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Toys and collectables MACTSREUERABIASTLTEAWSNKITCINHE
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ZBRUSH•ARTICULATEFIGURES •CREATEAWESOME3DFANART •MOULDMINIATURES
SCULPTING HEROES
Discover how you
can enter the world
of 3D toys and
collectables

CINEMA 4D CHROMA 3D CITIES
Become a world builder
Mondlicht Studios share Master your colour keys with our pro advice
the making of Elevation with tools from Notch ISSUE 274







COVER ARTIST
Leonardo Peñaranda
SOFTWARE
ZBrush, Blender,
Photoshop

WELCOME expanding world of custom high-end training for your
toys and collectables, where favourite software, and answers
For most of us, we may never 3D is fast becoming the tool of to your burning CG questions.
get the chance to put our skills choice for designers and Rob Redman, Editor
to the test on a Hollywood garage operators, so have a [email protected]
blockbuster, or we may never read from page 24 to see if this
want to. That doesn’t mean we particular cottage industry is
have to keep our passions to one that excites you, gathering
ourselves, however. This issue some advice from the experts
we take a look at the ever- along the way.

As always, we also bring you
insights into the industry,

3D WORLD 5

CONTENTS3DWORLD ISSUE274 24
ARTIST SHOWCASE THE PIPELINE

8 The Gallery 44 mFroodmelclionngceapntdabretytoon3dD

Discover the best digital art The team at Absolute take
from the CG community us through the process for
transforming a 2D concept into a
42 TaencdhdFeopctuhso:fPfiheoltdorealism beautiful 3D render

Craimer Jones on utilising the 58 eBnrivnigroynomuernUtntroealilfe
power of Unreal Engine for his
Lamborghini artwork How to build an immersive 3D
environment in Unreal Engine
82 mTeocdheFlloincugsa:nSdcutelpxttuinrgin,g
64 CCirneeamteaa4nDepic scene in
Take a look at this stunning
Debbie Harry likeness Mondlicht Studios break down
their project created for the
FEATURES Motion Design Awards

24 The toy factory 72 Hreoawl-ttiomaechkieeyve the perfect

Experts from the world of toy/ Utilise the Notch Chroma Keyer
figure creation showcase their for quality greenscreen results
work and reveal their pro tips
ARTIST Q&A
34 cCoelnltarbooidra:tcivaeptsupriirnigt
76Your CG problems solved
An inside look at the new
collaboration between Molinare Pro artists tackle your queries
and mocap experts Centroid

44

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88 Pseroriceesd:uPraarltC3ities

In the final instalment of his
series, Matthias Buehler reveals
his expert advice for efficiently
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94 cOapmEde:raH,eaigchtitosn,

Elliott Mulhall at Immersive
Studios details how to capture
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3D WORLD 7

ThethbeesCtGdcigoimtaml aurntitfyrom

DSOISCTIAANLCING
ARTIST
Gregg Hartley
SOFTWARE
ZBrush, Blender, Marvelous Designer,
Megascans, Redshift, Cinema 4D, Photoshop

Freelance 3D artist Gregg Hartley took ZBrush’s FiberMesh
time each day over two weeks to create tool allowed Hartley
this compelling character piece. “This was to create the fur and the
one of those times I just went with the creature’s eyebrows. “I
flow,” Hartley explains. He began with purchased the hairbrushes
a sphere in ZBrush and kept modelling pack from ZBrush Guides and it
until a creature took shape. Hartley took made combing easier and fun,” he
inspiration from his surroundings during adds. After texturing in Substance
the COVID-19 lockdown as well as images Painter and layout in Cinema 4D
he gathered on PureRef. were complete, Hartley decided to
test out Redshift. “Redshift has a great
Although he enjoys sculpting in effect for atmospheric perspective,”
ZBrush, Hartley feels most comfortable he explains, “this came in handy for
developing parts like the flute and the composition and gave it a cool hue. I was
patterns on the creature’s gauntlets able to pop the greens and reds elsewhere
in Blender. Identifying his camera while having fast visual feedback of my
angles helped Hartley to work on the z-depth within the viewport.”
composition, flow and folds of the cloth in artofgregg.artstation.com
Marvelous Designer, which he wanted to
use to guide the viewer’s eye.

08 3D WORLD

CG art to inspire
3D WORLD 09

CG art to inspire
10 3D WORLD

CG art to inspire

MIRAI MGIERCLHA
ARTIST
James Lin
SOFTWARE
ZBrush, Substance Designer, Substance Painter,
TopoGun, 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop
This cool character concept took 3D artist James
Lin roughly just over a month to complete in
his spare time. Lin has worked intensively with
a cutting-edge 3D anatomy company called
Atomedge in Cape Town, South Africa for a year
and a half, and has been freelancing since his
student days. “For this project, I wanted to focus
mainly on hard-surface sculpting in ZBrush and
creating some really cool materials in Substance,”
Lin tells 3D World. To sculpt fine details Lin
first unwrapped the clean model, used Substance
Painter to add some texture detail, exported the
textures and then placed them back in ZBrush,
where he used the exported height map from
Substance to create sculpted detail.

“My favourite part of this project was
sculpting the character's suit,” recalls Lin. “When
conceptualising the character, I really focused
on capturing the organic flow of the female body,
by trying to blend the organic flow of anatomical
muscles with a mechanical feel – which was
exciting and interesting to sculpt.”

Lin is primarily inspired by his fellow artists
and their work. “Art itself is very inspirational
for me especially manga and anime, which has
been a real big influence on my life and art style,”
he explains. “Just the idea of creating your own
world with all these amazing and wild ideas just
gets me all excited and aching to sculpt.”
jam3s.artstation.com

3D WORLD 11

CG art to inspire

MOMMY complete. “With the passing of the years “Another challenge was the hair colour
ARTIST I've learnt to enjoy the processes and variations. It took me a lot of time to try
Gabriela Fuentes not rush to finish it, that way I feel I can to find the perfect colours that I was
SOFTWARE connect with what I’m doing,” she says. looking for. I played too long with the
Blender, Substance Painter nodes, trying different shades of colours
3D artist Gabriela Fuentes works on Fuentes adds that the fur was the to finally reach the result.”
personal pieces in the evenings around most challenging and time-consuming
her day job at digital animation studio L element of the character, with a lot of Despite being the biggest challenge,
Creativa, with this charming character experimentation needed to nail Mommy’s working on the fur was also the most
taking a little over two months to realistic fur. “At first my vision was to enjoyable part of Fuentes’ process. “I
make very thick and curly wire hair to don’t know why but I find it so relaxing to
look like a stop-motion puppet, but then comb the hair particles. It doesn't matter
I realised that type of hair made her look that it took me a few fails, I’m super
very neglected, and fluffy, natural fur happy with the final result.”
would suit her better and highlight her gabbienete3d.artstation.com
sweet personality,” Fuentes explains.

12 3D WORLD



CG art to inspire

ISRAELBEDROOM 2021,
ARTIST
Vic Nguyen
SOFTWARE
3ds Max, Corona Renderer,
SiNi Software, Photoshop
This realistic visualisation is a
commercial project by talented 3D
designer Vic Nguyen. “I only receive
an interior layout and preliminary
layout,” he tells 3D World. “I have
to design ideas and combine colours
to match my style.” Nguyen spent
around four days designing, editing
and rendering the piece. Nguyen’s
process begins with engineering and
architectural drawings or SketchUp
files, as well as illustrations of the
expected style, which inform how
the light should be set up to create
mood and atmosphere. With all these
elements in place, Nguyen works out
how the image will look in terms

olou lanning, and lighting.

LIATOHCLIOCEKEKEBNUAATNINULDDGATLIFNEEEGSETLHTHEOAFT

“At this stage, I model the project
using 3ds Max, ZBrush, Substance
Designer, and Marvelous Designer if
necessary,” he explains. “I usually try
out some camera angles at this point
too. I like angles that give a wide field
of view while accentuating the look
and feel of the building.”

Next, Nguyen finds materials,
sculptures, and objects which suit
the design, as well as grass and trees
for the exterior. This particular room
is populated with assets purchased
from 3dsky, including the bed, a
decorative flower vase and clothes.

“This project works for 360°
virtual reality,” Nguyen explains,
“so it took very detailed and
sophisticated work.”
vicnguyendesign.com

14 3D WORLD

CG art to inspire
3D WORLD 15

AHSOKA decade’s experience in 3D and has been map for the wool texture, with a noise
ARTIST freelancing for the last five years. His texture as a displacement map to break
Adam Fisher credits include AAA games like Prey, Call up the silhouette. For the loose threads,
SOFTWARE Of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Total War: I used XGen and exported the geometry
ZBrush, Maya, Substance Painter, Warhammer II. directly from Maya. This could have also
Marvelous Designer, Unreal Engine been achieved by baking the threads onto
Adam Fisher, a freelance 3D character Ahsoka recently made her live-action alpha cards.”
artist for the games and collectable debut in season two of The Mandalorian,
industry, worked on this fan art of fan providing Fisher with the inspiration Inspiration for Fisher’s captivating 3D
favourite Star Wars character Ahsoka for this piece. “I enjoyed the challenge characters largely comes from the work
Tano for two months, spending a of trying to capture the likeness and of other artists. “I love seeing what other
couple of hours on it whenever he had cinematic style of the show,” he explains. artists come up with,” he adds. “I find
time to spare. Fisher has more than a it really motivating and inspiring. I’m
Ahsoka’s cloak was sculpted fairly also inspired by graphic novels, movies,
16 3D WORLD simply, without much detail. “I knew TV shows and I love reading sci-fi and
I wanted the shader to do most of the fantasy books.”
work to sell the look of the fabric,” Fisher afisher.com.au
remarks. “The shader is using a cloth
material, with a tileable detail normal



CG art to inspire

ALFA ROMEO 8C TRIBUTE
ARTIST Vivirito devotes a lot of time then to export the texture file,” explains
Marco Vivirito experimenting with new ways to learn Vivirito. Blender’s Shrinkwrap modifier
SOFTWARE and make the creative process easier. In proved crucial to the piece. “It allowed
Blender, Substance Painter, this piece, the number on the 8C’s front me to model the object and split it into
Photoshop, Illustrator, grille is actually a separate .png file, parts, preserving the perfect surfaces
PureRef, Lightroom speeding up the process and allowing and light reflections on it. Also, vertex
Freelance artist Marco Vivirito created Vivirito to use it as a mock-up for data transfer allows you to add some
this photorealistic automobile after graphics or logos he works on. “For my separate elements to the surface, making
working with an event celebrating the own flexibility, the objects and textures it look like it's the same surface. This
90th anniversary of the Alfa Romeo 8C. are grouped in a way that allows me to be saves a lot of time if a crazy level of detail
“In my free time, I continued to define fast and experiment,” he adds. isn't required at that particular point, for
the car, adding more detail to produce an instance on the hood bonnet vents.”
image to add to my portfolio and continue The headlight lenses were made in sickmind.it
looking for work as a 3D artist,” he tells Adobe Illustrator. “I had to play with
3D World. “These images were a totally the line, lines’ masks, variable thickness,
unexpected success. This makes me variable blur, etc. For this I thought that
super proud.” the most efficient and non-destructive
way was to have a vector file to play with,

18 3D WORLD

CG art to inspire

BMPALERETNTOSD,EMPROR’SDEESSLEHRTRVHINIENKOGWBTRJHEAECPTPMEARONFDDEIFCSITPERLSIUTARLITLFAOINCWETEOSD

3D WORLD 19

CG art to inspire ARTIST “I have a library of models that I have done or purchased,
Andres Rios and sometimes in my free time I work on models or sculpts
PEACE SOFTWARE that may come in handy later on, anatomy, armour, animals,
ZBrush, KeyShot, etc.” Rios cites working on the creature’s wings as the most
Photoshop enjoyable and relaxing part of this creative process. He used a
feather kitbash by Ricardo Graham and arranged the feathers
Andres Rios is a freelance concept artist at Grinding Gear one by one before adjusting the overall shape with ZBrush’s
Games, as well as a talented digital sculptor and character- SnakeHook brush. For the cloth Rios utilised ZBrush’s
creature designer. He spent around ten hours working on this dynamic cloth simulation feature. “For texture, I made some
intricate design. Rios began working professionally in 2020, quick automatic UVs and used the surface noise to give it the
but is familiar with most of the 3D pipeline, from concept to cloth texture,” he adds.
rigging and animation. “I try to stick to concept art as it’s my
favourite part,” he adds. Rios sees inspiration everywhere, but when it comes
to other artists he cites the main inspiration as Zdzisław
Depending on the project, Rios either begins with a Beksinski, adding: “I obviously admire so many artists but
traditional 2D sketch or directly in ZBrush. “When I start on Beksinski's work is the principal one.”
ZBrush I usually have some clarity on the concept I want to instagram.com/andres_rios_r
make, and often I kitbash parts of the concept,” he explains.

MIMARHAYMAYFVORCEUOEAREM,LTEAIIBMINNRIEMAHIRAAWYLNSOODFREYTKMLCAOOTNDEERSL:CSAU,NLAAPNTTDOSMITNYH,AT

20 3D WORLD



The Rookies

KITCHEN

SOFTWARE Maya, Redshift, Substance Painter,
Photoshop, After Effects YEAR CREATED 2019

ARTIST Junhyung Cho
LOCATION South Korea
I majored in painting because
I liked to draw pictures, but
I want to work in the field of
movies or animation because I
like the form of narrative work.
My aim was to try and reproduce a 3D
environment from a reference image
(bit.ly/39LJ9f9) and add another
factor (FX, different light). I added
evening sunset lighting because I
didn't want to finish the work just like
the reference image. I think slowly
floating dust creates a calm mood.
www.artstation.com/cjunhyung

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

3D WORLD 23

The toy factory
This Wolverine fan sculpt
by Leonardo Peñaranda
is based on a concept by
illustrator and painter
Corey Smith

24 3D WORLD

FTAHCETTOORYY

Ever wondered what it takes to digitally sculpt
action figures and collectable statues?
3D World learns from the experts

3D tools and software and designer that brings action A prototype
are invaluable to figures from concept through cyberpunk ninja
the creation of toys, to production primarily using action figure from
from action figures ZBrush, a Form 3 SLA 3D printer, Rival Collectibles’
and collectables to moulding, and casting. He started Rival Clans action
busts and statues. To discover making custom action figures a figure line
more about these digital design little over ten years ago, beginning
processes, 3D World has gathered development on his own line of
several talented artists to explain action figures from scratch three
how they leverage their skills years ago. “That’s when I taught
for the sculpting of detailed myself how to work digitally using
and articulate toys: Anthony of ZBrush. From there, I wanted to
Anthony’s Customs, a creator be able to produce my own
and reviewer of action figures, functional prototypes, so I learned
discusses the creation of great the ins and outs of 3D printing,
toys; Wandah Kurniawan shares moulding and casting.” Although
the secrets behind stunning he still works on commissioned
collectable statues; master sculptor customs, much of Anthony’s
Taregh Saber tells us about his focus has been on developing his
journey and offers his advice for Rival Collectibles line before it
3D artists; finally, Peter Clark, who goes to market. “The focus on
creates handcrafted resin figures the artistic side of 3D modelling
as Delicious Again Peter, and 3D which Pixologic has implemented
designer Leonardo Peñaranda in ZBrush has made it the one
explain their creative process. irreplaceable component of my
pipeline,” he adds.
CUSTOM CREATIONS
New tools and more efficient
Anthony of Anthony’s Customs is processes are a huge boost to any
a traditional and digital sculptor industry. “Things like being able

3D WORLD 25

P“AWOLASELERLOLTTW-IHDCSEUEYSLFOIAIGGTUNUIOTERONDE
ATNHDASTLTIOISLOLTKHHEGAOVKEEOYDIT”.

Anthony’s Customs, figure creator/reviewer

Above: NieR: to quickly Ctrl+Z something the right balance between form reuse a base mesh to create a new
Automata diorama or work in symmetry using 3D and function. character and have the same level
sculpted by Wandah software saves countless hours on of uniqueness.”
Kurniawan. Creative just about any project,” Anthony There are, however, pitfalls
Director, Johnny explains. “Being able to 3D print a awaiting artists that become too Regardless of their sculpting
Pham, Prime 1 model in-house saves tons of time reliant on the technology, Anthony skills, no 3D artist can lend
Studio Development and also augments the ability to warns: “It can become easy to themselves to creating toys
& Paint Team work iteratively. Because of this, reuse and simply adjust an asset without knowing what makes a
26 3D WORLD designing a figure can happen so rather than creating a new one. great one. “A great action figure
much faster and more time can be Reusing assets is a normal part is able to strike the right balance
spent on fine-tuning.” Anthony of any digital process but you can between looking good and
can easily recreate a particular overdo it. You don’t want every having that interactive element of
point of articulation with slight head sculpt you make to look like articulation,” Anthony explains.
adjustments in order to help strike the same person with wider eyes “Having too little functional
or a broader nose. It’s very hard to articulation will result in what is

Rival Collectibles’ The toy factory
Rival Clans Wacom Intuos Pro as her pen
action figure line tablet. “ZBrush is a really fast
is currently in and powerful software for 3D
development. You can prototyping. It can also handle a
follow the progress lot of polygons so I can get a lot of
at @rivalcollectibles details, even small ones like skin
on Instagram pores, fabric patterns, leather,
Anthony uses ZBrush etc,” she explains. “For my PC
to sculpt and add I’m focusing my build on RAM,
details to his action ZBrush will work better with a lot
figure designs of RAM.”

The creative process begins
when a client gives Kurniawan a
concept and reference of a toy or
statue. From there it’s straight into
ZBrush to block out the T-pose
of the character, before blocking
out the pose and base to see how
the composition is. “After it looks
good I refine the model, defining
the muscle, cloth wrinkles, etc,”
she explains, “next I add some
accessories like gloves and belts.
Then finally I add some smaller
details like surface texture.” After
the model is approved then another
division begins cutting the model
and 3D prints it.

Working primarily on licensed
characters, Kurniawan usually
receives feedback from the IP
holder once the sculpt is finished.
“Sometimes it’s easy to fix, but
sometimes it’s a harder one and

essentially an adjustable statue. SCULPTING STATUES
It’ll look nice but you won’t get
the same creative spark as when 3D character and creature artist
you can pose your favourite Wandah Kurniawan currently
superhero just the way you want. works as a lead character artist at
The interactive element needs to Prime 1 Studio creating collectable
be there.” statues. Kurniawan started
teaching herself 3D when she was
Functional articulation is a in junior high school, inspired by
defining aspect of action figures. a love of games, animation, and
“Packing as much function into toys. “Nowadays almost every
the engineering while maintaining statue is produced digitally then
the highest level of aesthetic is 3D printed,” says Kurniawan,
the trick. I think it’s the hardest explaining the importance of 3D
thing to do when designing a figure software in the collectable statue
but it’s what provides the most industry. “3D modelling makes
enjoyment for the collector. Being the prototyping process much
able to pose your figure in an iconic faster compared to traditional
pose is important but if that’s all methods. We can also add colour
you’re going to do, a statue would and lighting to define the final
get the job done. Well-designed look, especially if there’s feedback
articulation allows you to pose from the client, it’s easier to make
your figure doing whatever you can adjustments before it’s printed.”
think of and still have it look good.
That is the key.” Kurniawan also sculpts her
characters in ZBrush, using a

27

MBEACSOTMERE SACULPTOR

TAREGH SABER SHARES HIS ADVICE
FOR SCULPTING YOUR OWN
COLLECTABLE STATUES

1 Never stop learning Learning new things
might not be entertaining for some,
since it requires spending a great deal of
time and attention on experiments. For me,
any project is a learning experience. I enjoy
the process, it makes me more prepared
and qualified for more complex projects.
The harsh reality is that people commission
artists based on how well they sculpt so
artists need to raise their game and bring
new elements to the table.

2 Accept constructive criticism
No artist ever likes to hear criticism
because of the time and the effort one
has put into his or her work. Artists always
take it personally. However, many of these
criticisms refine and complement your work.
I even admire when I see artists criticising
their own work because it shows that they
look for perfection, and I believe that’s what
they need to do in order to develop their
own skills.

3 Take short breaks I make sure that I
take a few breaks while I’m working on
a project. I usually shift from one project
to another or help a colleague. I never have
actual breaks, but even that time helps me
to refresh my mind and eyes. So once I look
back at what I’ve done, I can easily detect
the strength and weaknesses of the project.
That then helps me to refine my statues as I
move forward.

4 Get inspiration from other artists
Seeing the work of other artists has
always been a driving force for me. I’ve seen
some who like to stay in their own world and
never see what’s out there. But whenever
I feel down and want to refresh my mind, I
simply visit ArtStation or DeviantArt and go
through a variety of artwork. What’s not to
love when I see so many wild and interesting
ideas from creative people? That reminds
me that there’s no excuse not to be creative
and enthusiastic.

5 Enjoy what you do Perhaps this might
seem like the least important tip, but
it’s the most crucial. If artists don’t put their
hearts and joy into their work that reflects in
the results and the audience can easily tell.
I have witnessed amazing artists ending up
with dull-looking statues because they didn’t
feel connected with the project and simply
wanted to complete the job by the deadline.

The toy factory

Above: Taregh takes a lot of time. I usually When it comes to creating formative years, leading him to a
Saber sculpted this plan how to make my model easy your own toys or collectables, career producing TV commercials,
collectable statue of to adjust in the final stages. For Kurniawan highlights the logo motions, and animations
Hermes from Netflix’s example, for the character’s hair importance of adjusting your for the branding and advertising
anime series Blood Of I usually split it into different style as a 3D artist. “Each toy or industries. “It was the fans who
Zeus using ZBrush parts, so when clients ask for an collectable company has their encouraged me to work on pop
Fan art of Giorno adjustment I can tweak it faster, no own style preferences,” she adds. culture characters and statues,”
Giovanna, from JoJo’s need to redo almost everything.” “First you need to decide what he tells 3D World. “My friends
Bizarre Adventure, by used to ask me to sculpt or digitally
Wandah Kurniawan FOR“AMTPSHPETAEHASNAILDLTIHNELOGYOUESOE-HCKTAATDPTEIECSNSHTEIIANNENDCGDTS” paint their favourite characters
from comic books and anime. At
Taregh Saber, 3D collectable sculptor that time, I was doing that simply
as a hobby.”
kind of statue you want to make,
is it realistic or more comic style? 3ds Max was one of the first
Or maybe anime?” Kurniawan tools Saber worked with, using it
recommends making fan art of to create characters and robots
characters from famous movies or in his spare time, and he’s very
games to practise different styles comfortable with its interface
and approaches. “Companies and features. Saber still feels the
usually find people that are already classic urge to keep his 3D model
experienced making statues. If you files as light and manageable as
haven’t worked on one then you’ll possible, something 3ds Max’s
need a good render of your model. ability to create complex low-poly
Make it as eye-catching as possible. designs helps with. “Since 3ds Max
Of course, it needs to have a pose provides one of the most powerful
and base, not just a normal T-pose lighting systems, I take all my
character. Good anatomy skills are renders inside 3ds Max,” he adds.
a plus.”
Whilst 3ds Max is a tool for
STRIKING A POSE precision, ZBrush gives Saber
the flexibility to design and
Taregh Saber has been infatuated experiment. “Inside ZBrush I can
with art from an early age. start sculpting with no specific
So much so that his mother, a direction in my mind and then end
professional painter herself, up with a decent concept,” he says.
signed him up for 3D art and Although he is tempted to try out
animation classes. A passion for other software, Saber is wary of
3D remained throughout Saber’s becoming a master of none. “It’s
more professional and effective for
achieving the desired results to use
the programs that I have far more
experience with.”

Typically, Saber’s sculptures
pass through three different filters,
silhouette, pose and details. “The
very first thing a statue needs to

3D WORLD 29

The toy factory “I TEND TO TREAT EVERY PROJECT AS
TAHLEEEANRDN,INNGOPMRAOTCTEESRST. HPEUSOHUUTCNOTIMLE”
have is a nice-looking silhouette,”
he explains, “appealing shapes Leonardo Peñaranda, 3D designer
and forms, that even in the dark
look distinct and eye-catching. Above: Convention figure. A run of 20 non-articulated my toys, the sculptors I collaborate
It’s a very challenging task.” Saber Nerd 2.0 by figures called Convention Nerd.” with are usually of a certain age
usually works on a character’s Delicious Again to really get the nostalgia I want
posture at the same time as the Peter and Leonardo This inaugural creation was to create or to understand the pop
base, playing around with shapes Peñaranda. a fun characterisation of a nerd culture reference,” he adds. “If you
to explore how they complement Each figure hanging out at a toy convention. didn’t watch Pulp Fiction at the
each other. has a magnetic “As luck would have it, a friend of cinema or listen to hip hop back in
changeable head mine who runs a comic book store the day, things could get tricky.”
Few things are as important to was friends with Jeremy Bulloch,
a statue as the character’s pose. “As aka Boba Fett in the original Star One of Clark’s collaborators
the great masters of sculpting have Wars movies,” Clark continues, is industrial designer turned 3D
shown us through the centuries, “and he very kindly signed each artist Leonardo Peñaranda. The
posture is the very body language toy for me which resulted in a lot pair collaborated on Convention
of the character,” adds Saber. of extra interest. Two days later Nerd 2.0, an update of Clark’s
It’s through posture that Saber I had sold all copies and that was original concept with a magnetic
includes an element of storytelling how it started.” changeable head. “This was
in his sculptures. Detailing also definitely a dream come true for
has a sizeable impact on the end Clark’s process begins when me. It all started when Peter sent
result, as Saber explains: “Not he comes up with a rough concept me a message on Instagram saying
everyone can sculpt, but almost and runs it past a 3D artist to that we should do a collaboration.
everyone can detect high-quality see if they have the same buzz I was following his work and was
work. That’s the harsh reality stoked with the idea of creating a
and it drastically affects an and excitement as he does.
artist’s reputation. That’s why it’s “Because of the nature of
necessary to push your limits.”

The technical demands of
clients are also a consideration for
sculptors like Saber. “I hear clients
ask for a few alternative arms or
a removable cape. They even like
to include LED lights throughout
the statue’s body,” he adds, “that
certainly calls for a strategy and
I need to set specific stages in
sculpting. No one wants a statue
that is difficult to handle or doesn’t
operate well. The fans simply
want to play around with various
features the statue presents.”

NOSTALGIA NERDS

Peter Clark is a stonemason and
toy artist and has been making
handcrafted resin figures in his
home studio as Delicious Again
Peter for three years. His work
draws on a childhood love of action
figures and a nostalgia for days
spent playing with Star Wars, G.I.
Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles toys. “I’ve always been
into creating things,” Clark tells
3D World, “so when I had
some free time I decided
to create a figure from
scratch. That led me
down an Instagram rabbit hole
where I came across the bootleg
toy scene. After many, many
YouTube how-to videos
and lots of wasted silicone
and resin, I created my first
30 3D WORLD

figure together,” Peñaranda tells tall. Once printed no one will be FIGURE IT OUT
3D World. able to see small details, so in this
case, it would make much more DELICIOUS AGAIN PETER TALKS 3D WORLD
Convention Nerd 2.0 was 3D sense to concentrate on the pose THROUGH THE CREATION OF A HANDCRAFTED
sculpted by Peñaranda before and silhouette of the character,” RESIN FIGURE
being cast and painted by Clark. he explains.
“I really love the way Peter 1 Optimus primer The first step is to prepare
goes about creating his figures,” 3D artists should be aware of the figure that I will be using to build a mould
Peñaranda continues, “the amount how their sculpt will be produced by making sure any holes, faults or scratches are
of craftsmanship involved makes and printed throughout the removed. Then I seal the figure with a primer to
the figures special and each one process. “Every manufacturing protect it and make sure it doesn’t react with the
of them unique. Every single process has different requirements silicone. I like to use foam board or sometimes Lego
figure will have small marks and that you have to take into account to build the walls of my mould and once this is done
imperfections that you could not when designing. In our case since I use clay to build a base on which the figure will lie.
get in a mass production scenario. the figure was going to be cast Then I carefully work my way around the figure until
Plus just getting to work with in resin, when I was printing the it is half buried in plasticine. This will form the first
a talented nerd that shares a pieces I could not hollow them out, half of a two-part mould.
passion with you makes it much since this could create a vacuum
more fun.” during the casting process and 2 Mix master Next, I mix the silicone and pour it
it could collapse, destroying the over the revealed side of the figure. I place it in
Peñaranda emphasises the mould and wasting Peter’s time a pressure pot for around eight hours to remove all
importance of understanding in the process,” Peñaranda says. the air bubbles, otherwise these would show in the
the manufacturing process when “I tend to treat every project as a final casts.
sculpting a toy in 3D. “Trying to learning process. I get to the end
think from the beginning about and reflect on what I got out of the 3 Ready, set, spray Once the silicone is set, I turn
what will be the final scale of the project, what I could have done the figure over and remove the clay. I then pour
toy is key, since it will define how differently. If you have an idea, just more silicone on to the now-revealed second half of
much detail and attention you go for it and push until the end, no the figure. I have to spray the set silicone with mould
pay to every part. For example, matter the outcome, and you will release spray first so that the two sides of the mould
it wouldn’t make sense to detail be more experienced at the end of don’t stick together, allowing me to eventually pour
and sculpt a skin texture on a each project.” in whatever material I am using to create my casts.
miniature that will only be 3cm
4 Casters of the universe Now I have my
two-part mould, I am ready to pour my
polyurethane resin. If needed, I can add pigment
to change the colour of the cast, or I can adapt the
strength of the resin to achieve a different rigidity.
I bind the two parts of the mould together with
elastic bands, then pour in the resin (through a hole
that I added when making the mould). I then place
this in the pressure pot for ten minutes to force out
any air bubbles. After about 30 minutes, the resin is
set and the figure is now ready to clean, have joint
lines removed with a scalpel and fine sandpaper,
sand, prime and finally paint.

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a*pLTnsaieudncrbekwmssacesagrrwii&pneigtclolio.opnInnfoe.dtntFhiiftMeoyiromoyafnotnuasudnlglOoatianeyfzmfrai-emnodFrersvrceoiaaldorntnadhscdyeaeesnrc9eoo3aadfnm0andctnahh-ityta5iiJoopnpunngrmnsiacee,lesvUl2aifcsK0nrihetd2Taqw1lini.munOwgeeeenfwcfsocea..myrrlTl,eophaa-peegmneradfnauazimlnilltn:onshaeuuyeasbmldllbpsin,[email protected]/ntrtneiieenbosriesuymdrorfsiosruteo.hrrFcne1p2otlyn.hrcm.uoeoPmnonmreniqbc.tupiehCnirrrsgaoioel(vlisfs1si3ditpgsoeisluserus0a’aseur3ssaec3ensap0)ctlaleaanbiednlulu:ddfmn+ofid4onrb,l4creenlt.ruo(hs0dtew)ethf3siilrel3psb0ttoee1s3r2ctm3ahm3gaooer1fg1na1tet3hnhd.eds ELEVATION
Discover the making of this
award-winning short film by
Mondlicht Studios on Page 64

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OSNUYBOSUCRRIAPNTNIOUNA!L

CCSPOAIPLRLTITAUBRCeOnItrNoidRmGotioAn caTptureIVE
moves into a new era, with
two new studio spaces: one at
L ockdown has Uxbridge and one in central
tried and tested London at post-production
everyone but new company Molinare
opportunities have
presented themselves
too, and during the past 12
months a new collaboration
between Centroid, a world leader
in motion capture, and Molinare
(established in 1973) has come
into focus. It’s a venture that
pulls together the worlds of
motion capture and the broader
span of post-production and
visual effects work that Molinare
has developed its creative
industry identity around. 3D
World catches up with Phil
Stilgoe (CEO of Centroid), Nigel
Bennett (managing director,
Molinare) and Glen Gathard
(creative director, Molinare)
to discuss their new venture
together in central London,
bringing performance capture
and post-production image
making together.
Hearing Phil Stilgoe speak
about the collaboration between
Centroid and Molinare it’s notable
how marked his comments are
by a spirit of optimism. Stilgoe
makes the point that the sensibility
of a film studio lot comprising
diverse specialisms coming
together underpins the new
central London venture for the
long-established motion capture
company. This sense of promise
and opportunity has emerged
from a moment, in late 2019, when
Stilgoe and his colleagues at
Centroid moved from its original
base at Pinewood Studios to a
new base at Uxbridge, just west of
London. With that move, a sense
of new possibilities began to evolve
and that was soon rounded out
when Molinare in Soho, central

34 3D WORLD

Capturing Collaborative Spirit
3D WORLD 35

Capturing Collaborative Spirit

Centroid’s work London, with whom Centroid and Nuke workstations and in London, Centroid’s larger Uxbridge
encompasses mocap had a longstanding association, providing VFX supervision on set. studio has the capability to capture
for film, TV and suggested that the two companies ten performers simultaneously,
gaming projects more formally come together to Established in 1996, Centroid’s which is particularly suitable for
Above: Centroid’s create Centroid@Molinare. The first movie project was Lost In work on elaborately designed
team at Molinare new venture between the two Space and now, 25 years later, the cutscenes, stunt co-ordination,
monitor a take and companies will allow them to studio’s work embraces movies, crowd simulation and sports
review progress combine talents and technology games and other platforms. applications. The Uxbridge studio,
and support the relationships Centroid’s resume includes movies with its 232 hi-res Motion Analysis
36 3D WORLD that exist between performance such as Wonder Woman, Doctor cameras for both studio and
capture and post-production. In Strange and Prometheus and location filming, can also provide
its visual effects work, Molinare’s games such as Gears 5, Ride 4 and real-time previs in both virtual
workflow centres around Flame Magic: The Gathering. Alongside environments and digital plates.
its base at Molinare in central

Capturing Collaborative Spirit

TCHOENAVEGREGOEFNCE

NIGEL BENNETT ADDRESSES THE
INCREASING FLUIDITY BETWEEN
PLATFORMS AND MEDIA
Looking ahead towards a more settled post-
pandemic landscape, Bennett explains of
Molinare’s big picture plan that, “Glen and I have
always had the same viewpoint: we’ve spent a
long time building our relationships and there’s a
real convergence between games, the interactive
space and film now, and I really believe that part
of this, whether motion capture is being used
for TV content, film or interactive, is a massive
convergence. This is where Centroid brings
something to the table in working with us and it
doesn’t just have to be the interactive space; it’s
really about creating that pipeline and I think that
ends up giving us a headstart on other facilities.

“We’re in a world where day and date release
won’t just be for a film, it’ll be for a game.
Because all of the content is already there. It’s
just about how they shape that and with regard to
theatrical cut scenes and everything else they’ll be
potentially shot live and then put into games. So,
it kind of gives us that headstart on creating visual
(or audio): the great dynamics of creating that at
an early stage.”

SE“TTVHOEERRYYFOTUENTLUELR’SINEBGFAOICSRKHGARRONUENSDSISN”G

Glen Gathard, creative director, Molinare

Several times during our Above: Centroid’s want Molinare to be as diverse as that what I really saw as a great
conversation Stilgoe talks about studio presence a borough in London. That’s the opportunity here was that we’ve
creating “a storytelling place” at in Soho, central future for storytelling; harnessing got some fantastic buildings, some
the new performance capture London storytelling from everyone’s fantastic areas that really lend
base at Molinare’s central London Top: Creature R&D backgrounds. This way, we’ll stop themselves to storytellers and
facility. The ecosystem of sizable work with Ace getting the regurgitation of the certainly creating a performance-
commercial projects that can in Ruele at Centroid’s same old stuff.” capture stage here in the heart of
turn create a space for smaller, and Uxbridge studio Carnaby Street where all of the
sometimes more independently space Nigel Bennett further sketches game companies are, would make
developed, projects is key to the out the relationship with Centroid, Centroid@Molinare a central
back and forth between differently noting that “I spent over 20 point around our area and likewise
scaled and resourced projects. Glen years at Pinewood, and Phil with the film and TV production.
Gathard makes the point that “I and the team at Centroid built It gave us a great scope to create a
a very good relationship over facility that could offer services to
that time. When I left Pinewood the wider audience and was a little
and moved to Molinare I saw a bit different to what Molinare’s
business that had a great past, a done before. And where it works
great history, but probably hadn’t really well between Centroid
moved forward into the new era and Molinare is this: we don’t
as where businesses should be. really cross over in what we do, so
And so, over the last couple of the synergies of two companies
years at Molinare, we’ve been coming together really does lend
really looking at diversification itself to storytellers and whether
and what we’re doing. And I think
3D WORLD 37

Capturing Collaborative Spirit this past year. I’d like to see facial
it’s interactive, film, or TV. It pipelines improved in the coming
really lends itself to a great way years and I say this partly based
of working with great synergies on Epic’s acquirement of Cubic
between each other. Centroid and Motion. There’s still the need
Molinare are now trying to drive for facial animation pipelines to
more forward thinking; that’s the simplify whilst still improving
most critical part of all this.” results. It’s long been the trickiest
Part of that forward motion and most expensive part of
resides in recruiting and hiring performance capture; mainly
creatives and in Centroid’s reserved for big-budget features
mindset in relation to developing and AAA console games.”
their talents and industry
awareness. Phil Stilgoe notes Centroid’s Uxbridge studio
that, “We hire people that have space is the other focus for
had a good grounding in Unreal Stilgoe’s work and he notes, “Our
and MotionBuilder, and some of Uxbridge stage is more than
the key tools. It’s good to have double the size of our storytelling
a mixture of people at Centroid stage at Molinare, and is therefore
from varied backgrounds. We have perfect for stunts, wire work, large
some people from backgrounds crowd simulations, sports, and
and experience in script, and some navigational/in- game captures.”
with backgrounds in tech.” Stilgoe
also explains that of additional Stilgoe then goes on to
value is his team’s attitude to explain some of the ways in
media and where it’s heading which lockdown has impacted
in terms of technology and its on Centroid’s process, noting
creative application. As part of that to showcase the studio’s
their forward-looking focus, services they have set up a client
both Centroid and Molinare are portal that allows them to stream
involved with two development Centroid’s capture services via
initiatives: SkillSet and Kickstart. platforms such as YouTube,
Turning his attention to Vimeo and UpVision. “The POVs
where performance capture from the stages’ three witness
technology is now moving, Stilgoe cameras, and the live previs, are
enthusiastically outlines the simultaneously streamed (in real
situation: “In-house, our facial time) to the client,” Stilgoe notes,
pipelines haven’t advanced much “for them to reference and direct
each shot, whilst talking to the

CCORENATTEINOTN Phil Stilgoe says of the opportunity to explore a range
of projects in terms of content and scale that, “We’re
ALONGSIDE ITS MOST working on a pilot for a puppet project. This is a big
COMMERCIALLY ORIENTATED development project and if we get it all right there’ll be a
COMMISSIONED WORK, feature. We’re looking at puppetry and a digital pipeline
CENTROID ARE INVOLVED that’s slightly driven by old-school methods using gloves
WITH INDEPENDENT as joysticks. It’s nice to have this whole scale of work
PROJECTS DURING THEIR that takes us from indies through to AAA games.” On
DEVELOPMENT a development project like this, Molinare can provide
grading and other post processes for Centroid.

38 3D WORLD

crew/directing the actors, through RTT“THOEHAEAELTLGSWYYRONLEEAECNRTODGWMSIEPAISAYTSNOOEIFEFLSF
Zoom, Skype, and so on.” WORKING”

At present, Centroid are Nigel Bennett, managing director, Molinare
working on various projects,
combining commercial and R&D Alongside its ‘high-end’ work, Above: Centroid’s
ventures. As Stilgoe notes, “We’ve both Centroid and Molinare are studio space at
got a Russian developer, Sabre increasingly committed to other Molinare
Games, who have been shooting creative opportunities and Gathard Facial mocap work
with us, and they have just done makes the point that Molinare’s is an ongoing focus
a production.” Centroid has also high profile means that the of development for
been working with Supermassive company “work on the biggest film, Centroid as mocap
Games. Stilgoe elaborates, “We TV and games in the world. But we becomes evermore
are heavily involved in their Dark will take on indie projects. We’re embedded in the
Pictures Anthology, which is a first commercially minded because wider toolkit for
for us in terms of working on a it allows us to take on a range of content creators
multi-episode game development. other kinds of projects.”
Much of this, in terms of the 3D WORLD 39
cinematic storytelling, will now Looking a little into the near-
be shot at Molinare, whilst the big future of performance capture
action and crowd scenes will be
shot in Uxbridge. We’ve now got
a much wider pipeline.” In turn,
this pipeline can serve and support
Centroid’s various creative strands:
Community, Arts, Sport and
Education, Games, Film, and TV.

Capturing Collaborative Spirit

STMEAEMLLSSPLIRIKITE

MOLINARE AND CENTROID
COMBINE TO EXPLORE
WHAT’S NEXT
Of their venture with Centroid,
Gathard says that “Phil and
his team have always been
very forward thinking, and
cutting-edge technology and
young talent keep us on our
toes with ideas. We will take
on anything as long as it’s
storytelling, and that’s what’s
cool and will keep us cutting
edge: R&D, working together,
even just having a think about
what it will be like in two
years. It’s exciting.”

evolution, Stilgoe comments, “TTEJMUHHNSOIETSTECHBRRAIEGTEPASHSPIIE-SNOBRMNUKVOEDEENGDLTTEOHF”TINONGRGER
“The facial side is what’s going to
change next, where we can start Phil Stilgoe, CEO, Centroid
previs-ing faces. We’re getting
closer. There is full performance
that includes faces but it’s a really
tricky thing so, if I was to state one
of my ambitions that I hope will
come out of this storytelling stage
is that we’re going to offer even
more. You’ve got what’s happening
in Unreal: they bought Cubic
Motion and they’ve now released
their MetaHuman pipeline, and
I know that Cubic Motion were
doing a lot of stuff towards live
faces; we are in a really exciting
space, and a studio like ours is on
the starting blocks.”

The idea of looking ahead
has underpinned much of the
conversation, and Stilgoe brings it
to a conclusion with an observation
about how the place of motion
capture has evolved significantly
in the past ten years, and how
that speaks to a much wider shift:
“Mocap is no longer this bespoke
thing just reserved for the high-
budget entertainment. There’s so
much more to aim at. There was a
time when there used to be one job
and three mocap studios trying to
get it. I think we have to give credit
to what’s gone on in the UK in the
last couple of decades. We’ve got
our house in order, the big house,
and we’re becoming a nation of
creative industries. It’s such an
exciting time.”
40 3D WORLD

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Photorealism and depth of field
LAMBORGHINI – RTX UE4
Software UnrealEngine,Photoshop
Yearmade 2021

Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork

Ccrraaiimmeerrj.aJrotnsetastion.com PHOTOREALISM AND DEPTH OF FIELD At the start of this project the focus was on photorealism, lighting and
Craimer Jones has been working in the image composition. The challenge was making this as true to real-world lighting as possible, using my own HDRI
automotive industry for nearly five years material coupled with various industry-standard lighting techniques. I focused on lighting and how post-process
as a CGI automotive artist. He has always render controls affect this within Unreal Engine, utilising Unreal Engine’s console commands and Movie Render
had a passion for Unreal Engine. Queue to achieve that extra level of realism and quality. I wanted to learn how to utilise the power of Unreal Engine,
raytracing techniques and depth-of-field effects to achieve a specifically focused and detailed image.

42 3D WORLD

Photorealism and depth of field
3D WORLD 43

PractpicraolaytoriptuissrtaCsnGtdostkiumitllopsrrioavlse from

PZBHROUTSOHSH|OSPU|BS3DTASNCCAENPSAOINFTTEWRA|RMEA–YAAG|ISAORFNTOMLDET|AMSAHSAHPE| NUKE

FMROODMELCLOINNGCEAPNTDABRETYTOON3DD

How to transform a 2D concept into a stunning CG art piece

44 3D WORLD

DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES
For all the assets you need go to

http://bit.ly/3Dworld-toys

C oncept artists are often the much-forgotten underdogs of the 3D ABSOLUTE THE BIGGER
workflow. Yet, they can play an integral part in creating a clear PICTURE
vision from the outset, collaborating with 3D artists to seamlessly A Soho-based VFX powerhouse, Absolute’s CG
develop this vision into an agreed outcome. Pedro de la Puente, concept portfolio is as varied as it is impressive. The team From concept art
artist at post-production powerhouse, Absolute, thrives on storytelling, have worked across a range of film and advertising to 3D modelling
regularly working closely with the CG team to design, generate and campaigns, collaborating with directors such as to lighting and
develop stunning imagery for clients. “It’s a massive team effort,” says Jake Scott, Jaron Albertin and Baz Luhrmann and finesse, each part of
Pedro, who worked with CG artists Dan Baiton and Matt Burn to create brands including Sky, adidas and BMW. the image-making
this beautifully stylised image. Here’s how they did it. absolutepost.com/portfolio/cg-showreel-1 process informs
the next

3D WORLD 45

INITIAL CONCEPT
by Pedro de la Puente, concept artist

01INSPIRATION 02 IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS 02
The first step was to draw I began thinking about how Cclhaoyowseisyeoluyr
an image that I thought could this would translate to 3D and what
translate well to a CG art piece. a CG artist would need to model Polymerclay is a
I had drawn this image in pencil it. Everything has volume, so how material that doesn’t
back in the summer and I knew does the child look from the front, harden until you bake
I wanted to progress it, so I in profile? What about the tree? As it at 130 degrees –
spent two days improving the a concept artist, the greater detail super handy for easy
composition, adding colour and you can provide the CG artist, the manipulation and
texture and further defining the better, so I created sketches from changes!
two different characters involved
– the mischievous tree and the 03each angle. 03
sleeping boy. CLAY MODELLING
From the outset, we decided
01
that, whilst the child would be
46 3D WORLD 3D modelled, the best workflow
for the tree would be to model
it in clay and 3D scan it in, with
the textures/colours digitally
enhanced later. Using plasticine, I
modelled an initial rough sculpture
of the tree in order to see how the
face would look from different
angles. After much R&D, we
decided we wanted the tree to
look smiley and friendly and I knew
it was important to model as much
detail in as possible so that Dan,
our 3D artist, had a clear vision.
Once we were happy with the

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond

04a 04b

06
04c

05a 05b 07 Fair weather the positioning of the branch until
warning we were all happy with it. Thank
design, I modelled the final version working in tandem – every time I
updated the drawing, he would Natural lighting is by 08goodness for technology!
04of the tree using polymer clay. far best when shooting BPAAICNKTGINRGOUINNDTHE
3D SCANNING 06update the 3D design. imagery for your 3D
Positioning the sculpture STYLING THE HAIR scan. But the ideal The final part for me was painting
When it came to the hair, I weather is a grey sky, the background. As the image
outside in natural lighting, I began with clouds evenly itself was stylised, so too needed
circling it, taking pictures every wanted to help Dan understand my covering the sun. This to be the clouds, the birds, and the
time I moved a fraction around vision as much as I could. Naturally, will help eradicate any sky. 'Real' birds just wouldn't fit.
until we had enough to make it would be extremely tedious shadows, which could We decided to use a digital matte
the scan. Modelling the branch to draw this in 360, so I used a potentially cause painting for the background to
in polymer clay proved very material called Milliput (which problems within the juxtapose the modelled elements
useful when continuing to design dries in two hours). I took several scanning software. in the foreground.
this asset. This clay is similar to pictures from different angles of
plasticine prior to baking it and the sculpture and painted over the 08 3D WORLD 47
as it had an armature that I made design in Photoshop, so that he
using wire, it was very easy to had a rough 360 reference of the
manipulate ahead of Dan creating
it in 3D. Once I was happy, I 07sort of hair I had envisioned.
digitally painted the new design SETTING THE SCENE
of the branches for our hero angle The composition of the
and set about creating some
whole scene was also something I
05stylised foliage and flowers. wanted to perfect. We wanted the
TANDEM DEVELOPMENT book pages to look fragile, with
When it came to the child, the light coming through, but we
didn't want it to cover the face of
Dan had started modelling from the child. We had several Zoom
the initial images, so we were calls in which we also played with

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond

CHARACTER MODELLING
by Dan Baiton, CG artist

09 INITIAL BLOCK-OUT 09 10
Using Pedro's supplied 11 12a
imagery, I was able to set up image 12b 13a
planes that represented the front
and side views of our character 13b
within ZBrush.

A feature that's new to ZBrush
2021.6, 'Mesh Balloon', lets you
quickly describe shapes by
drawing a mask onto an object. I
was able to pair this with our image
planes to draw out the character's

10initial forms.
FINE-TUNING DETAILS
Once I was happy with the

basic formation of the character, I
enabled DynaMesh to add details
– the shape of his face and the

11roundness of the ears.
RETOPOLOGY
ZRemesher was used in

conjunction with both ZRemesher
guides and Polypaint. The guides
were used to suggest an ideal
topology flow and the 'red'
Polypaint was used to entice the

12algorithm to focus on these areas.
RETOPOLOGY FIXES
Once happy, it's time to

jump into Maya for some fine-
tweaking. The eyes, mouth and
hands remained features of
concern – and ultimately needed
to be reworked using a topology
rerouting process, for which Maya's

13Quad Draw tool was perfect.
UVs
The UVs were created

with the 'Auto UV Unwrap' tool,
which can be acquired for free
by downloading the Maya Bonus
Tools from Autodesk. Auto UV
Unwrap enables the user to
suggest seam lines on the asset.
Once completed, the tool unfolds
the object and creates UV islands
based on the suggested seams.

Once our character's new
topology and UV have been
completed, it was then time to
move onto his clothing!
48 3D WORLD

14a 14b Pre-plan From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond
16 make the UVs, suggesting seams
18 Make sure to pre-plan where we would expect the
1417 as much as humanly
SBHAISRETF/SOHROORUTRS tools to shape the clothing, such possible!You’re only as 16stitching to be.
as soft selection of components, good as the reference SIMULATING FABRIC
As we paid close attention to lattices and Maya's Grab tool, you’ve gathered. Once in ZBrush, it was
make workable geometry in our using these in unison until I was
retopology stage, this allowed happy with the overall shape. time to make the clothing more
me to easily select all the faces Before making the collar, I representative of fabric. To
needed to suggest our character's detached a selection of edges achieve this, ZBrush's 'Dynamics'
basic clothing shape. As I went at the top of his jumper, before feature allows us to quickly
around the model selecting all the overlapping the edges. This would conceptualise the attributes of
faces I needed, I referred back to become our button area. I then cloth. In Dynamics, press the
our concept design, checking I was selected the collar edges and Collision Volume button – this
adhering to Pedro's suggested extruded/shaped them until his enables all other non-selected
clothing sizing. Once all the faces collar sat well around his neck area. 'visible' subtools to react with
were selected, I duplicated these I also added cuffs to the sleeves the subtool you want to simulate.
by going to Edit Mesh>Duplicate, and some indentation at the Before hitting Run Simulation I
which created a new geometry. turned off Gravity and changed
15bottom of the jumper. Inflate to 0 under Collision Volume
With our basic duplicated UVs ROUND 2 – what this now allows me to do
geometry sorted, it was time to As with the base model, is use ZBrush's Cloth brushes
shape it around our base mesh. to interactively sculpt on the
I used a range of transformation I used the 'Auto UV Unwrap' to character’s clothing whilst using
the underlying base object as the
collision object. With this method
I was able to easily sculpt in cloth
folds around the areas that you

17would expect to see them.
GIVING IT SOME WELLY
To create the base of our

Wellington boot I used the same
face duplication technique I had
used with the clothing. The base
of the sole was created using

18traditional box-modelling.
ZBRUSH
Detailing the welly mostly

consisted of adding some
interesting planes around the
sole. To achieve this I used the
ZModeller brush to create some
interesting creases around areas
that I had selected. Once I was
happy with the location of the
creases it was time to bevel (Tool>
Crease>Bevel). A new polygroup
gets made by default when a
new bevel is created, this proved
helpful when it came to sharpening
up the edges around our sole
using a mixture of Masking and
ClayPolish. I also used the 'Live
Boolean' feature in ZBrush to
create some indentation under the

19sole of the boot.
RCHIGAGRINACGTTEHRE

For posing the character I used
three tools – ZBrush, Mixamo
and Maya. Within ZBrush, I

3D WORLD 49

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond 19a 19b
made sure all subtools were at 20a 20b
21a 21b
their lowest level, and then went
ahead and created a 'TPoseMesh' 22a 22b
for our character (Zplugins>
Transpose Master>TPoseMesh).
This gathers and merges all the
character's subtools which gives
you the freedom of using various
tools within ZBrush to pose the
character, however we are using it
for a different method. We need to
give the newly merged character
some temporary UVs – we do this
by going to Zplugins>UVMaster>
Unwrap. These won't be the
prettiest of UVs but it'll become
apparent as to why we need them
in the following steps. We export
this TPoseMesh.

Adobe Mixamo is a free online
motion library that enables the
user to easily apply 1,000s of
unique animations to their own
character – very quickly! The user
uploads their character before
being guided through various
selections of the model i.e.
knees, elbows, wrists etc. Once
completed, Mixamo goes ahead
and rigs it for you – and before you
know it, your character is dancing
to the Macarena.

I imported my TPoseMesh to
Mixamo and selected the motion
'Laying Down' – this gave me a
great base to work from. I saved
and downloaded this new file in

20FBX format.
PCHOSAIRNAGCTTHERE

In Maya the plan is to transfer
the 'new' Mixamo pose to our
TPoseMesh that we exported from
ZBrush. However, our new 'Laying
Down' pose still has bones, which
means we are able to tweak our
character further if need be! Once
happy with the pose, it's time to
transfer that look to our ZBrush
TPoseMesh – we achieve this
by using the temporary UVs we
created in the first step.

Selecting our 'Laying Down'
pose first and then our TPoseMesh,
we then go to Mesh>Transfer
Attributes and press the square
button next to it to open the
option dialogue. Here we made
sure our Vertex position and
normal are both set to 'On' – and
our Sample space is set to 'UV'.
Hit apply and our TPoseMesh is
50 3D WORLD