Making of Carnivorous Plant
by Leandre Hounnake, France Portfolio: leandrehounnake.cgarena.com
Texturing a complex model without worrying
about UV unwrapping greatly facilitates the process of creating and
saves a lot of time. This tutorial carnivorous plant is above all an
excuse to show you using Mudbox Ptex with its rendering in 3ds Max and V-Ray 2.
Modeling
The ballot box is formed of a converted cylinder poly. I used the Extrude tools, scaling, and I moved the vertices until a form closer to the reference object. I brought gradually defining the urn using the Connect Edges tool among others.
Wings, with their fringes are located at the front of the box and down to its base. These wings serve to guide terrestrial insects into the mouth of the ascidian.
I divided the box at level 1 and then converted to poly. A selection of poly representing the groundwork for future pair of wings then:
Modeling
The ballot box is formed of a converted cylinder poly. I used the Extrude tools, scaling, and I moved the vertices until a form closer to the reference object. I brought gradually defining the urn using the Connect Edges tool among others.
Wings, with their fringes are located at the front of the box and down to its base. These wings serve to guide terrestrial insects into the mouth of the ascidian.
I divided the box at level 1 and then converted to poly. A selection of poly representing the groundwork for future pair of wings then:
- Ctrl + I to invert the selection
- Detach as clone
- Extruded poly.
The peristome and operculum. Series of projections or ribs streak the peristome is achieved with Chamfer Edge tools and moving some vertices.
Textures
The integration of technology in Mudbox Ptex (since version 2012), we can now texture without having to make any UVW unfolding before exporting the model to 3ds Max Mudbox.
After each of my exported model in Mudbox , I rename correctly the different elements and assigns a shader Mudbox to have greater flexibility in the work of sculpting and painting.
I added a few bumps on the ballot thanks mainly to the Sculpt tool available in the Tools panel Sculpt.
To use Ptex, go to the menu Mesh > Setup Ptex (If you have previously installed the subdivision of your model, you must descend to the subdivision 0). The buttons "Increase" and "Decrease" can change the resolution of textures. A preview with a grid without aliasing attests to a corrective resolution. Press "Done" then start Texturing.
I then create multiple layers to work with Diffuse layer colors. Layer "Base" contains the color green. The layer just above, I painted the red color of the pattern. Then using the Paint Erase tool, I erase some areas to reveal the green background. This is the most time consuming because it requires time and patience to achieve an interesting result. Do not hesitate to combine Stencils for the subtleties of color in the colors.
Finally I created a layer in black and white that I later integrated map as a mask in the VrayBlend Material .
When you are finished, merge Diffuse layers then save the texture. Ptx 8bit.
After importing the model in 3dsMax I create a VRayMtl texture to the lid. In the Diffuse map I load a VRayPtex. Increase the Cache Size value can significantly reduce the rendering time. For urn I used one BlendMat to better manage the nuances of colors and texture.
V-Ray Fur
For flexibility in the management of parameters of hair on different areas of the model, I duplicated groups polygon representing the body, the wings, the gimlet (rod) etc.. So I could easily set the amount and appearance of hair depending on the area being treated.
Lighting
There is no recipe for good lighting, each stage having a clean environment. For this I created a lighting plan consists of three light sources. A main light (1) which allows you to locate the object in space, defining its shape and volume. I placed a light source effect (2) Semi-day stresses against the edges of the plant and the background. Finally I created a dome of light (3) that illuminates THAT hair, which helps me to make them stand out.
I used the 'Adaptive DMC Image in Sample. I opted for a Color Mapping type Reinhard and enabled Global Illumination with the report Irradiance Map and Brute Force . Using the Render Element I pulled the pass ZDepth and Lighting for this scene, which was sufficient to bring him strength.
Post Production
The objective in the phase of post-production is to make global changes to the image energizing tones, contrast, etc.. In Photoshop I used 2 different RGB passes. I changed the mode to the Brightness of RGB rendering on gray background. Lighting to pass when it was set mode Overlay. These operations are intended to give more contrast to the image and boost color shades. Pass through ZDepth I created a slight depth between the box and the stem. Some fill layers are needed to give a boost to key locations as well.
