Digital Art Masters: V7 - Sample Making Of 'La Pause'

Introduction

The idea for this image came from a discussion with my good friend Nicolas Reytet (aka Waugh) about the little people of fairyland. I've always loved the imaginary little world populated by goblins, laminaks, gnomes and elves of all kinds. The artist Jean-Baptiste Monge inspires me a lot when it comes to creating an image based within this fantasy theme. I have a lot of books with his work in them and I think he might have been touched by a fairy when he was born!



For this project I started by doing some sketches (Fig.01), which is something I like to do because even if the end result is quite different from the original sketches, they provide me with a guide for the construction of the image. After I had done that I went into the forest to take some photographs that I could use as references (Fig.02 - 04). The photos helped me when I was thinking about the composition of the final image.

Fig. 01 id_david

Fig. 01 id_david

Fig.02

Fig.02

Fig.03

Fig.03

Fig.04

Fig.04

Modeling

There were no special techniques used when I was modeling the scene. When I started the character I went to my library of basic meshes, which I often use as a starting point when I begin modeling. I then simply reworked the model in ZBrush by adjusting the proportions. I usually start using the Move and Scale tools after masking some parts of the mesh with the Lasso tool. As soon as I had the desired result I imported the model back into 3ds Max.

Once I was in 3ds Max I began work on the accessories and clothing. I selected parts of the mesh that interested me and once they were detached I applied the Push modifier. I modeled the fungus using standard primitives (spheres, cylinders, etc.,) and then went back into ZBrush where I imported the model with the clothing. I then applied Group Split and continued to work on the volume in a low level of subdivision in each of the subtools (Fig.05).

Fig.05

Fig.05

Texturing

For the UV mapping I used the UV Master. It's a simple and effective tool that provides good UVs. The next step was to address the textures. I wanted to achieve a realistic look as if I had met this little guy during a walk in the woods, so I used the polypaint feature in ZBrush along with my store of reference images. The textures were also slightly retouched in Photoshop to resolve some defects and add detail. This also allowed me to generate a map to use as a mask in ZBrush for the detailing work. This technique allows you to quickly achieve a good level of detail and consequently refine the image using alphas. I used the same techniques for the other elements in the scene as it was useful in obtaining each and every map (Fig.06).

Fig.06

Fig.06


For the character and fungus materials I used V-Ray SSS2 as it creates good results with very few input maps. I also made some color corrections to some of the maps. For the other elements in the scene I used a V-Ray material with different maps in the input (Diffuse, Bump, etc.). I always use Color Correction to contrast or decrease some of the values. For the ground I used a VraydispMod associated with a map made in Photoshop that allows the possibility of adding more detail when rendering.

At this stage of the project the scene seemed a little empty. Because of this it was necessary to add some elements to make it look a little more real. I wanted something that resembled the woods near my home and to achieve this I created some grass and pine needles from standard primitives, and then populated the scene using Particle Flow, which is quite simple. I used the shape instance with the needle as a reference and the ground plane as the object position. After I had done that I added some random rotation to create a little chaos (Fig.07). To manually adjust the position of the particles I used the script Pflow-Baker.ms.

Fig.07

Fig.07

As I knew I would use an intense depth of field, I only modeled the background elements roughly. I also placed some of these items in the far background to simulate depth.

Lighting

For the lighting I didn't do anything innovative. I wanted to achieve an atmosphere that made it feel as if you were in the undergrowth. To do this I placed a V-Ray light in a position that worked with my Environment map. For the background I used a standard omni light with a low coefficient multiplier and also turned off Projecting Shadow. I put a VrayHDRI map in the GI and reflection/refraction environment slots (Fig.08).

Fig.08

Fig.08

The setup in V-Ray was really basic, just like my PC. I do not have powerful hardware so I didn't push the settings too much (Fig.09).

Fig.09

Fig.09

Compositing

To me, compositing is one of the most important steps in this type of project. Along with lighting it is the step that adds a new dimension to the image. This is a very important part of the process, which can improve the look and mood, but if is not done carefully you can end up destroying the image.

For most of my projects I use Photoshop to complete the image. After compositing all the different elements (Fig.10) I carry out color corrections, Curves adjustments and play with the Levels before applying a Depth of Field filter using the V-Ray Z-Depth map. For the final touch I use the Magic Bullet LooksBuilder (Fig.11).

Fig.10

Fig.10

Fig.11

Fig.11

Conclusion

Originally I created this image as a test for a project that I wanted to share with my friend Nicolas. It allowed me to test and validate different points of the workflow and was both good training and a lot of fun. One day I hope to meet this guy during a walk in the forest!

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