Building environments has become a cornerstone of 3D art. From home interiors and city skylines to dense forests, mountain ranges, and alien worlds, the technology now available allows for limitless creation and photorealism on an epic scale. But in such a diverse and unrestrained discipline, are there any artistic principles? What do environment artists have in common? How do they work? And, perhaps most importantly, how can you create your own jaw-dropping 3D environments? 3D World has gathered a diverse selection of environment artists, with decades of collective experience across the CG industry, to answer all these questions and more.
RECREATING THE WORLD
Veteran VFX matte painter and CEO of MattePaint.com, Conrad Allan, was drawn to environment work when he discovered Vue (a world generation tool by E-on software) whilst studying game animation in his native Australia.
After sinking countless hours into the software, Allan connected with Dax Pandhi, CG veteran and QuadSpinner co-founder, who was a master of Vue at the time. “He was a major factor in springboarding my understanding,” Allan tells 3D World. “I’m a firm believer in finding a mentor. It’s like having a one-on-one teacher on a semi-regular basis. That said, most of how I got started was just due to the fact that I’d play around with sliders for hours, continuously hitting the render button to see the different results.”
This story is from the February 2021 edition of 3D World UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2021 edition of 3D World UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Founders Edition
On the surface, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super is barely any different from the vanilla GeForce RTX 4080 that was launched in 2022.
MCU VFX moments
Pros choose their favourite CG shots from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Nosing around on Fallout
We sniff out the story of how FutureWorks brought The Ghoul to life with the creation of his iconic noseless face
DISCOVER RED GIANT GEO'S HANDY TOOLS
Heather Sterland introduces one of the newest additions to Maxon's suite of Red Giant VFX plugins with an atmospheric lunar creation
BUILD AND ANIMATE A FUN-FILLED ROBOT
Expand your horizons with Julio Benavides, who reveals his workflow for creating a charming hard-surface character
DESIGN STRIKING SCULPTS AT SPEED
Learn how to build 3D characters that balance visual quality and efficient workflow with pro advice from Oh Holy Mary
CREATE A CANYON ENVIRONMENT
Build a stunning desert setting with an expert walkthrough from Romain Eboli, who uses high-quality Quixel assets
TURN A 2D CONCEPT INTO AN INCREDIBLE 3D-PRINTED FIGURE
Concept artist Emily Chapman shares her process for sculpting, printing and painting an outstanding model to put on display
Goodbye SAIGON
Trevor Hogg gets held captive by multiple versions of Robert Downey Jr.while uncovering the visual effects of HBO's spy series The Sympathizer
IMPRESSIONISTIC REALISM
Trevor Hogg learns how the artisan aesthetic came to be for The Wild Robot