Archive for February 2010
What you focus on and give attention will grow
February 18, 2010
Ever heard the expression, what you fear you create? That means if someones drives a car and is affriad of crashing, then they will eventually crash? If someone is affraid of people, then all people around him or her will seem hostile?
That´s because we create our own reality. We create our own destiny. We see things through our filters. But not the filters of our eyes. The filters of our minds! There´s another expression: Seeing is believing. Well, I think it´s the other way. Believing is seeing.
What you believe in, will become true for you. What you believe in – you will go and find evidence of – to validate your beliefs. So, if you create what you fear, then it must match the other way… What you focus on and believe in – you create!
That´s what I´ve used to change the course of my life. I´ve struggled, and I´ve been depressed for over 20 years of my life. But once I settled for new goals, once I awakened my dreams and made them true in my mind – a shift started to take place. Since I no longer felt my life was bad all the time, I slowly started to move in a differet direction. I took another path. Now, 10 years later – I´m still on the new path, and now I´m not just walking the path – I´m climbing the mountains!
So, keep this in mind: Focus on where you want to be. Not where you are. As focusing on the problems will only create more of them. Focus on the solutions, on your dreams and goals… THAT will make a huge difference!
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What is HDRI lighting and how to use it
February 16, 2010
Many are confused with this, and I was one of them. HDRI works in two ways. First, the image itself contains far more information than a standard 24 bit RGB image. How is that possible? Take a look a normal outdoor photo. You see the sky, sun, buildings, other objects and ground. So, what´s the big deal? Well, the photo we see on the screen, has a RGB range from 0 to 255. That means, each component, such as red, green or blue can hold only 256 levels. In reality, the sun is 100´s if not 1000´s of times brighter than any other obejct in your scene. In a 24 bit RGB image, the brightest area is only a few times brighter than a shadow.
Yes, a 3D image will end up flat anyway, but the data for lighting it will differ. If you use a 24 bit RGB image to light your scene, it will not look realistic as opposed to using a true HDRI image. It just holds so many times more lighting data.
The other aspect of using HDRI, is that it´s a complete lighting solution. Normally, you map a HDRI image to a sphere surrounding your scene and set the surfaces to selfglowing. When used in conjuntion with radiosity, you will get a super realistic lighting effect. And that´s it! I often add a sun light to the scene, becuase HDRI lighting is very soft and will not represent the sun in a good way. And that´s it!
How to match CG with live footage
February 16, 2010
This process involves several steps. First of all, you need to match the camera. It´s position, angle and focal length. Then the lighting. Using HDRI is the best way to mimic real world lighting. Also, take note of where the sun is in your shot (or any other light sources for that matter). That´s what you can do in 3D. The rest is actually postworking with the layers.
You need to match the color-scale, brightness, contrast and softness. Live footage is often more fuzzy or blurry than 3D graphics. So you need to de-grade it so to speak. And add noise and imperfections. And that´s basically it!
How to speed up your workflow
February 16, 2010
There´s a saying: Don ´t rush a genious! Well, it´s the same for artists. We like our freedom, and we love see our art take form at our pace. But when working with a deadline around the corner, things suddently change. Yeah, things need to be done on time!
The way I approach such projects, is simply to cut corners. That´s something I´ve learned when working with movies and editing. How can things be made more simple? Do you need 10 camera angles or can you be creative with just one? Same goes for lighting. Radiosity is wonderful (bouncing lighting calculations), but will add to your render time. Fake it! That´s the best word I can come of. Fake it, and make it appear as it would be real. Substitute radiosity with a few spot lights or area lights that render 10 times faster. Use 2D elements instead of pure 3D when the viewer can´t notice.
When you´re re-rendering similar elements several times, render them once and replace them with a pre-rendered version that will ignore any lighting. Bake the lighting if possible.
It´s amazing how much you can get away with, by simply faking your way to a faster workflow. If it looks real, then who cares how it was done? Get creative, work with layers and make things as simple as possible.
Why working with layers in 3D rocks!
February 16, 2010
Many artists out there are not aware of the wonders of working with layers – also called multipass rendering. Picture this scenario. We´re doing a render with 20 lights and several scene elements. Lets say the final image takes 1 hour to render. Now, if something doesn´t look good, and needs re-adjusting, we need to re-render the entire image. Another hours goes by. Now, we notice that something else is wrong. And we spend another hour re-rendering.
Now, let´s look at this with layering in mind. We split the render into several separate renders. For instance, each of the renders can contain a single light. For instance, some background elements maybe can br on a separate layer. Now, rendering all the separate will take approx 1 hour. We then bring our images into a compositing application (Photoshop or Sony Vegas Pro). And here´s the beatuy. If we don´t like the effect of one of the lights, we can re-render that layer only. Let´s say that takes 5 minutes. We then re-insert that layer into our composition and save tons of time.
Not only that. ANY layers can be re-adjusted live in the compositing software without re-rendering. You can adjust the intensity, color an apply other effects. Now, see the power? This is especially powerful when dealing with 1000´s of freames long animations that take days or even weeks to render.
Grow more than your business
February 8, 2010
Most vendors focus on producing products. Nothing wrong with that, but you can´t do what you don´t know about. Therefore, it´s very wise to learn more and open your eyes. The wider you see, the more angles you can see various things from – the more solutions you will find. I read lots of books, ebooks and listen to CD´s. I learn about relationships, love, animals, 3D graphics, cars, finances, personal growth and even cooking.
It´s simple – if you stop learning – you stop growing. If you stop growing, you stop climbing the success ladder. Your success is a direct reflection of your personal growth. In any area of life!
Some of my favorite inspiration sources are: Donald Trump, Robery Kiyosaki, John Grey, Dr Phil, Randy Gage, Michael Dlouhy, Bob Proctor, Tom “Big Al” Schreiter and Mike Lewis to name a few.
I hear someone: -”But I dont´t want to do all that boring stuff!” Well, guess what – you can do whatever you want. But know this: Your life is a direct result of your personal grwoth. To have more, you have to become more. Yes, there´s a price tag. There always is!
How to create a bestselling product
February 8, 2010
A marketplace will quickly become cluttered with endless copies of similar products. Usually, if something is selling, then you can assume that creating something similar will sell as well. Sure, you can produce better and higher quality products, but trust me – this will not set you apart.
So what does create a bestseller?
Find your own niche! Find a problem many artists have, solve it and stick to it! What´s a niche? It´s something very thin and very specific. Let´s say we have 450 otufits for Victoria 4 in the market. Producing another outfit, a really good one – might sell well. But that´s not a niche.
A niche could be doing outfits from the 1930´s era. That´s unique and makes you stand out, unless the market already is filled with that. But you can go one level deeper. For instance, what do most artists have problems with, when using those 450 outfits? Fitting them? Well, produce a plug in that autofits clothes! Already done? Well, find another problem!
That´s a real niche. That´s what will set you apart from the rest. Keep your mind open for problems. Listen on the forums. Get involved. Use the software yourself and you´ll discover problems that need a solution.
Remember: Where´s there´s problems, there´s opportunities.
What you need to start selling your products
February 8, 2010
If you´re thinking of becoming a vendor and selling your props, plug ins or characters, there are some things you should be aware of. First of all, most people tend to think that all they need is a product. Well, you DO need a product – but that´s far from everything. In fact, there are thousands of great and skilled artists out there that produce stuff that could easily be sold. But it ain´t happening. Why?
Guts! Yes, you need lots of it. Selling is scary in the start. I know, I´ve been selling since 1999 and I´m a bestselling vendor at DAZ 3D since 2006. It takes a lot of courage to overcome the fear of selling. Why is that? Well, when you sell something, you trade it to the masses for money. They will look at it and they will say what they think. Scary thing! Yeah, you no longer can get away with: “Ahh well, just something I did”. Suddently, it´s supposed to give value for the money!
Selling becomes more difficult if you attatch your personal value to your products. Like I´m a bad person if it doesn´t sell. The thing is – you´re a great person no matter what!
Getting things perfect – another killer. Lots of people, me included – have been tought in school to be perfect. You need A´s or you´re out, and you´ll loose your job. Well, true when you have a job – but not true when you´re selling on your own or running a business. Lots of people tend to try to get their stuff perfect. Chances are that it will never be perfect. Part of that is due to fear of selling, I know – I`ve been there! You need to get it good enough as quickly as possible – and get it out on the market!
But then people will complain about it? So what, people will ALWAYS find something to complain about. So what – there are complainers out there. That´s what they do. Let them do their job, and you stick with yours. Did you see the first version of Windows? Was it the best possible operating system? No. Did it work? Yes, it was good enough to fill the needs of that time. And since then it has been updated several times. If Mircosoft waited until 2010 before releasing their first Windows version, they would not make it on the market.
That´s the route you want to go. Make your props good enough to be sold. Not perfect. Make your plug ins good enough to get sold. Not perfect. Time is valuable – and you will not stay ahead of the competition if you spend your time getting things perfect. Help people solve their problems – they don´t need a perfect tool. They need a tool that helps them NOW – not in a year from now.
I released the global illumination lighting package for DAZ Studio, Light Dome PRO back in November 2006. Version two in Dec 2008. That´s two years apart. The first version is not as good as the second. But it worked for the market at that time. It was good enough.
Don´t get me wrong – quality is good. You should aim high and create good quality stuff. But release your products before they reach a 10 out of 10. Get them out at 8/10. And then work on the update / upgrade. Eventually, you will get to a 10/10, but that way you will stay ahead of the game.
Why do I use DAZ Studio?
February 8, 2010
Well, that´s a good question! First of all, I like the software and the people behind it. Besides the great features, the superb user interface, Open GL preview and capability to display tons of large texture maps with ease – the thing I like is a challenge.
Here´s a music video, “Love” – I made in DAZ Studio for a contest. It got 1st prize and I´m very humble and happy about that!
I mean, sure – it´s fun to go wild in Lightwave and Vue. But what´s the challenge? I love doing complex stuff with a more simple 3D software. I love showing that things can be made. I love coming up with solutions to things that look impossible.
Anyway – 3D graphics is not about the software. It´s about how you use the software!
How to make the Starcruiser animation in Lightwave
February 8, 2010
This was one of the first animations I did when I got my hands on a 64 bit PC.
One of the things to understand when doing animations with large objects, is that they move slower. The bigger the mass, the slower the movements. Compare this to an elephant. And then take a look at a mouse. So, the first thing I wanted to do, was to get a really slow and steady movement for the ship.
The starfield is a simple noise map done in Photoshop and then reworked with contrast / brighntess a few times. An additional glow effect using gaussial blur gave it the final touch I was after.
Lighting wise, the sun is the hero in this one. I´ve got a sun light hitting the moon only to get the angle I wanted. Then another sun hitting just the ship. Then a few fill lights, underneath, from behind and from the front. And that´s it! No radiosity here, just fill lights filling in the blanks.
I wanted part of the scene to be dark. Almost pitch dark. So I kept the lighting sparse. I did this on purpose to create an effect of mystery when the ships heads for the moon. In the start, we see the ship brightly lit. And as the camera pans for the moon, we get a darker and darker ship – to create tention and that spooky effect. This also helps to not overpower the moon.
I spent a great deal of time doing audio editing on this one. I had several tracks with ship engines going on, with various pitches and slow mo effects in Vegas Pro 8. When I got the engines right, I felt the animation got alive. Finally, I just accented the full view of the rear of the ship with the music and this piece was done.
