out some of the poses as
they may be jittery in places. Also, make
sure to edit the spacing, as in some
instances we will want to ease in and out of
the key pose to reduce what could be some
very quick movement in a small number of
frames. This applies, for example, when the
right arm reaches the peak of its move.
09  Add drag & break up
the timing At this stage I want
to make the motion as smooth as can be,
as well as to begin offsetting some parts so
we don’t come to the final pose and hit it as
one lump. I’ll delay the arms by a couple of
frames from the spine and in the odd
frame. I’ll then push the lower arm further
back than naturally possible to really help
sell the drag. I’ll delay the hands and also
really push the fingers back to help sell the
path of action that they’ll be following. To
loosen up the approach to the final pose, I’ll
Fixes Tricks Tips
7
Reference
Some people will sometimes frown
upon the use of reference and will tell
you that a good animator should be
able to work without it. However,
everyone from the early Disney
pioneers to the brains behind Avatar
have used reference. Whether it’s
photographic reference that you will
draw beside, or mo-cap reference that
you can take into a 3D scene –
whatever will get you to your goal in the
most-efficient manner and give you the
best results, do it. Be flexible and in the
words of the mighty Bruce Lee: “Be like
water, my friend.”
make sure the arms hit the pose a few
frames later and also have one arm hit the
final pose a frame or two before the second
8
arm does.
10  Keep on moving As we hit the
final frames, we’ll want to keep the
motion and the character alive. To do so,
we can employ the technique of using
Moving Holds. For the hips, the upper-body
and arms, I’ll add a small amount of motion,
continuing through to the final frame of the
animation. It’s important to keep this
motion, moving in the direction that the 9
body is travelling. The change in movement
from the final pose to the final frame may
be barely noticeable, but the difference
between subtle movement and no
movement can be huge to the naked eye.
You’ve now got all you need for great work.
Good luck and happy animating.
Show & tell
I like to focus on a particular aspect
without my mind being side-tracked.
For example, when cleaning up the
spine, I don’t want to look at the arms
or even the legs. To help, I use selection
sets. Simply grab all the geometry that
you want to hide and go to Create>
Sets>Quick Select Set. By the end of
the animation I have a selection set for
each part of the body. To select the
geometry in the set, either go to the
Outliner and open the specific set you
want to hide/reveal or go Edit>Quick
Select Set to pick the group.
10
7 Use contrasting 9 Add some drag to
shapes in the the hands and
torso. Add strong fingers to create a
twist poses natural animation
8 Work on each arm 10 Apply a subtle
individually and amount of motion
further refine to the final frame
those naturally to keep the
occurring arcs character alive
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 103
 Tips Tricks Fixes
UVLayout
Perfect UVs in
UVLayout
U
VLayout is a very powerful tool
that enables you to quickly and
easily create high-quality UVs with
low distortion. The application can work as
a standalone program or as a plug-in with a
primary 3D application. UVLayout also
enables you to work with polys and
subdivision surfaces. UVLayout is the best
tool I’ve used for this task and I hope to
show you why. Download a trial for the
software at www.uvlayout.com.
This short tutorial will take you through
the steps to help you work with the
UVLayout interface and main hotkeys, place
seams to create low-distortion maps, create
a UV map and apply it to objects, cut or
weld shells in the UV Editor, group parts to
104 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
How can I work with UVLayout
to create effective UVs?
one box and finally pack groups using the
tile options. The videos in the source files
discuss basic primitive unwrapping, working
with the Copy option and unwrapping a
ladybird and creature head.
01  First steps First we’ll load the
‘ladybird_noUV.obj’ (supplied) in
UVLayout. For more comfortable work with
the model, hit Space+MMB to move and
separate all parts to a different position (1).
Our model is symmetrical and we’d like to
activate it, so go to Edit and press the Find
button. Click LMB in the centre of the model
and hit Space to activate Symmetry. This
will greatly decrease the selection time and
improve your workflow. Using the G button,
Tutorial files:
ěũ+"8 (1"Ĵ-.ē. )
ěũ+"8 (1"Ĵ1#"8ē. )
ěũ+"8 (1"ē45+
ěũ!'#*#1ĴćĈē/-%ũ3#7341#
ěũ!'#*#1Ĵćĉē/-%ũ3#7341#
ěũ("#.ũ343.1(+2
double-clicking on the geometry to mark it
(double-click Shift+G will deselect the shell).
Select all the small parts, click H and then G
to hide the selection (2). Now it’s time to
make seams for unwrapping. Use C to make
a selection, W to deselect edges and make
seams for future unwrapping (3).
Depending on what you’re creating UVs for,
you can create one large UV map with
distortion or use small UV pieces with no
distortion. Right now, we can make UVs for
future projection painting with a large
amount of UV shells. With this object, the
head seams are the hardest part of
unwrapping (4). Once you’ve finished, drop
all of your geometry to the UV Editor using
the D button.

1
3 button. If you’d like to make a wire, for
02  Unwrap geometry Now to
unwrap our dropped geometry (1).
Press 2 or E to go to the UV Editor. As we
have a small quantity of shells, we can
manually unwrap each of them. Move the
cursor under each shell, hold F until you like
the result, and all areas will turn green. As
we activate Symmetry after unwrapping,
alignment will become accurate. If you have
problems with incorrect or very strong
distortion, try to use Shift+F. This option first
stretches geometry after unwrapping. To
move the shell press Space+MMB, to rotate
hit Space+LMB and press Space+RMB to
zoom in.
Here we’ll focus on a couple of useful
tricks. You can manually cut and weld shells
using the C and W buttons. To cut an edge,
simply move the cursor under and press C.
If you start to do this in the centre rather
than from the border, for example, this will
create a loop. Hit Enter to separate a part,
but if you don’t like the result, try to cut
some edges to improve shell tension. Use
magnet (M) to snap one part to the other
then press Enter to merge to one shell, then
hold F to relax the new geometry (2).
03  Unwrap all the details
Continue with other parts of the
ladybird until you see ‘Nothing in ED’ in the
editor. In the 3D Editor press T twice to
place your texture and + to increase tiling.
This will need to align the textures correctly.
Fixes Tricks Tips
05  Make final adjustments To
make all of the UV shells local size
in Move/Scale/Rotate, click the Local
button. On the top of the main menu find
the Send button and click it. Return to modo
and click Import From UVLayout. To finish
up, we can create a UV map wire and
render it. This may be helpful if you’d like to
manually draw textures. In the main menu
open the Edit tab and click on the Auto Fit
button. Find Render and open it. Check the
2
AA Lines, disable Outline, choose the
resolution you need and click the Save
example with a 1.1 value, drop any unused
shells with Shift+D, click the Auto Fit button
and render it.
I recommend you use one global direction for more comfortable
projection painting and future texture editing (1). Now we need to
separate all the parts and pair them up. For example, we can
combine all the legs into one UV square, as well as the head, eyes,
whiskers and so on. This can improve image quality because we
06  Use tricks and hotkeys If you
have a large number of UV shells
and you need to separate different parts to
have more space for textures. Combining texture parts can improve other places, you can split the panels. For
your workflow and make the process more comfortable. Now we example, in the left screen you can choose
have four squares with ready-to-pack shells (2). the UV Editor, and 3D view from the right
screen. This increases your workflow and
04  Re-scale and pack Now we’ll create four packing
groups. Drag a selection under the first square, go to the
main Pack menu and select New Group. To see a difference, drag
makes work more comfortable. Under
Display, find the green button Split Pane.
one of the four green arrows with Cmd/Ctrl+RMM and you’ll see a
result. Do the same for all the groups. As you can see, when you Most-used hotkeys
drag the green arrow, UVLayout tries to find the best way to pack
UV shells. In the Pack option click Delete All to remove all your ED mode
C – cut
groups. If you have a large amount of UV shells, a better way is to Shift+C – UV space
use the option Fit To Sqr, which you can find in the Move/Scale/
UV Editor
Rotate tab. This will bring all the shells according to the UV square F – flatten shell
and fill the maximum UV space. Click the Rescale button to make all L – lock shell
shells one size. After that, try to repeat the option Fit To Sqr, or you M – magnet selected edges
can manually select and scale each group. Enter – split or attach shell
Shift+I – straight to line
R – convert to rectangular
4 5 – paint expand
B – flatten brush
P – pin border
Shift+P – unpin border
3D mode
T – change texture type
+,- – change tiling texture
Global keys
Home – centre screen on selection
H – hide tool
G – paint selection
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 105
 Tips Tricks Fixes
Tutorial files:
ěũ("#.ũ343.1(+
ěũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32
The character Lola 3000 explores
a game environment
Create an interactive
character in Unity
Why stop at a rendered image when you could play as your character?
D
o you like to just watch or do you
like to play? Now that hardware
and tools are up to the job of
rendering 30 times a second instead of all
night, more and more CG artists are
searching for ways to interactively engage
with their artwork and character creations.
In short, more artists are looking to make
games. Why stop with a rendered image or
a video when you could play as your
character and get inside your own worlds?
This tutorial is designed to run you
through the steps of importing, animating
and controlling your character as a player
in Unity. By the end, you should have a
great starting point for a game or an
interactive demo featuring your work. This
106 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
Unity
Masterclass is designed to be 3D
package-neutral, so whether you use 3ds
Max, Maya, Blender or any of the many
supported modelling programs, you should
find what you need to turn your character
model into a player in your scene. Don’t
worry if you’ve not created any scenes
though – there are plenty of environments
and kits available either for free or paid on
the Unity Asset Store. The Unity sample
assets will provide all the animations
needed for controlling the character and
you can, of course, add your own.
We’ll begin with the steps you can take
to prepare and rig your character before
adding BlendShapes, verifying and then
importing your rigged file into Unity. We’ll
then set up some of the materials and
shaders so that you can get your character
looking its absolute best. After that, we will
create an avatar to match your character
rig and set it up for animation using a
third-person controller with the Unity
sample assets. We’ll then load in a custom
animation and set up a BlendShape layer in
order to further customise the character.
We’ll also add lights and effects to the
environment for a real-time, post-
processed finish. You will need an install of
Unity – either the free or the Pro version
– and the sample assets, available for free
from the Asset Store. All you need to do to
get started is obtain your Unity ID,
download and get stuck in.
 Fixes Tricks Tips

Building your scene –

workflow inside Unity

Go from your character to an 1

interactive player

01 Prepare your model Unity is a

real-time platform, so keeping your
polygon count in check is important. Name
your materials and textures sensibly and use
normal maps for extra detail. There are no
polygon limits, but the more you use, the
less memory you have to use on effects, the
environment and other characters. Aim for
between 5-25,000 polygons, depending on
platform, and try to reduce polygons where
necessary. Place your textures in a folder
called Textures within your Unity Assets
folder and repath them before exporting.

02 Rig your character This stage

depends on your 3D package, skills
and time available. Once your model is
prepared in a T-pose, you can either create a
bone hierarchy from scratch by using your
package’s built-in tools to generate skin to a
skeleton by assigning skin weights, or use an
automated solution like Mixamo Autorigger.
For example, in Maya you would use Human
IK, 3ds Max uses Biped/CAT and a skin
modifier, while Blender relies on Rigify. For
more info on preparing your character,
Another
consult the Mecanim section of http://docs. perspective – edge
unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual for detection with
2 depth of field
an in-depth guide to the process.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 107

 Tips Tricks Fixes
03 Set-up BlendShapes Decide
which part of the character needs
morphing and set up appropriately. This
means using BlendShapes in Maya or Unity,
Morpher in 3ds Max or Shape Keys in
Blender. This is often used for phoneme
shapes when animating a talking face and
works by assigning morphed shapes of the
same number of vertices to a target. You can
then blend between separate versions to
obtain different shapes without animating a
complex bone hierarchy.
04 Verify and export This stage is
important to minimise the need for
troubleshooting when you set up your model
later. Remove unused meshes and irrelevant
assets like lights or cameras from your
scene, or simply use the export selected.
Use the FBX file format if you can to enable
file portability and simplicity. If you have your
own animation clips, be sure to check the
Animation check box in the Export dialogue.
Reimporting your exported model into the
3D package is often a good way to verify
your model before bringing it into Unity.
05 Import your model Drag your
FBX file into the Project pane if it
hasn’t been picked up automatically. Select
your model in the Project browser and set up
the options in the Inspector panel. Leave
most of these as default, but check the Scale
Factor as scale can vary hugely depending
on units used in your package and export
settings. Click Apply and drag the model into
the scene. Create a 1-metre cube to enure
the scale is correct, then adjust accordingly.
108 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
06 Prepare materials Select your
character and check the associated
materials in the Inspector – these should
have been created in the Materials folder.
Each material has a dropdown for a Shader.
Choose one – such as Bumped Specular – so
you can define a base colour (tint), specular
colour and the texture maps for the diffuse
(Base RGB), gloss in the Alpha channel and a
Normal map to add surface detail. Reflective
materials can also have a cubemap assigned
for reflections, which you can render once in
Unity or real-time for dynamic reflections. 6
07 Create an avatar Once imported,
apply a Mecanim avatar to your
character model. This maps your skeleton to
an avatar to use with any human animation.
Select the model’s FBX file in the Project
pane, then select the Rig tab and Humanoid
for Animation Type. Click Configure to create
and configure. If your rig is all good it will
show in green, otherwise revisit your bone
hierarchy and re-export to more closely
match the avatar. Test your skinning in the
Muscles tab by dragging the sliders to 7
preview. Click Done when finished.
Unity Asset Store
As well as the sample assets needed for
this Masterclass, you can browse and
make use of a library of paid and free
assets to work with your project. From
scripts to shaders and animations to audio,
you can download and contribute to the
Unity Asset Store to add to the parts that
other projects couldn’t reach. Check it out
at www.assetstore.unity3d.com.

08 Apply a controller Unity sample
assets are all you need to control
your player. Drag the Third Person Character
prefab from the Sample Assets>Characters
and Vehicles>Third Person Controller>
Prefabs folder into your scene. In your
hierarchy delete the Ethan node under Third
Person Character. Drag your Character node
8
on top of the Third Person Character node,
which already has all scripts and parameters
assigned. From Cameras>Prefabs, drag the
Free Look camera rig into the scene, add and
position a plane game object, and press Play.
09 Animate your character You
can replace the animations from the
Character animator with an imported
animation. Select your Character Root node
9
and open the animator from the Window
menu. Select Grounded State to open the
Blend Tree for when your character is on the
ground. Select the Blend Tree and click the
little circle next to an animation to choose
another. Press Play to preview then stop and
make your adjustments as necessary.
10
10 Use BlendShapes and tweak
your character Create an
animation in your source package which
blends two or more meshes, as outlined in
the step 3. Re-export your mesh and include
Animation>Morphs in the FBX dialogue. In
Unity create a new layer in the animator
window, set Blending to Additive and
Weight to 1, then drag in your clip from the
Project window. Create an empty state and
Ctrl/Right-click>Make Transition to
transition to and from the clip. Set a
Condition with Forward set to Greater than
11
0.5 for the To transition, and Forward set to
Less than 0.5 for the From transition.
12
Fixes Tricks Tips
11 Add environment, lights and
settings To immerse yourself in the
game, add other primitives to your plane to
create a greybox environment, import your
own environment artwork, or obtain props
and environments from the Unity Asset
Store. Imported artwork needs to have
Generate Colliders checked and applied in
the Inspector, so your character can walk on
the surface. Create a directional light from
the Create button at the top of the hierarchy
and adjust the parameters in the Inspector.
12 Polish with image effects Unity
Pro includes several of image effects
that improve the look of your scene. Drag
the tab out to preview to separate the Game
view. Select the Main Camera node under
the Free Look Camera Rig. In the Inspector
click Add Component>Image Effects>
Camera>Depth Of Field to retain focus on
your character, but also blur the background
to mimic a wide aperture. You can add as
many others as your frame rate can handle,
so try a vignette or ambient occlusion.
Export your project
Once you’re ready, you can output your
project to a wide variety of platforms.
Out of the box, Unity Free can export to
PC, Mac, Linux, Web browser, iOS and
Android. There are optimisation
considerations for each, but Unity
makes it easy to manage these all
within one project – as the tag line goes,
build once, deploy anywhere. For
further documentation and resources,
take a look at the corresponding blog at
http://blogs.unity3d.com.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 109
 Tips Tricks Fixes

3D artists explain the

techniques behind
their amazing artwork Master 3D
cloth effects
Artist info

Juraj Talcik
& Veronika
Modern interior 2013
Demovicova
When you want to create beautiful
Personal portfolio site
www.jurajtalcik.com arch-vis interiors filled with custom-made
Location Bratislava, Slovakia
Software used 3ds Max, furniture and materials, Marvelous
Marvelous Designer, ZBrush
Expertise This duo specialises
Designer can help with a few tricks
in high-end interior
visualisation and dabbles with Juraj Talcik and Veronika Demovicova are
all kinds of other 3D projects creative partners with architectural backgrounds

*Your exclusive free trial allows you to learn the tools and tricks of
Marvelous Designer without any time restrictions. However, please note that this
exclusive, never-ending trial for 3D Artist readers does have export/save limitations. For a
limited trial with export/save functionality, you can download from www.marvelousdesigner.com.

110 O3D
3DArtist
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

Concept
The goal in this tutorial is
to create a high-quality
bed with a voluminous
duvet filled with wrinkles
and details. We want to
avoid the age-old look of a
blanket thrown over the
top, which you so often
see in arch-vis scenes.
Fixes Tricks Tips
Tutorial files:
ěũTutorial screenshots
Learn how to
Create your own bespoke
cloth assets
Optimise meshes
I
t’s been few a months since we won a licence for
Marvelous Designer in a competition held by CLO Virtual
Fashion. It’s now integrated into our everyday workflow.
We now use it inside almost every commercial project that
comes along, creating custom and unique models from
reference furniture that we enjoy – such as contemporary
brands like Poliform, which was a reference for the bed model
used in this scene.
This tutorial will teach you how to create a single asset from
scratch, showing you each step necessary to complete the task.
You’ll be taken all the way through to the final optimised mesh,
which will be ready to add to an arch-vis project.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 111
 Tips Tricks Fixes
Create a simple bed
Begin by modelling the bed before taking it into Marvelous Designer
1
01 Make an initial Avatar We’ll start the process by
adding the first Avatar – which is what the base mesh used
for simulation is known as in Marvelous Designer terminology. It’s
very important to model using real-world units, because the
simulation is physically based on the real-world properties of
fabrics. We’ll model our bed according to the size of a Poliform bed,
which will be our reference for this tutorial. However, you can use
any bed reference you prefer. In this case we’ll be box modelling
with the Edit Poly tools in 3ds Max. We also use the Quad Chamfer
modifier plug-in from Marius Silaghi (€40 EUR from www.
mariussilaghi.com/products/quad-chamfer-modifier). Though this
plug-in will help us during this part of the process, it’s not strictly
necessary. It’s important to have a mesh with a few smooth
iterations, to avoid visible faceting on the simulated cloth from the
underlying base mesh. Marvelous Designer handles detailed
Avatars well, so it’s better to go higher than regret it after the
simulation is done and artefacts have appeared.
112 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
02 Import into Marvelous Designer Once we’ve
finished modelling the necessary parts of the bed’s
structure, we can export them into Marvelous Designer. This will be
done step by step for each modelled part, in any order you prefer.
Select each part individually and save it in an OBJ format with a
respective name – such as ‘bedframe.obj’, ‘mattress.obj’, ‘BackPart.
obj’ and so on. This will help keep things organised. Also, keep in
mind that we’re using centimetres for modelling, exporting and
importing alike, so no unwanted scaling should occur.
03 Create the first pattern We’ll begin with the easiest
part: the mattress cover. Rather than creating a simple
square-cut cover, we’ll opt for an inset square that will generate nice 1 The selection of outer edges to
folds at the vertical corners of the mattress. After drawing the be chamfered before applying
pattern with the Line tool, select the neighbouring edges at the the Smooth modifier
corners and sew them together using the Segment Sewing tool. 2 Export from 3ds Max into
Synchronise the pattern into the Avatar window and position it over Marvelous Designer
the Avatar, with the white face of the cloth facing away from it. This
3 The Avatar window next to the
will keep proper normals, which are very important. Setting the Pattern window with the table
Particle Distance to 15 will keep preview simulations fast. showing Particle Distance
 Fixes Tricks Tips

Get ready to simulate

Master cushioned effects with Marvelous Designer

04 Shape a cover
The simulation will be
done in multiple steps to help us
achieve the exact look we’re
after. First, let the pattern simply
fall on the mattress. After it
settles, pause the simulation,
select four outer edges that
aren’t sewn and give them
elasticity to tightly wrap the
mattress. Lower the Bending
value for a softer look and raise
the Shear value to create
smaller wrinkles. For the final
simulation, change the Particle
Distance to a lower value and
let it compute for a while, until
4
it settles.

05 Replicate cushion effects The back elements of the

bed frame are sewn together from two pieces of leather.
Pay attention to the sewing order so that after synchronisation all
the lines between the cloth pieces remain parallel. Notice the edges
of our pattern are curves, rather than straight lines, in order to
naturally follow the shape of the underlying Avatar. You can start
adjusting your cloth values from the Leather preset.

06 Master a bed frame Using the same process as

before, this time we’ll work with multiple pattern pieces.
The left and right pieces are identical, but the middle piece is only
scaled. Synchronise and position the pattern pieces around the
Avatar, making sure the sewn lines are parallel. The same leather
material is used for the bed frame. Simulate the Particle Distance
value at 15 first, pause the simulation, then change to a lower value
(3) for the final simulation.

4 This table shows the exact

values we’re using for our fabric
cover simulation
5 The upper-left window shows
how to position patterns after
synchronisation, before you hit
the Simulation button. The
table shows the values used for
the leather material
6 Observe the position of the
patterns around the Avatar
7 The assembled mesh from
simulated parts, shown inside
3ds Max
07 Make your
second Avatar
Your finished, quality simulation
will run forever by default, so
you’ll need to pause it once it
looks settled and acceptable.
Remember, you’re looking to
achieve the greatest realism
possible. Now you’re ready to
export the mesh back into your
3D application. However, make
sure you export only the
simulated cloth, and not the
original Avatar.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 113

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Optimise & simulate

Using the new Avatar we can proceed with new cloth simulations

08 Enhance your mesh At this stage we’re going to

re-evaluate our newly assembled mesh at two levels for
two different purposes: the final mesh and a new Avatar for
10 Add in some
essential physics
Pressure is a new feature
upcoming simulations. Here we’re using the ZBrush plug-in shipping with Marvelous
Decimation Master, but if you don’t have ZBrush there are other Designer and is a little tricky to
tools available, such as the native 3ds Max ProOptimizer Modifier. use, compared to what you
Make sure you check the Keep UVs option, as these have been might be expecting. This option
generated by Marvelous Designer so you don’t want them to be lost behaves a bit like helium and
in the process. First, decimate to 15% and save this as your final doesn’t keep its form, so you
mesh of the bed frame, then decimate to a super-low 1%, which can have to force it to take the
be used as the new optimised Avatar. Even applying such a low desired shape using various
decimation will preserve a surprisingly high level of detail and keep tricks. Remember to always
the simulations running fast. start with low values so your
mesh doesn’t fly away. You can

09 Make the inner layer The bed cover is made of two

primary layers: inner inflated, which is responsible for the
voluminous effect; and a segmented-looking outer, which will create
add Pressure to all of the
inner-pattern pieces, but getting
the correct values will require
the wrinkles. Again, these details are essential for getting the close attention.
realism we’re after. At this stage we’ll also create the inner layer by
drawing a square pattern, duplicating it 162 times and sewing all the
8 Shots before and after the
neighbouring edges. This is an easy but tedious process that decimation. The compression
requires a lot of patience. can be visually lossless
9 Notice the parallel lines of the
sewn edges and take care to
avoid mistakes in the flow of
their connections
8 10 A table chart showing the exact
values for the inner cloth

Produce UVWs from

9 10
Marvelous Designer
One of the brilliant aspects of Marvelous Designer is that it
automatically generates nice UVW sets, so there’s never
any need to unwrap the meshes manually. This is fortunate,
as it would be impossible at their size. The program creates
UVWs of a corresponding size to the pattern, so for
example if you create 2 x 2m square pattern you will get a
respective UVW of the exact same size. You can also
choose the Unified UVWs option in case you want all the
patterns in the Pattern window to share the same scale of
the UVW set. This is a very helpful feature if you plan to
apply the same material to all the patterns in the Pattern
window, otherwise you’ll end up with a different scale in the
blanket and pillows, for instance.

Juraj Talcik &

Veronika Demovicova
Juraj Talcik is big fan of architecture,
contemporary design, technology and
videogame development. He owns a
boutique company oriented towards
marketing contemporary architecture. White interior 3ds Max, V-Ray, Marvelous Forest Cabin 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop (2011)
Veronika Demovicova shares a love for all Designer, Photoshop (2012) This was Talcik’s first exterior project and he still thinks
kinds of design and is currently on her way An architectural visualisation by Demovicova for a of it fondly, even though he feels it shows its age and
to finishing an architectural degree. modern apartment renovation project lower skill level at the time

114 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Simulate & adjust

Achieve realistic results to complete your design

12

11 On the left we have the sewing

flow. The table on the right
shows Seam Line values for the
selected outer edges
12 The exact values used for our
bed cover’s outer layer
11 13 The red dots represent pins on
the bed cover

11 Set the outer layer of the bed cover First, create two
rectangles, each of a slightly larger size than the underlying
grid of the cover’s inner layer. We won’t sew these together, but
rather to the outer edges of the grid instead. Next, adjust the
selected edges in the Seam Line properties and set the Fold Angle
to a value of 360. This should create a nice seam along the sides of
the bed cover.

12 Set your cloth values The most important values here

are Stretch, Bend and Shear. You’ll notice that all of these
options can be set using two axes: along the width and length.
Unless you have a very specific design reason to set them
asymmetrically, just use the same value in both axes. We’ll keep the
mentioned values low to provide the wrinkly, used look we’re aiming
to achieve.

13

Fabric materials 13 Simulate the bed

cover element
After letting the bed cover fall
Though the internet is full of various ready-to-use, tiled on the mattress Avatar, we’ll
textures these days, resources of quality fabric textures are pause the simulation and select
still scarce. However, a new trend has recently emerged for parts of the bed cover using the
modern companies to provide samples of their products in Pin tool. Press W twice on the
digital form. The Republic of Fritz Hansen (www.
keyboard and click at various
fritzhansen.com) lets you download quality 3D models set
chosen spots, then move them
up with materials; Poliform (www.poliformuk.com) gives
Country house 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop (2012) you low-quality AutoCAD models; and German fabric around like you are dragging a
This project features the duo’s ongoing effort to successfully producer JAB (www.jab-uk.co.uk) has uploaded a huge bed cover and resume the
create custom 3D foliage, in this case grass and trees. Using library of extremely high-res textures to its website. There simulation. Continue until you’re
bespoke models never fails to add a unique feel to a piece! isn’t a better source for amazing textures than this! satisfied with your resulting
messy look.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 115

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Finalise your mesh

Optimise and apply your newly made assets

14 Boost the quality

Once you’re completely
satisfied with the look, leave
14

only a minimal amount of pins

on the model (or, preferably,
none at all). The cloth will settle
to a much more natural state,
while retaining the overall look.
We’re leaving two pins in here,
just to keep those distinct
corners. Set the Particle
Distance as low as your
computer enables you to go
without crashing or freezing;
we’re setting it to 5. Now let the
simulation run for a while.

Set Particle
Distance as low
as you can

15
15 Fluff up the pillows
The golden rule with
Marvelous Designer is to only
ever simulate one thing at a
time. Export the simulated
cloth, decimate it in ZBrush,
reassemble it in your host
application and finally import it
as a new Avatar. Pillows use the
same values as the cover but
thankfully they are much easier
to create. Inner Pressure is
gradually lowered in order to
create the depressed or partially
deflated look.

How to fill
an open
wardrobe
We often get asked
questions about our
wardrobes. It’s very easy
to create: simply draw
some basic rags on the
doll Avatar. This is a very
intuitive process. Then
just swap the doll for a
clothes hanger and use
pins to keep it hanging
there. You can even find
some ready-to-use cool
clothes in the free
Marvelous Designer
repository. In a few hours
you can have a full
wardrobe with a unique
look and high reusability!

116 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

16

17

17

16 Complete the assembly We can now merge all the

exported cloth parts from Marvelous Designer back into our
3D application. They should fit together straight away, so we can
delete the internal (pressurised) parts of the pillows and bed cover,
since it won’t be visible anyway and will save a huge number of
polygons. If you apply various colours to the patterns in Marvelous
Designer, it will generate different IDs for them and you’ll be able to
easily select and delete them.

17 Final decimation Now all we want to do is adjust the

pillows and bed cover. Using Decimation Master in ZBrush is
a good way to do this. We find 15% a great value for visually
retaining detail while making the mesh substantially lower.

14 Our ongoing simulation. Since 16 Use the Editable Mesh Select

it will run forever by default,
stop it once you like the result
15 Pillows can get away with
having very simple, square
patterns, as shown here
ID tool to pick inner faces in
one click and delete them
17 The white-shaded view
confirms there there are
no artefacts

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 117

Fixes Apply the finishing
touches and learn
to perfect your hard 128
surface projects
120 50 hot topology fixes
128 Improve your characters
136 Blow bubbles using V-Ray Metaballs
138 Render glass objects
146 Clean up 3D models
150 Understand hard-surface retopology
152 Retopologise in Mudbox
156 Paint in Sculptris

120

118 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 modo
V-Ray
Maxwell Rend
er
Quick fixes to lend the finishing
3D-Coat
Mudbox
touches to your work and
Sculptris increase the believability
of your 3D scenes

150

156
136

138
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 119
 Tips Tricks Fixes
50 HOT
TOPOLOGY FIXES
Expert modellers share their tips, advice and tricks
that will help you master this most fundamental of
procedures. Read on to find out how you can finally
perfect your organic and hard-surface projects
OUR EXPERTS
I
t’s common in many tutorials for
authors to assume the reader already
knows how to do certain tasks. One of
the often-skipped-by tasks in 3D tutorials is
the challenge of creating clean, efficient
topology – a daunting task for someone
relatively new to 3D. While instructing
someone to ‘retopologise your model’ may
be seemingly obvious to many, for others it’s
a frightening concept.
So what is topology? Why do you need
your topology to be clean? How does the
topology of an organic model differ to that
of a hard-surface one? How can you
efficiently create clean topology in your
models to become a better artist? We’ve
brought together a hand-picked selection of
successful artists that have been perfecting
their topology for many years for a variety of
organic and hard-surface projects. Here
they reveal the whats, whys and hows of
achieving great topology.
Don’t put
triangles or Ngons
on curved surfaces
and don’t use
triangles or Ngons on
deforming areas.
Richard Yot
120 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
Jahirul Amin
Website: www.warpeaceandpixels.com
Area of expertise: Maya generalist with a main
focus on character setup
Preferred topology tools: Maya
Toni Bratincevic
Website: www.interstation3d.com
Area of expertise: Environment modelling and
texturing for illustrations and cinematics
Preferred topology tools: ZBrush and 3ds Max
Matt Brealey
Website: www.badgrenola.com
Area of expertise: Hard-surface modelling,
particularly product design
Preferred topology tools: modo
Craig A Clark
Website: www.scorpiocgi.co.uk
Area of expertise: Photorealistic modelling
Preferred topology tools: LightWave, Bandsaw,
Band Glue, Add Edges and New Dimensions 2
José Alves da Silva
Website: www.artofjose.com
Area of expertise: Designing and illustrating
stylised 3D characters
Preferred topology tools: TopoGun and ZBrush
Filippo Veniero
Website: www.ifilgood.it
Area of expertise: Modelling and texturing
Preferred topology tools: Blender and Bsurfaces
GPL (Blender add-on)
Richard Yot
Website: www.itchy-animation.co.uk
Since this mesh is not going to be
deformed, the topology does not
need to be too clean. There are
Area of expertise: Designing characters with a
quirky twist
poles in the face but these will
not be seen in the final render
Preferred topology tools: modo and TopoGun © Richard Yot
Fixes Tricks Tips

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 121

 Tips Tricks Fixes
What makes good
(and bad) topology?
When I first began modelling,
[01] due to a lack of knowledge about
the importance of topology, everything
became rubbery and forms did not hold. For
example, elbow regions simply caved in
when I came to articulate them. I discovered
that it all comes down to anatomy and how
the skin flows. Jahirul Amin
Modelling objects with clean
[02] topology in mind will consume
more time, but with practise you will
become faster with every new model.
When I use RenderMan, most of the objects
are made with render-time subdivision in
mind, so I try to keep my objects clean,
without any Ngons and only a few triangles.
Toni Bratincevic
[03] Good topology is the basis of a
successful model. Texturing
and animation would be difficult in a model
with disorganised vertices – leading to
distorted textures and unrealistic poses in
the animation. Filippo Veniero
[01] A deformation head slightly exaggerated
to test for any deformation issues
© Jahirul Amin
122 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
For organic models, or any
[04] other models that need to
deform, clean topology is essential in order [03] Achieving good
to help the geometry to deform in a topology at an early stage
can guarantee a truly
controllable and predictable fashion. This successful result
assists in avoiding unsightly creases and © Filippo Veniero
frustrating geometry-rendering issues.
Craig A Clark
When texturing, it’s extremely
[05] important to have excellent
topology. This makes creating UV maps so
much simpler. Particularly, when it comes to
render time, bad topology can cause any
number of annoying and hard-to-eliminate
shading issues that you should aim to avoid
if at all possible. Matt Brealey
Always make sure to keep an
[06] eye on the general balance of
polygons across your model as a whole.
Remember to often for polygons with fewer
than three vertices. As a general ground
© Richard Yot
rule, delete them if you come across them.
Craig A Clark
 Fixes

[07] In 3D sculpture, if the edge

flow follows the surface, your
strokes will be in the same direction as the
edge structure. This ultimately enables a
cleaner result and therefore the need for
less geometry to achieve a perfect finish.
José Alves da Silva

[08] The model’s edges define its

overall form. By placing edges
at the specific areas that establish the
character’s silhouette, you will need a lot
less geometry in order to define a model
overall, which is crucial for optimisation.
José Alves da Silva

[09] Bad topology is very likely to

cause rendering artefacts or
unpredictable deformations that are hard to
control. Problem areas are typically found
where deformations are prominent, such as
the mouth, shoulders or hips. Curved and
branching surfaces can also be problematic.
Richard Yot

[10] As a general rule, don’t put

triangles or Ngons on curved
surfaces and don’t use triangles or Ngons
on deforming areas. Richard Yot

[11] When modelling for animation,

take extra time to make a study of
anatomy and make sure to pay a lot of
attention to the areas around the eyes and
lips. Filippo Veniero

[12] Ngons can disrupt poly flow,

giving you little control over the
normals of your surface. However, this can
[05] While test
renders will help,
be useful to balance good topology and a applying final
materials can aid you
low poly count. Matt Brealey in getting rid of any
final smoothing errors
© Matt Brealey
© Thomas Lishman

[11] Accurate facial

features are an
essential part of
communicating a
character’s emotions
© Filippo Veniero

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 123

 Fixes

[15] With time and patience, your

retopology work will get faster
© 33ũ1#+#8 [13] For topology, how you use your tools is more important than which ones you choose © Toni Bratincevic

Get to know your tools

& applications
ĺĉćĻũ1#3(-%ũ""(3(.-+ũ
polygon loops with
[13] Retopologising can be done in
almost every modelling tool
available today, but getting the right
[19] The open-source Blender
add-on Bsurfaces (www.
bsurfaces.info) is a really handy tool for
Dos & don’ts
Jahirul Amin and Matt Brealey offer bite-sized
advice for good topology:
Do!
ěũũ+-ũ'#"ũIJũ(3Ħ++ũ25#ũ8.4ũ3(,#ũ
in the long run. (Matt Brealey)
ěũũ/+(3ũ8.41ũ. )#!3ũ4/ũ(-3.ũ 2(!ũ
primitives and merge those
together first. (Matt Brealey)
ěũũ18ũ3.ũ*##/ũ8.41ũ/.+8ũ!.4-3ũ2ũ
low as you can for as long as
you can. (Matt Brealey)
-"26ũ(-ũ(%'35#
© 1(%ũ
ũ+1*
Don’t!
ěũũ313ũ6(3'ũ-ũ(-!1#"( +8ũ"#-2#ũ
mesh. (Matt Brealey)
ěũũ1#3#ũ#"%#2ũ3'3ũ#-"ũ(-ũ3'#ũ
middle of existing polygons
(Matt Brealey)
ěũũ#ũ$1("ũ3.ũ"#+#3#ũ2#!3(.-2ũ-"ũ
remodel them if needed.
technique is more important. Learn where
to allow triangles and how to terminate
some edges. Toni Bratincevic
[14] Personally, modo’s Topology Pen
has made a big difference to my
workflow. The tool places modo as the first
option for this task and enables the very
quick retopology of any organic model.
Richard Yot
[15] When I switched from Maya to
modo I found that a lot of the
tools used to control or alter the topology of
my objects were a little bit closer to hand
(namely the selection tools, falloffs and so
on). This alone greatly sped up my
modelling process. Matt Brealey
modelling and retopologising. It enables you
to combine the use of freehand lines to
efficiently and quickly reconstruct an
existing model. Used in conjunction with
Blender’s Shrinkwrap modifier, it does a
great job of making the retopologising
process easy. Filippo Veniero
[20] I use BandSaw EX (http://
tinyurl.com/BandSawEX) [in
LightWave] to speed up the retopologising
process. It’s almost identical to LightWave’s
own Bandsaw, but it has the added benefit
of being able to specify edge loops to be
inserted an absolute distance from an
existing edge. This means you can add in
even loops regardless of the variation in
polygon size. Craig A Clark
ěũũ2#ũ ..+#-ũ3..+2ũ2/1(-%+8ũ3.ũ
'#+/ũ8.4ũ).(-ũ,#2'#2ũ3.%#3'#1ũ
(but always clean up
afterwards). (Matt Brealey)
ěũũ-+8ũ24 "(5("#ũ6'#1#ũ8.4ũ-##"ũ
to on the model. (Matt Brealey)
#5(-%ũ3'#,ũ24 ı23-"1"ũ6(++ũ
only make things worse later!
(Matt Brealey)
ěũũ5#ũ3..ũ,-8ũ#"%#2ũ
converging on a single vertex.
(Matt Brealey)
[16] ZBrush has introduced new
ways of retopologising an object,
where you can directly paint edges of
[21]
polygons on the object without the need to
precisely define edges. I found this
technique particularly fast, but noticeably
less precise than working with ZSpheres.
To make changes to existing
topology, 3ds Max has a set of
polygon modelling tools. I export the model
to 3ds Max using GoZ, make the changes
and then use GoZ once more to bring it into
ZBrush again. José Alves da Silva
ěũ#1-ũ-3.,8ēũ(Jahirul Amin)
ěũũ3(!*ũ3.ũ04"2ũ-"Ĕũ($ũ-##"#"Ĕũ
the odd triangle here and there.
*#ũ3'#ũ$!#2ũ1#!3-%4+1ũ(-ũ
(Jahirul Amin)
ěũũ##/ũ8.41ũ$!#2ũ.$ũ-ũ#5#-ũ2(9#ũ
throughout where possible.
(Jahirul Amin)
ěũũ#23ũ.43ũ3'#ũ"#$.1,3(.-ũ2ũ8.4ũ
go if the model is to be
animated. Pass the model to the
rigger early on, let him pop
2.,#ũ).(-32ũ(-ũ-"ũ2##ũ'.6ũ(3ũ
will deform. (Jahirul Amin)
ěũũũ8.41ũ!'1!3#1Ħ2ũ'#"ũ(-ũ3'#ũ
earlier stages. (Jahirul Amin)
124 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
ěũũ#ũ+98ũ-"ũ3'(-*ũ3'#ũ1(%%#1ũ.1ũ
animator can/should fix a bad
model. (Jahirul Amin)
ěũũ
shape as this can cause
3#7341#ı231#3!'(-%ũ-"ũ(2ũ31(!*(#1ũ
to envelope. (Jahirul Amin)
ěũũ
""ũ"#3(+ũ3'3ũ(2ũ-.3ũ-##"#"ēũ
(Jahirul Amin)
ěũũ2#ũ%.-2ũ4-+#22ũ8.4ũ1#++8Ĕũ
really have to. (Matt Brealey
and Jahirul Amin)
Toni Bratincevic
[22] In Maya, to speed up the
retopologising process, I use a
[17] QRemesher [in ZBrush] can
automatically redo your mesh
topology. This is practically very useful for
fantastic and free MEL script called
xyShrinkWrap (http://tinyurl.com/
Shrink3D). With this, you can shrinkwrap
when you don’t have sharp edges on hard one object onto another, enabling you to get
surfaces. Things like rocks or a tree trunk your low-poly retopologised mesh to really
can be retopologised with QRemesher in a sit on your high-res sculpt as you work.
matter of minutes! Toni Bratincevic Jahirul Amin
[18] When exporting your model from ZBrush to TopoGun, divide
it into PolyGroups, as this will enable better access to the
model. The PolyGroups will be accepted as Groups in TopoGun and you
can hide parts of the original during retopology work. José Alves da Silva

[23]
© Richard Yot
[24] In film, acting takes into
account a lot of subtle
secondary movements. Opening the mouth
is not a simple rotation of the jaw. All the
facial and neck muscles that contract and
extend have to be taken into account. You
have to create an edge layout that will
enable these muscle structures to deform
naturally, or the animator will see their
creative options greatly reduced. Creating
this edge structure is very time-consuming
because it’s usually quite dense and should
follow anatomical structures with precision.
José Alves da Silva
[25] There will be a lot of situations
where environment models
need to have clean topology, like plants,
trees and deforming objects. For example,
having a metal object that you know will be
deformed because of impact will require
you to model it with clean topology.
Toni Bratincevic
[26] You must carefully investigate
the anatomical model before
attempting to create clean topology on
organic meshes. Do not use unnecessary
vertices; look at some videos on how the
parts of the model will have to move.
Filippo Veniero
[27] In general, any organic models
intended for animation will
require much cleaner topology. The quality
of the topology work done early on will
affect the other artists working with the
model further down the pipeline.
Matt Brealey
Fixes
[24] Example of the mesh density of a character for
film: a retopology sequence of Captain Bunny’s head
© José Alves da Silva
Topology in practise
[23] Getting clean topology together for [29] Mobile game
character topology. Notice
characters is a relatively simple process. the loops at joints and
how the vertices
Just start with loops around the mouth and the eyes, contribute to the keep the
character’s silhouette in
and then you can steadily build out from there. the low-poly version
© Character by José Alves da Silva
Richard Yot Courtesy of Nebula Studios
[28] If you’re retopologising over a
sculpt, you simply need to keep
your quads as even as possible. It’s best to
develop a couple of different techniques
Unleash the magic
designed to increase or decrease geometric
detail in any areas of your sculpt that may
of TopoGun
need it. Richard Yot Discover the widely used application that’s
ideal for retopology tasks…
[29] For videogames, retopology is
like a puzzle. Your challenge is
to find the best way to describe a surface
TopoGun (www.topogun.com) is a standalone resurfacing
and map-baking application available for Windows, Mac OS
and Linux. The resurfacing functions in TopoGun are aimed
at modifying and/or re-creating the edge flow of 3D
while using the least amount of polygons
models. The impressive software uses the industry-
possible. Most of the time you will have to standard OBJ file format as well as its own XML-based
include the detail of several different objects format. Available in 32- and 64-bit versions, it can handle
in a single shell, such as having a character’s high-res 3D data, with the poly count limit being set by the
belt, buckle and jacket in the same mesh. All
this detail is then recovered by using
projection and creating Normal maps.
available RAM on your system.
3D artist Richard Yot has used TopoGun extensively for
retopology, describing it as “an excellent tool. For
retopology I would say the application is very important,
José Alves da Silv because the tools make a big difference to how fast you can
work,” he says. “Slow and cumbersome workflows will just
[30] Keep everything in quads and
triangles, but try to hide
triangles in occluded areas. Use Ngons only
make the task tedious.”
“TopoGun is the fastest software I have found for
complex retopology,” agrees José Alves da Silva. “ I use it in
when working with environment models. projects with lots of polygons and that might need a lot of
readjustments along the way. TopoGun offers you loads of
Toni Bratincevic
tools to create new geometry on top of the original objects.”
[31] Remember to look at anatomy
and use muscle flow as a guide
for your edge loops. Block out the initial
form and get the topology nailed as soon as
you can. In Maya you can use the Sculpt
© José Alves da Silva
Geometry tool to even out and smooth the
edges. Jahirul Amin
[32] When working with
hard-surface objects, make
sure to follow the guidelines of the model José Alves da Silva used TopoGun for retopologising this
and try to reduce the number of vertices. model of a head
Filippo Veniero
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 125
 Fixes

© Craig A Clark
© José Alves da Silva

Topology ready for animation. Notice how the edge

[34] Retopology of a hard-surface model sculpted in loops closely follow the muscular structure
ZBrush. The doubling of edges at the hard corners © José Alves da Silva
keeps the surface sharp after subdivision

Retopologising an Organic or hard surface?

organic mesh
Jahirul Amin offers a step-by-step
breakdown of his retopology method for
[33] For working with hard-surface
models in LightWave, first set
your base geometry surface to a darkish
[39] Always try to keep edge loops
consistent in size, so that when
it comes to subdividing, the UV maps are
an organic mesh in Maya and ZBrush
grey, with a Specular value of around 70% kept proportional. If you only have edge
Jahirul Amin uses ZBrush and Maya to retopologise the and a Gloss of around 30%. This creates a loops on one side of a sharpened edge, the
model of a head here, but the following steps can be nice, broad, specular highlight on a dark UV will be dragged across that edge, as
adapted for your own workflow too:
background, which is incredibly useful for opposed to remaining in a more even
1 Create a sculpt in ZBrush using the 1 seeing just how smooth your poly flow is. position. Craig A Clark 1
DynaMesh base mesh generation tool.
Craig A Clark

2
[34] When dealing with
hard-surface models, I try to
[40] Tearing occurs when the edge
flow around the torso runs at
an angle, as the muscles of the external
2 Bring the sculpt into Maya and reduce the poly count, if avoid retopology wherever possible by obliques and the latissimus dorsi do. This
required, using Mesh>Reduce. Create a single poly and modelling them old-school. First I create the could cause the mesh to rip apart when
begin edge-extruding around the sculpt. polygons in 3ds Max, then I crease the twisting, which would be particularly
3 Continue to extrude edges 3 edges by using tight edge loops in order for distressing, naturally. To prevent this
outwards and also insert edge them to subdivide as effectively as possible. occurring, you may want to consider not
loops. Make the sculpt a live José Alves da Silva following accurate anatomy as closely as
object so you can snap the
usual. Jahirul Amin
points to the mesh.
4 Work the mouth using the
same method. You can also
4 [35] For a model comprised of
hard-surface meshes, I’ll break
it down into simple primitive shapes. I can [41] I regularly use the Stencil tools in4
modo in order to combine
hold the V key to point-snap to
the vertices. then start trying to think about how these several more complex shapes together. This
5 Combine the mouth with the
shapes could be connected together, while is because they provide a good starting
eye region and continue to work maintaining an acceptable poly flow. point from which to build a larger model.
on the scalp to finish the head. Matt Brealey Make sure you clean up the mesh
6 You can leave the model thoroughly after you’re done, though.
5

6
there, if you wish. However, I
want to experiment with adding
further detail, so I can reduce
[36] Keeping your polygons roughly
equal in size as much as
Matt Brealey

the amount of Displacement

maps required.
possible creates a nice and clean model
that’s easy to work on and much easier to
texture later on. Craig A Clark
[42] Try to place the edge loops at
the extents of muscle groups
and along the length of muscle fibres
wherever possible, because muscles are
7 The edge loops are
following not just the
muscle groups but also
[37] GroBoto (www.groboto.com/
v3) can produce really clean
geometry from its hard-surface models. The
what are responsible for most deformations
that happen during character movement. In
most models you won’t be able to avoid
the skin flow. This should only drawback is that it’s currently limited in some stars, so always choose a
help create wrinkle lines the kinds of shapes it can generate. non-deforming area in which to place them.
that behave in a more However, it has a lot of potential for the José Alves da Silva
believable manner.
future. Richard Yot
8 Once I’m happy, I will 7 You don’t need to worry about7
then take the
retopologised mesh into
[38] If you don’t have enough
topology around the elbows,
[43] clean topology if you are only
going to be modelling static environments
ZBrush and push the form
about to test how it will you will not be able to maintain the shape that will be rendered in raytracers like
hold up to deformation. 8 when the arm bends. Jahirul Amin V-Ray. Toni Bratincevic 8

126 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes

[45] Combining different shapes to

see how they could work together
© Jahirul Amin
[47]
© Richard Yot

General rules [47] For animated models,

deformations should be tested
to make sure there is no pinching in visible

for topology areas. The topology should always be

planned around those sections that will
need to be deformed. Richard Yot

[44] As a broad, general rule when

working with models for
animation, and specifically with organic
meshes, incorrect topology in specific areas
such as joints and faces can make it
impossible for them to deform them in a
realistic way. Matt Brealey
[47] In this example the mouth needs to deform widely, so good
edge flow is needed around it to avoid pinching
© Richard Yot
[45] Make sure to find out about the
poly-count limit on game
models before you begin your work. Ensure
that the topology is clean so that it will
support the Normal map without any
issues. Jahirul Amin
[48] On character models, plan your
edge loops to follow the muscle
structures. Add a higher polygon density
around the face and hands. These are two
of the areas that typically need more detail.
José Alves da Silva
[49] On models that are
symmetrical, be careful if
working on half and then mirroring to give
the full model. You don’t want to end up
with duplicated geometry. You can end up
with a slight offset, making the duplicates
quite tricky to eliminate. Craig A Clark

[46] It can get incredibly difficult to

manage a project’s poly flow if
your model is subdivided inefficiently.
Always try to use the absolute smallest
amount of polygons possible to create your
model, albeit while still at the detail level you
require. Matt Brealey
[50] One of the recurring issues in
students’ work is building a
character without first thinking of what
would lie under its skin. The result is often a
square-ish shape, which lacks an edge flow
that would allow deformation. Jahirul Amin

The output from GroBoto is dense, but the

Topology glossary for 3D artists surfaces will render cleanly with no artefacts
© Richard Yot

Our experts have compiled a list of common terms associated with

topology tasks to help you on your way…
Polygon: A closed path composed of a finite
sequence or segment (a triangle, quadrangle
or Ngon).
Quad: A polygon with four sides. Also defined
as a closed path composed of four segments
(the most common in CG).
Triangle: The simplest geometry that defines
a surface. Results from the connection of
three vertices. Also defined as a closed path
composed of three segments (used in
low-poly meshes).
Edge loop: A set of connected edges across a
surface. Usually the last edge meets with the
first again, forming a loop.
Non-planar polygon: A polygon in which the
vertices do not belong to the same plane
Non-manifold geometry: An area for which
there is no distinction between an ‘internal’
and ‘external’ surface (like the Klein bottle).
Ngon: A closed path composed of more than
four segments, or a polygon with more than
four edges.
Vertice: A point in 3D space.
Vertex: A corner point of a polygon or a single
point in 3D space. This can be used to define a
single corner of the edge in a polygon, triangle
or Ngon.
Poly flow: The way of settling the polygons in
the model. Smart poly flow depends on what
you are modelling, as often models will have
specific needs.
Poly count: Poly count represents the number
of polygons used to define the surface of one
object or the whole scene.
Wireframe: A visual presentation of a
three-dimensional object (by drawing lines at
the location of each edge).
Edge: A line segment joining two adjacent
vertices in a polygon.
Face: The 3D surface resulting from the
connection of three vertices.
Mesh: A 3D object made of vertices, edges
and faces.
Star: A vertice linked by edges to five or more
vertices resulting from the connection of more
than four polygons.
Shell: A single continuous mesh. A mesh can
be made of several shells.
Normals: The direction in which a face is
pointing, enabling light to hit the surface.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 127

 Fixes

Improve your
characters
Blossom girl 2013
Achieve simple, striking and stylised character designs using modo and Photoshop
Richard Yot is an illustrator specialising in making quirky characters and worlds with unique approaches

I Start with the head

n this tutorial we’re going to cover the steps towards
achieving a stylised portrait that can be used to
present, for example, a striking and effective
character concept.
The main consideration for an image like this is first and
Sculpt & add topology
foremost design. The piece needs to convey the
personality and appeal of the character, so anything else
should be secondary.
This means that lighting, environment and staging should
all serve the purpose of conveying and enhancing the main
character. As such these aspects should all be kept simple
as it’s main function is to avoid distracting the viewer from
the subject itself.
Approaching this project from a design point of view
simplifies the whole approach to the image-creation
3
process. It also means that a few changes may be needed
as the project matures and the final result takes shape.

03 Tweak the mesh

Only the areas of the model that are essential to the 1

design need to be created. In terms of topology it’s vital With the topology
that the face is modelled to a high enough standard to rebuilt around the main
show off the expression, but in other areas the modelling form of the head, the finer
can be less rigorous. details can be added. This
approach is a mixture of
retopology and modelling,

01 Define the form of the head Working with your

initial sketch as a reference, add a sphere and set it to
where the main forms are
retopologised over a sculpt,
Multiresolution mode with six subdivisions to create a very but all the tweaking is done
high-resolution mesh. We’ll use the Sculpt tools to shape with traditional modelling
the head, but at this stage things can be kept very loose, so methods. At this point the
just think of this as a 3D sketch that’s more convenient to eyes are modelled and
work from than a 2D image. Once the rough form is finished, shaped and we have the
we can sculpt the nose and lips. final form of the mesh. It’s
best to work on one half of
the model, then add in a
Retopology 2
mirrored instance via the
Many artists are uncomfortable with the idea of Topo tab .
retopologising a model, fearing that this means doing a job
twice. However, this is a short-sighted view, especially when
modelling your own designs. Retopologising over a sculpt
ends up saving a huge amount of time. The reason for this is
02 Begin retopologising With the main form of the
head fleshed out, it can now be retopologised. 1 The initial forms are
sculpted for the topology
Because this element will need to show a facial expression,
that this workflow enables you to break down the process
into two logical steps: the sculpting stage is solely for it’s important to get the topology around the mouth and the 2 The main loops are
creating form and the topology stage can be used for edge eyes right. The main loops that surround the eyes and the modelled around the mouth
flow. Trying to do both together is far more difficult. The mouth are tackled first and then the rest of the topology is and eyes first
other big benefit is that it frees you from requiring any 2D built around them. The mouth is very important because it
reference in the viewport. Also, retopologising in 3D is much 3 One half of the mesh is live,
faster than working from viewport-based 2D references. requires a wide range of movement, so it needs some wide the other half is an instance
loops around it to enable smooth deformations . that updates in real-time

128 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes

Tutorial files:
ěũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32

3D artists explain the

techniques behind
their amazing artwork
Artist info

Richard Yot
Personal portfolio site
www.itchy-animation.co.uk
Country London, UK
Software used
modo, Photoshop
Expertise Character design
and illustration

Learn how to
Design a character
Sculpt a base mesh
Retopologise
Model with modo
Handle UVs
Sculpt facial details
Paint textures
Retouch in Photoshop

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 129

 Fixes

Finalise the basic figure

Add details and insert more elements into the scene

04 Shape the expression Once the model is

complete, the instanced side can be deleted and
the final geometry mirrored over. Apply a new Morph map
from the Vertex Map List to be used to shape the
character’s facial expression. The lopsided smile is made
with the Soft Select Move tool and moving vertices with the
Transform tool creates the wink. You can speed up the
modelling process by having Select Through active, which
will let you quickly move one vertex and then another
without dropping your tools .

4 The facial expression is

created as a Morph map
4 using the standard
modelling tools

05 Add the UV maps Prior to any texture painting,

the UVs need to be created. In modo this process is
5 Define the seams as edge
selections and run the
Unwrap tool
relatively straightforward: simply select the edges that will
define the borders of the UV map and run the Unwrap tool 6 The details are sculpted in
in the UV viewport. It’s usually worth experimenting with Multiresolution mode with
modo’s Sculpt tools
the different settings in the Unwrap tool to get the best
possible projection. Unwrapping heads is generally best 7 A mask is painted to define
done with Spherical mode, but in some cases Cylindrical 6 a more glossier material for
might work better. Testing each axis is worthwhile in order the lips
to get the best possible projection. Running the Relax tool
after unwrapping is usually a good idea .

06 Sculpt with Multiresolution In order to add

details with Multiresolution sculpting, the mesh
must be in Catmull-Clark Subdivision mode (hit Shift+Tab to
do this). For the head, set the highest subdivision level to 6,
which creates a total of just under seven-million polygons.
This amount enables very fine details to be sculpted onto
the model. With a female face it’s best to concentrate
details only in certain areas such as the lips, eyes and nose,
leaving the rest of the face smooth .

07 Texture paint the face With the details sculpted,

texture maps can then be painted with modo’s Paint
tools. In this case we’ll use the Airbrush to paint some
colour onto the nose and cheeks and a harder brush to paint
the lips. Also paint a black-and-white mask to define the
glossy parts of the lips, then apply this as a group mask in
the Shader Tree to add a glossy material to the lips. Finally
some translucency was added to the materials, using the
7
colour maps painted for the skin and lips .

130 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

Concept
The idea is to create a
stylised female character
portrait. I came up with
three sketches of very
different characters. The
most appealing one was
chosen as the basis for the
finished image. I create my
sketches in Photoshop with
a standard brush.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 131

 Fixes

08 Build the jacket

Showcase
8

Artist
By roughly
extruding and shaping a
cube we can shape the basic
form of the jacket, then
retopologise it for better
Richard Yot edge flow. The folds can be
An illustrator specialising in making quirky added using Multiresolution
characters and little worlds for them to live in, sculpting and the jacket is
Richard likes giving his CG work some of the UV-ed and textured with
charm of hand-made things. He uses Image maps. To evoke the
photorealism with a twist to achieve endearing, feel of fabric, a Bump map
yet slightly imperfect results.
along with Anisotropic
Reflections can be applied.
Controlling these is
dependent on a good UV
map, so the care we took
Al Dente modo over the topology will pay
(2011) off at this stage .
This guy has far too

09 Model the eyes

many teeth and not
enough brains.
When shaping the
When creating this
character Richard head mesh, some
attempted to placeholder spheres are
replicate the look of positioned to guide the
modelled resin, to contouring of the eyelids. To
give him a repulsive
look. He likes giving create convincing eyes you
real-world effects will need to model a cornea
to his renders and an iris as well as the
eyeball. You can start with a
standard sphere, then rotate
it by 90 degrees and delete
the triangles at the pole.
Inside the hole, use a disc
for the iris and model a
hemisphere around that for
the cornea. Inserting these
details will enable the
proper reflections and
refractions to occur,
resulting in very lifelike and
9
appealing eyes .

10 Texture the iris

The Model Maker modo (2012) The best way to create the iris
This character is another stylised design. The painted-wood
aesthetic was intended to complement the form of the facial
texture is to paint one in Photoshop. You can start by
features. The naive suggestion in the eyes adds even more to filling in a dark brown and then paint streaks of a lighter
the character’s charm shade in a radial pattern coming from the middle. Break
these streaks up and vary the patterns you paint. Add some
lines in a more saturated shade at the halfway point to
simulate the patterns commonly found on the iris. Also use
10
this map in the Subsurface slot for translucency.
Paper Monster
modo (2011)
A faux papier-mâché
Character design tips
8 Good topology is crucial on
monster created as Producing interesting characters requires some individuality
part of a series for a the jacket so that the
on the part of the artist. In order to make something original, materials can be mapped
children’s book. you need to work on developing a personal style, so that easily with clean UVs
Richard enjoys your characters become distinct and have a chance of
achieving a mixture standing out from the crowd. 9 The iris and cornea are
of 3D and 2D. The Your sketchbook, whether physical or digital, is the best modelled, as well as the
playful juxtaposition way of getting noticed. If you regularly try out new ideas in eyeball, to ensure that light
of low- and your sketchbooks and try to push your designs, you will soon reflects correctly
high-tech features is find plenty of original material for later development. The
an appealing part of crazier you can be in your sketchbook the better – even if 10 The iris can be hand-painted
this style you need to tone some of the ideas down later. in Photoshop using radial
strokes from the centre

132 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes

Apply hair and background elements

Complement your figure with extra features
11 12

11 Construct the hair A simple hairstyle, such as the

one used here, can be created relatively easily. Keeping
elements such as the hair as simple as possible helps to
speed the whole process up. Copy and paste the polygons 12 Shape the parasol You can shape the character’s
parasol with a hemisphere and then arrange the ribs
11 A simple hairstyle such as
this is easily created with
modo’s Fur Material
that the hair should grow from into a new layer, then apply a around a radial array. The Work Plane in modo can be
black material to them. Add a fur layer and adjust a few activated in order for you to comfortably work at the angle 12 modo’s Work Plane makes it
settings; for instance increase the number of segments to that the umbrella will be occupying in the 3D space. Paint easy to work at difficult
20 to ensure there is enough curvature. The Density and some folds on a Square map with a radial pattern in angles in the 3D viewport
Length should also be increased, but reduce all the Jitter Photoshop and apply these as a Bump map to add to the 13 A tree can be created in a
settings to ensure more even growth. To finish this element, fabric material. To finish, add various maps to define the couple of minutes using the
increase the Flex and Root Bend settings to give the hair diffuse and translucent tones. Sketch Extrude tool
some weight, then set Specularity to 100% to create a
bright highlight. 13

Hair advice for modo

If you have created hair guides or custom curves to act as
guides, there are a couple of very important settings that are
needed to ensure the hair follows the guides correctly. In the
Fur Material tab make sure the guides are set to Range and
that the Guide Range Distance is set to a high value,
otherwise the guides will have no effect. Finally, be sure to
create enough segments for your hair to follow the guides
accurately. To soften the look of the rendered hair you might
need to render multiple frame passes.

13 Model the trees The tree elements are a breeze to

create in modo: simply start with a flat polygon at
ground level and use the Sketch Extrude tool to create an
organic trunk. Branches can be pulled out from polygon
selections using the same tool. With Select Through
activated, you can pull new branches out without dropping
the tool. The whole process can be completed in a couple of
minutes. Use the Scale and Spin settings on the Sketch
Extrude tool to add variety to the branches.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 133

 Fixes

Make the final touches

With the character complete it’s time to bring everything together

14 Build the leaves The easiest way to create a canopy

of leaves is to use particle clouds distributed among
the branches of the trees. Once these are placed, you can
model a few leaves and make a group out of the leaf
meshes. Next, add some Replicator items that will use the
leaf groups to duplicate the leaves into the particle clouds.
You can add some colour variation very easily by using a
gradient set to Particle ID to give each leaf a slightly
different colour from the others .

15 Apply the blossom The blossom can be created in

a similar way to the leaves, with the main difference
being that the shape of the flowers can be driven by Stencil
maps. In Photoshop the blossom shape is painted on a
transparent background, which can be used as a Diffuse
map. The transparency can also be used to drive a Stencil
map, which will define the shape of the petals. The flower 14
can be spread with particle clouds and Replicator items.

14 The leaves are replicated, with

particle clouds controlling their
distribution among the branches

15 The blossom shape is

hand-painted in Photoshop, with
the transparency serving as a
Stencil map 15

134 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes

16

16 Lighting & rendering With all of the modelling and

texturing complete, the scene is ready for final
16 The lighting and render
settings are finalised in
modo’s Render tab, with the
lighting and rendering. The main light is a simple Directional
live Preview providing
Light with a faint yellow tone to simulate sunlight. An Area real-time feedback
Light is placed to the right to create some reflections in the
clothing and eyes. The parasol is backlit with a Spot Light to 17 After you have finished,
some final retouching and
enhance the translucency. In terms of rendering, the scene colour correction can be
is straightforward since it’s set outdoors and lit mainly with done in Photoshop
direct light. The global illumination will render cleanly on
default settings.

Using the
Shader Tree
In modo’s Shader Tree
there are several ways to
apply materials to a mesh,
either with Polygon Tags,
Item Masks or even
Selection Sets. If you want
16
a simplified workflow you
should exclusively use
Polygon Tags to apply

17 Retouch in Photoshop
materials. This feature has
With the high-resolution the benefit that materials
render complete, some final touches can be added can be reapplied
in Photoshop. With the default brush tool, apply some throughout the scene and
retouching around important areas, such as the eyes and objects can be duplicated
without losing their
lips, to enhance the rendered details. You can retouch the materials. Item Masks and
skin using an airbrush to even out any CG harshness. Add Selection Sets can then be
some glowing layers (use a solid black layer and set its used without any materials
blending mode to Linear Dodge) and paint subtle airbrush for things such as item
level Alpha channels, and
highlights in them over the hair and clothes. Finally, use without affecting the
some basic Color Balance adjustment layers to warm the predefined materials.
17
image and control the contrast.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 135

 Tips Tricks Fixes
Blow bubbles using
V-Ray Metaballs
How can I simulate a bubble-blowing
effect using V-Ray and 3ds Max?
S
imulating liquid behaviour in 3D
applications can be a complex task
and usually requires external plug-ins.
These plug-ins are typically full of advanced
controls for simulation that at first glance
can be daunting. However, for more simple
simulations, V-Ray Metaballs is a great
alternative, as you can get satisfactory
results in relatively little setup time. It is very
well integrated into 3ds Max and is
supported by particle systems and forces
that can be used together to generate a
realistic simulation.
As part of V-Ray 3.0, Metaballs are a new
feature available via a simple user interface
found under the Create menu. Simply put,
Metaballs are geometric shapes that interact
with one another, depending on threshold
values set via the various different
parameters. As an example, two shapes can
be pulled together to form a new isosurface.
If you repeat this over a much larger
simulation, you will start to form a type of
blobby liquid. The Size and Smoothness
136 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
parameters impact on the final result of
your Metaballs to allow you to create
dynamic things, such as soap bubbles, as
explained in this tutorial.
You can also use Metaballs to create
cellular-type structures, and not only that
but you can use textures to modify the look
of the Metaballs to create a much rougher
surface. Metaballs are seen in the viewport
along with the particle system so you can
easily see how it affects the movement of
the Metaballs at a glance. You also can get a
really good idea of what the end result will
look like without experiencing any viewport
lag or high-memory consumption, which is
a bonus, as the complete isosurface is
calculated at render time.
In conjunction with 3ds Max’s particles
system, you have full control over speed,
direction and obstruction. In this tutorial,
Metaballs spawn from a source at speed
and as they travel, they break apart forming
perfectly round bubbles that drift delicately
through the air.
Tutorial files:
ěũ!#-#ũăũ+#2
ěũ("#.ũ343.1(+
ěũ43.1(+ũ2!1##-2'.32
V-Ray, 3ds Max
The final touch will be the material and
understanding how a bubble should look.
As bubbles typically show a colourful, oily
effect – much like a rainbow due to how the
inner and outer walls interfere with each
other – you will learn how to create this
effect using a V-Ray material. You will also
set up the Reflection and Refraction values
to determine how the bubbles interact
within an HDRI environment.
01 Set up particle emission Go to
the Create panel. Under Particle
Systems, drag a PF Source into the 3ds Max
viewport and set the size to 10mm by
10mm. Bubbles will spawn from the entire
surface area. Open the Particle View and in
the Render Parameter set the Type to None,
as you will be rendering Metaballs and not
particles. In the first Event, click Birth and
set the Amount to 50. Select Speed and set
it to 200mm. Click Shape and set the Size to
1.27mm – however this is not a true
reflection of the size of bubble, as later on
you will see how Metaballs parameters also
affect size. Enable Scale and set the
Variation to 15% so that you achieve a
varying range of bubble sizes.

1
02 Control acceleration and
distance In Particle View at the
bottom there are various operators, tests
and flows that affect the particle behaviour.
Click and drag a Keep Apart operator and
position it between Rotation and Shape.
This particular operator applies a force to
the particles that affects how they separate
by controlling Speed and Acceleration. The
bubbles will spawn as a large isosurface and
then start to separate, much like what
occurs when blowing bubbles. To spread
the particles apart, increase the Core Radius
to 100mm. Increase the Acceleration Limit
to 1,500mm so that particles spread out
2
quite quickly after they spawn.
03 Link Metaballs with the
particles In the Create panel, go
to the V-Ray dropdown list and add a
VRayMetaball object to the scene. Under
Positive Particles add the PF source. There is
also an option to add Negative particles that
work against the Metaballs. This is useful if
you wish to obstruct Positive particles with
Negative ones. Tick Use Particle Size to
disable so that in Particle View you have full
control of the size as well as the variable
scaling. Under Preview, enable Use and
Shaded, then set the Display Resolution to
50 to improve viewport display.
04 Define the behaviour Lower
the Threshold to 0.2 – higher
values will reduce the size of the bubbles, as
the surrounding particles will force them to
become smaller. The Step Length can be left
at the default value of 1.0 as the isosurface
for the bubble is quite simple, but for
3 see Metaballs in the viewport. Higher
more-complex fluids you may wish to lower
this value. Note that lower values will
increase render times considerably, but it is
unavoidable if artefacts start to appear in
the render. Enable Smooth Field Bumps and
set the Radius to 9 and the Smooth
Expansion to 1.0. This will remove any stray
particles and smooth out the majority to
4 timeline, as it may be slow to update.
form perfect bubble-shaped spheres.
5 6
Fixes Tricks Tips
05 Make the bubble material
Start with a V-Ray material and set
both the Reflection and Refraction to pure
white. Untick Fresnel Reflections, as you will
control this via the Falloff map. Set the
Refractive IOR to 1.001. In the Reflection,
add a Falloff map, set the Type to Fresnel
and set the Override IOR to 4. In the Outer
slot, add a Gradient Ramp and set the Type
to Normal so that it is affected by the
camera angle. In the Ramp, Ctrl/right-click
and choose Load Gradient. Locate and
select the Rainbow Gradient.dgr file from
the files supplied with this tutorial.  
06 Add HDRI lighting Add a V-Ray
light, set the Type to Dome and
increase the Multiplier to 30. Tick Spherical
(full dome) and increase the Subdivisions to
128. Add an HDRI to the Texture slot and
create an instance over to the Material
Editor. Find the FeldBergheim2_small.hdr
from the support files and set the Mapping
Type to Spherical. Then lower the Inverse
Gamma to 0.7 to boost contrast. Instance
the HDRI to the environment and set it as
the Viewport Background. Add a V-Ray
Physical Camera and adjust the position and
the exposure to suit. Enable DOF and set
the White Balance to Neutral. When setting
up the V-Ray Render settings take into
consideration any DOF as it will require
higher AA settings.
Metaballs viewport
display quality
The Display parameter enables you to
numbers give a more accurate view, but
also slow down viewport performance.
As Metaballs spread further away from
the source, you may see them
disappear in the viewport, but don’t
worry – they are still there, this is just
due to the display resolution. Increasing
the resolution temporariliy gives a more
accurate result, but avoid scrubbing the
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 137
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Easy-to-follow guides
take you from concept
Render
glass objects
to the final render
Artist info

Benjamin Brosdau
Ajax 2013
Personal portfolio site
Learn to render in a minimalistic environment to showcase
www.benjaminbrosdau.com
Software used Maxwell
a range of transparent and translucent types of materials
Render, 3ds Max Benjamin Brosdau lives and works in Berlin. He is the technical director for Pure Rendering
Expertise Benjamin has been
using CG for over a decade
and specialises in lighting

H
ere we will discuss the various
aspects of shading, lighting and
rendering a glass Greek bust with
Prepare the scene
Maxwell Render. We’ll be using a variety of Set up the measurements and units
different transparent and translucent
materials to produce the most realistic
result possible.
There are a number of important aspects
01 Establish your scale First we need to check that
we’re working inside a plausible unit system. In this
case we’ll be using a centimetre-based system (cm). Inside the
to keep in mind when setting up the scene, Maxwell Material Systems we will need to input different
such as keeping an eye on the correct values in cm, so having things matched up will help simplify
scene scale and using realistic values for and streamline the process.
the camera. Moving on we’ll briefly go over
the few objects that the scene consists of,
before placing the first light sources and
working on the shaders for the bust. 1

The goal here is to layer crystal glass

over the tinted and sandblasted materials,
then finally build the required shader
structure for a material made to resemble
translucent jade. The settings for the final
rendering output, and some quick tips on
cutting down render times, will be
discussed last.
Notes on realistic
scale and cameras
02 Import and check the geometry
As it’s a highly detailed object, the
bust has a very dense mesh, which results in a
high poly count. Maxwell relies on closed
surfaces for faithful reproduction of
translucent (SSS) materials, so an STL Check
modifier should be applied immediately after
importing. Scale the figure to be around 50cm
tall to make it roughly human size. Don’t forget
to reset the scale afterwards (Hierarchy>
Reset>Scale) so modifiers like UVW Map will
show the correct results. 2

When working on projects such as this,

it’s of great importance that you use
realistic sizes, since they’ll provide values
that we can easily relate to in the real
world. This is especially true when
working in Maxwell Render. With regards
to camera settings, Maxwell uses a
camera model with values that can also
be found on a real camera. Here, an
Aperture of 11 was used to provide a
greater depth of field, with the Shutter
Speed and ISO (film sensitivity) also set
to realistic values. However, in theory
these can be set to anything you want –
for a still image at least – so long as the
result looks correct and believable.
3
1 Setting the preferences inside 3ds Max
2 Applying an STL Check modifier detects no
errors, so the model is in good shape
3 The general layout of the bust
03 Add surroundings and camera After merging
the surroundings – a sweep background and a set of
nicely folded drapes – it’s time to search for a good angle. This
is of course a matter of personal taste, but in this case a slightly
lower angle seems preferable, since it gives the bust a dramatic
appearance. Maxwell makes use of the standard 3ds Max
camera, so no special type of camera is required. Here we’ve
settled on a Focal Length of 85mm, which is a classical portrait
focal length. The camera’s target, and therefore plane of focus,
is placed directly on the bust’s eyeball. Common values from a
photographic standpoint apply in Maxwell as well, so an
Aperture of 11, along with a Shutter Speed of 1/250s at an ISO
of 200, present realistic values.

138 O3D
3DArtist
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 Fixes Tricks Tips

Concept
The concept is based on a
classical Greek bust of
Ajax, a mythological
Greek hero. The 3D scan
used for the model was
kindly provided by Torolf
Sauerman (666ē
#5.+43(.-ı.$ı%#-(42ē"#).

Learn how to
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3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 139

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Use shaders and create light sources

Apply the initial shaders and develop the lighting environment

04 The Maxwell Material philosophy Contrary to

traditional render engines, it’s important to
understand that Maxwell uses a concept that relies exclusively
on the assumption that all light is either reflected or refracted.
As you can see, there’s no Diffuse or Specular colour options. If
you see a red sphere, it’s because red is being reflected back
into our eyes. The settings are plentiful, but in this tutorial we’ll
pay our closest attention to the Transmittance and Attenuation
settings (the ability to let light through); the Nd value, which
can be regarded as the IOR; and of course the Scattering and
Roughness parameters.

05 Produce a HDR environment It’s preferable to

start working with a HDR lighting system on a diffuse
surface, to be quickly able to gauge light intensities and angles.
Don’t forget to set the standard Environment Type to None.
Usually we’ll add light sources (emitters) to boost particular
features on a model or scene. Adding a HDR dome light is very
easy in Maxwell; just go to Image Based under the Environment
tab and you’ll see the different options available to you. Here
we’ve used a HDR (included with the issue) depicting a studio
light setup and made sure all the channels use the same file by
leaving the Use Background checkbox ticked. With the
Intensity set to 4, and a default material applied to all objects,
we can start our first rendering. Notice how we didn’t need to
4 5
input any values for the render setup whatsoever.

6
06 Specific settings for the glass Firstly we’re looking for a crystal glass effect, so to
do this we need to alter various settings in the material. Mainly we’re looking after four
settings that will control the appearance of the glass: Transmittance, Attenuation, Nd value and
Roughness. The test object has varying thicknesses to show the effects. Note how both Reflect
slots are set to black but Force Fresnel is checked. This way we can make sure that the Fresnel
curve is accurately driven by the Nd value alone, instead of the colour selectors.

7
07 Make changes to
the sculpture
After adjusting the Maxwell
Material and its various
settings for the glass, we can
start applying the shader to
the sculpture and hit Render.
Although we haven’t
discussed any materials other
than the glass itself, these are
all are supplied with this issue
and are ready to use in your
own project.

4 The Maxwell Material with

default settings
5 The result of the first render
6 Settings and their effect on
the look of the material
7 The first serious test render
using a clear crystal glass on
the sculpture

140 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

08 Add emitters
and Multilight
The look of the HDR image
09 Separate sections for different shaders The
effects of additional emitters and using the Multilight
function are clear steps forward, but due to the busy nature of
alone seems alright, but certain the sculpture, it’s still a little hard to read. To solve this problem,
areas still need more definition we’ll select the polygons that make up the face, neck and base,
and contrast, especially then apply a duplicate of the glass material to them. The only
considering the goal of a thing we’ll change in this material is setting the Roughness to
jade-like material. Emitters in around 15-20 to give it a frosted appearance. Now the rays will
Maxwell are geometric objects be diffused more evenly and we can read the facial features
(such as planes, but they can with less effort.
be anything) to which an
emissive material has been
applied. Here we decided on a
light from behind and to the
right of the camera, as well as
another one to the far right,
which acts as a sort of rim light.
By enabling the Multilight
option in the general settings,
we are able to control the
intensity of the emitters during
or after the rendering.

Render the
surfaces 9

Having worked with

highly reflective and
refractive objects, it
10 Finalise the crystal glass So far we have dealt with
a perfect kind of material without any flaws. This is
easily achievable in CG, but in reality nothing is ever perfect, so
becomes obvious that we
actually cannot light we can add some extra realism if we introduce an effect called
those surfaces, but rather dispersion. Light consists of different wavelengths and it so
they are defined by their happens that refractive materials will split these wavelengths
reflections and
refractions. In much the into visible colours, much like a prism will do. High-quality glass
same way that you can’t will actually reveal very little of this effect, but it’s there. The
light a chrome sphere, setting to adjust this feature is called the Abbe number.
you can only place Anything between 25 and 60 is a realistic value. The lower the
objects that show up as 8
value, the more pronounced the effect becomes.
reflections. The more
diffuse a surface
becomes, the easier it is 10
to read the contours,
which is the main reason
why we split up the bust
into two sections. Using a
plain and simple
background for glass
objects is always a good
idea, to keep strange and
hard-to-read refractions
to a minimum.

8 Adding more emitters

enables greater control over
the model’s definition
9 Using a rougher glass material
for the face of the bust
increases readability
10 Adding dispersion can help
sell the viewer on the
believability of the shot

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 141

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Tinted glass and frosting

Alter the look of the sculpture with advanced shading effects

11 Transmittance and
Attenuation
So far we’ve covered
transparent glass but have
only brushed over settings for
controlling a sandblasted or
tinted look. For a tinted result
we’ll change the transmission
colour, though it’s best to
avoid a full numerical value of
255 in any of the settings. We
don’t need to give it any kind
of reflective quality, since the
colour is coming from within
the object. The Attenuation
Distance controls how far a
ray can penetrate an object
until it’s lost half of its energy.
This means a high
Attenuation Distance looks
lighter and less colourful.
11
11 Gradually increasing the
Attenuation Distance setting
while maintaining the
transmission colour
12 Slowly increasing the
12 Produce a sandblasted look
Creating a frosted or sandblasted look is
easily done. This can be achieved by increasing the
13 Make the most of the features
By applying the previously mentioned settings on the actual
sculpture, we can reveal some very nice results. Since the richness of
Roughness changes the look, Roughness of the material. The higher the the colour is controlled by how deep a ray can penetrate a surface, the
which will become
increasingly opaque Roughness, the more diffuse the look. Typically various angles and features on the bust create a wide range of different
13 This is an example of using a
Roughness values vary between 10 and 30 but in colours on the surface. For the purpose of this example we settled on a
reddish type of tinted and some cases a higher value can help to decrease Roughness of 25, an orange transmission colour and an Attenuation
sandblasted glass
render times. Distance of 30cm.

12

142 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes

Glass effects
Frosted glass can exhibit
a very interesting
aesthetic, especially when
combined with colourful
attenuation. Moreover,
the effect is easy to
achieve and looks
sophisticated in arch vis
scenes. During a
production, corners are
often cut to reduce the
rendering time associated
with frosted glass.
13

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 143

 Tips Tricks Fixes

Replicate a jade effect

Showcase
Benjamin Brosdau
Create a shader that resembles jade

Having spent more than 12 years in the field of

computer visualisation, Benjamin Brosdau has
gathered a wide set of skills, although he
specialises in the field of arch-vis and
photorealism in general. Over the years a lot of his
works have been published and awarded prizes
in many places, such as the CG Choice Gallery or
Ballistic Publishing’s Exposé books.

14

Chesterfield Project Glassware 3ds Max, Maxwell
Render (2010)
A detailed close-up view of the props created for the
Chesterfield project Brosdau worked on. It features a clear
crystal glass with mapped sandblasted decorations
14 Adjust Scattering and Asymmetry A few more settings are required to control the
effect of translucency, particularly in the Scattering Coefficient and the Scattering
Asymmetry options. By increasing the Scattering to anything above 0, we can start to introduce
more and more particles inside the volume that the rays can interact with and change direction,
giving a translucent effect. An Asymmetry setting of 0 means that a ray has an equal possibility
to be directed in any direction; a positive value increases the likeliness of a ray coming back out of
the volume, giving a brighter, denser look, while a negative value does the opposite.

15

Matrix Kitchen 3ds Max, Maxwell Render (2010)

This is a personal project of a photorealistic kitchen, created
using Maxwell Render and 3ds Max

Glassware 3ds Max,

Maxwell Render
(2009)
A personal project
15 Translucency and coatings After we’ve created a nice translucent base material for
the sculpture, we are obviously missing the reflections on the surface that are typically
associated with jade, since it’s most often polished. This is where the coatings come into play.
dedicated to product Adding a coating creates a very thin transparent and reflective layer above our scattering
shot renderings. Props
such as these are ideal
material, giving the impression of a very shiny surface. We can control the reflection’s intensity
for arch-vis with the Nd number. For this example we want to bring the Thickness way up to avoid colour
shifting in the coating.

144 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


Refine the realism
Tweak scattering and transmittance to bring out even more detail
14 The effects of altering the
Scattering Coefficient and
Asymmetry settings
15 The effect of scattering on the
left and scattering with
coating on the right
16 Using two map-controlled
BSDFs creates more details
17 The final look of the jade
shader on the Ajax bust
Fixes Tricks Tips
16
16 Layer multiple BSDFs using maps We have the
basic jade aesthetic at this stage, but we’re still missing
variation across the surface. To add this we need to determine
the transmittance with a simple map created in Photoshop. To
go one step further we’ll create another BSDF with the exact
same settings above our first one, except for the fact that we’ll
use slightly offset values for the Scattering and Transmittance.
You can also control the visibility of this effect by mapping the
opacity of the second BSDF with a black-and-white map,
resembling some loose cloudy shapes. This ensures that we
can see the second BSDF only in certain places.
17 Finalise the look We are basically done at this point,
but just need to set off the final render in the desired
resolution, as well as set a time or Sampling Level limit. Don’t
forget to leave Multilight enabled and hit the Render button.
Now you can take a break until the render has finished. Once in
Photoshop we can work on the contrast a little more and
sharpen the image to finish.
17
Notes on translucent objects
Using the various settings that are available, it’s possible to
create almost any kind of solid translucent material while
maintaining a very realistic look. The key is to only adjust
one setting at a time and remain firmly within the realms of
plausibility. As you might have noticed, translucent
materials can be very slow to render depending on the
settings. It’s therefore a good idea to keep an eye on the
benchmark on your machine to arrive at a good solution. As
a rule of thumb, the more diffuse a surface is, the faster it
will render when you’re finished.
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 145
 Tips Tricks Fixes

Tutorial files:
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We’ll be taking our decimated

sculpt from ZBrush into 3ds
Max to achieve a clean
working mesh

ZBrush, 3ds Max

Clean up 3D models
ZBrush sculpts are beautiful and fun, but now we need to turn that
mesh into something an animator can work with

I
n a clean and optimised mesh,
polygons should serve one of three
functions: to hold the form for lighting
and a silhouette; to properly deform for
animation; and to support the textures
(though this is more of a concern in
low-res game meshes).
The character featured in this tutorial will
be made with videogame specifications in
mind, although cinematic meshes should
follow a lot of the same rules.
I’ll be taking you through my pipeline,
which I have found to be very efficient and
gets great results. Specifications are always
changing in a videogame environment, so
having a mesh with a flexible topology will
save you hours of time. As someone who
has often turned a cinematic mesh into a
videogame-oriented one, I find being able
to quickly increase or decrease its
resolution is very important. As such I try to
keep each vital section of my model very
independent. This way, if I’m optimising an
arm, for instance, I’m not having to worry
about that loop taking an important line out
of the leg or face.
Throughout this tutorial I will be
explaining some of 3ds Max’s tools and
why I use them in certain scenarios versus
others. For further explanations of each tool
mentioned, 3ds Max’s ToolTips system in
the Graphite Modeling Tools panel is very
thorough. Likewise, 3ds Max’s Help
documentation gives an in-depth look at
each facet of the program, as well.
How to retopologise ZBrush
models with 3ds Max
01  Check your settings Before
beginning work on the character,
there are a few vital points that need to be
covered. First of all, Symmetry is an
essential feature, but turn off Slice Along
Mirror as this can leave floating verts along
the central line. Also get acquainted with
the Graphite Modeling Tools section and
use the high-res model as the live surface.

146 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes


Activating the X-Ray display (Alt+X) on the
high-poly model will let us see through it
while modelling. This is a great way to make
sure we’re focused solely on the new mesh.
02  Make an initial block-in of
the body I always start a new
mesh with a simple poly flow that can be
achieved immediately in a few
straightforward steps. This will save many
headaches further down the line. Because
of how the segments of the body fit
together, we’re able to increase and
decrease the resolution of individual parts
without having to worry about the loops
getting too dense in another section.
Animators that have worked with my
meshes have all agreed that this is
animation-friendly and my students find
them easy to rig.
03  Refine the shape Once the
quick layout is done, I start using
the Conform brushes in the Freeform tab.
These act like the ZProject brush in ZBrush
and vacuum-form my low-poly model to
3 4
the high-res version. As I add more
geometry I try to keep my topology even
and straight. Whenever things start to get
jagged or sloppy-looking I simply hit my
mesh with the Relax option in the Edit
Geometry rollout. This will indicate any
areas that have warped too far. Elements of
the mesh where polygons are too stretched
or warped will need attention. As long as
you haven’t strayed from this topology so
far, the SwiftLoop tool should never create a
triangle or Ngon on this mesh.
04  Sketch out the face The face
is a difficult area to model, as
there are lots of flow changes for the
purposes of animation. If you follow the
flow of wrinkles on an elderly person’s face,
you’ll clearly see where the control lines
should go. Make sure the flow of the
muzzle goes all the way around the chin, as
a lot of people bring it over the top of the
chin by mistake. Look at the lines on
someone’s face when they give a big smile
and notice how the line goes from above
the nostril to behind the chin. This model
Fixes Tricks Tips
1 2
5
should reflect that. 3ds Max has a tool
called Viewport Canvas that enables you to
paint directly on the model. I use this to
sketch out my main flows before I start. 
05  Block in the face I start the face
model with two rings of eight
polys, plus a box. These will be my starting
points for the mouth: one eye and the nose.
I warp these shapes to my high-poly
surface, using the Conform brushes again,
so now my main areas of focus have their
basic topology. By switching between the 1 To begin, activate
Symmetry, but
SwiftLoop tool and the Conform brush I’ll
add more definition to my shapes. This
means that I can also keep an eye on how
uncheck Slice
Along Mirror
my edges are lining up on each section of 2 Laying the
foundation of my
the face, so when the time comes they will zombie model
connect easily.
3 Using the
Conform brushes
06  Fill in the gaps At this stage I’m
more or less connecting the dots
with the Extend and Step Build tools. These
4 The Viewport
Canvas in action
options make retopologising complex areas
5 Always use broad
very easy. I pull out edges and fill the gaps strokes at this
with the Step Build tool, or lay down verts early stage
3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 147
 Tips Tricks Fixes

7 8 9

that get filled in with the Extend toolset. As

I mentioned in the introduction, if you hover
over a tool in the Graphite Modeling Tools
08  Build up the hand I need to
extrude out the three polys and
scale them down width-wise. There should
Choose when the
time is right
panel, the ToolTip will drop down and give a be five polys in an arch, which will be the
very lengthy description of the tool. I use four fingers and the pad between the How and when to use triangles in
6 Connecting the
models is something people will argue
these options to continue the masses of the thumb and forefinger. I extrude this set out about until the cows come home. I
blocked-in masses
face and head, while keeping the topology twice, with Local Normal turned on in my believe as long as you use them
with the various
Freeform tools of the sketch in mind. Extrusion settings. The thumb will come carefully and they don’t disrupt the
out of the side of the first extrusion and the mesh for animating or lighting, go for it.
09
7 Getting hands Don’t put any triangles in until you are
right is a tricky
process to master 07  Approach the hands Hands
are a fun problem to solve, as
thumbs move in different ways and deform
fingers will come out of the tips of the
second extrusion.
finalising your mesh. If you are trying to
increase or decrease the resolution of
your model and there are triangles,
8 Notice the they will disrupt your rings and loops.
nesting that
occurs with the
wrist. The hand
a lot of mass. I have never seen two artists
approach hands the same way, and I handle
them differently every time I model. All of
09  Clothing characters The most
important thing when two
meshes overlap is that they share the same
This will cause you to fight for good
poly flow and force you to fix issues
rather than just quickly and efficiently
should always be the end caps on my model’s limbs should topology wherever they are close to each knock out a mesh. Triangles are very
a step down from dangerous and often feel like the only
still be at eight sides, currently. Eight edges other. If they don’t overlap vert-for-vert, the
the wrist
can be 2 x 2 polygons but for this instance, body mesh will penetrate through the option in certain scenarios, but do not
Using the body
fall into the habit of using them just
9 I’ll make them 3 x 1. This gives me three clothing mesh when animating. Working on
topology to because it’s convenient. They should
polygons to extrude fingers from – which the body first is best, because all of the poly be used carefully to solidify forms and
ensure the
usability of the isn’t the average hand of a human, zombie flow is laid out at this point. I start by enhance parts for animation.
trouser elements or not. grabbing the polygons that represent where

148 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes Tricks Tips

the trousers would be, then hold Shift and

slightly move or scale them just enough to
make a copy. Now I have a separate mesh I
can begin defining it into a set of trousers.

10  Complicate the clothing I’ve

decided to give my zombie an
open shirt. This will show overlapping
meshes that share topology where they are
close, but become different as they
separate. To start this mesh I’ll begin with
the same steps used for the trousers. Now
that I’ve made a skin-tight shirt for the
model, I can open up the front and use the
Step Build tool in Freeform to quickly sketch
out the hanging shirt pieces. Depending on
the type of project you’re working on,
clothing can be handled in a number of
ways. Very low-res videogames may have
one-sided polys. Some projects will need
the sleeves to be capped, while others may
need a Shell Modifier to thicken up the
whole mesh. For this stylised project I will
be modelling the backside to the shirt, but
leaving anything hidden by the body open.

11  Add triangles & finalise At this

point the mesh is almost done, but I
still want a few special edges for UV seams
and around the joints. For the UV seams I
like to put a line diagonally around the
shoulder. This acts like the seam of a shirt
when unwrapping. If an area has too many
loops around it, I will often use triangles to
11
pinch off a bit of poly flow by making a ring
selection. I then deselect the area I want to
keep and use the Collapse function to pinch
two lines into one. After this is done I can
1 approach the character’s joints. For
cinematic animation, there are more
complicated rigging systems that will help
these areas deform, but for videogames we
have to be a bit more careful. I like using the
trick of placing a triangle where a joint
hinges. The point of the triangle should
closely line up to where the bone will pivot
from and the triangle should open up
towards wherever the joint is collapsing.
10
Use ZProject to
double-check
Before I unwrap my mesh I take my
mesh into ZBrush and use the ZProject
function to make sure it’s perfectly
lined up with my original sculpt.
ZProject vacuum-forms one mesh to
another and its settings can be found
in your SubTool menu. Be careful: this
option will project any visible
information to the selected SubTool.
With this technique you’re able to
transfer sculpture data as well as
texture information. Usually I will do
this to completely replace my original
sculpt mesh. This results in my lowest
subdivision in ZBrush being my
retopologised mesh. 

12  Check deformation for free

with Mixamo Mixamo (www.
mixamo.com) offers an amazing service
that enables you to upload your character
and put a quick rig on it. The process is 10 Adding more
extremely fast and is completely free. I’ve complexity to the
clothing elements
adopted it as a quick way of testing my
work before I pass it to the next person in 11 Triangles in
the pipeline. On top of rigging your mesh, certain locations
make rigging
there are a number of animations you can
much easier and
apply to it and see what your character will even help deform
look like when it moves. Mixamo is great the model
for making prototypes to show your boss or
12 Mixamo is great
clients, and it helpfully imports directly into for testing out
12
most 3D packages. your prototypes

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 149

 Tips Tricks Fixes
3D-Coat
Understand
hard-surface
retopology
W
ith auto-topology resources at
our fingertips, manual
retopology is still far from a
lost art form. With the increasing popularity
of hi-poly sculpting and its integration into
pipelines throughout many new and old
mediums, retopolgy follows right along for
the ride. 3D-Coat is a prime candidate in
your toolbox of retopology resources,
offering a fine selection of tools to get the
job done with ease and control. Each tool
has its strengths and weaknesses and all
except the Cap tool can be used exclusively
to complete an entire project, enabling you a
variety of means to find what flavour suits
you best.
In this tutorial I will cover the means of
importing and retopologising a detailed
hard-surface mesh using 3D-Coat. I’ll
make heavy use of the Retopo Groups and
VoxTree palettes to establish a smooth
150 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
How can I easily retopologise a
hard-surface model in 3D-Coat?
and controlled workflow, along with the
use of the H key to auto-select mesh
islands to separate or hide pieces. This will
establish a clutter-free viewport, so we
can approach each section without our
reference mesh or previous pieces
blocking our view.
Given that the target model is a hard
surface, there is further opportunity for
more additional UV seams than normally
seen on organic models. This provides
more freedom to block out topology as
individual shells.
We will get things started by opening
3D-Coat, then selecting Voxel Sculpting
from the intro splash screen. Next select
Tutorial files:
ěũ#.#+(7ũ(-)ũ. )ē
#!(,3#"ũ(-)ũ423
the folder icon to navigate to the location
of the base mesh. Once loaded, the mesh
will show up in viewport looking a bit
fuzzy and surrounded by the
Transformation tool (the fuzzy look is a
pre-voxel mass preview). Simply hit the
Apply button in the Tool Options dialog
box. Do not upscale the mesh, voxels grow
massive in detail the larger they are and
you run the chance of a crash.
It’s best to allow for a moment for the
mesh to be voxelised, if you will. Import
your mesh as a Voxel to retain the ability
to hide and isolate geometry islands within
the mesh. Now that the mesh is loaded,
we are ready to start.
1

01  First step With our mesh loaded,
before diving in it’s important to
grab some topology reference, which is
essential for the face portion of our base.
Anatomical topology is an industry standard
with appropriate loops around the eyes,
nose and mouth. We’ll start with the eyes,
making sure Symmetry is activated by
hitting the S key, or simply clicking the
Symmetry menu, turning on X-axis
Symmetry and turning off Show Symmetry
Plane. Using the Strokes brush, draw
complete ovals lining the eyelid. No need to
be perfect, you can always use the Brush
tool or Ctrl/right-click to adjust points. Next,
intersect to create quads, then when done
hit Enter and use the Cap tool to close the
eye cavity. The Strokes tool is fast and easy,
but doesn’t always deliver perfect results, so
take this time to block out the rest of the
face using the Points/Faces, or the Add/
Split tools.
02  Extrude a cylinder After
making sure to create new Retopo
Groups to organise your shells, move to
tackling the tubes in the character’s neck.
Use the H key to auto-select the mesh
island and Opt/Alt-click the respective
Visibility eye icon in VoxTree palette. Use
the Strokes tool and, while dragging in
empty space across the tube, create a cross-
section loop. After placing a few of these
loops, draw a line along the tube and hit
2 select the mesh island. You can isolate by Opt/Alt-clicking The
3 ěũ(3ũ3'#ũ2!ũ*#8ũ3.ũ#-"ũ3..+ũ!3(.-2ē
Enter. This is 3D-Coat’s bridge technique
that’s great for handling cylindrical objects.
03  Utilise symmetry Approach
the hair like most pieces using the
Strokes brush, along with Points/Faces to
get down some initial geometry. Use the
Add/Split tool to fill in any gaps, making
sure to follow the creases. The strands of
hair are done on a separate group with
Symmetry turned off. Do this by hitting the
S key or clicking Symmetry menu and
turning off symmetry on the X-axis.
04  Rinse and repeat Now
approach the mask and rinse and
repeat the same method of the previous
steps. Establishing the loops for the circle
design next, use the Split Rings tool to add
additional loops quickly. Next, fill in the rest
using the Strokes tool, placing edges along
angle shifts of the contour of the shape,
while making sure to place geometry along
the bevels.
5
Fixes Tricks Tips
The VoxTree palette
Be sure you make use of the VoxTree palette. If this isn’t open
already you can find it under: Windows>Popups>VoxTree. This
palette has all our mesh islands separated and easily selectable
by hovering the mouse over the mesh and hitting H to auto-
visibility Eye icon, and repeat to reveal all.
In addition to the VoxTree, you can make use of the Groups
palette, which works exactly like Photoshop layers. The left-most
button adds a new group ready to add topology. If the Groups
palette isn’t visible, go to Windows>Popups> Groups.
ěũũ2#ũı(2ũ-"ũ/!(38ũ3ũ3'#ũ3./ũ.$ũ3'#ũ6(-".6ũ3.ũĂũ#!3ũ3'#ũ
visibility of the Retopo geometry.
ěũũ.5#1ũ3'#ũ,.42#ũ.5#1ũ-"ũ'(3ũ#+#3#ũ3.ũ1#,.5#ũ4-6-3#"ũ
Points/Faces points.
ěũũ2#ũ3'#ũ142'ũ3.ũ,.5#ũ-"ũ2,..3'ũ%#.,#318ũ 8ũ'.+"(-%ũ'($3ē
4
05  Last but not least Continue to create new groups and
isolating mesh islands as you approach the many pieces
located in the neck and shoulders. You should use the Add/Split
tool to flesh out these due to the need for precision, given their small
size with bevels. You should also be ensuring that your shells are
intersecting and leaving no gaps.
06  Wrap it up Upon completion of all the pieces, be sure to
check your work to ensure a gap-free end result. Turn off
the visibility of the Root in the VoxTree palette, leaving only Retopo
shells visible to check work and make the necessary tweaks. Next
we’ll apply more symmetry, as the current symmetry is virtual.
Under the Commands section of the Retopo tools, hit the Symmetry
button, with the virtual Symmetry still on. Also, be sure that the
visibility of the asymmetrical hair strands group is off prior to
applying Symmetry. Last, open the Retopology Menu and export
the results.
Ċũ
13ũĜũ#2(%-ũ(/2Ĕũ1(!*2ũĜũ(7#2 151
 Fixes

Tutorial files:
ěũTutorial screenshots

Concept
This bust was created in Mudbox 2014 from a very simple
base mesh (a modified default Basic Head). By exploring
Mudbox 2014’s various retopology tools, we can produce
impressive meshes with animation-ready edge flow.

152 O3D
3DArtist
Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 Fixes

Easy-to-follow guides
take you from concept
to the final render Retopologise
Artist info

in Mudbox
Craig Barr Old Man Bust 2013
Personal portfolio site
www.area.autodesk.com/
blogs/craig
This simple bust of an elderly man was created to
Country Canada illustrate the benefits of Mudbox’s new options
Software used Mudbox and
mental ray for Maya Craig Barr is a technical specialist for Autodesk – Modelling and Animation
Expertise Modelling, sculpting
and texturing

A Automatic functions
utodesk Mudbox 2014 provides a
powerful and easy-to-use
retopology solution. It’s now easier
than ever to create freely without worrying
about the underlying topology or structure
Begin with the default settings
of the geometry. You simply sculpt, refine
and generate a new retopologised mesh.
Here we’ll examine how easy it is to
create a mesh retopology with Mudbox.
01  Select your mesh
In Mudbox the mesh
that’s currently active is
This workflow enables a very fast and considered selected for
simple automatic retopology solution, as most operations you can
well as a curve-guided approach to define a complete. You can activate
specific edge flow for a mesh. a mesh by simply Ctrl/
In this specific example we’ll look at the right-clicking over it.
different options available to produce the Inversely, you can Ctrl/
mesh retopology of a bust; in this case that right-click and pick Select
of an elderly man. Model (or swipe down in
the Marking menu) to select
1 Use the Marking menus in the Mudbox viewport the current model. You’ll
to greatly speed up your workflow find this is a useful operation
2 The default settings for automatic retopology if you’re working with
3 A new model output with automatic retopology
several objects at once in
1
(Left: top subdivision Level 5; right: base Level 0) the viewport.

2
02  Set a Target Base
Face Count Go to
Mesh>Retopologize>New
03  Examine the results By default, the Sculpted
Detail option will be toggled on and transferred to
this new mesh. The result is a quadrangulated mesh with
Operation. By default Use subdivision all the way up to the top level, so step down to
Curves… is selected, but this Level 0 with the Page Down key. You can also hit the W key
will be ignored if no curves to see the wireframe of the base retopologised mesh.
are associated with the
mesh. Set a desired Target 3

Base Face Count (in this

example we’re using the
default of 3,000) and hit
Retopologize. The process is
quite fast and, depending on
the density and complexity
of the mesh (as well as the
hardware you’re using), you
should have your result
within a few minutes.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 153

 Fixes

Manual adjustments
Achieve unique deformation for animation

04  Use Mudbox’s

Create Curve
As part of a computed
Repairing bad geometry
When using data from scans or other sources, the
retopology operation, you geometry can be low quality. Mixed topology and unwanted
can draw curves as holes and artefacts are a few issues that are traditionally
constraints to make a mesh time-consuming to clean up. Luckily Mudbox provides
more ideal for deformation. simple tools to deal with bad geometry. Under the Mesh
menu you’ll find a very efficient solution. Reduce Mesh
Go to the Curve Tools tray provides clean mesh reduction, while preserving the volume
and select the Create Curve of the mesh accurately. Hit the Delete key to remove faces
tool. Draw on the original and pick the Patch tool to fill unwanted holes. Other tools
mesh to see how the such as Fair Selection (which relaxes a selection based on
curvature follows the surrounding faces) and Tighten Selection (which flattens
the faces) are quick ways of keeping the mesh clean.
surface and becomes live
(these curves will follow
4
additional sculpting).

5 6

05  Capture more details The Create Curve brush’s Size value matches the density
of the curve. For finite details (wrinkles, scales and so on), use a very small, tight
brush. Hard Constraint curves will follow details at the highest level of subdivision. Holding
4 The Steady Stroke tool helps

5
create smooth curves

Use a small brush size to

down Cmd/Ctrl triggers the Erase Curve tool, which will cut and create new curve capture more finite surface
detail for guided retopology
segments, while Shift accesses the Smooth Curve tool. This is useful for cleaning up
6 The orange highlight previews
unwanted jiggles or the overall curvature. the attached curves

06 
7 Make a layout strategy to help
Mirroring and attaching curves Now turn Mirroring on to create symmetrical define the edge flow
curves. This is useful for outlining the eyes as well as joining large features like the
8 Use Curve Loops to define a
eye mask and mouth. Start drawing at the top of the large features and, as you near the line centre line and the neck. Go
of symmetry, an orange line will appear previewing a connection. Simply let go and the to View Cube>Right and
7 select Orthographic to freely
curves will join. Now Ctrl/right-click on the curve and select Close Curve. place the neck curve

07  Review your progress Define the loops within the eye sockets with Mirroring on,
then add a simple mask around the eyes and a generic loop to help define the
nasolabial fold. Form a shape around the mouth, draw a curve around the outer edge of the
face and use the orange preview line for connecting. Also define lines at the corners of the
mouth and eyes to establish edges for deformation.

Use curves to create edges 8

If you have a specific area where you require defined edges,
you can easily draw and define a curve as a Hard Constraint.
Curves do not need to be closed loops and can sit anywhere
on the mesh. Intersecting other curves is a great idea for
areas like the corners of the mouth or eyes, as it can help
define good edge flow for animation. Placing open curves as
Hard Constraints with a very small brush is an excellent way
to define features such as wrinkles.
08 
Apply Curve Loops Now select Curve Loops In
the Curve Tools tray. This tool is very handy for
creating curves that flow across the surface with a single
click. They can be applied by snapping to axes planes, or by
slicing freely across the surface. You can use these curves to
define straight edges, lines of symmetry or for the quick
creation of repeated Curve Loops.

154 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes

 Fixes

Refine the flow 3

ren
minu
tes
Finish with constraints and further details d e
Reso r time
1,800 lution:
09  Control the topology flow Now go to Mesh>
Retopologize and select New Operation. Mudbox
enables us to define curves as topology constraints: Hard
x 2,21
6
Constraints (red curves) are used to define areas where
specific edges are required, while Soft Constraints (orange)
are used for suggesting the direction of the edge flow. By
default the curves will appear as orange Soft Constraints,
but in the viewport you can Ctrl/right-click on one to define
its Constraint type. Ctrl/right-clicking on a curve also
enables all curves on the mesh to be defined as a Constraint
type (select Make All…) or to be excluded from the
operation completely (select Do Not Use). For this example,
we’re defining most curves as Hard Constraints.

10 9

10  Target Base Face Count Now we can set the

target resolution of the new mesh. Mudbox can
output very low base meshes, so feel free to explore
different Face Counts. The program can also handle very
dense meshes, so there’s no need to reduce beforehand. For
the guided retopology output of this bust, we’re using a
Target Base Face Count of 5,000.
11  Tweak Face Uniformity By default Mudbox
retopology will output a mesh with uniform quads. Powerful 3D
Adjusting the Face Uniformity slider enables you to
influence how much the face size will vary across the
painting
generated mesh. The more the slider is adjusted towards Mudbox is a powerful and
Optimized (or 0), the more accurate the reproduction of the easy way to paint on
ultra-high-res and detailed
shape of the output mesh, but with non-uniform faces. This meshes, with or without
is especially useful for models that have plenty of finite UVs. Impressively, if you
detail, like wrinkles, warts, spikes, scales and so on. sculpt up a mesh without
any UVs, you can take

12 
advantage of UV-free
Transfer the details The checkboxes at the bottom painting with PTEX. The
of the dialog box specify details that can be great thing about this
transferred from the original sculpted mesh to the newly workflow is that all of your
generated mesh. By default, Sculpted Detail is toggled on. paint is accurately
This setting will subdivide the new mesh to the top level of transferred to your newly
created retopo-mesh. It’s
subdivision in order to preserve sculpted detail. Turning this always easier to lay out
11
toggle off will only generate the base mesh. The Sculpt UVs on a lower resolution
Layers option from the original mesh can also be toggled. mesh. So, feel free to
Turning on Paint Layers will transfer all of these per-channel sculpt and paint to your
heart’s content and worry
to the new mesh. The new mesh will be prepared as PTEX about UVs later. Moving
and the textures converted accordingly. Other options to paint layers to a UV
consider include: Posing Information – to bring all stored version of your mesh is as
poses over; Freezing – to bring over areas defined as Frozen simple as a couple of
for additional sculpt adjustments; and Curves, which is very clicks in the Extract
12 Texture Maps window.
useful for painting and sculpting on the new mesh.

13  Final retopology When editing in Mudbox, the

9 Curves are defined as Hard
and Soft Constraints for
guided retopology original mesh is not affected and an entirely new
10 Mudbox can output very low
model is created. The new model is displayed for
or dense meshes based on the examination once the operation is completed. Under the
Target Base Face Count
Object List tab, you will find all operations saved for further
11 Mesh retopology output with adjustment and use. As the operation is fast and your
uniform faces
operation settings are stored, you can adjust, remove or add
12 Mudbox retopology also more curves to the mesh, change constraint types and run a
allows for the transfer of
specific data retopology operation again with different settings. The
13 The new retopology using
Target Base Face Count and Constraint settings will provide
13
curves as guides the biggest difference in retopology results.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 155

 Tips Tricks Fixes
Paint in Sculptris
How can I use Sculptris to paint a character model?
N
ot yet fully developed, but still full
of magic, Sculptris’ Paint mode
follows in the footsteps of its
glorious Sculpting section. Here we’ll take
a brief look at the very basic features you’ll
want to use. Remember that Sculptris is still
primarily a 3D sketching tool and as such
the Paint mode mainly sticks to the
essential functions.
Case in point, the three brush modes:
Paint (D), Bump (B) and Flatten Bump (F).
While the program does have a kind of
smoothing/blur mode that acts equally for
Paint or Bump modes by holding down
Shift, it’s best to use this carefully, as UV
tiles may cause trouble. You can adjust how
the brush acts via the Options panel. The
fourth button you’ll find in the Brush section
of the interface is the Fill (F) feature.
156 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
Tutorial files:
ěũũ.3'ũ3'#ũ16ũ-"ũ3'#ũ/(-3#"ũ
(*(-%ũ,."#+
Sculptris
Even Sculptris’ Color Picker is stunningly
rudimentary, where you can pick the hue
and brightness on a colour wheel, while a
slider adjusts the saturation. I’m not
particularly thrilled about this feature, but it
does the job for our purposes here. Holding
down C enables you to pick a colour from
your already painted sculpture. This also
goes for Alpha values should you complete
any material blending, which is where
Sculptris’ power kicks in once again.
Another highly useful aspect of Sculptris
is its ability to combine colour- and
bump-painting via the Options panel, as
well as its use of Alpha masks, which I’ll
cover last. Supplied with this issue you’ll
find the medieval soldier bust that we’ll be
using to guide you through the painting
1
potential of Sculptris.
 Fixes Tricks Tips

01  Head into Paint mode As soon

as you hit Paint on the interface, the
pictured dialogue box pops up. 99.9% of the
time it’s best to immediately crank the
Resolution slider up to 2,048. Tight
Mapping often seems like a risky business,
as it can lead to some problems on the UV
map, potentially scattering it into smaller
pieces. Tight Mapping also instigates a
much longer process, which is reason
enough to go for another option.
05  Use some material magic
The two little dots around the
material icon let you step through the
material slots, so go to the second and pick
a metallic material. The Edit feature enables
you to paint on that. Go over all the rivets on
the helmet with it, then go to the third slot
and pick a glossy translucent material to
paint on the eyes. Also faintly apply this to
all the reddish areas on the skin.
4

Give it some puff

02  Fill it up Once in Paint mode, the
sculpture will be unpainted, so pick
a skin tone – bearing in mind this example is
quite cartoony – and hit F to fill the whole
model. This sculpture has three individual
geometries: head, eyes and helmet. Hide
the head and eyes by holding down H and
clicking on them. Now pick a colour for the
helmet and fill it. Cmd/Ctrl+H will reveal
everything again, but keep the helmet and
head hidden for now, so you’re free to fill in
the eyes.
06  Alphas and bumps Pick a Brush Alpha with Stippled
Noise, then in the Options panel set Brush Spacing to
around 90% and toggle on Combine Color and Bump. Select your
chosen hair tone and start adding stubble. You can hit X and pick a
colour for the Inverse brush to add pores.
Hiding geometry doesn’t entirely
protect it from getting some artefacts
of whatever you apply to adjacent
areas or fill actions, so you may have to

03  Time to paint Now it’s time to

use the Paint Brush (B), so pick a
colour for the hair and apply your chosen
clean up a little afterwards. I would
suggest only filling during the very
early stages when corrections are easy.
Masking is more reliable in this regard,
tone. The Brush settings work exactly like but it’s somewhat sensitive to crashing. 5
the sculpting brushes. In Paint mode we can
also make good use of masks. In the
Options panel you can set the Brush 6
Spacing to 5%, which only matters while the
Airbrush mode is off. It is advisable to keep
Surface Angle Falloff off at this point.

04  Apply more details Having

applied the base coat, we can
start to bring in some details. To flush the
skin a little, pick a skin tone and tweak it
towards red with some more saturation.
Lowering the strength of the brush helps to
carefully redden the nose, cheeks, chin, ears
and around the eyelids. Painting the iris with
some imagined lighting is fun and you can
finish by detailing the rivets on the helmet.

3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 157

 of al
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al ci
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tri Spe

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160 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
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3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes 161
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162 3D Art & Design Tips, Tricks & Fixes
 3ds Max  Maya Blender  ZBrush Photoshop

Master the ultimate

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Unlock the full potential of 3D design

Create Animate interactive Model characters

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Discover how to model environments

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The ultimate assets
Video masterclass on light rigs
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300 sci-fi textures for your projects
Resources to complete the tutorials
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Add effects, animate your characters
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 Fixes
Refine your work with better renders,
create detail and achieve paint effects
VOLUME 1 REVISED

Inspirational artists‘ galleries www.imaginebookshop.co.uk