NOTE: I am responsible for everything seen in the demo reel.

Deep Forest

This scene depicts a rotting tree stump tucked somewhere deep in a forest where only a few light rays are able to penetrate the dense foliage surrounding it. The tree stump and log were sculpted using Mudbox and textured in Photoshop and Bodypaint. The grass was done with the default 3ds Max hair using instanced geometry and shaded using a combination of shaders to simulate the semi-translucent grass blades. Particles were added to simulate dust in the air and also to create a sense of movement and interest in a relatively calm scene. This scene was lit using standard lights and with no Global Illumination and rendered in Mental Ray.

Software Used

3ds Max 9.0, Mental Ray, Mudbox 1.0, Bodypaint R3, Photoshop CS2

Beetle

This is a continuation of the previous scene where the camera focuses in on a rock with a beetle sitting on it. The beetle is a hi-res poly model that is completely rigged and animated in 3ds Max. The pincers and antennas were procedurally animated using a combination of noise controllers. The scene was rendered out as 2 layers, one being the background and the other being the beetle. The lighting setup was the same as the previous scene but an additional ambient occlusion pass was added to the beetle and the rock to further "plant" the beetle on the rock. The DOF effect was done in post using a Z-depth pass.

Software Used

3ds Max 9.0, Mental Ray, Mudbox 1.0, Bodypaint R3, Photoshop CS2

Lighthouse

This scene is rendered out entirely from 3ds Max with the exception of the light streaks from the sky. The ocean and clouds were done using Dreamscape with the plashes around the distant rocks added using hand painted alpha planes. The scene was lit with one directional light and used Global Illumination which was rendered out with Finalrender.

Software Used

3ds Max 9.0, Finalrender Stage-1, Dreamscape, Photoshop CS2

Monkey

Polygonal model created in 3ds Max with details added using Zbrush and Mudbox.

Software Used

3ds Max 9.0, Zbrush 3.0, Mudbox 1.0

Twitch

This model is based on the popular comic character Twitch from Sam & Twitch created by Todd McFarlane. This character is just oozing with style all the way from his hair to his shoes so I thought is would be nice to model something like that. The head was sculpted in Mudbox from a box primitive subdivided several times. The body and clothes were modeled in 3ds Max as a base-mesh and sculpted in Zbrush. The hair was done in 3ds Max using the standard Hair modifier with instanced geometry. The modeled was rendered in Zbrush 3.0 using real-time shadows.

Software Used

3ds Max 9.0, Mudbox 1.0, Zbrush 3.0

Sam

This model is based on the popular comic character Sam from Sam & Twitch created by Todd McFarlane. I did a head bust of Sam because he's so stylized that there's so much character in just his face alone. The head was sculpted from a box primitive and I redid the topology in Zbrush with final details finished in Zbrush. The shirt, tie, and cigarette were done in max as poly models. The hair was done in 3ds Max using the standard Hair modifier with instanced geometry. The modeled was rendered in Zbrush 3.0 using real-time shadows.

Software Used

3ds Max 9.0, Zbrush 3.0, Mudbox 1.0


updated: Saturday, June 9, 2007

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© Tom Tran 2007. All Rights Reserved.