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WXS-07 'Depopulator'

ZBrush Artworks
#41

Having created the platform I still felt something was missing…an environment!
So I set about building one. The elements were created in Zbrush/3dsMax, and the scene assembled in 3dsMax. About 10% of the geo in the scene is kit-bashed from a Vitaly set and Zbrush IM brushes.

wip2_zpskwuvkewx.jpg

The great thing about building a cylindrical environment is that it’s so useful to be able to ‘steal’ shapes from the topology. All the pipes are spline shapes extracted from the main set so they already in place, and as they are editable splines I could make use of this powerful toolset in max. Also, any object can have it’s pivot aligned to the main set and be clone-rotated for perfect placement very easily.

#42

<time title=“May 2, 2016 4:10PM” datetime=“2016-05-02T08:10:41+00:00”></time> I then began texturing. I didn’t need to put as much work into this stage as the environment would be in the background and probably depth-blurred(which it was) but I was addicted to Substance Painter at this stage so I didn’t care…:slight_smile:

BG_Wip_zpsmfucxzhb.jpg

#43

For texturing a lot of the background props i tested out a tiling texture idea I had in mind for Substance Painter. I just imported a square proxy plane with UVs from 3dsMax and textured it using tiled maps and procedurals. You get the normal/height, and roughness for free as you’re working across the whole material at once. Plus the all the map detail is synced. Then I just exported the maps using the same Vray preset.

planeproxy_zps9ciavyea.jpg

#44

And an example asset. So quick to do as you don’t even need to unwrap the UVs. You can just apply box-mapping or use the Vray tri-planar-tex map.
And bearing in mind that this is a background prop, this is good enough. Spend time where you need it. I could have just used any old shader but I like to use personal projects to test out new ideas/workflows so it’s never time wasted.

wip1_zpsbte0ixxh.jpg

#45

I like this a lot.
I watched your tuts from the first experiments with ZModeler and I liked how you struggled, met problems and found solutions. That’s a great method to establish contact with viewers. Good teacher you are.

And good artist too!

Thanks for sharing.

#46

With the scene assembly/lighting rig finalised(after days of experimentation/testing :slight_smile: ) and everything in place it’s time for final renders! NOTE: not as exciting as it sounds… :slight_smile:

wip4_zpsyickpgnr.jpg

The character was saved out as a Vray Proxy for the final stages of rendering

wip5_zpsj0w9wpjq.jpg

#47

I will often printscreen a render in progress from the frame buffer and just start experimenting in PS whilst the render is still ongoing. This will be a noisy/grainy image but it doesn’t matter as it’s just for testing purposes.
Call it impatience…:slight_smile: but it’s great to be able to get ahead of yourself and try out different ideas just like sketching. No matter how crap it looks, as nobody will ever see it…oh!..wait!..too late…

wip3_zpsnpqljr3n.jpg

#48

And at last…the finished render(or one of them) Straight render with a few levels/colour correction tweaks, but no paintovers.(background did get some painting work) The background ended up heavily blurred, and I also exported a VRay Glare and Bloom pass from the Vray mesh lights to composite.

Back_Big_Lad_Master_zpsngdr2sfg.jpg

EDIT: anyone know how to display the original res image in the post? ZBC has rescaled it.

#49

Front render:

_Big_Lad_Master_zpsfjefepqm.jpg

#50

I don’t know how i missed this thread…
You are doing an awesome job man!

#51

@julien3d, cheers for the kind words, mate.

<time title=“May 4, 2016 3:19PM” datetime=“2016-05-04T07:19:45+00:00”></time> A few portrait renders. Tweaked these a bit more in post for a different mood:

Portrait_Beauty_zpspmz50yvd.jpg

#52

3_4_Beauty_Master_zpsfxaixdh5.jpg

#53

Awesome modeling and texturing job! Its a small detail, but I might change those glowing green panels behind him and make the color a yellow, or make them less glowy, or a little of both. Right now, because they’re so bright and a completely different color than anything on the character, they’re drawing a lot of attention to themselves and away from the character focal point. Otherwise, great!

  • Neil
#54

@Neil , thank you for the advice. It’s much appreciated. Funny you should mention that, choosing the colour schemes was the single most difficult part of this project. :slight_smile: I actually left the project alone for 2 months as I couldn’t be entirely sure of the colour choices for the character. The background was almost as bad. I did try out different colours for the glowing elements in the background: blue, orange, yellow, pure white. In the end I went with opposites on the wheel, thinking the red/green glows would contrast the character from the background, as for the longest time I just couldn’t get the tonal contrasts to separate him from the BG. It just looked so dull. I’ll definitely revisit the PS master file and play with the values. Thank you for pointing it out.

And I would also like to personally thank you for imparting your vast knowledge and experience so freely to the community. It was from your hard-surface texturing DVD(several years ago), and education section on your website, that I learned so much of the theory and techniques that I tried to put into practice on this character.

Cheers Neil.

#55

I love this thread!!! Thank you so much for sharing all of this. Wicked helpful! Bravo!..

#56

cool character mate :+1:

#57

@Mahlikus The Black , cheers MAH, means a lot coming from you. and thank you for all you’ve shared over the years. See all those panel lines…MAH MechCut A brush, mate. :slight_smile:

@nightwoodwolf , cheers mate. thanks for the comment.

#58

The scifi nut in me just wants to squeal in delight! It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous render. I’ll say it again, those textures are damn near photo-realistic!

And thanks so much for the WIP posts. The information and tips you shared are invaluable.

#59

Thanks musashidan, glad you’ve found my tutorial helpful! You’ve done a great job on this piece, and even if the color choice was tough, at least for the character itself, I think you did a great job.

  • Neil
#60

Thanks for the invaluable tips. I’ve had the interactive light docked under my colour palette for as long as I can remember… :slight_smile:
Sorry, I didn’t realise that you are Mark Bannerman. Your beautiful work is an inspiration. When you commented at the start of this thread that you found my YT vid tuts useful…who would have thought? :slight_smile: