Digital 3D Art v14 - I make a living modelling dongs for second life edition

[borisvdb]

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3oaY4m?fbclid=IwAR2BDvj_Zu5jb1JiB1zh-B7zfZ2csR4dE0TXLBWPH_bnAq02zSWnrJ3PhYw

An old petrol station environment I modeled in 3ds max and textured in Substance. Rendered in UE4

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/384124/a76dbad4-4408-4f90-88d0-72defd3575ae/HighresScreenshot00005.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/384124/f4d2d453-a4a6-4caa-9b64-50b6594b2ce9/Thumbnail.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/384124/0d157974-f4b6-4df8-8157-89af2592086d/HighresScreenshot00008.png

[roninnoodles]

I have no experience with 3D modelling or any art really but I came across these visuals and really want to try getting into it.

What program(s) should I be looking into to get started with this kind of art?

https://vimeo.com/276006201

[Paul-Simon]

Blender is free and very powerful, so that's always going to be my first recommendation.
It's even on steam, which is convenient.

[MIR]

If you decide to go down the Blender route, I can't recommend this guy enough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPVpg4_POww

He's been doing tutorials on the various aspects of Blender for just over a decade, and he's made some of the highest quality asset/resource packs out there for the program.

[AtomicSans]

I've heard he's currently working on remaking the donut tutorial for 2.8, to be released when 2.8 hits production. Which is great, because the donut tutorial is a work of genius that introduces you to the absolute basics of 80% of the common elements of 3D in a way that invites experimentation, but isn't daunting.

[DOG-GY]

blender guru has a lot of outdated and bad methodology though so for high level modeling, texturing, etc its best to look at practicing professionals. hes good for an all around software introduction, at the very least because there's nothing better.

[ashton93]

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/w8mg35

Finished a machine gun I've had on the workbench since around 2016 or so.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/133431/7f0a89a4-8bcc-4016-a914-3a438ecd46ea/image.png

[roninnoodles]

Alright, I'll be looking into Blender then!
thanks for the help y'all

[borisvdb]

Finished a model of my wristwatch today.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ybNDyx

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/my-watch-52d0c2424c8d40ecbd71dfc48ceb2bda

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/384124/f410a41e-85a2-47d6-8142-4a57d3800bc5/screenshot000.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/384124/5f94a150-22b2-47bb-bc34-9f56a44dd22b/screenshot003.png

[Treythepunkid]

Did some photogrammatry of a small jingle bell I found at a second hand shop

Raw scan came out at 22m tris, retopoed/rebuilt it down to just under 5k.
Textured in Substance Painter
Rendered out in Marmoset and Substance Painter

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/bf9fdc33-adb5-4401-980f-ff95e8a2f08e/image.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/18034605-6b51-4e6c-9c0f-b8d5debd15d2/image.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/e863ae95-820b-4519-ab60-0958900bda12/image.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/b89dc620-9d58-4076-933c-af7ebb2dfcbb/image.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/1ec3d705-7559-422e-a74d-8ee4d80f150e/image.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/e20fc967-9686-42e3-b3f1-ccb9048c84ef/image.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/f569f1ba-05bb-4794-95d9-f099c2492b42/image.png

[ZombieDawgs]

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XBNNE3

Finished up this today.

[Laughing Stock]

finally learned animation in blender, still not good at texturing or modelling without tutorials but i'm making good progress.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/133590/71a8b1b4-9b6d-494a-85c2-686df9d073f4/0001-0047.mp4

[Mr.Kleiner]

Beyerdynamic FOX microphone CGI replica

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/133429/7c548034-7507-4005-915e-574aff571fa1/mic-bd-l.png

Original

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/133429/28245c8a-5992-4b02-a484-8de0699684f9/beyerdynamic.jpg

[Mr.Kleiner]

Where did u learn animation ? Or can u suggest good tutrorials ?

[Laughing Stock]

The way you animate in blender is similar to the way you animate in after effects which I already knew, so I managed to figure it out by just clicking around. I think if you just type blender animation tutorial into YouTube you'll find good results, I still don't know how to do more complicated things like rigging bones but that's how I plan on learning it.

[Mr.Kleiner]

I like self-learning. Its incredible stuff , thx for answer.

[Renafox]

Decided to try re-making an old illustration of mine into a 3D model:

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/209014/6e1201cb-31b8-4e70-998b-83fb0be3e862/AZLK.jpg

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/moscow-special-bc56aaf82e7745d5996c699b947e9240

Not a 1:1 replica, was going more for a similar "feel"

[Laughing Stock]

I'm learning blender and I'm running it on an old laptop. The preview is fine but rendering will sometimes completely lock up my computer or take several hours for what would be a breeze on a regular computer, does anyone have recommendations on what services I can use to render my work? I was thinking aws or azure since it looks pretty cheap but it seems overkill since I'm not at a level where something like this should even be necessary.

[Itauske]

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/132706/b533f235-3f0e-4159-83ad-6c81a3c5a471/image.png

I live and make thing

[Treythepunkid]

More photogrammetry. Both of these are just the raw, untouched geo chucked into substance, rendered in Marmoset. 16k diffuse (straight from the scan) 8k everything else.

Little metal dish I found at a second hand shop. Great metal detail, scan was so details it even got the maker's mark or whatever it is on the bottom.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/c8be9c8b-29c7-4675-a5de-e08a68de5776/c512f144de57b94ce7b72b98d3424148.0.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/41d979ff-e8d6-4556-8ef5-17847c8c75ad/screenshot007.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/86c49fde-0ff4-4afc-9760-7571b09f80a3/screenshot004-1.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/49d9041b-a20e-4edb-a36f-20f489989d17/screenshot005.png

Antique leather bag. Detail came out good on this as well, was able to get the leather breakup in the Geo ifself.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/54c8788b-51d3-4ef1-bd12-4942459aa7d9/screenshot001.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/96431503-0ecc-4286-9b23-763dd4f231b2/screenshot000.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/1fed9c6f-82a3-4f9e-a3da-aced54ba25bf/screenshot004.png

[Renafox]

Huh, never thought about using a camera flash on smaller objects like that

[borisvdb]

A Zbrush sculpt I finished yesterday, first time in a while doing stylized sculpting.
The fingers look a bit weird, I know. I worked directly from reference and the topology makes it difficult to fix.

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/384124/712b0c5b-3bbf-4adc-adf3-e78153e65af3/ParkRangerFinalRender1.png

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/N5gn01?fbclid=IwAR0dn5YfvEp2P4uOm-fhGxhdPaslf530YLwtJ5QMldAqoXtrIawCK7nWADE

[DOG-GY]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q32h3Mr4N8

Joking with some peeps on the discord about the idea of raytracing a solar eclipse in realtime, I actually thought to try it and was blown away. Shit actually works and looks just like real life.

[Canary]

Don't think I posted this I made a while back

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/police-truncheon-d8d0b097c0d84546b636deabf49e4c19

And a quick concept smart bracelet I had to model

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/bracelet-01-565c2da576404808b1d94dd7e8cbfce3

Working on making better terrain in Unity

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/161057/ad6ac265-4b3d-4793-9b09-385786ec2914/Snapchat-1844438786[1].mp4

[cepeka]

Those are pretty clean ! Are you using some polarized film on your camera and light sources ?
Veeeery clean albedos with this technique, and you can even retrieve gloss/roughness information by blending polarized/non-polarized photos.
Hey those are dope too !
I never finish scenes like this, they always end up staying at the clay level...

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/62dc772c-a392-4d5c-b41a-18a5c17cd278/RU.jpg

Anyway, I haven't posted in a long time, I've been pretty busy with stupid contracts. But I have also been playing a lot with substance designer lately so here's some :

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/77d956ed-96e6-4c70-8164-87d4d28642e9/RedInterlockingPaver_01.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/11eb9295-ff9f-4375-8cae-47ed295c49df/MetalFloorPlates02_01.jpg

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/5437ea9f-bce8-4297-b875-80f89fae6fd1/LavaStoneRipples_01.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/f3d59b11-7dff-45ca-abea-727b33fe4cd9/AluminiumFoilPipe_01.jpg

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/aebc46f1-558f-425f-a972-2554af1bfc91/Grass01_01.jpg

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/251846/ef3adce1-9375-49c4-b029-63572b60eeb2/WoodFloorClean01_02.jpg

[Mr.Kleiner]

ded

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/133429/820a533b-ee91-459f-8eaa-7033d1925027/0001-0472.mp4

[Treythepunkid]

Yes! Fully polarized light source and filter on the camera!

Yeah that's def my next step, next scans I do I plan to take a second set of photos of it non-polarized and try to extract some spec maps from it.

Also just started using a color checker with these and it helps BIG TIME in making sure my colors are accurate to the source, especially when using a polarizer. Damn little color checker things are expensive but worth it to be able to calibrate your raw photos automatically!

[Wickerman123]

What's your lighting setup? I've not done a lot of scanning so I've never experimented with cross polarisation.

[Treythepunkid]

It was a game changer for me!

Basically two things that gave me better scans.

#1 - Polarize your light source and lens

Cross polarizing your light source + aligning your cross polarizing filter on the camera to the light source = almost completely spec-less photographs

Allows you to scan a lot of materials that are typically hard to scan (like metals) + if you use a color checker to calibrate your images prescan you end up getting a REALLY good match to your subject in terms of raw albedo.

Left is polarized light + polarize filter, right is unpolarized

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/ccf1e014-5bb7-4d00-8e56-13ec4aae02a4/withPolarLight.JPG

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/1b2d2b34-957f-47b8-bbb8-a79285afa529/withoutPolarLight.JPG

You'll see the left image is a bit darker (by virtue of being shot through a polarizer), that's were the color checker comes in to help calibrate the color back to what it should be.

If you want to try it out I found pretty decent results just by putting a pair of sunglasses in front of the flash of my camera and then aligning my polarizer to match the same angle of cross polarization of the sunglasses!

The photo below of the vase is using the sunglasses method (old setup);

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/bb0b03e8-e823-496c-a3db-ae4532b90d97/alb_04.PNG

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/aebe9d77-2680-4264-955c-8d167bf492dc/alb_02.PNG

#2 - Using a flash to remove all shadows

Using a flash of some sort attached to the camera will allow you to remove most major shadows and result in a completely de-lit scan, ready to be used in cg/game almost as is in most cases.

I personal use a powerful ring flash and that generally gives me enough fill to remove most harsh shadows, even in broad daylight.

-----------------

My setup now is using a Nikon D810 + 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art coupled with a Flashpoint RF-400 with a custom 3D printed cross polarized filter housing (Made by a friend and coworker of mine - he has essentially taught me all this and I know he is going to be doing a youtube video at some point detailing his workflow).

All up it allows for a fast, accurate and portable setup to do photogrammetry anywhere with really nice results. I'm currently on vacation in Japan and the current kit has been portable enough that I have been scanning things along the way, was going to wait to clean these up/make tileable shaders from them before posting here but these are some of the raw scans I have gotten while overseas thus far (all rendered in realtime in Marmoset)

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/838d4ad6-3da4-4edc-9392-dd305e1b5950/screenshot011.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/a5bfc75d-16c9-467c-ac17-6c7c97718498/screenshot009.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/71599f83-93e5-4bde-a53c-cf260285827d/screenshot006 (1).png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/0b086e51-0419-4866-a19c-d5233433ce3e/screenshot000 (2).png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/43d6d859-fabd-451f-8509-b9f7782ec278/screenshot006.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/15dae8ec-5076-4af0-a053-5612de155a4f/screenshot003.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/d74987c4-df0b-4be4-9a31-62b8cfbe216d/screenshot002.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/c7b9a1d1-47c1-4d58-9bf9-9c6497611471/screenshot000 (1).png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/bd7d40a9-f0ab-433d-b72a-6e7be5b0cc6b/screenshot025.png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/aad74077-3799-40f1-8127-aa297a76975b/screenshot000 (3).png

https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/238003/f67c096f-8a8d-4cf9-ac88-262bb07280f1/screenshot004.png

Sorry didn't mean to derail the thread with a bunch of photogrammetry shit but I have been learning a lot recently so I thought I would share since someone was interested!

[Renafox]

Photogrammetry is a personal favorite of mine, but getting permission to scan on other people's property is hard, mainly because it's nigh-impossible to explain to a normal person who knows nothing about 3D