Hi all,
I’ve just completed a final image using an old Dominance War model sitting on my harddrive. Being a production artist at EA, I rarely get the opportunity/time to push one final image to completion. This is my second piece using render layers from Zbrush. My goal this time around was to focus on lighting and mood. Something that lacked in my first piece. Aaron Sims has been a huge inspiration for me over the years. He has a keen eye and is able to capture his ideas and imagination so vividly in his concepts. Also props out there to Vitaly Bulgarov and his wonderful tutorials on his workflow and process. I’ve learned a lot from these gentlemen and hoping to give back with insight on my project.
Premise:
The idea of Marinus is the premise of a maiden who fell to her death into the ocean. Once she hit the bottom, she found a magical rune and was transformed. Now not living, nor dead, she has powers of oceanic creatures and has a symbiant jellyfish which provides protection and powers. Marinus is now on a mission to bring down BP for craping in the Gulf of New Mexico. (I just made the last part up. :D)
Model:
1.Previs of the final image. This is quick pass i did raw out of zbrush. With a quick lighting effect out of photoshop to get the basic idea.
2. Here I was focusing on the character and the jelly fish. Trying to get a sense of the lighting and the relationship/balance between the character and her “pet”.
3. Added in elements of the background. Water noise effects using render difference clouds. Glow effects added to the jelly fish and the jewel.
4. Toned down some of the glow, adjusted the contrast on the character to make sure your eyes focused on her first. Added slight hue shift gradient to the top of the image.
There’s a many great comp’ing tutorials out there. Lots especially with Gnomon. Aaron Sims has a couple there. Also there’s a great one tutorial that’s fairly new entitled, " The CG Surival Kit" by Jeremy Cook. It’s mainly a world/prop tutorial… but the last chapter provides some really valuable information on how to create a great final image. ie. how not to overmodel. quick ways to get masks working for you etc.
Conclusion:
I’ve hoped I shared something useful for you guys in this post. I finally got my Zbrush 4 activation today, so I’m off to play (ok maybe not right now, but as soon as the kids are alseep!) I am also teaching a 4-week online session entitled, “How to model a realistic highpoly bust” with the Rydan Workshop (www.therydanworkshop.com) next week. This session is free as they are currently in beta and are looking for students to try out their teaching environment. Contact them if you are interested. Thanks guys.
David Lam
www.artofdavidlam.com
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And I’ve yet to see someone model his greatness.
