Monday, July 7, 2025

Project Review: Toy Story 4 3D Logo Neon Illustrations for Key Art 2018


3D Neon Toy Story 4 Key Art Title Concept Designs. This first image was so close to being the final pick. A straight on shot with the aged and rusty finishes. This is still my desktop on my workstation. I loved this project for PIXAR!



3D Neon Toy Story 4- Key Art Title in a clean finish similar to the other films.
 
 

3D Neon Toy Story 4- Ambient/ Dirt Render to accentuate the intersections in the geometry as well as add in ambient pass lighting to get better realism.


3D Neon Toy Story 4- Key Z-Depth Pass for distance based edits in post for the Art Directors at the Leroy and Rose agency.


3D Neon Toy Story 4- A subdivided Clay Screen grab from the Camera View showing the mesh levels used in the build.


3D Neon Toy Story 4  Base mesh Low Poly Screen Grab in Clay material showing just the forms.


3D Neon Toy Story 4  A Screen grab with Materials to show inside the 3D Neon Tubes as well as the the clips and rivets in my build.


3D Neon Toy Story 4  Key Art Title Concept Design View #2 a Low Angle with a bit of fish-eye on the lens. This is the cleaner of the two finishes.

 

3D Neon Toy Story 4  Key Art Title Concept Design in the rusted and weathered look.

 

3D Neon Toy Story 4  The Ambient Render pass. This angles shows the deformations on the rough wall back plate better at an angle.



3D Neon Toy Story 4  The Z-Depth mask Render Pass here falls off for more distance based edits after the image is delivered.
 

3D Neon Toy Story 4  Screen Grab showing the side of the build. If you look closely there is a neon tube behind the sign tin backing to give a back glow on the wall.


 
3D Neon Toy Story 4  Super close up Screen Grab in Clay material shows that little toggle switch I built.


 
3D Neon Toy Story 4 Super close up Screen Grab in Clay material shows the tube clip details. 

 

 
3D Neon Toy Story 4 a high angle view in the Clay materials. This view shows the hangers on top.


 
3D Neon Toy Story in Clay material finish showcasing surface only in a low angle up view on the sign.


Project Review
for Key Art 2018
 

Client:  PIXAR/ Walt Disney Feature Animation via Leroy and Rose
Creative Direction:  Melchior Lamy 
Project Date:  February to June 2018.


     I can now post work that I did for Melchior at Leroy & Rose for PIXAR's Toy Story 4 from back in 2018. This design went all the way to the 11th hour and was close to finishing, but they went more simple in the end.

     As a 3D Artist, doing anything for PIXAR is an honor as they were trailblazers in the field of 3D Animation which helped mainstream the technology to where it is at today as now it's considered common place.
 
     I also posted Behind the Art images with some wire frames and Clay shader screen grabs showing way I build out 3D Neon. I have always loved neon signs, from the light they give off, the flickers, and the buzz they emanate. Being a Classic Car nut, these signs are found all over Vintage Car shops so it is a natural fit for me a gear head. Also, I am a fabricator and builder, and love the craft behind real the ones.

    I found over a few years of building out neon a few simple things I do. I create both the exterior glass tube, that's two sided with a 3DSmax Shell modifier added to the spline to give it a glass thickness. I also build out a second internal object spline that that represents the gas inside the tube that glows, and this is where I put the self illumination glow on so it refracts a bit through the tube glass. I also add color to the glass itself to simulate color bleed so red glass with red glow etc. I love the little clips that hold the tubes as well.

    For this 4th installment of Toy Story I was directed to go with neon for the main 3D Logo, as a good portion of the film takes place in a county fair environment as well as inside a antique store. I did both a clean versions of the sign, as well as aged and rusted version. So, my baseline was a delivery of 2 views in 2 finishes. 
 
    I did work on Key Art 3D Titles for Toy Story 4 for a few other vendors as well after this, but this version was a wall mounted hanging sign design with a lot more vintage bits added in. The toggle switch was placed on the bottom extrusion of tin sign. That 3D Model I built, and sell at TurboSquids Stock 3D model site here. I also built out the wall hangers on the back and the vintage square nails with cross hatched tips. A few wires completed the look and an aged wall was built as a 3D Displacement with modeled out surface cracks and irregularities.
 
    Again, just this one 3D model can be reused and rendered out at many different angles.The first comp is where the time is mostly billed at, yet once made, the re-shoots are so much quicker when the model is already ready to go, so it really deserves a few shots at least.
 
     I am back full time doing freelance as I hunt for a full-time place to work at, so if you need a bid for a 3D Illustration or 3D Logo, or a 3D Model feel free to contact me for a quote. I am open to Hourly gig's, Work Retainers, Part-time, and Full Time opportunities [ Open to relocation ] would be best. I have worked remote since 2009, so I am ready to help you.

                                 Cheers, THOM

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