Author Archives: Denis Keman

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Creating Complex Rugs in 3DS Max

  By Denis Keman • November 30, 2015 , , ,

After the last post that had some great feedback from you guys, as well as a few more questions that were about how to model some more complex design rugs i decided to make these two videos you are about to see here. In the simple rug creation post we went over how to make the most common types of rugs, and those techniques are valid and correct but when we get to a point where the rug has a more intricate design then those techniques can end up a bit short. In those cases we can probably use the two techniques you can see in this post. So enough about the introduction lets just right into the explanation and the videos.

In the first video we will go over how to create a rug that is not 100% covered in strands. You can see multiple designs like this one in many different scenes and if you would want to recreate one in 3D then you would have to have some sort of control over the design. Well V-Ray offers that control with the VRayFur option. When you first try it out you might think that it’s just a fancy substitute for the Hair and Fur modifier that we covered in the previous post, but in reality it’s actually quite a powerful tool to have in your arsenal as it offers quite a bit of control over your design. In the video below we will continue on the same scene that we had in the previous post and build on that. You will see how to use the VRayFur, how to control the distribution of the strands, how to control the bend of the strands and most importantly how to utilize maps to do all that. So if you want to know about that then check out the video.

In the second video we are going to take a look at how to create a complex rug that isn’t actually made from strands, but instead it’s made out of different types of geometry. For this we are going to take a swing with the amazing scattering plugin Forest Pack Pro. Now the thing with Forest Pack Pro is that it’s an amazing piece of work as it can be used to create amazing things, and with this post we will barely scratch the surface of it’s possibilities, but we will have a base on which we can continue in future videos. So check out this video that is basically covering the process of creating a rug made out of different geometry that is scattered on a base object.

So with these two ways of creating rugs you should be able to tackle the more complex designs without too much of a hassle. And that would be it for this post, so if you managed to learn something new and you liked the videos then help spread the word, and like the video on YouTube. I’m still waiting to see if we can get the videos to have a 10% like approval which would be Amazing. In any case i hope you enjoy the videos, and i’ll see you all in the next post.

P.S.

In case you want to follow along with the tutorial here are the two images that i used.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

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Creating Simple Rugs in 3ds Max

  By Denis Keman • November 25, 2015 , , ,

So as much as i want to try and tackle on some gaming posts here, or at least try and set up a base for some gaming posts in the future i keep reverting back to architecture related themes.

Today we are going to tackle on one of the more commonly seen elements in scenes, and that is the rugs element. Rugs tend to find their way into many different scenes ranging from kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms and pretty much any other room that you might have, so knowing how to make them is a big plus. In this post we will see how we can create two different kinds of rugs that are totally different from each other and we will see how to obtain those two distinct looks.

In the first video you will learn how to create a soft looking fuzzy rug. To get this look i will go over the V-ray displacement modifier and explain how you can control the parameters of the said modifier so you end up with a realistic looking rug, and in the end we will even cover how to get that extra bit of fuzzyness (if that is a word) to show up in our rug render. So if this is something that might interest you, then check out this video.

For the second type of a rug we are going to try and make a longer, hair like strands rug. In this case we will see that we can’t use the same displacement type as we saw in the first video, so we will use the Max native Hair And Fur modifier. We will cover the properties that this modifier has, as well as how to tweak and control all the aspects of it so we can end up with a result that will make our rug look exactly the way we want it to look. So if this is something that might interest you then check out this second video.

Ok so that should cover the basics of creating a simple rug in 3ds Max. Now this is usually where i ask you to like and share the post, but i have the feeling like it’s seen as a formality by most and i don’t blame you if you don’t do it but for these two videos i want to ask everyone that actually watched and liked the videos to hit that LIKE button on YouTube. I’m simply curious as how the likes work as some of the videos got 6000 views and less then 100 likes which in YouTube’s book means they aren’t that good. So let’s see if we can drive those likes up a bit.

So if you are still reading this, and maybe even watched the videos and liked them then i salute you and leave you with this here link to download rug textures.

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Creating a realistic Swimming Pool in 3ds Max & V-Ray

  By Denis Keman • November 18, 2015 ,

When you get into working in the CG visualization field you are no doubt going to come to the point where you will have to deal with a scene where you have a swimming pool. Dealing with a scene like this can be a bit of a drag, especially if you have never worked on anything like that before. What i mean by this is the fact that water, even though it is quite a simple and we are accustomed to seeing it in our daily routine, it has a few properties that you need to understand if you want to replicate it in your scenes.

In the video below you will see me start from a very simple scene with nothing but the swimming pool to take our focus away. You will see the main attributes that water has when you are using it for your renders, then you will understand why the color of the pools is important, as well as learn how to make the tiled look that many swimming pools have. Then we are going to see how we can get our water to look wavy by using normal maps, bump maps and actual geometry. So if you would be interested in learning anything from what you just read here, then go ahead and check out the video.

If you are back reading this i hope you guys picked up some new tricks and tips, and more importantly it was fun watching it for you as much as it was fun making it for me.
If you liked what you saw here, then you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook (This actually helps a lot and i would appreciate it), share and comment so it can reach more people, and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you.

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Modeling and Texturing a Flag in 3ds Max

  By Denis Keman • November 15, 2015 , ,

Here we go again with another mixed request post. I got a request to actually make a video about how to model one of those little flags that you see on tables, but that would have made for a very short video so i decided to expand it a bit and make it cover the three most common types of flags that you can find. Another thing is the timing, namely this week was the release of Fallout 4 and i have been a fan of the series since 1998 (Fallout 2) so i really didn’t think that i would find the time to spend making another video, but since i want to keep it to having at least one video a week i decided to find the time and mash these two together. So with the mash of the flag request and Fallout, we ended up with these 2 videos that i think cover some nice points and tips for you guys.

In the first video we are going to go over the types of flags you can generally find, like the neutral pose (the fallen down flag), the pole binded flag and the weaving line flag. The general shape was achieved by using the Cloth modifer, so if you are curious as to how i modeled these flags and would like to see me do it go ahead and watch the first part.

So in the first video we went over and modeled the flags, in the second part we actually go and give it the Fallout look by texturing the flags and then making them look aged and damaged. It’s nothing too complex but still some nice pointers on how to approach making masks in Photoshop for damage decals, as well as dealing with the outlines that the blur can make. So again if this peeked your interest check out the second video.

Again i hope you guys liked this video and you managed to learn something new. If you liked what you saw, you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook, share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

P.S.

So since we got that out of the way i only have one thing left to add and that is a bit of extra information for you if you do choose to play Fallout 4. Know that it’s a great game if you love story, progression games and post apocalyptic scenery you will love it, but be aware that it will take a considerable amount of time so start it when you aren’t swamped with work. Oh and do give this post a go before you start it, you will thank me later.

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Modeling a Family Crest in 3ds Max

  By Denis Keman • November 8, 2015 , ,

Another week another post. This week i initially had a different thing in mind to make a tutorial about, but i decided instead of making a simplified tutorial about carved models, i go ahead and actually take an existing model and try to get it made in 3D. So by following the videos you will hopefully learn how to do it yourself and pickup a few tricks along the way.

So the first thing that you want to do when you want to start modeling something like this is, either get some kick ass reference images from your client (if this is a paid project), or you can try and search for some artisan carpenters online for inspiration. In my case the inspiration for making this video came from one of the works that Patrick Damiaens posted on his Facebook page. I have had mr.Damiaens Facebook profile on follow for the better part of the last few years, and all i can say is that man’s work with wood carving is simply amazing. Another place that you can see more about him is on his website by clicking the link. So you can either feel free and look at his work, or you can even go ahead and look up some other artisan carpenters for your source of inspiration.

OK since we got the kudos to the artisans out of the way, back to our model at hand. When i started out i didn’t think it would take 5 part video to cover the creation of the crest, but once i started recording it kinda went down that road. I could have gone ahead and actually make this into 2-3 different posts, but since i know how much i hate waiting a week or maybe even two for a continuation of a video that i am watching i decided to make it all into one post. So lets get down to explaining more about the videos and what you will see in which part.

In the first video i went ahead and started with the modeling process of the shield of the crest, which is more or less the dominant element in the model. After modeling the shield i then proceed to model out the book model that we can see in the middle of the shield. So if you want to know how to do it, or even if you have an idea and want to know how i did it go ahead and watch the first video, and then come back for the rest.

In the second video i go over how to model the flower decoration on the left side, as well as modeling the right side decoration (The Fleur De Lis) which is a classic French decoration. So again if you want to know how i approached modeling this piece then watch the second part.

The third video is all about modeling the Wheat carving in the middle. Now like i said in the video, if i were doing this for a paying customer that required a level of detail that would make it picture perfect to the reference image i would probably go over and sculpt this in ZBrush, but if you aren’t limited by something like this then the approach i did can really work well. Oh and you will also see me show you a trick on how to cheat with getting a more volume to your model without having the geometry. In any case if this is what you want to see then give this video a chance.

The fourth video is all about modeling the scroll element of the model. In this video you will see my approach on modeling something like this which i might add is different from all the other people i’ve seen doing it. I use splines to define the shapes, a surface modifier to give me the working space and shell to define the thickness. In any case if you are interested in how to make something like this i would recommend you watch this part.

And last but not least in the fifth video we go over the fine tweaking of the elements where we make sure that everything that we made is working together, as well as using FFD modifiers to get some of the shapes that we need from the elements. Then after all that is done we go ahead and apply some UVW mapping and texture, light and render the entire scene. So if you want to see how that went then go ahead and watch this final video.

Ok so if you are still here reading this then it either means that everything that you saw before this wasn’t interesting for you to watch (which will make me sad) or it means that you watched it all and came back for more (which will make me happy) but i have to say That’s all Folks, at least for this model. In any case, kidding aside i really hope you guys liked what you saw here, and that you had fun watching these videos as much as i had when i was making them for you. In case you weren’t able to find the reference image i used for this piece from Patrick’s page i’m leaving his image here as well.

Carving

I hope you guys liked these videos and you managed to pick up something new, so if you liked what you saw, you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube (this helps alot) and Facebook(this as well), share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

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Modeling Wall Panels in 3ds Max

  By Denis Keman • November 1, 2015 ,

Again this week we are going with another request i got for modeling something that you would find in an interior scene, namely wall panels and covers. I’ll try my best to keep this post shorter as the video got a bit on the longer side but i really didn’t want to make this another series of 3-4 videos which in the end it actually ended up as one. In the image here you can get an idea on the type of wall panels that we tried to create and what we will be using for a reference image.

Wall_Panels_Compilation

In the video i am going to go and start from the simpler models and then approach some of the more complex models. One thing that i should note is that we will be relying on the Graphite Modeling tools for some of the steps so in case you are working on a version older then Max 2010 you might have an issue with some of the steps. So if you have access to the Graphite Modeling tools then you shouldn’t have any issues with following along, and you will see how easy and simple it can be when you want to create something like this. So enough with my rant, feel free and go and check out the video.

Again i hope you guys liked this video and you managed to learn something new. If you liked what you saw, you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook, share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

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Modeling a Gabion Wall in 3ds Max

  By Denis Keman • October 26, 2015 , , ,

Just like you will be able to see in the video once you start watching it, i got the idea about making this video from a tutorial request from the Evermotion Forums. Namely one of the guys there was curious as to how you would go around and model a gabion wall (basically a bunch of rocks inside a wire mesh) without using maps. The reason why i liked the idea of making this video about this theme in particular is the fact that it can be a good example that can help me showcase the use of the Bloob compound object, as well as some modeling techniques that can help you get a generic rock without having to go outside of 3ds Max. And to top that we even get to see some use of the MassFX tools that come prepacked with 3ds Max.

So in the start of the video you will see how to start from a few primitives, and from there extrapolate a starting mesh for our rocks. Now opposed to what i would do for a project like this and take it to Zbrush for sculpting, here we will see how we can get some interesting looking results by sticking with 3ds Max only. After that we will also see how we can use MassFX to simulate the rocks and help them form the shape of our wall. In any case that was the short explanation, but if you are curious as to how you would model something like that then go ahead and watch the video for yourself.

If you watched the video and for some reason you weren’t able to find the texture that i used for the rocks, but you want to follow along feel free and pick it up here. Note though i did NOT make this texture and all the rights to it belong to whoever made it, i simply got it from Google and i am sharing it here with you guys. (Don’t want to get sued for something)

Seamless_Rock

So i hope you liked this video and you managed to learn something new, and like always if you liked what you saw you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook, share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

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Modeling Turned Furniture in 3ds Max Part 2

  By Denis Keman • October 22, 2015 ,

Like the title says this is the continuation of the first post about modeling turned furniture in 3ds max. In this post we are going to take a look at a few more other different types of modeling techniques that will eventually give you a better understanding on how to approach a task like this in the future. There is no need to go around and explain too much as the videos are very self explanatory so feel free and go check them out.

In the first video here we will see how we can model a turned leg where the geometry flows from cylindrical towards box geometry, and then it goes back to being cylindrical. We are also going to see how we can limit the smoothing effect on the box part alone so the cylindrical part is not affected.

In the second video we are going to start from a basic cylinder and from there with some poly modeling techniques we are going to try and get the final result that you can see in the video.

In the third video we are going to take a different approach to modeling the turned legs, and we are going to see how to create following geometry and then use Boolean operations to subtract one geometry from another.

And last but not least is the final video in which i will show you how to model the “swivel” geometry turned leg, and as an added bonus i will go ahead and explain how to model other twisting leg geometry as well.

So with this i think i can end this what initially looked like a short post but ended up being a 7 video long series. Even though i did release the fist video less then a week ago ( from the moment i’m writing this ) i actually did get quite a bit of good feedback from you guys so i’d like to thank you all for your comments and positive remarks. In any case if there is anything else that you might want to see feel free and leave it as a comment either here, on the Facebook page or the YouTube channel and i’ll see if i can maybe make a video for something that interests you.

And at the end, if you did find this to be helpful to you then help spread the word and comments, like and share it around so it can reach more people.

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Modeling Turned Furniture in 3ds Max

  By Denis Keman • October 18, 2015 ,

OK so i’ll be honest from the get go, i had a subscriber ask me if i can make a video about modeling turned furniture. So since i have modeled stuff like this in the past i agreed on making a quick video in which i can explain the tricks and ways of modeling this kind of models, and this is where i made a small miscalculation. Namely in my head i thought that in something like 20-30 minutes i would be able to explain in detail how you can get a model from an image to a 3d model. It was all fine until i started making the video and then i came to the realization that this is actually quite a larger theme than what i initially thought. None the less since i got on the modeling train i intend to finish it. So in this post i will show you a couple of ways that you can model turned furniture legs, and hopefully you guys will be able to pick up some new tricks for your projects, so lets get started.

The first thing that you would have to go and get when you start a model is some good reference images. Now if you are working on a paid project then you will no doubt get a large amount of reference images, but if this is something that you might be doing for a portfolio or maybe something else then you might want to take your search to Google. In the first video that you will see i went over on Google and got the reference image that i will be using in the rest of the videos here, and you can get it yourself from Google images, but just in case you can’t find it, feel free and grab it from here.

Turned_Legs

Ok so if you have your reference image, the second thing that i would recommend getting is the script Loop Regularizer from Script Spot. This little helpful script will help you when you are modeling and want to transition from a square, or any other geometry for that matter towards a more circular shape.

So now you have the reference image and you have the script, the next thing that i can offer is the first video on how to make one of the turned legs models, and even though it really does look like it’s an extruded box and nothing fancy, if you watch the video you will see that there is actually quite a bit of work that needs to go into one of these models that you can use for your scenes. But enough about me explaining, i’ll leave alone so you can watch the video, and then after watching it come back and continue with the next one.

So once you are done with the first video it’s time to kick it up a notch and try to tackle the second model. Unlike the first video in which we had to deal with some extrusions and then control the edge flow, in the second video we will have to deal with a bit more complicated model but still if you watch the video and follow the steps that i do then you shouldn’t have any issues of replicating the result, and on top of that if you put a bit more time into getting a cleaner profile like it can look so much better. Also we’ll see how we can model one of the most common elements when it comes to furniture and that is the rounded edges base blocks. So go ahead and watch this second video and then come back for the third and last for this post.

If you went ahead and watched the previous videos and you are back reading this, then i salute you. So in the last video we are going to take a look at a different approach towards modeling a turned furniture leg, namely we are going to take a segment from the leg and then use Array to achieve the desired result. So go ahead and watch this video as it will be a great intro for the next videos coming in the next post.

So with the third video i would like to end this post here, but don’t worry in the next post we are going to continue and model out the rest of the turned legs and if you liked these videos there is a good chance you will like the rest. For now that’s all, but i really hope that you managed to learn something new here, and if you did and you liked what you saw then help spread the word and comment, like and subscribe on YouTube.

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Interior Night lighting with V-Ray

  By Denis Keman • October 13, 2015 , ,

Today we are going to take a look at how to light up a rather peculiar example of a moon lit night scene. Now this might sound like a silly thing to say as generally a night is defined by being dark, and usually when you hear someone say a CG rendering of a night scene the first thing that comes into mind is a well lit scene with lamps and lights. Well this is different in a way that we are trying to capture the ambient you would get if you were in a room without lights, and the only thing that is giving off some light is the moon light coming through the window.

In those rare cases where a scene like this might be asked of you to do, if you haven’t done it the first thing that you would try to do is use a HDRI image to get the lighting. That might work in some rare cases, but it will require you to have a perfect HDRI image with enough light information to radiate in the needed light, and at the same time exclude lights that you would generally get from buildings and cars. So if you have a HDRI like that then you can feel free and use it, but if you don’t then you might have to go and do a bit of improvisation.

In the video we will see how to start by matching the environmental light, but instead of using a flat color we will see how to use a gradient for the environment, and then we will see how we can control the amount of light coming into the scene with v-ray lights. After that we will proceed and add in the moon light and with that try and complete our scene. So in short that would be it, so go ahead and watch the video and see for yourself how it was done.

So i hope you liked this video and you managed to learn something new, and like always if you liked what you saw you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook, share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

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