Project Review: Blockbuster Video- Pavillion: Themed VR-Cafe 2001

 The final shot rendered out over a decade back for the Blockbuster VR Pavilion Concept.

 A Z-Depth pass so post work is easier was also generated. Grey scale is based on camera distance so Tilt-Shift and other FX can be added in PSD.

 The Mesh of the scene is all medium to higher rez, no quad-modeling back in 2001 for me yet.

 A birds Eye view outside the Themed Attraction Pavilion[ with the roof hidden] to show the extent of the build.

 A  close up shot of the balcony rooms with glass swing up enclosures.

Project Review

Blockbuster Video- Pavilion

Themed VR-Cafe 2001

Client: Blockbuster via Luc Mayrand.
Art Direction: Luc Mayrand.
Project Date: Summer 2001.

Over a decade back in 2000, I did my first Theme park design project with all designwork done in 3D for WDI on the Millenium Village Scotland Exhibit back right before Y2K. 3D was just getting good for projects like this so I jumped in.

So a year later, I was reconnecting with Luc Mayrand, whom I worked at both Landmark Entertainment, and Walt Disney Imagineering with, and he wanted me to block out his design sketch in 3D to help assist the pitch for the project.

I built out the 3D room and we did about 30 rounds back and fourth until the design was locked. I then rendered out a large 3000 pixel wide shot which back then was a good 7 hour render to do. 

This is why we went without full textures as this was a design pitch concept so the money would come later on if it was approved to go.

Sadly it was scrapped, but a fun project none the less, and it was a foreshadow of a whole lot of what I have done since then using 3D as a great 3D Design tool.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Steath "Blackhawk" Helicopter for Key Art 2012

A low side view on the Stealth Blackhawk Helicopter 3D Model I built for Key Art for Cold Open.

A Low angle 3/4 front view with a darker carbon-fiber like surface.

A view up from the ground on the stealth blackhawk.

A direct side shot of the Stealth Helicopter

 Here is the model with one level of subdivision to add enough detail to the model for a good mid-level render.

 The front view on the base poly model with all subdivision removed.

 A shot looking up at the 'copter belly.

 The same view with all subdivision removed[ base model].

 The 3/4 side shot showing the subdivision surface.

 The Low Poly count view from the same camera angle.

 A shot from overhead showing the vents and details around the main rotor.

 Here is the Low Poly of that same shot of the Stealth Blackhawk.

Project Review

Steath "Blackhawk" Helicopter for Key Art 2012

Client: Cold Open 
Art Director: Gardner DeFranceaux
Project Date: March-August 2012.

A year ago I began a little 3D build for a regular client of a ultra modern Stealth "Blackhawk" Helicopter used for covert missions for some key art use they had so off I went to build it out. As with most advertising deadline I had under one day to build it out and get a set of renders over att various angles with some 3D blur on the main bladed so they could quickly comp the thing into the Key Art.

I was given some scrap reference to follow and I built out the Helicopter as a subdivision model so we could up the resolution for close ups, and lower-rez was good for grouping shots.

All the little angles and honeycomb parts were all hand built for the final object. I was not tasked with landing gear, or an interior at the time, so I built the model as an outside only model with no interior.

A fun build, as a Transportation Design graduate from Art Center, if it moves we MUST build it! :o)


Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Out Takes PART VIII Universal City Walk Mall 1992

A round two pass for Out Takes with the curved front look final design with wood and bronze accents up front.

The first rougher design sketch for the tubular space frame look that did end up as the final design here.

 This first sketch defined a simple bump curve that was off center on the face of all designs in this category. It utilized a sandwich approach to the materials with a thin strip of wood or bronze showcased in the steel structure.

Project Review

Out Takes PART VIII

Universal City Walk Mall 1992.

Client: Out Takes Via Eric Allard at All Effects.
Art Director: Eric Allard.
Project Date Summer 1992

 Sorry for the lack in posts, I was very ill, but I am up and going today so I have a new post.

In this my eighth posting for the design work that I performed for All Effects back in 92' on the City Walk Out Takes Furniture, Cabinets, and Camera structure designs, I have posted today some added concept designs I did as I worked out the final designs for the main desk that the operator worked from in the public window showcase.

Out-Takes was a blue screen photography studio at Universal's City Walk Outdoor Mall in California back in the late 90's, and the motion cotrol rig was the basis for the final design with the girder framework and matte-black baked finish, but we did experiment in half a dozen directions as todays added sketches show.

The process started with about six looks with a few alternates on each. I then narrowed to two looks the girder, and the "Lexus" we called it with the curved wood sandwich layers as seen in the face ans side of a few designs. They picked the girder as it matched the industrial look of the main equipment that filled the store and it was cheaper to produce as well.


Cheers, THOM

PART I is here.
PART II is here.
PART III is here. 
PART IV is here. 
PART V is here. 
PART VI is here.
PART VII is here. 

Project Review: Jack The Giant Slayer 2013 Key Art 3D Illustration PART II The Rock-Head Sculpt

 Here is the side render of the rock head sculpt with the beanstalk from my first post here.

 A low poly base render of the head sculpt I built for Jack the Giant Slayers Key Art.

 For long shots I used only one level of subdivision as seen above.

 

 For closer shots here you see the geometry subdivided at a higher level of 2 rounding and softening the shapes up.

 

 A 3/4 front view on the stone sculpt from Jack the Giant Slayer Key Art production.

  

 The Low resolution base mesh as built before subdividing.

 Here is the mesh subdivided at a low level.

 Here I show the base mesh with subdivision on with two levels.

Project Review

Jack The Giant Slayer 2013

Key Art 3D Illustration PART II
The Rock-Head Sculpt

Client: Warner Brothers Pictures via Cold Open.
Art Director: Jeff Barnett, Gardner Defranceaux.
Project Date(s): Intermittent from Summer 2011- February 2013

I had the pleasure of working on the recent Key Art Movie Posters for the new film, Jack the Giant Slayer, and today in my PART II posting in the series, I will cover the head sculpt that I did that was used in the final artwork here.

Building out any face is a good amount of work, especially in the fast paced world of print advertising, since you will only get a day or less as the typical deadline is that same day, so you gotta work real fast.

The head sculpt was to be comped into some existing terrain shots they had, as they needed the head at a variety of angles for some waterfall mouths, and this is where building it in 3D shines, since you build once, and render twice[ or multiple times], rather than paint out for each view which is a time consuming process to matte paint these out each individually.

This project spanned three years of work, and a few versions of 3DS-max[ 2010, 2013] so I had to re-link and revise these files in production as well on this model too, but all part of production.

A fun project, and I may have a post or two more on it in the future.

Cheers, THOM

HALF A MILLION visits to the blog!

3DConceptualDesigner passed the half a million mark last nite!


Many thanks to all those who visit my little design blog here. I am grateful for the support, and hope for many more years of design and posting to continue.


Cheers, Thom Schillinger
3D Conceptual Designer.

Project Review: Jack The Giant Slayer 2013-Key Art 3D Illustration PART I

 The very first beanstalk I did back in the Summer of 2011 for Jack the Giant Slayer went to finish here.

 Here is a render showing the geometry to see my build-out.

 This was taken from the above comp zoomed into, and subdivided as it was a close up render done at about 8000 pixels wide and it too was used in the finals here.

 This close-up render shows that I built the big leaves as geometry not a bump map fake. I wanted good light play on the edges and nothing beats real dimensional geometry for that in a high resolution 3D illustration for Advertising.

 This fun render has a classic "S-Curve" design to the vine so the main character could stand on the hump out in the middle of the comp.

 The Quad Polygon view shows the details for this S-curve shot.

 A vine bridge idea with the placeholder dummy used for scale and shadow, that was removed and replaced with principal photography for the finals.

 The last beanstalk render came this year last month in February 2013 for the final payoff poster here.

 Here I show the base mesh with subdivision off, a complicated build but so fun to sculpt out.

Project Review

Jack The Giant Slayer 2013

Key Art 3D Illustration PART I

Client: Warner Brothers Pictures via Cold Open.
Art Director: Jeff Barnett, Gardner Defranceaux.
Project Date(s): Intermittent from Summer 2011- February 2013

I had the pleasure of working on the recent Key Art for the new film Jack the Giant Slayer, and today I will cover the finished 3D Illustration work that I contributed to the finals for the Agency Cold Open. Thanks go out to this very creative agency, as I have been able to get onto these great projects over the last few years.

Apart from the standard 3D logos I do for many of my clients, I also get the chance to do these detailed props and environments from the films I help with in advertising, and with 'Jack-TGS', I was asked to help with the beanstalks for all the One-Sheet ideas, as the film was still in production back in 2011 when  I did my first rendering of the vines for them, since they did not have a single high resolution still to work with.

Building out the beanstalk was a fun modeling challenge, and as with most poster projects, I have an extremely limited time frame to work with. This point is something inexperience fails to see, in that when someone looks at a final rendered 3D image they divorce it from the context in which it was created. I often here a rogue critique[ see #5] as if I had the same time that the film makers had to build and develop the look of the prop, yet I usually have about 1/10th the time at best.

I had one eight hour day to reverse engineer, build, texture, light and render multiple images with revisions, and this is where being a 3D Designer rather than a "3D Carpenter"  makes all the difference in the world to the client.

This project spanned three years of work, and a few versions of 3DS-max[ 2010, 2013] so I had to re-link and revise the files in production. This is also a real work situation that many years of 3D illustration afford you to keep the client in the know as to the bumps in production.

Case in Point: For a short while, my main procedural plug-in was still being upgraded, so I had to keep an older PC all set-up with my 3ds-max2010 still up and ready to go just for this project since it kept coming back, even though I was in 2013 on all other projects.


As a side-note I had experience with twisted vines back when I was the Art Director on the TV animated series The Phantom 2040, and here is an early design sketch with some similarities.

A fun project, and this is just the first post in the series.

Cheers, THOM

3D Model Sales: Part XX Rustic Log Fence System

A rendered shot of the fence set up as a smaller pen that I sell online here.

 

The set of parts that make up this Rustic Log Fencing system I sell online as stock 3D Models.

The non-subdivided view of the base models as exported out to FBX, and OBJ.

A birds eye view shows the variety of rail shapes and profiles used to build out this set.

Each rail is unique in shape and proportion, but will interchange well.

Parts Identification sheet subdivided[ about 500K face count when smoothed]

The Log Fence Set parts as base geometry

Worms Eye view from the back.

A quad base render from the back.

A close up render on the human gate set shows the rustic hand forged iron hinges as well as the lock-hoop with the chains ready to go to secure hour virtual heard.

The Quad Model itself is shown in this render of the gate with all parts named and groups for easy adjusting.

A close up shot of the rear of the Locking Hoop on the Cattle gate.

A Quad- non-subdividied version of this shot for the FBX and OBJ users to see the way it was built out.

Looking down the side you can see the various shapes and twists in the rails and posts at this angle.

The quad render at that angle highlights the geometrys natural rustic shapes I built out.

The back of the Human Gate closed.

The quad Polygon build render is shown for the back of the Ranch hands gate above.

A Sample render with the gate pivoted open, and the lock raised up.

An ambient render of the sample small pen setup from the first color render up top.

3D Model Sales

Part XX
Rustic Log Fence System

I sell the 3D models I build online as stock 3D models, similar to stock Photography to be used by design and graphics professionals within the various industries online at Turbosquid, the leading stock 3D model house, and for PART XX[20th] today, I am reviewing a rustic styled log fencing system I made so you can create Corrals, animal pens, and any type of fencing you need in a rustic hand peeled log look.

I built this set out to go along with the barn I built last weekend, and this is a great addition to any scene needing a rustic fence in your animation or architectural renders. All gates are grouped and the pivots are aligned so that they swing open and close correctly.

A full 100% subdivision model ensures that you can increase the level of detail with the subdivision modifier applied in your program of choice as high as your processors can handle.

I export all my 3D assets to FBX and OBJ so my friends in Cinema 4D , Maya, and Soft-XSI can use these assets as well.

To view all my 3D models I sell, you can go here. If you want to see a couple of hundred of 3D models I built in the past that my prior employer still sells, you can go here too.

Cheers, THOM