3d art

Environment
Lighting and painting
Combining 3D and 2D elements
First I cut elements from photographs in Photoshop,
09 from the ground up to the sky. These textures were used
to render and provided the basis for the entire scene, so they were
approached very carefully. I merged them to form my base matte
painting; sometimes it can be very difficult to find all the perfect
textures you require in one stock image.
Next I added the
10 building, which was
already rendered, applying
elements such as Z-Depth,
Lighting and Reflections, as
mentioned earlier. I cloned the
front rank bases, transformed
them and added to the rear of
the scene to bulk out the
structure. I drew in some snow
and highlights for the buildings
too and placed these at the top
of the layer stack.
A clear demonstration on
11 the creation of rocks in the scene
can be viewed in a short video on the
disc. I drew natural rocky formations
and imposed the texture of the ice over
them. I painted in light, shadows and
glare from the ice floe to get the
realistic feel I needed.
15 hours
render time
Resolution:
3,700 x 1,644
After all of the
12 objects had been
incorporated, I created a light
source for the picture – namely
the setting sun. I made this on a
black background in Photoshop
and used Screen blending
mode. The sun is not just a
white circle; its rays need to
immerse and bounce off
objects in the scene. I reduced
the contrast and saturation of
these objects. For most of my
environment works, I tend to
use VRaySun and few other
light sources.
In the final stages, I drew snow in
13 the air and behind the wheels of the bike,
which boosted drama and movement. I then
added some lights to the arctic base, but you
could also include a flock of birds, more vehicles
or other details to fill out your scene. Finally I
performed some all-important colour correction
and retouching, where I removed defects
unintentionally created during production.
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