How to add more 3D light without adding lights?
August 29, 2011
Whoa, what does that mean?
There are ways of intentionally illuminating your scene, without actually adding lights. And I’m not talking about “just” radiosity or selfglowing surfaces, I’m actually referring to a specific trick I often use to add extra lighting in conjuntion with radiosoity.
It’s very simple and fast to do and it will actually even save you rendering time! Professional photographers use this all the time…
I’ve made a short video here to demonstrate what I mean:
As always, I’d love to hear your comments and see if you got any inspiration from this video!
Keep rendering,
Waldemar
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How to save at least 50% 3D rendering time?
August 22, 2011
My 3D students often ask me how they can shorten their rendering time without cutting down on quality or rendering size.
Well, I’ve made a short video to demonstrate how you can immediately start using this technique and not only save tremendous amounts of rendering time, but also gain incredible control over your final results.
I’d love to hear you comments if you found this video useful, and if you’re using similar approaches in your own work!
Photo Real Lighting Live – WOW!
July 6, 2011
Ok, I’m seldom really impressed with stuff in our information overloaded 3D world, but THIS is just plain impressive.
You know Google has a free modelling software called SketchUp?
If not, you can find it here:
http://sketchup.google.com/
Anyway, that wasn’t what this post really is about. E-on, the geniouses behind Vue have done it again…
Sketchup now has live preview with light bouncing included… WOW!
It’s called LumenRT and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Very close to photo real.
Take a look at some stunning live renders here:
http://www.lumenrt.com/
Now, 3D lighting is even more exciting than before!
Keep doing what you love,
Waldemar
3D Light Headache? Become a Light Master!
May 20, 2011
Are you still using trial and error to light your images?
Through my training and coaching experience, I’ve come to know lots of artists, and I have to say that most of them are frustrated when it comes to lighting…
Why is lighting so difficult?
First of all, it’s not difficult. It’s just very complex and has many components.
I’ve actually discovered, that you don’t need to learn everything… That alone cuts down the frustration a lot…
Second, you only need to learn how and when to mix and match that knowledge…
So basically, you need to know WHAT to learn (what is important) and WHEN and WHY to use it…
Download my new free content packed ebook and discover the “5 hidden steps 2 stunning 3D lighting in any software”:
Keep moving and taking action, it’s what shapes your 3D anyway! 
/Waldemar
City Engine – Procedural Cities?
February 1, 2011
Oh yeah, I’ve been gazing at this software ever since it emerged a few years back… Creating large scale cities with a mouse click? Adjusting every single parameter live?
I mean, it that isn’t just wow – then I don’t know what is…
Now, this IS a very complex software. To get really good results, you need to dive into some “shape grammar” programming that defines your city blocks and streets. You can also export your cities to various formats, and easily integrate it with your pipeline.
Either way, I’m impressed.
Now, you can get it for under $500 and if you’ve got Vue – you can get a Vue version for under $300.
Head over to and take a look! Then have a 30 day demo, with the export function turned off.
How to speed-model, getting UV Mapping and Texturing right from the start
November 16, 2010
Modelling… There´s lot to be said about the subject.
However, what makes modelling less fun at times, is the time consuming UV Mapping and Texturing.
In this short video, I´ll show you how you can quickly use copy and paste to build a prop, and yet keep the UV mapping and texturing to follow you along the way…
What this video useful? Let´s hear your comments!
Keep tweaking…
5 steps to get your 3D REALLY going
August 11, 2010
It´s a wonderful morning here in Stockholm, still summer and nice weather. I felt like writing about REALLY getting you on the right track…
There are so many paths to take, so many things to learn – and all the knowledge may at times seem overwhelming. I know the feeling. And here´s how I tackle that:
1. Find your passion. Sounds easy, but yet again – there are many things to choose from. You know when you´re passionate about something, when you loose track of time and feel like a kid playing with a bunch of colored crayons for the first time.
If you still haven´t found what you´re passionate about, then go out there and test different things. Try modelling, doing different kind of renders, different approaches and various styles. Try changing the mood of an image, or using different characters / objects / props.
Maybe you like to merge pieces of a render into a final composite, or do animation. How about editing animation or even adding sound? Selling your art? Helping others?
Take a look at other artists… Often, when you feel envious of some other artists work, then that may be an indication that you want to go in that direction.
You will know when you find it…
2. Don´t get discouraged by all the fantastic artists out there… No matter how far you will make it, there will always be artists that are better than you, and artists that are less good than you. It´s just part of the reality.
Get inspired by them and don´t let them ruin your own journey.
3. When you find something you like to do, stick with it. Improve your skills by taking small steps each day. Progress is made over a longer period of time. So again, this can´t be rushed into.
When you make progress, even the smallest step – make sure you reward yourself. Most artists are very hard on themselves. You can see that from the words they speak, and from the words they write.
4. The moment you feel down for some reason, stop doing what you do and break the pattern. Do something else. Maybe another project or simply something non 3D. The thing is, and I know this from my own experience – artists often push themselves over the edge. Real progress is not made by force… It should be fun!
5. Make sure that you´re surrounded with people that help you and push you to move forward. Developing your skills in 3D and moving forward, may at times seem impossible. That´s when you need to be around people that really care for you and that make you feel good.
Allright, that´s it! That´s the 5 steps to quickly get your 3D REALLY going forward.
Let me know what you think! If you like this post, don´t forget to share it with your friends… 
Thanks a bunch!
Vrooom… Getting your DAZ Studio car animation realistic…
July 14, 2010
In these two 10 min videos I´ll show you how you can quickly set up a “non-flexible” car model so that it can perform more accurate physical movements. Yes, I´m talking about the body moving as the car accelerates or turns heavily.
Most car models come with a solid body, with the wheels attatched and in most cases you can rotate them and spin them. And that´s it. Now, if you put a real world car into some serious motion, it will not look solid. The body will move and represent the g force that its subjected to.
This is hard to achieve in 3D, unless the car body is a separate object. If its not, then you can re-model it, and detatch the body. Or, you can view these two videos and get going right away…
So, buckle up and off we go!
Video video 1 of 2:
View video 2 of 2:
I hope you enjoyed these two videos… As always, let me know if you found them useful, and if so, don´t forget to tell your friends!
Thanks a bunch!
How to get rid of audio noise digitally
June 26, 2010
If you´re recording sound effects or speech, you´re aware of the number one high quality sound killer… Yes, we´re talking about noise.
Well, rule number one when it comes to recording sound is to avoid any noise and we all know that. But when you´re doing a quickie and you´re PC´s fan is screaming on the recording, then here´s how to get that fixed and still get away with “decent” sound quality…
This is a simple two step process, that you can do all for free. One of my excellent co-workers and friends, Steven Magyar, actually presented me with parts of this really great procedure a while ago – and I´ve been using it ever since.
Step 1
There´s an excellent and popular audio editing software from www.download.com. It´s called Audacity. Just go there, make a search for it and install it.
You can also click on this link to go to the page directly:
http://download.cnet.com/Audacity/3000-2170_4-10058117.html?tag=mncol
Install and run the software, then load your audio file.
Now, use the maginfying glass icons to zoom in a portion of your audio, where your noise is all you hear. Use the left mouse button to drag a selection and use the play icon to check the noise.
It´s important that you DO NOT hear anything else besides the noise…
Next, head over to the Effect menu at the top and select Noise Removal. When the window appears, select Get Noise Profile. Close the Noise Removal Window.
Now, deselect your selection, zoom out and make sure you either have nothing selected or that ALL of your audio is selected.
Go ahead and bring that Noise Removal back up again, and this time select the amount of noise you want to be removed and click on Remove Noise.
Be careful not to remove too much of it, since that will then interfere with the audio quality. In case you removed too much, you can always use the Edit -> Undo function.
When you´re done, save the new audio as a new WAV file.
Step 2
Now that the noise is gone, we want to get a nice, even audio levels for your speech. If you´re doing sound effects, you can probably skip this step. But it won´t hurt to give it a go anyway…
Get the Levelator from the Conversations Network:
http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator
Run it, drag and drop your noise-less WAV file and let the software do its magic.
It will save a new audio file and add “-output” to the filename.
And that´s it!
Have fun with your audio recordings and let me know if this was helpful!
If it was, don´t hesitate to share this technique with your friends…
Thanks a bunch!
How to start making a Myst-alike game in 30 min
June 9, 2010
Some time ago, I talked about the Adventure Maker and how you can make Myst-alike games for free…
Well, today – I´m going to actually show you how that´s done – from creating the renders in Vue 8 Infinite, to stitching the 360 degree panoramas using the Image Combiner that comes with the Adventure Maker – to loading the final images and creating the actual nodes with hots spots that you can click on to move around in the game.
In less than 30 minutes! (Give an take some rendering time)
I´m using Vue, since it´s so easy to use for this purpose. I´m mean, Vue just rocks when it comes to… creating ROCKS!
You can use Bryce, Terragen, POV-ray and 3D Studio Max with the provided examples on the Adventure Maker website as well.
I´ve created some using Lightwave before, and I´ve heard that Poser can do the right renders without trouble.
I´ve actually had some issues with DAZ Studio, but there is a work around and I´ll post a note on that shortly.
So, ready to get started?
Awesome..!
Here´s the first video, that will walk you through the scene creation and rendering in Vue.
View video 1:
And here´s the second video, that will walk you through finalizing the rendering, then move on to the stitching and finally setting up the game nodes.
A node is simply a position in your game, where you can rotate 360 degrees and click on hot spots to get to other nodes – progress through the game…
View video 2:
Allrighty, I hope you had some serious fun!
As always, let me know what you think – and if you liked the videos, don´t forget to forward them to your friends.
Thanks a bunch and see you soon!
PS. I actually made a small mistake during the second video, while positioning the second hotspot. It´s supposed to be the opposite of the first one, but it ain´t…
