Creating a Detailed Sci-Fi Visor With ZBrush, 3ds Max & KeyShot

Introduction

As for many artists, drawing and painting have been a passion for me since early childhood. Therefore, by classic, my parents sent me to art school, and it should be honestly noted that I was an average student there. Very soon, my interest shifted to other fields. This time, I was already in love with history and studied at the Lyceum with an in-depth study of history for several years. So, predictably soon, I naturally found myself as a student in the history department.

But that wasn't enough for me, and computer graphics invaded my human science stability spontaneously. It was a time when Discreet 3dsmax 7 and Photoshop 8.0 were released — just imagine, so long ago. This is how I came to my first experiments as a modeler and texture artist for games such as Ragnesis back in 2006, for example, and many more.

But with all these successes, I was constantly drawn to classical art. Over the next 12 years, I found myself again in academic art, but this time mastering it in the form of another higher education. I went through several art institutions, moving from retrograde mannerism to classical patterns of constructivism.

In many ways, exactly studying at the St. Petersburg State Stieglitz Academy of Arts and Design at the Department of Monumental Sculpture influenced me, the internal methodology of which was based on the traditions of Vkhutemas and BAUHAUS. The second one, as it's known, developed throughout its history created a deep understanding of the form and its construction. Thus, having gone a long way through a thorough study of forms/form erection aspects, and having mastered this field professionally, I came to understand the conflict of forms. This opened up for me the depth of the artistic searches in the concept of “deconstruction,” which is key in my art.

The specialty of the sculptor predetermined my further years in CG as a character designer. I took part in projects such as Quake Champions, World War Z, WWZ Aftermath, Space Marine 2, and many others. Thanks to the excellent teachers at the academy, I comprehended the subtleties of composition and shaping. I can say that this knowledge is universal for sculpture, painting, drawing, and, of course, CG. They cannot exist without these rules and principles. I will say right away that it is difficult for any artist, classical or CG, to create a truly fundamental work without understanding the composition, which is a set of laws and representations about the form, space, scope, volume, and specificity of their transmission. 

For today, I work at KEK Entertainment in the position of Concept Design. At the moment, we are working on the sci-fi project Armor Attack, where there is a lot of equipment, guns, and battles. It is the Concept Design sphere that responds to constant experimentation with shapes and mixing of various compositional structures and techniques, which I really like.

About the WIP.0.3.VISOR Project

It is believed that when the great sculptor Bourdelle was creating his art, he first threw huge masses of clay on the skeleton, and only then cut off the extra pieces to clean the form. I'm doing something similar. At the same time, you need to work very quickly, almost without thinking.

In the beginning, when there is a search for an idea, it is necessary for the subconscious to work as dominant; you need to twist the model from all sides, look for silhouettes from all angles, and as I said before, work quickly, very quickly. The search should turn into a stream of the unconscious, into a constant experiment the essence of which is colliding the forms. I start using references only when the first interesting shapes are found and the accuracy and clarity of the structures are already needed.

Broadly speaking, sculpture, and in our case, a 3D concept, should have interesting silhouettes from an infinite number of sides and angles, because the viewer sees shapes not on a plane, but in space. And space is just as important as form. Simply put, the back of the model's head is just as important as the face of the model, and these things are inseparable; they are the whole one.

Modeling

WIP.0.3.VISOR is woven from compositional structures and collisions of shapes. As we used to say at the academy — "When you sculpt the heel, look at the face!" Or, for example, as the tradition says about the specifics of the technical worldview of Rodin, he does not have a favorite side. That is, the whole is more important than the particular.

It is very important not to lose the overall silhouette and tectonics of the model behind the details. The details should help in the organization of shaping and not create a shapeless banal structure. You know, I am a very emotional person, and I cannot polish one detail for a long time — it becomes very boring. I try to make details with a few strokes, relatively speaking... "so that the sweat of the artist would not be felt ," but there would be lightness and freshness! I mean, not as an academic artist does it, but as an impressionist, ha-ha. 

The main subtlety in conceptual modeling is the transition between forms and functionality. These transitions can be complex or simple, but they must be. But at the same time, WIP.0.3.VISOR is devoid of full functionality, because the super task in front of me was to do something crazy! I love working on the edge of psychosis, hysteria, and exaltation.

Retopologize

In this case, everything was very simple: I made a Decimal in ZBrush for all objects in the project and threw it into KeyShot! If the shape is made well, it is difficult to ruin it. As sculptors say — even the snow falls beautifully on a good sculpture.

Texturing

You will be surprised, but the materials are mostly standard options in KeyShot. The most important thing in conceptual modeling is to think ahead, not only about shapes, but also about materials. Underestimating the importance of material, its diversity, and the inability to work with this mosaic leads you directly to lightning defeat. Where the metal should be polished, where it should be matte; where and why the plastic will be transparent or not; where the rubber would be clean, and where it would be streaked — for many, these aspects seem trivial, but they are misleading, and these qualities/types of materials, used very superficially, as something like a matter of course, but this is exactly a matter of art.

Each such subtlety also adds realism to your work. Don't forget, the devil is in the details! WIP.0.3.VISOR was texturized in one day. The main features used for materials in this work are decals and ambient occlusion. I added them to almost all materials.

Rendering

I visualized my work using HDRI and additional light sources. And, of course, post-processing in Photoshop via Camera RAW. I would say that everything was done quite simply, without secrets or subtleties of configuration. In this case, there is no "secret ingredient," as a famous character, Mister Ping, would say, ha-ha-ha. 

Summarize

You have to understand that I create a lot of different sketches because there is always something cooking in my head. If I think that the sketch is not finished, I postpone it. It can lie like this for a month, or maybe a year. WIP.0.3.VISOR lay for half a year until a system-forming idea came — a code cipher in place of the eyes. And then it was just necessary to model. At the moment, there are several dozen sketches, the time for which has not yet come. You know how grapes have to ferment in order for wine to appear, and sketches also need time to see an original idea in them.

I would advise novice artists to deepen their understanding of form and space foremost (especially for artists who work on characters, because you will always deal with space and everything existent/nonexistent in space). Form and space are the basis of any art. A person who has decided to choose the path of the creator, of course, should dig into these concepts. Understanding the laws of composition is universally useful knowledge — it's like a code for all doors. 

Maxim Babkin-Taksar, Mixed Media Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine