3d art

Character
Finalise the model
Almost there, time to wrap it all up!
14 Final polish
With the kids and turtle finished and in place, I gave the entire
model one final polish pass. During this step, I tweaked
proportions, slightly altered poses and cleaned up any areas I
might have overlooked. At this stage it’s no longer about the
model looking like the concept art – it’s about the model
feeling and conveying the mood of the concept art – even if
that means making alterations that deviate from the original
concept. I pushed Ardent’s pose a little further to really sell
the mid-throw moment, and arched Eli’s head and posture
back so it would read better in 3D space. Once it had passed
this phase, the modelling was finished.
N
N Make sure the artwork
conveys the essence of
the original concept
O A few render passes from
ZBrush composited
together in Photoshop
P The 3D print done by
Offload Studios – it looks
stunning in real life
Q The final sculpt
O
15 Lighting/rendering/compositing
To showcase the finished model, I decided to explore
ZBrush’s material capture system to create the final renders
and composite them in Photoshop. This phase was really
just a lot of experimentation and trial and error. I would
render the model with different MatCaps, bring them into
Photoshop and layer them atop one another with different
blending modes to see if any interesting results occurred. I
got an interesting look that showed off the details by mixing
a Clay and Copper render. I enhanced it by giving it a soft
gradient background to simulate a lighting stage and added
a bit of specular bloom to really make it pop.
Q
16 3D printing
the model
After the 3D model was
complete, I had the great
pleasure of having the
fantastic Offload Studios
offer to create an 18-inch tall
physical 3D print of the
model. Offload’s team took
care of everything for me –
making sure my source files
worked with its printing
technology and even baking
an Ambient Occlusion map
to help highlight smaller
details (its printers can print
textures as well). The
studio’s work is truly
amazing and it’s been
awesome to be able to see
and touch something I
created solely on the
computer. Be sure to check
out the rest of the
company’s work at
www.offloadstudios.com.
P
10 minutes
render time
Resolution:
4,000 x 3,600
Final thoughts
And there you have it! I’d like to thank
you for reading, and thank 3D Artist
magazine for allowing me to share my
work with you. Once again, if you have
any further questions about this tutorial
or any of my work, please feel free to
contact me through my website (www.
cggallery.com) and I’ll try my best to
help out. Happy creating!
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