Info

Modelisation: lightwave 3d render: fprime,maxwell render

A couple of months ago, I read the famous comic novel “the top of the gods” by Jiro Tanigushi. I was so inpresssed by his drawings and the story about the first pilgrims in the Everest, I decided to create a picture about mountains. My story takes place in mountains where only a couple of human beings can reach the top. They are going to meet aliens which have landed here….No one know if they crashed or not. First, I gathered references about alpinism and moutains thanks to internet. The idea was to create on forground a crevice and on background a huge alien spaceship. After,I wanted to make a mattepainting.

The Modelisation

First step: The Spaceship.

I love design organic shapes, that’s why i always use lightwave for modelisation. As you know, with few poligons you can create great things. The link was to create a”shell” or a fish for global shape. Yes, fishes come from outtaspaces!!

I model only the half and after I symetrise the other one. The whole shape is done, but I have to give a scale. I add details to enhance the model. I isolate polygons from the shape and transform them on a separate layer. First, I extrude , smoothshift and bevel them ,after I subdivide them to add secondary architectural details.

It is very important to know what you want to show in your camera. For a background, the model is optimized. You can see i didn’t add more details on the right side because of the final cam. I wanted to shoot it from the left side.

Step 2: The Crevice

I create a simple grid and I extrude polygons and subdivide them….The forground is more simple to create than the background. I wanted to have a contrast between Earth landscape and alien civilization.

Step 3: The Camera.

I added a half sphere for the environment and map on it a sky ( cylindrical mapping). this environmental map is going to color the scene with the radiosity. the only light comes from the right (area light)

Step 4: Rendering with fprime plugin.

As you can see, it is very easy to work with fprime, few parameters for good results. Below you can see render with fprime : about 30 min, for a 3000 image larger.

Step 5: Rendering with maxwell render.

I love work with severals render softs, because I cook the final image in photoshop. Fprime and maxwell are very easy to use and very cool to render different images. For maxwell, I use a sun light with basic materials. I place the light as in lightwave (on the right)

In render settings I only enhance the sampling level to 40. And render an image with zbuffer and material id (render channel)

Below you can see Material ID and zbuffer channels.

Step 6: Compositing With Photoshop.

Now with Photoshop, Icreate the picture.It is very easy to create a story with photoshop.It offers good compositing options and higher end editing tools than 3d programs. When I work with psd, I feel like a DJ mixing a set.I sample light effects, depth of field and reflection effects all thanks to layers. I write psd scripts to increase my productivity and reduce the needless repetition that prolongs the process. the matte painting: i added elements telling a story. Humans are going to meet aliens in the top of the world. After i added a composite sky ( picture made of several skies).

I croped the final render ,because the first frame was to large for me. I zoomed on the right.I wanted a “comic frame”. And final image please see below.

About the author

I am a self-taught artist who began drawing at the age of seven. The American comic strip has always inspired my work. I went into architecture, as it was a good compromise between my professional and creative sides.

It also allows me to continue utilizing my passion for drawing.And best of all, I still create comics. During my second year of studying Architecture at Marseille-Luminy, I had the chance to meet Philippe Caza, which was a great learning opportunity for me, and he still gives me advice on my work.

I have been in Paris since 2001 and I have two main activities. The first is working as a freelance 3D graphic designer for prominent architects in Paris, such as Claude Vasconi and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. The second activity is creating digital art projects which are focused on science fiction.

Related links:

Web-site: http://noart1999.blogspot.com

Portfolio: http://rescubika.blogspot.com

Talk about this Making of on our Forum >>