3D_World-Issue_274

now the same as our 'Laying Down' Substance Source – you can Polycount From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond
pose, ready to export. get this service for free with map, it was imperative that we
a subscription of Substance Whilst building shape give this guy some UVs. However,
Going back to ZBrush, I Painter. Substance Source hosts and form, keep your to achieve this we first needed to
imported our new 'Laying Down' an impressive library of materials polycount low. This clean up our 3D scanned topology
post straight over our previous ranging from stone, fabric, will enable you to by retopologizing. As our tree
TPoseMesh, before using the plastic, wood etc – these are all efficiently manipulate would not be deforming in any
sculpting brushes to fix any errors downloadable and easily modified your model with ease. way, it was decided to use the
that might have occurred during to your liking. For the clothing I ZRemesher feature within ZBrush
the rigging and posing process. downloaded some of these fabrics, Clean topology to create our nice clean topology
Once I'm happy with the fixes, I'm and easily applied them to the – this saved us a lot of time and
ready to finally transfer the pose character. Modifying the look was Topology is key! the results were satisfactory. Now
back to my original high-resolution super easy to achieve, as these Sculpting, UV, we were able to give our tree
model with separated subtools – shaders already have procedural texturing and some UVs – this again was done
and that is done simply by going attributes built in that can be rigging depend on it. within ZBrush using the UV Master
to Zplugins>Transpose Master> changed easily – such as pattern, Retopologizing well
at the beginning will 25(Zplugins>UVMaster>Unwrap).
21TPose|SubT. 23size and colour. prevent headaches CUTTING CREASES
HAIR STYLING 3D SCANNING later on. Now time for some
So up until this point our It was decided very
24 additional detailing and
character has been hairless – time early on that we would utilise a 25b corrections. Here I really wanted
to change that! XGen was used to 'photogrammetry' workflow for our to emphasise the crevices of our
create the hair for our character tree. Photogrammetry consists of tree – I was able to easily achieve
– specifically XGen Interactive taking a large number of images this by using a mixture workflow
Groom. I particularly like using this around a particular object, which of masking, inflating and Clay
method over the traditional XGen in turn enables you to create 3D Polishing. We added a splash of
use, as brush strokes appear in real geometry via specialist software. colour to our tree using Polypaint
time, leading to a more interactive Taking Pedro's clay version of our within ZBrush.
experience and a speedier tree, we photographed it before
workflow – which for our style of using a software called Agisoft Our branch design took a few
hair helped tremendously. Metashape to transform the versions to get right – the final
version in our picture was first
A skull cap was created to 24images into a 3D model. drawn up by our concept designer
suggest where I'd like the hair RETOPOLOGY AND UVs in which he drew directly onto a
to sit and once this was in place As we planned to render early render, which was incredibly
it was time to get grooming! helpful whilst building in Maya.
Selecting our skull cap, I went everything within Maya and the Once the base of our branch was
to Generate>Create Interactive tree would need a displacement built, I transferred over to ZBrush
Groom Splines – which created where I added detail.
groomable hair splines across 23
our skull cap geo, allowing us to 25a 3D WORLD 51
control the Density, Length, Width
and also stack additional sculpt
layers and Modifiers on top. This
becomes incredibly fun and helpful
when shaping our character's hair.
You can see the final result of our
XGen hair using an 'aiStandardHair'
shader within Arnold in the image

22on the left.
ADDING TEXTURE
Substance Painter was

used for the texturing process.
Texturing of our character was
fairly straightforward – we wanted
to keep it within the simplified
realm of the scene.

The subtle tonal details added
a bit of variance to his face. I also
added some freckles to his cheek/
nose area using the 'Dots' brush
within Substance Painter.

For the clothing, I utilised
a service from Adobe called

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond

LIGHTING THE SCENE
by Matt Burn, CG supervisor

26 SCENE LAYOUT 26a 26b
The final geometry was 27a 27b
imported into Maya, either using 28a - Skin
the Alembic (.abc) file format, or as 28b - Paper
Arnold StandIns (to keep the scene
nice and light to navigate).

After initially positioning a
camera to match the angle and
framing of the concept, we instead
opted for a camera angle that
would show off a nicer perspective,
adding greater range to the depth
of the scene. We ended up tighter
on the character too, adding to the

27intimate feel of the image.
LIGHTING CHOICES
The concept image was

added to the Arnold RenderView
background to simplify matching
the tone with 3D lighting. Shader
balls and an Arnold Skydome
light were used to set up an initial
ambient/specular HDRI baselight
in keeping with the concept’s
colour and tone.

A directional light was used
to create the feel of strong 2pm
sunlight with some sharp shadows,
and a bright rim light adds some
brightness in certain areas and
some interesting shadows to
interplay with the sunlight.

Finally, a fill light (Arnold’s area
light) was used subtly to lighten up
areas that were feeling too dark,
particularly around the tree’s eyes.
***All lighting was tweaked
throughout the project, so the
screengrabs may not represent

28exactly the final lighting used.***
SHADING
Skin/wellies: The skin

and wellies both utilised the
Subsurface section of the
aiStandardSurface shader. Base
colour maps were adjusted using a
remapHsv node and connected to
Subsurface colour. aiNormal maps
were used for adding finer detail.
Paper: For the two-sided
paper, Arnold’s aiTwoSided

52 3D WORLD

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond

29a - XGen grass

29b - MASH flowers

29c - Leaves any unwanted harsh highlights Tweak, save, MASH flowers: Variations of
repeat flower geometry were modelled
shader helped us to achieve the 29made by the sunlight. and given simple shaders. Each
translucent effect. Each page was CREATING THE FOLIAGE Save regular iterations flower was individually exported
prepared separately, using the XGen grass: An XGen of your work and as an .ass file, then all were re-
artwork from the opposite side in constantly refer back imported as Arnold StandIns
the Subsurface colour. description was added to to previous renders to to be used in MASH. Different
Tree displacement: For the tree the simple ground geometry. ensure you’re actually MASH system nodes were utilised
displacement, displacement maps Expressions (mostly using the improving things, for initial scatter distribution on
from ZBrush and colour maps from ‘rand’ flag) were added to multiple not over-cooking the simple ground mesh, to vary
Substance Painter were combined positional attributes for variation. something for the the IDs of the scattered assets,
with some simple procedural 3D A simple grass-blade profile curve sake of it. randomise scale and rotation, and
bump to create levels of detail was created using the 'Width identify and remove any specific
within the shader. Ramp' feature. Once the setup was unwanted flowers.
Hair: Meanwhile, colours in the finalised, the XGen was baked into Leaves: Simple polyPlanes were
aiStandardHair shader were polygonal geometry, given a very adjusted using non-linear bend
tweaked to land on a blonde simple shader and exported as an and twist deformers before being
tone for the hair, with anisotropic .ass file, before being imported to positioned by hand. Colour maps
roughness utilised to smooth out the lighting scene as a StandIn, to
keep things light to work with. 3D WORLD 53

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond 30a 30b

with alpha channels were used to 30c 31b
create a cutout effect, with some 31a
subsurface shining through to add
This is the final
30extra detail. beauty render that
ATMOSPHERICS went into Nuke
These effects were created
31c
as simply as possible – you could
choose to go much more in
depth with these kind of effects if
desired, but simplicity was the aim
for this project.
Atmos volumetrics: The
aiAtmosphereVolume node was
used to create some simple beams
from an area light, mimicking light
being scattered through off-screen
branches. 3D noise was added to
the volume and texture was used
to break up the light colour.
Airborne dust particles: A volume
emitter was created and filled with
loads of nParticle spheres. Simple
but effective, these come into their
own when defocused and added
very subtly into the image during

31the compositing process later on.
RENDERING
Defocus: Maya’s measure

tool was used to calculate focus
distance, which was then piped
into the Arnold tab on the render
camera. Aperture settings were
tweaked until the foreground grass
rendered nice and soft, adding real
depth to the final imagery.
AOVs: Per-light global AOVs
were embedded into the multi-
channel EXR render, to assist the
compositing process, allowing
for separate elements (specular,
diffuse etc) to be adjusted
separately in Nuke later on.
Remove noise: Noise was
removed from the render by
following Arnold’s excellent
documentation (bit.ly/3a98Ru5)
and checking AOVs one by
one, tweaking samples in a very
methodical way.
Render layers: To help the
compositing process, the
Volumetric and Air Dust
atmospheric elements were
rendered on their own separate
render layers (Maya legacy render
layers used, nothing fancy here).

54 3D WORLD

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond

C32 OMP AND CLEANUP (ABOVE)
by Tom Clapp, 2D artist SETTING THE BACKDROP
Layered digital paintings
32 ABNACDKGGRRAODUINNGD CSGETUP Using ColorCorrect, I desaturated 33a from concept artist, Pedro,
the dust particles a little, using a 33b compiled together to form
Using Nuke, I set up a script FilterErode node and a Blur node the background in Nuke
ready for compositing. I imported so that they became fine particles
Pedro's layered file and used scattered through the light rays. 3D WORLD 55
ColorCorrect to adapt the
clouds, lifting the highlights and I then applied ZDefocus to
stripping back some of the red some of the dust particles as a
and green to add contrast, before separate layer, which became the
applying ZDefocus to the overall close-up particles you can see
background for depth.
34across the image.
I imported the CG containing all FINISHING TOUCHES
of the layers and channels needed. Next, using the Keyer
Using the Cryptomatte node, I
selected parts of the CG leaving (luminance), I created a mask from
me with an alpha channel for each the shadows of the overall picture,
layer. I then applied a grade node masking the dust particles through
to the CG, attaching the mask this so that they were more
input to each cryptomatte. Colour prominent in the shadows.
correcting allowed me to pick up
some of the detail in the hair, face, Using a Roto node, I masked
the bottom right of the frame, then
33clothing and grass. graded down our main plate using
VDOULSUTMPEARRTAIYCSLEASND the alpha channel from the Roto.
This gave us a little more shadow
I imported Matt's volume rays where we needed it at the bottom
and applied them to the main right of the frame.
image, before adding further light
rays using the VolumeRays node. Grain was the finishing touch,
with the L_Grain node giving us
full control across all channels. And
there you have it! •

From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond

SOFTWARE: MAYA | MASH | ARNOLD

IASRGDHNNIACOIEEMSMNOHTWTPWIDRMALEITEOYOVBEOAEUTMRMRKTUTIAYSISRSOSEUETHDNLOY

Matt Burn explains:

“Randomisation is something position objects by eye in a way that we think node networks allowed me to achieve true
that, as artists, the naked eye is random, but in truth it is not. No matter randomisation of the geometry placement.
and human imagination simply cannot help how hard we try, we’ll always struggle to By simply creating a few interlinked nodes
but curate. We ‘free-willed’ beings cannot emulate the truly random organic essence of and adjusting a few slider attributes, I landed
avoid making deliberate decisions while mother nature. There is beauty to be found somewhere I was much happier with, in an
forming subconscious creative opinions in chaos. extremely short amount of time.
during the artistic process. One could When lighting the XGen grass for this 3D Of course, MASH is not just restricted
argue that we are ultimately incapable scene, it became apparent that something to distributing flowers. Its toolset could be
of generating something truly random, was missing. Our concept artist suggested utilised to deliver a wide variety of outcomes
despite our best efforts. Luckily for us, adding some simple floral touches – bursts – e.g. generating organic flocking bird
computer software code isn’t limited by such of colour to break up the green. However, movement, creating explosions, procedurally
instinctive deliberations. after my initial placement efforts, ‘randomly’ positioning roof tiles or even simulating
In the context of CG, deliberate hand positioning flowers by eye wasn’t working. It dynamic flowing blood cells. MASH has
placement of environmental geometry was just too… perfect. so many interesting features and powerful
inevitably leads to an unintentionally Then I remembered MASH, a tool in Maya possibilities for 3D artists that it’s impossible
designed and considered aesthetic. We I had previously used for scattering trees to list them all here – its extensive toolset is
artists could sit there for hours trying to around an environment. Using simple MASH both useful and flexible.

56 3D WORLD

Simple environmental elements From concept art to 3D modelling and beyond
– flowers distributed using a
MASH network, combined with EXPERT TIP
XGen grass primitives AVOID SLOWDOWNS USING ‘FRUSTUM FILTERING’
Maya becoming slow while working with MASH? Try this! Expand the MASH_Visibility
node dropdown, click ‘Enable Frustum Filtering’. MMB-drag your camera into the
‘camera’ slot. Objects outside your camera's FOV should vanish. Adjust ‘Frustum
Border’ so objects don't pop off near the edge of frame if using animated cameras.

STEP BY STEP USE MASH NETWORKS FOR RANDOM DISTRIBUTION

01 02

03 04
01 03ASSETPREP
Create some low-resolution models RUSAENDMOAMSIHSNEOYODUESRTAOSSETS
to be distributed. Include any modelling Create a MASH_World node, used in this
variations that you’d like to see in the end case to replace distributed geometry with
result – MASH won’t do that part for you, clusters of random objects. Tweak the
sorry! Apply some shaders (not really the Cluster settings as desired. MMB-drag
focus here) and tweak until you are happy. to re-connect the input mesh. Amend
Export each unique asset as an individual the Maximum ID so all instanced objects
.ass file using Arnold>Scene Export. get included in the scatter. Create a
Remember, assets can be adjusted MASH_Random node. Objects receive a
and re-exported later on if changes are random value between 0 and the values
needed, nothing needs to be final yet! inputted here, allowing for randomisation
Like everything in the world of CG, there of position/rotation/scale. Adjust the seed
are many, many ways to skin a cat. The end 02 ISNEITTIUAPL MDIASSTHRINBEUTTWIOONRK /value on the MASH_Distribute node to
result could be reached a different way trial different arrangements.
– combining nParticles with a geometry Import prepared objects as StandIns,
instancer and some simple per-particle using Arnold>StandIn. Select one StandIn DELETE UNWANTED ITEMS
expressions might also have been an option.
Other techniques, software, plugins, MEL/ 04object and choose MASH>Create MASH What if you’ve got a perfectly
Python scripts are of course readily available. Network (select ‘Instance’ at this stage). random distribution, but spotted some
On the MASH_Distribute node, choose strays that need removing (while keeping
We can’t possibly cover every setting, ‘mesh’ distribution type and ‘scatter’ other items in their current position)?
so let me keep this simple. MASH, like method. MMB-drag to connect an input Create a MASH_Points node, change
Maya, is huge. It goes way deeper than this mesh. Your object should now appear ‘Channel’ to Point ID to display a numerical
walkthrough and the possibilities are literally randomly scattered on the surface. ID for each scattered object (Viewport
endless. The real excitement starts when you Amend ‘number of points’ as desired. 2.0 only). Create a MASH_Visibility node,
begin experimenting with combinations of Don’t worry much about the positioning of enter the ID number of objects you would
the available nodes yourself, but here are the the scattered objects at this point, it’s all like removed into the ‘Filter Off’ field. The
basics of setting up a simple MASH network about to change! listed object(s) should disappear.
system to start with. Have fun with it!

3D WORLD 57

SHAPING THE SCENE
I started with an asset
pack of four mountains and
a snowy landscape, which
were combined to create a
Himalayan setting

Bring your Unreal environment to life

BEUNRENRALENIGVINNE4|IPGHROTOSOHOYP NOMUERNUTNTROEALILFE
Develop your skills in real-time graphics and keep up with the industry!

D eveloping a skillset in Himalayas, will go over my general 02 CTHUESTROEMSUISLETS AUTHOR
real-time graphics is in workflow for setting up a scene, Ricky Thomas
higher demand today how to tackle lighting, and how Once you have 3D assets to build I am currently
than it has ever been, with to export final stills and videos. your scene you should look into working in the
studios looking to replace their Along the way we will dive into changing them to suit your needs. field of VR creating
slow pre-rendered pipeline with some common issues and how to The asset pack used for this interactive
highly responsive and interactive resolve them, such as flickering environment came with four snowy and immersive
alternatives. Alongside this there ray traced shadows and making mountains and a good procedural environments
are many companies looking to your game launch whilst looking snowy landscape setup, which for the future of
break into the emerging field of through a custom camera. Finally were then combined to give the collaborative work
VR, and all of this runs in tandem we will go over some simple appearance of being set high up in over long distances.
with existing users such as the tricks in Photoshop to create a the Himalayas. Bringing worlds to
video games industry, which is final render that breaks the rules life is what I live for!
continuing to grow year on year! a little to cover some of Unreal’s Various textures were switched ricky-thomas.com
shortcomings for this project. out for higher-res versions, and
Keeping inspired to create several were colour-adjusted
is easier than ever with online Hopefully you’ll learn some new to bring everything back into a
outlets like ArtStation for ideas coherent setting. The depth they
and challenges, and with every 01tips and tricks, so let’s get stuck in! give versus using an HDRI makes a
new project comes a new LLOOCCAATTIIOONN, LOCATION, big difference to the result, and it
opportunity to further expand also looks far less jarring with the
your knowledge. The first step to bringing your graphical style suiting the assets
environment assets to life is to figure throughout instead of having a
While taking a project into out where the scene should be set.
Unreal Engine can be relatively Sometimes a simple HDRI setup is 03photographic backdrop.
simple, there are still a lot of enough depending on what sort LIGHT THE SCENE
settings to contend with and of final shots you want to get, but Getting lighting mocked
issues that can arise that you often it’s a good idea to try to find
might not know how to correct. and develop a 3D environment to up early on really helps to sell a
This tutorial, set high up in the really make your assets pop. A good world. It’s highly dependant on your
place to start is to look on places like scene, but a good thing to keep
DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES Unreal Marketplace once you know in mind is colour theory. Lighting
For all the assets you need go to what you’re looking for. From there a scene out in the open with no
you can go about making your own other real source of light can be
http://bit.ly/3Dworld-toys amendments and shaping the scene challenging to keep interesting.
to fit your needs. The plan for this environment
went from overcast and cloudy

01 02

3D WORLD 59

Bring your Unreal environment to life TDR settings meshes in question and check darker sky, and less fog for the sun
to during twilight hours for that the box that says Evaluate World
reason. Pushing the warmth of If UE4 keeps crashing Position under the Rendering tab to 06to scatter through.
the sun and the coldness of the taking screenshots, TWEAK FOG DENSITY
shadows created a good tonal you can increase 05significantly reduce this issue. The ExponentialHeightFog
blend between blues and yellows the wait time in your CALRTEIATTUEDBEELIEVABLE
that made the scene pop much TDR settings using could ruin the atmospheric
Windows Key + R, To create believable depth to our height of the scene, so was used
04more than being essentially flat-lit. and type regedit. scene we’ll use a combination sparingly. The Fog Inscattering
RRAENYDTERRACWINITGH Go to SYSTEM\ of Atmospheric Fog and Colour was set to be cool and cold,
CurrentControlSet\ ExponentialHeightFog. Bringing with the Directional Inscattering
If you have the hardware, you may Control\Graphics in the Atmospheric Fog node first Colour matched to the sun with
want to enable ray tracing. To do Drivers, and edit (or we can control the sun size and more saturation thrown in. The
this, head to Project Settings and make) a binary value brightness, and the atmospheric directional colour setting will show
search for ray tracing. Enable the named TdrLevel, and height the scene is set at. This up where lights interact with the
checkbox, then look for Default RHI set it to 0. comes in very handy when building fog (i.e. the sun). Fog Density was
and set it to DirectX 12. An engine a scene high in the Himalayas! lowered just to get the bloom rays
restart will then be required for it to from the sun, then the Secondary
take effect. The Ground Offset was set Fog Data was enabled with a Fog
to -884,900, the height of Mount Height Falloff of 1.2 to give the
You might notice strange Everest in centimetres. This gives effect of fog settling in the valleys
artefacts on animated displacement the effect of a thin atmosphere, below, selling the sense of depth.
maps now. If you do, select the

03 04

05a 05b

06a 06b

60 3D WORLD

Bring your Unreal environment to life

07a 07b

0708a Process Materials dropdown. Add 08b Camera choice
PVOOSLUT-MPEROCESSING an array element and choose Asset
Using composition techniques such There are two types
With the lighting down we can 09Reference to find your material. as the rule of thirds, set up multiple of cameras in Unreal:
start to push the scene further by CEVAEMREYRTAHISNEGESTHE cameras looking at your subjects ‘Cine Camera Actor’
adjusting our boundless post- from various angles. Experiment and one simply named
process volume. Depending on Having some ideas from an early with different lenses, a range of ‘Camera’. Generally
your hardware you may have ray stage for what the final shots of focal lengths, and different aspect you’ll want to use the
tracing enabled. Switch all relevant the scene may look like is always a ratios by changing the sensor width Cine Camera Actor for
settings on in the Rendering good start. It gives you something and height. You might stumble greater controllability
Features tab to make use of it. to work towards and focus on across new shots that work well, plus settings that
You can also tweak settings in the nearing the end of development. and it will undoubtably enhance more closely resemble
Colour Grading tab to get closer to that final money-shot you had in real cameras.
the final look you like. In this scene 09 your head!
the global contrast was increased,
and the global gain was used to
add a very mild tint of blue to the
scene to cool its colour palette

08down further.
GSTOYFLOISREAD LOOK

To achieve a more stylised look to
your scene you can play around
with post-process materials. To
set one up, create a new material
and set its Material Domain to
Post Process. The material created
here is used to sharpen the scene,
which is powered up to create a
cartoony look. Once you have an
effect you like, apply it into the
Post Process Volume in the Post

3D WORLD 61

Bring your Unreal environment to life 10
11
10 TUNE THE CAMERA 12
Our camera will be a Cine 13
Camera Actor, which uses settings
much like a real camera would. It’s
a good idea to stick to the default
camera lenses in the Lens Settings
dropdown, unless you are going for
a specific look or want to use a lens
you know of but isn’t listed. Using
strange settings here can quickly
throw the look of your scene off. If
you’re aiming for a bokeh effect,
use Tracking in the Focus Method,
and give it an actor to look at.
This saves a lot of guess work and

11fiddling for the final renders.
GFOETRTCHAEPSTUCRENEE READY

When capturing shots, especially
at longer focal lengths, you might
find that some textures get blurry
and detract from the overall quality
of the environment. A simple way
to fix this is to open the textures
in question and set their Mip Gen
Settings to NoMipmaps. This will
ensure only the original texture
scale is rendered, at the cost of
sometimes significantly more video
memory. Try to prioritise what
textures are closest to the camera
and are reused in multiple places to

12conserve video memory if required.
ISNCRTHEEENVSIEHWOTPORT

There are two ways to take
screenshots in Unreal. You can use
the High Resolution Screenshot
tool found in the viewport menu,
or take a screenshot using a
command in-game. The viewport
one does what it says on the tin
and is very simple to use. To get
the best-quality visuals you can,
change the Screen Percentage to
200% before you begin. This will
slow your scene down but draw at
twice the resolution. Be cautious
when changing the Screenshot Size
Multiplier as numbers beyond 2-3

13often cause a system crash.
TAKE A SHOT IN-GAME
Note that some assets,

such as those using physics, only
work once the game has started.
For these situations you need to
take screenshots when the game
is running. For this you need to
tell the game to look through
your camera on launch, press

62 3D WORLD

Bring your Unreal environment to life

14 15

16 scene. Drag the chosen camera click on the clapperboard icon in Artistically
from your World Outliner to the the Sequencer and adjust settings break cameras
the tilde (~) key during play, and Sequencer window. In the window, for export. You can either export
type HighResShot followed by a roll out the Transform node to as a video file, or a set of rendered Toincrease the
multiplier number (i.e. HighResShot expose positional data which can frames which can be composited in ability to blur shots
4). To look through your camera be keyed. If you want to key a for video, go to the
on launch go to Blueprints>Open parameter not listed, look for the 16a third-party application. camera settings and
Level Blueprint, and create nodes icon next to the parameter name in CURATE THE RESULTS change the Min FStop
as per the image. Remember There are some things Unreal to 0, and animate the
to uncheck the box for Context 15your details panel for the camera. Current Aperture down
Sensitive on the right-click menu to CAPTURE A VIDEO is not great at, such as realistic to a very small number
Keyframes work just like any motion blur for example. Changing to unnaturally blur the
14access all nodes. settings like the shutter speed scene out.
SET UP A SEQUENCE other video editing software. Set on the cameras doesn’t work the 3D WORLD 63
Creating a short video of a key, move to a new different same way as it does in real life, so
place along the timeline, change we have to cheat to get the effect
the scene can help bring it to life, a setting, then re-key. Animating for our final renders. In Photoshop
especially if you are using animated the focus can look very nice, but you can make use of masks and its
effects. To do this, go to Cinematics often requires breaking the default grading tools to further push your
at the top of the screen and Add lens settings to do so. Once happy, final shots. •
Level Sequence. Save it somewhere
appropriate and drag it into your

ELEVATION
Watch the incredible ‘Elevation’
short and find out more
about the studio’s project at
mondlicht-studios.de/mda

Create an epic scene in Cinema 4D

SCCREENATEEINANCINEPEIMC A 4DCINEMA4D|REDSHIFT|SUBSTANCEDESIGNER|DAVINCIRESOLVE

Mondlicht Studios take us through the pipeline of a key shot in
‘Elevation’ – a project created for the Motion Design Awards

T he two-minute video 01CREATE A MOODBOARD you may prefer to leave the hero AUTHOR
‘Elevation’ became not Everyone knows how and the stele at the centre, but Mondlicht Studios
just a project, but a praise important it is to create a play with the surrounding area and Mondlicht Studios
of creativity and the motion moodboard, but not so many GmbH, based in
design community. After all artists usually do. With the project’s 03adjust it to your taste. Germany, is a digital
the unfortunate events of 2020, fantasy landscape and plot, a OPEN CINEMA 4D media production
Mondlicht Studios and the moodboard is vital. Looking for To create the base for the studio, established
Motion Design Awards came up references, we had to think about in 2019 by three
with an idea to create a project to every detail of the shot, from the shot and its composition, you digital artists:
inspire designers worldwide. One rocky environment to the costume can use the basic instruments Dmitriy Glazyrin,
of the key impacts of 2020 is our design. The project, in general, was of Cinema 4D. Cubes and other Maksym Khirnyy
relocation more into the digital inspired by the dark atmosphere simple objects are more than and David Schäfer.
world. So, in the video, the digital of David Fincher's movies and this enough to build a good foundation In those two years,
and the real world are combined specific shot by the severe beauty for future work. Add the figure to Mondlicht Studios
and both influence each other, the shot at this stage – it will allow have released more
pushing creativity through the 02of Iceland landscapes. you to adjust the hero's position than 80 projects,
boundaries of ‘new normal’. INITIAL SKETCH and over 60 articles
Not everyone can boast 04and feel the scale much better. and tutorials.
In this tutorial, Mondlicht BASIC COMPOSITION www.behance.net/
Studios demonstrate how excellent drawing skills, but this To start working on filling MondlichtStudios
they created one of the most step is not about beautiful images.
remarkable video shots. The team It's a fast and easy way to create the scene, you’ll need a floor,
show the process in a step-by- a scheme of your composition. main hero, and background. You’ll
step guide, and share several You can test different ideas within need a simple Plane and Displacer
handy tips and tricks to enhance minutes without opening a 3D with a slight Noise to create a
your pipeline and efficiency. program. If building a similar shot, heterogeneous surface for the floor.
At this stage, it will be enough

DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES
For all the assets you need go to

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02a

02b

01 02c

3D WORLD 65

Create an epic scene in Cinema 4D 04a 04b
to use several cubes to create 05
the stele (just move the vertices to 06
create a rough shape of the future 07
stele). For the hero, you might
use a simple figure and for the

05background, a Landscape Object.
ANIMATIC
For this step, you’ll have to

think through not only the camera
movement, but all the movements
inside the scene. To recreate the
effect from our video, use the
camera with Focal Lens 18 and
Sensor Size 36.

For the camera, you’ll need a
smooth movement at the beginning
with subsequent action, which
begins with the kick of the stick to
the ground. Right after that, the
stele activates and shoots into the
space station with a beam of light.

For every mentioned movement,
you have to set up timings and take
the movements into account during

06camera animation.
STELE ANIMATION
The stele consists of several

moving elements. This type of
structure emphasises the feeling of
a strong impetus. To get a similar
result, you’ll need to work with the
keyframes. To create the beam,
use an elongated RS Area Light
and animate it on the Y axis with
easing between the keyframes,
which helps to create the feeling of

07charging before the shot.
HERO ANIMATION
To create an animated

hero, you may want to use Motion
Capture animations from Mixamo
as a good base, to save time.
You can find options you like for
several movements (for example,
breathing, standing, walking, etc)
and then mix them.

Cinema 4D allows you to change
the settings of the animation and
position of the body parts, and add
new animation in addition to the
existing ones (for example, you'll
add ‘walking’ at first and then add
any gesture on top). You will get a
more natural effect and a possibility
to adjust the animation to your
taste – with this type of setup,
you'll always have an opportunity
to tweak a body part's position
without needing to change the
entire animation.
66 3D WORLD

Create an epic scene in Cinema 4D

08a 09a
08b 09b

0808c 09c Accurate scale 09 STICK SHADING
HERO SHADING After you have modelled
Rafael Coppola Defelippe Next, change the Blending Always work with the or downloaded the stick you like,
Mode of Linear Field to Max, create real proportions of the it’s now time to start working on
created the design of our hero's a Random Field and switch the objects (you can easily the shading.
cloth. When making your own, you Blending Mode to Overlay. You research the values
could use a model from CGTrader need to adjust it to get big spots of almost all objects To recreate the shading of this
or TurboSquid and then work on in the gradient. Then create one with a Google search). project, you will need to combine
the shading. more Random Field and switch This will help you feel two layers of digitalisation. The
the Blending Mode to Subtract the scene's scale and primary material is golden metal,
The hero of the animation is to get more diverse spots on the get a very natural view but the symbols on top are more
a nomad, so you should think Vertex Map. To create small, dark from the camera. tricky. The symbols you see were
about the design of the cloth and spots, add a third Random Field in designed by Arthur Nalobin,
its condition. When you're done Subtract Mode. who tried to create something in
with the general shading, it's time between the alphabet and runes
to add more digitalisation – dust The map is now ready, but we to achieve the effect of ancient
and dirt on the cloth. For that, need to detach it from Fields. To do mystical language.
add a Vertex Map on the hero. this, open up the Paint Tool, then
Launch Vertex Map, activate Use select the Apply All option in the When you finish drawing the
Fields, add Linear Field and switch Attributes panel. symbols in Shape Layers in Adobe
Direction to -Y. It would be best if After Effects, add Fractal Noise and
you created a gradient from bottom You can also add textures Turbulent Displace to get the effect
to top; the bottom part should look with different spots and noise of rough engraving.
dirtier than the cloth's upper part. to the shader to get even more
heterogeneity and stains.

3D WORLD 67

Create an epic scene in Cinema 4D Nmaotvuermalecnatmera 11

10 STELE SHADING Try to use the Motion 13a
The shading process for Camera in Cinema 4D;
the stele is very similar to the it helps you to imitate HDRI with morning lighting and RS
stick shading. The only significant a real-life camera and Physical Sun with a slight addition
difference is the basic material. For achieve a very natural of Fog through RS Environment.
the stele, you might want to use a effect. You may see After you added the fog, you may
how the team adjusted notice that the light became much
11darker bronze shader. the Motion Camera stronger. To compensate for the
CFIONMAPLOISSEITTIHOEN at the moment of the effect, use Tint and Attenuation.
kick for this shot. This To highlight any specific areas, you
After creating the animatic and camera movement can use additional light sources to
assets, you need to combine helps a viewer to dive
everything to get a shot close to into the video. 14your taste.
the final. So, the first thing you’ll RENDERING
need to do is replace simple The scene is finally ready, 13b
forms with ready assets. To fill the
environment and save time, use so set the RGB masks with 13c
Quixel Megascans as the team did Puzzle Matte, Specular Lighting,
for the scene. Reflections, Emission and Z-depth. In the shot, we do have a lot of
Choose the frame you like the haze, so working on the aerial
For the basement, you may most, and now start to work on a perspective is vital for the shot's
want to create the Floor from styleframe to finalise the overall beauty. Use AOVs to get better
several Plain Objects with different control of different areas. After
textures. Add Displacement Maps 15look of the animation. the styleframe is finished, you may
and Displacement Objects to make STYLEFRAME render the whole sequence and
the surface more natural. Also, The task is to make the shot
place Plane Objects at different 16start to work on compositing.
distances on the Y axis – this will balanced in colour and light and COMPOSITING
enable you to create an interesting add a background with the sky. At this stage, the main goal
transition between rocky and more Working on the styleframe, take
into account aerial perspective. is to ensure that all the masks and
12narrow surfaces. effects work well or fix the issues
MATTE PAINTING you found. For recreating this shot,
For the background use the you’ll need to export the camera
from Cinema 4D in .aec format to
matte painting technique – it’s have an opportunity to adjust the
the best way to create a unique sky and the background correctly.
and photorealistic background
for the shot. If you have enough Now we need to adjust all the
experience in this, you likely won’t manipulations from previous steps
have any problems in recreating and apply them to the animated
this project’s background. However, rendered shot. To recreate the shot,
if you haven’t worked with this you need to consider that it has
technique, download the PSD three phases: before the kick, after
Mondlicht Studios prepared the kick and the beam into space.
Depending on what’s happening
13exclusively for 3D World. in the shot, the power and visibility
LIGHTING
To recreate the sunrise

lighting effect, you will need an

12

68 3D WORLD

14 Create an epic scene in Cinema 4D
16 of the effects work differently and
17 should be adjusted.
18a 18b
For example, there is no
bright spot in the shot at the
beginning, but it appears when
the beam starts to charge. In real
life, a camera tries to balance the
exposition to avoid overexposing,
so we have to adjust the gamma
to create a similar imitation auto
exposition effect. Then the camera
moves to the sky and we again
have to adjust the brightness and
colour and make these changes

17unnoticeable for the viewer.
VFX
Visual effects will help you

to enhance the animation and
intensify the movement. For that,
you may want to add a wave on the
ground after the stick touches the
ground, the wave in the sky, dirt
on the lens, lens leaks and symbols

18created with Trapcode Particular.
OANDDTHAEWGARVOEUENFDFECT

To create the wave effect, use a
piece of stock footage with smoke.
To make the effect, we need to
create the ring from the smoke,
which doesn't have any seams.

The difficulty here is that stock
footage doesn't have Tile, so you
need to make it. For that, place
the footage on the timeline, create
an adjustment layer above, apply
Offset effect and move the X value
to the right or left to make the
seam in the middle. Then duplicate
the layer with footage and place it
above the adjustment layer to hide
the seam. Use the Ellipse Tool to
create a mask along the seam and
ensure the mask's upper and lower
borders are out of the frame. Then
use Feather to blur the border.

Now you need to create a ring-
shaped smoke. For that, create
one more Adjustment Layer, apply
Polar Coordinates effect (use
Interpolation - 100% and Rect to
Polar in Type of Conversion). To
make the outer contour smoother,
create Black Solid and mask the
central area. Also, you may need to
add Feather to make the transition
even more natural.

Finally, use Turbulent Edges
to add slight distortion. Then
duplicate the layer and animate
the masks to hide the smoke

3D WORLD 69

Create an epic scene in Cinema 4D

19a 20a 20b

19b 20c

before and after the kick. Export iAmlwpearyfsecatdidons animated texture. For that, get Duplicate the camera, create
the camera from Cinema 4D and the symbols you created on black Pre-Compose, switch to the Add
place the smoke along the ground. Different maps put into background, add them to the scene mode, work on the colour to make
To add volume, you can scale, Roughness, Specular and make sure that all the symbols it more yellowish and put Glow on
rotate and duplicate the smoke. and even Diffuse will are similar in size and position. To top. Duplicate Pre-compose, delete
Make sure to pay close attention to help you enhance the recreate the effect very accurately, the effects from the upper one, and
how the smoke interacts with the shader with amazing you’ll need to make sure that every add Trapcode Shine, adjusting the
surrounding area and work with the details and make it symbol stays visible for 20 frames. effect to get nice beams from the
more realistic. But be
19masks if necessary. careful: too much is Then create Pre-compose, 21symbols' brightest parts.
AERIAL WAVE as bad as too little. add a new layer and create LENS LEAKS
To recreate the effect in the Always take into Fractal Noise (Contrast - 284, Lens flares and leaks would
account the scale Brightness - 30, Scale - 45). Press
sky, use the Saber effect by Video of the object and its Alt+Click on the stopwatch on the be a nice final touch for the shot.
Copilot. First of all, create a square physical properties. Evolution parameter and add the To recreate the animation, you’ll
composition (4,000 x 4,000 pixels) expression “time*600” to get an need to look for stock footage and
with a black background. Then 21 animated noise. Then change the combine them to get the light leaks
add a black layer and apply the mode of the animated texture to at the frames' borders. To do that,
Saber effect. You need to adjust it Luma Matte. Go back to the main choose the parts of the footage
to get a horizontal line from top to composition, work on the particles' you like most and add them in
bottom (to get a widening ring, use position, and switch Particle Type to Screen Blending Mode. To adjust
Polar Coordinates as we did with Sprite. Now go to the Texture menu the effect and avoid overexposing,
the ground wave) and adjust it to and add the created composition use Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation,
your taste. We used several layers with symbols in there with Random Opacity and other adjustment
with the Saber effect with different Loop in Time Sampling. layers you think work best. •
settings to enhance the wave with
additional details.

To add even more details to
the aerial wave, create a black
layer before Polar Coordinates and
apply the Venetian Blinds effect to
it. Finally, add an adjustment layer
with a Fast Blur effect to create a

20more natural feeling.
ADD SYMBOLS
The hero activates the stele

with the stick. To support this
action and add more VFX to the
scene, try to work on symbols.
At first, you’ll need to prepare an

70 3D WORLD

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3D WORLD 71

Rina Sawayama filming
music video ‘Lucid’ against

an LED green screen at
MARS Studios

HPNOTCEHORWFETCOT ARECAHLIE-TVIME ETHKEEY
Produce fantastic results with the Notch Chroma Keyer
with this easy step-by-step guide

G reen/blue screen keying incredibly awesome 3D real-time working with the jankiest footage. AUTHOR
has always been tricky modelling tool. The Chroma Once we’ve got that key, we will Armin Kazlauskas
to get right. Freshly Keyer provides all the features generate a 3D environment to Armin Kazlauskas is
ironed backdrops, even lighting you would expect (and some composite our keyed footage a motion grapher, VJ
and the patience of a saint have that you wouldn’t), including and use raytraced shadows and and visual performer.
always been pre-requisites of handling of transparency, high reflections in order to really sell At Notch he works
the artform. Notch has taken an detail/thin objects (such as hair), our composition. as a Lead Trainer,
entirely new approach to chroma- liquids, global and reflection responsible for
keying, creating a clean plate spill suppression, garbage and So if you’re dead bored creating teaching
generation tool that produces hold-up mattes and more. And all of endless fiddling with key material and
fantastic results with almost no of it running in real-time – we’re adjustments or you fancy educating people on
setup or tweaking required. talking 4K at 60 FPS without surprising your friends at the next using Notch.
Paradigm shift! Your source breaking a sweat. Zoom party, this tutorial is for you. www.arminwerx.com
footage does not need to be Let’s get started! / notch.one
perfect to key effectively. Step-by-step, we will explore
the Chroma Keyer node and DOWNLOAD YOUR RESOURCES
The Notch Chroma Keyer create a believable virtual For all the assets you need go to
is GPU powered so it has the environment. In step one, we will
speed and functionality of key our footage. We will explain http://bit.ly/3Dworld-toys
dedicated hardware solutions, how to make adjustments to
and this is packed into an achieve the perfect key when

72 3D WORLD

How to achieve the perfect real-time key

0101 & 02 key, regardless of the state of your 03
KEY IN THREE CLICKS
First, add an Image 2D node. 03source footage. SZOHOAMKEMUEPETYIONUGRS
MADAJKUESCTOMNESNETCSUTIVE
This will render a white quad in Sw•hitGahrketeehntehsNincogrtescehunpCchalortotyhmo,uaorrKnaeenyxetorl.wdTehbeieksdliysshZoeoueortmg(grmreeeeenentseincrgrtehoeernblcievhteet-ecsrktrlbieusattm:
the viewport. Image 2D will be the Before refining my key, I find it csk•haeSnayodtbmohewoeosintoehglhde–arlracjdumo-sltpoto/u-mlrrigseehaaatcnsshstcphtohleuaelkcdkeeesybye.eerbrwewonoreknfis’tcninaoeltetjdoustliotgohwntoargknreyseoanrh)e.aarsdotfo
canvas for any 2D video footage helpful to create a greyscale •tecAhbhaasricdwHaDrewfeobrctahmis,!that’s right folks, you don’t need any high-
you work within Notch. Next, add chequerboard background; it helps F‘NinoatcllhyCsaemle’catsththeewoeubtcpaumt oansyyoouurrsintrpeuatmininNgostecrhviacned. select
your footage: you can choose to me see each adjustment clearly.
import pre-recorded green screen Add another 2D image to the 3D WORLD 73
footage, or if you happen to be in scene to generate the backplate
front of a green screen, you can and pipe in a Tile Generator. You
render directly from your webcam can adjust the colour scale using
using the Video In source. Next, the Colour Ramp node. Right, let's
add the Chroma Key node and start refining. When you enter the
then apply it straight to the Video Chroma Key node, it's important
to follow a consecutive order of
02In source. operations. Of course, you can go
SMASH TRICKY FOOTAGE back and tweak your parameters,
It's step 2, and we've but addressing each set of
properties chronologically will give
already achieved a good key using
the Chroma Keyer straight out 04you the best results.
the box. You might already be GBEANCEKRPALTAETEA SPOTLESS
applying all sorts of backplates
that transport you from your home The 'Clean Plate Generator'
office to the Bahamas – but not all parameters hone in on the
source material is well-lit and well- backplate's appearance. You have
separated with a clean background. the option here to choose the key
Some tricky footage will take colour, the default is green but
more tuning. The Chroma Keyer you can generate from blue or any
is excellent at keying a range of colour using the picker. Adjust
greenscreen footage no matter how
uneven the lighting! I have plenty
more tips for creating the perfect

How to achieve the perfect real-time key 05

04

06 the Inclusion Threshold and the what we want to keep on screen, hairs on our head, so let's keep
Contribution Weighting to refine adjust the areas that we know are transparency selected. The Shrink
FURTHER INFO which pixels are considered part of not chroma using the Difference Transparency Edges box is a useful
Take a look at the the backplate image. Ensure that Threshold and Saturation Difference feature. If you have a one-pixel halo
Notch Reference no parts of the body, clothing or Threshold. Attempt to make as around your subject, tick this box to
Manual at hair of the subject have leaked into many pixels solid as possible, but if
bit.ly/3x74xWn the clean plate. View the generated a pixel is semi-transparent or needs 07remove it.
for a detailed clean plate image by selecting any spill processing, it should not be RCHEMROOMVEAASNPYILL
breakdown of the 'Show Generated Clean Plate'. If the
Chroma Key node background appears even in colour, 06part of the solid area. For many input sources, the
and its functions you're good to move onto the next TWOOTARLKLFYLTORWANSPARENT above steps will be sufficient to
give an excellent keyed result.
05set of parameters! The Transparencies / Edges However, in some cases where
FSUOLLLIDY KAERYEEADSAND section is responsible for the there is a significant chroma spill,
contrast adjustments. Think of additional processing is required.
Fully keyed areas mark up all areas it as the overall contrast setting The simplest way to remove spill
that are 100% chroma colour and for the whole node. Similar to and resolve colour channel errors
should be keyed out; this can be the previous attributes, you can is to use the 'Global Suppression'
adjusted using the Difference adjust the threshold of settings option. This performs a simple
Threshold slider. The areas which here to improve your key. If you process to reduce the key colour's
appear marked up in orange will want to create a hard alpha, select contribution to colours, which
not be tweaked or altered any 'Mask' in the Transparency Output often gives a plausible result at low
further when adjusting the following dropdown; however, we want cost. Reflection suppression will
parameters. Solid Areas define the transparencies around the reduce the green tint of specularity

74 3D WORLD

How to achieve the perfect real-time key

AAWTROTERRAKALFCLLTYOIVWE

“wcIlietwhaanNstohintecchrke’sedynibwelwyasiCmthhpraoretmswaseeKdaecwyhinitehovdehedo.w
-rgRereRaeaileclln-yhtasiPmctotrerreatekecnert,iyvvTiienhrgtewuloaHikrlikvepeflrtoohdwisu.”chtaiosnmaade

or reflections. If your subject is
wearing glasses or there is any
07 specular material, you will want to

08check this on!
ISNETAOM3LDESSLY SLIP
Jumping from 2D to 3D in Notch
is seamless. Replace the Image 2D
node rendering your keyed footage
in 2D with an Image Plane node.
Now your keyed footage is in a 3D
world, let's create a quick-and-dirty
environment. Here we've created
a fun background using randomly
cloned cubes. We've added a floor,
textured it with one of Notch's
built-in materials, and added a
roughness map to give it an ice
appearance. A light and a few
LUTs refine this moody look. I've
positioned a camera capturing our
keyed footage head on so as not to
09break the 3D illusion.
IRMEAFLGEECPTLIOANNSESFROM
For your keyed footage to interact
with the scene's lights, jump into
08 the Image Plane node and select

'Cast' and 'Lit'. Immediately you will
see the results; your 2D subject will
cast shadows and blend nicely into
the 3D scene. Now let's add some
reflections. The RT Reflections node
will generate real-time reflections,
making the most of the ice-like
material on the ground.
Within the node, you can
add and adjust the blurriness
to the reflection, and these will
correspond with the roughness
map. The joy of this workflow is it's
the same whether you are working
in 2D or 3D, streaming live from
your webcam or broadcasting from
09 an XR studio. •

3D WORLD 75

PractpicraolaytoriptuissrtaCsnGtdostkiumitllopsrrioavlse from

Mike Griggs SOFTWARE: CINEMA 4D | REDSHIFT
Mike Griggs is a 3D and
visual effects artist with DHOOIBSJWPELCACTCAUENMSIIENCNGRTERAOETNDESAAHNINFTO?ISE
vast experience across the industry,
as both a creator and a technical writer. Adrian Jones, Essex
www.creativebloke.com
Glen Southern Mike Griggs replies
Glen runs SouthernGFX, a
small Cheshire-based studio Adding fine detail to a model It is in the Shader area, precisely
specialising in character and creature can be a time-consuming when using the GPU-enabled render
design. He has been using and training process, especially when working with engine Redshift, that shall be the focus of
ZBrush in the UK for over 15 years. organic surfaces or the creation of random investigating how to use Maxon Noises.
www.southerngfx.co.uk landscapes or surface features – which, if Redshift is also owned by Maxon and
Antony Ward not managed correctly, can appear tiled, is available as part of the Maxon One
Be it game development, which breaks the impression of reality. subscription with Cinema 4D.
rigging or recording in-depth One of Cinema 4D’s unique features Creating surface detail is done via
courses for his YouTube channel, Antony is that it ships with a varied set of ‘noises’. displacement. Displacement maps are
boasts experience in most areas of 3D. These noises have been a mainstay of more potent than a bump map and more
www.antcgi.com Cinema 4D, with over 30 various options accessible to make within Cinema 4D than
Pietro Chiovaro to choose from. The ‘Maxon’ noises are normal maps. This makes displacement
Pietro is a freelance 3D available in nearly every creative aspect maps therefore ideal for creating
artist and YouTuber. An of the program, both in Mograph via the prominent surface details.
expert in the creation of props and Shader Effector, for example, and naturally However, working with displacements
environments with several years of across the shader and material toolset. can be taxing, even on powerful GPUs.
experience, he shares many of his
creations on his channel.
www.pietrochiovaro.com

GET IN TOUCH

EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO

[email protected]
76 3D WORLD

Your CG problems solved

EXPERT TIP
USE THE MAXON NOISE FOR OTHER ATTRIBUTES
The Maxon Noise in the image shown has also been fed into the Diffuse Color attribute
of the Material node to give some variation to the surface attributes. Redshift has
a wide variety of nodes that can help modify the Maxon Noise to allow the artist to
create a wide variety of looks from a single node.

STEP BY STEP WORK WITH DISPLACEMENTS IN REDSHIFT

01 02

Features within the Redshift Interactive 0103 04
Renderview and the Material Node SET UP THE SCENE nodes. Add a 'Maxon Noise' node to the
Editor within Cinema 4D help to make This tutorial uses a Cinema 4D Plane Node Graph by typing its name in the
things easier though; Maxon Noises are object for the base material, using C4D 'Assets' search box in the Node Editor.
still simple to work with thanks to tools R23 and Redshift 3. In the Render Settings, Add a Displacement node to the Node
such as the ability to solo nodes within switch from Standard to Redshift. Create View. Connect the output of the Maxon
the Redshift Renderview. Workflow a new Node Material, and make sure that Noise node to the 'TexMap' input of the
enhancements like these allow the artist in the 'Node Space' of the Node Material Displacement node. Then connect the
to focus directly on the appearance of the 02 04Basic tab, the Redshift option is 'Active'. output of the Displacement node to the
Maxon Noise. PFORREPRAERDESTHHIFETPLANE OBJECT 'Displacement' input of the Output node.
Apply the Redshift Node material to the
In fact, the Maxon Noise can be used REFINE THE MAXON NOISE
across a variety of the Redshift material In the Redshift Renderview, the
options, allowing a single node to be used Plane object. Add a Redshift object tag plane should be showing some modulation
across a range of shader attributes. When to the Plane object. In the 'Geometry' on its surface, which is being created by
combined with other nodes such as the tab of the Redshift Object Attributes, the Maxon Noise driving the Displacement
Color Layer and Color Corrector nodes, a tick the Override checkbox and the node. Adding a Redshift 'Dome Light' can
single Maxon Noise can be an incredibly checkboxes for enabling Tessellation help to visualise this. To choose a different
efficient way of producing a wide range of and Displacement. In the Plane object's noise output, select the Maxon Noise
detail without creating imagery in other Attributes palette, increase the Width and node and in the Attribute palette, choose
applications, and therefore saving time 03Height segments to 400. another noise using the 'Type' dropdown.
by avoiding any roundtripping between CNROEISAETESHTHAEDEMRAXON Here, the 'Cell Noise' type is being used.
different applications. To increase the level of displacement, use
the 'Scale' attribute in the Displacement
In this quick tutorial, we will look at how Start the Redshift Renderview window and node, and make sure that the 'Maximum
to prepare a simple object for working with the Node Material selected, open the Displacement' in the Redshift Object tag
with displacements in Redshift. We will Node Editor window to see the Material matches that value.
also apply a Maxon Noise both as a
displacement and as a driver for other
material parameters.

3D WORLD 77

Your CG problems solved

EXPERT TIP
KEEP IT LOW!
Decimation Master is also a
great way to keep your file sizes
down as a project progresses. If
you are doing things like trees,
environments, buildings or
other things where the surface
detail isn’t as important as on a
character, then keep the models
lower by using Decimation Master.

78 3D WORLD

Your CG problems solved

SOFTWARE: ZBRUSH

DWEHCAIMT’SATTIHOENDAIFNFDERDEYNNCAEMBEESTHWIENEZNBRUSH?

Mat Wison, The Wirral

Glen Southern replies STEP BY STEP USE DYNAMESH AND DECIMATION FOR 3D PRINTING
Pixologic, who makes ZBrush,
has a habit of creating tools 01 02
with the strangest names possible –
ZSphere, Tessimation, Sculptris Pro, and of 03 04
course Decimation and DynaMesh. Let’s 01 03DOYUNTATMHEESINHTFEIRRNSATLTOSUCRLFEAACNES DREIGCHIMTAPTOELYUGNOTNILCYOOUUNGTETTHE
try and unpick those last two, and see It is very commonplace to use DynaMesh As long as you don’t edit the mesh, you
where you need them. and Decimation Master to prepare a can keep changing the slider and trying
Let’s start with Decimation. To model for 3D printing. Once the model different poly counts. Find a level of detail
decimate in 3D speak is to reduce the is finished you can use DynaMesh in the that suits your model. Too low and you
amount of polygons that a model has Geometry panel to merge all of the pieces will see faceting and it will look odd. Too
(usually resulting in triangles) without together. This cleans out any overlapping high and it gives the slicing software more
changing the overall look or shape of a and intersecting geometry but it can lead work to do and can cause issues. If you
model. The Decimation algorithm tries to to large poly counts. You can DynaMesh do change the mesh, simply re-run a pre-
maintain the same angles and curves in 02 04as many times as you like prior to process again.
a model but reduce the polygon count. preparing for print.
We would use it most when we have CNHOETCCKOINNFSIDIDEENITF YOU ARE
finished the entire sculpt and want to ULOSWE DEERCTIMHEATPIOOLNY MCOAUSNTETR TO
make a file size small for sending to a 3D The DynaMesh function merges
printer. One big thing to note is that if we That’s when the Decimation Master takes everything together and clears out any
had two models together in one subtool over and you can lower the polycount internal geometry. The Decimation then
(combined but not joined by edges) and but leave the overall look of the model lowers the polycount to make it more
we decimated them, there would still be intact – perfect for a detailed 3D print. To user-friendly. If you want to check what’s
two models, just with lower poly counts. Decimate, go to the Zplugin panel and going on inside your model you can do
Decimation can be controlled by firstly use Pre-process Current. This will analyse so by holding Ctrl+Shift and dragging
pre-processing a model and then tweaking the mesh and record where all the vertices your stylus to highlight polygons in
a slider to determine how low you want it. are. Next you can specify how much of a green. Anything outside this box will be
ZBrush will try and give you that number reduction you want with a slider. Start with temporarily hidden and you can see what
without losing too much detail. 20% and see how the mesh looks. the internal surfaces are like.
DynaMesh on the other hand runs an
algorithm that makes a new model with
the geometry evened out across the
surface and can contain quads (four sided)
and triangles. There is a resolution slider
similar to Decimation and you can keep
tweaking it and re-trying until you reach a
level that works for you.
The big difference is that if you had two
models in one subtool and you used the
DynaMesh function they would be merged
together and the inner geometry would
be removed. This is where DynaMesh
is used a lot in 3D printing circles. A
common process is to finish a model
using DynaMesh to remove unwanted
inner geometry and then Decimate it to a
lower polycount. You can use the process
throughout your sculpting projects but
this is a good example where the tools
are at their best. In a future Q&A we can
look at the other polygon functions like
ZRemesher and Sculptris Pro.

3D WORLD 79

Your CG problems solved

SOFTWARE: SUBSTANCE DESIGNER

HMOATWERCIAANL UI SCIRNEGATSEUBASHTAUNMCAENDSEKSIINGNER?

Luis Wilson, Chicago

Pietro Chiovaro replies

I will show you the full A key element to
process for creating a basic improve your skin
skin material using Substance Designer. material is the
Here, the process has been used to use of subsurface
create the base material of the skin of scattering (SSS),
Fedez, an Italian rapper. For this type of which simulate
material, I selected the Physically Based how light interacts
(Metallic/Roughness) Graph Template and with a translucent
deleted the Metallic output since it is not surface
necessary for this kind of material.
At this point we can start to add the
following nodes from the Substance
Designer library: the Cells 3 noise and the
Clouds 1 noise (these two are the main
elements of the material), the Height to
Normal World Units filter or the Normal
filter if you have the latest version of the
software, two Levels filters, one Blend
filter and last but not least the Gradient
Map filter.
Next we can start to link these
elements together, starting with the Cells
3 that will be placed at the beginning of
the graph with the Clouds 1. These two
noises will be linked to the Blend filter
in the following way: the Cells 3 will be
connected to the Foreground input,
while the Clouds 1 will be linked to the FTHOLELVOIWDEO
Background and Opacity of the filter.
http://bit.ly/3Dworld-toys
At this point, we can connect the
output of the Blend filter to the Gradient
Map and then link it to the Base Color
output of the material. The same Blend
filter should be linked to the Normal filter
(or Height to Normal World Units), and EXPERT TIP
subsequently link it to the Normal output.
Once again we can connect the key node
to the two Levels filters, which will then LEVELS
be linked to the Roughness and Height The Levels filter can be used in a different way – for this particular material I decided
output of the substance. to use it to control the parameters of the Roughness and the Height details of the
skin. Using Curve you have more freedom and random results that may work better
Once we’ve set all these connections than a ‘defined’ parameter.
the only task that remains is to set the
essential values that will bring this material
to life. The first filter we have to set is the
Gradient Map, which will define the tone
and base colour of the skin. This filter and Cells 3 noises – I increased them to to keep in mind is to use small values,
is probably one of the most important, the maximum to achieve a result similar to especially for the Normal output.
especially for this material. There’s no human skin. Now the basic material is ready, and
specific value, just define the colour skin Last but not least we need to set the you can export the material to Substance
of your character and try to define the key Roughness, Normal and Heights of the Painter where you can add more details,
tones of the skin. The second element we substance – here there are no specific imperfections or maybe tattoos to your
need to set is the scale of the Clouds 1 parameters to follow, but the key point own character.

80 3D WORLD

Your CG problems solved

It can be quite frustrating
when you are left with colours
on your joints after deleting
a model, but there is an easy
way to remove them

SOFTWARE: AUTODESK MAYA

HOW DO I REMOVE MY JOINT COLOURS?

Michael Quinn, Barnsley

Antony Ward replies Now if you decide to detach the model suggestions, as well as allowing you to
When building a rig it’s not all for some reason – perhaps the rig needs define your own. Alternatively, if you just
about cold, harsh, colourless more work, or the joint orientations need want to remove the colour, you can simply
joints and controls, we technical artists updating – you can use the Unbind Skin select the Default option, and this will
do like to pimp up our work from time to tool to do this, which will also remove the revert the joints back to the dark blue they
time too. Not just to make each side of joint colours for you. were originally created with.
the rig more obvious for the animator, but
also so we can more clearly identify the The problem is, this doesn’t always EXPERT TIP
underlying systems. work and if you are in a rush and decide to DRAWING OVERRIDES
Maya does try to help with this too. just delete the model, you are stuck with One thing to be aware of is the joint
When you bind a model to a skeleton, the colours and with no obvious way to colours will be overwritten by a parent
you have the option to ‘Colorize’ it, which remove them. object colour, or if you enable the
is on by default. What this does is adds drawing overrides, which can be found
a colour to each joint in the hierarchy, Well, hidden away in the Display in the joint’s attribute editor.
which also matches up with colour coding menu is a Wireframe Color option. Now,
in the paint skin weights editor. It’s a you would assume this only works with 3D WORLD 81
nice feature, and not only is it visually geometry, with it being called ‘wireframe’
appealing, but it also has a function which but no, it can also change the colour of
means you can spot the joint you want to other things too, like joints.
work on, quickly and easily.
The main window enables you to apply
a colour picked from a row of predefined

Digital sculpting, modelling and texturing
Incredible 3D artists take us behind their artwork
EelleennaaaT.aurrtgsetanteiovna.com
Elena Turgeneva is a freelance character
artist based in Germany. She enjoys
creating characters in all variations,
from photorealistic to stylised.
DIGITAL SCULPTING, MODELLING AND TEXTURING I sculpted primary and
secondary skin details in ZBrush, then switched to Substance Painter to add the smallest
details (like pores and directional wrinkles) because it allowed me to adjust their size and
depth freely. To complete the normal map, I used a female face scan from Substance
Painter, combining it with some skin materials from the library. For the other maps, I used
a combination of procedural layers (with ambient occlusion and curvature generators) and
simple coloured fill layers where I would paint white on a black mask using standard
brushes to unmask certain colours wherever needed.

DEBBIE HARRY LIKENESS
Software ZBrush,Substance
Painter,Marmoset Toolbag
Yearmade 2021
82 3D WORLD



NeiwntsearnnadtivoinewalsCfGrocmomarmouunnditythe

ClashPROJECTINSIGHT of the titans

Trevor Hogg gets a ringside seat for the epic fights featured in Godzilla vs. Kong…

A welcomed rematch takes main vendors being Scanline VFX, MPC on the show, got into editorial to go over
place between two iconic and Weta Digital. sequences with us, I asked, ‘What about
titans that originally clashed this? This shot is cool and it seems like the
in King Kong vs. Godzilla in A shot that has served as the cornerstone telltale shot of the title of the movie.’ We
1962, as Godzilla vs. Kong of the marketing campaign, of Kong even all agreed that if we keep that shot
(2021) has proven that there is still a punching Godzilla in the face while in you are going to market the movie with
demand for the theatrical experience as onboard an aircraft carrier, almost did that. Now here we are a couple of years later
the fourth instalment of Warner Bros’ not make it into the final cut. “It ended and that’s exactly what happened!”
MonsterVerse has earned $391 million up being one of the four shots that I had
worldwide during the coronavirus Bryan Hirota at Scanline test, which got the Unlike the model of Godzilla which
pandemic. Directing the epic Hollywood producers jazzed about the movie,” states was inherited from Godzilla: King Of The
blockbuster is Adam Wingard (The John ‘DJ’ Des Jardin. “Way down the line, Monsters, Kong received a substantial
Guest) who partnered with visual effects we’re shooting in Australia, and happen to upgrade from Kong: Skull Island. “We
supervisor John ‘DJ’ Des Jardin (Sucker be looking through the edit and that shot got the model from ILM but we needed to
Punch) to have the giant gorilla and massive wasn’t there. We were told it was taken out make him even bigger so that he looked
lizard share the screen together. In total because the producers need to save some reasonably powerful next to Godzilla,”
960 visual effects were created with the money, so when Adam and Alex Garcia notes DJ. “Then we also aged him up.
84 3D WORLD [Enola Holmes], the main creative executive They were saying to me, ‘He’s more like an

Among the four shots given to Scanline VFX for
early development was Kong punching Godzilla

in the face while on an aircraft carrier

Kong has a scruffier
appearance and was
nicknamed ‘Old Man Kong’

adolescent because that’s back in the 1970s. T“WO ELOHOAKDPTOOWMEARKFEULKONNEGXTETVOENGOBDIGZGILELRA”
It has been 40 years and now he’s getting to
be a more ‘older man’ Kong, so the beard is
longer and the fur is greyer. The fur is not
as brown and red as it was in Skull Island.
The initial scars at the beginning of the John ‘DJ’ Des Jardin, visual effects supervisor, Godzilla vs. Kong
movie are the same ones that he has in Skull
Island. We made sure that Kong looked
the same so he would be identifiable as the
same character.” in March of 2018. Most of the views that Mechagodzilla was always meant to be a
Entering into the melee is the robotic the art department had done of the model slicker version of Godzilla and therefore
Mechagodzilla, which becomes sentient were full body, so we added a lot of the look more lethal. It has some of Godzilla’s
and develops a great hatred towards its weathering and fine details from the grease powers but then a lot of mechanical things
real-life inspiration. “Production designers and rivets to make it look big enough.” The with a couple of extra tricks up its sleeve
Owen Paterson [The Matrix] and Tom technology is situated in the near future. too. Adam wanted to use the tail in a
Hammock [Death Note] took me through “It’s kind of magical but is based on the scorpion fashion because there’s an extra
their war room of all of these concepts back sci-fi that is already embedded in the series. danger to that.”

3D WORLD 85

Clash of the titans

Principal photography concluded Director Adam Wingard,
in Hong Kong in April 2019 with post- Julian Dennison and
production finishing in June 2020. “It Millie Bobby Brown on set
wasn’t a normal pipeline of previs, shoot a Wrestling matches and
bunch of stuff, postvis and then finish the MMA fights served as
shots,” explains DJ. “When we got into inspiration for MPC when
the postvis phase, since the assets were choreographing the nighttime
far along, we had a lot of time to use the showdown in Hong Kong
pipelines of Scanline, Weta Digital and The model for Godzilla
MPC to fine-tune sequences to the point was taken from Godzilla:
that Adam could come to me and say, ‘I King Of The Monsters
want Mechagodzilla to pin Kong up against
something and threaten him with his tail.
Godzilla does something to help Kong. Kong
is then able to take him out.’ I could talk to
whatever vendor was handling that scene
and say, ‘This is what the characters do, now
go throw six or seven cameras on that scene,
and send them all back as camera coverage.
Adam and [editor] Josh Schaeffer could look
at it as if we had shot this footage for real,
cut the scene together and tell us if we need
to modify anything from there.”

Settings range from the icy landscape of
Antarctica, jungles of Hollow Earth to the
urban streets of Hong Kong. “The ocean
battle had a particular look to it as Adam
wanted the water to look dark compared
to the sky at times,” notes DJ. “We were
shooting in Hawaii so there were a lot of
good references for how we were going to
make that look. Adam had a lot of concept
art made that showed Hong Kong as
having this neon, Tron-type of look to it.
We wanted to get the creatures lit almost
in a surreal fashion, so you can see all of
the detail but it would look like a sci-fi city.
There was a huge amount of world building
for Hollow Earth, which was anchored by
a real environment; that became different
spots in Oahu and a lot of helicopter work
that I did on Kauai going through the lush
canyons. We then added alien-looking
vegetation and the inverted ground.”

Not everything is about bombastic
action, as quiet moments occur between
former Skull Island residents Kong and Jia
[Kaylee Hottle]. “Any scene with a human is
easier than you think because the human is
there for scale,” remarks DJ. “The funniest
thing is not even the producers sometimes
realized how big Kong really is compared
to Jia. I love the scene where he pushes his
finger against her hand because his scale is
so massive compared to her. All we did was
have somebody come up to Kaylee with a
big piece of green foam, stand on a platform
and push that down so her hand would be
at the right angle. But it is to the credit of
how Adam instructed her. We had previs
for the scene so we could show Kaylee what
is supposed to happen, and her mother was
there as an interpreter too because she is
deaf. Adam knew some sign language but it
86 3D WORLD

Clash of the titans
The presence of
human characters
in the frame helps
to convey the scale

of Kong

serutciP yradnegeL dna serutciP .sorB renraW fo ysetruoc segamI

“ETAHRETRHE, AWNACSHOARHEUDGBEYARMEOAULNETNOVFIRWONOMRLEDNTBSUIILNDHINAGWFAOIIR” HOLLOW

John ‘DJ’ Des Jardin, visual effects supervisor, Godzilla vs. Kong

was good to have somebody from her family hit him is 1,000 miles per hour at least he is were definitely done more from a human
around to be able to translate what needed going to fall as close to the real speed.” perspective,” notes DJ. “For this one, Adam
to happen. It is a beautiful moment.” wanted to get into their heads more and
Everything from water to debris needed understand them more emotionally, even
Atmospherics such as dust and debris to be simulated using tools such as Flowline, though Godzilla is hard to do because he’s
as well as birds serve as visual cues for size Thinking Particles and Houdini. “There is a big lizard as opposed to Kong who is more
and scale. “It is always difficult to give the a lot of water interaction and big buildings humanoid. Despite doing it that way, we
filmmakers the intensity and speed that getting destroyed; it’s heavy but we have still wanted to have some realistic cameras.
they want the characters to move at, but it is all gone through the development process We would ask ourselves, ‘How are we
part of our job not to make them look small of doing these destruction kits so we have photographing this? Is it from a helicopter
when they do that,” remarks DJ. “Most of an idea of what is possible,” observes DJ. or a ship on the ocean? Where are we?’ But
the large size came from all of the effects “Nothing was off the table for this one and at some point, we break that because you
work that they built around them in the it’s all up there on the screen. Only a few want to see these guys photographed as
environment. We found as long as the snow shots did we get to the end and Adam would you would a brawl; that’s why you have the
or the trees that he is knocking around or go, ‘It doesn’t quite work right. We probably Mexican standoff between Godzilla and
the smoke he is coming out of tended to need to do this.’ Even something like Kong Kong in Hong Kong, because that’s how you
move close to real time, that would give eating fish, there are some simulations would shoot two guys standing off about to
the shot the scale it needed. We always had involved with that. That’s the other reason punch each other. We anchor it quite a bit
indicators in the early animation stages so why the long schedule for post was so good, with real camera ideas if not real cameras.
we could see what gravity would really be. because they gave us time to get a high Every five or six shots down the line there is
There would be a cube or sphere that would level of detail into the film; that’s always a real plate we shot on a helicopter or drone
fall according to real gravity and we would satisfying from our visual effects end to be in Hong Kong that we could build upon
clock how fast the creature needed to fall to able to get all of that in.” before we go all CG again, just to get your
go from 800 feet in the air all the way down eye fixated on something real.”
to the ground. Even though the punch to A different camera style was adopted
for Godzilla vs. Kong. “The other films 3D WORLD 87

Above: Example
building content
by vrbn studios,
for games, VFX and
virtual production
Below: LA in full 3D,
based on GIS data

Strategies for procedural modelling of 3D cities

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

StmraotdePgerolicleeidsnurfagloCoirtiefps s3errDioesc#c3eidtiuersal

Matthias Buehler, founder of 3D urban environment specialists vrbn solutions,
breaks down the creation process and strategies for building believable cities

I n this third and final article and technology (see, for example, the One of my favourite examples of
in our series, we will tackle ‘Kardashev scale’) coherent visual storytelling in the creation
procedural cities on a more • Natural environment (geography and of a city is the dystopian ‘Mega-City One’
global and strategic level. geology of the planet – unless your city is in the Hollywood sci-fi film Dredd, where
We’ll discuss what elements on a space station) Mega-Blocks (almost vertical cities with
make up a believable city, and how its • Weather and atmosphere thousands of residents) cast large parts
creation can be broken down into more • Artificial structures and urban layout of their surrounding urban fabric into its
granular levels of procedural control • Politics and social climate endless shadow. This creates an extremely
– but the most important aspect is not All of these details need to be taken into inhospitable environment for its inhabitants
losing control during the planning and account when planning your project. [see Figure 1].
implementation phases.
Strategy is half the success. Learning by “TCHOATNSMIDAKERE UTHPETHELEEIMDEENNTTISTYANODF APRCOITCYE”SSES
doing is a good strategy when undertaking
tasks like learning how to ride a bike. [Figure 1] Mega-City One art by VFX art
Tackling other challenges like how to plan director Neil Miller for Dredd © DNA Films
and create a procedural 3D city needs
a different approach though, as there 3D WORLD 89
is a lot of implicit knowledge required.
Trying to automate certain tasks needs an
excellent understanding of the underlying
craftsmanship and processes. Let’s dive in.

1. ELEMENTS OF A CITY

“What does a city consist of?” I guess
we all know most of the typical urban
elements like water bodies, parks, streets,
and buildings. But we need to dig deeper.
So let me rephrase: “What are the elements
and processes that make up the nature
and identity of a city?” The answer to this
fundamental question is always derived
from the story to be told.

So, what are these elements?
• Physics (gravity)
• The inhabitant’s control of energy

Strategies for procedural modelling of 3D cities [Figure 3] Blocks and parcels
[Figure 2] Street centre lines a between the streets
base for the city layout

A fully procedural 3D favela

AAIMUCPTOLOINCMACATETIPOIOTNNS AOSF 2. GRANULARITY OF PROCEDURALISM Lord Of The Rings) has systems in place that
Every project you tackle will probably have simulate biomes, where every plant grows
Automation by a computer implies different needs and a different budget. to a unique form, based on, for example, its
the process is fully informed about Therefore, the strategy will probably need access to light. A similar technical approach
the whole scope of decisions. In to be fine-tuned individually. But what are was chosen by simulating wind that
the case of procedural modelling the ‘global’ strategies you can leverage when distributes plant seeds for the ‘Kite Demo’
of architecture, it is the same. diving into a procedural 3D city project? for Unreal Engine. The sky is the limit – so
Think about it: you’re trying to Over the last few years, I have isolated it’s your choice. Let’s have a look at two
develop a system that creates a these five typical high-level approaches: example approaches:
city in less time (as time is money) a) Procedural layout + fully procedural
than it would take to design and buildings Example for Type a): Fully procedural
model every single building. b) Procedural layout + procedural Going fully procedural is everybody’s
Therefore it then becomes clear buildings based on building part assets dream, but of course, the hardest to
that this requires the introduction c) Procedural layout + asset buildings implement, as it creates the biggest amount
of some shortcuts to reaching a d) Procedural buildings on GIS of variation. It’s typical that first, e.g. in
balance or a compromise. And footprints CityEngine or Houdini, a street network
those compromises – that’s the e) Instance asset buildings on GIS is drawn (or generated), which is then
art – have to be decided for each footprints converted to streets and blocks. Each of the
project and cannot be automated. Each approach has its distinct pros and different types of resulting polygons is then
cons and may or may not apply to a specific processed into a unique 3D geometry [see
90 3D WORLD project. But how far do you go? Do you Figures 2 & 3].
even want variation in every plant in your Yet even if deciding to take this route,
city? For example, Weta Digital (Avatar, you should ask yourself critically: does my

Strategies for procedural modelling of 3D cities

Above: [Figure 4] GIS data – 2D building footprints
Below: [Figure 5] Instanced 3D building assets on 2D GIS data

project really benefit from the fact that A“GASISSVEDETRASTYAOEANFNFTIDCOISPEI”NMTPMLYEITNHSOTDANISCILNEGVEBRUAIGLDININGG
my entire city is fully procedural down
to the last building at the horizon, where
a building is about three pixels high, and
you may never even get close to it? Think
about the data volume this creates per
city iteration (can easily be gigabytes in
VFX scenarios), which you need to load
and store, push through your network,
versionize, and backup. 3. STRATEGIES: 12 BEST PRACTICES 6. Build up trust in the process within
Here are my 12 tips for success with your team. You will only see the first good
Example for Type e): Instancing on procedural systems: results once you have 90 per cent of the
GIS footprints 1. If possible, budget the development and system implemented.
A completely different approach, but for implementation over multiple projects. 7. Define clear points for design processes,
certain applications a very efficient method, 2. Research on all fronts: isolate (artistic/ data hand-off (file I/O) within the team.
is leveraging GIS data and simply instancing technical) bottlenecks and pitfalls early on. 8. Define a robust naming convention early
building assets on top. It’s a low-hanging 3. Implement the pipeline first, using on. Everything depends on it.
fruit which helps out in a lot of scenarios, proxy content. 9. Document all technical steps well, so
and without being too complicated [see 4. Try to aim for the absolute minimal that every artist and manager knows the
Figures 4 & 5]. You will likely find that it’s procedural solution first, only then add the nitty-gritty.
not easy to choose the right granularity artistic content. 10. Be sure to allocate enough time for any
that is ideal for your project and budget, but 5. Make sure early on the pipeline scales asset and texture fixes. Sometimes errors
when is ‘easy’ ever an option in life? (especially geometry and material transfer). just happen!

3D WORLD 91

Strategies for procedural modelling of 3D cities

11. Implement enough quality control Step 3: Which elements are unique? If they Step 5: Research which building types
steps and mechanisms. are, these are landmarks. Would you say have common façade patterns, and note
12. Provide enough snacks to the team! they are essential for the look and feel of down the statistics.
‘Tokyo’? If yes, note them down. Step 6: Research and note down the roof
Some of those points may sound a Step 4: Start a collage of images of the forms, construction types, roof furniture
bit generic, but I cannot stress enough common building and open space types and types (AC units, antennae, etc).
how important they are in the context of sort them based on colours and structure. This process should, in a real project
procedural modelling! Trust me – I have As you can see in Figure 6 below I have scenario, take at least 20 hours. The further
learned them all the hard way! sorted the buildings by white, beige, brown, you dive into the images and statistics,
and other colours. the clearer the ‘system’ becomes how
4S.TAPTRIASCTTICICAALLAENXAELRYCSIISSE:
“RESEARCH WHICH BUILDING TYPES HAVEanalysisofreferenceimages.
Topic: Training the eye and statistical

COMMON FAÇADE PATTERNS”proceduralenvironment,inspiredbytoday’s
Let’s assume our task is to create a

Tokyo, based on the urban layout, density,
building types, and colour palette. Now, as
we don’t need to replicate the exact city, we
need to extract the city’s nature – the broad
strokes that mimic the typical style. In
procedural modelling, we always want to go
for those broad strokes and ‘general rules’.

Step 1: Collect multiple high-res reference
images of Tokyo: aerial views, photos from
skyscrapers and towers, but also from the
pedestrian level.
Step 2: Start a table with element
categories: classes of streets, parks, open
spaces, water bodies. Then small and
large residential buildings, midrises, and
skyscrapers. Further to this, also note down
which administrative, religious, industrial,
and infrastructure (e.g. parking) related
buildings you find. For each type, count how
many there are and how often they appear.

Above: Modern day
Tokyo, Japan
[Figure 6]

Research collage:
sorted vegetation
and building types

92 3D WORLD

Strategies for procedural modelling of 3D cities

Going procedural – or not?
Buildings raytraced in Unreal Engine

the structure of a city works. This exact 6. FINAL THOUGHTS AVRPBPRNOSAOCLHUTAITONS
process is one of the keys to the success of a As we have seen during these three
convincing procedural project. Personally, articles, creating a convincing Internally, we don’t have one
this is one of the most fulfilling project procedural environment needs more specific approach to how we tackle
parts, as I can fully immerse myself in the than just mastering procedural systems’ procedural cities, as we don’t have to
art of analysing patterns and trying to find technicalities. We always want to be just build one specific for a project or
the best possible approach to tackle the guided by the story to be told and by the game. Though as we’re consultants in
entire puzzle. art direction – yet there is a strong need to this field, we know most of the pitfalls
keep track of production and management and decisions that are costly.
5. CONCLUSION efforts. The evaluation of which step shall
As with everything in life, planning and be implemented must be discussed in detail Developing a procedural system
strategy helps you to reach your goals with all stakeholders, as some decisions can as a sentence sounds magically easy.
faster. And with procedural cities, there are lead to hundreds of hours of work. But the more realistic and photoreal
lots and lots of decisions to be made. This When investing in procedural systems, your goals are, the exponentially
article touched on a few of the important we can create a ton of content, yet the levers, more complex things become. The
aspects of the broad approach to tackling knobs, and dials that influence the system library, the pipeline integration,
a 3D city based on a few examples. In your are hard and risky to manage: with great the consistency and realism of the
project you will, of course, be facing other power comes great responsibility. buildings, and the urban layout can
challenges. So it will help to take the general I hope you have gained a basic quickly sum up to costs of 200k to
recipe of the strategies described and understanding of the fascinating field of 500k – not a budget every studio has,
instrumentalise the same problem-solving procedural modelling of 3D cities through and why our second business unit,
thought process. With time, you will refine this three-part series. vrbn studios, focuses on high-quality
your senses for it, and it remains a very off-the-shelf building assets.
satisfying learning process – even for me, For any questions, please feel free to
who has been in this field for over ten years! FYI contact the author via [email protected] 3D WORLD 93

Elliott Mulhall

Heights, camera,PROTHOUGHTS action

Elliott Mulhall, production artist at Immersive Studios, gives his
top tips for capturing the best drone footage

T hanks to drones, anyone can The other crucial bit of kit is something planning on viewing through a HMD. It
become an aerial filmmaker to steady the camera to avoid shaky footage, seems obvious, but panning the drone is
these days – opening up so a dampener or gimbal. For our shoots unnecessary as that’s the viewer’s choice
some big opportunities for we use a vibration isolator and/or a camera to turn around in 360. The best movements
breathtaking cinematic and with in-body stabilisation. tend to be the simple ones. Keep an eye on
immersive experiences. But to capture your battery as having extra camera kit on
quality footage from up high is not always SET UP THE SCENE your drone depletes your power quicker.
an easy feat – especially when you’re
shooting in 360º. Here, Elliott Mulhall, Make sure your camera is set up to the When you’ve landed, it’s also a good
seasoned content creator at Immersive appropriate frame rate for your delivery. 24 idea to grab a still or some footage from the
Studios, runs through some key tips and frames per second will give a cinematic feel ground in 360 of the sky for later…
tricks to make sure your 360º drone footage suitable for YouTube but headset outputs
soars above the rest. will need something like 60fps. Ultra high STITCH IT ALL TOGETHER
resolutions are more than recommended As ever with 360º filmmaking, the post-
DO YOUR GROUNDWORK for capture, giving you the flexibility to production process is where the magic
downscale for your desired production. really happens. Stitching moving drone
There’s much more to getting good footage footage together can be tricky and time-
than bunging a camera onto your drone and –“PCAECRORANCSNHSPYIIETDOCEEUTCRIFTVUULEYNRSOEITQ?VOU”EOER consuming, so make sure you know
sending it up there. Before you even leave exactly what shots you need and where
the ground, you need to be prepared. Make FLY WITH AN EYE you’re planning to use them in your final
sure you know where you can fly legally, experience so you’ve got plenty of time to
plan your location, and take into account With 360º drone footage, you get to view get it together. The more stable your footage
lighting and weather. There’s a reason the whole world from up there, as if you’re is, the easier it will be to stitch.
‘golden hour’ gets its name – the lighting up there – that’s the beauty of using a VR The native software that comes with
just after dawn and just before sunset offers headset to view the experience. So take your camera is best designed to process it,
dramatic contrasts, shadows and light your time with your shots, and give your however higher-grade production can be
quality that makes for magical footage. viewer enough time to take it all in with achieved with the likes of Mistika VR and
shots at least eight seconds in length. Foundry’s Nuke. To remove the drone from
EQUIPMENT CHECK Consider unique perspectives too – can you the footage you can experiment with Adobe
fly towards natural objects, or under or over After Effects’ new Content-Aware Fill,
Of course you’ll need a 360º camera and a architecture such as a bridge or staircase? Mocha VR’s Object Removal tool, or paste
drone – one that’s got the power to carry It’s important to fly smoothly too – don’t in the sky from that 360 photo/footage you
your camera. For 360º video, you’ve got a jerk the drone this way or that in search cleverly captured when you landed.
choice of cameras ranging from your low- of the perfect shot as this won’t produce Before outputting, read up on what
budget, smaller options such as a GoPro anything usable later, especially if you’re compression best suits your final viewing
MAX to the more impressive, professional platform. Can your headset play 8K? Does
cameras such as the Insta360 Titan. What your phone support .h265? That’s a whole
you go for depends on your budget and the tech article in itself but as best practice, we
scale of your project – and while it goes often output a variety of flavours to get the
without saying that the more expensive best possible results for our drone footage.
options will give you the better quality And now you can too!
footage straight out of the box, you can Find out more at
still have a lot of fun with more economical FYI weareimmersive.co.uk
drone/camera combinations too.

94 3D WORLD

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