Rolls Royce Tutorial

June 2015 Gallery Award Winner Khaled Alkayed shares how he made his winning Rolls Royce using Maya and Photoshop

Software used: Maya, V-ray, Photoshop, XrayUnwrap

In this tutorial I will explain the process behind my latest artwork Rolls Royce and will focus on the main steps taken in every stage of the work: concept, modeling, UV, texturing, environment, lighting, rendering and compositing.

Idea

The idea came when I was watching movies like Death Race and Mad Max. They gave me the urge to do something similar so I started with Maybach Exelero then Ferrari Enzo and finished here with Rolls Royce. In the beginning my goal was to work in a unique way that distinguished my work from others, which led me to spend quite a bit of time thinking and trying to come up with stranger and better ideas than anything that I've ever seen.

Modeling (Main Shape)

Before I began modeling, I collected lots of images and references for the car; I found blueprints from Blue Print Box and The Blue Prints. To build the main shape accurately, I started in Maya and used Polygon Primitives to model a simple shape (lowpoly) then continued to the details of the car. For a more detailed guide to making a car have a look at this video in which I explain how I made the body for Ferrari Enzo. I used the same principle to make the body for this piece.

Main body of the car

Main body of the car

Modeling (Additions and modifications)

I also collected lots of references for what I wanted to add and modify on the vehicle like the weapons, rockets, wheels, shields and doors. Some sites I used to find things are Prime Portal and Tactical Vehicles News. I worked on every model separately and when it was finished I added it to the main body.

A blueprint of the car with reference images of the modifications I made

A blueprint of the car with reference images of the modifications I made

More references and what they look like on the finished car

More references and what they look like on the finished car

Some models of the modifications

Some models of the modifications

UV Mapping

I use XrayUnwrap plugin because it's a good way to speed up your work in pipeline for UV Mapping. I worked on every part separately as this makes the texturing stage easier for me. Once I was done with unwrapping I applied the checker pattern shader to make sure the UVs were set correctly and look for problems.

Check UV Mapping by applying checker pattern shader

Check UV Mapping by applying checker pattern shader

Texturing

After I finished the UV Mapping I looked for reference materials to use, such as rusty cars, rusty bulldozer, weapons etc. I found quite a lot of masks and texture from CG Textures. I added the textures solely using Photoshop.

Some of textures I had collected

Some of textures I had collected

Environment

There are many ways to add environments or backgrounds to your work; you can use an HDRi, a 3D environment, or a combination of both. However, since I didn't have time to work on a 3D environment I chose to use an HDRi and looked for the best image for the car. I chose industrial environment that has a big street which was what I wanted.

Some of the diverse images that I've found

Some of the diverse images that I've found

After importing the image to perspective view port in Maya, I made a 3D street exactly like the image and I set the perspective and settings of the camera correctly to match it. I didn't want to render the street as it is in the image so I used VRay to render the shadows and reflections on it, to do that I used VRayMtlWrapper material.

VRayMtlWrapper material settings

VRayMtlWrapper material settings

Lighting

I used two invisible lights in the whole scene, VRay Dome Light for global lighting and VRay Area Light for sunlight.

HDRI and VRay Dome Light settings

HDRI and VRay Dome Light settings

VRay Area Light settings

VRay Area Light settings

Rendering

I use simple render settings. I set a big resolution of 5000 pixels across, set the AA filter type to Area (under Image Sampler), and set the Color Mapping type to Exponential. Under GI, I select Irradiance Map and Light Cache, and under Render Elements I select ZDepth and Material ID passes.

Render Settings for final render

Render Settings for final render

Different passes

Different passes

Final result

Final image front view

Final image front view

Final image – back view

Final image – back view

Khaled's top tip

Always use Bevel Tool for sharp edges on your models, this will make model more realistic when rendering.

Before and after using Bevel Tool

Before and after using Bevel Tool

Related links

Khaled has won lots of awards for his work, check them out on his website
Have a look at Khaled's other YouTube videos
Like us on Facebook

Fetching comments...

Post a comment