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Wu Ling: 3D artist interview

Check out the details of Wu Ling's amazing image, Orphan and the jeweler, and learn about the difficulties she had to overcome...

Check out the details of Wu Ling's amazing image, Orphan and the jeweler, and learn about the difficulties she had to overcome...

3dtotal: Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?

Wu Ling: I am Wu Ling, and I work as a 3D modeler in Shanghai, China. I love working in the CG industry; you need to have the courage to succeed and dare to innovate.

3dt: Tell us the story behind your recent gallery entry: What inspired you to create it?

WL: The orphan and the jeweler was created from a concept for Diablo. When I first saw this picture it left me with a deep impression. The original painting has such a wonderful atmosphere. But to make it in 3D was really very difficult. There were many things that couldn't be seen in the original, such as the clothes and items on the table, so I had to create my own. So I found hundreds of thousands of picture, and began to design what to wear, what expression, and the movements. I also took advantage of the camera to take a 360-degree view of the image and find the best angle. 2D is only a plane. 3D has real three-dimensional elements, such as lighting, hair and muscles. The refraction angle of the crystal was pure physical simulation. The difficulty was very high.

3dt: Did you face any difficulties when creating this image, and how did you overcome them?

WL: Overcome the difficulties? Ha ha! There were too many difficulties! This work took about 200 days. Believe me there was a lot of work with help from 3D friends that I know. To create a 3D version of a 2D image is hard! I had very little sleep and found it difficult to visualize these characters in 3D. I had never done it before.

I took many pictures for observational purposes, of wrinkled skin, fine lines, skin texture, specular reflections. The old man's skin was wrinkled but it was a challenge to sculpt. Same for the clothes there was a lot of undoing and redoing. It can be said that this image is a milestone for me.

3dt: What software did you use and do you have any tips for using this software, or any other software that you use to create your art in general?

WL: For this image I used Maya, ZBrush, MARI, Arnold and Shave and a Haircut. Maya was used to produce low surface model; ZBrush to model high-poly; Arnold for the lights, materials, and rendering. MARI was used to draw maps, and finally Photoshop.

3dt: Would you consider yourself to have a particular signature style, or techniques that you use often?

WL: I try to have a good atmosphere with a humorous story and image, with a realistic style.

3dt: What are your artistic ambitions?

WL: Although I am still young I also feel confident about my art! My ambition would be to aspire to be as equally good as world-class masters!

Related links

Check out Wu Ling's blog
Check Wu Ling out on Facebook

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