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Find out how games dev tools Zero Density reveal the future of
are changing for the better ISSUE 286
compositing in game engines
WELCOME
COVER ARTIST
Young Im Chang
SOFTWARE
ZBrush, Maya, Arnold
Renderer, R3DS Wrap,
This issue we cover a lot of ground.
Mari 4.36, Marvelous
We take a good look at the visual
Designer, Substance
effects of Spider-Man: No Way
Painter, Photoshop
Home, delving in to see how some
of the incredible shots were put
together. Then we take a wider
look at the 3D industry as we
explore how premade assets can
be used to make projects more
efficient, removing the need to
model bespoke objects for each
and every scene.
The rapid progression that has
pushed the quality of digital
humans hasn’t abated yet, and this
month we show you how to create
your own in the form of three
tutorials. One of an adult male, one
a playful adult female and another
of a young child – a particularly
challenging subject but one which
we help you to master.
We also review the latest Apple
tech to help you decide if they are
worth your hard-earned cash.

Rob Redman, Editor

rob.redman@futurenet.com

3D WORLD 3
CONTENTS
3D WORLD ISSUE 286
ARTIST SHOWCASE
6 The Gallery
Discover the best digital art
from the CG community
40 Tech Focus:
Modelling for creativity
Pedro Amorim offers expert tips
50 Tech Focus:
From VR to ZBrush
Check out the process behind
Simone Rizzo’s forest creature
FEATURES
22 The future of 3D
visualisation
Off-the-shelf assets are an
excellent, time-saving resource
for creators, but do they have the
potential to lead to a negative
impact on the industry? We
explore the pros and cons of
these easy-to-access 3D models
32 Multi-dimensional
Spider-Man
An exciting look behind the
scenes of the hugely successful
No Way Home, with insight from
the VFX team
32
4 3D WORLD
THE PIPELINE 42
42 Create a beautiful
digital portrait
Senior character artist Young Im
Chang teaches us how to create
stunningly realistic digital humans
52 Light your C4D scenes with
custom HDRIs
A quick and easy guide to
creating your own HDR images
56 Transform a photograph
into a realistic 3D likeness
Nayoon Levitin provides a guide
to capturing a photograph as a
realistic 3D likeness
64 Sculpt a creature in ZBrush
Design, model and paint a
creature with Glen Southern’s
workflow breakdown
70 M
 odel a detailed,
realistic character
Upgrade your creature modelling
and produce ultra-realistic results
ARTIST Q&A
76 Your CG problems solved
Pro artists tackle your queries
SCULPTING, TEXTURING,
HAIR GROOMING, LIGHTING
AND RENDERING – EVERY
ELEMENT IS ESSENTIAL
 56 x
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84 dot big bang

Discover the game project that
gives the opportunity for anyone
to become a developer

86 Photorealism under
the surface
Rebel Unit talk working on
Scandinavia’s heaviest VFX
feature in history

88 Pro thoughts
The impacts of real-time
compositing on the industry

x
REVIEWS
90 M
 ac Studio
76 We test, rate and review this
compact Apple workstation

92 S tudio Display
Find out whether this monitor is
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94 C haos Cosmos
We deliver our verdict on this
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3D WORLD 5
 The best digital art from
the CG community

AFTER LEARNING BLENDER

AND ZBRUSH, I FOUND THAT
3D IS MY TRUE LOVE!

06 3D WORLD
 CG art to inspire

THE PIRATES The original idea for this piece

came from a 2D design competition.
I work in game art design and love
illustration and animation, but
after learning Blender and ZBrush
ARTIST from CrazyJN, I found that 3D is
Gone_L my true love!
SOFTWARE I really wanted to go back and
Blender, ZBrush make my submission in 3D and
use 3D assistance to create the
character animations. I have also
planned to make my own hand
crafts in the future.

artstation.com/gangzzz

3D WORLD 07
CG art to inspire

DAVID LYNCH
XYZ – and controlled them using masks and Plus
Minus nodes in Maya.
When we have three displacement maps
connected together, values become a little different
This work was fun to do, and for more accurate compared to what we always use, so it took me a
ARTIST lighting results I used CAVE Academy 360 lighting couple of days to understand how to control three
Vahid Ahmadi tools, which features a beauty dish, softboxes and so displacements properly.
SOFTWARE on, helping you to gain a greater understanding of For albedo I used a ready-made texture with a
ZBrush, Maya, physical lighting tools. mixture of Polypaint on top of it.
Mari, Substance For skin pores I used the ZBrush displacement Hair and fuzz was made in XGen and everything
Painter, XGen, map for general wrinkles of the face, and then I used was rendered in Arnold.
Arnold Mari to make two displacement maps – one with
16K HD 3D Scan Store and the other with 16K HD artstation.com/vahidahmadi3d

08 3D WORLD
 CG art to inspire

3D WORLD 09
CG art to inspire

ARCHER GIRL
ORIGINAL 2D CONCEPT BY RUI ZHANG

In ZBrush, I used the Dam Standard, ARTIST

Move, ClayBuildUp, Slash, Pinch and Arystan Aubakir
TrimDynamic brushes to refine the edges SOFTWARE
of the character, stylise the objects, and ZBrush, Marmoset
make the character’s shapes smooth. Toolbag 4, Photoshop
What I liked most about the sculpting
process were the little details like the
creases in the clothes, the accessories on
the belt, the stylised scuffs, the dirt on
the shoes… It all comes together to make
a pleasing final image.

artstation.com/h3ptapod

10 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire

I WANTED TO CAPTURE THE

SENSE OF WEIGHT, VOLUME,
AND OVERALL PERSONALITY
WITH THIS WORK

12 3D WORLD
 CG art to inspire

PETER FISHMOUTHER
ORIGINAL 2D CONCEPT BY LABROS PANOUSIS

Having been inspired by Labros Panousis's art for a while, I wanted to

begin 2022 by sculpting Peter Fishmouther as a personal study.
I absolutely love the design and wanted to capture the sense of weight,
volume, and overall personality with this work. I used ZBrush to sculpt
this character from start to finish and rendered it in Maya Arnold.
ARTIST The sculpting process wasn't technically complicated, however
Girish Srinivasagopalan capturing the character’s personality was the biggest challenge.
SOFTWARE
ZBrush, Maya girishs.com

3D WORLD 13
CG art to inspire

PROJECT PANAMA
CAR MODEL BY LUIS LARA

The idea for this project came to mind when I saw a friend's picture in
Panama. I could imagine myself there, so I decided to recreate a similar
environment digitally to bring the audience the same feeling. Using her
photo as a starting point, I used perspective match in 3ds Max to give me
the reference needed for modelling the main elements in the scene. I also ARTIST
used Megascans from Quixel to add high-resolution textures and decals Jonathan M. Krauss
to the models. The HDRI works well in exterior lighting, so I used it to SOFTWARE
help me add subtle light variations. ZBrush, Maya,
Substance Painter,
theartofjk.com Arnold, XGen

14 3D WORLD
CG art to inspire

16 3D WORLD
 CG art to inspire

HELGA
Usually I use Maya for my works, but this one I
decided to create in Houdini too – so I’ve done every
step in both software, in parallel. In my opinion,
Maya’s XGen grooming tool is a winner for this kind
of task – more flexible, a better viewport (specular),
and more predictable results. I used the ACES
workflow and Arnold, so render quality was great
in both cases. The retopologise process in Maya is
better too, but I liked the procedural generation
of eyebrows/eyelashes in Houdini and the shading
system – so every software has its own pros and cons.
In recent versions of Arnold we have Light Mixer,
and I use it a lot. I create lots of different lights and ARTIST
test them in real time. Be aware: it increases render Kirill Klyat
time even with a single light! So just turn it off before SOFTWARE
the final render. Sculpting and rendering are my Maya, Mari, ZBrush,
favourite parts, it’s pure creativity! Arnold, Houdini,
XGen, Marvelous
artstation.com/kirillklyat Designer, PureRef

3D WORLD 17
CG art to inspire

DEMOGORGON
ORIGINAL 2D CONCEPT BY FLORENT DESAILLY
ONE TOO MANY PICKAXES
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
This was a very difficult challenge, but I was able to get through it thanks to the rigorous
mentorship of my artistic director Florent Desailly, who created and provided the concept that
directly led my sculpt. He helped me a lot and gave me very good advice while working on
this task. I did most of my sculpting work in ZBrush, then made my render shots in KeyShot,
and finally enhanced them in Photoshop. The most rewarding part for me is to have
ARTIST worked on my character's skin with alphas, a skin damaged with scars and weathered
Ornella Sessa with time. For me, when you create an imaginary creature it’s important to use
SOFTWARE references from a real animal to make it feel grounded.
ZBrush, KeyShot,
Photoshop artstation.com/ornella

18 3D WORLD
The Rookies

The Rookies is a platform to help

digital artists get discovered
without having to compete with
professionals for attention. You’ll
get to the front page of those
sites one day, but for now, we’ve
got your back and want to help
turn your passion for creative
media into a successful career.

WWW.THEROOKIES.CO

20 3D WORLD
THE “MARIE-LOUISE”
SOFTWARE Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Marmoset Toolbag 4, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop YEAR CREATED 2021

ARTIST François Larrieu

LOCATION France
I am a 3D artist living in Paris, France. I am currently a final year student at New3dge and a contract artist
at Dekogon. I have always been quite self-taught and love to learn new things on my own. 3D is a profession
where you can improve to infinity – there is no limit, and that’s why I always try to achieve more.

The Marie-Louise is a fishing boat from
Brittany. I went to Brittany a lot when I was
little and I wanted to reproduce something
that reminded me of my childhood. The
references used during the modelling are
real references of an existing boat called
the Strinkerez Dour, to which I have made
modifications for a more personal aspect.
This whole project is handmade and
entirely modelled in Blender, high-poly
is made in ZBrush. The piles of ropes are
Marvelous Designer simulations while the
stretched ropes are all handmade in Blender
using the Curve system.
www.therookies.co/u/francoislarrieu

3D WORLD 21
The FUTURE
 IN
The future of 3D visualisation

the past decade there has been

a huge shift within the 3D
visualisation industry. It is the
move towards artists opting to
use off-the-shelf assets in their
projects rather than their own
custom-made work. In the same
way that the camera phone
has enabled everyone to be a
photographer (or at least attempt
it), pre-made assets have made
it possible for the masses to turn
their hand to 3D visualisation.
Putting cameras in the hands of
every individual has done huge
damage to the photography
market many of us once knew and
loved. People’s standards for what
constitutes a good photo has been
eroded for the ease of pressing
a button on a screen and seeing
instant results. So how does the
ease of access to pre-made assets
affect the world of 3D as an
artform? We’ll take a look at this
development, and what it might
mean for 3D artists and for the
industry as a whole.
Despite this shift taking root
in the past decade, its seeds were
sown a long time ago. One of the
forerunners was TurboSquid,
which started in 2000 with
a vision to sell 3D models to
everyone, everywhere. With a
searchable range of high-quality
models, it became possible for
artists to simply download these
models and insert them into their
scenes. Back in the early days the
breadth of assets was relatively
small, but over the years it has
only grown and in the present

of
day you can buy and download
pretty much anything you want.
TurboSquid, as an example, has
also diversified to include not
© Rhys Jones

only 3D models but also materials,

textures, media and scripts to
name just a few.
This incredible visual is enhanced by
a few plants dotted around the scene.
These off-the-shelf assets give a 3D WORLD 23
natural-looking feel to the space
The future of 3D visualisation

The value of this industry

became abundantly clear in 2021
when TurboSquid was acquired
by Shutterstock for a whopping
$75M. They’ve clearly tapped
into a growing market. Alongside
TurboSquid, we’ve seen the
likes of CGTrader, Evermotion
and Design Connected join the
ranks, amongst others. Each of
these come to the market with
a slightly different offering, but
all with the purpose of providing
off-the-shelf assets. Alongside
these repositories, we have also
seen well-known 3D modelling
packages and renderers release
collections of their content, with
user interfaces to make it as easy
as possible for artists to integrate
this content into their work.
An example of this would be
Chaos Cosmos (check out our
review on page 94) which gives
V-Ray users hundreds of top-
quality models, materials and
HDRI skies. And finally, well-
known individual artists have also
joined this growing phenomenon
with the likes of Bertrand Benoit
and Peter Guthrie selling models,
textures and HDRI skies.
The evidence of this ever-
increasing market begs the
question: where is it heading?
What does this mean for 3D
artists and for the 3D world
more broadly? What impact is
this drag-and-drop mentality
having upon the industry at the
moment, and if it continues, what
could the industry look like in
decades to come? These are really Let’s have a look at some of the Above: Every item opening spread on the previous
interesting questions and they’re advantages and disadvantages of in a scene like this page: there are three separate
not just theoretical. The very this cultural shift. could be downloaded. pots of plants/flowers. Imagine
fabric of what it means to create One of the most obvious This includes not just you’ve been given this project by
3D art is changing, something benefits of this shift is that it the models but also a client. You have to create this
that we, as artists, will do well speeds up the visualisation the textures. There room from architects’ plans and
to acknowledge and learn how process for artists. Take a look was a day when each you’re given all the details on the
we need to adapt to survive. at the foliage featured in the of these items would internal finishes and furnishings.
need to have been You’re also given a budget to work
made from scratch within. With a reasonable budget,
do you think you’ll be able to
Left: Off-the-shelf create those plants from scratch?
textures are becoming I doubt it. You might search your
increasingly existing vegetation library that
accessible in the 3D you’ve created over the years
world. Scenes like or you’ll download something
this can be created particular for this project.
in a fraction of the Either way, you’re very unlikely
time with today’s to devote the required time to
technology those elements of the scene. The
fruit and cushions were created
bespoke here, but for many similar

24 3D WORLD
types of projects these would have
also been off-the-shelf assets.
To make visualisation profitable,
artists have got to look for these
time-saving techniques because as
we all know, time is money.
The next benefit is that it opens
the door for more people to create
amazing art. In the early days of
3D Viz, the learning curve was so
steep and the access to the tools
was so difficult that it really was
only open to the select few. As
software became easier to use
and more ubiquitous, the number
of people doing it increased. This
growth has only accelerated since
artists can now buy and download
huge parts of their scene, only
needing to piece them together to
make it look right. Take the above
image for example. You could
download individual assets that
could make up pretty much the
entirety of this scene; the ruffled
duvet, the drapes, the chair, the
wooden floor, the books, the list
goes on. There was a day when
each of these items would have
been made from scratch, and
by a seriously talented artist at
that. Now, the requirement for
learning the trade has in part been
stripped away, making it possible
for anyone with a modicum of
technical know-how to get on
board and create amazing, high-
quality images.
Our list is by no means
exhaustive, but the final benefit I’d
like to mention here is that it has
created a whole new sub-industry
of work for artists. I’ve already
mentioned the likes of Bertrand
CUSTOMISABLE ASSETS
How to allow for greater creative potential
If I was to envisage a bright future for pre-made
content, then it would be to see a rise in assets that
can be customised once they’ve been purchased and
placed in your scene. Imagine a plant’s shape that
can be defined by its age or a bowl of fruit that is
generated through user input. This idea is already at
work with software like the FloorGenerator by CG-
Source. Through an interface, users can customise the
size, shape and intricacies of individual floor boards.
(Above and left) © Vladimir Vitanov
Imagine the same but with any pre-made asset that
you download. One of the immediate benefits is
that you would see a much greater degree of variety
across people’s work. Even if a number of different
artists download the same model, they may customise
it in such a way as to make it unrecognisable from the
same asset in another creator’s work.
The Matrix Awakens
Left: Any scene
can make use of
pre-made assets to
populate both the
interior and exterior
parts of the work
Right: In the
woods. Pre-made
vegetation brings
this scene to life
Below: The foliage
in the corner of
this visual gives a
soft touch to this
beautiful, sunset-
lit room
Benoit and Peter Guthrie, but
these are only a couple of names
that would make a list containing
thousands of creators. Artists
all around the world are making
top-quality assets and selling
them at a profit. This is another
way that artists can make money
and ensure that they continue
to grow and develop their skills;
whether those skills relate to
modelling, texturing, unwrapping
or programming.
We’ve so far had a good look
at some of the positive things
about this culture shift in the 3D
Viz industry. Before we make any
concluding remarks, let’s take a
look at some of the downsides.
First up, artwork from different
artists ends up looking the same.
If you look close enough and
at enough work, you will start
seeing the same assets popping up
everywhere. This is less noticeable
(Left, opposite and above) © Vladimir Vitanov
for textures but is really obvious
for 3D models. This therefore
makes artwork less unique
and therefore less impressive.
Related to this, art can begin
to look stale and predictable. It
reminds me of those homes that
are ‘dressed’ by interior designs
just to get the house sold. Those
houses are obviously dressed by
a professional. They don’t look
lived in, homely or particularly
natural. This is how art that relies
on a lot of pre-made assets ends
up looking too. It’s not beneficial
for artists in the long run and can
have a negative impact on the
quality of the art being created.
Next up, there is a reduction
and ultimately a loss of skill
within the industry. If artists
don’t need to learn complex
© Rhys Jones
modelling techniques or texturing
and unwrapping workflows, then
why bother? Over time this will
3D WORLD 27
 make artists ever more reliant
on others to create their assets
for them. This loss of skill in the
market only further perpetuates
all the downsides mentioned here.
And finally, using off-the-
shelf assets ends up reducing
the market value of artwork in
general. This is often the most
noticeable in the new home
segment of the visualisation
market. Studios have formed to
create only this type of visual.
They use the same predictable
camera angles, foliage in the front
garden, and furniture on the
“WHAT IT MEANS TO CREATE 3D
ART IS CHANGING… AND ARTISTS
NEED TO ADAPT TO SURVIVE”
interiors. Every visual ends up
looking the same and it is often
terribly dull. Because assets can
be used across projects, work is
finished in less time and therefore
the cost of it comes down. This
in turn forces out of competition
the one-person bands who simply
can’t compete.
In summary, off-the-shelf
assets are here to stay, there’s no
getting around that: they help to
speed up the creation process,
28 3D WORLD
and reduce the learning curve for
producing amazing art. It will be
those who are able to use their
entrepreneurial skills who will
survive in this ever-changing
industry. It’s also important that
we look at ways to combat the
flaws surrounding the potential
over-usage of pre-made assets.
If you’re able to find ways to
compete with others, then you’ll
do well. If you can set yourself
apart from others and make your
work unique so that clients are
willing to pay more for it, then
you’ll also thrive.
GREAT-QUALITY
3D MODELS
What should I be looking for?
When you’re downloading 3D assets, you will need
to make sure you’re selecting good-quality meshes
that are going to slot straight into your scene and not
cause you any problems. You don’t want your scene
crashing, for example, because you’ve got meshes
with errors in. TurboSquid have a really handy way
of ensuring that the models you download have
passed certain requirements. They call it ‘CheckMate
(Above and below) © Vladimir Vitanov
Pro’, but this list of requirements can be applied to
any 3D model you download. To start with, you’ll
want models that are created to scale. There’s no
use downloading a model only to find that it’s either
modelled far too small or way too big; you want it to
slot in straight away. It also helps if the model itself
is located at the origin. After that, you’ll be served
best downloading models that contain only quads
or triangles. This will ensure meshes are clean and
will be rendered correctly. Finally, make sure your
models have clean UVs. By either using TurboSquid
CheckMate Pro models or reputable suppliers, you’ll
ensure the models you’re downloading will work
perfectly in your scenes every time.
 The number one destination
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3D WORLD 31
 r
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prod

Right: Doctor Strange

(Benedict Cumberbatch) casts
a spell that causes Spider-Man
(Tom Holland) to enter the
Astral Dimension with assistance
from Framestore

Opposite: Spider-Man gets a suit

upgrade courtesy of Eldritch Magic

32 3D WORLD
 ci n e matic
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w r
g l e a rns ho W e b Slinge
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r- M a
3D WORLD 33
 Multidimensional Spider-Man

E V I S I T E Do looms large
L A I N S R tentacles, Electr ation… h of f t
h e scr
een
e co o l
V I L gets upgradedely keyframe anim
fl a s
t a big m hav
e r ? ’ L et ’s pu m a ke the c a u se
we
t t o e
O c k e n t ir v e n b et r a c te r s o t h at b g
Do c as this sh
o t e c h a t o d
happ e n in
S a n d man w r e d s il h o u et
te t h e
W e we r e
able
h a t we r e
a nd c O ck
( A lf
lef t a n d
pe loo
k s .’
l even
t s t
for D o ook t y ctrica en
acles ere in mic- b ese ele as Had
a n ic a l t e n t
a s t h e y w c o
a b li s h e d t h
y w a s Th om e r e
e mec
h te e r e d been had es
t
o g ra p
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an 3. “
We w
a r o u nd , th t h a n puppe a s if he had s s e o f him .” c ip a l p h ot id e r- M e y e lines
e r k becau in r
n in Sp
r -in fo
This tim l ra t h e h a r a c te re m a r for p r a n d
ig it a
be th a t c t h is ,” n il a b le
ed San
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had a
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) a re d h a s to d into ’t be o Unava or tray t they t s p ro
Molina 2 . “ It n d p loppe g h I c ouldn d h o p o n s e . “ J o n Wat a n te d
r- Man iverse
a
n thou h Alfre hw ice an
d elstein t he w
Spide h at u n . “ Eve o w a tc C h u rc his vo ins Ed u t wh a
t o f t ls t e in f u n t W e u s e e x p la t in g o w o uld
pulled
ou t t Ed e it was nality. able t
o
cking ,” elf ac a n ce
r v is o r S co p r o t ocols , t h a t p e r so o u a m e ra blo c e o f hims c ia l p e r fo rm t a g e for
up e 19 e y c e n a s
VF X s o f C OVID - a n d assum le n g th , bu
t and
lo t o f ref e r w h a t the f n a m ocap nd -
s a
c a u se e role cale in inning us wit
ha well a y did o wa s h
set b e b a c k into th e a b le to s o m t he beg t ’s n t o d o, a s o t t h at t h e f S a n dman d on
g et b r a a o o e
Molina acles h ot . F nd th Sandm as also
a sh jority as bas
v e t h e te n t d u r ing a s e t e n tacle a e r e w c e . T he ma t h e f a ce w f r o m the
ha n h b e. Th n d s
h a d to a t t o happe le n g t h of t g y p e r fo rm a h e b o dy a n t v o ic e clip
n d .”
wa n t t
h set t h
e mazin so m e
bod n fo r t . We g
o by ha
don’t y o u would f r o m Th e A
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, e
s h ot t look wa n te key fra
m as Had we n t a
nd m
of t h e e.” if feren r. “ We Th om a to r s
it w ould b E le c t ro a d is W aegne e v e n if h e v o ice of a n im
how give h r t n th e
f u n to visor C ening nt nd the
It was super s happ iprese ADR a
2 f o r VF X a n d flashe e t h is omn e
s e mak
r- Man al pop becam can w
Spide lectric es . H e
v e t h ese e d o u r h e ro s k in g , ‘How
to h a un a
n’t aro t and
o wa s t a sho
Electr e lo o king a
. You ’r
t h re at

34 3D WORLD

Top (left): Banding
together during the
2,500 visual effects shots
were created by Sony Pictures
Liberty Island fight
created by Sony
Imageworks, Digital Domain,
Framestore, Luma Pictures,
Pictures Imageworks
are Electro, Sandman
Crafty Apes, Mr. X, Cinesite,
Gradient Effects, Folks VFX,
and Lizard SSVFX, MARZ and Perception.
An initial plan to introduce
Above: The electricity Andrew Garfield and Toby
of Electro (Jamie Maguire during the third act
Foxx) was changed was shifted to the second act
from the original right after the death of Aunt May
blue in The Amazing (Marisa Tomei). “The fact that
Spider-Man 2 to it’s Ned Leeds [Jacob Batalon]
the comic-book who doesn’t know how to make
accurate yellow portals,” explains Marvel Studios
VFX supervisor Kelly Port. “Tom
is emotional and is up on the high
school where he meets Andrew
Garfield and Tobey Maguire; they
have a common bond, [which
is the death] of Uncle Ben. In
a way it’s Tom Holland’s Peter
Parker origin story because this
“IT’S NICE TO DO THOSE CALLBACKS
AND IT’S SO FUN TO SEE THE
REACTION OF AUDIENCES”
Kelly Port, VFX supervisor, Marvel Studios
is his Uncle Ben moment and him
becoming Spider-Man.”
Being involved with all
three versions of the cinematic
franchise is Sony Pictures
Imageworks VFX supervisor
Chris Waegner. “I worked with
Sam Raimi and Marc Webb and
the different actors. In a way it
prepared me for the chaos of what
was going to ensue. It’s such a
huge responsibility to the fans.”
The large cast did not prove to be
unwieldy. “Maybe because these
films have been made before, we
Multidimensional Spider-Man
had a background on the Green
Goblin and we knew a little bit of
Sandman and Electro. Sometimes
you have too many individuals
and not enough time to develop
that one individual, but in this
particular case Jon Watts and
Kelly Port were on the creative
side making sure that everybody
had enough screentime.”
Looking after the end battle
at Liberty Island was the
responsibility of Sony Pictures
Imageworks. “Every time I finish
a movie like this I’ll say, ‘I’ll do
3D WORLD 35
Multidimensional Spider-Man

“WHEN YOU HAVE A BIG BUILD LIKE THIS, YOU NOT ONLY
HAVE TO BUILD IT UP DIGITALLY, BUT ALSO KNOW THAT
YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO DESTROY THE WHOLE THING” Top (left): Sony Picture
Imageworks produced
Chris Waegner, VFX supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks a CG Spider-Man for
when the Wall Crawler
another one but don’t want to do When you have a big build like be 15 years later,” explains Port. does a high dive
the third act!’” laughs Waegner. this, you not only have to build it “We even had some leeway with
“But it keeps falling back on us. up digitally, but also know that their costumes.” The advances Top (right): Spider-Man
All of our Spider-Men and villains you’re going to have to destroy in technology have enabled the (Tom Holland) attempts
are together. It was nice that it the whole thing. You have to be visual effects to look cooler and to escape from the
was a contained environment sensitive to what is steel, wood, more photorealistic. “You want to Mirror Dimension with
as the action takes place around concrete and aluminium, so you’re make whatever things you can do the ancient relic
the island itself. In principal applying all of these material look better but also familiar, I felt
photography there wasn’t a ton properties in Houdini; that’s what like we had creative licence to do Right: New York City
of live-action set to reference. We gives the big destruction life.” that. Our decision was that they’re folds in on itself in
used things that they did build, De-aging was strictly done coming into this MCU world. the Mirror Dimension
like scaffolding, as our material to Alfred Molina and Willem When Electro [Jamie Foxx] is first courtesy of Framestore
and style guide for our gigantic Dafoe as both came from the introduced, he is actually blue like
environmental build. We built the Spider-Man 2 timeframe. “The from the Marc Webb film, and as
island, architecture and on top of other two Spider-Men came he charges up and gets full power
that we had to build the inside. from where they happened to the energy that is feeding him

36 3D WORLD
 Multidimensional Spider-Man

I N G T HE ON
I G AT D I M E N S I nt
N AVR O R steals an ancietter
MIR an -M la t he
Spider tor Strange,
W he n c ension
…
o m Do ror Dim
relic fr e M ir
he s t h
unleas
ider-
the Sp
e q u e n ce s , p en
f the s wa s o
f a r of all o a n g e ch a se u n ,”
“B y t r f
c to r S wa s s o
a n a nd Do d n e s s and “ It ’s
M weir .
plete y Por t
to co m or Kell e
X s u per vis e n s ion . W
VF ror Dim
s t a te s A M ir e ’v e
reality
. h at w
a n ew e a of w hich is
w it h the id t r ange w
S
played o c t o r alked
efo re
in D n we t
se en b d in g s . Th e r ld
bu il o
tating re nt w
t h e ro a dif fe
g o in g into b e c a u se
about yon ,
d C an o g et
this
e G ra n ying t
like th is t r
r St ra n
ge keeps
D o c to an and
m S p ider- M e way,
box fr
o
c le s in th
s t a ting
ing ob s adap
throw M a n keep e he’s
ide r - s
but Sp becau
v ir o n m e nt b ly the
en a
to t h e w a s p ro b
a t we
a r t . Th wh e n
so s m r a t o r y and s .
m ost e
xplo e issue
p id e r-Vers e p
to S g to k
e
ran in s tr yin
u ’r e alway u e b ut stil
l
Yo
e t h in g uniq
it som r.”
familia
have it

3D WORLD 37
Multidimensional Spider-Man

was yellow. At the end battle,

we had fun with the idea of
introducing the Star Mask that is
from the comics.”
An iconic moment from the
comic books was recreated
when MJ (Zendaya) falls off of
a bridge and is saved by Spider-
Man portrayed by Andrew
Garfield. “It came from the previs
team,” reveals Port. “It ended
up changing a little bit. It was a
redemption for that character’s
initial mistake [that caused the
death of Gwen Stacy played by
Emma Stone]. A lot of people
thought she got webbed and
then broke her back because you
hear this crack. What actually
happened is she hits her head.
Like so many things, we were
going back and forth as to whether
certain characters should die or
not. That was part of the story
refinement process which is so
fascinating. Ultimately, it all has
to be about our Peter Parker (Tom
Holland). It’s nice to do those
callbacks and it’s so fun to see the
reaction of audiences.”
Digital Domain had to recreate
almost three miles of New York
City. “You hero out the sections
of the bridge where most of the
action takes place and as you get
further away from the camera
there is less and less resolution in
that geometry you’re building,”
explains Edelstein. “By the time
you get three miles away it’s
essentially a matte painting. As
you get closer, we used Google
Earth and Open Street data maps
to create buildings. There were
models from New York City many
years ago that we placed in.”
Recreating a portion of New
York City was no small task for
Edelstein. “Kelly and his team
went to the actual location and
did a LiDAR scan of the bridge
and some of the surrounding
areas. We lined that up with
the reference. There was also
some helicopter work so we did
a lot of photogrammetry of the
bridge and surrounding area.
We piled that all together and
our environment team built the
surrounding structures, landscape
and buildings while the modelling
team traditionally goes in and
builds the bridge asset. We would
texture and look development that

38 3D WORLD

as a hero asset. Once you get all
of that together and have it as a
layout, depending on where you
look you have to load all of those
different assets and resolutions,
which is a manual process at that
point. It’s a lot of work.”
DOCK OCK BATTLES SPIDER-MAN
A major contributor was SFX
supervisor Daniel Sudick. “They
shot so much reference and all
of these awesome things for us
to use,” states Edelstein. “Dan
crushed cars and bent them in
half. The shot where Doc Ock
throws a car into the water
was a practical one that got
thrown. We ended up removing
the car itself but used the water
explosion that they did from the
barrels. Dan threw cars through
concrete barriers.”
Multidimensional Spider-Man
An ancient relic is central to task was the hybrid suit that Peter Left: Practical
the plot. “Everyone is trying to get Parker wears after the nanotech explosions and tossed
this thing,” observes Port. “What on Doc Ock travels onto him. vehicles were provided
does this look like? It started off “From the neck down Peter is CG by SFX supervisor
being this complex thing that for the rest of the movie,” remarks Daniel Sudick
exploded into a giant puzzle that Port. “That is an enormous
Doctor Strange had to solve. We amount of time-consuming, Below and opposite:
always knew that it needed to be labour-intensive stuff which CG tentacles by Digital
ancient, sophisticated, intricate, had to be perfect, otherwise it Domain replaced the
and artisan crafted. Ultimately, it doesn’t look right. It has to be lit practical ones that
was used to contain the spell and and rotoscoped into place. That’s were originally used
those ideas had to be refined. That one of those things which is an for Doctor Octopus in
was a process.” Another difficult invisible effect.” Spider-Man 2
“THEY SHOT SO MUCH REFERENCE AND ALL OF
THESE AWESOME THINGS FOR US TO USE. DAN
SUDICK CRUSHED CARS AND BENT THEM IN HALF”
Scott Edelstein, VFX supervisor, Digital Domain
©2021 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. MARVEL and all related character names: © & ™ 2021 MARVEL
3D WORLD 39
Realistic texturing
Modelling for creativity

Incredible 3D artists take us   behind their artwork

MODELLING FOR CREATIVITY If there is one thing I

would like my future self to keep in mind when it comes to
making a 3D scene, it would be to always keep the initial
blockout models as simple as possible as a way to not get
locked down to one single idea. Having an idea is great to
get you started and inspired, but quite possibly that idea Pedro Amorim
will morph over time into something you haven't originally artstation.com/pedro
considered. This way, if you need to delete or change certain Originally from Portugal
things, it won't be too difficult because there wasn't a lot of but currently living in
time invested. Still, it’s important to have in mind an idea Finland, Pedro works as
of how you would like the image to look, so you know what a senior hard-surface
to work towards. artist at Remedy Games.

40 3D
40 3D WORLD
WORLD
 Realistic
Modelling texturing
for creativity

DIY TRIKE
Software 3ds Max, Blender,
Substance Painter, Photoshop
Year made 2022

3D WORLD 41
Create a beautiful digital portrait

Practical tips and tutorials from

pro artists to improve
your CG skills

IMPERIAL OFFICER
A personal character
inspired by the Star Wars
imperial officers

42 3D WORLD
 Create a beautiful digital portrait

ZBRUSH | MAYA | ARNOLD RENDERER | R3DS WRAP

MARI 4.36 | MARVELOUS DESIGNER | SUBSTANCE PAINTER | PHOTOSHOP

CREATE A BEAUTIFUL
DIGITAL PORTRAIT
Learn how to make your workflow more productive with these
proven tips in Young Im Chang’s realistic character masterclass

Young Im Chang
I am a senior 3D character
artist working for the game
industry in Korea for over 14
years. I enjoy creating portraits
AUTHOR and characters in 3D.
bluehour.artstation.com
01PREPARATION
Before starting the project,
set up Maya and ZBrush to ensure
an easier transition between the
two programs. Create a Maya
project and add folders in it by use,
such as folders for export OBJ files
and ZBrush.
02 SCULPT PRIMARY FORM
WITH A BASE MESH
Using the base mesh, build the
primary shape, and then gradually
increase the subdivisions and
develop the form according to
anatomical features.
The base mesh in this tutorial

I
often receive emails from In Maya, set up a simple light is made up of two subtools, Head
students complaining about and a camera for a quick render and Eyeball, with clean topology
their difficulties when designing and store basic scenes. Make sure and UVs. The reason for using the
a character. They are tired of the the unit is set to centimetres in the base mesh is that a low-poly mesh
continuous modifications and preference settings. Open ZBrush is easier to handle for blocking out
the disparity between what they and set the camera value to 85 in the shape, and if you set the scale
expect and the actual result. I the Draw menu. of the base mesh to the actual size
also sympathise with their pain as Assign frequently used brushes in advance, it helps reduce errors in
a person who struggles alone to as hotkeys and customise UI icons sculpting and rendering.
complete their work. to operate efficiently, this speeds For example, many people are
So what is the most important up sculpting and reduces the unaware that eyeballs are almost
thing when it comes to creating inconvenience in transition. the same size regardless of race
a realistic character? Sculpting, However, the camera in ZBrush or age. The size of the eyeball is
texturing, hair grooming, lighting has some distortion, so it is approximately 2.4cm.
and rendering – every single necessary to go over the final shape Sculpting is commonly
element is essential. If we neglect through the Maya rendering results. performed based on reference
just one of them, our creation loses
its life, exposing the mistakes.
Sometimes, the little things
treated as insignificant become
breakthroughs in solving the
problems that frustrate us.
Let’s find out what we
shouldn’t miss by following this
proven pipeline in this character
masterclass tutorial, working from
the base model to the final render.
You can find the full video
lectures on the Wingfox website:
www.wingfox.com/c/8595

DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES

For all the assets you need go to
https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans

01

3D WORLD 43
Create a beautiful digital portrait

02a

02b 03

images. Since the size of the
eyeballs is the same, match the
object’s eyes to each reference
image and measure the proportions
with the surroundings in order to
decrease the distortion.
Distancing Select the object and assign an same way, set the animation key of
Another thing to aiStandardSurface shader. Replace the camera up to frame #5. Open
keep in mind when the material type to Skin in the Render Settings, and under the
sculpting is changing Presets. Click the surface radius, Common tab, the file path and
the views to look at change HSV to ‘RGB, 0 to 1.0’. Set information are displayed at the
the model objectively. a value of 1 for red, 0.35 for green, top. Change the frame animation
When you focus on and 0.2 for blue. Change the Type format to name #framenumber

03 BUILD THE BONE

LANDMARKS FIRMLY
Personally, while sculpting, the part
I work hardest on is not the eyes,
nose and mouth, but the landmark
features around the cheekbones:
superior arches of the forehead,
zygomatic bone, and the volume of
the temporal bone.
The large frame of the head
must be strongly built so that the
details can be stably placed in it.
only one place, your
field of view narrows
so that you cannot
to Random Walk 2, and adjust
the Scale value to 0.1. Go to the
animation frame and set the frame
extension. The frame range is 1
to 5 because we set the camera
key from 1 to 5 frames; it renders
see the composition range 1 to 5. multiple camera angles at once.
as a whole. Change Click the box next to Render
your perspective – for
example, looking from
a distance, looking
05 RENDER SETUP - PART 2
At frame #1, change the
camera view and press ‘S’ to set the
Sequence in the render menu.
Rendered images are created in the
image folder.
upside down, or key. Move to the next frame, adjust You will need a viewer to open
looking at the outer the camera view to a different EXR files. I'm using a free viewer
outline of the shape. It angle, and enter ’S’ again. In the called DJV.
can prevent your vision
from narrowing.

04 RENDER SETUP - PART 1

It is necessary to check the
exact shape of the head through
the rendered result in Maya. Import
the head object from ZBrush and
scale check to actual size with the
measure tool.
Next, create a dome light in
the Arnold tab, connect the HDRI
map to its colour node, and then
rotate the light in order to capture
the proper light direction while
rendering with Arnold.
You can download HDR image
sources from Poly Haven or sIBL
Archive. All are free, high-resolution
images available for download.
04

44 3D WORLD
 Create a beautiful digital portrait

While sculpting in ZBrush, you

need to continue rendering in
Maya and check how the actual
results look, making up for any
shortcomings. This process is
extremely important to increase the
quality of your work.

06 TEXTURE WITH
R3DS WRAP
I used TexturingXYZ’s ‘Male 40s
Multichannel Face #70’ map on this
project. Create a plane in Maya and
change the width and height to
the resolution of the TexturingXYZ
image. Then divide it to 150 and
normalize off. Then scale it into
position close to the image.
Import both sculptured head
and a plane into Wrap, assign the
TexturingXYZ image to the plane
and put the pins in the same place
on the visual editor viewport.
Next, open the SelectPointPairs
node to match the points of the
05 plane to the head. Make sure
each point number matches both
the image and the model. Click
Compute to start to wrap. Now
bring the wrapped plane into
ZBrush and do some cleaning up of
the twisted areas.

07 IMPORT TO MARI
Once cleanup is done, export
back to Wrap both the wrapped
plane and the head for the texture
projection. Add an Albedo map, set
the TransferTexture node and link
the plane and head.
Compute current frame to
project the image and repeat the
same process for the displacement
and utility map as well. Import all
06a 06b projected textures into Mari and
proceed to clean up. Create a
channel for Displacement and with
50% grey colour remove unwanted
parts such as eyebrows, eyelashes
and hair. Then paint out the region
just below the hair so that they
blend seamlessly.
Repeat the process for the
diffuse and utility map. Then add
a Copy Channel layer to split out
each of the R, G, B channels and
save them separately.

08 APPLY DISPLACEMENT
IN ZBRUSH WITH MAPS
Back in ZBrush, turn symmetry off
and shape the head to look natural.
Once the asymmetry work is
07

3D WORLD 45
Create a beautiful digital portrait
08a
complete, load the R channel
displacement map as an alpha. In
the displacement section, select
the map and change the intensity
values to see the effects on the
model. The texture slot must
have a texture turned on for the
displacement map.
Vary the depth of the surface
curvature shown in the R channel
texture so that it does not look like
a shallow bump map.
When ready to apply
displacement maps, load the split-
out RGB channel displacement
maps into ZBrush.
Create three layers; each layer
will contain the information of the
R, G, B displacement maps. Tweak
08b
46 3D WORLD
Step 8.5:
Inflate issue
When the displacement
map is applied, it swells
a little compared to the
original state. If you turn
off the layers, you can
see the swollen shape.
Hide all the layers
with displacement
applied and press
storemorph in the Morph
Target menu to store the 09a
previous volume.
Unhide all the RGB
layers, create a layer
and name it Morph.
Go down to
subdivision level 1 and
bring the Morph slider
all the way up so that
it will return to its
previous volume. With
this method, you can
apply the displacement
map accurately without
deforming the shape.
Finally, export out
the ZBrush displacement 09b
map at subdivision
level 3, 32bit, EXR, 8K the intensity and apply DispMap on is the white part of the eyes, and
size map. each layer. The values I used for R, it gets transparent to the iris part
G, B were 0.3, 0.2, 0.05. Once you using a ramp node. The cornea is
have applied all these displacement the clear part of the eye over the iris
layers, mix the layers by tweaking and the caruncle is a red flesh at the
the intensity until the head looks inner corner of the eye.
as desired. Back to ZBrush, increase the
subdivisions of the eye parts and
09 EYE STRUCTURE
To create realistic eyes, we
need several meshes: a sclera, a
develop the form and add details.
Create textures through ZBrush
Polypainting. The iris can be
cornea, a pupil, an iris, a caruncle, produced in the same way as the
and a tear reflected line. The sclera skin as mentioned previously.
 Create a beautiful digital portrait

The ‘Multichannel Iris #100’ map

from XYZ is used here.

10 SHADING
Back to Mari, create
additional textures using the utility
map. Create a rough map to use as
a weight map with the utilityG map,
to give a bit of micro-displacement
detail. Also, create a specular map
using the utilityB and make sure not
to paint the lips too bright to give it
a slightly dry look.
Plug in the created maps to the
appropriate node in the aiStandard
shader. When working on skin,
make sure to test the skin material
under various lighting conditions.
10a Use nodes such as aiColorCorrect
and aiRange to adjust the maps
until you get good results.

11XGEN FOR HAIR

XGen is a great tool, but there
are a few things to be aware of as it
is prone to errors. First, make sure
to setProject. It's also helpful to
know XGen's folder structure and
saving file path. In case of errors, it
is recommended to save the scene
files step by step frequently and
convert the guides into curves and
store them.
Also, when saving the ptex map,
be sure to press saveTexture under
the file texture tab in the painting
tool settings, and then save mask
maps to avoid texture path crashes.
Split the hair groom into several
different descriptions: eyebrows,
10b eyelashes, beard, peach fuzz, etc.
Most of the work in XGen is to
modify the guides.
When the hair is complex,
ZBrush's FiberMesh efficiently
handles the guide’s curves. You can
export the FiberMesh in MA file
format to Maya.
The aiStandardHair shader is
used for hair. Control the colour of
the root and the tip by connecting
the ramp node to the melanin
section. I refer to Arvid Schneider's
OSL Shader scripting method to
apply the melanin value randomly:
youtu.be/vBZ0WaOl_B8.

12 CLOTHES
Create costumes for your
character model with Marvelous
Designer, which is an excellent
software for clothes simulation.
Import a custom character body
11

3D WORLD 47
Create a beautiful digital portrait

and set the volume and points in

the avatar editor.
Create patterns, simulate them,
and fit the avatar by pulling the
garments until you get a satisfying
shape. Once the fitting is complete,
replace the avatar with a posed
body and change the object type
to Morph Target.
As the model's pose changes,
the pattern changes to match the
pose. Export patterns, optimise
them, add details and extract the
displacement map in ZBrush.
Create PBR textures for clothes
and other accessories using
12
Substance Painter.

13 FINAL RENDER
When all stages of
production are finished, bring all
the character components – a head
model, eye parts, costume – and
place them in their position.
Change the pose a bit and
adjust the gaze naturally by
applying the Aim in the Constrain
menu accordingly.
Set up lighting and a camera;
I set the camera (AA) samples to
6 to 10 for the final rendering – it
depends on your scene and the
machine you have. Specify the
required source map in AOV for the
post-work calibration.
Finally, we have reached the
final rendering. Click the square
box in the render sequence of the
render. All you have to do is select
a camera, specify the save path and
start rendering. The final result is
saved in the Beauty folder. If post-
work is required, it is available from
the AOV render source. •
13a

13b

48 3D WORLD
 Create a beautiful digital portrait

WINGFOX
Wingfox.com is
an online learning
platform for digital art
under Guangzhou Goyor
Network Technology
Co., Ltd. It focuses
on design education
and cooperates with
outstanding artists
from all walks of
life, providing useful
content to everyone.

3D WORLD 49
From VR to ZBrush

Incredible 3D artists take us   behind their artwork

FROM VR TO ZBRUSH The creative process

started from reference, then I began the sketching
phase directly in Gravity Sketch. Once I got the
desired sketch, I made some simple volumes. I
then exported the creature to ZBrush and with
DynaMesh I sculpted the details I needed.
Retopology and UVs were also undertaken in
ZBrush. I rendered everything in Blender with
Cycles and did some compositing in Photoshop.
I believe that the process of sketching from VR
to modelling in ZBrush is a splendid and fast
solution for creating concepts of creatures.
Simone Rizzo
artstation.com/simonerizzo42
Concept artist raised in Italy, in
love with cinema and art. He has
dedicated himself to digital art
in recent years and is currently a
concept artist at PIXOMONDO.

50 3D WORLD
 From VR to ZBrush

CREATURE OF THE FOREST

Software ZBrush, Gravity Sketch,
3D-Coat, Blender, Octane Render, Photoshop
Year made 2022

3D WORLD 51
Light your C4D scenes with custom HDRIs
CINEMA 4D | THETA (FOR IPHONE)| PHOTOSHOP
LIGHT YOUR C4D SCENES
WITH CUSTOM HDRIs
In Part 3 of our tutorial series, Rob Redman demonstrates
how to create your own HDRIs ideal for your 3D scenes
T
hese days most 3D
software offers global
illumination, and while
there are plentiful resources for
finding good HDRIs to use, they
can be a little one-size-fits-all.
This isn’t always a problem, and if
you are lighting a studio setup or
a generic scene you will be fine.
However, you may be trying
to match lighting at a location to
better match your background
plates, ensuring that your CG
elements are lit consistently
with the talent and set. In this
52 3D WORLD
scenario shooting your own
HDRIs is a much better solution
and doesn’t have to be complex
or expensive. There are many
ways of capturing these images,
ranging from the cheap and easy
to the preventatively expensive
and complicated.
In this walkthrough I’ll show
you my workflow for creating
them, using an iPhone app and
a Ricoh Theta camera (other 360
cameras are available of course).
There are a few issues to deal
with, but for a one-man, run-and-
REAL WORLD LIGHTING
Using location captured lighting
can help even when rendering
against a flat backdrop
gun type setup I think this is the
easiest way to light your scenes
to match your plates.
I won’t be dealing with the
camera matching or tracking
footage in this tutorial, as that is AUTHOR
a more complex beast I will deal Rob Redman
with on its own in a future issue. Rob has been a CG
artist for over 20
years, working across
film, TV and print
DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES projects, and is editor
For all the assets you need go to of 3D World and
https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans ImagineFX magazines.
robredman.co.uk
 Light your C4D scenes with custom HDRIs

01TAKE THE SHOT

Shooting with the Theta is very simple and all you
really need to do is set the bracketing to create the light
to dark range. Don't shoot from the same point as the
camera used for the background plate, but from the main
area where your CG elements will be in the final shot, for
more accuracy in lighting. You can see here that I'm in the
picture, and we can deal with that in one of two ways.
02 EDIT THE EXR
The first option is one done back at the computer. You can open up
the captured HDRI and then clone out unwanted areas (me) either manually
or by drawing a selection and right-clicking, then choosing Content-Aware
Fill. Either option is fine as we will be blurring the shot for lighting purposes
anyway. I prefer to take a broad approach and draw the selection. Photoshop is
pretty capable at this and the repetition of the filled areas won’t be a problem
for this particular use case. Judge that on your specific shoot though.

03 STAND ALONE
The better alternative is to use
a light stand to mount your Theta,
then connect to it wirelessly to take
the shot. This is a great option if you
aren't using your mobile device for
other purposes. Just find a nearby
object to hide behind as you trigger
the shot. There will be times when this
isn't viable however, as you may be in
a location which means you have to
be in airplane mode, or you might be
using your phone for something like
operating a drone or a gimbal. It may
be the case that you don't have level
ground to place a stand, either on a
slope or maybe over water, in which
case use the cloning method.

04 EXPORT THE HDRI

Once any edits are done it is time to get the image out to your 3D
software. There are differing opinions on this, but I'd suggest blurring the
image for use as a light source as it can prevent artefacts and is easier for the
GI to use for good, clean results. Once you are happy export the image and
be sure to save as a 32bit OpenEXR (which it should already be from your
Theta) – a JPG or PNG will not have the values that GI can use to effectively
light your 3D scene.
05 SCENE BASICS
At this point I like to set up a basic scene to get
things started. This mech is here as a placeholder for
now, along with a floor and a sky object. The floor has
a simple material applied, while the mech has a more
reflective material with some Fresnel for falloff. This is
really just to test the material in the most basic way, so I
can check things are working as I expect.

3D WORLD 53
Light your C4D scenes with custom HDRIs

06 SKY MATERIAL
Next up is to get our HDRI
onto the sky object. Double-click
in the material manager to create a
new object, then either double-click
the material to open it as a floating
window, or work in the attributes editor,
depending on your preferred layout
and workflow. You can add the HDRI to
either the colour or luminance channel.
Both work fine but I use luminance, as
it feels more logical to me. Deactivate
the reflectance channel as we don't
need it. Rename the material and
then drag it onto the sky object in the
objects manager. You can see and
place the HDRI by rotating the sky in
the scene in a shaded view.

07 RENDER SETTINGS
Open up the render settings and change the
type to Physical. Next go to effects and add a global
illumination effect. Click on it and set the primary type
to irradiance cache and the secondary to QMC, and set
your gamma to 2.2. I also added an ambient occlusion
effect, just to see how it looks. Now when you render you
will see the results of your sky material.
08 ADD A CAMERA
At this point I generally like to throw a camera in there to see how
things will look, check out depth of field results and make sure there are no
oddities rearing their ugly head. Add a camera to the scene, then target the
mech. Set your aperture to the correct amount and change your focal length,
ideally to what you shot your plate with. For me that was an 80mm in full frame
equivalent at f1.2. Make sure you're looking through the camera, then render
again to make sure you are satisfied with the results.

09 EXPOSURE AND TWEAKS

You may be happy with the
outcome at this point, but there will
be scenes where the exposure doesn't
look right. Cinema 4D's physical
camera has exposure settings so you
can activate them and adjust to taste,
but sometimes that will blow out the
sky or make it too dark compared to
the rendered elements. If this is the
case, you can go into the sky material
and under the illumination section
you can tweak the amount of GI the
material produces. You can also adjust
the saturation of the GI. I increased this
for just a little more colour, but tweak
this to suit your needs and tastes. Then
all that is left is to do a final render. •

54 3D WORLD
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3D WORLD 55
Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

MAD MOUSE
A 3D recreation of a
stunning photograph by
Lídia Vives, award-winning
fashion photographer

56 3D WORLD

ZBRUSH | MAYA | R3DS WRAP | MUDBOX | XGEN | MARVELOUS DESIGNER | V-RAY | PHOTOSHOP | PUREREF
TRANSFORM A
PHOTOGRAPH INTO A
REALISTIC 3D LIKENESS
Nayoon Levitin demonstrates how to reimagine a portrait
photograph as a detailed, expressive 3D render
T
his image was inspired
by Lidia Vives’ work ‘Mad
Mouse’. You can check it out,
along with her many other creative
photographs, on her website
(lidiavives.com/pop/mad-mouse).
The main focus of this project
is to study anatomy and facial
expression, and be able to sculpt
details as realistic as possible.
We will cover how to capture
a photograph as a realistic,
expressive and detailed 3D
likeness, from initial base mesh to
final render. Let’s get started!
DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES
For all the assets you need go to
https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans
01COLLECT
REFERENCE IMAGES
The most challenging part of this
project was capturing the likeness.
Since the concept has a very strong
expression and the pose is not
neutral, it can be hard to accurately
maintain the correct anatomy.
When tackling a project like this,
make sure the reference images
are in high resolution (the higher,
the better) and in multiple angles.
Consider the lighting (shadows can
be helpful to determine the shape
of certain areas).
A software like PureRef can be
useful to collect all images in one
place. Sort the images by category
so it is easier to navigate. Collect
images that are shot with a high
focal length lens. For example, red
carpet images are great.
Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness
AUTHOR
Nayoon Levitin
With a background
in computer
science, fine art and
graphic design, I am
currently in my final
term as a student
at Think Tank
Online. Learning
a new medium is
challenging, and I
enjoy sharing my
journey in order to
help other artists
achieve success.
It is important to study the facial
structure before the setup of a
base mesh in ZBrush. Line up the
artstation.com/
nayoon
reference images using guides in
Photoshop. Draw a few lines to see
where the plane changes occur and
where the face features line up. Pay
attention to negative spaces on the
profile views.
02 START WITH A
BASE MESH
You can start a base mesh from
scratch in ZBrush or purchase one
online. However, if you purchase a
base mesh, make sure the topology
is clean. Since Mad Mouse has a
strong expression, it was necessary
to modify the topology. Change
the topology on the forehead to
support the expression. Import
the head mesh to Maya and
3D WORLD 57
Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

retopologise using the Quad

Draw tool.

03 LINE UP A BASE MESH

WITH REFERENCES
When setting up a ZBrush scene,
make sure the focal length is 85 or
higher and sculpt in perspective
mode. There are two different
methods to line up the base mesh
with the reference images.
The first method is to use
Spotlight in ZBrush. Import the
image in texture and turn on
Spotlight. Adjust the size of the
reference image to match the
base mesh. Once the alignment
is done, save the camera. To save
camera views that are aligned with
the reference image, click Draw>
Channels>Store camera. Tip: Save
as project in order to save the
cameras. Saving as ZTool will not
save the cameras. However, once 02
alignment is done, no need to save
as project.
The second method is using
the See-through tool in ZBrush. It
is located on the top right. Place
an image behind ZBrush, scroll
See-through between 1 and 100
and line up the base mesh with the
image behind. Use this method to
do a quick check while sculpting.
Save the camera with this method
using Store camera if needed. The
base mesh should stay at the lowest
polycount while lining up.

04 KEEP TWEAKING
THE ALIGNMENT
Be aware that everything looks
03 & 04
absolutely terrible for a while and
that is perfectly normal. The goal
at the beginning stage is to get
the shapes and silhouette of the
mesh to look like the reference
image, so check all the angles.
You will be able to tell if the base
mesh matches the concept image
by zooming out far throughout the
alignment process while working on
different angles.
The base mesh will not line
up perfectly so think about
the location of the eyes, nose,
mouth and ears, and don’t worry
about matching them exactly
to the image. Nobody’s face is
symmetrical. You will eventually
break the symmetry to add details.
Placing the eyeballs and painting
in iris colour using Polypaint in
05a

58 3D WORLD
 Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

ZBrush will help to tell if the face is

looking the way it is supposed to.

05 RETOPOLOGISING
UV MAPPING
AND
Import an A-pose base mesh
to Marvelous Designer as an
Avatar. Use a shirt from Modular
Configurator as a base shirt and
modify to fit the concept blouse.
Once the head base mesh is in
a good shape in ZBrush, export the
head to Maya and retopologise if
needed and then UV the head. To
UV clothing, you can use a great
tutorial on ArtStation by Derrick
Sesson (‘Marvelous Designer
Retopology Toolkit for Maya’). This
tool is helpful with retopologising
the clothing imported from
Marvelous Designer (artstation.
com/artwork/ELRLJ8).

06 WRAP AND
TRANSFER DETAILS
R3DS Wrap was used to transfer
the skin details and will speed up
the process. To get realistic skin,
textures were purchased on the 3D
Scan Store website. Their textures
are scanned from human models
so the skin looks realistic. When
picking a texture, consider the skin
colour and age of the person, so
that it will match the look of your
concept (bit.ly/3JNTTcO).
Mudbox was used to transfer
all the maps. Select UVs & Maps>
Extract Texture Maps>New
Operation Target Model, which
is the one that was sculpted in
ZBrush; Source model is the one
that was wrapped in Wrap3D.
After transferring the maps,
make corrections on the skin in
Mari. Some pore details around the
05b eyes and nose area can get messy.
Use the Paint Through tool to make
the changes.

07 POSE IN ZBRUSH
There are many ways to pose
a mesh. However, the simplest
and quickest way was to do it in
ZBrush. Polygroup the mesh. Up
the resolution of the mesh before
posing. Mask and move using the
Rotate tool and the Move tool.
When you are moving body parts,
make sure to place a pivot on joints.
Think about how the body parts
move. Use anatomy references to
see where the joints are; it doesn’t
06

3D WORLD 59
Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

have to be accurate, but it will

help you to retain the overall shape
of the mesh.
Don’t worry too much about
messing up the mesh. You will have
to fix it anyway in Maya and ZBrush,
so focus more on matching the
pose as much as possible.

08 USE BLEND SHAPE AND

DELTA MUSH
Once the pose is made, export
the mesh to Maya and use Blend
Shape and Delta Mush tools to
fix the volume and shape issues 07
caused from posing. Export the
neutral pose and modified mesh
to Maya. Select the neutral mesh
and then modified mesh. Go to
Deform>Blend Shape. Select the
modified mesh. In the Channel
Box/Layer Editor Blend Shape = 1.
Select Deform>Delta Mush.
Choose the modified mesh. Use
Envelope to change the strength
of the Delta Mush influence and
smoothing iteration.
Fix further in ZBrush any issues
caused from posing and continue
to sculpt and refine the details.

09 SCULPT IN ZBRUSH
There are a few brushes you
can use to sculpt an organic mesh:
ClayBuildup, Standard, Move,
Dam Standard, hPolish, Elastic and
Inflate. The Dam Standard brush
is great for folds and wrinkles. The
most important thing to remember
while sculpting a head and hand
is that the skin is quite bumpy and
uneven. The skin is sitting on top of
bones, muscles and fat, so try not
to make the surface too smooth.
Daniel Boschung has a website
that shows close-up skin details of
08
different people. The great thing
about his website is that you can
zoom in very close and see micro
details. It is very helpful to see skin
texture in different areas and also
the directionality of pores and
wrinkles (danielboschung.com).

10 MAKE HAIR IN XGEN

Draw lines of the hair flow on
the concept image. This will help
with where to place the guides
in XGen. Once the shape of the
head mesh is good, duplicate
faces in three sections: head
scalp, eyebrows and eyelashes.
Separating them will give you more
09

60 3D WORLD
 Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

control over making hair in XGen.

Make sure the UV is in 0-1 UV space.
Use the guides to generate the first
clumping map. Add at least two
more Clumping modifiers to refine
the hair.
Once Clumping is working, add
Noise and Cut modifiers to change
the texture. Explore other modifiers
if necessary for your character.
After adding hair on the
eyelashes, add mascara crumbs by
creating a small geo and use the
MASH network in Maya to scatter
over the eyelashes.

11BACKGROUND AND
RENDERING SETUP
A few backgrounds were created
during the process. However, these
backgrounds didn’t feel right with
the concept, so the background
from the photograph was used to
composite the renders together.
Remove the model using
Content-Aware Fill under Edit in
Photoshop. It doesn’t have to be
perfect in the middle since the
mesh will cover the area.
Create a render camera and set
up a resolution that matches the
concept photo (width and height)
and turn on the Resolution Gate.
Insert the background image
using Image Plane (View>Image
Plane>Import).
Line up the mesh to the concept
image by moving the camera. After
setting up the camera, make sure
to lock it (View>Lock Camera) and
move the viewport by holding \ on
the keyboard.
10

11

3D WORLD 61
Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

12 LIGHTING
Three different HDRI are
used to achieve the look of the
photograph. Several V-Ray Rect
Lights were also added. Each
light was linked to an individual
mesh to give more control over
brighter and darker areas. Light
linking can be found under
Windows>Relationship Editors>
Light Linking>Object-Centric.

13 SHADERS IN MAYA
Create textures in Mari
and use V-Ray Al Surface to add
textures for head, hand, teeth,
tongue and body. Use V-Ray mtl
for the rest. The face is made with
three different shaders, layered by
lipstick, eye shadow and skin.
To achieve a natural look of the
skin, VRayAlSurface was used. Make
sure to change the SSS mix amount
to 1 for light scattering to work.
12

13

62 3D WORLD
 Transform a photograph into a realistic 3D likeness

V-Ray was used to render the

scene. Since the blouse is see-
through, model a bra and use V-Ray
two-sided material to make the
blouse transparent.

14 ADD EXTRA DETAILS

Not having enough details
will make the 3D model look CG
and not realistic. However, too
much detail can overwhelm the
viewers and move their eyes away
from the area of focus. Remember
when adding extra details, they
should be subtle and support the
hero area/asset without disrupting
the focus and storytelling.
To make the Mickey ears
texture, create a height map
using Substance Designer. How
to create the map can be found in
the tutorial video ‘Creating Velvet
Texture in Substance Designer’ by
Filip Hodas (www.youtube.com/
watch?v=BHdyCygAUik). Use
the height map in Maya as V-Ray
displacement.
Use the Layered Shader node
to add the dust on top of the tie
shader. Make sure to lower the
intensity of the dust colour so it is
subtle on the black tie.

15 FINALISE THAT 5%
  When the project is close
to the end stage, it requires
some minor fixes before we’re
finally finished. Make sure not to
14 underestimate this final, crucial
step. Use the History section A|B in
the V-Ray Frame Buffer window to
compare the current rendering and
the previous ones. Tip: Right-click
over the saved image to note the
changes you made, so you can go
back to the settings that look best.
Making a 3D character is not a
linear process. Once the rendering
starts, you will need to go back and
forth between ZBrush and Maya in
order to refine details on the face
and clothing.
ZBrush tends to make the skin
details more pronounced. However,
subsurface scattering during
rendering will lose some of the
details if it’s not sculpted enough
in ZBrush. From this point on, you
have all basic meshes and setup is
done. Now, it is all about fixing and
adding more details and constantly
comparing to the concept and real-
world references. •
15

3D WORLD 63
Sculpt a creature in ZBrush for C4D
ZBRUSH

SCULPT A CREATURE
IN ZBRUSH FOR C4D
Design and craft a creature from a simple
sphere with ZBrush’s handy tools

Glen Southern
Glen runs SouthernGFX, a small
Cheshire-based studio specialising
in character and creature design.
He has been using and training
AUTHOR ZBrush in the UK for over 20 years.
www.southerngfxcreativecourses.com

64 3D WORLD

T
here are so many ways that you
can start a creature design in 3D,
and in recent years we’ve even
had the ability to create using an iPad
or in VR. The granddaddy of digital
sculpting is ZBrush, having started
way back in the late 1990s, and it’s still
the best option out there if you want
to sculpt extremely high-polycount
creatures. Quite recently, ZBrush (and
Pixologic, who create the program) were
bought by Maxon who are most famous
for creating and developing Cinema 4D.
Sculpt a creature in ZBrush for C4D
Anyone who has dabbled with motion
graphics will be familiar with C4D – it’s
been around as long as ZBrush and has a
massive worldwide following.
In this tutorial I’m going to look at
how to sculpt and paint a creature, and
we will use this model in later issues
to do things like rigging, lighting and
rendering in Cinema 4D. Whilst ZBrush is
an amazing package, it isn’t a one-stop
shop. It can be used for sculpting, some
low-poly modelling, UVing, texturing
and even baking out things like Normal
and Displacement maps. In this tutorial
we will be mostly focusing on the initial
sculpt, how to do a basic unwrap and
also how to use Polypainting to get the
first pass of the vertex painting into a full
texture map.
DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES
For all the assets you need go to
https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans
3D WORLD 65
Sculpt a creature in ZBrush for C4D

Variety is the
spice of life
I painted a basic
creature and then
added in a few
different paint jobs to
show variety, sexual
dimorphism (male and
female differences)
and even age.
Changing the colours
can really radically
alter the look of the
creature. 01BEGIN WITH ZSPHERES
To get started, an especially useful tool for creature
work is ZSpheres. They are little red spheres that you
02 ACTIVATE SYMMETRY
With symmetry turned on, you will only need to
make one side and ZBrush will flip it over to the opposite
string together to make a sort of armature that then side. This is the same with ZSphere. To activate symmetry
becomes the geometry. Find them in the Tool menu and just hit X and the default symmetry is turned on across
drag one out into the main document window, and press the X axis. As you draw out new spheres they will be
T to make it live and active. If you mess up use Ctrl+N to mirrored, unless you are drawing them out directly on the
clear the screen and start again. centre line (the dot will be green if so).

03 WORK UP AND DOWN THE SPINE

Think of the first sphere as either the hips or
the chest. Work both up and down towards the head
04 KNOW YOUR ANATOMY
one way, and towards the tail the other way. I am using
reference and the creature is called a ‘Deep One’ from
H.P. Lovecraft mythology. The creature needs four limbs
and a long, fast tail. Add the spheres in draw mode (Q)
and to move, rotate and scale change to W, E or R.
Designing and building creatures is all about knowing anatomy. This
is a mash-up between a human and a newt-like amphibian, so you have to
choose which characteristics to sculpt in. After you have worked all the way
down the tail, go back and start adding the arms and legs. The anatomy will
be similar to a human but the back legs need to be more stylised, like a dog
with flippers! You need to make sure you have good reference; to make a
believable creature, base it on something real.

05 PREVIEW YOUR GEOMETRY

We are using ZSphere to make out the body plan
of this creature, but at some point we will have to convert
06 ADD ZSPHERE FINGERS AND TOES
this ZSphere model to true geometry to sculpt on. Think
of ZSpheres as an armature that you start with and then
add clay to. You need to make sure all the limbs are there
and that they are the correct length; you will be doing all
the secondary detail later. Hit A to preview the geometry.
You can add hands and feet later but it is good practice to add the
digits as ZSpheres if you can. It can be a little fiddly to get the smaller digits
correct but it is well worth taking the time to learn how to do it. Add ZSpheres
that represent every bone in the hand and foot. The feet are amphibian-like
so they need to be elongated. Add the ZSpheres, move them into place and
then add the next one. This way you can slightly pose the fingers as you are
going with a little bend at every joint.

66 3D WORLD

07 PREVIEW WILL SHOW YOU POLYGROUPS 08 CONVERT TO GEOMETRY
You can use the A key to preview the model you
are creating, and then if you press Shift+F, you will see
that the model is comprised of a range of different
colours. These are called Polygroups and are generated
from each ZSphere. You may need this later on and you
could redo it at a later stage, but it is good to know what
it is like from this point.
09 DYNAMESH AND ZREMESH
There are lots of ways to approach sculpting but
one thing is for sure, you will be using DynaMesh and
ZRemesher a lot. DynaMesh averages out the polygons
across the surface and stops stretching. ZRemesher
makes a good underlying mesh that you can more easily
control. Both methods have their advantages but for now
go to ZRemesher and click 5 (for 5,000) and hit remesh.
11SMOOTH WITH SHIFT
Work down the neck and onto the chest area
and don’t forget to constantly use reference. Look for
creatures or people who have the type of anatomy you
need. Add good definition and muscle groups, but
remember this is just an initial sculpt so we don’t need
any detailing – just the basic forms. After the chest and
deltoids (shoulders) work down each arm to the hands.
Sculpt a creature in ZBrush for C4D
When you have created the full creature in terms of bones you can
convert it to geometry and then begin the initial stages of sculpting. Under
the tool menu you will find a panel called Adaptive Skin. Open this up and you
will see there are a few parameters that you can change. For now just use the
default settings and the Make Adaptive selection. You will notice that a new
base model appears at the top of the tool panel, and this is the one that we
will be sculpting on.
10 START THE PRIMARY SCULPTING
There are hundreds of brushes in ZBrush but you only really need to
use a few to get great results. To begin the sculpting process choose the
ClayBuildup brush from the Brush menu. You can hit B and see all the available
brushes and then pick the letter of the type you want, so in this case use C.
This activates the correct brush and you can begin building up the muscle
layer of the creature. Change the focal shift down to a low number and keep
the draw size quite small for now. Start with thread and work backwards.
12 LEGS AND TAIL
Work along the body, down the tail and the rear legs to the elongated
toes. Look for big groups of muscles like the thigh area and build them up
accordingly. There should be big bands of muscle going down the tail to
give it maximum support and help to drive the creature through the water at
great speeds. Sometimes it helps to change the material to see the creature
in a different way. If the model is stretching at all it might be time to turn on
DynaMesh and even out the geometry. To repeat this just use Ctrl+Tap.
3D WORLD 67
Sculpt a creature in ZBrush for C4D

13 CHECK ALL AROUND THE MODEL

One tip would be to keep rotating the model in all directions so that
you don’t miss any areas. There are lots of anatomical landmarks on the
underside of the creature so focus on the abdomen, the groin area and even
the inside of the legs. The legs are powerful muscles so make sure you reflect
that in the sculpting. Don’t focus on details yet, rather look for large groups of
muscles and build them up. Start using the Move brush, the Inflate brush and
if needed the Flatten brush.
14 USE SHADOWBOX TO MAKE THE FIN
To make the fin along the back use a tool called
ShadowBox found in the Tool menu. This basically allows
you to draw a mask with Shift on two or more sides of
a box, and it projects that mask into geometry. Draw a
spiky line that matches where the spine of the creature
would be. To complete it turn ShadowBox off and you
can now sculpt details into this new subtool.

Create
Normal maps
Because we have a
UV map done we can
easily create Normal
maps, which will
be how we add the
surface detail when
we go to programs
like Cinema4D later.
There is a Normal
Map panel and you
can use the default
settings to create a
full Normal map for
15 ADD SPIKE DETAILS
The spikes might be a little soft and need to be
sculpted a little. Make sure symmetry is on (X) and then
16 GET READY TO MOVE ONTO DETAILING
It’s time to clean up the mesh a little now. You
can ZRemesh it again to clean the geometry up a little
the body. Make sure use a combination of brushes like ClayBuildup, Dam more, or you can work all around the creature with the
you are at the lowest Standard to add score lines, Flatten and also Move. Pull Smooth feature (hold Shift). Make sure you have added
subdivision first. out each spike a little then smooth it back with Shift to enough muscle definition, because from this point on we
make it look tighter. Work all the way from the back to will start to think about surface detailing and won’t be
the front. changing the muscle groups at all.

17 DAM STANDARD TO ADD CREASES

The Dam Standard brush is great for adding score
lines or creases into the model. This can be done around
the head and especially around the eyes. Add more lines
around the ribs and belly area and anywhere that the
creature might have skin folds, like the groin area. Add
marks down the tail and align the back and front of the
creature’s knee area.
18 A NEW PERSPECTIVE
It’s important to make sure that the creature
looks good from all angles and that you check it with
perspective on and off. Hit P to turn perspective on
and off and you will see the difference it can make.
Perspective on is how we would see the creature in the
real world, so rotate all around it and take a look to see if
it looks odd in any pose.

68 3D WORLD
 Sculpt a creature in ZBrush for C4D

Best Preview
Render to get
more maps
If you hit BPR on
the top right of the
document window
you can render your
creature out and even
save it if needed. In
the render panel you
can now take a look
and see what maps

19 DETAILING BEGINS
We can start detailing once we are happy that the
model is all good in terms of shape, limb length and
20 POSE IT TO ADD LIFE
The one problem with modelling in a symmetrical
way is that the real world generally isn’t symmetrical and
have been generated
to use in programs
like Photoshop. The
overall volume. The shape needs to look good from all creatures are the same way. You can leave the posing to really useful ones are
angles, so keep checking before detailing. Use the Dam the very end, but you might like to try moving the arms the Alpha maps, the
Standard brush to add lots of wrinkles and creases on and legs into a more dynamic pose by using masking to Shadow maps, Ambient
the hands and feet. This can be tricky, so use Ctrl+Shift protect other areas as you move parts. We’ll be doing a Occlusion and even a
to hide parts of the model if needed. full tutorial on exactly this subject in an upcoming issue. Floor map if needed.

21ZREMESH AND POLYGROUP

Duplicate the model. ZRemesh the lower one in
the Subtool stack. Subdivide it back up to a few million
polygons and then use Project in the Subtool panel to
project the detail back on. Now delete the one above
as we don’t need it anymore. Use the masking tool (Ctrl)
to add polygroups to the main areas of the body which
helps with UV unwrapping.
22 UV MASTER TO UNWRAP
In the ZScript menu you can find the UVMaster
script. Open this up and choose Polygroups and then
Unwrap, and the model will be unwrapped allowing you
to create texture maps. If you wish to see it unwrapped
then go to the UV menu and look for Morph UV. Hit this
and you will see your model unfold itself. Return it to
normal if it looks okay.

23 ALPHA BRUSHES FOR SURFACE DETAIL

One thing that really makes a model pop is detailed
skin textures. To do this use the pre-made ones that
come with ZBrush. Use the Standard brush and add an
alpha that looks like scales. Set the stroke mode to ‘Drag
rectangle’, and now you can pull out large patches of
surface detail onto the model. You can also download
new alpha brushes form Pixologic.
24 PAINT TO FINISH
Our final step for this walkthrough is to finish up with some added
colour, really bringing our beast to life. Using some cool alpha brushes and
the colour wheel you can paint your creature to suit the design you are going
for. Make the underside lighter – this is called ‘countershading’ in nature and
is found on fish, reptiles and some mammals. Pick colours to suit your desired
look but also add in blues, greens and reds as an undercoat, then build up on
top of them. •

3D WORLD 69
Model a detailed, realistic character

LITTLE HMONG HARVESTER

Inspiration for this 3D interpretation
comes from a photograph taken by
Malcolm Fackender

70 3D WORLD
 Model a detailed, realistic character

MAYA | ZBRUSH | MARVELOUS DESIGNER | XGEN | MARI

SUBSTANCE PAINTER | ARNOLD | AFTER EFFECTS | PHOTOSHOP

MODEL A DETAILED,
REALISTIC CHARACTER
Follow character artist Houra Ershad’s step-by-step process for creating
this stunning render, with tips for clothing, textures and lighting

Houra Ershad
I'm a 3D character artist with a background in industrial design. I used to work as a 3D
modeller for companies involved with cement factory pipelines, but that wasn't what I
wished for. Being introduced to digital sculpting enabled me to pursue a career which
brings together something from all I love to do.
AUTHOR www.artstation.com/houra

T
his project was my third
complete character, and
my second in which I
01MODEL THE
focused on texture projection for
skin and creating realistic eyes. In
the first project, I did all textures
hand painted/sculpted and the
character had closed eyes, so I
didn’t need to learn about how
to apply skin textures in Mari or
to create eyes in 3D. My second
project challenged me in so many
ways, learning how to model and
texture eyes, likeness sculpting
and grooming long, wavy hair.
For this project, I tried to find
solutions to all the errors I had
made before and do my best to
not repeat them. My main goal
was to make everything as real as
I could, and I think what helped
to achieve this was constantly
checking and comparing the
model, forms, shapes and colours
in every individual part of the
scene with the concept, as well
as closely following reference
photos that had similar elements.
Over the next few pages I will
share my process for achieving
this final, realistic render.
HMONG BASKET
For the woven surface of the
basket, the idea was to use MASH
to distribute a single piece as a
base on a plane. First I added a
Bend modifier to a plane to make it
a closed cylinder. Then I scaled it to
match its diameter and height with 01a
the width and height of the basket
in the concept photo. After that, I
re-expanded the scaled plane and
applied the MASH distribution. I
made the upper border the same
way by repeating a single piece,
and the lower border with sweeping
two bunches of cylindrical strands
in different directions, and
combined all of these together.
Then I bent the whole combined
item again to a cylinder shape.
Next, I used a Lattice deformer
to deform the cylinder to the
unique shape of this basket (elliptic
01b
on the top section and rectangular
at the bottom). I modelled a simple
woven plane for the bottom of the
basket. Then I did more precise
reference photo comparisons and
sculpted variations inside ZBrush.

02 MAKE THE OUTFIT

DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES
For all the assets you need go to
https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans
The jacket was made double-
sided to match real life. I wanted to
get as many wrinkles as possible,
especially at the seam areas, so I
tried to play with all the materials
that the program provides to
01c

3D WORLD 71
Model a detailed, realistic character
04
02a
Adding wear
I baked curvature
maps for almost all
the elements in the
scene (except the
character's skin)
and added as a layer
in Mari. I then tried
to play with the
layers mode or add
adjustment nodes to
it, to enhance the worn
quality of the objects.
02b & 03
72 3D WORLD
find the best for my purpose;
setting the particle distance to a
very small number should help too.
Marvelous Designer always gives a
pretty good result when it comes to
the simulation of natural wrinkles.
But since the size restriction of the
garment in my character’s case
made the fabric lightweight and
not affected by gravity, no matter
which type of fabric I used, I had
to sculpt almost 80 per cent of the
wrinkles manually. On the other
hand, it gave me kind of blank areas
and I used them to my advantage
to fill them with the exact wrinkles
that are on the kid’s clothes in the
reference photo.
The scarf was made of a single
piece, and since wrapping a long
piece around the neck would make
a big intersection in the area, I
decided to make the end part of
the garment (on the left shoulder)
just by shaping a subdivided plane
and then giving it thickness.
03 POSINGFor the posing, 5 Advanced
Skeleton was the simple but very
handy rigging and skinning system
that was used (animationstudios.
com.au/advanced-skeleton). It
is free and its auto skinning works
well. You may need to do a bit of
manual clean-up though, but the
skeleton system does the main job.
I left the eyes in their neutral
positions (looking forward) at this
stage, since I needed eyebrows and
lashes to be done to help me with
visualising the expression.
04 PRIMARY LIGHTING
I started with one main light
above the head of the character,
tilted slightly down to the face to
achieve the direction of the main
shadows in the reference photo.
Then I added one other for the
strong rim being cast from the
back-right side of the character.
I tried to match the length
of the shadows to what I see in
the reference, playing with the
direction of these two lights. It still
needed a lot of refinement, but
since textures are so dependant on
light, I decided I would tweak this
after texturing.
05 WORK ON THE
SECONDARY FORMS
Here I imported the character’s
body to ZBrush and cleaned up the
broken forms affected by posing,
then re-sculpted the areas in need
(mostly parts that stayed outside of
the clothes, also a bit on the form of
the shoulders).
The eyes were the only part
of the character with completely
hand-sculpted and painted
textures. I modelled a base mesh
in Maya and sculpted the textures
further in ZBrush.
I should mention that this wasn’t
where the sculpting manipulation
of the body (specifically the face)
finished. I was constantly changing
some of the shapes after every
test render to get closer to the
reference, and it continued even
after finishing the hair. The direction
of the eyes and shape of the eyelids
 Model a detailed, realistic character

04a 04b
had a very specific look and feel to
it, and I wanted to mimic that.

06 TEXTURES
(DISPLACEMENT, COLOUR & ROUGHNESS)
The displacement for the face and
body was a mixture of XYZ maps
and some added layers in ZBrush,
like tiny wrinkles and moles or scar-
shaped marks. I tried to bring down
the intensity of it so it could be
believable for a 3-4 year old child.
The face and body colour
included these layers: XYZ texture
projection; a layer for the veins
around the eyes; four different
layers to add four different
splashed dots to the burnt areas of
the face and body; and some HSV
nodes with painted mask added to
manipulate the colour tones in the
specific areas of the face or body.
For example, to add a more green
tone to the forehead, or redness to
the cheeks.
For the ground, I projected
the reference photo on it for basic
colour and information about the
position and placements of the
glossy or rough areas. Later I added
a luminosity node to this layer and
used the exported result mixed
with a displacement map to build
up the roughness map in Maya.
For the jacket, I exported the
layers related to sheen colour and
layers holding the strains separately
in order to give me more control
later in Maya, using it in a Layered
Shader node.
05

3D WORLD 73
Model a detailed, realistic character

06a

06c

06b
The basket colour was a base
tileable texture and many layers
of painted strains on top, and two
layers of different colours for mud.
The mud layers were also exported
separate from the other layers for
greater look-development control.
For the face roughness I made
an RGB map and put the inner side
of the eyelids, lips, and some areas
of the face each in one channel, and
used this map in combination with
XYZ maps coming from Mari. 07a

07 XGEN WORKS
There are four XGen
collections in the scene: head,
scarf, basket and pants.
The head collection includes
seven descriptions, three for the
forehead, one for brows, one for
peach fuzz and two others for
upper and lower eyelids.
Splitting the forehead hair into
three descriptions helped me to
build more exact forms, existing
in the concept without needing to
paint maps to separate the regions
of the hair. The modifiers for this
description were two layers of
clumping, one noise to give the hair
volume in the middle of the length.
One other noise gives the tips a bit
of fluff, and a third one to build the
flyaway hairs.
To make the flyaways I used a
very efficient method, developed
by Jesus Fernandez (youtube.
07b

74 3D WORLD

com/c/JesusFernandez14) to add
some sliders for Mask, Frequency
and Magnitude to give greater
control over strays.
The scarf included three
expressions: one for general fuzz;
the second was made up of guides
shaped like knots and placed one
by one; and the third one for the
scarf’s end threads. I added an
amount of offset and curl to the
first clumping modifier of the last
description, to make the threads
twist along each strand.
08 FINALISE THE LIGHTS
Performing test renders
at this level resulted in an overly
contrasty and saturated image,
and the scene’s lighting made it
difficult to judge. So I set only a
low-contrast HDR, turned the other
lights off and tried to manipulate
08
BEFORE FINAL CORRECTIONS
07c 09
Model a detailed, realistic character
the saturation and contrast inside Polypaint
Mari by adding HSV nodes to With this project I tried
some of the layers in the texture. to be completely free
I then reset all the lights of the and do some of the
scene again according to the new steps my way. I used
textures, to achieve the amount ZBrush’s Polypainted
of contrast and saturation in the projection of the
reference photo (especially on the reference photo a
face of the character). lot in the process of
texturing in Mari.
09 COMPOSITING
At this level I already had the
lights and colours of the scene as
close as I could get to my original
concept. So I did very few changes
for the compositing, which was
just adding Specular pass to some
areas of the face (tip of the nose,
under the eyes and cheeks) for the
still images in Photoshop. I applied
a Zdepth pass to the final video and
all the still images, then to finish I
added the background. •
AFTER FINAL CORRECTIONS
3D WORLD 75
Your CG problems solved

Practical tips and tutorials from

pro artists to improve
your CG skills

Antony Ward
Be it game development,
rigging or recording in-depth
courses for his YouTube channel, Antony
boasts experience in most areas of 3D.
www.antcgi.com

Mike Griggs
Mike Griggs is a digital
content creator with over
two decades of experience creating VFX
and CGI for a wide range of clients.
www.creativebloke.com

Glen Southern
Glen runs SouthernGFX, a
small Cheshire-based studio
specialising in character and creature
design. He has been using and training
ZBrush in the UK for over 15 years. SOFTWARE: CINEMA 4D | INSYDIUM FUSED
youtube.com/c/SouthernGFX/videos

HOW CAN I CREATE A BESPOKE

TREE WITH CINEMA 4D?
Pietro Chiovaro
Pietro is a freelance 3D
artist and YouTuber. An
expert in the creation of game assets
Ben Helms, Devon
and environments, he shares many of
his creations on his channel.
www.pietrochiovaro.com Mike Griggs replies

Creating natural plant life Taiao enables artists to create natural

GET IN TOUCH
EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO
rob.redman@futurenet.com
within Cinema 4D has in the
past required the use of a few dedicated
and expensive plugins, or finding the
correct textured asset. Many of these
systems are set by the definition of what
a tree or plant ‘should’ be, which makes
these assets and plugins effectively one-
hit wonders.
Insydium, the creators of the Fused set
of plugins for Cinema 4D, have realised
that a bespoke plant life system could
have a wide range of creative benefits for
the artist, especially when combined with
their pre-existing X-Particles, TerraformFX
and MeshTools plugins, and have realised
this with the release of Taiao – a new
toolset for creating procedural plant and
tree networks.
networks. This is most obviously seen in
plants and trees, which are available as
either base templates or pre-existing plant
setups, fully loaded with all the geometry
and materials required to get an artist up
and running in seconds.
As the Taiao toolset has been built
for use only within Cinema 4D, it uses
a standard set of instruction sets – for
example ‘Instance/Render Instance/Multi
Instance’ for geometry replication – and
can also work with other tools whether
created by Insydium or native to Cinema
4D with the familiar Object Manager -
Parent/Child relationship.
For many artists who just need a
quick plant or tree blowing in the wind
animation, Taiao will become their go-to

76 3D WORLD
 Your CG problems solved

EXPERT TIP
ANIMATE THE TREE USING FORCES
The Forces tab of the ‘toPlant’ object allows animation such as
wind to be quickly applied. When the ‘Enable’ box is ticked, the
default animation sets the tree moving as if in a gentle breeze.
Increase the Wind Strength to create hurricanes or storms.

STEP BY STEP DESIGN A TREE WITH INSYDIUM’S TAIAO

01 02

Taiao from Insydium

allows Cinema 4D artists
to easily create procedural
plant and tree systems 03 04

01SET UP THE SCENE

resource. It has a dedicated ‘Forces’ tab
that enables an artist to dial in natural
wind-driven motion with a simple tick in a
checkbox, and these forces can then be
modified in order to suit the requirements
of the shot.
While the presets of existing plant life
will be really useful for artists, creating
a bespoke tree can be managed easily
within a Taiao ‘toPlant’ object in the Plant
Layers tab, where trunks, branch layers,
leaves and flowers can be added and
modified at an artist’s whim.
As ever, Insydium make their Fused
collection a near essential purchase for
any Cinema 4D artist wanting to take their
creative toolset to the next level, with a
range of powerful, easy-to-use tools and
plugins available.
This tutorial is created in Maxon
Cinema 4D R25 with Insydium Fused 2022
Q1. To make a plant in Taiao, first access
it from the Insydium menu, where there
is a range of choices. There are three
main creation options: ’toPlant’, ’toTree’
and ’toGrass’. For this tutorial select the
generic ‘toPlant’ object, which will be
added to the scene’s Object Manager.
Make sure to save the scene to a chosen
file directory.
02 BUILD THE TREE
To make the trunk and branches
of the tree, with the ‘toPlant’ object
selected in the Object Manager and in
the ‘Plant Layers’ tab, use the ‘Add Part’
dropdown to first add a trunk and then
as many layers of branches as you deem
appropriate; in this example three are
created. There are many options in the
Main attributes tab to adjust both the
trunk and branches to the required shape.
03 CREATE LEAVES
When the trunk and branches have
been created, a leaf layer can be added
using the ‘Add Part’ dropdown. Leaves in
Taiao initially look like rectangles. Using
the Leaf Shape options in toPlant>Plant
Layers>Geometry, a profile can be created
using a spline curve. The ‘Main’ section
of this attribute’s palette has controls for
setting different parameters such as leaf
curl and variation.
04 ADD MATERIALS
While there is a range of preset
trees and plants that come with Taiao,
for this tree the materials were added
from the Cinema 4D asset library, as they
were not explicitly shaped to any specific
geometry. The materials are then added
to the respective tree geometry via drag
and drop in the Plant Layers>Materials
tab. The material for the trunk and
branches does need to be applied to each
branch layer.

3D WORLD 77
Your CG problems solved

EXPERT TIP
YOU CAN KEEP ADJUSTING AS LONG AS YOU
NEED TO, EVEN CHANGING COLOUR!
The power in this system is that you can keep adjusting
at any time. Mess with settings like length, twist,
clump, thickness, and you can even keep on changing
the colour using the normal painting tools in ZBrush.
78 3D WORLD
 Your CG problems solved

SOFTWARE: ZBRUSH
HOW DO I GENERATE HAIR AND
BEARDS USING ZBRUSH?
Emma Lodge, UK

Glen Southern replies

STEP BY STEP ADD FIBERMESH AS A BEARD TO A HEAD SCULPT
Hair, beards and fur have
always been a hot ticket item
for CG artists. Programs like Maya, Cinema
4D, Blender and 3ds Max have all featured
the ability to add hair either natively or via
a plugin for quite some time now. A lot of
people seem to forget that ZBrush has a
feature called FiberMesh that enables you
to make really realistic hair and therefore
beards. You can’t do any animation with
the hair once you have made it (at least
not inside ZBrush), but you can export it
to other programs as geometry and then
even convert that geometry to curves to 01 02
guide hairs.
The module for creating hair is found
in the Geometry panel. The process is
quite simple but has lots of parameters to
configure once you have created the hair
(we will do a beard in this exercise). After
masking out the relevant areas, FiberMesh
uses that mask as a guide of where to
place the roots or hair follicles. You can
literally start with nothing and make the
hair from scratch, but Pixologic were kind
enough to give us a whole load of pre-
made hair and fur types, and they can be 03 04
accessed from the top of the FiberMesh
menu. It helps to use one of these pre-
made types and simply adjust the colour,
length, twist, thickness, taper and amount
01ADD A MASK
TO GUIDE THE BEARD
The first step is to decide where the beard
03 COMB AND GROOM THE
BEARD AS NEEDED
At this point you can start to comb and
of hairs to your liking. is going to go. Add a mask in ZBrush by groom the beard to the style that suits
Once you have one of the pre-made holding down CTRL as you draw on the your model. To access all the grooming
hair samples selected in Lightbox, you model with the Standard brush. This will tools hold down B for Brush, the G for
can apply it to the head. You need to apply a mask anywhere that you paint. Groom and all the brushes will be isolated
remember that what you see from now The beard will only add hair where you from the main pack. Now just try a few
on is an approximation or preview of the have masked; the mask is where the roots different brushes to see what effect they
hair you are trying to make. Once you are, so the hair flows from this area. have on the beard.
have finished all your tweaks you need to
remember to hit ‘Accept’, and that then
makes the final version. This is created as
a Subtool below the model you did the
02 CHOOSE A TEMPLATE STYLE
OR START FROM SCRATCH 04 BPR RENDER TO SEE THE
FINAL RESULT
Once you have a mask defined you can go Now hit Accept and the beard will become
masking on. After it’s been applied you into the FiberMesh panel that you can find a new Subtool underneath the head sculpt
are able to assess the modifiers in the under Geometry tab in the Tool panel. that you created it on. You can still mess
same panel. Use Lightbox>Fibers to access the pre- with the beard even now and the normal
This is where the fun begins as there made templates for all types of different manipulation tools like Move will work on it
are more settings here than I can describe. hair and beards. Choose something that if needed. Now use the BPR render button
Pay particular interest to the ‘coverage’ hangs down already and is a little wispy. to see how the beard looks rendered. To
which gives you the volume, the colour When you have chosen the one that works make it more convincing, make sure you
for both root and tip, the length and also best for you, go to Modifiers and adjust a are using a Skin Shader material or it may
the gravity – unless you want fly-away hair few parameters. look odd.
that is!

3D WORLD 79
Your CG problems solved
SOFTWARE: SUBSTANCE DESIGNER
HOW CAN I CREATE A
PARQUET FLOOR MATERIAL
USING SUBSTANCE DESIGNER?
Judith Smith, Toronto
Pietro Chiovaro replies
I will show you an easy and
powerful way to create
a parquet material using Substance
Designer. This material is only composed
of a few elements, but the end result can
be incredible. For this type of substance,
I selected the Physically Based (Metallic/
Roughness) Graph Template and
deleted the Metallic output since it is not
necessary for this material.
Now we can start to add the nodes
necessary for this material, so from the
Substance Designer library we need: the
Directional Noise, and the Brick Generator
pattern (these two are the main elements
of the texture), the Height to Normal
World Units filter (required for the creation
of the normal map – alternatively you can
use the Normal filter), two Levels filters,
and a Gradient Map filter that will give
The Directional Noise let me add
the imperfections in the shape of
the parquet, and add the wood vein
80 3D WORLD
colour to the substance. A Blend filter is
the key element that will help us to mix the
two noise generators.
Next we have to link all of these
elements together. First of all, we need
to mix the Directional Noise with the
Brick Generator using the Blend filter.
In particular we have to link the Brick
Generator to the Foreground input of
the Blend filter, and the Levels filter of the
Directional Noise to the Background and
Opacity input of the Blend filter. Now we
can link the Blend filter to the Gradient
Map, and consequentially we can link this
filter to Base Color output.
Then we can link the Blend filter to
the Height to Normal values (or just the
Normal filter) and link it to the Normal
output, and last but not least we have to
repeat this process linking the Blend filter
WATCH
THE VIDEO
https://bit.ly/3D-world-digitalhumans
with the second Levels filter. Now we can
link this Levels filter to the Roughness and
Height output of the material.
Now we can focus on the parameters,
so starting with the Brick Generator, I set
these values for the Brick size: X 2 and Y
8. Then I set the Bevel to X 0.08 and Y 0.2,
and the Slope to X -0.15, Y 0.09. I also set
Variation to 0.08 since in real life nothing
is perfect, and lastly I set the Offset to
0.72. Regarding the Levels filter linked
to the Directional Noise, I decreased
the contrast of the noise and made it
brighter. For the Levels filter linked to the
Roughness and Height output, I slightly
increased the contrast.
The last step is to set the Gradient Map
colour – for this project I created a shade
of brown a bit brighter at the beginning of
the gradient.

SOFTWARE: N/A
WHICH IS BETTER FOR AN ARTIST
WHEN TRAVELLING, AN IPAD PRO
OR A MOBILESTUDIO PRO?
David Green, Cork
Antony Ward replies
You’re a digital artist who
not only works with painting
applications, but you also sculpt from time
to time too. You use a beefed-up desktop
which is perfect for this kind of work,
especially when paired with a graphics
tablet, but what about those times when
you want to work away from the desk?
Well, these days you have a lot of options
to help unshackle you from your office, the
problem is they can be very expensive. So
which device do you invest in?
For me, the more artist-friendly and
compact options would be either Apple’s
iPad Pro or Wacom’s MobileStudio Pro.
Now these are two different beasts so we
can’t compare them directly, so what you
need to do is decide how you are going to
use them – this will then help you decide
which is the right option for you.
If you’re looking for something which
is light, easy to use and will allow you to
Your CG problems solved
Buying a portable device is a great
investment for a travelling artist,
but with so many to choose from,
which is better suited for you?
paint, sketch or sculpt on the go, then to all your desktop applications, then I
I would recommend the iPad Pro. It’s a would look at the MobileStudio Pro. Yes,
great device for thrashing out ideas and it’s bulkier and not as easy to work with on
you can quite happily sit with it in your lap the go, but you can take your work with
while on the sofa, sat on a train or even you and continue in the same operating
by a pool. The downside would be that it system and applications.
uses a unique operating system, so there Now these are just some general views
would be a bit of work involved in getting and obviously there are more factors to
any work you do back onto your desktop consider, but once you nail down the
and into your commonly used apps. device’s intended use and look at what
Alternatively, if you’re looking for more best suits your needs, it will make the
of a mobile office which gives you access choice a little easier.
EXPERT TIP
WHAT ABOUT BATTERY LIFE?
Battery life does play a huge role in these devices and in this respect the iPad Pro
wins out. With the MobileStudio Pro I do find that I keep it plugged in, not just to
keep the power topped up but to also improve its performance.
3D WORLD 81
News and views from around the
international CG community
vfxNova is known for its work
on blockbuster movies and
acclaimed TV series, as well
as creative art installations
NAME
Victor Wong
JOB TITLE
Visual effects supervisor,
cross-media artist,
NFT artist
STUDIO
vfxNova digital
productions Ltd
LOCATION
Hong Kong
ABOUT
Victor’s artistic creations
include visual effects,
painting, digital
animation, sculpture and
public installations.
WEB
www.vfxnova.com
82 3D WORLD
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…
Victor Wong
After launching Hong Kong’s VFX industry, the award-winning
director has wowed audiences on Asia’s biggest productions
grew up in a family
I
that ran a shop
selling traditional
papercraft work
in Hong Kong
and acquired a DIY skill set.
After obtaining an engineering
degree from the University of
Washington in Seattle, I trained
to find solutions by research and
analysis. Then I set up my own
VFX company in the early 90s
and began developing a cultural
vision to pioneer emerging digital
creative media and explore new
artistic potential for film. Today,
I’m known for intertwining
technology and beauty for both
my VFX and my new media art.
08:30am I wake up and go out for
breakfast while reviewing social
media. I’ll also outline ideas from
late-night discussions with friends
and colleagues, or sometimes
from my dreams! Then I answer
email for vfxNova, Tokyo Toys, my
company specialising in creating
collectibles from Japan (working
with the creations of Osamu
Tezuka is a lifelong dream come
true!), and for my personal work
in fine art with my robotics and AI
painting creation, ‘A.I. Gemini’.
09:30am Off to the studio, where
I hold a daily brief with project
supervisors to review production
challenges and solutions. We
always have to put our brains
together to create things that have
never been done before. Maybe we
need to develop hundreds of CG
structures that recreate a portside
city from 1860s China, create a
full-sized hot air balloon to fly
people virtually over a 360-degree
LED view of Hong Kong, or bring
ancient Chinese paintings to life
using a new fluid dynamics system.
11:00am Now we check in
with clients to discuss our latest
progress: overnight tests (usually
these are particle simulations or
shots with lots of elements), new
concept discussions, and shot
reviews. We also have a campus
in mainland China, so I’ll check in
with that team as well to see how
they’re progressing (they work on
a lot of wire removal for martial
arts films!). I finish with a call to
our partner in Los Angeles, Butcher
Bird Studios, to talk about creature
design for a new horror feature. In
between meetings, I tend to flowers
in our studio’s mini-garden.
13:00pm I generally take lunch
in my private office so I have time
to play music and daydream. This

“WE’VE DEVELOPED A NEW AI ALGORITHM
THAT WILL ADJUST LIGHTING BASED ON
MUSIC PLAYING ALONG A 200M STREET”
exercises a completely different part of
my brain and helps me work through the
day’s creative missions. You might hear
me playing a Beatles tune on my upright
piano or strumming a classic rock song
on one of the guitars from my collection.
My current favorite is a 1918 Gibson L-1
Archtop Acoustic that sounds amazing
even though it’s a hundred years old!
14:00pm Now I get to work hands-on
with colleagues (we have around 150
artists at vfxNova) and experiment
with new art creations. Right now,
we’re working on a major installation
for HKSB that will involve huge
LED screens with art created by AI
algorithms influenced by the ebb
and flow of financial data. I wanted
something that would combine
Chinese natural philosophy with
market progress. The result is the first
Chinese ink painting directly tied to the
performance of the Hang Seng Index,
vfxNova worked on visual
effects for the action movies
Rise of the Legend (above) and
The Bravest (below)
which indicates the health of Hong
Kong’s businesses. I call this ‘FinArt!’
15:00pm On-site visits are next. Now
we see if our modelling of lighting for a
new installation we created with giant
colourful, translucent butterflies (some
the size of a small car!) is correct. It’s
like the Tanis map room scene, where
Indiana Jones holds up the Staff of Ra
and the sun sends a beam through it. At
night the butterflies will light up with
thousands of LEDs. We’ve developed
a new AI algorithm that will adjust
lighting automatically based on music
playing along the 200 metre-long street.
17:30pm It’s time to take happy hour
with colleagues, friends and clients.
I love taking the occasion of eating
together to build better relationships.
Then it’s back to the studio for late-night
inspiration. I try to finish by midnight.
Or 1am. Or 3am.
A day in the life
BE CURIOUS
AND BE PREPARED
Learn the importance of “how things work”
How did you get started in CG and VFX?
After graduating from college, I started a
computer graphics workshop in Hong Kong
with a Mac II doing photo-retouching. In
1991 I purchased a 4D35 Silicon Graphics
Computer Workstation installed with
SOFTIMAGE 3D and created Hong Kong’s
first 30-second full CGI TV commercial. Since
then, I’ve created animation, CG or VFX
work for over 1,000 TV commercials and 120
feature films! Now I’ve expanded into the art
world, but I still apply many of the techniques
I honed for VFX, ranging from LED motion
sculptures to AI-influenced robot painting.
Your work spans paintings, sculptures, tech-
art, animation, film and AI. How does this
inspire your VFX work? Do you think digital
artists should explore all forms of art?
“VFX is art”. I’ve promoted this idea since the
early 90s here in Hong Kong, when we began
applying CGI to realise the aesthetics of our
imaginations. However, to create superb
visuals, we do need some artistic ground
truth, whether from paintings, sculptures,
new tech effects or historical findings. It is
important for us to understand the reasons
behind art’s beauty. For example, the
semi-reflective, semi-transparent pigment
treatment that da Vinci applied to Mona
Lisa’s eyes teaches us how to create a realistic
rendering of a CG character’s eyes.
What advice would you give to those just
starting out?
As a VFX artist or CGI animator, you must
do more than sit in front of a computer; you
must also reach out to the real world. Being
curious about “how things work” is the
foundation of becoming a great animator
or artist. For instance, I love recreating the
dynamics of natural lighting in CG, but I’ve
also continued to learn about lighting in the
physical world, having spent the last two
decades photographing objects, people and
landscapes with a pinhole camera.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Creating or understanding something that
I haven’t thought about, encountered,
experienced, or imagined before! If you
take a walk around vfxNova, you’ll notice
that we’re always experimenting with new
technologies. A modified 3D printer might
be extruding an exotic shape, and then a
few feet away you might notice a Chinese ink
painting in progress, with an AI creating the
brushstrokes. This is also my role: pushing the
boundaries of not just our work but our art!
3D WORLD 83
Robert Anderberg

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

dot big bang: democratising

game development
We sat down with the CEO of ControlZee, Robert Anderberg, to discuss the
multiplayer project that is rewriting what it means to be a game developer

ot big bang is an online

multiplayer gaming
d platform looking to
take game development
by storm. Created by
California-based company ControlZee,
the project is striving to open up game
development to anyone that has access
to a browser and an internet connection,
for free – effectively democratising the
development of video games.
It started in 2016 as a hobby project
that veteran gamedev Robert Anderberg
and artist Jon Stockwell worked on in
their spare time. Now, just six years later,
the company has 19 employees, has been
through several successful rounds of
funding, and has 1.1M plays on the Hub
World welcome area, which launched in
October 2021.
Robert Anderberg, CEO of ControlZee,
answers our questions.

What does “the democratisation of

game development” mean? And why is
it important?
In short, democratising game development
means creating game development tools
that anyone can use, and making those tools
available everywhere, for anyone!
Right now, game development feels
out of reach for most people. It feels
like something you need a lot of coding
knowledge to know how to do. It’s better

84 3D WORLD

than it used to be, of course – tools have
come up over the last few years that make it
easier to develop a game. But we wanted to
go a step further, and create tools that could
be used by anyone, on any system.
Accessibility in game development is
always going to be vitally important. The
more people we can empower to create
games, the more diverse and inclusive the
industry becomes.
How does dot big bang make game
development more accessible?
dot big bang runs in a web browser, so it’s
accessible in places and on systems that
other game development tools aren’t. In
addition to Windows, Mac and Linux, the
whole platform will run on Chromebooks,
shared computers, phones and tablets, with
no install required to get started.
How is browser-based development seen
in the industry?
For the most part, it’s seen positively.
But I’d be lying if I said it was entirely
positive. There is disdain for browser-
based development. Some developers will
always believe that unless you’re creating
AAA games or doing low-level console
optimisation, then you aren’t a ‘real’
developer. But honestly, none of that is true.
We’ve seen some incredible titles over the
last decade that boast simple graphics and
amazing gameplay (like Minecraft) that
have been super successful.
Additionally, web browsers have become
extremely capable over the last few years,
and we’re now in a position where you can
create very impressive, solid games in a
browser. Which, ten years ago, would have
sounded impossible.
What are the challenges of browser-
based development?
Browsers do, of course, have limitations.
Mainly in the amount of access you get
to the capabilities of the device they’re
running on, and in performance, compared
to a native application.
If you tried to take the same approach
as you would developing a native game on
console or PC with a browser, you’d likely
make something that feels slow and glitchy.
So we took a different approach. We built
Left: The full release
is set to also include
easy-to-sculpt terrain
building, in full 3D
Below: Users can build
their own game worlds,
and with multiplayer
editing friends can join
to collaborate on these
worlds together
Robert Anderberg
a new game engine from scratch that’s
perfectly matched to the capabilities of the
browser. That way anyone can build games
that run at 60fps, and feel really solid with
no lag or issues – just fun.
Why is it important that we provide
gamers with the opportunity to try
game development themselves?
Allowing players to also create games
gives them an opportunity to learn and
understand the development process. Game
development is also a fantastic place to learn
a variety of skills, from allowing people to
express their creative ideas, to storytelling,
programming, 3D modelling and working
in teams.
What do you foresee the results being
from widespread game development?
The game development industry is
currently only accessible to people who
have the right equipment, skills, funds and
backing to create games. We hope that by
providing excellent tools that run on a huge
range of devices, many more people will be
able to create games, and the industry will
become more inclusive and diverse.
It won’t be as easy as just providing the
tools. We’ll also need to provide guidance
for those who’d love to take the plunge
into development, but don’t know where
to start. That’s where education comes in.
We’ve actually started developing a formal
syllabus for schools, and currently have over
500 educators signed up to our programme.
It’ll use dot big bang as a classroom tool to
teach children game development!
You can try dot big bang’s public alpha
FYI at dotbigbang.com. Head to
dotbigbang.com/education to sign up for
info on the education programme.
3D WORLD 85

PROJECT INSIGHT
Photorealism
under the surface
Norwegian post-production agency Rebel Unit talk collaborating
on Scandinavia’s heaviest VFX feature in history
orwegian natural disaster
movie Nordsjøen (‘The North
N
Sea’) has been acclaimed
for its visual effects. With a
¤6.5million budget, the film
is Scandinavia’s heaviest VFX feature in
history, and while digitally composed, the
themes portrayed in the movie tell a story
of a reality that is far from virtual.
Directed by John Andreas Andersen
(The Quake, King of Devil’s Island) and
with cinematography by Pål Ulvik Rokseth,
the film was produced by Fantefilm Fiksjon
and distributed by Nordisk Film Norge.
The film opens on Christmas Eve
1969, as the government announces the
discovery of the world’s largest offshore oil
platform. The thriller explores the all-too-
real consequences of 50 years of offshore
drilling, and the results are disastrous.
Theo Flo-Groeneboom, founder and VFX
supervisor at Bergen-based Rebel Unit, led
a project to create all of the CGI underwater
scenes, from the sinking lifeboat to the
robot searching through the wreckage for
survivors. Theo and his team utilised Fusion
Studio to create the larger-than-life 3D
effects featured in the film. Lasting eight
months, the team at Rebel Unit delivered
around 100 shots of full CGI, equating to six
minutes of footage. A project with this level
of ambition wasn’t without its challenges.
“One of the biggest we faced was
ensuring consistency in quality and output.
Fusion’s standalone nodal approach meant
we could duplicate the same content across
multiple shots,” reveals Theo. “It’s easy to
set something up and tweak the variables on
a shot-by-shot basis using a ‘master’ list.
“For example, we used a master template
composition for all of the atmospheric
effects, from depth fog particles to floating
and small interactive particulates.
“Once the master shot was locked down,
we populated all of the other shots with the
exact same setup, only changing the camera
and the geometry for the scene. It made it
very easy to tweak effects across many shots
at the same time.”
The main challenge for Theo and his
team involved creating photorealistic CGI
for six minutes of film with such a small
crew. “One of the ways Fusion helped us out
was with the atmospherics and particles,”
says Theo. “It meant we didn’t have to run
a full simulation, export and render the
pipeline. It’s sort of a hybrid thing, semi
real-time and game-engine like, but also 2D
and comp wise.”
With a small VFX team, strong
teamwork was required to ensure the
“WE WERE A SMALL CREW OF FOUR
WORKING ON THE PROJECT FROM START TO
FINISH. IT WAS A CHALLENGE”
Theo Flo-Groeneboom, founder and VFX supervisor, Rebel Unit
delivery looked both flawless and realistic.
“This definitely marked a new high in
terms of the amount of output we pushed
ourselves to deliver,” says Theo. “We were
a small crew of four working on the project
from start to finish. It was a challenge.”
To ensure that their output and
workflow were seamless, the team at Rebel
Unit adopted a firm quality control process.
This included regularly updating edits
with temporary shots all the way through
to using contact sheets to check for visual
consistency and technical issues.
Rebel Unit composited 2D elements in
Nuke, while Fusion remained pivotal for
all 3D effects. “I’ve been using Fusion since
2003 and continued to incorporate it into
the workflow when I founded the studio in
2016,” explains Theo. “It was instrumental
in creating the soft, dreamy underwater
aesthetic. Especially any aspects relating to
3D, particle effects and atmospherics.
“Furthermore, we were able to get most
of our crew up to speed in Fusion thanks to
its intuitive toolset, and because it adopts
Photorealism under the surface
Opposite: This challenging
project resulted in the small
team of four delivering around
100 full CGI shots for the film
industry-standard formats like openEXR
and Alembic.”
As a small team, Rebel Unit prefer to
keep their workflow toolset as lean as
possible, yet capable of the level of output
demanded from feature film productions.
“We are big fans of free and open-source
software,” says Theo. “Our main VFX
pipeline consists of Linux workstations,
a cluster of nodes running Proxmox and
rendernodes as LXC containers. We also
use Afanasy/CGRU for distributing Fusion,
Nuke, Blender and Houdini outputs. Not to
forget DaVinci Resolve for editorial work
and finishing. We prefer to keep the amount
of tools we use quite limited, as we focus
on having a tight integration and workflow
between them.”
When it came to creative inspiration,
Theo and his team worked closely with the
film’s director John Andreas Andersen and
DoP Pål Ulvik Rokseth, in addition to the
production and editorial teams. “We would
bounce ideas back and forth to see what
would work in the cut before starting full
production,” explains Theo. “Early on we
had some creative talks about the overall
vision and looked to classic masterpieces
like The Abyss, Leviathan, Deep Rising and
Sphere. But we also had access to hours
of deep water robotic footage taken from
the North Sea itself. It was a good mix of
creative choices and hard realism.”
Released in Norway on 29 October 2021,
FYI as of 11th January 2022 Nordsjøen is
now widely accessible across Apple TV,
Google Play and ViaPlay.
3D WORLD 87
Kuban Altan
Welcome to the golden age of
real-time compositing
Kuban Altan, VP of R&D at Zero Density, reveals how real-time compositing
will change the future of how we make entertainment
ack in 2016, Zero Density
was a tight-knit team with
B a very big idea. There were
less than ten people working
on the company’s NAB
booth that year, but they wanted to demo
something that had never been done
before. Their aim was to show that node-
based compositing could work in real
time, all with just two things: software
and a computer.
“It’s important to understand that at
the time, game engines were starting to
render more photorealistic graphics than
broadcast engines, which were all based
on code built back in the ‘90s and early
‘00s,” reveals VP of R&D at
Zero Density, Kuban Altan.
“Everyone in the industry
was asking the same
question: how could
my $50,000 broadcast
render engine provide
worse graphics and
photorealism than a
$500 PlayStation?”
According to Kuban,
that seemed like a
question Zero Density’s
team could help answer.
They decided to code something
new by downloading Unreal Engine’s
source code and modifying it for real-time,
node-based compositing. Doing this all as a
88 3D WORLD
PRO THOUGHTS
“WE WILL SEE THE END OF MASSES OF
EQUIPMENT BEING USED TO CREATE LIVE
BROADCASTS OF PRODUCTIONS”
Kuban Altan, VP of R&D, Zero Density
start-up was a huge undertaking, but before
long, the Zero Density team began to see
the results of their labour: their NAB demo
was surrounded by curious onlookers.
“People would ask us where we kept the
racks of other equipment needed to run the
comp and green screen keying!”
Altan continues. “Together,
our team had shown that
real-time compositing
was possible without
high-tech processing
power, and it was one
of the most memorable
moments of my career.”
Of course, a lot has
happened since Zero
Density’s 2016 NAB demo.
Today, almost everyone has
heard of virtual production,
and many artists have worked on a
virtual studio set. The idea of compositing
real and photoreal virtual worlds together
in real time is no longer so radical. But what
Right: A node graph in
Zero Density’s real-time
compositing software,
Reality Engine
Below: Real-time
compositing can make a
huge difference
to the look of a live
television show
will the future bring as more companies
enter into virtual production’s golden era?
Kuban Altan reveals his predictions.
POST WILL ALWAYS HAVE ITS PLACE
Real-time compositing has many benefits. It
means directors can see and edit photoreal
3D graphics directly on set, so if they want
to change the colour of a backdrop or
make rain that lasts all day – it can be done
interactively even during the shoot. This
makes for a far more collaborative workflow
as everyone can make key decisions fast,
and get instant feedback on what the final
result will look like.
That said, I don’t believe real-time
compositing will eliminate post-production
anytime soon. This is particularly true
when it comes to the film industry, where
workflows and budgets favour long post-
production work. The most important thing
to remember is that even if you’re shooting
in real time, final adjustments can always
be done in post, and real time means artists
will be able to make many more iterations
without waiting to see the results.

MORE ARTISTS WILL LEARN

UNREAL ENGINE
With UE5 around the corner and the
promise of better rendering, we’re seeing
more 3D artists than ever before starting to
use Unreal Engine. This comes with huge
benefits, like the numerous tools creators
can benefit from – including our real-time
compositing software Reality Engine,
which uses Unreal Engine as its renderer.
For anyone curious to learn about real-
time compositing, I would recommend
downloading the free community edition of
Reality Engine and heading to our YouTube
channel for some quickstart videos to begin
experimenting with.

WE’LL SEE THE END OF RACKS

OF HARDWARE
Finally, while I don’t believe we’ll see the
end of post-production, we will see the end
of masses of equipment being used to create
live broadcasts of productions like sports
or live events. Soon, more manufacturers
will develop their IP into GPU code rather
than develop physical boards or boxes. That
means as an industry, we’ll be focusing
on software rather than on hardware;
connecting nodes in the compositor rather
than cables in the rack.
Find out more at zerodensity.tv and
FYI youtube.com/c/zerodensitytv

3D WORLD 89
Mac Studio

We explore the latest software and

hardware tools to see if they are
worth your time or money

AUTHOR PROFILE
Matt Hanson
Matt has been a
technology journalist
for well over a decade,
writing for publications
such as T3, MacFormat HARDWARE REVIEW

Mac Studio
and Creative Bloq.
He’s a senior editor of
TechRadar, where he
can be found writing
about and reviewing
laptops, computers, PRICE From £1,999 / $1,999 | COMPANY Apple | WEBSITE apple.com
monitors and more.
creativebloq.com/

T
author/matt-hanson he Mac Studio
is Apple’s latest
workstation aimed
at creative professionals.
PROS Looking a bit like a Mac mini
that’s hit the gym, the Mac
Very powerful Studio is an impressively
compact PC that comes
Compact design with a huge amount of
power. Remember the
Plenty of ports hugely powerful M1 Max that
powered the MacBook Pro 14-
Silent in use inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch?
Well, the Mac Studio comes
CONS with one as well, offering you
the kind of performance that’ll
make light work of even the
Expensive most intense projects.
Still not enough power?
Non-upgradable Well, the Mac Studio can also
be configured to come with
Overkill for many people the brand-new M1 Ultra chip.
This is essentially two M1 Max
chips connected together via
a low latency, high bandwidth
connector, turning them
into one large M1 Ultra chip,
which offers double the cores,
memory and bandwidth of the
already uber-powerful M1 Max.
With an M1 Ultra installed, the
Mac Studio is one of the most
powerful machines Apple has
ever built, coming close to
rivalling the most expensive
Mac Pro configuration, all
while keeping the overall size
of the machine small enough
to fit on a desk. But is Apple’s
latest machine really a viable
purchase for most creative
professionals? We tested it to
find out…
FEATURES
The biggest feature of the
Mac Studio is the raw power it
provides, especially with the
M1 Ultra. According to Apple,
the Mac Studio with the M1
Ultra offers 3.8 times faster
CPU performance compared
to the most expensive 27-inch
iMac. Additionally, it also offers
90% faster CPU performance
than the Mac Pro with a 16-
core Intel Xeon processor,
and up to 60% faster CPU
performance than a Mac Pro
with a 28-core processor.
Those claims are certainly
impressive, but not only is the
M1 Ultra incredibly powerful,
but it’s also incredibly efficient.
Again, according to Apple,
the M1 Ultra offers 90% higher
multi-thread performance
compared to a 16-core PC chip
whilst using the same amount
of energy.
It can also offer faster GPU
performance than the highest-
end PC GPU, while using
200W less. What this means in
practice is that running costs
are lower (especially important
in these times of rising energy
bills), and the M1 Ultra also
runs cooler. This means it’s
nearly silent in use, without
the need for fans to spin up
to keep it cool, and it’s also
allowed Apple to make the
Mac Studio so compact.
PERFORMANCE
We ran several creative apps
on the Mac Studio, and they all
performed exceptionally well.
In Photoshop, for example,

90 3D WORLD

“IT’S ONE OF THE NICEST LOOKING
WORKSTATION PCs AROUND, AND ITS
COMPACT SIZE REALLY IS REMARKABLE”
we loaded up high-resolution
photos in a few seconds, and
applying effects and filters was
instantaneous. The ‘Neural
Engine’ cores of the M1 Max
and M1 Ultra also allow the
Mac Studio to make use of
the artificial intelligence (AI)
and machine learning tools of
Photoshop. These tools can
help make what were once
tedious and time-consuming
tasks quick and simple, and
Photoshop is a great showcase
for what AI and machine
learning can bring to creative
workflows. So, the fact that the
Mac Studio can utilise these
(and do them well), is a big
selling point.
The Mac Studio also
coped well with us editing a
complex video project in Final
Cut Pro, with certain scenes
incorporating multiple 8K
sources. All while remaining
basically silent in use, and it
also rendered our 3D footage
in Houdini incredibly quickly.
DESIGN
The Mac Studio’s chassis is a
single aluminium design, with
a square footprint of 7.7 inches
and a height of 3.7 inches.
It can easily be picked up in
Above: If you go for the Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip, with a 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU, a single hand, and the size
64GB unified memory and 1TB SSD, the asking price jumps to a huge $3,999 / £3,999. While the means it won’t take up much
new M1 Ultra may be tempting, it offers a level of performance that not everyone will need room on a desk.
Apple has also adorned
the Mac Studio with a very
good selection of ports: four
Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10GB
Ethernet port, two USB-A
ports, an HDMI port and audio
jack on the back. On the front,
THE VERDICT
9.0
APPLE MAC STUDIO
The Mac Studio is one of the best creative workstations you
can buy right now, especially if you’re after high performance
in a small form factor. Saying that, it’s overkill for most
OUT OF 10
people and is certainly not cheap.
Mac Studio
there’s another two USB-C
ports, and an SD card slot,
making this a great choice for
photographers. Having the SD
card slot and USB-C ports at
the front means they are easy
to access on a desk, though
the power button being at the
back is a bit fiddly. There’s also
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 for
wireless connections.
It’s one of the nicest looking
workstation PCs around,
and its compact size really is
remarkable, considering what
the Mac Studio is capable of.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
There’s a lot to love about
the Mac Studio, particularly
its excellent performance
and compact design. If you’re
after a powerful and petite
workstation for doing your
creative work on, you’re not
going to find a better machine.
But is it a product we’d
unanimously recommend to
people? The answer is no.
This is a niche device aimed at
quite a specific audience. If you
do heavy creative work and
want a small workstation, this
is absolutely the right product
for you.
However, if you don’t need
the kind of performance on
offer here – and many people
simply won’t – then you’d be
better off buying something
more affordable, such as the
Mac mini. If you’re looking for
something to work on while
you travel, a laptop, such as the
14-inch MacBook Pro, may also
be a better bet.
3D WORLD 91
Studio Display

AUTHOR PROFILE
Matt Hanson
Matt has been a
technology journalist
for well over a decade,
writing for publications
such as T3, MacFormat
and Creative Bloq.
He’s a senior editor of
TechRadar, where he
can be found writing
about and reviewing
laptops, computers,
monitors and more.
creativebloq.com/
author/matt-hanson

PROS

Nice design

Can charge your devices

HARDWARE REVIEW

Studio Display
Good image quality

CONS

Need to spend extra for PRICE From £1,499 / $1,599 | COMPANY Apple | WEBSITE apple.com
height adjustment

A
No HDR pple’s Studio Display
was launched
Limited to 60Hz alongside the new
Mac Studio, with both
Webcam issues products aimed at creative
professionals. While the
Mac Studio handles the
computing side of things, the
Studio Display, as the name
suggests, is the screen.
A good monitor is an
essential tool for creative
professionals, especially those
working in visual mediums, and
there’s some stiff competition
out there. So is the Studio
Display worth it?
FEATURES
As the price hints at, this isn’t
your standard monitor, as
Apple has packed it with some
interesting features. Unusually
for a monitor, the Studio
Display comes with a built-in
webcam and studio-quality
mic array. These days we’re
increasingly relying on video
calls, so having a high-quality
webcam and microphone
is extremely important,
especially for people who are
working remotely.
The webcam is boosted by
the inclusion of the A13 Bionic
chip, offering a feature known
as ‘Center Stage’, which uses
artificial intelligence to keep
you centred when using the
webcam – even if you move
around. The A13 Bionic also
works with the built-in speakers
of the Mac Studio to offer
special audio via Dolby Atmos.
While this doesn’t compete
with a physical Dolby Atmos
surround sound setup, it offers
an impressive level of sound
that you wouldn’t expect from
built-in monitor speakers.
PERFORMANCE
The Studio Display offers a
decent level of performance
with bright and vivid image
quality, and viewing angles
were particularly good. If you
want a monitor to show off
your work to lots of people
at once, this is useful, though
the glossy finish of the
screen meant that distracting
reflections were an issue.
But the performance of the
Studio Display didn’t wow us,
which is a shame considering
the steep asking price. The
lack of HDR support is baffling,
to be honest, with cheaper

92 3D WORLD
 Studio Display

Left: The Studio Display has a ‘boxy’ yet stylish look Above: Some may find the ports a bit lacking

“IF YOU WANT TO ADJUST THE HEIGHT You can also configure the
Studio Display to come with
YOU’LL NEED TO PAY AN EXTRA £400, A a nano-texture glass, which
helps eliminate glare and
PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL EXTRA COST” reflections, but it will cost an
additional £250.

SHOULD YOU BUY IT?

monitors supporting it. The
Studio Display also has a max
refresh rate of 60Hz, and while
this is pretty standard, there
are a growing number of
monitors that support higher,
such as 120Hz and above.
The webcam quality has
also come under scrutiny.
While we found that it was fine
in brightly lit situations, many
people have noticed that the
quality can be quite poor.
Apple has stated that this is
a software issue and a fix is
underway. While it’s not a deal
breaker, it’s still disappointing.
DESIGN
The design is reminiscent of
the 24-inch iMac from last
year, but without the choice
of colours. As you’d expect,
it’s stylish and minimalist, with
especially when it’s off, you
can see just how reflective the
display is. Along the top of the
screen are vents for keeping
the Studio Display cool, and
on the back are the ports. This
is where the Studio Display’s
minimalist design arguably
goes too far, as rather than a
range of inputs we’d usually
see in a monitor, such as HDMI
and DisplayPort, there’s just
four USB-C ports, and only one
of them is actually the input.
If you’re planning on
plugging in a MacBook or a
Mac, this won’t be an issue,
and a nice feature is that the
Studio Display will also charge
your device while it’s plugged
in. The other USB-C ports
allow you to plug peripherals
in, essentially turning the
Studio Display into a USB-C
hub which is handy.
But if you have a device that
uses HDMI for its video output,
then you’re going to need an
hidden costs that usually come
included in the price in rival
products, and that’s true with
the Studio Display. While the
Studio Display does come with
a stand, it only allows you to
adjust the display by tilting it.
You can also choose to swap
the stand for a VESA mount,
which is useful if you want to
attach it to a wall or already
have a stand, but many other
monitors come with both
options, which makes Apple’s
forced choice between the two
feel a little tight.
If you want to adjust the
height of the monitor – and
why wouldn’t you? – then you’ll
need to pay an extra £400, a
pretty substantial extra cost
for something that, once
again, comes with most other
monitors for free.
THE VERDICT
The Studio Display is an
interesting product from
Apple, but one we feel is a
little bit of a misfire. The lack
of HDR and high refresh rate
support is a blow, and the
limited port selection means
this is a monitor that won’t be
appealing to many people.
Image quality is decent,
but for the full effect you’re
going to want to invest in
the nano-texture screen. The
added AI features are nice, but
inessential, and they only work
with modern Apple devices.
If you’re a content creator
that is fully invested in the
Apple ecosystem, then we can
imagine the Studio Display
being a decent investment – as
long as you have the cash. For
other people, though, there’s
better alternatives out there.

straight edges, and it does
make us think how nice it
would have been to see a 27-
inch iMac in this design.
We had the standard screen
without nano-texture, and
6.0
adaptor, which isn’t included. APPLE STUDIO DISPLAY
The Studio Display is an interesting screen for creatives,
PRICE and its image quality is decent, but it doesn’t live up to its
One of the biggest criticisms potential. Lack of HDR, limited ports and an underwhelming
OUT OF 10
people have with Apple is the webcam means the asking price will be too high for many.
fact that there are sometimes

3D WORLD 93
Chaos Cosmos

AUTHOR PROFILE
Paul Hatton
After graduating with
a first-class computer
science degree, Paul
Hatton has spent
nearly two decades
working within the 3D
visualisation industry.

PROS

Easy to use

Excellent quality

Free

CONS

Greater range needed

Images © Chaos

Only limited customisation

of models available

V-Ray is required
SOFTWARE ADD-ON REVIEW

IMPORTING HDRIs

Cosmos includes a
collection of HDRIs that
Chaos Cosmos
PRICE Free | COMPANY Chaos | WEBSITE cosmos.chaos.com
you can use in your scene.
When you download the

I
asset and then import it,
you’ll find it appear as
a light in your scene. By
selecting the light and
going to its parameters
you can make all the
normal light adjustments
that you would expect.
If you want that same
HDRI to appear in the
background of your scene,
then you’ll need to add it
in using the ‘Environment
and Effects’ dialog box
(3ds Max).
n recent years there has
been an increasing trend
in the 3D industry to utilise
and take full advantage of
off-the-shelf assets, with
developers providing new
tools that make it easier than
ever to download and insert
assets into your scenes. One
of those examples is the
Chaos Cosmos asset library.
In essence, Cosmos is
an easy-to-use collection of
smart content that spans a
variety of categories including
models, materials and HDRI
skies. It’s worth noting that all
of these assets will only work
in conjunction with V-Ray, so
you won’t be able to make use
of this content collection if
you use a different rendering
package. In that regard, this is
a way for Chaos Group to tie
you in even further to the
V-Ray ecosystem.
That being said, Cosmos
integrates seamlessly into a
variety of software packages
including 3ds Max, Cinema 4D,
SketchUp, Maya, Rhino, Revit
and Vantage. This is one of the
major benefits of Chaos; no
matter what software you use
you’ll likely be able to utilise
Cosmos with it.
The Cosmos library is really
simple to use – the standard
process of downloading assets
and then importing them into
your scenes has been replaced
by a custom-built browser
which works directly inside
your 3D software. This greatly
speeds up the process of
populating your scenes.
The browser is simple, too.
As you’d expect, it includes
a search feature that lets you
drill down and return only the
assets you’re interested in. You
can further refine the results
with filter settings. If you just
want to browse the assets then

94 3D WORLD
 Chaos Cosmos

Below: Cosmos makes populating a vast Left: Even close-up Cosmos

scene an absolute breeze with a wide models and materials stand
variety of drag-and-drop models up to scrutiny

“IF YOU’RE AN EXISTING V-RAY USER

THEN MAKING USE OF COSMOS IS A
BIT OF A NO-BRAINER”

you can do that by selecting
specific categories. These
assets seem largely made up
of third-party content, so you
may be familiar with some of
them already.
One of the areas that
Cosmos really shines is in its
smart capabilities, which is
something that we’re coming
to increasingly expect; we want
the software we interact with
to work no matter what device
we’re using it on. An example
of that would be with music,
where we want to be able to
play our favourite music on
our phones, computers and
smart speakers.
the various rendering options
V-Ray provides. When inserting
and navigating through your
viewport you’ll experience a
lower level of detail, ensuring
that your scenes don’t get
bogged down. But as soon
as you hit render, all of that
beautiful high-definition
detail will come back and be
displayed in your final images
and videos.
All models are render-ready
and render consistently across
all V-Ray rendering options,
whether that be on the CPU,
GPU or even in Vision or
Vantage. This is particularly
helpful if you’re presenting
If you’re not a V-Ray
user you’ll need to find an
alternative content browser
solution. On the other hand, if
you’re an existing V-Ray user
then making use of Cosmos
is a bit of a no-brainer; the
assets are completely free
after all. Give it a whirl and see
if it fits into your workflow. As
the models are V-Ray Proxies
you’ll need to make sure you’re
familiar with how they work,
otherwise things might get a
little confusing. The models
THE VERDICT
don’t come in as 3D models
but as references to proxy files.
This means you can’t directly
edit them. Thankfully, Cosmos
does enable you to ‘Merge’
these proxies into your scene
through the Asset Editor and
then fine-tune some of the
settings there, such as the
model’s materials.
In the future, as new assets
are added to this handy library,
Cosmos will no doubt become
a one-stop shop for many
V-Ray users.

Cosmos is smart in the
sense of delivering the same
content across applications,
but tailoring that content to
suit the exact output. This is
played out in the viewport and
8.0
your work in multiple different
mediums. You can be sure that
your assets will look the same if
you’re creating high-end static
OUT OF 10
visuals or delivering something
more interactive.
CHAOS COSMOS
Cosmos is a great first step in the right direction for Chaos
Group. It represents a shift in the industry that has been
gaining ground in recent years – making the creation process
as quick and straightforward as possible.

3D WORLD 95
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