March 8th: International Women’s Day In honor of all the incredible women, everywhere in the world, we wish you a happy International Day of Women! Let’s have a special thought for those strong women who pioneer in male-dominated industries, and making way for other generations. In fact, the film and gaming industries are two such areas where there are still a majority of men. Can we collectively take some time to reflect on how we […]
Base Material Properties A 3D material is a collection of attributes that aim to simulate the visual ‘physical properties’ of real-world or imaginary objects. Each attribute determines how the light bounces off a surface for a specific method for reflecting light (diffuse, specular, reflection, sss). Any attribute can be colored, parametrized, textured or painted in 2D or 3D, inside or outside the shading software. Understanding how material attributes function are important for the texture artists […]
UV mapping UV mapping is the process of wrapping a 3D object with a 2D image over its surface. It is similar to the opposite actions of gift-wrapping a present or making garments in real life. Instead of taking a flat roll of cloth and making it a human-shaped piece of garment, you cut the 3D object on its seams to make it flat again. This process is required before texturing to preprepare 3D models […]
Check out our new section on the 3D industry of CGI animated films and visual effects to learn all about the 3D production process, the different career specialisations, the top schools, the best work locations and more…
The ‘Uncanny Valley’ The Uncanny Valley is a phenomenon in art that happens when trying to recreate a perfectly photo-realistic scene. It applies mostly to human faces, as it is based in how our brain are wired to recognize our own, but it can be translated to the ‘oddness’ felt in CG environments as well. The problem with photo-realism, although pleasant to see, is that it does not have any margin for error. On the […]
What is Hard Surface Modeling ? Hard surface modeling is one of two types of 3D modeling commonly found in the entertainment industry. In games, films and visual effects, there is a distinction between organic and hard surface modeling. This is because there is a need to represent both inert and living things, real or imaginary. In engineering and architecture, however, only hard surface models are created because they are inherently man-made and not alive. […]