Chapter 01 | Concept

Page 04 | Mike Hill

ChApter 02 | Modeling the Low-Poly Version

Page 10 | Djordjie Jovanovic

Chapter 03 | Modeling the High-Poly Version

Page 24 | Djordjie Jovanovic

Chapter 04 | Mapping and Unwrapping

Page 52 | Djordjie Jovanovic

Chapter 05 | Texturing
Page 60 | Djordjie Jovanovic

Chapter 01
concept

Celeritas

Chapter 01

Chapter 01 - Concept

Photoshop, meaning that if you have sketched it

can also be used together with our cropped

Software used: Photoshop

on paper it should be scanned in.

and adjusted designs. You can see all of these

techniques and how the can be used to create a

This article is designed to show the general

In these early stages there are a few techniques

workflow for developing ideas and designs for a

that can be very useful in Photoshop to help you

spaceship. In a normal commercial project the

to create interesting concepts that you may not

This is perhaps something that 3D artists may

contextual requirements would be the starting

have thought of. For example taking elements

be familiar with, as the same principle applies

points for the design. In this case I was given

from photos, and then cropping and reshaping

to 3D techniques. Many of you will take some

completely free reign, with no requirements

them, is a great way to obtain original and

basic geometry and play with modifiers such

other than make a cool space ship.

interesting features.

as Stretch, Taper, Bend, Twist and Spherize to

previously color of concept in Fig.02.

generate something original (Fig.03). It is the

With this in mind, I tried to just explore lots of

Another great way of exploring your concepts

different shapes and design options.

in Photoshop is by flipping the contents of

same principle in Photoshop.

the layers on their horizontal and vertical

Again you can do the same in 3D as you

I started by first going completely crazy with

orientations. Again this can sometimes open up

would in Photoshop. You can put some of the

thumbnail sketches (Fig.01). This stage

a fresh idea that you may not have intended.

geometry together into certain configurations,

can happen in a sketchbook or directly into

The Flip tool is one that is used regularly to

and you will find that all sorts of ideas can take

Photoshop, but in the end it always goes into

generate new and original concepts, but this

shape very quickly!

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Chapter 01

Chapter 01

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In Fig.03 you will see that by only using

cylinders and spheres you can generate ideas
such as these in a matter of minutes. With time
and experimentations, interesting shapes can
come about really quickly!
If you go back now to the thumbnails that
Ive been playing with in Photoshop we can
look at the designs and check to see if they
fulfil basic design requirements. Firstly, does
the design stand out as recognisable on
the very first viewing? This should be clear
even on the thumbnail. Is the design clear
and understandable, even from a distance?
Consistent forms: does the design have a
consistency in the language of the shapes... or
if it doesnt have consistency, does the contrast
of different shape language contribute to the
design, or make it look silly?
With these specifications in mind I found
designs 20, 25 and 27 the most interesting
visually! This is a very quick and easy process
that can be done in Photoshop without even
touching any 3D programs.
Karakter. In this instance I have utilized 3D. This

The thumbnail stage shows important design

We use several ways of approaching the next

is in order to show that it is not just 2D artists

elements and is a great way to create concepts

stages at the concept design studio I work for,

who can be involved with the design process.

quickly and is all in all a great starting point.

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Chapter 01

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Chapter 01

However it does have a downfall; it cannot show

a variety of angles. By doing a 3D mock up

providing a direction for development. 3DTotal

depth or volume! A few very rough 3D blockouts

version, it allows the designer to connect all the

have great texture and reference library which

of my favourite designs allowed me to see the

elements of the concept together into a cohesive

can be found at: http://freetextures.3dtotal.com.

potential of the 2D designs in 3D space (Fig.04).

design.

There are several reasons why this is a really

beneficial method of working.

The references are there to give ideas for

From the blockouts I felt that design 27 was

materials, construction methods, technology,

the most interesting visually. I took the basic

colors! All the little bits and pieces that will make

Firstly, the designer gets the opportunity to

Ambient Occlusion render and then focused

a design come together. These references can

understand the proportions from all angles.

on getting together a selection of reference.

be used in Photoshop at the concept stage, as

Sometimes a profile view can look great in

Collecting references is very important when

they can be cropped, warped and adjusted to

2D, but wont make sense when viewed from

getting a feel for the aesthetic of the design, and

help develop ideas.

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Chapter 01

Orthographic projections can then be taken

Then using a mixture of hand painting and photo

of the design to give the modeler a rough but

overlays I attempted to breathe a little life into

accurate base for a model (Fig.05)! This step

the design (Fig.06)! The concept is generally

allows the concept artist to guarantee that the

kept rough as good modelers can often bring

modeling stage will have solid foundations,

their own interpretations to a design, which are

which is very important as every concept artist

more informed when working with a developed

wants to see his concept developed to its full

model. At the end of this process you will have a

potential.

great base to work from (Fig.07)!

Mike Hill
For more from this artist visit:
http://www.karakterconcept.com/
Or contact:
mhill@karakterconcept.com

Chapter 02
modeling the low-poly version

Celeritas

Chapter 02

Chapter 02 - Modeling
the Low-Poly Version

Fig 01

Software used: 3ds Max

Lets start by setting up the blueprints inside 3ds
Max. Create a simple Plane (Fig.01).
Open the Material Editor by hitting the M key.
I use V-Ray as default renderer in 3ds Max so
my material slots are populated with standard
VRayMtl (Fig.02).
If youre using Scanline, mental ray or some

Fig 02

other renderer, just pick a Standard material and

add a blueprint image to the Diffuse slot. To do
this hit a blank gray square next to Diffuse and
select a Material/Map Browser > Bitmap. Then
browse the directory and select the desired
image. Now assign the material to your plane by
hitting the Assign Material to Selection button
(Fig.03).
Hit the Show Standard map in Viewport button
so that you can see the image in the viewport,
next click on the View Image button in the

Fig 03

Material Editor. A window with an image will pop

up. Right clicking on the image will show you
image details such as Width and Height. Enter
these values back into your plane parameters
so that proportion of the plane fits the proportion
of the image.
Repeat this process for all the other planes - in
our case five in total (Fig.04).
Arrange the planes so that they correspond to a
desired Orthographic viewport. Go to a viewport

Fig 04

and configure the options and check Default

Lights, 2 Lights and All Viewports. This way
you can be sure that you can see the planes
properly from all sides. You also may want to
add these planes to a separate layer so that you
can easily turn them on or off. To do that go to
Tools > Manage Layers > Create New Layer.
When you have the selected planes hit the +

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Chapter 02

Chapter 02
(Add Selected Objects to Highlighted Layer)
button and you can now easily hide or freeze

Fig 05

the planes.
NOTE: You also might want to make sure
that you can display textures at their highest
resolutions inside 3ds Maxs viewport. Go to
Customize > Preferences and choose Viewports
> Configure Driver and check Match Bitmap
Size as Closely as Possible.
On to modeling! The goal here is to make basic
shapes fit our blueprints (Fig.05).

Fig 06

We need to pay attention to the overall shapes

and proportion and once we have these right we
can move on to refining the shapes, and adding
all the details that will make a final product. Well
start by creating a plane. In the Parameters
(Command Panel > Modify) rollout set the
Length and Width segments for the plane to 1.
Than convert the plane to Editable Poly by right
clicking and choosing Convert to: > Convert to
Editable Poly from the quad menu.
Fig 07
NOTE: I cant stress enough the importance
of setting up and knowing your own keyboard
shortcuts. Doing so will increase your speed/
productivity and joy when modeling. You should
set up all the operations that you use a lot to a
custom shortcut, in ways that are logical to you
and that fit your needs. The easiest way to do
this is to just start modeling and as soon as you
find yourself doing the same operation a lot of
times by going through menus or panels set
it to a key. In time youll have all you need in
shortcuts and modeling will become joy.

Fig 08

Since this ship is very long and big in scale,

we will divide it into smaller parts to help with
manipulation (Fig.06).
Select the poly plane, go to Vertex sub-object
mode (by hitting 1 on a keyboard) and start
pulling the verts so that they fit our blueprints.
NOTE: You can use the Alt + X shortcut key

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Chapter 02
Fig 09

to toggle See-Through views of your selected

object. See-Through is very helpful because a
lot of the time you want to be able to see your
blueprints because the geometry that youre
working on is blocking the view.
Go to Edge sub-object mode (by hitting 2 on a
keyboard). Select an edge and hold down the
Shift key to use the Move tool to drag out a new
poly from that edge (Fig.07).
Go to Vertex sub-object mode and adjust the

Fig 10

position of the verts to fit our blueprints (Fig.08).

Dont forget to check Geometry Alignment in all
views.
NOTE: Since were making an imaginary object
you dont have to be too strict in following me.
Feel free to play around with the form and tweak
it the way you like it.
Go to Edge sub-object mode. Select one of
the longer edges and hit the Ring button in
the Ribbon or Command Panel (Fig.09). By

Fig 10a

doing this you will automatically select all the

edges parallel to the one you had selected.
I recommend assigning this operation to a
shortcut key because youll be using it a lot.
With edge ring selected click on the Connect
button (on the Ribbon) while holding down the
Shift key. This way youll get a floating caddy
with all the options for selected operations.
Set the segments to 1 and hit the OK button to
confirm.

Fig 11

Select the edges that we just created, hit the

Constrain to Edge button on the Ribbon and,
using the scale in X axis, straighten out these
edges to make a perfect straight line to match
the blueprints (Fig.10). When you activate
Constrain to Edge you can move sub-objects
along nearby edges. This is very handy when
you want to move a set of edges, for example,
without changing the shape of an object.
Since the ship that we are building is
symmetrical on one axis it is easier and more

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Chapter 02

Chapter 02
accurate to just build one half of it and mirror
the other (Fig.11 11a). To do that we need to

Fig 11a

have a pivot set to a point at the center of the

object (whole ship). Now there are a lot of ways
to manipulate the pivot in Max. The easiest way
to do this (in this situation) is to go to Command
> Hierarchy and push the Use Working Pivot
button. This will put the pivot to 0,0,0. Next, go
to Tool > Mirror (in the main menu) and select
Instance for the clone and desired axis (this
may vary from user to user). You now have the
mirrored object which is instanced meaning
that everything you do on the one object will be

Fig 12

automatically transferred to the second. Dont

forget to turn off the Use Working Pivot button.
Using these few techniques, continue to build
up the shape until you have something like this
(Fig.12).

You can use the Cut tool to add extra edges on

existing polygons by cutting them. Now, using

Fig 13

Cut, Connect, Extrude Edge, some deleting and

moving vertices, create a shape that looks like
this (Fig.13 13a).

Fig 13a

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Fig 14

Create a Tube primitive. Set the Height

Segments to 1 and Sides to 16. Using the
blueprint set the Radius and Height values until
they roughly fit. Convert the tube to Editable
Poly. Go to Polygon sub-object mode (by hitting
4 on a keyboard). Select one of the outer side
polygons and while holding down the Shift key,
select another one right next to it. This way
youll have the whole loop of polygons selected.
Delete the selected polygons (Fig.14 14b).

Fig 14a

Fig 14b

Fig 15

Now lets play a bit with this object. Using the

selection methods that I mentioned before and
the Extrude Edge command, build up the shape
like the one you see in the image (Fig.15
15b).

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Chapter 02

Chapter 02
Fig 15a

Fig 15b

Using the blueprints as a guide, create a base

Fig 16

shape for the wing (Fig.16 16a). You can

start with a Plane. Set the Length and Width
segments to 1. Using Extrude Edge, Connect,
some vertex moving and poly deleting, create a
shape like the one in the image. The easy way
to add some thickness to the wing is by using
the Shell modifier. With your wing selected go
to Command Panel > Modify and add a Shell
modifier from the Modifier List dropdown menu.
The Shell modifier solidifies or gives thickness
to an object by adding an extra set of faces,
and connects the inner and outer surfaces with

Fig 16a

a new loop of faces. Also you can play around

with the Inner/Outer Amount in the Parameters
rollout to achieve a desired thickness.

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Fig 17

Use the Working Pivot and Mirror commands to

create an Instance of the wing (Fig.17 17b).

Fig 17a

Fig 17b

Fig 18

Using the techniques that we covered so far,

create the bottom part of the ship (Fig.18
18b). Again, you dont have to follow me exactly.
The goal here is to get comfortable with the set
of tools weve covered so far and, of course, to
have fun!

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Chapter 02

Chapter 02
Fig 18a

Fig 18b

Create a Tube. Make its inner radius fit the

Fig 19

bottom part of the circular object we created

earlier (Fig.19 19a). Delete all the polygons
except those few that you see in the image.

Fig 19a

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Chapter 02

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Chapter 02
Fig 20

Select Edge Ring, as you see in the image, and

use Connect to add 10 more segments. Select
every second polygon loop and Extrude them a
bit (Fig.20 20b).

Fig 20a

Fig 20b

Fig 21

Create a plane with the Length and Width

Segments set to 2. Convert it to Poly. Turn on
the Snaps by hitting the S key on your keyboard.
Right click on the Snaps Toggle button in the
main toolbar. A window will appear showing all
the snap options. Make sure that only Vertex
is checked. Close the snap settings. Snaps will
help you when cutting the object (Fig.21 21a).

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Chapter 02

Chapter 02
Fig 21a

Now using the Cut tool (in Edge sub-object

mode) cut the plane like this (Fig.22 22a).

Fig 22

Turn off Snaps. Select the vertex in the center

of the object and Shift + click on the Chamfer
button on the Ribbon. Adjust the Vertex
Chamfer amount until you have something like
you see in the image. This is an easy way to
create a circular shape inside a rectangular
object.
NOTE: You can also use Chamfer on the edges.

Fig 22a

Select the round face in the middle and Extrude

it. Using Snaps and the Cut tool, create an

Fig 23

object like this (Fig.23 23a).

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Chapter 02
Fig 23a

Fig 24

Using the tools and techniques that we have

covered so farm create an object like the one on
the image (Fig.24 24b).

Fig 24a

Fig 24b

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Chapter 02

Chapter 02
Ok this is what we have for now. We created
a pretty basic shape that defines the overall

Fig 25

proportions and character of our ship. In the

next chapter well move on to refining these
shapes, making them much more complex and
adding a ton of extra details to make this ship
a really interesting peace of geometry (Fig.25a
25e).

Djordjie Jovanovic
For more from this artist visit:
http://djordjejovanovic.com/blog/

Fig 25a

Or contact:
djordjexyz@gmail.com

Fig 25b

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Chapter 02

Fig 25c

Fig 25d

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Chapter 02

Chapter 03
modeling the high-poly version

Celeritas

Chapter 03

Chapter 03 - Modeling
the High-Poly Version

Fig 01

Software used: 3ds Max

Before we continue building our ship we need to
familiarize ourselves with smoothing geometry
in 3ds Max.
Smoothing lets you subdivide the geometry
while interpolating the angles of new faces at
corners and edges.
The effect of smoothing is to round over corners

Fig 01a

and edges as if they had been filed or planed

smooth. You can smooth geometry in your
scene by means of several different methods:
NURMS Subdivision (Command >
Subdivision Surface)
MeshSmooth modifier
TurboSmooth modifier
In our example we have a simple object made
out of three polygons. The polygons are at 90
degree angles to each other (Fig.01).

Fig 01b

When we apply NURMS Subdivision the

geometry gets interpolated, meaning that every
polygon is divided by two on the width and
height, resulting in four polygons where there
was only one before.
So in our case we now have geometry with 12
polygons, which now have smoother angles
(Fig.1a). If you do this twice youll get 48
polygons and even smoother geometry (Fig.1b).

Fig 02

Now if you want to smooth your geometry but

also want to maintain some harder angles, you
just need to add more resolution, or edges, at
the corners you wish to remain sharp.
Using the Connect tool well add an extra edge
to our geometry and slide it near the corner
(Fig.02 02b).

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Chapter 03

Chapter 03
Now when you apply Smoothing youll see
the difference. The sharpness of the angles

Fig 02a

depends on how close the edge is to the corner

(Fig.02c).
In general while modeling I like to use NURMS
Subdivisions, because I have it assigned to
a hotkey which allows me to switch between
smoothed and unsmoothed geometry very
quickly.
However when I move to rendering, I like to
assign the TurboSmooth modifier to all the

Fig 02b

geometry that needs smoothing. TurboSmooth

is considerably faster and more memoryefficient than other smoothing methods.
Understanding how smoothing works is one of
the essential skills for modeling, so I strongly
recommend playing a bit with geometry and
smoothing it until you grasp how the whole
concept works.
Lets continue where we left off in the previous
chapter. Since modeling is not a linear process,

Fig 02c

but more of a trial and error and experimental

process, I cant take you through a detailed
step-by-step in this chapter.
So Im going to show you every single piece of
the ship and explain to you how I got there.
As I mentioned in the previous chapter, you
dont have to be too exact when following me.
Well start with the nose of the ship.
First of all I refined the profile shape by tilting

Fig 03

the nose slightly downwards, re-adjusting the air

intake, and making it a lot bigger (Fig.03 03a).

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Chapter 03
Fig 03a-b

I then built the interior of the intake (Fig.03b).

All of this was built using edge extrusions, and
some connecting, deleting and repositioning of
vertices. Play a bit with the shape until youre
satisfied with what youve got.

Fig 04

We now move on to adding some details. First, I

made some indentations to the front and simply
added extra edges for horizontal lines using
the Connect tool. Then, using the SwiftLoop
tool, I added some extra loops to define the
side edges for the indentations. (SwiftLoop is
a fast way of adding edge loops to geometry.)
Next I selected the polygons I wanted to indent
and extruded those inwards. I added an extra,
smaller intake inside the main one using the
same methods. Using the Inset tool, I defined
the outline for the indentations on the side of the

Fig 04a

nose. Then I simply extruded the polys inward.

Using the SwiftLoop, Extrude and Chamfer tools
you can add some extra details to the tip of the
nose (Fig.04 04f).

Fig 04b-c

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Chapter 03

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Fig 04d-e

Fig 04f

Using SwiftLoop, Extruding, Cutting and some

Fig 05

moving, I added some extra details to the

bottom part of the nose. Bear in mind that you
can speed up the process by working on one
half of the geometry and then just Mirroring the
other half. For the end of the nose section you
can add a few modified primitives as an extra
detail (Fig.05 05e).
NOTE: By now you should start checking what
your geometry looks like when smoothed. So
try it out whenever you make some changes to
the shapes. Also start adding extra loops where

Fig 05a-b

needed to make your geometry nice and sharp.

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Fig 05c

Fig 05d-e

Lets move to the mid-section. Compared to

Fig 06

the part we made earlier, I made a change to

the profile of this part. Also I made big side
indentations so that our shape fits the concept.
Using all the standard tools covered so far,
I added some details to the front part of this
section to follow up on our concept.
You might want to add some details to the
bottom part as well. The first two parts should
look something like this (Fig.06 06h).

Fig 06a-b

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Chapter 03

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Compared to our low poly part I decided to cut
our next piece and make it much smaller and

Fig 06c-d

easier to manage.
I also split the top and bottom apart for easier
management and manipulation.

Fig 06e-f

Fig 06g-h

You can separate the desired pieces of

geometry by selecting the polygons you wish to

Fig 07-07a

separate and hitting the Detach button (in the

Command panel or the ribbon) (Fig.07 07b).
First I made a recess for the top part by simply
extruding some edges and Welding a few
vertices together. The Weld tool combines
selected vertices. Youll be using this tool a
lot. On the top part of the piece I added some
details using SwiftLoop, Extrude and Chamfer.

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Fig 07b

Using the same methods I added details to the

side as well (Fig.07 07f).

Fig 07c

Fig 07d-e

Fig 07f

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To the bottom part of this mid-section piece I
added some details similar to the ones on the

Fig 08

bottom of the nose (Fig.08 08a).

Fig 08a

So far you should have something like this

Fig 08b-c

(Fig.08b 08c).

Now lets move on to adding some extra pieces

to the mid-section (Fig.08d 08f).

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Fig 08d-e

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Fig 08f

Fig 09-09a

Following our concept, the pieces should look

similar to this (Fig.09 09a). The back parts
are simple cylinders. You can play a bit with
extruding and scaling until you get the shape
you want (Fig.09b).

The mid-section of this piece was a bit more

Fig 09b

complicated. I started with a 22-sided cylinder.

Then I deleted all the sides except one leaving
me with only one polygon, which had a pivot
at the center of the original cylinder. Using the
Shell modifier I added some thickness and then
deleted the back (or inside) polygon. You can
add some extra details if you like. Then I added
some holes.
When youre satisfied with the section, you can
use the Array tool to revolve the section and

Fig 09c

get a cylinder made out of 22 identical sections.

You can find the Array tool by going to Tools
> Array. With this tool you can create an array
of objects based on the current selection. You
can create one-, two-, and three-dimensional
arrays. Bear in mind that when creating a
circular array, the position of the pivot is crucial
because the objects will be translated around
that point. You should take some time to explore
this tool because it can be quite handy in lots of
situations (Fig.09c 09d).

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Fig 09d

The curved pipes can be created quite easily

in 3ds Max. You can start by creating a simple

Fig 10

Spline (Fig.10).

Next go to Command > Create tab > Shapes

and select Line. Draw the desired shape.

Fig 10a-b

Under the Rendering rollout, in the Command

panel, check Enable In Renderer and Enable
In Viewport. Immediately youll get geometry
created out of your spline. You can use the
Thickness and Sides settings to further define
the look of your shape.
The great thing about using splines to create
shapes is that you can now go back and refine
the whole shape by refining the spline. Select a
spline, go to spline sub-object level 1 by hitting
the 1 on your keyboard, select the angle points

Fig 10c

and change the Filet value in the Geometry

rollout. When youre happy with the look of
your pipe you can use the Array tool again to
revolve it and you should get something like this
(Fig.10a 10d).

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Fig 10d

The front cylindrical part should be quite easy

Fig 10e-f

for you to create by now. The same applies for

the rest of the mid-section details (Fig.10e
10h).

Fig 10g-h

Fig 11

Move along towards the back of the ship.

The next section is similar to the previous one.
The top and bottom parts are separate pieces
of geometry with some detailing done on both
parts.
For the wavy tubes I used a spline to make a
basic shape. Then I selected every other poly
loop and just extruded a bit (Fig.11 11f).

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Fig 11a

Fig 11b-c

Fig 11d

Fig 11e-f

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Fig 12-12a

And this is what we have so far (Fig12 12a).

The next section is a bit more complex, but is
built using all of the standard techniques weve
covered so far.

Fig 12b

You can see the main features of the shape

from the top view. Its a long rectangular form
with big hole in the middle and small wing-like
shapes at the back. There are some details on
the root of the wings and on the bottom part in
general. The hole in this section has a purpose,
which is to show some parts inside the ship.
Thats what we are building next (Fig.12b
12e).

Fig 12c

Fig 12d-e

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The inside section is composed out of several
geometry pieces. The main part is a big, central,

Fig 13-13a

cylindrical shape around which everything else

is build. Basically its just a cylinder with some
details in it to make the form more interesting
(Fig.13 13c).

Fig 13b

Fig 13c

Next I added some more piping using splines

(Fig.13d 13e).

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Fig 13d-e

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Fig 13f

Fig 13g-h

Then I added some exhaust pipes at the back

end of the section (Fig.13f).

And finally some more pipes, a support structure

(built using the Array tool) and cooling units.
This whole system was then placed around the
main big pipe (Fig.13g 13j).

Fig 13i-j

Fig 13k-l

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Combined with the previous section, you should

have something like this (Fig.13k 13l).

Chapter 03

Chapter 03
To follow up on our concept we need to add
some details to the side of the ship, just above

Fig 14

the previous section (Fig.14). You can see

that there are some basic box shapes there,
representing some sort of panels. Most of
them were made out of simple planes. Some
thickness was added using the Shell modifier
and some further details were added at the end.
Also I decided not to use smoothing on these
parts, so I just chamfered some edges to avoid
artificially sharp lines (Fig.14a 14c).
Fig 14a

Fig 14b

Fig 14c

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Fig 14d

Of course we need some more pipes. And one

more big pipe at the back, accompanied by
some cables. Cables are built using splines
just like before, except in this case youll have
to play a bit more with them in order to get the
shape and flow to look natural (Fig.14d 14f).

Fig 14e

Fig 14f

Fig 15

The wings and top back segments of the ship

are pretty simple pieces. After making the main
shapes I just added a Shell modifier and added
some details on top of that (Fig.15 15b).

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Chapter 03

Chapter 03
Now on to some details around the engine.
These parts were not drawn in the original

Fig 15a-b

concept, but I decided to add some details to

this part of the ship as well.
First I added some pipes. The basic shape was
made with splines. At the end of the pipes I
added some joints that will later be connected to
some other engine parts.
You can easily create a shape like this just by
adding an extra primitive, then doing some
cutting and bridging.

Fig 16-16a

The Bridge tool connects pairs of polygons by

adding extra geometry in between.
I then created some more geometry to fit in
between pipes, and some extra, exhaust-like
details at the end (Fig.16 16f).

Fig 16b-c

Fig 16d

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Fig 16e-f

Fig 16g

As the last part of the section, I added one more

support structure and connected it to the pipes
(Fig.16g 16h).

Fig 16h

Fig 17

The engine part is made out of several

different components, which are pretty simple
when broken down (Fig.17 17b).

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Fig 17a-b

Lets start from the inside out. This is the shape

as we left it in a previous chapter (Fig.17c).

Fig 17c

First I built some simple support structures for

the bottom part of the engine, like the one in

Fig 17d-e

the concept art. Then, using splines, I made

some cables and carefully placed them to
avoid interpenetrations. Just below the cables I
made some wires and extra details, which were
than duplicated in a circle using the Array tool
(Fig.17d 17h).

Fig 17f

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Fig 17g

Fig 17h

On the top part theres a simple repetitive piece

Fig 17i

of geometry. You can make a single piece and

duplicate it using the Array tool (Fig.17i).

Fig 17j-k

The top of the engine was a bit simple to me, so

I added this nozzle-like structure and connected
it to the pipes we created before (Fig.17j 17k).

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Chapter 03

Chapter 03
Next you can add some exhaust pipes to the
side, even though they are not on our concept

Fig 18

art. Ive connected the exhausts with a piece

of geometry that goes around the engine, just
to block the view so that we cant see inside
the ship. At the bottom of the engine I made a
massive ring that goes around it and extends a
bit towards the back. In the back part you can
add a ring-like shape to close the engine
(Fig.18 18e).

Fig 18a

Fig 18b

Fig 18c

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Chapter 03
Fig 18d

Fig 18e

And finally you can add a few more details, like

Fig 18f

I did with some pipes at the back, some artificial

structures at the bottom and some smaller
exhausts and cables just above the main
exhaust (Fig.18f 18i).

Fig 18g

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Fig 18h

Fig 18i

We only have few pieces left now. First there

are small wings that go from the bottom of the

Fig 19

engine towards the back. Each wing is made out

of three almost identical shapes, connected in a
few places (Fig.19 19c).

Fig 19a

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Fig 19b

Fig 19c

Fig 19d

At the bottom theres the element we have

already used on the nose of the ship (Fig.19d).

Fig 19e

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Finally we need to add some structures to the

side of the engine (Fig.19e 19f).

Chapter 03

Chapter 03
Fig 19f

For the end I added some more details below

Fig 19g

the wings (Fig.19g). For me this was enough for

the modeling part. You can of course go further
and play with the overall shape, change the
design of certain parts or add more details to the
ship if you wish.

So at the end you should have something like

this (Fig.20 20b). In the next chapter well

Fig 20

move on to unwrapping the whole thing and

preparing it for texturing.
I hope you managed to learn something from
this chapter. Remember that experimenting
and having fun while learning new tools and
techniques is the key to success.

Djordjie Jovanovic

Fig 20a

For more from this artist visit:

http://djordjejovanovic.com/
Or contact:
o6412o2o2o@gmail.com

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Chapter 03

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Fig 20b

Fig 20b

Chapter 04
mapping and unwrapping

Celeritas

Chapter 04

Chapter 04 - Mapping
and Unwrapping

Fig 01

Software used: 3ds Max

There are, of course, a lot of ways that you
can unwrap your model. You can do it in Max
using its standard tools or you can use some
of the third party plugins for Max. You can
even use some of the standalone unwrapping
applications. Ive never liked the unwrapping
tools in Max (and I cant even remember the
reasons anymore) so I found a great alternative.
Theres a small app called simply, UVLayout,
and its made by Headus Pty Ltd.
Anyway, since your geometry is certainly
different from mine it wouldnt make much sense
to show you how I tackled every single piece of
that geometry. So what Ill do instead is to show
you how to use some basic UVLayout tools
and the general workflow I use for unwrapping.
Also bear in mind that UVLayout is much more
than meets the eye. Explaining the whole app
would take a lot of time and pages of text, so
I encourage you to go to: http://www.uvlayout.

Fig 02

com/, look under the video section, and take the

time to go through all of it. Youll find all the tools
there and the options explained in-depth, for
both beginners and advanced users too.
First you need to decide how many maps you
want to have for your model. You need to take
into consideration the size of the model, material
properties and level of detail you want for your
maps. If you dont need too much detail, you can
use one map for the model. I usually like to split
up the pieces of the model into several different
maps as this allows me to have more resolution
and details. Also splitting the model will increase
performance while unwrapping.
The next steps are quite straightforward. You
need to export the geometry as an OBJ file,
import it into UV layout and unwrap and save it.
Then simply import it back into 3ds Max.

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Chapter 04

Chapter 04
NOTE: Sometimes you dont have to unwrap
the whole model. You can simply put the UVW

Fig 03

Mapping modifier onto your geometry inside

3ds Max and use some of the predefined
mapping types that this modifier offers. However
mapping objects rich in detail in this way can
have some serious drawbacks later on in the
process, so I tend to avoid this whenever I can.
Unwrapping complete geometry in UVLayout
gives you ultimate control over your UVs so
thats why I prefer the method of unwrapping
everything manually instead of using Maxs
UVW modifier.
We can start by selecting the front part of
the ship. Then go to File > Export > Export
Selected. Choose a destination for the file and
from the Save As Type drop down, choose
OBJ and save. An OBJ Export Options window
will pop up. Here you can uncheck Flip YZ-axis,
Export Materials and Create Mat-Library. Set
Faces to Polygons and set the Scale to 1.0.
Then export (Fig.01).
Start UVLayout. Navigate through your HDD to

Fig 04

find the exported OBJ and then load it in. Select

the file and in Load Options select Type > Poly
and UVs > New and load it (Fig.02).
An OBJ will load into UVLayouts Edit view. You
can hit the Display button to see more display
and view options. Edit view is like a viewport
in any other 3D app. You can pan, zoom and
rotate your model and this is where all the
cutting is going to happen (Fig.03).
You can use the Home key to zoom in on an
edge that is pointed at by the mouse cursor. It
also becomes the center of rotation so you can
easily rotate around it. To mark an edge for
cutting you just put a mouse cursor over it and
hit C on your keyboard. Youll notice that a
number of edges have turned yellow, indicating
that those are the edges marked for cutting. If
you want to unmark (de-select) the edge, you
can use the W or Backspace key. When youre
happy with the selection just press Enter to

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Chapter 04
Fig 05

detach selected parts of the mesh. You can

use the middle-mouse button and the spacebar
to move around detached parts of the mesh in
Edit view. Now repeat the same process until
you have cut the whole front part of the ship into
several satisfying pieces (Fig.04).
In order to flatten out our pieces of mesh we
need to drop them into the UV view. To do that
just put your mouse cursor over a mesh and hit
the D key on your keyboard. The mesh will
disappear from the Edit view. You can repeat
the process for all the other pieces or simply hit
the D key, and click and drag to select all the
mesh pieces with the Marquee tool. They will
then all be dropped into the UV view. Now to
change your view from Edit to UV just hit 1 on
your keyboard (Fig.05).
If you are not satisfied with the way some pieces
look you can drop them back into the Edit view
by holding the cursor over them and hitting Shift
+ D. In this case the mesh will also disappear
from the UV View. To go back to Edit view just

Fig 06

hit the 2 key.

Now its time for flattening. To move individual
UV shells around the UV view you can use the
middle mouse button and spacebar. To start
flattening, put the mouse cursor over a piece of
the UV shell and press and hold the F key on
your keyboard. Now, whilst holding the F key,
down youll notice that the flattening process is
going on and that your polygons are changing
position, shape and color (Fig.06).

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Color changes are a sort of diagnostic tool that
is telling you how much stretching is going on.

Fig 06a

Basically shades of blue are telling you that

those UVs are compressed in comparison to the
actual geometry, and shades of red are telling
you that those UVs are stretched. The more
saturated shade means that the stretching/
compressing is bigger and more desaturated,
almost white shades mean that theres a very
small amount of stretching/compressing going
on. So from this you can tell that we want to
have as many white UVs as possible. Beside
the flattening process that I just mentioned
theres another one in UVLayout. To try that out
put a mouse cursor over a shell and hit Shift
+ F. This time UVLayout has created an oval
boundary from our objects and is using it to
stretch all the polys inside so that it can easier
proceed with the flattening (Fig.06a).
This process takes 60 second unless you
interrupt it by hitting the spacebar. After 60
seconds the flattening starts and this also lasts
60 seconds unless you interrupt it. You can use
one or the other method of flattening depending

Fig 07

on how dense and complicated your meshes

are. In general if you have simple planar-like
meshes you can just use the F key method. If
you have more complex stuff then Shift + F is
the way to go. But experimenting with both will
help you understand which method to use.
A lot of the time youll be working with
symmetrical models. UVLayout has a way of
dealing with symmetrical geometry that allows
you to work on only one side while the other
side is reflected. This way you dont have to do
the same work twice. To activate Symmetry you
need to be in Edit view. You need to activate
Symmetry first. Do all of your mesh cutting
and then proceed with flattening. To activate
symmetry you need to click the Find blue button,
right next to where it says Symmetry, under the
Edit tab (Fig.07).

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Fig 08

Once you click it, Symmetry mode is activated

and is waiting for you to tell it where the dividing
line is going to be. The line is a sort of axis
along which the symmetry is going to take place.
You should now find one edge that is at the
center of your object and click it. UVLayout will
then extend that line over the whole object and
shade one part of it in white and another in gray.
This means that the symmetry is successfully
found and that your model is completely
symmetrical. You can now drop your mesh into
UV view for flattening.
Theres another great tool in UVLayout that can
help you to speed up the process. Its called
Segment. The Segment tool is designed for
automatic cutting and flattening of a single or
multiple geometry pieces. The Segment tool is
designed for hard surface geometry and works
best in situations where you have a lot of pieces
of geometry that are not very complex.
Some of the geometry that is in the back part
of the ship (which is very detailed) is ideal

Fig 08a

for this tool. In this case we dont need to go

through cutting and flattening at all. All we need
to do is mark the pieces that we want and the
Segment tool will do the rest. To mark a piece
of geometry just put a mouse cursor over it and
hit the G key twice. G is the command for
marking individual polys in Edit view, but when
you hit it twice it will automatically select the
whole piece of geometry. You can select several
pieces this way and when youre happy with the
selection just hit Segment Marked Polys under
the Segment tab (Fig.08).
UVLayout will now cut and flatten selected
geometry. Go to the UV view to inspect the
results (Fig.08a). As you can see, Segment is a
really great tool that saves us a lot of time and
effort. As you probably noticed there are some
options under the Segment tab, but I leave it up
to you to explore these.
After youve finished flattening of all the pieces
that youve imported into UVLayout youll notice

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that the UV space is in a mess with all the shells
chaotically thrown around. An easy fix for that

Fig 09

is to hit the ] key on your keyboard. This is a

basic pack command which will automatically
fill the UV space from 0 to 1, arranging all the
shells inside the box in the best way for space
utilization, leaving very little or no free space
(Fig.09).
We can go even further when organizing UVs
by using the Pack tool. The Pack tool is a great
way to manage our UV space. Its different from
the simple pack command because it introduces
boxes which give us more management control.
With boxes you can group several shells by
enclosing them into a separate box and then
applying the pack command inside it. To test
this out select several shells, preferably ones
that are part of the same piece of geometry,
and then hit the red New Box button under
the Pack tab. This will create a box around the
selected shells. Now put your mouse cursor
inside that box and hit the ] button to tightly
pack the shells that are inside. You can use this
method several times to organize the UV space

Fig 09a

as you see fit (Fig.09a). By organizing UV space

using Pack you can make your job a lot easier
when it comes to texturing.

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Fig 10

Once youre satisfied with the way your UV

space looks you might want to render it out. Go
to Render Tab > Save and tab youll get a pop
up window called iview with the linear layout
of your UVs. You can use this image later when
painting textures for easier navigation (Fig.10).
Finally you can save your geometry with
its newly created UVs by hitting the Save
button at the top of the UI. Select the desired
destination directory, enter the file name and
then save again. And youre done! The one
thing you should pay attention to when importing
geometry back into 3ds Max is the Texture
Coordinates check box in the OBJ Import
Options dialog box. You want to make sure that
this is checked on.

Finally after going through the whole model

Fig 11

I ended up with several UV maps ready for

painting (Fig.11). Based on your early decision
on how to split your model you may end up
with only one map or tens of them. Its easier
to manage only one map, but it might be a bit
difficult (performance-wise) to import a whole
model into a UVLayout and effectively work
there. Thats why I ended up with several maps
at the end.

Djordjie Jovanovic
For more from this artist visit:
http://djordjejovanovic.com/
Or contact:
o6412o2o2o@gmail.com

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Chapter 05
texturing

Celeritas

Chapter 05

Chapter 05 - Texturing

Fig 01

Software used: 3ds Max

Usually I like to start the texturing process by
baking out the Ambient Occlusion (AO) for all
the pieces of geometry. I then use that AO map
as a guide for laying out Diffuse layers and
later on for Dirt and Rust layers as well. Since
Im using V-Ray for this piece we need to start
by setting up V-Ray as our current renderer in
Render Setup. Next, in the V-Ray tab, (also in
Render Setup) under Global Switches we need
to disable Lights and Default Light (Fig.01).
Then we need to create a V-Ray material and
set the diffuse color to pure white. You can
then apply that material to the whole ship or
simply drag and drop it to the material override
slot under the V-Ray Global Switches. Then
we need to enable GI. In the Render Setup
(under the Indirect Illumination tab) turn on the
GI. Usually I tend to avoid the approximation
methods for calculating GI. So we need to set
the primary and secondary bounce engines to
Brute Force. We can leave the default values for

Fig 02

Subdivisions (Fig.02).
To open the Render to Texture dialog just hit 0
on your keyboard. Select your first piece of
geometry and under the Output rollout click on
the Add button. Select VrayCompleteMap from
the list. You can specify the destination path for
automatic file saving under the File Name and
Type option box. Make sure to set the desired
Width and Height resolution for your map. In this
case Ill go with 4096 x 4096 pixels (Fig.03).

Fig 03

Hit Render (in the Render to Texture dialog,

not in Render Setup) and youre done (dont
forget to save your map manually if you didnt
set up the automatic file saving path). Repeat
the process for the other geometry pieces.
Once we have all our AO maps rendered out
its time to move on to texture painting. We can
start by opening the first AO map in Photoshop.

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Hit Ctrl + J to create a layer copy of the map.
Fill the background layer with a light gray color,

Fig 04

which is going to be our diffuse base. Then

select the previously duplicated layer and set
blending mode to Multiply. The AO map will then
be multiplied on top of the base color (Fig.04).
Now we should add some base paint variation/
surface irregularities in order to achieve a
weathered look for our ship. I have a personal
archive consisting of thousands of all kinds
of images (gathered from a bunch of different
sources including www.3dtotal.com) that I use

Fig 05

for texturing. For a first layer of paint variation I

used maps. You can use whatever you like as
long as it has similar surface properties.
I opened up those images in Photoshop and
dragged (simple drag and drop with the Move
tool) those over to a file (with base and AO) that
we started to work on earlier. Ive set these new
layers to Multiply blending mode, as well and put
them below the AO layer. Using the Move tool
you can put them in the exact location that you
want. You can also duplicate those layers until

Fig 06

you cover all the surfaces that you want. Also

you can use the Erase tool to delete bounding
edges from these layers (Fig.05 06).
You can play with the Levels or some other
Adjustments tools to tweak the look to your own
liking. You should now repeat the process to
cover all the parts of the ship. Also it would be a
good idea to have some light rig setup back in
Max so that you can occasionally test out how
the textures look when rendered.

Fig 07

When youre done playing with the basic paint

variation its time to move on to adding some
dirt and rust. The process is the same as we
have done with the paint. You should find some
interesting images of rusted or dirty metal. When
dealing with rust I like to organize things based
on scale so I usually have small scale, mid-scale
and large scale rust. I like to start with the large
scale first, by placing all the biggest rust parts
on the surface, using the AO map as a guide

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Fig 08

and also checking back in 3ds Max and doing

quick test renders.Next I make sure to put some
rust and leaks in corners or on to places where
two surfaces meet. On top of that I also added
some mid-scale rust (Fig.07).
When satisfied with what you have you should
also add some small scale rust or scratches
all over the ship for an extra level of realism. I
should maybe point out here that you should
really experiment with as many maps as
possible play around with placement, scale,
different blending modes and opacities, and
dont be afraid to use the Erase tool or Clone
Stamp tool to tweak the maps to your own liking.
Generally I like to add dirt layers when Im
satisfied with the rust. The process is exactly the
same as before. So after a few hour of playing
this is what I had (Fig.08).

Fig 09

Notice that I also placed some typography

between the rust and dirt layers and I also
damaged it a bit using the Erase tool. You
can add typography by using the Photoshop
Type tool. But in order to do some damage
effects on it you need to convert the type to a
standard bitmap by going to Layer > Rasterize
> Type. You can also use some custom or
free Photoshop brushes in order to achieve a
realistic damage.

Fig 10

You should cover the whole (or at least the

visible parts) of the ship using these techniques
(Fig.09 12).

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Now we also need to add some Reflection and
Bump maps as well. Reflection maps will add

Fig 11

an extra level of realism to the look of the ship

by making the surface less or more reflective
in certain spots. The Reflection map works in
a way that brighter parts of the map are more
reflective when rendered and darker parts are
less reflective. Black means no reflection at all;
white is a complete chrome-like reflection.
The easiest (though certainly not the best) way
to do this is to make a copy of the Diffuse map,
convert it to a grayscale image and put it in the

Fig 12

Reflection slot of a VrayMtl (Fig.13).

The Reflection map doesnt have to be
grayscale image; it can be color as well but bear
in mind that the color/saturation of the map will
greatly influence reflections. I recommend going
with grayscale as a starting point, doing a quick
test render and then tweaking the opacities and
saturations of certain layers from there until you
get the satisfying look.
Fig 13
Bump maps work similar to reflection.
Darker parts of the map will create recesses
on the surface and the lighter parts will create
bulges. Now, based on what you want to create
you can approach bump mapping from several
different direction. I like to start from a Diffuse
map (like with reflection), convert it to grayscale
and tweak it from there. Now since I planned to
do a final shot of the ship with a wide lens that is
placed far away from the ship, doing tiny bump
details didnt make much sense. However I did
use Bump maps to create some extra panels
on the surface of the ship. Using the Line tool
I drew a bunch of tiny panels and placed them
in a few places on the ship (Fig.14). Basically
thats the only reason I used bumps on this
project to add extra panels.
Once you have your bump ready you should
plug it into a bump slot in your VrayMtl (Fig.15).
Dont forget to play around with opacity values
for all three maps that we used.

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Fig 14

At the end I should maybe point out few things.

First of all you should start your texturing
process by collecting as many reference images
as possible. By reference I mean anything that
is a similar material type as the one you are
texturing. Once you have a decent reference
library you should analyze it in order to identify
all the visual details that you can later on
recreate in your own work. Generally a good
way to categorize details is to divide them
by size, damage type, scale of the surface
deviation etc. So damage types, for example,

Fig 15

could be water damage, rust, damage from

scratching, friction or collisions etc. A good
example for different deviation scales of the
surface is a rock or a mountain, which has a
hierarchy of surface deviations. Identifying
and categorizing these visual details will
greatly help you latter on it the process. Also I
recommend creating a light rig prior to texturing
and constantly doing test renders. Different light
conditions can have a profound impact on your
textures especially on your Reflection maps.
And finally you should think seriously about
creating your own archive for maps and
references.

Djordjie Jovanovic
For more from this artist visit:
http://djordjejovanovic.com/
Or contact:
o6412o2o2o@gmail.com

www.3dtotal.com

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Chapter 05

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The aim of this 198 page eBook is to provide both an efficient and methodical approach to creating characters
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The aim of this eBook is to show and explain how you might tackle rigging your 3D character for animation. The
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professional environment. The artists will be reflecting on working in the industry as well as talking us through
their individual approaches to creating the best rigs possible.
Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platform: 3dsmax and Maya | Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF

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This e-book provides a detailed account of building, texturing and lighting the interior of a Gothic Church based
upon a concept painting. The ebook is available in five different platforms. Chapter two however is dedicated to
creating a gargoyle in Zbrush the focal point in our scene. Here the author will start by creating a rough body
form using ZSpheres and move through the numerous sculpting phases and modeling the details for each part
of the character, highlighting the various brushes and tools used throughout.
Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platforms: 3ds max, Cinema 4d, LightWave, Maya and Modo.
Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF | Pages: 47+

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Manimal is a Zbrush tutorial series divided into six parts, covering nearly 70 pages and addressing the process
of transforming a generic base mesh into an original creature design. The notion behind the series assumes
the task of genetically splicing a human being with a different animal class and sculpting the resultant character.
Each of the tutorials adopts a different animal class as its theme and walks through the stages of developing
a concept and sculpting the overall proportions through to the individual features and particular anatomical
mutations.
Original Author: 3DTotal.com Ltd | Platform: ZBrush | Format: DOWNLOAD ONLY PDF | Pages: 067